From time to time Dan and I will have a recurring conversation. We’re both glad the God doesn’t have His prophets today do the things they used to do to get His message across to His people. It is nice being able to provide examples of what God is doing rather than have to live them out. Go back and read some of the things God had His prophets do and you’ll understand.
Prophets also weren’t terribly liked by too many people. Mostly they brought news of everything bad going to happen because of their corrupt lives. You never really heard anyone from ancient Israel say, “Hey Zephaniah! How about you join me and my family after Synagogue for a bite to eat…if we hurry we can beat the Pharisees to lunch.” Most of their time was spent alone.
I was reading through the book of Daniel and I ran across an event that I had never read before. According to Daniel 5:1-31, during a drunken feast, King Belshazzar of Babylon (Nebuchadnezzar’s successor) takes sacred golden and silver vessels, which came from the Jewish Temple, and worshiped the gods of gold with them, blaspheming Yahweh. Suddenly the King became very frightened, and sobered I’m sure, by the sight of a human hand suddenly appearing and writing on the wall.
The phrase “Writing On the Wall” came from this story (I didn’t know that before). Daniel, being that he was a prophet, was called to explain the Writing On the Wall which basically said, “God has numbered your days…you don’t measure up…and your kingdom will be divided.” So much for the party.
The king could have asked Daniel earlier if there was something that he should know and Daniel could have told him these things before he made a drunken scene that finally put him over the edge a bit. The reality is…people don’t go to the prophet and ask for a synopsis of everything that is wrong with them.
We’re called, as a family, to spur one another on (Heb 10:24) but we often don’t want to play the role of the prophet. All of us can think back to sins of our childhood that we got caught doing. I am thankful for my parents stepping in on the things that could have been life altering and caused the Writing to be on the Wall in my life. We’re called to be prophets to one another from time to time, even if it makes us unpopular with those who are closest to us. “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.” – Matthew 18:15
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Big D little d
We just got back from an amazing week at Senior IMPACT on Saturday. I wasn’t sure what to expect from a theme like “The Day of Reckoning” but lives were changed and I pray that our family will be blessed because of it. The worship was simply incredible this past week and I am blessed so much by getting to worship with young people. God did amazing things this week.
The Day of Reckoning is mentioned often through scripture. You will find days of Reckoning with a small “d” and then there is the Day of Reckoning with the BIG “D.” Jesus often challenges us with the small “d” days of Reckoning to prepare us for the BIG “D” Day. My views on Judgment Day have changed so much this past week as we were challenged to dig deep into its meaning. My understanding of different passages has changed as well.
In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus has a run in with the Pharisees (as He often does) and they claim that He is casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub. Jesus goes on to preach to them about the words they use in regards to God’s work through the Holy Spirit. Matthew 12:30-32, Jesus speaks about blaspheming against the Holy Spirit, that it is forgivable for them to speak against the Son of Man but not against the Holy Spirit. Jesus then challenges them to look deep within themselves, “…for a tree is recognized by its fruit.” How can a bad tree produce good fruit? Search deep within yourself and see if your roots are good for producing fruit for the Day of Judgment is coming. Out of the heart the mouth speaks Truth in this world.
The last speaker this week spoke about being a light in this dark world. He stood in a spotlight and kept sweeping the area where the light was to keep up his Christian cosmetics. His challenge to us, and my challenge to you, is to find the areas where you are simply maintaining your Christian cosmetics and see how you can become the light that illuminates this world and isn’t simply maintained. Hide it under a bushel? NO! I’m gonna let it shine! Go deep to your roots and take care of the deeper parts of the tree and become healthy and fruitful.
The Day of Reckoning is mentioned often through scripture. You will find days of Reckoning with a small “d” and then there is the Day of Reckoning with the BIG “D.” Jesus often challenges us with the small “d” days of Reckoning to prepare us for the BIG “D” Day. My views on Judgment Day have changed so much this past week as we were challenged to dig deep into its meaning. My understanding of different passages has changed as well.
In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus has a run in with the Pharisees (as He often does) and they claim that He is casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub. Jesus goes on to preach to them about the words they use in regards to God’s work through the Holy Spirit. Matthew 12:30-32, Jesus speaks about blaspheming against the Holy Spirit, that it is forgivable for them to speak against the Son of Man but not against the Holy Spirit. Jesus then challenges them to look deep within themselves, “…for a tree is recognized by its fruit.” How can a bad tree produce good fruit? Search deep within yourself and see if your roots are good for producing fruit for the Day of Judgment is coming. Out of the heart the mouth speaks Truth in this world.
The last speaker this week spoke about being a light in this dark world. He stood in a spotlight and kept sweeping the area where the light was to keep up his Christian cosmetics. His challenge to us, and my challenge to you, is to find the areas where you are simply maintaining your Christian cosmetics and see how you can become the light that illuminates this world and isn’t simply maintained. Hide it under a bushel? NO! I’m gonna let it shine! Go deep to your roots and take care of the deeper parts of the tree and become healthy and fruitful.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)