Not a friendly Culture

 Jeremiah 26:16-19

Yesterday, we ended with Jeremiah telling the people and those in authority over him these words: “But as for me, behold, I am in your hands.  Do with me as seems good and right to you.”  But also recall that he ended with a warning that he had only spoken the words God gave him, and they would be innocent blood on their hands.

Often, in the culture we find ourselves in, and let me be clear it is not a friendly culture for people who profess a belief in Jesus Christ at home or in the workplace.  The time we live in is not spent on philosophy and sophistication as many would desire us to believe, but on self and technology, but not on grace.  Grace has no room for self, self only serves self, but grace gives, Grace loves, Grace serves.

And one of the messages that screams out of this culture is the individual has no power, do you recall a person who said; it takes a village to raise a child.  Now that’s just a bunch of bull, it takes a mom and a dad who will love and discipline their child.  Parents who will be honest and make the child understand that in this world we do not all have the same gifts.  Some are better at sports than others; some are more gifted in math or language than others, but God has a plan for each person, and He will give them what they need.

Now you and I can only wonder what person in the crowd spoke first, maybe it was a man to his wife, and someone overheard what was said; we do not know, but someone had to be first.  Maybe it was one of the leaders, but that one person’s voice became the cry of the crowd, and whom are they addressing?  Their voices directed to the religious guys, I did not say the God followers no they were the rule followers, and not God’s rules but all the ones they had added.  They were the priests and prophets the ones that set the rules for everyone but them.

“This man does not deserve the sentence of death, for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.” And certain of the elders of the land arose and spoke to all the assembled people, saying, “Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and said to all the people of Judah: ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “‘Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooded height.’

Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Did he not fear the Lord and entreat the favor of the Lord, and did not the Lord relent of the disaster that he had pronounced against them? But we are about to bring great disaster upon ourselves.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

For evil to grow in our hearts

January 3, 2017

 Jeremiah 26:1-15

The world has never been this intolerant, never been this evil, yes, many have said things like this with no understanding of history.  But the facts are very clear the intent of humanity is to be the captain of one's life, to do it our way, and that is not a new thing it began at the beginning with the first man and woman. 

After the wall had come down between the East Berlins in November of 1989, it remained in the lives and action of the minds of those controlled by it.  I was asked by the leadership of the Electrical Engineering group of DuPont to be part of a team that would give counsel to some refineries, and one was in East Berlin.  I will never forget my talk with a lady in East Berlin by phone and I explained to her how 3M and DuPont had come to an agreement to use 3M’s cold shrink technology in the area of splices and terminations on all cables from 5KV to 35 thousand volts.

This is what she told me I hate this new freedom; now I have to make a decision and choose between brands or choose technology, it was so much better when we let a committee do all of this for us.  After so many years the wall of slavery was still active in her mind and heart, and I do not know what happened to her, but that was my last time to visit with her.  My report said that your head electrical engineer is going to be a roadblock to change, she is fearful of making decisions.

For evil to grow in our hearts, it requires deception, where questions are designed to have another motive.  What are they up to, what is the game plan, or what is in it for them?  And yet evil will masquerade as good and deceive many by getting them to hate and not be open to anyone other than their group; it is particularly useful in the political area of control.

It has taken me 74 years to understand that we are all a mess, that it’s not a new battle of choice, it’s an ongoing battle, and often what is seen cannot be trusted for it was designed to mislead.  But I, like Jeremiah, have come to understand that the God of the Gospel is the Lord Jesus Christ/ Messiah.  According to John’s gospel, we are told Jesus is the Word that became flesh, and that in Him is life and the light of man.  And that light will shine in darkness, and in the darkness it will prevail. 

Jeremiah gives a message from God to the people of Judah who they claim to believe and put their trust in.   But like today they had to fashion God into what they wanted, a conservative god, who votes Republican, and there are those of the liberal side whose god is a Democrat.  Both groups have the god they deserve, but He is not the God of Jeremiah, nor is He the God of the Scriptures.

