Day 2 - Week 43 - Lamentations 3:40 "Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord."

How often in our busy lives do we just stop and say, "God, am I on track?  Am I pleasing You?  Is there something I'm missing?"  Most of the time, I think we just barrel ahead, trying to get it all done, but not contemplating the fact that we may be moving so fast in a direction that is not of God's leading.

In Lamentations, a book often overlooked but packed with insight into the way God deals with His children when they have wandered away from Him, Jeremiah (most likely the author, but not in certainty) laments over the destruction of Jerusalem and the taking of the people of Israel into captivity by the Babylonians.  I find it interesting that the Roman Catholic church often reads the Book of Lamentations during the last three days of Holy Week...a practice designed to remind people of the need to confront their sinfulness and return to lives of obedience to God.

Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.

What a difference it would make in our lives if this would be the first thought of our days....examine our lives, laying out our plans side-by-side with the teachings of the Bible, and testing them to make sure they line up...and when they don't, not wasting a minute to make the necessary adjustments and return wholeheartedly to our Lord. 

Jeremiah's song of lament goes back and forth between bemoaning the effect of Israel's sin, stating his understanding of the need for God's judgment over Israel, praising God for His ever-abiding faithfulness, exhorting the people to return to God's ways, and praying to God for restoration. It is written at a sad time in the history of Israel, a time post the glory of David and Solomon, and yet those times are remembered in the face of the destruction now seen. 

When our lives have taken a turn for the worse, it seems then we find the time for examination.  "What went wrong?"  Let's not wait for those times...let's examine our lives on a regular, daily basis to avoid the questions of regret. 

God's ways are good ways for us....let's test our ways and make sure they are one in the same.  Ask Him, He will let you know.

Psalms 139:23-24
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (NIV)

Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me; Cross-examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I'm about; See for yourself whether I've done anything wrong - then guide me on the road to eternal life. (The Message)

Day 1 - Week 43 - Step #2 in our Obedience Training!

For those of you with a dog, have you ever looked at them and said, "How many times have I told you not to__________.  You'd think you'd know by now!" 

I sometimes think that's almost exactly what God says to us when we repeatedly ignore His commands.  How many times does He have to tell us that certain actions, certain behaviors, certain attitudes will bring us no good...that they really do not work in our best interest or long-term well being.  Just as with our pets, obedience shows an understanding of the person giving the commands and an overwhelming trust in that person.  The more we understand God, by studying His Word and the history of His relationships with the people of this world, and the more we come to place our complete trust in Him, the less we will hesitate in living our lives in obedience to Him.

Robert J. Morgan includes Romans 12:1 at this point, but we included that verse as our last step in our journey down the Romans Road, "Therefore, dear brothers, by the mercies of God,  I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.  This is your spiritual act of worship."  So as our second verse in our set of ten verses dedicated to reminding us of the importance of obedience, I'm selecting Lamentations 3:40.  It has much of the same intent as 2 Chronicles 7:14, but with a little different emphasis.

Again, from Georgia to Maine, where are we tonight?  Well tonight we should just about be to the border between Virginia and West Virginia...just about right here -->

And I just have to include this picture as I'm about to put my head to my pillow in my comfortable bed...can you imagine being in this spot tonight?  In some ways, I would love it...but then again, I'm sure appreciative of not having to sleep on the hard ground with a rock for my pillow! But viewing the stars in the sky as you watch the night sky grow deeply dark, that is a special night of viewing God's wonder!

So, let's do our review, then we'll add our verse from Lamentations.  We will drop off our three verses of The Gift of Prayer to start allowing for our new verses.

The Gift of Assurance (10)

1 John 5:11 And this is the testimony:  God has given us eternal life and that life is in His Son.

1 John 5:12-13  The one who has the Son has life.  The one who doesn't have the Son of God, does not have life.  I say these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know you have eternal life.

John 14:1  Your heart must not be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in Me.

John 14:2  In my Father's house are many mansion, if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.

John 14:3  And if I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you unto Myself, so that where I am, you may be also.

John 14:6  Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through Me.

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you.  I do not give as the world gives.  Your heart must not be troubled or afraid.

Isaiah 26:3-4  You will keep in perfect peace the mind that is dependent on You, for it is trusting in You.  Trust in the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.

Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed . (KJV)

Isaiah 53:6  We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished Him for the iniquities of us all.

Praise and Thanksgiving (4)

1 Peter 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  According to His great mercy He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Psalm 100:4  Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.  Give thanks to Him and praise His name. 

Psalm 100:5  For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Revelation 4:11  You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.

Promises of God (10)

Matthew 6:33  But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (ESV)

Romans 8:28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.

Jeremiah 29:11  "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

1 Corinthians 10:13   No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity.  God is faithful and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will provide a way of escape, so that you are able to bear it.

1 John 1:7  But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

1 John 1:9   If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Proverbs 3:-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.  (NIV)

1 Corinthians 10:13   No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity.  God is faithful and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will provide a way of escape, so that you are able to bear it.

Psalm 55:22   Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will support you.  He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.

1 Peter 5:7  Casting all your care upon Him, because He cares for you.

Obedience (10)
2 Chronicles 7:14  If my people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.

and now

Lamentations 3:40  Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.

