Friday, Ordinary 22/Proper 17-- Aug 29
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Meditation
Friday Ordinary 22, Proper 17 continued the lesson of the Old Testament with God calling Moses to return to Egypt—where he risked death at Pharaoh’s hand—and ask for the favor of letting the Israelite’s depart back to the land of Canaan. But first, he would have to convince the elders of Israel that he was ‘the one.’
Many stories of fiction and history shared similar tales about an unexpected ‘one’ who would guide his or her people to success/freedom, e.g. The Matrix; Joan d’Arc, Harriet Tubman, Mandela etc. In each case, there were always the dissenters, who didn’t believe the truth.
However, God specifically told Moses that the elders would believe him. I suspect Moses might have had moments of trepidation that it seemed a little too crazy. But when the voice was coming from a bush on fire that wasn’t being consumed, it would have added to the strength of conviction.
Recognizing the truth. The lesson would be repeated in the New Testament Epistle to the church in Thessalonica. Paul would remind them that he had taught them about the end times—a time when some would be fooled, because they refused to believe the truth.
Paul was not addressing the church about those, who were outside of the church. He was talking about people within the church. He spoke of a person of evil, who would appear to be good. He would be charismatic and appealing, attracting church groups to him. He would be working within the church. He would be established as a leader of the church. Then, he would take it further. The distinction would be that he would set himself up ABOVE God, even going so far to declare himself AS God. Despite the contradiction with the Ten Commandments—have no other gods above him—people would refuse to recognize the truth and follow him.
The other day, a well-educated man presented to me the ideas of Sir Isaac Newton, who declared the pope to be the anti-Christ. People have been trying to point the finger at someone declaring them to be the anti-Christ for generations. And they have been wrong. The New Testament passage declared that the person, who will be working for Satan, will actually declare himself to BE God.
As believers, we must be open to God’s leading, in the way that Moses was as well as the elders who would believe Moses. But we must be on guard against any leaders, who would be working for Satan within the church. Paul wasn’t talking agnostics or atheists or pagan leaders. He was talking about church leaders. At every juncture, people of God have been held accountable for their beliefs in God.
From Egypt to the Jews in Jerusalem who refused to recognize Jesus to the New Testament churches to the present, all believers must be able to see the truth and not be fooled into following people like Jim Jones. But, don’t think that the ‘person’ will appear like a “crazy,” like Jim Jones or David Koresh of the Waco Branch Davidians. He will be a part of the main stream churches. He will be charismatic. He will be focusing the attention on him, instead of leading people to God. He would be capable of doing miracles and amazing signs and wonders.
The other thing missing would be the ‘love of Christ’ in whatever they would do. The time would come when Jesus would remove himself from the fray for a time. He would allow the events to play out, allowing people who desire to control and exercise their evil bents on the world around them, but at the right time, with a single breath, Jesus will destroy the false person and hold every one of his followers accountable for following an evil person.
How does one combat that? How do we recognize the evil? How do we recognize and defend the truth? Pray. Open our hearts to God’s wisdom and study daily, just like you are doing. Read the Scriptures and learn to understand them on your own. Don’t take my word for it; study for yourself that you would be equipped to discern God’s truth. That is why I keep a single prayer at the start of the reading of Scripture. “Open my heart and mind” as I read the Word of God so that we will be able to discern the truths and not be led astray.
Thanks be to God.
All Scriptures printed below are in King James Version for copyright purposes. However, clicking on the verse locations will take you to Biblegateway.com where the text is linked to more contemporary versions.
Prayer: Almighty God, Open my eyes that I might see. Open my mind that I might understand. Open my heart that I might make your words a part of me. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight. Amen
Ordinary 22, Proper 17
Bible Readings
http://legacy.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45b;Exodus 3:16-25;2 Thessalonians 2:7-12&version=KJV;ERV;GNT;NCV;CEV (multiple versions)
Friday Ordinary 22, Proper 17
Psalm 105:1-6 Psalm 105:23-26 Psalm 105:45
Exodus 3:16-22
2 Thessalonians 2:7-12
Daily Bible Verses to Memorize for Meditating
Psalm 124:8
King James Version (KJV)
8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
Single Bible Study chapter to study
2 Thessalonians 2:7-12
King James Version (KJV)
7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
OBSERVE:
Take a moment and write three observations of the verses. What strikes you? An observation is an observable fact from the Word.
