Author: Eirene

The song of God

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Did you know that God wrote a song? He put it in the Bible for you to find.  It is the Song of Solomon. Many people have never read this book of the Bible and many of those who have read it, haven’t fully understood it. It is the story of a beautiful romance between a Shulamite woman and King Solomon. But really it’s the story of the romance between Jesus and those who follow Him.

In this book is an invitation to love God and to be loved by Him.  He is revealed not as the harsh taskmaster that many believe He is, but as a lover who delights in your pursuit of Him.

Does it seem unbelievable to you that the holy God could really love you? It’s true. He loves you specifically and personally even though He knows everything about you. So many of us have excluded ourselves from the love of God because we know who we are, and we know what we’ve done, and we don’t like ourselves very much. We believe God doesn’t really like us either and we have shut ourselves out from receiving and enjoying His love.

When Jesus died on the cross He didn’t do it just to make sure heaven would be filled up for eternity.  He did it because He wants you with Him always and that was the only way.  He poured out His blood so that you could know His love as the greatest reality in your life.

Some of you reading this right now have only known of a god whois angry and impatiently waiting for your last breath so he might dispose of you forever.  This is not the God of the Bible.  From the very beginning, His desire was for a relationship of nearness with mankind. When Adam sinned in the garden, God’s first words to him afterwards were not “You’re gonna have to pay for disobeying Me.”  They were “Where are you?”  God was looking for the man.

God is still looking for men and women.  Every day He is at work in the hearts of people all over the earth, drawing them to Himself.  Why?  Does He need them?  No, He loves them and He wants them near.  He wants you near.

You are not excluded by your past or even your present.  Today is the day of salvation…the day that your whole life can be changed by repentance and faith in the blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of sin.  The God who saves you will rush in to fill your heart with His love.

If you are already born again and aren’t experiencing this love, then ask Him to tear down every barrier in your mind that keeps you from believing this glorious truth.   

The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17

Let the God who rejoices in you teach you to rejoice in His love.  And then, hear the song that He sings over you:

You are all fair, my love, and there is no spot in you. Song of Solomon 4:7

A local gospel

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“through Him we have obtained grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among the nations for His name among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ. Romans 1:5-6

In our last episode we talked about the gospel being a global message.  But it is also a local message. Often I have heard people speak of traveling to distant lands to share the gospel. It is a somewhat glamorous and adventurous sounding thing to be a missionary.  But it always seemed strange to me when these same people wouldn’t share it in their own city. 

I went on one international mission trip a number of years ago.  It was a wonderful week and the people were so very responsive to the gospel.  And then I came back home and it was over.  A few years after that I became heavily burdened for my own city and for seven years I was heavily involved in local evangelism.  I was a missionary to my own city.

In Mark chapter 5 there is a very dramatic story of a demon possessed man whose life had been absolutely wrecked and humiliated by the devil.  Nobody had been able to help him.  They could only try to restrain him.  But Jesus came and set that hopeless man free.

Mark 5:18-20 And when He got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged Him that he might be with Him. However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.” And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled.

Jesus turned this man into a local missionary.  He sent him among those who knew him and had seen his tormented life with a message and demonstration of freedom.

For those who may feel called to bring the gospel to foreign lands, I really do appreciate that work of God in you.  But while you are waiting to go there, go here.  Bring the gospel to your family, friends and workplace.  Go into the streets of your city and preach as boldly there as you hope to overseas.  The lost and dying are everywhere.  If you don’t care about those nearest to you then you are not ready yet for those far away.

Lord, give us your heart for the world. Even that part of the world we live in every day.

A global gospel

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“through Him we have obtained grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among the nations for His name.” Romans 1:5

When Jesus was physically on the earth His ministry was almost entirely to the Jews.  They were, after all, the chosen people.  In fact, the first time Peter took the gospel to a Gentile (Cornelius the Centurion), there was a bit of contention about it.

“Now the apostles and brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision contended with him, saying, “You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!” Acts 11:1-3

So Peter explained the whole thing to them starting with the vision he had from God that he should not consider unclean what God had cleansed, the summons to Cornelius’s house, and their eager reception of the gospel and the Holy Spirit.  I love the response in verse 18:

When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.”

