Jesus Commissions Disciples

God's Urgent Call
Calling of Prophets

Called to Witness

Acts 1:1-11 The Message

To the Ends of the World

1 1-5 Dear Theophilus, in the first volume of this book I wrote on everything that Jesus began to do and teach until the day he said good-bye to the apostles, the ones he had chosen through the Holy Spirit, and was taken up to heaven. After his death, he presented himself alive to them in many different settings over a period of forty days. In face-to-face meetings, he talked to them about things concerning the kingdom of God. As they met and ate meals together, he told them that they were on no account to leave Jerusalem but “must wait for what the Father promised: the promise you heard from me. John baptized in water; you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit. And soon.”
6 When they were together for the last time they asked, “Master, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now? Is this the time?”
7-8 He told them, “You don’t get to know the time. Timing is the Father’s business. What you’ll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world.”
9-11 These were his last words. As they watched, he was taken up and disappeared in a cloud. They stood there, staring into the empty sky. Suddenly two men appeared—in white robes! They said, “You Galileans!—why do you just stand here looking up at an empty sky? This very Jesus who was taken up from among you to heaven will come as certainly—and mysteriously—as he left.”

For Reflection

As Christ has commissioned His disciples, He also calls us into service.  They ask as we sometimes do, “Master, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now?"  They expected Christ to do the work from which they would benefit.

Instead, Christ tells them that they are to spread the good news.  They, and now we, are to work for the Kingdom of God in the here and now and God will decide when the task is complete.

As the Holy Spirit has entered the souls of the Disciples, it will enter our souls and lead us to the work for which God made us.  Our role is clear. We are to witness to God's sovereignty and power. We are to show the world the veracity in a life lived in the hollow of the hands of God.

Pray

Pray that you will recognize the call for which you were made.  Pray that you will open your soul to the infinite possibility of service to the Lord.

David's Kingdom Restored

God's Urgent Call
Calling of Prophets

Amos's Call 

Amos 9:11-15 The Message 

Blessings Like Wine Pouring off the Mountains

11-12 “But also on that Judgment Day I will restore David’s house that has fallen to pieces. I’ll repair the holes in the roof, replace the broken windows, fix it up like new. David’s people will be strong again and seize what’s left of enemy Edom, plus everyone else under my sovereign judgment.” God’s Decree. He will do this.
13-15 “Yes indeed, it won’t be long now.” God’s Decree.
“Things are going to happen so fast your head will swim, one thing fast on the heels of the other. You won’t be able to keep up. Everything will be happening at once—and everywhere you look, blessings! Blessings like wine pouring off the mountains and hills. I’ll make everything right again for my people Israel:
“They’ll rebuild their ruined cities.
They’ll plant vineyards and drink good wine.
They’ll work their gardens and eat fresh vegetables.
And I’ll plant them, plant them on their own land.
They’ll never again be uprooted from the land I’ve given them.”
God, your God, says so.

For Reflection

Amos shows us the kind of life that is possible if one is God centered and follows Christ's example.  It is a doubtless expression of the will of God. It naturally flows as a result of transformed people who experience life in the image of God.

What is the cost of such a preposterously ambitious proposal? The cost is your life, given to the Glory of God.  The reward is to be more fully human and at one with the Holy Spirit.

The choice is yours. It's time to pay up.

Pray

Pray for opportunities to witness to the Holy Spirit which resides within you.  Pray for the courage to live as Christ has lived.  Pray and listen for God's whispered wisdom.

Let Justice Roll Down Like Waters

God's Urgent Call
Calling of Prophets

Amos's Call 

Amos 5:18-24 The Message

Time to Face Hard Reality, Not Fantasy

18-20 Woe to all of you who want God’s Judgment Day!
    Why would you want to see God, want him to come?
When God comes, it will be bad news before it’s good news,
    the worst of times, not the best of times.
Here’s what it’s like: A man runs from a lion
    right into the jaws of a bear.
A woman goes home after a hard day’s work
    and is raped by a neighbor.
At God’s coming we face hard reality, not fantasy—
    a black cloud with no silver lining.
21-24 “I can’t stand your religious meetings.
    I’m fed up with your conferences and conventions.
I want nothing to do with your religion projects,
    your pretentious slogans and goals.
I’m sick of your fund-raising schemes,
    your public relations and image making.
I’ve had all I can take of your noisy ego-music.
    When was the last time you sang to me?
Do you know what I want?
    I want justice—oceans of it.
I want fairness—rivers of it.
    That’s what I want. That’s all I want.

For Reflection

We sing God's Glory.  We assert God's sovereignty. We meet each Sabbath in God's name. We Pray for God's Blessing. We sing in tribute to God. Is God so insecure that God needs such adoration?

I think not! God doesn't need our praise or adoration.  Such prayers are for ourselves so that we remember who God is and define our commitment and relationship to God. God wants our collaboration in forming Gods Kingdom on Earth. Wants our action.  God wants us to foster justice.

Social justice and distributive justice is not a liberal agenda nor a nieve fantasy, anti-government, anti-economic growth, or any number of misdirected allegations from those who want to keep things just as they are.  It is a deep seated Christian imperative. Inspired by Jesus, social justice is a deeply spiritual practice.  How are you contributing to a fair and just world?

Pray

Pray prayers of worship to God so that you will remember your story of God's love. Pray prayers of thanksgiving and praise so that you will be centered in your faith.  Pray that you will glorify God through acts of justice, empowerment, and love.

Seek God and Live

God's Urgent Call
Calling of Prophets

Amos's Call 

Amos 5:10-15 The Message 

10-12 People hate this kind of talk.
    Raw truth is never popular.
But here it is, bluntly spoken:
    Because you run roughshod over the poor
    and take the bread right out of their mouths,
You’re never going to move into
    the luxury homes you have built.
You’re never going to drink wine
    from the expensive vineyards you’ve planted.
I know precisely the extent of your violations,
    the enormity of your sins. Appalling!
You bully right-living people,
    taking bribes right and left and kicking the poor when they’re down.
13 Justice is a lost cause. Evil is epidemic.
    Decent people throw up their hands.
Protest and rebuke are useless,
    a waste of breath.
14 Seek good and not evil—
    and live!
You talk about God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
    being your best friend.
Well, live like it,
    and maybe it will happen.
15 Hate evil and love good,
    then work it out in the public square.
Maybe God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
    will notice your remnant and be gracious.

For Reflection

"You can't handle the truth!"

Yes, the truth is hard for some.  The truth can violate your vision of who you are and what you are doing is of value.  No one wants to see himself or herself as a no-account. Some will respond to the criticism and repent,  but more will become defensive and reject the message that their folly is doomed to failure.

Amos recommends that we love God, trust God and respond to God's love for us by letting the Holy Spirit fill us with the capacity to do good.  If we find cultural facets that we find abhorrent, rather than whine and criticize and wish things were different, create a new culture by helping people find a way to live a life that is less unfair, less painful and filled with the common good. Be Creative, not Destructive.  Build up, not Teardown! Do the righteous thing.

Pray

Pray about what disturbs you so that God will lead you to develop your creative ability to do good things that hallow God's name.

Oracle Against Israel

God's Urgent Call
Calling of Prophets

Amos's Call 

Amos 1:1-2,3:12-15 The Message

1 The Message of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa, that he received on behalf of Israel. It came to him in visions during the time that Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam II son of Joash was king of Israel, two years before the big earthquake.

Swallowing the Same Old Lies

2 The Message:
God roars from Zion,
    shouts from Jerusalem!
The thunderclap voice withers the pastures tended by shepherds,
    shrivels Mount Carmel’s proud peak.
12 God’s Message:
“In the same way that a shepherd
    trying to save a lamb from a lion
Manages to recover
    just a pair of legs or the scrap of an ear,
So will little be saved of the Israelites
    who live in Samaria—
A couple of old chairs at most,
    the broken leg of a table.
13-15 “Listen and bring witness against Jacob’s family”—
    this is God’s Word, God-of-the-Angel-Armies!
“Note well! The day I make Israel pay for its sins,
    pay for the sin-altars of worship at Bethel,
The horned altars will all be dehorned
    and scattered around.
I’ll tear down the winter palace,
    smash the summer palace—all your fancy buildings.
The luxury homes will be demolished,
    all those pretentious houses.”
        God’s Decree.

For Reflection

Again God's people have turned against him.  Because of their disobedience and idolatry, they have sealed their fate.  Of what good is their power and wealth? It will not save them from the fruits of their folly.

How much do you depend upon your personal power? How much do you depend on God?

Pray

Pray that you will be dependent upon God.  Pray that your need to build security is based upon your trust in God. Pray that you will have the courage and wisdom to follow in the footsteps of Christ.

Hananiah Opposes a Prophetic Message

God's Urgent Call
Calling of Prophets

Amos's Call 

Jeremiah 28:12-16 The Message

12-14 Later, sometime after Hananiah had smashed the yoke from off his shoulders, Jeremiah received this Message from God: “Go back to Hananiah and tell him, ‘This is God’s Message: You smashed the wooden yoke-bars; now you’ve got iron yoke-bars. This is a Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, Israel’s own God: I’ve put an iron yoke on all these nations. They’re harnessed to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. They’ll do just what he tells them. Why, I’m even putting him in charge of the wild animals.’”
15-16 So prophet Jeremiah told prophet Hananiah, “Hold it, Hananiah! God never sent you. You’ve talked the whole country into believing a pack of lies! And so God says, ‘You claim to be sent? I’ll send you all right—right off the face of the earth! Before the year is out, you’ll be dead because you fomented sedition against God.’”

For Reflection

At God's request, Jeremiah tells the people to submit to the awful rule of King Nebuchadnezzar so that they might avoid inhalation. They are asked to trust God. The bondage will only last a short time (70 Yrs.), and then they will again be free.

But the people became fearful and angry at such an unreasonable idea. Had it not been for Jeremiah's supporters, he would have been attacked and killed.

Hananiah then speaks for the people and invokes God's name urging the resistance to Babylon's aggression. Hananiah is a false prophet, and Jeremiah reveals his treacherous lies.

Pray

Pray for the wisdom to discern true from false prophets. Pray that you will trust in God no matter how unreasonable God's call may seem. Pray that you will remember that God has only your best interest as God's first interest.

Israel Exalted at Last

God's Urgent Call
Calling of Prophets

Ezekiels' Call 

Ezekiel 17:22-24 The Message

22-24 “‘God, the Master, says, I personally will take a shoot from the top of the towering cedar, a cutting from the crown of the tree, and plant it on a high and towering mountain, on the high mountain of Israel. It will grow, putting out branches and fruit—a majestic cedar. Birds of every sort and kind will live under it. They’ll build nests in the shade of its branches. All the trees of the field will recognize that I, God, made the great tree small and the small tree great, made the green tree turn dry and the dry tree sprout green branches. I, God, said it—and I did it.’”

For Reflection

The promise of God still stands as a pinnacle of hope for all humanity. God is the sovereign King of God's creation, majestic, powerful and full of grace. Rest in the shade of God.

Pray

Pray that your ears will soften to hear the word of God.  Pray that God's voice becomes your voice.  Pray confessions of sin and intercession in your journey toward repentance. Pray to seek the truth that lies in the birth, life, and death of Jesus Christ.

The Sentinel Must Convey God's Message

God's Urgent Call
Calling of Prophets

Ezekiels' Call 

Ezekiel 3:12-21 The Message 

12-13 Then the Spirit picked me up. Behind me I heard a great commotion—“Blessed be the Glory of God in his Sanctuary!”—the wings of the living creatures beating against each other, the whirling wheels, the rumble of a great earthquake.
14-15 The Spirit lifted me and took me away. I went bitterly and angrily. I didn’t want to go. But God had me in his grip. I arrived among the exiles who lived near the Kebar River at Tel Aviv. I came to where they were living and sat there for seven days, appalled.
16 At the end of the seven days, I received this Message from God:
17-19 “Son of man, I’ve made you a watchman for the family of Israel. Whenever you hear me say something, warn them for me. If I say to the wicked, ‘You are going to die,’ and you don’t sound the alarm warning them that it’s a matter of life or death, they will die and it will be your fault. I’ll hold you responsible. But if you warn the wicked and they keep right on sinning anyway, they’ll most certainly die for their sin, but you won’t die. You’ll have saved your life.
20-21 “And if the righteous turn back from living righteously and take up with evil when I step in and put them in a hard place, they’ll die. If you haven’t warned them, they’ll die because of their sins, and none of the right things they’ve done will count for anything—and I’ll hold you responsible. But if you warn these righteous people not to sin and they listen to you, they’ll live because they took the warning—and again, you’ll have saved your life.”

For Reflection

Ezekiel saw the wheel
Way up in the middle of the air
Ezekiel saw the wheel
Way up in the middle of the air

And the little wheel run by faith
And the big wheel run by the grace of God
A wheel in a wheel
Way up in the middle of the air

Better mind my sister how you walk on the Cross
Way up in the middle of the air
Your foot might slip and your soul be lost
Way up in the middle of the air

Two of my favorite recordings are kids singing this spiritual while playing basketball https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2RaNzjFpos) and
Harry Belafonte (https://youtu.be/7BJVWOJ5ybA) You may have to paste the URL into your browser.

Pray

Pray so that your foot might not slip.  Pray for humility.  Pray in praise of the loving God. Pray for the watchmen whom others will curse if they are faithful, and whom will anger God if they are false. Pray that you will listen for the watchman who carries a messsage of love and hope in repentance for sin.

Eat the Scroll and the Prophesy

God's Urgent Call
Calling of Prophets

Ezekiels' Call 

Revelation 10:8-11 The Message

8-11 The voice out of Heaven spoke to me again: “Go, take the book held open in the hand of the Angel astride sea and earth.” I went up to the Angel and said, “Give me the little book.” He said, “Take it, then eat it. It will taste sweet like honey, but turn sour in your stomach.” I took the little book from the Angel’s hand and it was sweet honey in my mouth, but when I swallowed, my stomach curdled. Then I was told, “You must go back and prophesy again over many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”

For Reflection

It is not enough to take the Scriptures in hand or to brandish them as a weapon.  It is not sufficient to read them once.  The voice of Heaven instructs the apostle to devour them.  He predicts that the first read will be sweet.  To look into the future is pleasurable. But as one digests what has been written, one realizes the dire result of infidelity to the word of God.  One recognizes the urgency of God's invitation to reconcile.

Pray

Pray that you will accept the call of Christ to follow His way.  Pray that your life will be a constant invitation for others to live a life in the hollow of God's hands.  Pray that you will respond to the urgency of God's overture and hallow God in all that you do.  Pray that you will be a beckoning source of love in a world filled with hate,

Lamentation, Mourning and Woe

God's Urgent Call
Calling of Prophets

Ezekiels' Call 

Ezekiel 2:8-10 The Message

8 “Only take care, son of man, that you don’t rebel like these rebels. Open your mouth and eat what I give you.”
9-10 When I looked he had his hand stretched out to me, and in the hand a book, a scroll. He unrolled the scroll. On both sides, front and back, were written lamentations and mourning and doom.
36-37 These things that happened confirmed the Scripture, “Not a bone in his body was broken,” and the other Scripture that reads, “They will stare at the one they pierced."

For Reflection

The pressure to conform to social and religious norms can be enormous. Society pushes to maintain stability by enforcing the status quo. Even when the religious climate is dysfunctional, the adherents zealously strive to support it.  It is not unusual for such challenges to become violent. Jeremiah experienced it and so does Ezekiel.

Therefore, God warns Ezekiel to guard against succumbing to the pressure by devouring God's word, infusing the scriptures into his whole mental, spiritual, and physical being.  It is Ezekiel's armor and God's word is his sword.  The words cut into the core of the Israelites being and they defend themselves rather than examine their souls.

Today's prophets face the same challenge.  The Christian camps have been established. They carry the name of Christ but vary widely in philosophy and practice. Like the Israelites, they too will defend their faith definitions to their deaths. They too, “... will stare at the one they pierced."

Pray

Pray for those who have succumbed to the fear of living. Pray for those lives that are conflicted by competing interpretations of the Christian faith.  Pray and study scripture as seekers of the truth.  Seek wisdom as the deer seek water. Take the time to examine prayerfully your faith and your soul.  Pray and listen to the loving counsel of God. Pray so that you can know God as Christ knows God.

Ezekiel, the Lord's Messenger

God's Urgent Call
Calling of Prophets

Ezekiel's Call 

Ezekiel 2:1-7 The Message

1 It said, “Son of man, stand up. I have something to say to you.”

2 The moment I heard the voice, the Spirit entered me and put me on my feet. As he spoke to me, I listened.

3-7 He said, “Son of man, I’m sending you to the family of Israel, a rebellious nation if there ever was one. They and their ancestors have fomented rebellion right up to the present. They’re a hard case, these people to whom I’m sending you—hardened in their sin. Tell them, ‘This is the Message of God, the Master.’ They are a defiant bunch. Whether or not they listen, at least they’ll know that a prophet’s been here. But don’t be afraid of them, son of man, and don’t be afraid of anything they say. Don’t be afraid when living among them is like stepping on thorns or finding scorpions in your bed. Don’t be afraid of their mean words or their hard looks. They’re a bunch of rebels. Your job is to speak to them. Whether they listen is not your concern. They’re hardened rebels.

