God's Handful

 

Tuesday, September 6, 2022

This is what the Lord said to me:  “Go and buy a clay jar.  Then ask some of the leaders of the people and of the priests to follow you.  Go out through the Gate of Broken Pots to the garbage dump in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, and give them this message.  Say to them, ‘Listen to this message from the Lord, you kings of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem! This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says:  I will bring a terrible disaster on this place, and the ears of those who hear about it will ring!  “‘For Israel has forsaken me and turned this valley into a place of wickedness.  The people burn incense to foreign gods—idols never before acknowledged by this generation, by their ancestors, or by the kings of Judah.  And they have filled this place with the blood of innocent children.  They have built pagan shrines to Baal, and there they burn their sons as sacrifices to Baal.  I have never commanded such a horrible deed; it never even crossed my mind to command such a thing!  So beware, for the time is coming, says the Lord, when this garbage dump will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of Ben-Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.  “‘For I will upset the careful plans of Judah and Jerusalem.  I will allow the people to be slaughtered by invading armies, and I will leave their dead bodies as food for the vultures and wild animals.  I will reduce Jerusalem to ruins, making it a monument to their stupidity.  All who pass by will be astonished and will gasp at the destruction they see there.  I will see to it that your enemies lay siege to the city until all the food is gone.  Then those trapped inside will eat their own sons and daughters and friends.  They will be driven to utter despair.’  Jeremiah 19:1-9

Jeremiah certainly did not soften his words when he delivered God’s message of doom to Jerusalem’s ruling highbrows.  And why should he?  Jeremiah said the leaders of Judah and Israel’s downward spiral, away from God, would have a ringing-in-their-ears over God’s judgment for gross, eyes-open-wide sin.  That kind of message should never be blunted; a death sentence is a grave matter (literally).

Anyone with even a small portion of decency in their soul who reads or hears these words of Jeremiah’s sermon could not mistake the connection with what is happening in 21^st century culture – particularly in America.  We have earned the name Jeremiah said would be Ben Hinnom’s new legacy:  The Valley of Slaughter.  

Respect for life hangs by the weakest of threads in the land.  Decency and modesty are up for grabs to the highest bidder in Hollywood.  There is so little credence given to decorum, and kindness.  We are a land of selfish entitlement, lasciviousness, and disingenuousness when it comes to even a nod towards God’s sovereignty.  It is surprising to me that our Godless culture is still standing.

Now, this is not to say there are no Godly people left on our planet; the Lord always has a remnant who serve Him well.  That said, we must recognize that the days of Noah are upon us.  Those who faithfully serve God’s will are in a pitiful miniority.  There is coming a time, perhaps in my lifetime, perhaps in the next generation, but certainly a time of God’s own choosing…that the bill for thumbing America’s collective nose at God’s laws from the bedroom to the boardroom and big screen will come due.  The bankruptcy of our unrighteousness will be upon us!

For You Today

If you will serve God’s bidding these days, you’ll be branded a throw-back to Queen Victoria’s day, a prude, or do-gooder.  If you get labeled that way, wear it well; God’s handful of a remnant are the apple of His eye!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these: 

Ambush and Consider the Rock

[1] Images:   Pixabay.com    Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

Good Advice from a Prophet a Long Way From Home

[1]

                                                                Friday, June 17, 2016

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.  James 4:10^(NLT)

I have watched many documentary programs that deal with the issue of racial integration in this country.  One of the strong impressions I usually come away with is the picture of isolation experienced by a single African-American kid in a white school.  Trying to understand the difficulty of it all, I would attempt to put myself in that kid’s situation.  Of course that’s difficult – imagining what someone else is going through. 

But a few years ago I stumbled across some thoughts that made me realize I have more in common with that struggle than I previously imagined.  There are two aspects of my minority status which stick out like a sore thumb:

1.   I’m a Yankee who has served his entire ministry in the deep South!

Having been born and bred in the Northeast, and spent the last 39½ years in Dixie, there have been more than a few times when someone has pointed out how very fortunate I am to have been allowed to live below the Mason-Dixon Line.

A good friend who was born, and lived all his life, near Tallahassee, Florida once took me fishing in the Gulf of Mexico along the panhandle.  As he was driving us to the launch area we travelled through a deserted forest area and I asked him what this place was called.  In true Southern Speech (with a hint of New York Gambino family mixed-in) Joe Ball said:  Don’t rightly know the name, but we call it that place whar’ Yankees ain’t never heard from ag’in.  Needless to say, it was a long afternoon until I got back home.

It’s tough enough to be a preacher these days with the likes of snake oil salesmen, “so-called preachers” who wind up in jail for fraud or sexual scandals…or the rock stars whose TV ministries would probably make Jesus turn over some more tables in God’s house.  But add to that the problem of being a long way from home and being an alien just trying to love the locals; it’s like Amos, a good ol’ po’boy shepherd from Southern Judah being sent by God up to northern Israel to preach to them Yankee fat cat rich folks.

It’s not easy; sometimes being humble means swallowing your tongue when you encounter regional prejudice.

2.   I’m a Methodist minister who speaks with a Baptist accident

You heard right…a Baptist accident.  While I was thinking about this minority dilemma, I was speaking my thoughts into a digital recorder.  I meant to say “Baptist accent” but it came out “Baptist accident”.  I became a Methodist by accident…and that’s another, very long story.

But it works in this case; as a people-pleaser I have a natural tendency to try to fit-in with people.  A New York twang spoken from a southern-drawl pulpit gets old when you’re the week-in/week-out pastor.  The accident of losing my accent (mostly) didn’t take long. 

But it still shows up occasionally – particularly for those protectors of the border who are looking for any trace of impurity in their parsons.

I’m not sure if Amos had a different regional speech pattern than the folks who populated Israel’s capitol city, but his sheepherder’s rough-cut ways had to set him apart from the genteel manners at court.  He was a long way from home!

For You Today

The fact is all who love Jesus Christ, and wish to serve Him are a very long way from home!  Northern, Southern, Western, Eastern…all are under God’s sun. 

In reality, we are only one race – human.  And that’s a good reason to be humble.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today…have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Image: Gustave Doré [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons