Stand for our Teens

What would it be like to live in an environment where God commanded you to,

Beware of your friends; do not trust your brothers. For every brother is a deceiver, and every friend a slanderer. Friend deceives friend, and no one speaks the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they weary themselves with sinning. You live in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge Me," (Jeremiah 9:4-6).

Sadly, there is a group of people who do live in this environment today. This is their world! Teens not only experience it all day long, many come home to it. In some families, relevant truth trumps absolute truth. These young people seem to have nowhere to run, no one to hear them, no one to rescue them; they are at the mercy of their caregivers (if that is what you can call them) and they are at the mercy of those who have been limited in their ability to give them hope.  

This seems like such a hopeless situation. When hopeless situations come my way, I often want to run, because I do not know what to do. I am even tempted to withdraw in the shadows and hope that this situation will vanish from my spirit. But it never vanishes, it only comes back all the stronger; all because the love of God resides in my spirit and His Spirit yearns for the hurting to be saved and relieved.

Jeremiah was no different when God said these words to His own people. Jeremiah wanted to just flee to a place of peace in his life (Jeremiah 9:2), but he knew that his role was to never give up in doing good, never give up in giving the truth to these people who were ensnared in the depths of their sinful culture. He also knew that God’s will was not to retreat, but to fight. Not fight with the sword but fight with the unabridged and uncut truth.

Yes, we live in a world that is not far removed from the world God described in Jeremiah. However, the good news is there are people like Jeremiah who do not deceive, who love the truth, and who do not embrace the filth of this sinful society. I believe there are more people like this in our sphere than we can count. But I also believe that many who are greatly pained by the hurt these teens experience, who are immensely confused as to what to do, who are overwhelmed by the difficulty, and who struggle in the battle for these souls, do so enough that they retreat instead of stand.  

I say stand:

    1. Stand on your knees and pray for these teens. Never give up beseeching the Lord for their hope, their salvation, their relief, and their rescue. When we stop praying, we stop caring. When we stop caring, these young people really do have no hope.

    2. Stand in the truth. Give the truth to these young people every chance you get. Don’t falter from it and don’t worry about how it will be received; we are assured that God’s word will NOT return empty once it is sent. We deliver it, God uses it. 

    3. Stand in the path of God’s plans. If God has revealed a plan for us to implement for these young people, follow through. Do it. Even if it looks bleak and impossible. God is into the impossible. And He is certainly in the business of making the bleak, bright! 

GAINING POWER FOR THE PURGE

I am totally captivated by the Kings of Judah. The more I study them, the more I can truly appreciate and love our King Jesus, who, unlike these previous monarchs, is perfect in every way. What has struck me recently is the contrast between King Josiah and our Savior, King Jesus. In my opinion, one represents the law while the other represents grace. This difference is the key to our eternal success at obedience! 

King Josiah, a young king, demolished the idols of the people and cleansed the land from the abominable acts that God’s people were subjecting their lives and children to. Josiah did indeed accomplish this task of cleaning the outside of the bowl of Judah. Much like the law that works feverishly to correct the sinful behaviors of man and not the heart, King Josiah was intent on cleansing Judah from their outward shell of disobedience; however, he was unsuccessful in cleansing the hearts of God’s people. After he died, the people went right back to their old sinful ways; they continued to burn God’s wrath against themselves because of their wickedness.

Jesus, however, came to cleanse the inside of the bowl. He came to demolish the strongholds of the heart so that the actions and behaviors of man would follow outwardly. His aim was/is more righteous and His goal was/is the ULTIMATE success.

Law alone does not accomplish God’s purposes of righteousness. While for a time the law may seem to succeed, eventually if the heart does not follow sync, people fail. Of course, no one can truly be successful with a heart of change unless the heart is ruled by our King Jesus, for He is God and in Him is the only means to true conquest of sin.  

His grace penetrates the heart, making a Highway of Holiness that gives power to the purge. For grace does not fight with the weapons of this world, on the contrary, grace pierces with divine power that consumes our strongholds. God’s gracious favor is all we need. His power works best in the depths (weakness) of our sin. (2 Corinthians 12:19).  

In grace, God covers us, strengthens us, and refreshes us. He mobilizes us through the all the debacle of sin we live in and around and we win! Oh how we win! 

The Favor that Protects

"Surely, O Lord, You bless the righteous; You surround them with Your favor as with a shield." 