For Reflection

Israel, again degenerated, needed a course correction.  God selected Ezekiel, a priest, to become a prophet.  God offers no choice to Ezekiel.  God calls, and Ezekiel obeys. The Holy Spirit enters Ezekiel, yanks him to his feet, ready to walk in obedience to God's call.  

God was aware of the difficulty of the mission God was sending him to perform.  God tells Ezekiel not to fear even if they respond with unkind words and action.  It is Ezekiel's task to communicate God's displeasure.  

That Israel listens is not a measure of Ezekiel's success.  It is tough duty, but God councils Ezekiel to be fearless in the face of their rebellion.

Pray

Meditate on God's mission for your life in Christ.  Pray that you will obey your call to witness to the love of God and God's intentions for human life in the Kingdom of God.  Pray that you will face your commission fearlessly.

God's Urgent Call
Calling of Prophets

Jeremiah's Call and Commission

Mark 1:16-20 The Message 

16-18 Passing along the beach of Lake Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew net-fishing. Fishing was their regular work. Jesus said to them, “Come with me. I’ll make a new kind of fisherman out of you. I’ll show you how to catch men and women instead of perch and bass.” They didn’t ask questions. They dropped their nets and followed.
19-20 A dozen yards or so down the beach, he saw the brothers James and John, Zebedee’s sons. They were in the boat, mending their fishnets. Right off, he made the same offer. Immediately, they left their father Zebedee, the boat, and the hired hands, and followed.

For Reflection

We worship God and follow Christ. Christ calls us to be confederates of God.  Christ calls us to study, to follow his example, and to teach as he has taught. We are not invited to wander without purpose.  We are the instruments in God's symphony.   We are called to reject a purely human form and accept a form which embraces the Holly Spirit.

God has given us a choice.  We are free to reject all which is inconsistent with God's law as tempered by love.  Are we to be lost in the rip currents of life or are we to seek salvation on the shores of God's kingdom?  To rest in God is your choice and God's profound hope.

Pray

Pray prayers of confession and contrition. Pray so that you will have the wisdom to reject false prophets. Pray that you will hear, understand, and respond to prophetic judgment and hope in God's grace. Pray that you will honor God in all that you do.

Egypt Punished; Israel Saved

God's Urgent Call
Calling of Prophets

Jeremiah's Call and Commission

Jeremiah 4:25-28 The Message

23-26 I looked at the earth—
    it was back to pre-Genesis chaos and emptiness.
I looked at the skies,
    and not a star to be seen.
I looked at the mountains—
    they were trembling like aspen leaves,
And all the hills
    rocking back and forth in the wind.
I looked—what’s this! Not a man or woman in sight,
    and not a bird to be seen in the skies.
I looked—this can’t be! Every garden and orchard shriveled up.
    All the towns were ghost towns.
And all this because of God,
    because of the blazing anger of God.
27-28 Yes, this is God’s Word on the matter:
“The whole country will be laid waste—
    still it won’t be the end of the world.
The earth will mourn
    and the skies lament
Because I’ve given my word and won’t take it back.
    I’ve decided and won’t change my mind.”

For Reflection

(Thou shall have no other gods before me.) The essence of sin is idolatry. The turning from God's law and God's promise will always result in desolation.  Is it God who punishes or is it a dire consequence of committing such an overwhelming rejection of the One who created and who sustains life that even the Earth trembles, the birds flee, gardens and orchards shrivel?

God is angery at the human rejection of God's love.  The whole creation laments.  God cries out. God suffers but will not violate God's will to preserve human choice. Even so, God offers hope through the promise of divine forgiveness. God's overture to reconcile and return to the household is unconditional and eternal.

Pray

Pray that you will always remember that you are a child of God.  Pray that when you forget that God is the center of all things, you will be humble enough to confess your sin and return to abide in the household of God.