1.
2.
3.
INTERPRETATION:
What do you interpret these verses to mean for you today?
APPLY:
Today, I learned _____________________________________and apply it to my life.
Prayer of Encouragement
Almighty God, protect us with your wisdom and indwell us with your Spirit that we might recognize truth when we see it and falseness when it wants to lead us astray. In Jesus name, Amen
Conclusion
Friday Ordinary 22, Proper 17 charged every believer with the responsibility to discern the truth of God and not be fooled by those who would claim to be the authority of God, even be God. From Moses to the present, Paul declared all would be held accountable for the end times when a false prophet (secretly intent on evil) would rise up and attract church followers but lead them to believe a lie.
We must guard against being followers of a lie, by studying the Word of God, praying for wisdom when reading it and not accepting things to be true, until we can corroborate their words with Scripture…and not just one Scripture—ALL Scripture. There is a unity in the Bible that is remarkably consistent. Evil can’t be loving as Christ is and was loving. God is love. Love will separate the false from the true.
Church leaders, who fail to exemplify God’s love to everyone, not just their own kind, but all, are not consistent with God, who so loved THE WORLD (pretty inclusive), that he gave his only begotten son, are at risk of being part of the work of the evil one. Love, exemplified by people like Mother Teresa, who gave it unconditionally and never put herself above God, can be easily recognized. Harshness and villainy can be harder to recognize but still worthy of examination.
How do we recognize it and yet not be judgmental? We only judge for ourselves how we are to live. We don’t declare someone else “false and going to hell.” That is for God to do. We stick to facts and not get hung up on arguing opinion. We strive to be open to God’s wisdom pouring through us as we study the Word of God and understand its precepts to live by. We give all credit for every good thing to God. It isn’t our doing.
Go out and be ready for God to do mighty things in your life—for the glory of God.*
Thank you for visiting ChapLynne’s Daily Encouragement and Bible Study. God bless you.
*If you do not know the Lord as your personal Savior and you are seeking, please contact me. A genuine and simple prayer, asking God into your heart for the forgiveness of your sins will also do.
Friday Ordinary 22, Proper 17 continued the lesson of the Old Testament with God calling Moses to return to Egypt—where he risked death at Pharaoh’s hand—and ask for the favor of letting the Israelite’s depart back to the land of Canaan. But first, he would have to convince the elders of Israel that he was ‘the one.’
Many stories of fiction and history shared similar tales about an unexpected ‘one’ who would guide his or her people to success/freedom, e.g. The Matrix; Joan d’Arc, Harriet Tubman, Mandela etc. In each case, there were always the dissenters, who didn’t believe the truth.
However, God specifically told Moses that the elders would believe him. I suspect Moses might have had moments of trepidation that it seemed a little too crazy. But when the voice was coming from a bush on fire that wasn’t being consumed, it would have added to the strength of conviction.
Recognizing the truth. The lesson would be repeated in the New Testament Epistle to the church in Thessalonica. Paul would remind them that he had taught them about the end times—a time when some would be fooled, because they refused to believe the truth.
Paul was not addressing the church about those, who were outside of the church. He was talking about people within the church. He spoke of a person of evil, who would appear to be good. He would be charismatic and appealing, attracting church groups to him. He would be working within the church. He would be established as a leader of the church. Then, he would take it further. The distinction would be that he would set himself up ABOVE God, even going so far to declare himself AS God. Despite the contradiction with the Ten Commandments—have no other gods above him—people would refuse to recognize the truth and follow him.
The other day, a well-educated man presented to me the ideas of Sir Isaac Newton, who declared the pope to be the anti-Christ. People have been trying to point the finger at someone declaring them to be the anti-Christ for generations. And they have been wrong. The New Testament passage declared that the person, who will be working for Satan, will actually declare himself to BE God.
As believers, we must be open to God’s leading, in the way that Moses was as well as the elders who would believe Moses. But we must be on guard against any leaders, who would be working for Satan within the church. Paul wasn’t talking agnostics or atheists or pagan leaders. He was talking about church leaders. At every juncture, people of God have been held accountable for their beliefs in God.