Every time I read that passage I can almost imagine what it was like to be there.  A holy hush came over the room as the largeness of God’s plan was revealed.  And it was startling.

This was something new to them, but not to God.  It was always part of His plan that this great salvation should be for the Jew and the Gentile.  Jesus Christ is worthy of the whole world.

Isaiah 49:6 Indeed He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’

Jesus reiterated this in Mark 16:15 when He said  “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”

Every people group, every ethnicity, every race are to hear the gospel of grace.  The offer is extended to all, with no distinctions made.  There have been perversions of the gospel that have excluded some people or created artificial hierarchies in the kingdom.  These are all antichrist.  We see a picture of the kingdom Jesus is building when we get a peek into heaven:

Revelation 7:9-10 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

It is a beautiful multi-colored kingdom that Jesus is building. Diverse but unified in the glory of the lamb. So preach the gospel everywhere and to all people. Let the Lord be magnified among the nations. Bring His salvation to the ends of the earth.

Spirit of compromise

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Genesis 19:4-8 Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally.” So Lot went out to them through the doorway, shut the door behind him, and said, “Please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly! See now, I have two daughters who have not known a man; please, let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you wish; only do nothing to these men, since this is the reason they have come under the shadow of my roof.”

This is one of those stories in the Bible that brings a crease to my brow every time I read it. How in the world could a man offer his virgin daughters to a raging, lust filled group of perverse men? I understand that a high value was placed on hospitality, but COME ON!!! How was that even an option?

Lot’s answer should have been, “you’re not having these men.” Period. No bargaining with them. No attempting to find a more “acceptable” outlet for their lusts to be satisfied.

At this point Lot had been in Sodom somewhere between 13-24 years. When he first decided to move towards Sodom the Bible tells us that “the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord.” Genesis 13:13.

Lot may have maintained his integrity for a time, but the continual influence of an evil environment pressing against his life wore him down. Although scripture doesn’t record it, I wouldn’t be surprised to discover that Lot had started making little compromises long before this time.

Very rarely do we find ourselves confronted with a great compromise if we haven’t already yielded to smaller ones. When we choose to dwell in an unrighteous atmosphere it should be no great surprise if we find ourselves being affected by it.

Have you ever said, “I would never __________?” Only to find yourself doing that very thing in a careless and unguarded moment? It was surely preceded by other smaller disobediences.

There is no place in the believers life for compromise when it comes to obedience to God and a holy life. It is a slippery slope that many have never recovered from. Don’t let yourself be among that number.

Because He said so

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Genesis 3:3 “but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ “

For the first time, I read this and realized that Eve may not have known what death was. This was before the fall. There was no death. Animals didn’t kill each other. People didn’t eat them. The warning she was given lost its effectiveness because she didn’t understand its consequences.

This is often the case-we disobey God having very little understanding what the consequences of that disobedience might be. Nobody disobeys God thinking they will be the one to die from that sin, or get pregnant from that sin, or catch a disease from that sin. When our mind is contemplating sin, the flesh’s desire for satisfaction will drown out all thought of consequences.

When our obedience to God depends upon the severity of the consequences of disobedience, we live in a dangerous place. Like Eve, we don’t always have the complete picture of what the consequences might be. When we learn to obey God just because we love Him, the consequences of sin will be irrelevant in our consideration of how to act. “Because I said so” was extremely annoying and insufficient from a parent. It is more than enough when it comes from the mouth of God.

Hide and seek

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Genesis 3:9-10 Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

Never before had Adam been afraid. Or ashamed. Or hiding from God. All of these were consequences of his sin. None of them existed in his original unfallen state. And God intends that none of them exist in the new creation. Here’s a bit of proof:

Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Ephesians 2:18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 10:22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

We were not made to live apart from Him. He designed us to crave and delight in nearness to Him.

