dismay

Trust the LORD and Be Prepared

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

This is a post I shared on August 10, 2013, and it was titled “The Making of The Preacher”…

The call of the prophet was one of separation. It was one for Jeremiah that would separate him from his family, due to the message he would be proclaiming, it would even keep him from marriage. There were times he would even feel that God had forsaken Him. We will see these things as we progress through this wonderful prophecy which our LORD God has given us.

The passage of the prophet for today is chapter one, verses 17-19;

“Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them. For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land. And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee.” Jeremiah 1:17-19 (KJV).

The idea of “girding up the loins” is the idea of getting one’s self ready for the task at hand. You might say of a preacher called by God, “Get yourself ready to do My bidding”. As Paul spoke to Timothy, “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” 2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV). Jeremiah was called to preach the Word of the Lord and he must be prepared. He must know that calling is sure, because there were going to come times in his ministry where that would be all that he had.

“Arise”, get up and get going, the time is short. “Speak to them all that I command thee”. There can be no changing of the message to soften the impact. It must be spoken as God has given it. It is sad to say and to think, but there are many preachers, who are pastors of churches and preach (if you can call it that) messages that are watered down versions of the truth, thus not the truth, but lies. They would rather be popular with their people. Popular with the people unpopular with God. Which would we be? God says to the prophet, “Be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them”.

If we as preachers neglect to preach Jesus; His death on the cross; His burial; His bodily resurrection; and His promise… “I will come again” then we fail to preach the Word of God.  That is the essence of all of Scripture.

The prophet is called to stand, to be strong. God tells Jeremiah, “I have made you this day a defenced city, an iron pillar, and brazen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests , and against the people of the land.” This is God’s promise to Jeremiah of God’s protection from harm. Even when the judgment comes on the land, even though the people, the kings, the princes, and the priests turn against him Jeremiah is promised protection. His life will be kept and preserved. Someone has said, “The man of God in the will of God is immortal, until God is through with him”. That is a profound statement. Of course the one who made that statement must have been speaking of this temporal life we live here on earth, because with Jesus as our Lord and Savior we are immortal anyway.

The promise of God for protection would be a mighty force in the faithfulness of Jeremiah. The promise is a mighty power in our lives as well. To think that his own family, friends, king, princes, and others would try to harm him, even try to kill him, and he having the promise of God’s protection and keeping. “They shall fight against you; but they shall not prevail against you; for I am with you, says the LORD, to deliver you.” Would you rather have the friendship of the world, or the protection and power of God on your life? Think about it. You cannot have both, if you are going to be a preacher of God’s Word.

Prophets Speak – Christmas Day One Hundred Thirty and One

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And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you dwell among scorpions; do not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their looks, though they are a rebellious house. You shall speak My words to them, whether they hear or whether they refuse, for they are rebellious. But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.” Ezekiel 2:6-8 (NKJV)

What do I want for Christmas today?

Though I live in a foreign land, because it has turned her back on the One who made her great, I want to eat the Word of God daily through study, reading and application of it in my life; that I may be a witness for my God and Savior Jesus Christ no matter what this nation or the world may hurl at me; to be strong and faithful even unto death, and unto life.

 

Prophets Speak – Christmas Day One Hundred Fifty and Three

/ Tim A. / 1 Comment

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’” Isaiah 41:10 (NKJV)

To deny that there are things which would make us fearful is a frivolous way of dealing with life.  To continually live with crippling fear is, well, crippling, and hinders us from accomplishing great things.

To deny the truth of evil, and decay is in fact deceit, self deceit, and a lie.

What do I want for Christmas?

As a born again, blood bought child of the King; I want to live knowing that God is always with me; that I will not be afraid in this wicked world; that I will be strengthened in the Lord, daily, knowing that He will help me in every trial, trouble, and situation of my life, my home, family, Church, Nation and the world; and that He upholds me with His righteous right hand.

Our GOD to Help Us

/ Tim A. / 2 Comments

“Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him: with him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.” 2 Chronicles 32:7-8 (KJV)

Hezekiah was a faithful king doing that which was right in the sight of the LORD (29:2). Yet, he was not perfect, because he got full of himself (v. 25); as sometimes great leaders do.

The above words were spoken by the king when the city of Jerusalem was being threatened by the Assyrian king.

They are words not just for the army, the people of Judah, but for all God’s people down through the ages.

For Christians today we need to be strong and courageous. It is not the time to be silent. It is time to let the light of Jesus Christ shine. When people tell us, “Go away Christian” because we take a stand on the Biblical definition of marriage; and/or any moral issue; such as abortion, adultery, etc., we stand anyway. We speak what God speaks. We do not make decisions based on culture, society, or what might be popular.  We make decisions based on Christ Jesus and His Word; the word of God.

The gods of the world are already defeated. They are mere stone, wood, stubble; but GOD is God of all that is. He has made all things, and loved us enough to send us His Son as our Saviour that we might be delivered from our sin and its condemnation; putting to death our sin on His cross.

Christian; BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS. Begin now. Begin today.

Laying Ambush to Sin

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“And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou dismayed: take all the people of war with thee, and arise, go up to Ai: see, I have given into thy hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land: and thou shalt do to Ai and her king as thou didst unto Jericho and her king: only the spoil thereof, and the cattle thereof, shall ye take for a prey unto yourselves: lay thee an ambush for the city behind it.” Joshua 8:1-2 (KJV)

Sin had entered the camp of Israel through the disobedience of one, Achan, of the tribe of Judah. Joshua chapter 6 shows the great victory over Jericho, and chapter 7 the defeat of a smaller city due to one man’s sin.

We ought never think that our sin affects no one else. It does. No matter how much we think no one else will ever find out about it. God knows. Due to guilt, shame, and fear we will continually know and will cause separation from family and friends.

Following the revelation of Achan’s sin, the people dealing with the sin then, God speaks to Joshua reassuring him to “Fear not, neither be dismayed…” Now there would be victory over the small city of Ai.

Sin is dealt with by the Christian by going through the Son of God to the throne of God confessing our sin.

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

We ambush sin by confronting it, cutting it out, and putting on the Lord Jesus Christ; not coddling, cherishing, and making love with it.

“Fear not” seek God’s face through the cross of Jesus.