It is fascinating the people of Jeremiah’s time were as intolerant of Truth as today.  Jeremiah was told by God to “Stand in the court of the Lord’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah that come to worship in the house of the Lord all the words that I command you to speak to them; do not hold back a word.”

The truth is not what people who have made God into their likeness want to hear, then or now, and so after he had spoken, the leaders, priests, prophets, and the people wanted to kill him.  Listen to Jeremiah’s defense: “Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and all the people, saying, “The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and this city all the words you have heard. Now, therefore, mend your ways and your deeds, and obey the voice of the Lord your God, and the Lord will relent of the disaster that he has pronounced against you. But as for me, behold, I am in your hands. Do with me as seems good and right to you. Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city and its inhabitants, for in truth the Lord sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.”

Nothing new under the sun, we choose what seems in our best interest, we hate people we have never met, we fear people because of their skin color, can we agree we need grace, and it is found only in Jesus Christ!

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Replacing God as your Source

 Jeremiah 25:15-38

As you read these verses, what is your thought process and it might be very different than mine?  These were my first thoughts; how is Jeremiah going to go to all those places, is there another Scripture that states he travelled to all those nations?  The only answer that made any sense was Jeremiah did not physically take the cup to all the nations, but each of these nations would in the future experience the catastrophes listed.

One must remember that prophecy may take place in the lifetime of the prophet, but often they are for a later time, and for some we are still waiting on.  You may need to jump over to chapters 46-51 to see the prophecies against the nations.  Beginning with Egypt in chapter 46, then as one looks to chapter 47 the judgment or prophecies against the Philistines, in section 48, the prophecies against Moab, in chapter 49 against the Ammonites, also Edom and Damascus and Babylon.

As you look at the nations listed in chapter 25, Judah and the city of Jerusalem head the list, and then Egypt, and from what I’ve read it is believed that Pharaoh took the place of Judah’s protector in the minds and hearts of the leaders and people and not God.   It is of interest that all the nations listed in chapters 46-51 made a list in chapter 25, except Damascus.

A wise person would park on verse 29; “For behold, I begin to work disaster at the city that is called by my name, and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the Lord of hosts.”  A prudent person might want to ponder on this for a bit; God has spoken and He has said: “You shall not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the Lord of hosts.”  All the residents of the land must include all, and you and I must fall into that group.  Was a day set before the earth was formed, to have a day of judgment for all the inhabitants of the earth, if so am I ready to stand before that Judge?  God’s standard for Judah was and is His standard for the rest of the nations, and that includes the U.S.A.  Would not a wise person want to research and know what those principles are?

The metaphors that Jeremiah uses are many, from a cup of wine to a lion and then to grapes in a winepress.  It's believed that the storm coming was the many nations that would fall to Babylon.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

My lack of understanding of the term Servant

 Jeremiah 25:8-14

My very first mentor was Jack Archer, and Jack had been a high school all-star and joined the U.S. Coast Guard right out of high school. When his tour of duty was over, he was offered a full Football Scholarship at Texas Christian University, Ft. Worth, Texas, and had an illustrious football career there.  After receiving his degree in Geology, he went to Corpus Christi, Texas, and became quite prominent in the Gas and Oil Industry for many years. While in Corpus Christi he was very active as a Methodist Lay-Witness Minister and did a lot with the youth in the community.  Jack was invited along with a group of prominent men in the Corpus Christi area to the Howard Butts Laity Lodge, and it was that weekend that Jack entered into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  I share this story because Jack was a servant of our Lord; he used both his wealth and his time to share Christ with men like me.  But like all of us Jack was a mess, and each time I was putting him in a place that only God should be, he would pop my bubble with some very worldly act.

So when I think of a servant of the Lord, a list of men pop into my head, and it is because they have entered into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Jesus came to serve, and not to be served, and these men allowed Jesus to serve through them.

Looking at Jeremiah 25:9, “I am going to send for all the families of the north--this is the LORD's declaration-- 'and send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will bring them against this land, against its residents, and against all these surrounding nations, and I will completely destroy them and make them a desolation, a derision, and ruins forever.”   Maybe I have a poor understanding of what it is to be a servant of God? 

