Tag Archives: bible

Exiled! part 3

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“For I know the plans I have for you…”

plans

 

That has got to be one of the most encouraging and hope-filled statements in the Bible.

If you are reading this post before part 1 and part 2, please click to go back and read those.

It will make more sense. =-)

 

The Israelites are finally getting the words they have been longing to hear. God told them to settle down and work. This verse is tells us the ‘why’ behind the ‘what’.

What were they supposed to do? Look at the verbs in verses 5-7: BUILD, SETTLE, PLANT, EAT, MARRY, REPRODUCE, INCREASE, SEEK, PRAY

That is the work God called them to do. And now He explains why.

He has a plan.

He knows that plan.

The plan is to prosper, bring hope and a future.

 

Jeremiah was not the only author to write about the plan of God. Here are a few highlights;

  • Genesis 50:19-20 reveals Joseph understanding that God had a plan.
  • Exodus 1-5 explain how Moses was part of God plans to free the Hebrews.
  • If we skip to the new Testament, there are too many examples of Jesus talking about ‘the plan’. He kept saying how it was not His time yet. There were words of a plan in those statements.
  • Paul, writing to the church in Galatia, eludes to the plan of God. Here is verses 4 and 5 of ch. 4, “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.”
  • Turn to the back of the book. Revelation 22:20 tells us, “Yes, I am coming soon.”

God always has had a plan. That plan is never gone. Whatever our situation is at any given time, we can know and trust that God’s plan is still there. The really cool thing is that He wrote it down for us so we don’t have to doubt it.

I think the exiles were grateful that the letter they received had the what (meaning the work they needed to do) but it also contained the why (God’s plans for them).

 

the point 2

The point is to go to work and understand that God has a plan for your life.

Trust in Him and work hard.

3 small simple words

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What is the most popular verse in the Bible? Have you ever seen something like this at a sporting event?

john_316_sign

What verse pops up in your head? Here are some of the others that came to my mind:

Genesis 1:1; Philippians 4:6-7; I Corinthians 13

To read these verses or any other verses in the Bible, click Biblehub.com

There is another passage that also comes to mind. But before I get to that, let me give you the back story.

Back in December, I was meditating on 2016. Multiple questions were circling through my head about things I wanted to do, blogs I wanted to write, places I wanted to visit, and goals I wanted to accomplish. What were my plans for 2016? This is what I go through at the end of the year. I evaluate myself and then project what the future holds.

It was in this place that these three small simple words came to mind.

Do The Work.

What!?!? God, I am making plans here. You need to reveal great things for my life. Do the work? Are you crazy? That is all God has spoken to me as of right now.

Let’s get back to the popular verses. I have listed four of them and you might even have others. Here is the one that also came to mind. Jeremiah 29:11. 

If, by chance, you don’t know this one by heart, here it is, “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.”

This is the stuff that I was hoping to hear from God about. He was going to lay out the next 12 months so I could follow Him. At least that is what I thought I needed from God.

That passage in Jeremiah is one that I have heard literally dozens, if not hundreds, of times. But it is coming into a completely different focus for me right now. A new light is shining into those words. God is speaking to me. And I want to share it with you.

But for right now, I am just trying to do the work.

 

 

Death and God’s Word…What a combo!

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Ever had those days? I am having that kind of week. On Monday, my grandpa, 98 years old, went to be with the Lord. He was a great man and a godly man. My life has been forever shaped by his influence. Thanks Grandpa!

We drive to North Dakota this week for the funeral. It will be great to see cousins, aunts, and uncles I have not seen for years. That is the part about this whole thing that will be wonderful. Reunion.

Reunion. A getting-back-together again. I now have all four of my grandparents in heaven. My parents are also there. I think I can say with a fair amount of certainty that when I die, I will be reunited with them. I Thessalonians 4:13-18 comes to mind. It will be pretty awesome to see Jesus and my loved one again.

So why am I fighting depression right now? Why do I feel like sleeping all day? I am not a therapist or counselor but I am a pastor. And my experience tells me to go to the Word. So I did just that. Psalm 91 to be precise. You can click on the link to open another window but I felt like posting here also.

So for any of you out there who are grieving a loss, fighting depression, or just having a rough day, let Psalm 91 do what God intended in to do.

Psalm 91

1Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.a

2I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

3Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.

4He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

5You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,

6nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.

7A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.

8You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.

9If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling,

10no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent.

11For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;

12they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

13You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14“Because heb loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

15He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.

16With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

How far to Wall Drug from here?

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Have you ever seen this a billboard or bumper sticker like this?

wall drug

In my road trip out west, we encountered numerous Wall Drug signs. See my previous posts of my Yellowstone trip for some background info.

