August 26 - Verdant Pastures

 Read today’s texts first: Jeremiah 50,51; 3 John

MAXIMize YOUR DAY

The world offers us astro-turf
but Jesus is our verdant pasture! 

I remember when my grand kids were visiting their GG (great grandmother) at Buchanan and we took them into the beautiful courtyard. The kids stretched out on the lush grass and noticed it wasn’t grass at all – it’s astro turf. Clean, neat, uniform, no maintenance, no mowing, no life! I pointed out that problem, the “no life” thing, when they started asking me to install it in their yard. We had just finished laying down thick, rich sod. I wished I had used the word “verdant” at that moment, but I just learned it today from reading Jeremiah. It’s my word for today, and it’s a good one!

The Bible often refers to us, humankind, as sheep, and in most cases we are wandering around looking a little lost. Sometimes we are led astray by following the wrong shepherds, which is what had happened in Jeremiah’s day. To solve that problem we are invited to follow the Good Shepherd, also known as the Great Shepherd, Jesus. The world offers us astro turf, a man-made grass facsimile that looks appealing but lacks the qualities of life. The pastures Jesus leads us to are verdant - lush, beautiful, nurturing, satisfying - full of life.

I always thought those pastures mentioned in Scripture were actual places, like a good home, a friendly church, a fulfilling workplace. But in the following passage note that these pastures are not a “what” or a “where,” but a “who.”  My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray and caused them to roam on the mountains. They wandered over mountain and hill and forgot their own resting place. Whoever found them devoured them; their enemies said, “We are not guilty, for they sinned against the Lord , their verdant pasture, the Lord, the hope of their ancestors” (50:6,7).

Even our enemies know that the green pastures we need to really “live” on this planet and on into the next life, are found in a person - Jesus. It doesn’t matter where we live as long as we stay close to Him. I’ve been praying hymns lately so this is my prayer today:

Saviour, like a shepherd lead us

Much we need thy tender care

In thy pleasant pastures feed us

For our use thy folds prepare

Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus

Thou hast bought us, thine we are.

August 25 - I Will Save You

 Read today’s texts first: Jeremiah 37-39; Psalms 79; 2 John

 MAXIMize YOUR DAY

Trust means making God’s plans for you your plans.
You may not know what they are but He does
and that’s good enough! 

It seems like a distant memory, but that wonderful promise we read about a few days ago, Jeremiah 29:11, is still true:  “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.” Unfortunately, for those who didn’t embrace the condition of obedience to God, protection and prosperity would not be provided, at least not in the short term. But for Jeremiah, who remained faithful to God despite some challenging circumstances, the promise definitely came to pass.

This is the word Jeremiah received from God as Jerusalem was being overtaken by the Babylonians: This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “I am about to fulfill my words against this city through disaster, not prosperity. At that time they will be fulfilled before your eyes. But I will rescue you on that day,”  declares the Lord; “you will not be handed over to those you fear. I will save you; you will not fall by the sword but will escape with your life, because you trust in me,” declares the Lord (39:16-18).

It seems that God’s plans for protection and prosperity can apply to nations and individuals. His promise to the nation of Israel (specifically Judah) will come to pass when they get their act together. In the meantime, while they are experiencing disastrous consequences for their collective sin, God is still caring for Jeremiah, and presumably other individuals who are still honouring Him. Even though he is thrown into prison and a deep, dark cistern, God is there, protecting him from harm.

This spoke to me. Our world today is facing disasters strikingly similar to the upheaval in Jeremiah’s day. Horrific terrorist attacks, wars, famines, plagues, earthquakes, persecution, false prophets - it almost sounds like the end times prophesied in Matthew 24:4-13 (which, in my opinion, is highly likely!). But the care for Jeremiah should encourage us that God can and will protect those who remain faithful to Him (v.13).

“Lord, when I make Your plans my plans I can trust in Your promise of protection and prosperity. There may be some dark cisterns along the way but there will be a light at the end when I am ‘lifted’ to safety.”

August 24 - The Water and the Blood

 Read today’s texts first: Jeremiah 33,34; Psalms 74; 1 John 5

MAXIMize YOUR DAY 

Believing the virgin birth of Jesus is key to
believing He is the Messiah, the Christ. 

Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. This is the one who came by water and blood - Jesus Christ (5:5,6). What is John, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, talking about? I believe he is again referring to the undeniable proof that Jesus was and is the Messiah, the promised Saviour of the world.

In our readings in Jeremiah today, God is promising through His prophet that there will be a Righteous Branch sprout from David’s line who will fulfill God’s covenant to restore His people (33:14,15). The same God who fixed the laws of heaven and earth will deliver on His promises (33:25).

As mentioned in the journal entry yesterday, John has made it clear how we must view Jesus if we are to be part of God’s family. If He is in fact the Son of God then His virgin birth is a foundational doctrine. It proves that He was born physically a man through Mary (came by water - see John’s conversation with Nicodemus in John 3:3-5). It also proves He was born spiritually from God’s seed, not Joseph’s. The blood that He shed on Calvary for us represented a life that was fully God and fully man. Like the first Adam, Jesus, the second Adam, was the only other person born on earth directly from God, uncontaminated by sin. He alone could battle Satan, the god of this world, and redeem what the first Adam lost.

John even wrote about the water and the blood that flowed from Jesus when He was pierced by the soldier’s spear (John 19:33-35). Dr. Stroud explained in his masterful book On the Physiological Cause of the Death of Christ how that physiological phenomenon proved Jesus died of a ruptured heart. But it also symbolized the spiritual heart of God breaking for us, and proved again that Jesus was the Son of God.

“Lord, my prayer today is in song:

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure,
Save from wrath and make me pure.”

 

 

August 23 - Test the Spirits

 Read today’s texts first: Jeremiah 31,32; 1 John 4 

MAXIMize YOUR DAY 

Any spirit or belief system that does not believe
Jesus is the Christ is quite obviously Anti-Christ! 

This chapter in 1 John is the measuring stick for evaluating belief systems: Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist (4:1-3). The dividing line is their view of the virgin-born Son of God. If Jesus is not seen as fully God and fully man, then He cannot be our Saviour.

While I was a student in Bible College we learned how false religions, cults and even some fringe Christian sects can be identified by their faulty view of Christ. Though warned not to by the college president, I took a good friend into a spiritist church (oh, the foolishness of youth!). It seemed like a regular Christian service at first, complete with the sharing of “testimonies.” But though we heard about healings and miracles, there was no mention of sin, salvation or Jesus. When the congregation divided themselves into small rooms where they could join hands and experience spirit entities, we politely excused ourselves. When one of the leaders followed us out the front door, I explained we were students of the Bible and what he just saw in there did not measure up (young, foolish, and not very diplomatic!).

I learned many things that day (like obeying your elders), but foremost was the importance of sound doctrine.  We interpret experience based on Scripture, not the other way around. People get into serious trouble when they pursue experiences and then proof text Scripture to fit. Experiences, like encountering the genuine love of God, will follow behind a real relationship with the Son of God based on the truth of His Word: If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him (4:15,16).

“Lord, of all the tests in life, none is more important than testing and identifying the spirit of the antichrist. If only Your people had tested the false gods they served in Jeremiah’s day (32:29-35). As the false spirits of my day call out to me, give me the wisdom of Your Spirit to mark them with a failing grade!”

August 22 - Plans to Prosper

 Read today’s texts first: Jeremiah 28-30; 1 John 3

MAXIMize YOUR DAY

Like the posters and plaques on our walls,
we tend to highlight what God will do for us
but edit out what we must do for Him. 

Reading through Jeremiah is not always uplifting. No wonder he was called the “Weeping Prophet!” These were dark days for God’s people. But knowing we were heading into chapter 29 today, toward one of the most quoted verses of the entire Bible, I kept my eyes and heart open to the surrounding context.

First the verse: “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” (29:11). Such an encouraging word - makes you warm and fuzzy! It certainly seems appropriate for a wall plaque or greeting card. But as Paul Harvey would say, we need to hear the rest of the story.

The context for this promise is not quite as warm or fuzzy - it is cold, harsh and crystal clear:  “I will pursue them with the sword, famine and plague and will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth and an object of cursing and horror, of scorn and reproach, among all the nations where I drive them. For they have not listened to my words,” declares the Lord, “words that I sent to them again and again by my servants the prophets. And you exiles have not listened either,” declares the Lord (28:17-19). There is an obvious condition to this promise - listen and obey. If you don’t, God’s plans for you may not be so prosperous; in fact, they just may be quite harmful, at least in the short term!

