2009-04-17
Good Morning God’s Treasures,
God really does love His human creation, which is one reason He has taken the time and trouble to leave us with Scripture, His word. As you know, we have spent time examining every aspect of how God tells us to make wise judgments we can. MT 7: 15-20 is the Parable of the Tree and It’s Fruit. “Be on your guard against false prophets; they come to you looking like sheep on the outside, but on the inside they are really like wild wolves. You will know them by what they do. Thorn bushes do not bear grapes, and briers do not bear figs. A healthy tree bears good fruits, but a poor tree bears bad fruit. A healthy three cannot bear bad fruit, and a poor tree cannot bear good fruit. And any tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown in the fire. So then, you will know the false prophets by what they do.”
Can we be easily fooled? Maybe not by a bad tree when it’s fruiting, but during those other times of the year, we can be. Two perfect examples are finally coming into the light right now. The first one is the case of Tom Petters and his cohorts. He is the owner of Fingerhut, Petters’, and several other seemingly honest businesses. Sadly, it has come to light in recent months that all his success was due to a pyramid scheme that bilked many fine citizens, business, and charities out of their hard-raised dollars. One of these for example, is Teen Challenge, has done a lot of good for young people in helping them to exit the drug culture. They are not the only charity by far that has been hurt by Petters’ activities. Another even greater example has also now come to light, that of Bernard Madoff, the former NASDAQ president, whose so-called investment activities have wasted away the funds of many Jewish celebrites and other Jewish investors. This one has involved the loss of billions of dollars. Madoff’s activities were of such immense proportions that a member of his own family could no longer live with what he was doing and turned him in to the authorities. Petters is finally in jail; Madoff is on house arrest and may be going to jail soon. We can know that these two men had the help of others in their monetary cheating.
We should examine God’s will against our own individual lives. MICAH 6: 8, “He has shown you, O man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you. To act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” PS 15: 1-2, “Lord, Who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell on Your holy hill? He who walks uprightly and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his hear.” PS 24: 3-5, “Who has the right to go to the Lord’s hill? Who may enter His holy temple? Those who are pure in act and thought, who do not worship idols or make false promises. The Lord will bless them and save them; God will declare them innocent.” Even a plea for wisdom, in PS 51: 6, reveals God’s will. “Sincerity and truth are what You require; fill my mind with wisdom.” The same can be said for this plea for discernment found in PS 119: 125, “I am Your servant; give me understanding, so that I may know Your teachings.” And as for God’s will, we should understand the extent of His power to see it carried out. IS 46: 9-10, “I am God, and three is no other; I am God and there is none like Me. I make know the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’”
People like Petters and Madoff either didn’t understand God’s will or knew about it and weren’t interested. They don’t know the extent of either God’s love for them or His intent to see His will carried out. So, they are now beginning to suffer the consequences of their nefarious decisions. Yet, not every infraction of God’s rules is on such a large scale. As individuals, we also go against God’s will. There are smaller slips which our shallow thinking lead us into every day. It’s the reason we much, in all honesty, we must still call ourselves sinners. An altering of the truth here and there, a taking the easy way rather than the right one, or a loss of self-control in our lives are examples of these more subtle, yet just as wrongful, infractions. God knows there is not one single perfect person left here on earth. Is this a reason to throw up our hands and say, “I give up?” Certainly not! By now most of us understand that our knowledge of God must increase if we are to be advanced in our spiritual maturity. COL 3: 9-10, “Do not lie to one another, for you have put off the old self with its habits and have put on the new self. This is the new being which God, it’s Creator, is constantly renewing in His own image, in order to bring you to a full knowledge of Himself.” I see our time left on earth as the chance to allow God to move us forward. He will do it in His own perfect way and on His time line. And yes, we must cooperate in this Covenant of Grace with Him to make that possible. The process is called sanctification, and it’s definitely an active and dynamic process with God in leadership. If there was ever any question if God loves His human creation, it was certainly answered by His sacrifice of His only Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross, so that we who would listen to the truth might be saved [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25]. It is only as we come closer to God in our relationship with Him that we are able to overcome the taunting and temptations the adversary is only too willing to put in our paths.
PRAYER: O Lord, we are indeed tempted toward dishonesty, greed, abusiveness, boasting about ourselves or our accomplishments, addictions, selfishness, sexual immorality, grudge-holding, lying, foul-language, and so many other sins. But we have a Lord Who understands these things. HE 4: 15, “Our High Priest is not One Who cannot feel sympathy for our weaknesses. On the contrary, we have a High Priest who was tempted in every way that we are, but did not sin.” We understand all of this, which gives us no excuse for unfaithfulness to Your will or refusal to appreciate all the great sacrifices both You and the Lord Jesus made to save us from our sin. We are all called upon to make judgments of character in others. We must assess the degree or lack of righteousness in making certain decisions and taking the actions that follow them. We stand in awe of Your unmatched wisdom and of Your love for us in taking the time to make Your will in these matters so clear. By our study of Your word and our participation with You in an active prayer life, we thank and praise You for giving us the direction we need in making there judgments. You have told us an amazing truth in PS 37: 23-24, “The steps of the godly are directed by the Lord. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will not fall, for the Lord’s holds them by the hand.” We cannot hope to know as much as You do, Dearest Abba, but we can learn every day from Your words-both in Scripture and in prayer. We stand ready to listen for You every time we pray, allowing You to speak first to us, and then, engaging in a two-way communication with You. In the bearing of our souls, You learn the attitude of our hearts. Only honesty will allow this process to move us forward in our understanding of which choice is the one in keeping with Your will in such difficult decisions. That You are here for us whenever we call on You is something for which You deserve all thanks and praise. We offer this prayer today in the bold, mighty, and holy name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Next week, we will return to MT 7: 6 for a discussion of how it compares to MT 7: 15-20. Then, we can see how Christ is actually filling in the blanks in His words on making judgments in His Sermon on the Mount. Repeatedly in this and prior messages, I have stressed how God loves His human creation. Such love is highly logical, as God has said in GN 1: 27, “So God created human beings, making them to be like Himself. He created them male and female…” It wouldn’t make sense for Him to hate those created in His own image. When a human sins, God is disappointed. He realized that when the original sin [GN 3: 1-6] happened, mankind was condemned to inherit sinfulness. If left unchecked, this sinfulness leads to spiritual death. That was so unthinkable to our loving God that He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Redeemer, our Messiah, so that this wholesale conscious torment forever wouldn’t happen. Those of us who listen to the truth of Jesus Christ’s message of salvation and peace, will be saved. Those who refuse and reject the Gospel will be engaged in a permanent “gnashing of teeth in the lake of fire and sulfur.” God wants nothing more than to hide our lives in Christ and bring us back to Himself [COL 3: 3-4; RO 8: 17; JN 6: 39-40; and EPH 1: 4-5]. Remember this when the going gets tough, and know that each of us and all who come to faith in the Lord are indeed God’s treasures. Praise be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn