The Great City Falls!

As you well know over the past couple of days the Great City has been laid siege to by the great King Nebuchadnezzar. An it is amazing how gracious our God is and how he even offers peaceful solutions to Zedekiah. But, because he had allowed himself to be stricken with Fear he could not hear God’s voice.
Did you see that.. Zedekiah allowed himself to be stricken with fear, instead of listen to God, trusting God, obeying God, Zedekiah's fear lead him to make the wrong choice, time after time after time.
What is fear leading you to do? Is it leading you doubt, is fear leading you to anger, is fear leading you to lying, is fear leading you out of close relationships, if fear making you run from God instead of to God, is the fear of being alone leading you to make take the wrong decision in improper relationships, is fear of what people think keeping you from hearing God’s voice and doing what he asked you to do?
Learn this lesson today, see what is happening. The city did not have to be burned, the great Temple of God could have been left standing, and we possibly could still see it today had Zedekiah listen to God’s voice, instead of the voice of fear. Zedekiah through away all the work God had done through Solomon the wisest man in the world built the temple of God with the greatest architecture, art, & materials. The Greats building ever built in a lifetime of lifetimes was burned down destroyed, the entire wall of the city crumbled to rubble because of fear, and fear leads to even worse things when we allow it to control our lives instead of God. Fear lead Zedekiah to seeing his own kids put to death in front of him, his wives, his entire family, and as the City was being finished burned to the ground for lasting affect the Great King Nebuchadnezzar had his eyes put out. At the end of those things. All of that Tragedy would forever be the last things he would see on this world. Fear is mean, fear is evil, fear is devious in it’s plot to destroy your hope, your dreams, your family, your friends, your life, but most of Fear wants to devour you spiritual site of God and you dependence on Him.
Because you know what the opposite of fear is, peace, strength, comfort, courageousness, confidence, and most of all Life. Fear wants to keep you from having life. And God wants to give you life.
Now my question to you today is this, do you hear God’s voice, if you do, Trust it. It leads to life, even in the mist of the most powerful king left on this earth (Satan) is laying siege to your life, do not give into the fear of who he is but give into the Word of our God and how peaceful it can be in the mist of life’s storms of Fear. God’s word will lead you to do what’s right. Jeremiah in the midst of a storm followed God and did what he was asked to do, even though no one else did and because of that, he had Life.

Maybe what the Temple looked like before it was destroyed
http://www.esvstudybible.org/images/illust-sample.jpg

The song Trust & Obey (came to my mind as I read these set group of scriptures)
http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh467.sht

Pride

Part of today's reading is about the Pride of Egypt. As I read those verses I was reminded of the danger and power of pride in our own lives. I was also reminded of an article I once read by John Piper on the subject of pride and how he avoids it. His words are far better then my own so I would encourage you to read them below or click on this link to go to his article.

How To Fight the Sin of Pride, Especially When You Are Praised

Ten Things I Do
By John Piper
November 9. 2004


I call to mind that I am not self-existent; only the triune God is. Only God is absolute, but I am contingent. I remind myself that I am utterly dependent on God for my origin and for my present and future existence. I call this to mind and ponder its truth.

I remember that I am by nature a depraved sinner and that, in all my sinning, I have treated God with contempt, preferring other things to his glory. I take stock that I have never done a good deed for which I don’t need to repent. Each one is flawed because perfection is commanded. Therefore I realize that God owes me nothing but pain in this life and the next.

I ponder that this condition of mine is so desperate that it could only be remedied at the cost of the horrid death of the Son of God, to bear my punishment and provide my righteousness. And I revel in the forgiveness and righteousness that is mine in Christ.

I meditate on those Scriptures that say, “Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,” (1 Peter 5:5-6; see James 4:6-10). And, “He who is least among you all is the one who is great” (Luke 9:48; Mark 9:35; Matthew 20:26).

I pray that the eyes of my heart would see these biblical truths for what they really are.

I ask God to make me not just see them but also feel them with a sense of the meekness and lowliness and brokenness that corresponds to their true weight.

I renounce desires for praise and notoriety and esteem when I see them rising. I say, “No! In the name of Jesus get out of my head!” And I turn my mind afresh with prayer toward the beauty and truth and worth of Christ.

I try to receive all criticism—from friend or foe—with the assumption that there is almost certainly some truth in it that I can benefit from. “Be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger” (James 1:19).

I strive to cultivate a joy in Christ and his wisdom and power and justice and love that is more satisfying than the pleasures of human praise, with the goal that, by the Spirit, I would be granted the miracle of self-forgetfulness in the admiration of Christ, and in love toward people.

Finally, I turn often to older writers who knew God at depths which most of us modern people seem incapable of. I turn, for example, to Jonathan Edwards whose descriptions of humility awaken the deepest longings in me, as, for example, when he wrote to Mrs. Peperell on November 28, 1751, concerning Christ:

He is indeed possessed of infinite majesty, to inspire us with reverence an adoration; yet that majesty need not terrify us, for we behold it blended with humility, meekness, and sweet condescension. We may feel the most profound reverence and self-abasement, and yet our hearts be drawn forth sweetly and powerfully into an intimacy the most free, confidential, and delightful. The dread, so naturally inspired by his greatness, is dispelled by the contemplation of his gentleness and humility; while the familiarity, which might otherwise arise from this view of the loveliness of his character merely, is ever prevented by the consciousness of his infinite majesty and glory; and the sight of all his perfections united fills us with sweet surprise and humble confidence, with reverential love and delightful adoration. (Works, Vol. 1 (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth), p. cxxxix)

Longing to forget me, and treasure Christ, and love you,

Pastor John

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Little Things

Do the little things really matter? I would say they do. So many times we think that the little things are unimportant, and insignificant but to God they do matter. Take our reading today for example. If you were Daniel would you have refused the royal food? This is such a small thing! To be honest I don’t think this would have even crossed my mind. But Daniel say’s he did not want to defile himself in any way, not even by eating the royal food that the king provided. At the end of the day God blessed his attention to the little things. Daniel became wise and was blessed by the hand of God in amazing ways. Daniel continually experienced God’s provision in his life. Why? Because he understood that there are no little things when it comes to God.