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Blog Archives:
February, 2005
By Suzanne Leitz
February 25, 2005 HE
WHO HAS EARS TO HEAR....
Psalm 107 continues describing the plights of a people of God who
alternately rebelled (verses
11 & 17) then cried out to the Lord, rebelled then cried out to
the Lord. Of course, when they cried out to Him, did He say, "Oh, NOOO.
You didn't want me. You would hear none of my counsel. Get away!" He could
have rightfully done that. But four times--in verses
6, 13, 19, and 28--the psalmist reports that "they cried out to
the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress."
Four times--in verses
8, 15, 21, and 31--God's people are encouraged to "give thanks to
the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men."
The last verse of the
chapter (43) admonishes:
"Whoever is wise,
let him heed these things and consider the great love of the Lord."
Love...It's the only
way you can explain someone who keeps forgiving after being rejected and
forgotten. Of course, as
I Corinthians 13:4-8 tells us, that's what love is. It is patient
and kind. It is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. It
is longsuffering. It always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres (never
gives up). I guess this is why love never fails. This is why God will
never fail us. This is why He continues to deliver those who cry out to
Him, no matter the way they have treated Him.
That last verse (Psalm
107:43) reminds me of something Jesus used to
say to the disciples: "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
In other words, "If
you're smart, you'll pay attention and learn a lesson here."
I want to be counted
among the wise. I want to learn lessons the easy way (through quick
obedience to His word) instead of the hard way (initial rebellion leading
to tough experiences that could have been avoided).
February 11, 2005 I'M
A KING, TOO
Today's entry actually
comes from a verse Craig (my husband) shared with me as we were reading
our Bibles together this morning. It's the whole chapter of
Psalm 21 (there are only 13 verses). Click
here and read it. You should really read it in more than one
translation to let it get all over you.
Now, to be fair and to
keep it in context, David is writing this psalm about himself. So why did
God allow it to be included in the Bible? Because we can get something out
of it.
David was a king. What
does that have to do with me?
Revelation 1:5-6 says:
"5and
from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and
the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us
from our sins in His own blood, 6and has
made us kings and priests to His God and
Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."
Spiritually speaking,
Jesus made me a king and a priest when He made me a
child of God. If you want another witness,
read
Revelation 5:9-10.
So, you do what you
want to do. But I am putting myself in the place of David and proclaiming
this word in faith!
February 9, 2005
LESSONS FROM THE DESERT
I’ve gleaned a wealth of wisdom from
Psalm 106. This chapter talks about the failure of the Israelites
to remember the great things God did for them.
The Lord had delivered them from a life of captivity and slavery, as
they had been asking of Him. When they departed, they left HEALTHY and
WEALTHY (Psalm
105:37). When they got to the Red Sea with Pharoah's army on their
heels, God opened the sea and they walked through on dry land. Then God
closed the sea on their enemies as they gave chase. Oh, they partied then!
But how quickly they forgot.
Here's a breakdown of their deplorable acts, and God's answer.
| THEY: |
GOD: |
- gave no thought to His miracles;
- did not remember His kindnesses;
- rebelled by the sea.
|
- saved them for His name's sake;
- dried up the Red Sea;
- saved them from their enemy.
|
- BELIEVED HIS PROMISES AND SANG HIS PRAISE!
|
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- soon forgot what He had done;
- did not wait for His counsel;
- gave in to their craving;
- put God to the test.
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- gave them what they asked for;
- BUT sent a wasting disease upon them.
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- grew envious of Moses and Aaron who were
consecrated to the Lord;
- made a calf;
- worshiped an idol;
- exchanged their Glory for an image of a bull;
- forgot the God who saved them, who had done great
things in Egypt, Ham, and by the Red Sea;
- despised the pleasant land;
- did not believe His promise;
- grumbled in their tents;
- did not obey the Lord.
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- swore that he would make them fall in the desert
and scatter them throughout the lands.
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- yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor;
- ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods;
- provoked the Lord to anger by their wicked deeds.
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- A plague broke out among them, but Phinehas stood
up and intervened, and the plague was checked. This was credited to
him as righteousness for endless generations to come.
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- angered the Lord by the waters of Meribah;
- caused trouble to come to Moses because of them;
- rebelled against the Spirit of God;
- did not destroy the peoples as the Lord had
commanded them;
- BUT mingled with the nations;
- adopted the customs of the other nations;
- worshiped their idol, which became a snare to
them;
- sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons;
- shed innocent blood;
- defiled themselves;
- prostituted themselves.
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- was angry with His people;
- abhorred His inheritance;
- handed them over to the nations, and their foes
to rule over them;
- took note of their distress when He heard their
cry;
- for their sake He remembered his covenant;
- out of His great love he relented, causing them
to be pitied by those who held them captive.
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Can't we be a little smarter than those thick-headed, rebellious,
ungrateful, immoral, idol-worshipping, self-prostituting, disobedient,
grumbling, unbelieving, unfaithful, forgetful Israelites? PLEASE!
In
Hebrews 3, Paul in referring to the Israelites' sin, warns us:
12See to it, brothers, that none of you
has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.
Here's the key, given in
Hebrews 4:2:
2For we also have had the gospel preached
to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to
them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.
How can we NOT be like
the Israelites? Put God first. Obey Him. Maintain an attitude of
gratitude. Be teachable. Have faith in Him; believe His word.
© 2005 Suzanne Leitz |
BLOG ARCHIVES:
November, 2004
December, 2004
January, 2005
February, 2005
March, 2005
April, 2005
May, 2005
June, 2005
July, 2005
August, 2005
September,
2005
October, 2005
November, 2005
December,
2005
January, 2006
February,
2006
March, 2006
April, 2006
May, 2006
July, 2006
August, 2006
November,
2006
Articles by Suzanne |