Psalm 5:12

When we trust God, He is not just willing to shower us with His favor of met needs such as monetary provision, health, healing, food, and water, but His favor is like a shield that provides us with protection. 

That protection can be so strong and powerful that we can become a dread to the evil one about us. Just like the Israelite people were protected during the plagues of Egypt and even rescued, they were also a dread to Egypt. "Egypt was glad when they left, because the dread of Israel had fallen on them." (Psalm 105:37b). That dread was God's "favor as with a shield."

God spread a cloud as a covering over His people as they escaped the fires of Egypt. Imagine how the heat of the day could have scorched their backs as they traveled, yet God like a shield surrounded them with the cool of His presence. In the night, God lighted their path so that the darkness would not over take them. The fear of unknown beasts that lurked to attack were kept at bay because of God's fire. You see, God's protection was a dread upon even nature, not just the evil people that wanted to hurt, cripple and destroy His chosen. 

God's favor of protection is present today; it comes in different forms. I don't see a cloud or a fire but I do see and feel the shield of His presence. Just yesterday I felt the evil one plague me with total despair and I was not sure I could overcome. I prayed and I asked God to rescue me. I decided to retreat and simply rest in His Spirit. I later found out that unbeknownst to me, another believer was praying for me at that time, too. This person sensed I needed beseeching for. I awoke and felt amazingly refreshed and God's energy of renewed purpose and peace began to envelope me. God's favor became a shield of protection, not penetrable by the evil one. The evil one no longer had his hold, he scattered as an animal afraid of the fire by night. 

"The Lord gives strength to His people; the Lord blesses His people with peace." Psalm 29:11 

Seeking Favor, Immortal Influence, & Proactive Freedom

“But I will pass judgment on you because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’” (Jeremiah 2:35b).

Our acts of rebellion and disobedience to the Lord are certainly bad enough but when we choose to not repent of them, notice that God says it is this lack of admittance that brings upon us His judgment.

In this particular verse, Jeremiah is talking to the people of Judah who were living their lives in open contempt of the Lord. They were so competent and wicked in their ways that the worse of prostitutes learned from them. That is sad! But worse than this, they were in bondage to their own doings and own insurgence.

Some sins in our life can be so much a part of us that we don’t see the burden they heap on us. We are so accustomed to our repression that it looks like freedom to us. The saddest thing about this is we are unaware. We are so steeped in this sin that we cannot see through the fog of suppression; we mindlessly and hopelessly pay servitude to it. Just like darkness is light to God, sin is obedience to us.

This is not much different than the people of Judah. They even replied to God, “I am innocent, God is not angry with me.” (Jeremiah 2:35a). Some of the people thought that having a temporary political and economic success was God’s blessing. What they ignored was that God “causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 6:45).

In the end the people of Judah never knew the true freedom of repentance. We are not different if we choose a life that lacks this spiritual discipline. If only we would humble ourselves and recognize the truth of where we are! This trap is kind of like having your own homemade cheesecake made out of box vs. having the amazing cheesecake from Olive Garden. There is NO comparison. They are very different. Choosing to live a life of sin accepting moderate success is not freedom like living a life of genuine repentance before the Lord.

Repentance gives us three joys that we cannot truly experience living a life of unremorseful sin.

     1.Favor of God vs. His blessing. Favor propels us forward into the impossible of God. Blessing is just that, a moderate every day success that helps us survive this life. But with God’s favor we can know infinitely more that He has to offer. 

     2. Immortal influence vs. mortal impact. The people of Judah certainly are remembered but not for their positive influence on others. They certainly made an impact on the people around them, but not for good. Living differently than the people of Judah, we can make a powerful influence around us with a repentant heart; we can live a life that still speaks long after we are gone. And what better way to be remembered “God’s power lifting us” vs. “man’s power crippling us.” 

     3. Proactive freedom vs. subjected servitude. I have asked my children, “Does life happen to you, or do you happen on life?” I ask you the same. Your answer to this determines which path you are taking in life: proactive freedom or subjected servitude. The people of Judah were so trapped in their sin, they only saw that serving Assyria and Egypt was their way to freedom yet it only kept them in repressive bondage. So they lived their life allowing life happen to them. In repentance God gives us not only freedom from our sin, but a powerful spirit that happens on the life around us. No longer does sin rule our spirits, forgiveness does!