"Word of God Speak"

August 21, 2013 (Jeremiah 21,24,27; Psalm 118; 1 John 2)

From the Life Journal of Adam Proux:

Scripture: “But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love Him. That is how we know we are living in Him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.” 1 John 2:5-6 NLT

Observation: First John chapter two separates the sheep from the goats. John clearly defines how to observe the difference between someone who is a follower of Christ and someone who is just a pretender. We can be sure, and have confidence that we know Him, if we obey His commandments. If someone claims, “I know God” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. Obviously John felt a very strong need to express the importance of living a life dedicated to holiness to the followers of Christ he was writing to. His audience was not limited to just those alive in his day, but we are his targeted audience as well. John urges us to remain faithful to the truth we have been taught from the beginning. It behooves us all to seek God and learn His commandments, it’s the only real way we can show others how completely we love God.

Application: Today Christianity has been reduced to not much more than a mental decision that can be made by anyone, at anytime. The “repeat after me prayer” has taken all the personal responsibility out of Christianity. Oddly enough there is no such prayer ever mentioned in the Bible. I believe the organized church will ultimately be held responsible for the lost souls of thousands upon thousands. The modern church has cast aside God’s commands and reduced them to mere suggestions or options of choice. God’s word is complete truth and it does not change, it is good for correction, instruction and rebuke. Those that truly know Him will prove their love for Him by their devotion to His word. Submitting to God’s commands is not optional, it is a requirement. Those that claim to “know Him” while continuing to live in open rebellion against His commands are liars. Once a person comes to Christ they must remain faithful to Him. If we do remain faithful then we remain in fellowship with the Son and the Father. It’s in this fellowship that we enjoy the eternal life He promised.

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank You for this day. Thank You for all the blessings You give and the provision You provide. Thank You for Your word that corrects, instructs, and rebukes me. Your word proves Your love for me. May I be faithful to prove my love for You by being obedient to Your word always. Allow my life to be a witness of Your grace and mercy showing how You transform and change a person completely. Thank You for Your mercy and grace that provide and protect me every day, in Jesus name, Amen!

August 20, 2013 (Jeremiah 48-49; Psalm 67; 1 John 1)

From the Life Journal of Adam Proux:

Scripture: “But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.” 1 John 1:9 NLT

Observation: The book of First John was written to dispel doubts and to build assurance by presenting a clear picture of who Christ is and clearly defining what responsibilities we have as His followers. Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and at the same time He was God in the flesh. John’s ears heard the Master speak and his eyes saw the miracles Jesus performed. John’s hands personally touched the perfect spotless Lamb of God and he experienced His resurrected glorified body. He testified of these events so that believers throughout eternity would have assurance of salvation and experience the full joy of a right relationship with God. He declared God to be light and no darkness to be in Him at all. He clearly told believers that if they claimed to know Christ as Savior but continued living in darkness they were liars. John painted a clear picture when he said, “If we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.”  “If” and “Then” are key words in John’s proclamation.

Application: True confession includes a sincere devotion to not continue in what we have confessed. Only through repentance can a person sincerely confess and be forgiven. If there has been no repentance (i.e. turning from the sin) then there can be no honest confession and forgiveness. John said if we would “confess our sins to Him” then God would be faithful, and just to forgive us our sins. Not only forgive our sins but also cleanse us from all wickedness. Confession is more than a verbal utterance. True confession comes from a broken heart and a contrite spirit. True confession will always be a companion of real repentance and only through real repentance can we ever truthfully confess our sins. Repentance and confession are not options. They are not choices either. They are commands that we must surrender and submit to.

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank You for Your mercy and grace that provide and protect me every day. Thank You for the privilege and opportunity You give me to repent and confess my sins unto You. Thank You for cleansing me from all wickedness. Keep me by Your strong right arm in Jesus name, Amen!

August 19, 2013 (Jeremiah 45-47; Psalm 105; John 21)

From the Life Journal of Adam Proux:

Scripture: “Search for the Lord and for His strength; continually seek Him.” Psalm 105:4 NLT

Observation: God has done great things for His people. He is holy and righteous in His judgments and generous with His mercy. He is faithful to His promises and delivers His people from oppression. He is worthy of all praise and His wonderful deeds should be proclaimed to the entire world. He leads His people out of bondage and then provides for them in miraculous ways. He brings great destruction on His enemies and destroys their arrogance with a simple word spoken. All He desires from His people is faithful obedience. He desires His people to search for Him and His strength continually. He only desires the best for His chosen ones, and all He does is for their good. All the blessings, and all the destruction, happened so His people would learn to follow His decrees and obey His instructions.

Application: True happiness and peace come from seeking God and His strength in all things. How often we forfeit God’s best for us because we fail to seek Him and His strength. How much pain and suffering could we avoid if we sought God first, instead of as a last resort? How much clearer the path we trod becomes when we seek God and His strength continually. How much stronger we become when we learn to live in His strength and trust in His wisdom. How much happier we are when we are content with His provision and satisfied with His decisions. His strength enables us, even in the midst of hardship, to proclaim His greatness and tell of His wonderful deeds. We don’t have to be happy to tell of His goodness, we become happy when we tell of His goodness.

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank You for Your mercy and grace that provide and protect me every day. Thank You for Your strength that leads me to happiness. Your works are amazing! You provide and care for me in ways my heart could never imagine. Your watchful eye is always upon my enemies keeping them and their evil desires from overtaking me. You are my King and my Lord, I humbly submit to Your desires. Prepare my heart to trust You in all things and seek Your strength continually, in Jesus name, Amen!

August 17, 2013 (Jeremiah 23-25; John 19)

From the Life Journal of Adam Proux:

Scripture: “If they had stood before me and listened to me, they would have spoken my words, and they would have turned my people from their evil ways and deeds.” Jeremiah 23:22 NLT

Observation: The false prophets and phony priest were claiming to speak for God but they had not spent any time in His presence. They would tell of dreams they had claiming these to be from the Lord, but the Lord had not spoken to them or gave them any message. The land was full of adultery and all the people did was evil. The people abused what power they had. Even the priest and prophets were ungodly men committing despicable acts right in the Temple of God. The prophets of Jerusalem were even worse; they committed adultery and loved dishonestly. They encouraged those that were doing evil so that no one turned from their sins. These prophets were as wicked as the people of Sodom and Gomorrah once were. The Lord says, “Does not my word burn like a fire? Is it not like a mighty hammer that smashes a rock to pieces? Therefore, I am against these prophets who steal messages from each other and claim they are from me. I am against these smooth-tongued prophets who say, ‘This prophecy is from the Lord!”

Application: Spending time in the Lord’s presence ourselves is the only way we will learn to discern between true and false prophets. False prophets bank on their followers just believing what they say and never seeking God themselves about the matter. Many have been, and are being, deceived by false prophets that have not been called or sent by God. These are workers of iniquity that will one day hear the words, “depart from me I never knew you.” They proclaim encouraging messages that lead people down the slippery slope of sin claiming they are speaking for the God of Heaven. But God says, “Do not listen to these prophets when they prophesy to you, filling you with futile hopes. They are making up everything they say. They keep saying to those that despise my word, ‘Don’t worry! The Lord says you will have peace!’ And to those that stubbornly follow their own desires, they say, ‘No harm will come your way!” These are false prophets that proclaim a false message of security in perilous times. A true prophet of God proclaims a message from God that turns people from their evil wicked ways. It’s not a socially popular message but it is the only truth that truly sets a captive free!

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank You for this wonderful day. Thank You for Your word that speaks directly to my spirit and feeds my soul. Thank You for the warnings You have provided for us to learn from. Thank You for Your amazing patience! I praise You for Your presence that fills the room I sit in today. Thank You for the time in Your presence that enables me to hear from You. Thank You for Your mercy and grace that provide and protect me every day, in Jesus name, Amen!

August 16, 2013 (2 Kings 24; Jeremiah 22; Psalm 112; John 18)

From the Life Journal of Adam Proux:

Scripture: “I warned you when you were prosperous, but you replied, ‘Don’t bother me.’ You have been that way since childhood; you simply will not obey me!” Jeremiah 22:21 NLT

Observation: It was not God’s desire to destroy Judah and Jerusalem; the people simply left Him no choice. The fact that He warned them and pleaded with them, over and over again through His prophets to repent, proves His offer of mercy. He warned them long before everything went bad. In fact He was reaching out to Judah and Jerusalem from one generation after another hoping they would repent and turn back to Him alone. But the reply He received from the people was just like the response from a rebellious kid, “Don’t bother me!” These things that happened to Judah and Jerusalem were because of the Lord’s anger against their sins. He finally banished them from His presence and sent them into exile. They wanted other gods, so God finally gave them what they wanted. Turns out they really didn’t enjoy what they wanted when they got it.

Application: God is not slack concerning His promises, what He says, He will do. God’s patience is evidence and proof that He desires people to be saved, not destroyed. He is patient and longsuffering for our benefit, however one day His patience will come to an end. One day He will banish sin from His presence forever and will exile all those that willingly practice such despicable acts. He warns us long before the destruction comes. He provides us multiple opportunities to repent and turn to Him in obedience. We must not follow the example of Judah and Jerusalem and rebel against Him like immature children. We must learn obedience, even if it means suffering in our flesh. O earth, earth, earth! Listen to this message from the Lord! He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. His ways are our only hope, surrender to Him today!