From Egypt to the Jews in Jerusalem who refused to recognize Jesus to the New Testament churches to the present, all believers must be able to see the truth and not be fooled into following people like Jim Jones. But, don’t think that the ‘person’ will appear like a “crazy,” like Jim Jones or David Koresh of the Waco Branch Davidians. He will be a part of the main stream churches. He will be charismatic. He will be focusing the attention on him, instead of leading people to God. He would be capable of doing miracles and amazing signs and wonders.
The other thing missing would be the ‘love of Christ’ in whatever they would do. The time would come when Jesus would remove himself from the fray for a time. He would allow the events to play out, allowing people who desire to control and exercise their evil bents on the world around them, but at the right time, with a single breath, Jesus will destroy the false person and hold every one of his followers accountable for following an evil person.
How does one combat that? How do we recognize the evil? How do we recognize and defend the truth? Pray. Open our hearts to God’s wisdom and study daily, just like you are doing. Read the Scriptures and learn to understand them on your own. Don’t take my word for it; study for yourself that you would be equipped to discern God’s truth. That is why I keep a single prayer at the start of the reading of Scripture. “Open my heart and mind” as I read the Word of God so that we will be able to discern the truths and not be led astray.
Thanks be to God.
All Scriptures printed below are in King James Version for copyright purposes. However, clicking on the verse locations will take you to Biblegateway.com where the text is linked to more contemporary versions.
Prayer: Almighty God, Open my eyes that I might see. Open my mind that I might understand. Open my heart that I might make your words a part of me. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight. Amen
Ordinary 22, Proper 17
Bible Readings
http://legacy.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45b;Exodus 3:16-25;2 Thessalonians 2:7-12&version=KJV;ERV;GNT;NCV;CEV (multiple versions)
Friday Ordinary 22, Proper 17
Psalm 105:1-6 Psalm 105:23-26 Psalm 105:45
Exodus 3:16-22
2 Thessalonians 2:7-12
Daily Bible Verses to Memorize for Meditating
Psalm 124:8
King James Version (KJV)
8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
Single Bible Study chapter to study
2 Thessalonians 2:7-12
King James Version (KJV)
7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
OBSERVE:
Take a moment and write three observations of the verses. What strikes you? An observation is an observable fact from the Word.
1.
2.
3.
INTERPRETATION:
What do you interpret these verses to mean for you today?
APPLY:
Today, I learned _____________________________________and apply it to my life.
Prayer of Encouragement
Almighty God, protect us with your wisdom and indwell us with your Spirit that we might recognize truth when we see it and falseness when it wants to lead us astray. In Jesus name, Amen
Conclusion
Friday Ordinary 22, Proper 17 charged every believer with the responsibility to discern the truth of God and not be fooled by those who would claim to be the authority of God, even be God. From Moses to the present, Paul declared all would be held accountable for the end times when a false prophet (secretly intent on evil) would rise up and attract church followers but lead them to believe a lie.
We must guard against being followers of a lie, by studying the Word of God, praying for wisdom when reading it and not accepting things to be true, until we can corroborate their words with Scripture…and not just one Scripture—ALL Scripture. There is a unity in the Bible that is remarkably consistent. Evil can’t be loving as Christ is and was loving. God is love. Love will separate the false from the true.
Church leaders, who fail to exemplify God’s love to everyone, not just their own kind, but all, are not consistent with God, who so loved THE WORLD (pretty inclusive), that he gave his only begotten son, are at risk of being part of the work of the evil one. Love, exemplified by people like Mother Teresa, who gave it unconditionally and never put herself above God, can be easily recognized. Harshness and villainy can be harder to recognize but still worthy of examination.
How do we recognize it and yet not be judgmental? We only judge for ourselves how we are to live. We don’t declare someone else “false and going to hell.” That is for God to do. We stick to facts and not get hung up on arguing opinion. We strive to be open to God’s wisdom pouring through us as we study the Word of God and understand its precepts to live by. We give all credit for every good thing to God. It isn’t our doing.
Go out and be ready for God to do mighty things in your life—for the glory of God.*
Thank you for visiting ChapLynne’s Daily Encouragement and Bible Study. God bless you.
*If you do not know the Lord as your personal Savior and you are seeking, please contact me. A genuine and simple prayer, asking God into your heart for the forgiveness of your sins will also do.
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