Another call to return, but some different instructions prior to our return.  Ponder it tonight and we'll start talking about tomorrow!!

Good night - and unless you're camping out by choice, I'm praying that you too are enjoying a warm, comfortable bed on a cold winter night!  Thanking God for His blessings of comfort and protection tonight!

Day 7 - Week 42 - 2 Chronices 7:14 "If my people who are called by name will humble themselves, pray and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin and heal their land."

The first thing that God calls His people to do when they seek to return to Him is to humble themselves.  Indicates to me that one of the major problems that has infiltrated His people is the seed of all sinfulness....pride.  Has pride become a problem to us individually?  Has pride become a problem to Christians in America as a whole?

How do you define pride?  There really are good and negative connotations to this word, aren't there?

Webster's tells us that the two major definitions are:
1. the quality or state of being proud: as
a : inordinate self-esteem: conceit
b : a reasonable or justifiable self-respect
c : delight or elation arising from some act, possession, or relationship <parental pride>

2. proud or disdainful behavior or treatment 

You can see that the negative form results in conceit, while the positive is self-respect.  Also, there is the relational pride, as that which we have for our children or for our countries.  The second listed definition is also a negative form - the condescending attitude that results from pridefulness.

OK - now that we've got pride defined - where does the sinfulness stem from that God is calling us out of?  It has to be that state of  "inordinate self-esteem", where we have felt so self-sufficient and capable that we have shut God out of our lives and have not turned to Him for His divine guidance.  When God's people of old, Israel, would be on one of their worldly highs ---everything going well, kingdoms conquered, plenty of food, the people were happy --- they often forgot about God's laws and His call to them for obedience and to stand out among the nations of the world as a different people so that the world could see God's power in their lives.  They become prideful, thinking ,"we did this...we built this nation into what it is today...we are strong in our own right...we are wise in our own minds."   God would have to remind them by stripping away from their place of power, that He was the only One who brought blessing to them.  And they would humbly repent and come back into a state of obedience.

Can you see parallels in that cycle with your life?  Can we see parallels in that cycle with our society?  We do become prideful when we feel that we've got things pretty well under control...when all the pieces are fitting together and the answers are coming to us easily. We think we've finally got this life figured out, when out of the blue, the pieces fall apart...there are no answers to the questions of the day...and we then humbly admit, in retrospect, that we never even knew what the questions really were, let alone the answers.  We are brought to our knees in humility before God in prayer, seeking His face, asking for His forgiveness for...our pride, our foolish pride that had put ourselves in a position of authority in our life where we should have never been.

Our society today tells us that we are in control.  That this planet can be mastered if we will do the right things.  That we can solve all the world's problems if we will come together and formulate programs to answer each troublesome scenario.  That wars can go away if we can just bring the right words together in documents of peace.  I am not saying that we should abandon these efforts, but I am saying that if we, pridefully, think that we can accomplish these things without asking for God's divine guidance and blessing, we are mistaken, and we will fail.  Until we come and lay before God any and all of our plans, and ask Him to walk with us, we may see success on a short-term basis, but the ultimate outcome will never be successful.  God is asking us to admit to Him that we do not have the wisdom that He has, that we do not have the knowledge of the future that He has.  That we are so very limited in comparison to His completely unlimited nature. 

That is what, I believe, He is asking us to turn from...both individually and as Christians as a whole.  Our independence from Him, our pridefulness of thinking that we are capable on our own.  We are not.  And we will be humbled.

Day 6 - Week 42 - 2 Chronicles 7:14 "If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, pray and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land."

We looked at this verse from a personal standpoint, but I can't help but also hear the call to a large group of people to return to God's call on them and be restored.  And I can't help but feel that the Christians in America are being called to do just that. 

What I don't think is that we can force all the people of the United States to heed a call that they are not hearing...for they are not included in the call.  Just as we can't hold non-Christians to our same moral standards (they don't have any reason to live as we who are trying to please God do), we can't force our whole country to return to a faith that they have never embraced. 

What we, as Christians, as those called by God's name, can do is to return wholeheartedly ourselves.  To make God and following His ways our highest priority...and His way has at the very top of the list showing love to each other.  John 15:17  This is my command, love each other.

I am growing weary of Christians being angry and expressing agitation about things that are not right in our land.  I know everything is not right, but I also think we need to be careful about the attitudes we portray in our opposition.  What other Americans (non-Christian Americans) need to see from us is that at the very core of our being, we truly care about other people...that we are not selfish...and that our materialistic well-being is not as important to us as our concern for others.  I think that was the message that Jesus preached while He was here on earth.  We forget that He told us to treat even those whom with we most highly disagree, with not only courtesy, but graciousness and overt kindness.

Luke 6:27-36
 "But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them.  And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

So what I guess I'm feeling tonight is that we, as Christians, need to live lives of true obedience and honor to our God and Father.   To those who are not living as we do, we cannot show hatred.  That is not what we've been called to do and it is not what will cause non-believers to see Christ in us. 

True revival for our country starts with only those with the ability to be revived, and then, hopefully, we will, with the power of the Holy Spirit, cause others to see the enormous power of God's love living within us...a love that will compel them to desire to know the One who enables its action within us.