Wall Drug is a small town in western South Dakota. It’s near Mt. Rushmore and the Badlands. But you probably would not drive there just to see Wall Drug. It makes a great pit stop when seeing many other attractions. And for us, it was the last stop before heading east, back home.

As far as a tourist trap, this one sets out a fantastic bait. There are signs for miles and miles in every direction telling that Wall Drug is getting closer. They advertise anything and everything. If curiosity killed the cat then I am glad I am not a cat. I don’t recall when I first heard about Wall Drug but I feel like I have know about all my life. Mt. Rushmore, the Badlands, the Grand Canyon, and similar places are places you just know about. Wall Drug is like that. You just always know that it is a real place. They have really good marketing! Like this picture I found online.

Wall_Drug_Sign-afghanistan

When you are at Wall Drug, there are, of course, the shops. But I found that the real treasure was in all of the pictures they have hanging on any available wall. Pictures of all things Wall Drug. Like the one of the marine. There were hundreds of people from all over the world with signs saying how far Wall Drug was from their location. It was bizarre and fascinating!

Acts 1:8 says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Jesus says that the disciples would be empowered to be witnesses. Not lawyers, judges, or even jury members but simply witnesses. They were supposed to tell what they have seen and heard.

Isn’t that what these Wall Drug signs that are scattered all over the earth are doing? They, in a very clear manner, state that Wall Drug is X miles away. They might have pictures or sayings on them as well. But they are not Wall Drug. The signs are just that, signs. They tell of something else.

When people see your life, what message are they getting? John the Baptist was a sign. He was very clear that he was not the Christ. Read the full story here.

I close with these thoughts:

  • I am a sign and so are you.
  • God has filled His followers with His Spirit.
  • He can help us to display the right message.
  • What are people reading in your life?

 

By the way, Google maps tell me that I am 775 miles from Wall Drug.

What do you get when you remove 450,000 tons of rock?

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Welcome back. Thank you for taking two minutes out of your day. With that said, you might need more than two minutes to read this post.

Mt. Rushmore. Perhaps once of the most recognizable landmarks in our nation. And, given the effort it took to create it, it only stands to reason that Mt. Rushmore deserves such recognition.

mount rushmore

As we were driving around the curvy road towards Mt. Rushmore, I was giddy inside. I was about to see something that I had known about my whole life. From very early memories, Mt. Rushmore has always been on my “list”. It was finally happening. And I was not disappointed. There is, of course, the monument but there are many things to see and do while at the park. The end of the day culminates with a program that is informative and inspirational. There is no way that I can, within a few sentences, describe the beauty and majesty of Mt. Rushmore. So I won’t even try. You need to see it for yourself.

What I am going to try to do is to draw a parallel. Yep, you guessed it. There is a connection between Mt. Rushmore and God’s Word. So first, here is a brief explanation on how they measured the mountain before blasting or carving.

The sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, created a model of the four presidents. It was basically a scaled-down version of the mountain that fit into a building. This would be the starting point for the sculpture. One inch on the model was equal to one foot on the mountain. On top of the model was a disk that had 360 degrees on it. A pole would hang out over the face from which a plumb line hung. The plumb line would hang at a certain length and the pole would be at a certain degree. Measurements would be taken. Using the scale (1 inch = 1 foot), the sculptors could transfer the measurements directly to the mountain. In theory, if the measurements were accurate and precise, the mountain will look exactly like the model. This process was repeated hundreds of time to get the faces just right.

You and I are like Mt. Rushmore. No, we don’t look like Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, or Lincoln but we are being “carved out”. Within the context of sculpting, listen to this passage of scripture: “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Emphasis mine. Phil. 1:3-6

I see it like this. We are ever being made into the image of Jesus. Christ-followers. Jesus is the perfect model of what our lives could look like.

IF, we let God do the sculpting. The Bible is the standard for measurement. God measures us and our lives against His word.

God wants to chisel away our imperfections. He desires to hammer out the rough patches. Those sinful tendencies? Dynamite can take care of those.  Addictions and bad habits? God has a spiritual jack-hammer all primed and ready to go. All we need to do is to surrender to Him.

 

 

Mt. Rushmore took 14 years to create. How long will it take God to make you perfect? Not really sure if there is a solid answer for that question but at least we know that God will never give up. The Word says that “…he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion…”

Are you filled with hope by that verse? I am. There have been countless times that the scripture has pointed out my flaws. And, if I am honest, I have not always done anything about it. I shut out God. Read My Haiti Experience: Chosen…part 1 for some background.

But not today. I welcome Him. God is doing a great work in me and if you let Him, He will work on you too. I leave you with this:

 

READ His Word.

LET Him Work.