Prophetic Message from the Potter

God's Urgent Call
Calling of Prophets

Jeremiah's Call and Commission

Jeremiah 18:1-11 The Message

To Worship the Big Lie

18 1-2 God told Jeremiah, “Up on your feet! Go to the potter’s house. When you get there, I’ll tell you what I have to say.”
3-4 So I went to the potter’s house, and sure enough, the potter was there, working away at his wheel. Whenever the pot the potter was working on turned out badly, as sometimes happens when you are working with clay, the potter would simply start over and use the same clay to make another pot.
5-10 Then God’s Message came to me: “Can’t I do just as this potter does, people of Israel?” God’s Decree! “Watch this potter. In the same way that this potter works his clay, I work on you, people of Israel. At any moment I may decide to pull up a people or a country by the roots and get rid of them. But if they repent of their wicked lives, I will think twice and start over with them. At another time I might decide to plant a people or country, but if they don’t cooperate and won’t listen to me, I will think again and give up on the plans I had for them.
11 “So, tell the people of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem my Message: ‘Danger! I’m shaping doom against you, laying plans against you. Turn back from your doomed way of life. Straighten out your lives.’

For Reflection

God's warning of doom is a request for course correction.  Like a potter turns a pot with caressing hands, God molds us.  Sometimes we, like the clay are too soft and we become malformed.  God is always present to strengthen us with hope.  God supplies the courage.  We provide obedience to God's word.

Pray

"Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me."

Assured of the Lord's Deliverance

Calling of Prophets

Jeremiah's Call and Commission

Jeremiah 15:10-21 The Message

Giving Everything Away for Nothing

10-11 Unlucky mother—that you had me as a son,
    given the unhappy job of indicting the whole country!
I’ve never hurt or harmed a soul,
    and yet everyone is out to get me.
But, God knows, I’ve done everything I could to help them,
    prayed for them and against their enemies.
I’ve always been on their side, trying to stave off disaster.
    God knows how I’ve tried!
12-14 “O Israel, O Judah, what are your chances
    against the iron juggernaut from the north?
In punishment for your sins, I’m giving away
    everything you’ve got, giving it away for nothing.
I’ll make you slaves to your enemies
    in a strange and far-off land.
My anger is blazing and fierce,
    burning in hot judgment against you.”
15-18 You know where I am, God! Remember what I’m doing here!
    Take my side against my detractors.
Don’t stand back while they ruin me.
    Just look at the abuse I’m taking!
When your words showed up, I ate them—
    swallowed them whole. What a feast!
What delight I took in being yours,
    O God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies!
I never joined the party crowd
    in their laughter and their fun.
Led by you, I went off by myself.
    You’d filled me with indignation. Their sin had me seething.
But why, why this chronic pain,
    this ever worsening wound and no healing in sight?
You’re nothing, God, but a mirage,
    a lovely oasis in the distance—and then nothing!
19-21 This is how God answered me:
“Take back those words, and I’ll take you back.
    Then you’ll stand tall before me.
Use words truly and well. Don’t stoop to cheap whining.
    Then, but only then, you’ll speak for me.
Let your words change them.
    Don’t change your words to suit them.
I’ll turn you into a steel wall,
    a thick steel wall, impregnable.
They’ll attack you but won’t put a dent in you
    because I’m at your side, defending and delivering.”
        God’s Decree.
“I’ll deliver you from the grip of the wicked.
    I’ll get you out of the clutch of the ruthless.”

For Reflection

As could be expected, Jeremiah's warnings created opposition.  He illustrated their sin and explained how their idolatry would lead to their destruction.  He pleaded with them to repent and revealed the happy results of turning again to obedience to God's law. Predictably, they laid the blame on their impending destruction on Jeremiah.  The made him their enemy.

How often do we blame the messenger for bad news?  How often do we ignore the truth and look for a more comfortable solution?  How often do we defend the indefensible to avoid admitting that we are wrong?

Pray

Pray that you will listen to criticism with an open mind to discovering truth rather than defending your position.  Pray that you will hear the truth as spoken by modern-day prophets.  Pray that when sin is pointed out, you will ask God for forgiveness and change your ways.

