The story of Jacob proves that God's purpose goes on, no matter how imperfect we might be. I don't mean that Jacob was a sorry person in the sense of work, but that he did some awfully deceitful things in his life. Poor old Esau got the brunt of most of it when they were young - like stealing the birthright and the blessing that went along with it. But the fact is that in spite of his shortcomings, God's purpose was realized through Jacob.
This should be good news to us. We are also not perfect. If we knew as much about each other's private lives as we know about Jacob's we would fully understand why God used Jacob. Throughout the Bible we read of imperfect people who were used of God to carry out His purpose. Moses, the murderer, is a good example. He quibbled with God about leading the children of Israel out of Egypt, before he finally succumbed to the will of God. God used Moses in a mighty way in spite of his shortcomings. We are imperfect human beings, but we serve an almighty, perfect God. We make mistakes, but He does not make mistakes. We fail at times, but God never fails. Knowing this should help us understand that God's purpose is still being carried out, no matter how bad the situation gets in our world. The world has always been in turmoil, as it is today, but God works through, over and beyond the turmoil. We fret and worry about what is going to happen between the Jews and Arabs. Good heavens, those people have been fussing for thousands of years, and the only thing that will solve that problem is the coming of Jesus. I am a history buff (notice that I did not write historian) and from what I read, God has always been in control, no matter how sorry the world situation. Read the Bible. Nowhere does the Bible promise a trouble-free world until He makes all things new in the New Jerusalem. So God will go on using imperfect people until He brings everything to an end. Let us be grateful, that as imperfect as we are, God still uses us. I want to thank Jacob for reassuring me today that God can use me, as imperfect as I am. (No surprise there.) Bro. Joe
0 Comments
When is Jesus coming again? I don't know, but I don't feel ignorant because I am in good company. In Matthew 25:36 Jesus said: "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no not the angels of heaven, but my Father only."
All of the events of the end-time are in the mind and heart of God and will unfold as He deems necessary. Jesus added in Matthew 25:44: "Therefore be ye ready; for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh." The point is that we are to be ready for His coming. As I've often said: "I'm not on the time and place committee, but I am on the preparation committee." There is another aspect to this matter of preparation that I picked up on in Acts 1, where Jesus is about to ascend to the Father. His disciples ask Him a question:"Lord, wilt thou restore again the kingdom to Israel.?" Here is Jesus' answer and introduces the other aspect of preparing for His coming that I mentioned above. Jesus said: "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power. But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." (Acts 1:7-8) Jesus told them not to spend their time speculating but serving, because the Father is perfectly capable of taking care of His end of the bargain. As the angel said to Jesus' disciples in Acts 1:11: "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven." It's almost as if the angel is saying, "Didn't you hear what He said? Stop gazing and go witness as He told you." In this matter we are not speculators or spectators, rather we are participants, servants who are to "occupy 'til He comes." Bro. Joe “Heaven and earth shall pass away; but my words shall not pass away. 32. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. 33. Take ye heed, watch and pray; for you know not when the time is.”
All of the Christians that I know believe that Jesus is coming again. For the past 2,000 years since Jesus ascended to the Father, people have wanted to predict when all of the end time things will happen. Any who have ever tried to set a date and took their followers with them in their prediction have ended up embarrassing themselves and their followers. Why won’t people just believe Jesus when He says: “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only.” The clincher for me is when He says: “neither the Son.” Why would I think that I could know something that Jesus did not claim to know? I have written before and said in churches that I am not on the time and place committee, but on the preparation committee. This is where I want to come down in this article. Jesus said: “Take heed, watch and pray; for you know not when the time is.” In other words, Jesus is telling us that we are to stay prepared for His coming at all times. The words “take heed, watch and pray” grabbed me as I read this. What does Jesus mean by this? I think that Jesus means that we are to watch what we think. I think you will agree with me that one of our greatest battles as Christians is in our thought lives. Satan loves to play with our minds, and he loves to get us to listen to and look at things that will give us impure thoughts. Proverbs 23:7 warns that “As (a man) thinks in his heart so is he.” The problem with impure thinking is that what starts in our minds, ends up in our hearts, and what is in our hearts is often what we act on, or at least obsess on. We can’t always help the thoughts that cross our minds, but we can erase them before they reach our hearts. One of the problems of the world is that we think up bad things and dwell on them. What would you want to have on your mind if Jesus came for you today? You have probably already guessed that the next point is that we are to watch what we do. God told the Israelites at one point that they were doing things that even the Canaanites would not do. God judges us based on what we do, but that is no surprise to us. We need to also realize that people around us notice what we do too. We might think that we are doing something wrong in secret, but somebody, somewhere, will find out. Our witness to the world depends on what we do. I often hear people criticizing people about their actions though they are in church every Sunday. People aren’t blind, nor are they deaf. God is watching what we do, and that should be enough to make us stop and think about what we do. What would you want to be doing today if Jesus returned for you? Would you want to be doing what you normally do, or would what you normally do be an embarrassment to you? Finally, we are to watch what we allow into our minds and hearts, and what we allow ourselves to do. We have a God-given will, and we can allow or not allow the wrong things to take up housekeeping in our hearts, minds and actions. I’ve never met a person who said that he or she was not aware of right and wrong. Even when I did Bible studies in the two prisons in our county, I never had a prisoner raise his hand and say that he did not know right from wrong. We do wrong because we give ourselves permission to do so. We have the will to do good or to do wrong. What would you allow into your minds, hearts and actions if you knew that Jesus was returning today? Jesus is coming – take heed!!! Bro. Joe |
AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
All
Archives
September 2021
|