Like so many of the promises we post on our walls and magnetize to our fridges, we tend to highlight what God will do for us but edit out what we must do for Him. Our reading in 1 John confirms the conditions of God’s promises. Dear friends, if our conscience is clear, we can come to God with bold confidence. And we will receive whatever we request because we obey him and do the things that please him. And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us (3:21-23).

“Lord, what do you have planned for me to do today? Your plans are my plans today and every day - I like Your promise of a hope-filled future!”

August 21 - The Anointing Abides

 Read today’s texts first: Jeremiah 21, 24, 27; Psalms 118; 1 John 2

 MAXIMize YOUR DAY

God’s Master Plan for the whole world
includes a very personalized plan just for you! 

Past journal entries have revealed my bias for free choice, that Jesus loves everyone, died for the whole world, and offers His free gift of salvation to anyone who will receive it. I also believe in apostasy, that it’s possible, though extremely difficult, to walk away from a very real faith in Jesus. Reform theology suggests that if God is sovereign then He chooses some to be saved (and by logical extension, some to be damned) and those He saves are eternally secure. In other words, God is the puppet master and we are His puppets, and that simply doesn’t describe a loving God.

I do believe in God’s sovereignty, that the choices we have are a result of His choice. Some who contend against reform theology lean too far toward man’s power to choose, to the point that they think of themselves as the puppet master and of God as their puppet. Word faith teachers can fall into that extreme by reducing faith and prayer into formulas for success. If you name it and claim it then God is obligated to help you attain it. Not so!

Another man-centred concept often found in that doctrinal package is God’s transient anointing. If you can generate enough faith and resulting favour with God, then His anointing will come upon you. This idea creates a demand for celebrity preachers, prophets and faith healers, known for their powerful anointing. Our reading today debunks this spurious doctrine. God’s anointing is the presence of His Spirit. He doesn’t come and go based on how spiritual you are or think you are - the “anointing” abides (2:17).

His abiding presence and power is available to every Spirit-filled believer, all the time, wherever you are. You cannot lose the anointing as long as you remain in Him. “Lord, I am grateful I do not have to chase after your anointing in my life or in someone else. All I need for my life or to help someone else is found in You, and You are right here with me!”

August 20 - Walk in the Light

 Read today’s texts first: Jeremiah 48,49; Psalms 67; 1 John 1

MAXIMize YOUR DAY

Putting on blinders and saying God doesn’t exist
is like an ostrich burying his head in the sand
(which they don’t actually do because it’s stupid!) 

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin (1:5-7).

One of the residents at Buchanan I really enjoy spending time with is legally blind. I make it a point to escort her to the various chapel services because her positivity inspires me. When I see her, I often think of Fanny Crosby, one of the most prolific hymn writers of all time. She too was physically blind but her songs made it clear she could see just fine into the spiritual realm: Perfect submission, perfect delight, visions of rapture now burst on my sight, angels descending, bring from above, echoes of mercy, whispers of love. This is my story this is my song, praising my Saviour all the day long!

There is a blessed assurance we experience when we walk in the light. But there are those who can see physically yet choose to walk in spiritual darkness. I recall a news story about a fellow who calls himself a Pastafarian from the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. He insists on wearing a colander on his head for religious reasons, essentially to make fun of people who believe in God. His “church” was started to ridicule creationists, which if it wasn’t so sad would make me laugh. Mocking someone who sees creation and acknowledges a Creator is the same as mocking someone who acknowledges a painter when they see a painting or a builder when they see a building. To me it is common sense and the one who doesn’t see that is actually the fool (Ps. 14:1). He is stumbling his way through spiritual darkness, in this case with a pasta strainer on his head!

It is true that people tend to love the darkness more than the light because they don’t want their deeds to be exposed (John 3:19,20). Those who see the obvious evidence of God yet choose not to believe are putting on blinders, hoping by not recognizing God they are no longer accountable for their other choices. God says otherwise and the prophecies in today’s readings in Jeremiah are proof of that.

“Lord, I do want to walk in your light. I love what Your Word and Your Spirit has to say to me every day. This is my story this is my song, praising my Saviour all the day long!”