Do you recall Nebuchadnezzar making a gold image and requiring all the people to worship at the sound of the music?  They were to bow down and worship the golden image that the king had set up.  Anyone who didn't bow down had signed their death certificate, they were to be killed.  Now we should find this of interest; King Nebuchadnezzar proclaimed God, as the only God after Daniel interprets the dream that all other false prophets had no understanding of.  You will find that in Daniel 2:31-45, and in verse 47, “The king answered and said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.”  And then we have the fiery furnace and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego telling the King they would not bow to the golden image he had set up, and into the oven, they went.  Can you recall what these men of integrity said to the King?  You will find it in Daniel 3:16-18, and this surprising confession of the King in Daniel 3:26-30, the King called the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego the "Most High God."

After that we find the King proclaiming to all nations and people a statement of faith, and this from an unbeliever, “How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders!  His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion endures from generation to generation.”  (Daniel 4:3) 

You will find that God referred to King Nebuchadnezzar as His servant three times in Jeremiah and later God called King Cyrus of Persia, a servant.  God called both of these Kings as tools or instruments to fulfill His plans.  

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

His persistence in faithfulness

 Jeremiah 25:1-7

The Lord has blessed me in many ways, but one person that stands out is a man named Carroll Ray Jr.  My first encounter with Carroll was at Burleson First Baptist Church, and my role was leading a group of lay people in what we referred to as a Lay Witness weekend.  If I recall from Carroll’s testimony, he had planned to miss the weekend because he had important things to do.  In that, he was a V.P. at the Tandy Corp., and some customers wanted to take him golfing. But God had other plans and put a lay couple in their home for the weekend.  I believe the only day he showed up was Sunday morning and as I shared my story of salvation, the Lord began to deal with this V.P and Baptist deacon.  He came to an understanding of this fact, he knew a lot about Jesus, but he did not have a personal relationship with Him.

Carroll shared with me the three-page letter he sent his dad who was a Baptist pastor, and he shared how over the years he had developed a preacher filter.  But that morning he did not have a filter for a layman, and this very smart and talented man listened to a man who butchered the English language, and the Holy Spirit brought conviction of his need to know Jesus Christ, and he was obedient.

His letter began a friendship, and I watched God use this man as a teacher and mentor, my mentor, and we had the privilege of traveling to many places with him and his wife.  Our first trip was England and in that Carroll and Joyce had lived in England they wanted to make sure we experienced London.  One day while downtown at noon, Carroll pointed out all the men in suits coming from all directions going into this church.  Carroll informed me that at noon on Tuesday that church is filled with men coming to a Bible study.  But the rest of the story is; only one or two men came for the first seven years of the Bible study.  Now here is a “But God” example, the young pastor had been given instruction by the Holy Spirit to begin a Bible study on Tuesday for men working in downtown London.  Few and sometimes none came for seven years, and then they came, and they came, and God began to move in their lives, and others saw what God was doing, and they wanted what they had seen.

I told you this story of the pastor, and we are blown away by this young pastors persistence to be faithful for seven years to the call of the Holy Spirit.  And yet that seem somewhat trivial to Jeremiah who remained faithful for 23 years when no one listened to the message the Lord had given him for Judah.  Picking up the story in verses 4-7, “You have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the Lord persistently sent to you all his servants the prophets, saying, ‘Turn now, every one of you, from his evil way and evil deeds, and dwell upon the land that the Lord has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever. Do not go after other gods to serve and worship them, or provoke me to anger with the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’ Yet you have not listened to me, declares the Lord, that you might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm.”