By Almond Branch and Boiling Pot

God's Urgent Call
Calling of Prophets

Jeremiah's Call and Commission

Jeremiah 1:11-19 The Message 

Stand Up and Say Your Piece

11-12 God’s Message came to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?”
    I said, “A walking stick—that’s all.”
And God said, “Good eyes! I’m sticking with you.
    I’ll make every word I give you come true.”
13-15 God’s Message came again: “So what do you see now?”
    I said, “I see a boiling pot, tipped down toward us.”
Then God told me, “Disaster will pour out of the north
    on everyone living in this land.
Watch for this: I’m calling all the kings out of the north.”
    God’s Decree.
15-16 “They’ll come and set up headquarters
    facing Jerusalem’s gates,
Facing all the city walls,
    facing all the villages of Judah.
I’ll pronounce my judgment on the people of Judah
    for walking out on me—what a terrible thing to do!—
And courting other gods with their offerings,
    worshiping as gods sticks they’d carved, stones they’d painted.
17 “But you—up on your feet and get dressed for work!
    Stand up and say your piece. Say exactly what I tell you to say.
Don’t pull your punches
    or I’ll pull you out of the lineup.
18-19 “Stand at attention while I prepare you for your work.
    I’m making you as impregnable as a castle,
Immovable as a steel post,
    solid as a concrete block wall.
You’re a one-man defense system
    against this culture,
Against Judah’s kings and princes,
    against the priests and local leaders.
They’ll fight you, but they won’t
    even scratch you.
I’ll back you up every inch of the way.”
    God’s Decree.

For Reflection

Jeremiah was preaching the word of the covenant in Juda for some time.  It was a comfortable ministry.  But God's call for Jeremiah to reveal the sins of the people and to warn that their sins would lead to their ruin.

Jeremiah was not comfortable with this request.  But, God reassures him that God will give him the words to say, protect him and back him up.

Pray

Pray that you will answer God's call to be God's partner in advancing God's Kingdom.  Pray that you will accept God's commission with confidence that God will be with you driving out fear and healing you.

Practice Holiness While Waiting

God's Urgent Call
Calling of Prophets

Isiah in the Temple

2 Peter 3:11-16 The Message

11-13 Since everything here today might well be gone tomorrow, do you see how essential it is to live a holy life? Daily expect the Day of God, eager for its arrival. The galaxies will burn up and the elements melt down that day—but we’ll hardly notice. We’ll be looking the other way, ready for the promised new heavens and the promised new earth, all landscaped with righteousness.
14-16 So, my dear friends, since this is what you have to look forward to, do your very best to be found living at your best, in purity and peace. Interpret our Master’s patient restraint for what it is: salvation. Our good brother Paul, who was given much wisdom in these matters, refers to this in all his letters, and has written you essentially the same thing. Some things Paul writes are difficult to understand. Irresponsible people who don’t know what they are talking about twist them every which way. They do it to the rest of the Scriptures, too, destroying themselves as they do it.

For Reflection

Early Christians believed that Christ would again visit the Earth, perhaps in their lifetimes. It was the threat of not being chosen and the promise of hope that if one clothed one'self in righteousness he or she would be saved and ushered into a world free from wickedness.

Their vision of a new world has not yet happened.  Yet we know that Christ lives!  Christ has shown us the door into God's Kingdom.  The promise of God is kept alive in the hope expressed by all who believe and practice the holy living God as intended for us.  Righteousness is not a matter of reaping rewards.  Nor is it a matter of avoiding punishment.  God's overture for salvation Is an invitation to collaborate with God in the reconciliation of all peoples. The Salvation of hope is available to all to choose.  Rest in your choice to pursue holiness.

Pray

Pray so that you expect Jesus to enter your soul in the here and now.  Pray often so that God will make your call to a life in Christ a prayer of hope and salvation that wipes away the doubts and uncertainties of living in the hollow of God's hand. Pray that you will rest in the arms of God.

Perfect Your Holiness Living

God's Urgent Call
Calling of Prophets

Isiah in the Temple

2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1 The Message

14-18 Don’t become partners with those who reject God. How can you make a partnership out of right and wrong? That’s not partnership; that’s war. Is light best friends with dark? Does Christ go strolling with the Devil? Do trust and mistrust hold hands? Who would think of setting up pagan idols in God’s holy Temple? But that is exactly what we are, each of us a temple in whom God lives. God himself put it this way:
“I’ll live in them, move into them;
    I’ll be their God and they’ll be my people.
So leave the corruption and compromise;
    leave it for good,” says God.
“Don’t link up with those who will pollute you.
    I want you all for myself.
I’ll be a Father to you;
    you’ll be sons and daughters to me.”
The Word of the Master, God.

7 With promises like this to pull us on, dear friends, let’s make a clean break with everything that defiles or distracts us, both within and without. Let’s make our entire lives fit and holy temples for the worship of God.