Prayer: Dear Lord thank You for the mercy and grace You give to me. Thank You for Your patience and longsuffering for my benefit. What You speak comes to pass, and every nation that ever rebelled against You came to ruin. Open up the blinded eyes of America; turn our heart back toward You. But if we continue to reject You, give to us what we deserve as punishment. Work in the lives of individuals to save this nation, in Jesus name, Amen!

August 15, 2013 (Jeremiah 18-20; Psalm 96; John 17)

From the Life Journal of Adam Proux:

Scripture: “But the people replied, ‘Don’t waste your breath. We will continue to live as we want to, stubbornly following our own evil desires.” Jeremiah 18:12 NLT

Observation: Jeremiah was sent to warn Judah and Jerusalem that God was planning disaster for them instead of good. God wanted them to turn from their evil ways and do what was right, but the people rejected the messenger God sent as well as the message God gave. They continued to live the way they wanted to and stubbornly followed their own evil desires. Like clay in the potter’s hand Israel had not turned out like God had desired, so He was about to crush them into a lump of clay again so He could start over. Their land was about to become desolate as a monument to their stupidity. This very difficult message Jeremiah had to proclaim made him the laughing stock around town. When he spoke the words would burst out, “Violence and destruction” was what he proclaimed. Yet if Jeremiah tried to keep silent God’s Word would burn like a fire in his heart, even in his bones. The message that burned like fire shut up in Jeremiah’s bones was a message of violence and destruction the people did not want to hear.

Application: The message Jeremiah was commissioned to communicate and the people to which Jeremiah was sent to proclaim the message to are a picture perfect replica of our society today. Due to our lives being filled with all sorts of evil desires and our hearts being hardened against the instruction of God, we find our nation in the same condition as the nation of Israel was in Jeremiah’s day. We have rejected the messengers God has sent and the message God gave them to proclaim. We, just like the people of Judah, continue to live as we want to, stubbornly following our own evil desires. “Don’t waste your breath” is what we say to the fire and brimstone preachers of our day. Many “Priest” proclaim a message of peace and safety just as the priest did in Jeremiah’s day. They were wrong then, and they are wrong today. The message of God that burns like a fire shut up in bones is often a message of violence and destruction that no one wants to hear, accept, or heed.

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank You for this day. Thank You for Your mercy and grace that provide and protect me every day. Your word clearly teaches us what happens to nations that reject Your word and commandments. Lord help us! Open up the blinded eyes of Americans! Send us Jeremiah’s that will boldly proclaim the message You give! Anoint our ears to hear and our hearts to receive Your message. Lead us to repentance and we will praise You for the privilege, in Jesus name, Amen!

August 14, 2013 (Jeremiah 16-17; Psalm 96; John 16)

From the Life Journal of Adam Proux:

Scripture: “And you are even worse than your ancestors! You stubbornly follow your own evil desires and refuse to listen to me.” Jeremiah 16:12 NLT

Observation: The people of Judah wanted to know what they had done to deserve such harsh treatment from God. They are a perfect example of how sin is passed down from one generation to another and how sin, once conceived, brings forth death. Notice how the generation that had been taught to sin by their parents and grandparents didn’t even realize they were doing anything wrong. They had lived in sin since their birth so they felt sin was normal. Not only did they continue in the sin they were taught but they got worse. They were worse than their ancestors! They stubbornly followed their own evil desires and refused to listen to the God of heaven. Does this story sound familiar?

Application: Have you ever heard someone give another person the advice to “follow your heart”? What a dangerous piece of advice. The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, desperately wicked, who really knows how bad it is? This was the advice and example that was given to the children of Judah by their ancestors. Children of America have suffered the same dreadful fate. We have been taught to follow our heart even though our hearts are filled with our own evil desires. We make the sins of our ancestors look like child’s play! We have far surpassed their sinfulness, and we boast about how great we are! Yet, the Lord knows how to search the heart and examine secret motives. He rewards people according to what their actions deserve. When destruction comes we need not be surprised, it’s just God being true to His word.

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank You for this day. Thank You for Your mercy and grace that provide and protect me every day. Thank You for the privilege of repentance. Correct the wrong I have been taught by my ancestors. Turn my heart toward You and fill it with love and devotion for Your word and will. Cleanse me and make me whole, open my blinded eyes and strengthen my feeble understanding. In Jesus name, Amen!