I’m still sickened when I hear someone that goes by the title of Christian blaming God for the choices of sinful man.  I keep sending you back to John 10:10, for it is there we find the answer to who is the enemy of our souls. 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Two Basketof Figs

 Jeremiah 24:1-10

A vision from God of two baskets of figs, one basket was of good figs and the other of bad figs.  God asked Jeremiah what he had seen, and this was his reply, figs.  That is a correct answer but it is not all that Jeremiah had seen, the following is the conversation between God and Jeremiah; “And the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” (Jeremiah 24:3)

Just maybe we are getting the cart before the horse, so the saying goes, in that it is important to state what this is all about.   Some of Judah’s people had been carried off into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and they were the brightest and best that Jerusalem had to offer.  He took the son of Jehoiakim whose name was Jeconiah, the officials of Judah the craftsmen, and the metal workers and they ended up in Babylon.  These we will find out represent the choice basket of figs.

Now pay attention to what God is going to share with Jeremiah who has shared it with all of us.  “Then the word of the Lord came to me: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up, and not tear them down; I will plant them, and not pluck them up. I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.” (Jeremiah 24:4-7)

If you are open to understanding, this will be an eye opener to what has taken place and answer some of the questions I’ve wondered about the chosen people of God who have represented the bad figs.  The answer is found in verses 8-10. “But thus says the Lord: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.”

Now many have branded Jeremiah as pessimistic, be very careful if you are not in the same battle.  His mission had no converts; everywhere he turned they laughed at him or tried to bring harm to him.  It is easy to believe you are the only one in the battle but that was not truth then or now. 

All we have to do is look at another prophet Elijah on Mount Carmel found in 1 Kings 18:21-22, “Elijah came near to all the people and said, "How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." But the people did not answer him a word.  Then Elijah said to the people, “I alone am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men.”  And Elijah was also wrong, and God made sure that he had clarity on the subject by sharing with him in 1 Kings 19:18, “Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”  Once you and I come to the understanding that the battle is never ours, the battle is the Lord’s and yet it is so easy to believe it is only our battle.

Dear Father, teach us how to stand, often it seems as if we are alone but that is a lie from the evil one, for you have promised never to leave us or forsake us, and You are a Promise Keeper!

From the Back Porch,

 Bob Rice

Those who live by a Moral Authority or under attack

 Jeremiah 23:33-40

 I do recall my first time to be called a Bible-thumper it totally caught me off guard because I had little understanding of the meaning.  I should have asked what he meant by the term: Bible-thumper, but that is not what I did?  In that, I did not ask, and my brother-in-law is now dead I can only look at how others define the term.  Webster Dictionary: Definition of Bible–thumper as: “an overzealous advocate of Christian fundamentalism.” Definition of Bible-thumper as: “One who uses the Bible to attack/defame others' characters instead of as a guide to proper living. These people tend to be depressingly ignorant of anything else except the Bible and behavior as expected by the religious.”  And shall we end this foolishness with Wikipedia: “Someone perceived as aggressively imposing their Christian beliefs upon others.”  In that, I did not enquire of Ray’s meaning of the term, and I do regret that my answer was no, and by definition listed above my reply was on the spot.

Jeremiah was the target of most of the people, the leaders, and the false prophet.  The word on the street was this crazy young Jeremiah only tells us how he wants us to live, and he is passing it off as a word from God.  But do not listen to him just make little of him or fun of him by asking what new burden of the Lord are you bringing on us today.  I’m sure there were people in Jeremiah’s time like in ours who try to talk over the one speaking, yelling liar, liar.

It has been my observation that leaders and individuals who rebel against a moral authority will always attack the one who is ruled by that authority.  Stand for the sanctity of life, for a baby unborn or the life of an elderly adult and watch what happens in the area of personal attacks.  Or take a moral stand against the new transgender movement and see how long it takes for the member of a small but powerful group to attack your person.

Often others who go by the title of Christian attack the Christian family for standing for what they believe, along with the media.  Maybe a reminder is needed from the letter to the Ephesians, chapter 6:10-13, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”

You will find God’s message in verse 33, “When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the Lord?’ you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden, and I will cast you off, declares the Lord.”

My hope is that you will read verses 36-40; it never goes well for the person who belittles God or his spokesman.  Our God does not change, He is the same today as He was in the beginning, and He changes not.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice