The Good Shepherd Seeks You Out

Ezekiel 34:11-16 KJV; Psalm 23: You cannot hide in the darkness from the Good Shepherd. He will seek you out and save you.

Confess And Be Forgiven

1 John 1:5-10 KJV; Confess and step out of the darkness and into the marvelous light of Jesus the Christ.

Making Excuses For Our Sins

Genesis 3:1-21 KJV; 1 Sunday in Lent; Adam and Eve tried to cover their sin; but, the attempt only exposed them. We too way too often try to hide our sins from God, from others, even ourselves.

Enemies Abound

Psalm 143 KJV for Pentecost Sunday 2022

No Hiding From God

The Secret Hiding Place

Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.   (Jer 23:24 KJV)

When my oldest grandchildren were young they, like most children, liked to play hide-n-seek. I would often walk with them to the ruins of an old stamp mill on the shores of Lake Superior. They would attempt to hide on me. I always found them pretty quickly as I could hear them as they went and they always tended to hide in their same secret hiding place.

As children get older some of them will try to hide what they are doing or where they are going. But, loving parents will usually have a pretty good idea of what they are up to no matter where they are. Parents will have taken the time to listen to and to observe them enough to know their habits. Even if the parents don't call them on everything they think their growing children are up to, they can  hide very little from their parents. 

Parents can get busy and miss some things; but, God is always observant of what His children are doing. There is no hiding from Him. There is no sense in pretending that you are innocent before God. He knows better. He knows you through and through. 

He is always near. He is always with us. So do not attempt to hide yourself or what you do from God. Rather, live in peace with God and with one another. and with yourself. Rejoice in the fact that He is with us and knows us and He will guide us if we would but listen. Do not try to hide from God; but, embrace Him and live life in His presence.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Confess The Truth?

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8-9 NRSV)

Let us not miss the word confess in the verses from 1 John. All too often, I have heard apologies without the person who is apologizing even being able to recognize what they are apologizing for. They might apologize for hurting you or someone else; for disappointing you. They might apologize for not doing what they were responsible for doing. But, do they really acknowledge that they did something they ought not have done or neglected to do something that they promised to do? 

Is just saying "I'm sorry" enough to be reconciled to others if we cannot acknowledge the sin that we have been committing and change? Sooner or later others will recognize that we have not been speaking the truth when we apologized. Failure to recognize the sin in us is a failure to recognize Jesus the Christ who is the truth. Do we think that he is so limited in nature that he cannot see beyond the walls we, ourselves, have attempted to hide behind?

Jesus tells us: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) There is no sense in trying to hide the truth of our sins from ourselves or anyone else. The truth is that Jesus knows what goes on in our lives that others may not be able to see. He knows the real motivation for what we do or do not do. He knows our inmost thoughts. We cannot hide our sins from God; so may as well get it over with; confess our sins; and live life reconciled to God and one another.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Choosing The Wrong Way

The clever see danger and hide;

but the simple go on, and suffer for it. 

(Proverbs 22:3 NRSV)

We are free to do as we please. We are free to do what is good for us as well as what is not good for us. But, we must understand that whatever it is that we choose to do there will be consequences. Every action that we take moves us forward in a specific direction. Sometimes, that direction is good for us and for the people around us. Sometimes, that direction takes us to places we would not choose to go and we suffer for it.

There is so much suffering in this world. Some, of which, we cannot avoid. Some, of which, we could avoid by going in the other direction to avoid danger; to avoid the suffering. 

A lot of our suffering and trouble could be avoided if we would but follow in the way that the Spirit of Christ shows us.

May God bless you with the wisdom to recognize and the courage to follow in His Way.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Secret Places

Secret Hiding Place

Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?” declares the Lord. “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the Lord. (Jer 23:24 NIV)

When my granddaughters were very young, the three of us had a secret place near Gay, MI on the shore of Lake Superior. It was inside an abandoned concrete building that had fallen down. We called it our secret place; but, it really wasn't a secret place at all. It was out in the open for anyone who passed by to see. It was secret only in that not a lot of people ever passed by. But, my granddaughters were convinced that no one else knew where our hide-out was and they were happy with that.

We can pretend that where we are and what to do is unknown to others. Usually, there will be at least a few people who will stumble on our secrets. But, always God knows the deepest secrets of our hearts. We cannot hide anything from Him. He knows exactly where we are and what we are doing every second of every day because He is with us. He fills the heaven and the earth. He is everywhere. He fills all in all.

You cannot run from God. You cannot hide. He is with you and He is for you. May this knowledge be a delight and not a burden to you so that you might live a life glorifying Him.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Let The Lamp Be Lit!

“No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light."  (Luke 11:33 NIV)

Some people do hide the light. There are varying reasons for hiding the light of man-made lamps. Some would rather that the truth about what they might be doing is not seen.

When I was a teenager, I loved to read. But, my parents were just a little strict or maybe it was that they liked their evenings to themselves. Whatever the reason, I was to be in bed with lights out by 8 p.m.. My remedy was to move the lamp to the closet, sit on a box, and read 'till sometimes past 10 o'clock!

While some of the reasons for hiding your light may not be so good; some of those reasons may be very good. During World War II, England had "black outs." Lights were turned out or at least dimmed in order  to make it more difficult for the enemy to navigate to targets by air or sea.

Man-made lights may be dimmed and even turned off. They eventually burn out. But, the light of Christ that abides within us will never be extinguished. ..."let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." (Matt 5:16)

God's Peace - Pr. J

He Knows You

You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.
You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

                                                              Psalm 139:1-12 NIV

Don't be trying to hide from God! It will not work. He sees everyone and everything. We can try to hide who we are or what we do from our neighbors or our families or our friends. Some of them may even buy into the mask that we wear. But, God does not.  He discerns our every thought; our every move. He is with us even now. He is with us every moment of every day no matter where we might be. He sees and knows everything we think and do whether it be for the good or for the not so good.

The good news is that he loves us in spite of knowing us so well. So, return to the LORD, for His mercy and His love endures forever. Return and do what is good in His sight for the sake of the one who died that we might be forgiven and live life eternally in His presence. Return, so that His hand might guide you through the darkness into the marvelous light.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Hide From The Lord?

   I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
   Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand it?” (Rev 6:12-17 NIV)

The sixth seal is opened and the earth and skies are shaken. The world as we know it is devastated in the face of the wrath of God. Not only are the earth and heavens shaken; but, the people are shaken at the knowledge of the coming of the Lord. They would hide beneath the falling mountains if they could. They would rather be crushed to death than to face the Lord God in the day of His judgment.

John's visions are horrifying to those who do not worship the Lord; to those who know that they have turned their backs on God. There is still time. We don't know how much time. Turn to the Lord. Love and serve the Lord, your God, with all your heart and soul and mind. The visions of the end can be terrifying for those who do not worship the one true God. But, for those who do, we know that all things are for the good of those who love Him; for His Kingdom comes

God's Peace - Pr. J

Bless That Which We Say And Think And Do

May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart    
    be pleasing in your sight,
    Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
                                              (Psalm 19:14 NIV)

As we go through this day and all the days following let us consider if what comes out of our mouths is actually pleasing to the Lord. Would we dwell upon it; would we say it if God Almighty were standing next to us? He is, you know! He hears and see all things that we say and think and do. He knows if we are tearing up the Body of Christ. He knows if we are ripping apart His children. He also knows when we are lifting them up for His glory.

May the words of our lips and the meditations of our hearts; all that we say and think and do be acceptable in His sight at all times and in all places.

God's Peace - Pr. J