For Reflection

We all have to blow our own nose.  Likewise, we all have to claim our own holy inheritance actively.  Yes, God will be with us, guiding and comforting. However, it is we who have to take the steps necessary to walk in the manner of God.

We are all acquainted with those who are lead by false prophets or down-right unbelievers just as were the Corinthians. Paul warns them and us that in our associations with others we choose not to be corrupted by them.  Paul asks us to remember who we are as children of God.  Paul reminds us what that means.  While we cannot avoid interactions with non-believers, we cannot be distracted by life's pressure to conform.  We must remain separate spiritually and psychologically if not socially.  We are bound to God. We must live in this world but not be of this world.

Pray

Pray that you will continue to grow in the grace of God.  Pray that you will have the courage to separate yourself from those who act in an unGodly manner.  Pray that your confidence in God will sustain you and lead you around the temptations of life and into a more robust relationship with God.

Gentiles Will Hear the Good News

God's Urgent Call
Calling of Prophets

Isiah in the Temple

Acts 28:23-28 The Message

23 They agreed on a time. When the day arrived, they came back to his home with a number of their friends. Paul talked to them all day, from morning to evening, explaining everything involved in the kingdom of God, and trying to persuade them all about Jesus by pointing out what Moses and the prophets had written about him.
24-27 Some of them were persuaded by what he said, but others refused to believe a word of it. When the unbelievers got cantankerous and started bickering with each other, Paul interrupted: “I have just one more thing to say to you. The Holy Spirit sure knew what he was talking about when he addressed our ancestors through Isaiah the prophet:
Go to this people and tell them this:
“You’re going to listen with your ears,
    but you won’t hear a word;
You’re going to stare with your eyes,
    but you won’t see a thing.
These people are blockheads!
They stick their fingers in their ears
    so they won’t have to listen;
They screw their eyes shut
    so they won’t have to look,
    so they won’t have to deal with me face-to-face
    and let me heal them.”
28 “You’ve had your chance. The non-Jewish outsiders are next on the list. And believe me, they’re going to receive it with open arms!”

For Reflection

The Jews who rejected the meaning of the resurrection of Christ were spiritually blinded by their adherence to their religion. For whatever reason, they could not accept the change in their faith that Christ represented.

As it was then it is now.  Many Christians are spiritually blinded by adherence to an inauthentic version of Christianity.  When is it OK for a Christian to advocate a violent act in the name of Christ?  When is it OK for a Christian to advocate retribution?  When is it Ok for a Christian to neglect the needs of the poor?  When is it OK for a Christian to violate God's presumptions, of truthfulness, mercy, forgiveness, justice, humility and the common good?

Pray

Pray, "lead me not into temptation."  Pray that all Christians will reject the subtle seduction of power to justify perversions of an authentic Christian Faith.  Pray that the prophets of our time will open our eyes to the truth of our Christian practices.

True Worship in Action

God's Urgent Call
Calling of Prophets

Isaiah in the Temple

Isaiah 58:6-12 The Message

6-9 “This is the kind of fast day I’m after:
    to break the chains of injustice,
    get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
    free the oppressed,
    cancel debts.
What I’m interested in seeing you do is:
    sharing your food with the hungry,
    inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
    putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
    being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on,
    and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
    The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.
    You’ll call out for help and I’ll say, ‘Here I am.’

A Full Life in the Emptiest of Places

9-12 “If you get rid of unfair practices,
    quit blaming victims,
    quit gossiping about other people’s sins,
If you are generous with the hungry
    and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,
Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
    your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.
I will always show you where to go.
    I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—
    firm muscles, strong bones.
You’ll be like a well-watered garden,
    a gurgling spring that never runs dry.
You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,
    rebuild the foundations from out of your past.
You’ll be known as those who can fix anything,
    restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,
    make the community livable again.

For Reflection

When public governance fails and the ministers of the word become insignificant, prophet's voices raise warnings and recommendations for spiritual reform. They remind us that we can choose how we live.  We can become obedient to God and realize the blessings of that choice or we can ignore God's overture to salvation and suffer the results of self-determination. The prophets remind us that God wants us to reach the potential God had in mind when God created us.

Pray

Pray that today's prophets will influence the people of God to confess their shortcomings and repent.  Pray prayers of lament and confession and pray that you will follow God's will more fully.