I've been seeking the Lord regarding International
invitations that I've recently received from pastors around the world. Many are from pastors whom God has planted in some
very "hard" places in this world. To be honest, I an't even imagine the daily work they find before them.
I am humbled. Most often when I receive such invitations, my heart begins to break and tears will fall. Not tears
of pity, but tears of joy! God has a plan! He has a plan that is truly awesome and He allows us to participate in His great
plan! In my heart, I hear the Lord calling me to go. I want to go. I want to be brave.
"Brave?" you
may ask. Yes, Brave. I don't mind telling you that I tremble with fear when I know the Lord is moving. Not fear in the
sense of being afraid, but fear in the sense of "fear and trembling"! Awe! Reverance! I revere the Lord God's
presence and His move.
And, fear in the most common sense of the word. Family and friends will ask me, "Are
you not afraid to get on an airplane? To travel to foreign countries when so many terrorists are out there trying to hijack
airplanes to attack and to destroy?" Yes, I do get afraid.
There is always that "fear" that makes
you check your motives twice, and thrice!..and your luggage, too! Am I doing this because I feel God has ordained it, called
me to it? Or is there a lesser motive?
Tonight, I went to study the Word. I was seeking God in a decision I have
to make concerning going where God is calling me to go. I know that it may not be, (in the realm of the natural!), one of
the safest places to go. So, I have to take this into consideration. But my main concern is being in the will of God.
Normally, I don't do the "open the Bible to where it falls" thing. You know what I'm talking about,
don't you? When you go to your Bible seeking an answer and you just let it fall open, point your finger, and that's
what you read....seeking an answer in this way? To be honest, tonight, I wanted to seek the Lord on a matter, and I did just
open the Bible up. It's like being hungry and breaking bread. You may not have a plan to eat the bread, but by habit,
you break a piece of the bread off, and before you know it, you are eating and being satisfied.
I opened the Bible
like this and the Lord fed me. I opened it up to Jeremiah 17, and I read:
17:1 "The sin of Judah is inscribed
with an iron chisel."
Wow, is that permanent or what? My grandkids often get "permanent marker"
on their hands when doing their art work. I know when I see it not to worry because after a few baths, and a little scrubbing,
the marker will disappear and the kids will be free of the annoying marks. One of the children one time colored themselves
blue, all over, with a "Magic Marker". I thought it would never wear/wash off, but it did. We think sometimes that
certain things are permanent, but they aren't. Inscribing something with an IRON chisel certainly sounds at least "long
term", if not permanent, to me! Not only "permanent" but also intense!
"inscribed with a diamond
point on their stony hearts"! Wow! Their "sin was inscribed with an iron chisel and a diamond point...on their stony
hearts!" Something so hard that it takes not only an iron chisel, but a diamond point to make an imprint on it! That
is certainly hard-hearted! Stubborn headed! These people refused to hear and to revere the teaching of God and His will for
them.
But, not only on their hearts, but "also on the corners of their altars"!
Job cried
out, "Oh, that my words could be recorded, Oh that they could be inscribed on a monument, carved with an iron chisel
and filled with lead, engraved forever in the rock." Job wanted a permanent record of his words, and he cried out that
if his words could be recorded, this would be his method. But, read on in Job, 19:23-25 "But as for me, I know that my
Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the eart at last." What a witness of faith Job made, "I know my Redeemer
lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last."
Contrast here the sin of Judah, with the righteousness
of Job!
Job continues, "And after my body has decayed, YET in my body I will see God"!(Emphasis added
by me..) What faith. "After my body has decayed, Yet in my BODY I WILL SEE GOD!"
Job had a certainty
of faith, even when he had lost everything, he still had his hope and his faith that his Redeemer lives, his Redeemer would
stand on earth, and while it may be after his own body had decayed, he would in his own body see God! Job confesses, "I
will see Him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!
Are you overwhelmed
at the thought of what God is showing you? Do you sometimes stumble in fear and trembling? Is your faith certain enough to
write in stone? Your words true enough to write a permanent record of for all the world to read? Will you confess with Job,"
I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last...and while my body may have decayed, I will in my
body see God"?
What was Judah's sin? Jeremiah 17:2-4 "Even their children go to worship at their
pagan altars and Asherah poles, beneath every green tree and on every high hill. So, I will hand over my holy mountain--along
with all your wealth and treasures and your pagan shrines--as plunder to your enemies, for sin runs rampant in your land!"
In other words, because of Judah's sin, God is taking everything away from them and handing it over to the
enemy, even the beautiful holy mountain that belonged to God, he would hand over to the enemy! Even the pagan shrines would
be handed to the enemy. All would be handed to the enemy because Judah had sinned.
"The wonderful possession
I (God) have reserved for you will slip from your hands. I will tell your enemies to take you as captives to a foreign land.
For my anger blazes like a fire that will burn forever."
God was going to strip Judah of everything, even
their freedom. They would be taken into captivity.
Now, please stay with me here, Pastors. What does this have
to do with you?
Well, of course this is a strong warning to all of us to stay faithful and true to God. But, read
on.
Jer. 17:5-6 This is what the Lord says, "Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely
on human strength and turn their hearts away from the Lord. They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the
future. They will live in the barren wilderness, in an uninhabited salty land."
Judah had put their hope
in pagan things and in human shrines, not in God! They had put their hope in man and his understanding, not in God!
As I read this, I knew that I had to put all of my trust in God, not in what my family says, my church says, or even in
what I would counsel with own self! I can't put my trust even in my OWN understanding! My trust has to be in God.
Pastor, where is your trust? Is it in your denomination? Your ordination? Your call, or your "appointment"?
Is it in your understanding of God's Word, or is it IN God's Word? Is your trust in man's tradition? Religion?
Dogma? Doctrine? Office? Education? Title?
Can you say with Job,"I know my Redeemer lives...I will see God!"
Jeremiah 17:7-8 "But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.
They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the
heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit."
Rev.
22:2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree
yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Are you in a drought
ridden place? Spiritually dry land, where it seems the Lord has forgotten? Look down! Are you planted with deep roots of faith
and belief and trust in God and His Word? Are you standing deep in the waters of the riverbank of beliefe in God and His Word?
Where are you planted, friend? Are you producing fruit, even in the midst of that drought? Are your leaves green? Are you
producing life giving fruit, with leaves that heal the nations?
Ezekiel 47:12-13 Along the bank of the river,
on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not
fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their
leaves for medicine."
So, I've rambled around abit, but let me wrap it up for you.
I've
been wrestling this thing out of "what to do". I've sought advice, prayed, and put out my "fleece".
My knees have shaked and quaked, wondering if I was "qualified" enough to do what was being asked of me. Then, I
turned to the Word, and what I have learned is that we should put all of our trust and faith in God, not in man or his institutions
or humanity's "wisdom". To produce fruit in season and out of season is what I am called to do. The Word teaches
that we are to produce even LEAVES that are healing for the Nations!
Very often, in my part of the world, we are
attracted only to the fruit of a tree for food, apple's, oranges, bananas, figs, etc are usually harvested for food. Occasionaly
a gourmet cook may choose something like grape leaves, but for the most part, you don't see people go out to the apple
tree in the back yard and pick a basket filled with "apple leaves". And, normally we don't go to the orchard
or the farmer's market to seek a basketful of leaves. But, in God's Kingdom, God's economy, even the leaves of
the tree are beneficial and are for healing the nations!
Jeremiah 17:7-8 "But blessed are those who trust
in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that
reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay
green, and they never stop producing fruit."
I encourage you brothers and sisters in the Lord, to check your
"feet"! Are you in a bubbling brook, an artesian well of God's Holy Spirit? When the drought comes, will your
faith survive? When the opposition attacks, will your roots hold you firm and strong until the wind passes?
Hold
to the firm foundation of Truth, and He will be your anchor! Plant your feet firmly in His Word and He will hold you when
the winds blow and the earth trembles, and you too can say with Job, I know that my Redeemer lives, and He will stand on the
earth. Though my body may die and decay, one day I will in my body yet see God. I am overwhelmed at this truth!
Please remember, Lydia Ministries International survives on your gifts! We are a 501 (c)(3) non-profit ministry, and 100%
of your gift goes to ministering to ministers and their families. We do not take a salary!
