The Simple Life

Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. Thus says the Lord: "Learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them, for the customs of the peoples are vanity. A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman." Jeremiah 10:1-3 (ESV)   The way of a nation may not be the way of God, and a wise person knows the difference. We can hear the national pundits, but we should listen to the Scriptures. We can abide by the laws of our land while realizing that the governing bodies are not supreme. We can respectfully disagree when the laws of the land oppose the laws of God.   The great danger begins to erupt when the lines of authority are blurred. These lines are clearly drawn by those who know God and His Word and habitually use it as a measuring stick for all information.   The Supreme Court has never really been supreme.  God is supreme.   https:/...

Thus says the Lord: "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord." Jeremiah 9:23-24 (ESV)   We spend money trying to become wise, strong, and prosperous, yet the most essential things in life do not correlate with that. We like to "boast" of what we have become because of what we possess, even though the Scriptures clearly teach that our life is not measured by the things we possess.   Somewhere along life's journey, we have been duped into thinking that education, strength, and riches are the measuring sticks of life, when they are not.   Those who live as they were created are those who know, understand, and delight in God, for that is what we were made to do. The rich an...

They bend their tongue like a bow; falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know me, declares the Lord. Let everyone beware of his neighbor, and put no trust in any brother, for every brother is a deceiver, and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer. Everyone deceives his neighbor, and no one speaks the truth; they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves committing iniquity. Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit, they refuse to know me, declares the Lord. Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: "Behold, I will refine them and test them, for what else can I do, because of my people?" Jeremiah 9:3-7 (ESV)   There is great danger in a society built on lies. Lying is the native language of Satan, and those who become accustomed to deceit have no hope. One day, everybody will stand before God and give an account for their lives. For some, this will be the first time they d...

"How can you say, 'We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us'? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie.” Jeremiah 8:8 (ESV)   "The tendency to the lukewarmness of spiritual life is in us all. Take a bar of iron out of the furnace on a winter day, and lay it down in the air, and there is nothing more wanted. Leave it there, and very soon the white heat will change into livid dullness, and then there will come a scale over it, and in a short time it will be as cold as the frosty atmosphere around it. And so there is always a refrigerating process acting upon us which needs to be counteracted by continual contact with the fiery furnace of spiritual warmth, or else we are cooled down to the degree of cold around us." (Biblical Illustrator)   Twisting the Word of God to say what we want it to say destroys people. Those who listen to self-centered, self-proclaiming teachers https://www.podbean.com/relate365

"You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord: When men fall, do they not rise again? If one turns away, does he not return? Why then has this people turned away in perpetual backsliding? They hold fast to deceit; they refuse to return. I have paid attention and listened, but they have not spoken rightly; no man relents of his evil, saying, 'What have I done?' Everyone turns to his own course, like a horse plunging headlong into battle. Even the stork in the heavens knows her times, and the turtledove, swallow, and crane keep the time of their coming, but my people know not the rules of the Lord.’” Jeremiah 8:4-7 (ESV)   These people did not turn from God because they were under pressure to reject Him. They were not turning from God because God was withdrawing from them. They were rejecting God due to neglect, due to their own choices.   In our sinful world, tragedy will always abound, but woe to the one whose tragedy is self-inflicted, for they have no one to blame and no on...

"You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord: When men fall, do they not rise again? If one turns away, does he not return? Why then has this people turned away in perpetual backsliding? They hold fast to deceit; they refuse to return. I have paid attention and listened, but they have not spoken rightly; no man relents of his evil, saying, 'What have I done?' Everyone turns to his own course, like a horse plunging headlong into battle. Even the stork in the heavens knows her times, and the turtledove, swallow, and crane keep the time of their coming, but my people know not the rules of the Lord.'" Jeremiah 8:4-7 (ESV)   Backsliding affects us as it arrests the progress of the soul, darkens its prospects, curtails its liberty, and destroys its usefulness. Backsliding affects others: it encourages the religious sceptic, staggers the anxious inquirer, and embarrasses the friends of truth. There is no counsel for the weary where there is no truth.   When each person doe...