If you have drifted away, maybe even ventured into disobedience, can you hear Him calling, “where are you”? If you are hiding, He Is seeking. Don’t run from Him. Don’t hide. There is perfect blood to wash away every stain and every fear so that you can once again delight in Him.

Morning bread

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Proverbs 20:13 Do not love sleep, lest you come to poverty; Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with bread.

When I first got saved 24 years ago, nobody had to tell me to get up early to pray and seek the Lord. The Spirit of God had taken up residence in me and I was excited to wake up early to spend time with Jesus.

Over the last few years as situations and schedules have changed, I had fallen into the habit of moving my quiet time to the evening and began sleeping in a bit more, even to the point of jumping out of bed with barely enough time to get ready for work. I thank God that He won’t leave us in these spiritually unhealthy habits that lead to poverty of soul without prompting us to move in the right direction. I’ve been disciplining myself back into the habit of waking up early and I have honestly found it to be sooooo beneficial. I can’t believe that I had ever stopped doing this. Mornings with Jesus make the rest of the day so much sweeter. He satisfies me with the bread of life.

What about you? Do you have a consistent morning time with the Lord or do you struggle in this area?

Pour your rain

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Ecclesiastes 11:3a If the clouds are full of rain, They empty themselves upon the earth

So many things in creation demonstrate the wisdom of God. The clouds, heavy with rain, release their wet contents on the earth below, providing what is needed for man, animals and plants. The clouds play an important part in the well being of creation. Their emptying is the blessing of us all. When they refuse to release their rain, the earth suffers. Plants die. Crops fail. Wild animals suffer thirst.

Believer, you are a spiritual cloud. Droplets of revelation and blessing are accumulating in your life as you walk with God, making you heavy with the glory of God. If you refuse to release your holy contents, the world suffers.

If you are full, it’s time to empty out. Pour your rain everywhere you go and let God use it for the refreshing of those around you.

Fill ‘er up

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A few days ago I stopped at a gas station to fill up my gas tank. As I was standing there I realized that underneath the ground that I was standing on were underground storage tanks filled with a highly flammable and explosive substance. There may have been tens of thousands of gallons of gasoline right underneath my feet. I can honestly say that in all the years I have been putting gas in my car I’ve never really thought about that.

The gasoline is there but unseen; underneath the surface and only accessible by means of a delivery system – the gas pump. The benefits of the gasoline are merely potential until I pull it up into my car by means of the pump.

Faith is the delivery system of God. All His promises, His provision, His Presence are accessed by faith. All these things (and more) are right at our fingertips in the unseen world, but if we do not access them by mean of the delivery system of faith, we will sputter through life on fumes.

Don’t live on empty for another moment. Take hold of what God has provided and by faith let it become your reality.

It’s all fun and games until God shows up

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Daniel 5:3-6 Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple of the house of God which had been in Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone. In the same hour the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then the king’s countenance changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his hips were loosened and his knees knocked against each other.

Belshazzar the king was having a great feast with 1,000 in attendance. The wine was flowing freely and everyone was feeling merry. But wine has the habit of moving you from merry to foolish in a nanosecond and that’s what happened to Belshazzar. He called for the golden vessels from the temple to be brought and they continued their party, drinking their wine from God’s holy vessels. They were laughing and talking, having a good ole time…and then God showed up.

God showed up and the arrogance of the king vanished like a morning mist. All the lightness and frivolity disappeared in a moment, replaced with the sobering reality that something unexpectedly fearful was happening. That very night Babylon was overtaken by the Medes and Persians, and King Belshazzar was put to death.

King Belshazzar had no idea when he woke up that morning that it would be his last day. He continued in his blasphemous wickedness without a care, believing that he had many more days before him. But there were no more. He lived the last moments of his life mocking the God that he would soon stand before in judgment.

It’s a sobering story. It’s the same story that countless numbers of people are currently living this very day – careless of their spiritual state, not knowing that they have an unavoidable appointment with God.

If that describes you, then please stop everything you’re doing and get right with God. If you don’t know how to get right with God, leave me a comment with your email address and I’ll contact you.

The greatest tragedy of all time is that anyone would die in their sin and go to hell, when no one has to.