Friday, November 7, 2015, 6:00 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Broken and Contrite.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Jeremiah 17:1-14 (NASB).
The Tablet of Their Heart (vv. 1-4)
Recently the Lord has been showing me a sinful practice of both those who make no claims to faith in Jesus Christ and of those who profess Christ as Savior of their lives. The practice is that of serving as government spies (informants), who inform on people of their own family and of their church fellowships, and who inform on their neighbors, friends, co-workers, and acquaintances, etc. The US government has been soliciting US citizens for some time now to report what they deem as “suspicious activity” coming from people they know. I believe that at least some of these informants are remunerated in some way, and that serves as their motivation to do so, though I have no way of proving that. Some of them may have been coerced into ratting on their friends and relatives because the government has something on them and is threatening to expose them. Some will agree because it makes them feel important and powerful, some will agree because there are people with whom they want to get even, and some may truly believe they are helping.
These people could be members of our own families or of our church fellowships, or they could be our neighbors, i.e. people we already know, or they could be people who just recently came into our lives who pretend to be our friends or who try to get close to us who then take whatever information they can squeeze out of us which they then pass on to the powers that be. Those powers which are soliciting such spying on American (or other country’s) citizens, I believe, are tied in with the New World Order “Beast.” They are monsters, vipers, controlling, influential, hateful and vile people who are self-serving, and whose goal it is to take down sovereign governments and to destroy the gospel of Jesus Christ and its messengers. This “Beast” is authoritarian, communistic, a global military force, deceptive, and destructive, and will go to any means to conquer all people and all governments in the world so that it can establish its own one-world government and one-world religion, which means it must take out or silence all opposition.
These who agree to work as spies for the government, though, are not merely informants. They also assist the government in utilizing tactics to try to persuade the opposition to give up its stance. They do this through something called “gang stalking,” in which they use various tactics to try to take out, distract, confuse or otherwise drive crazy those who would oppose the New World Order, or those who stand as a threat to the N.W.O. and its one-world religion, mainly evangelical Christians who still hold to the truths of scripture, who obey Christ’s commands, and who still preach the full gospel message. They use harassment, psychological warfare, slander, persuasion tactics, hacking of people’s computers, planting information, etc. in order to try to silence their targets. If all that fails, they may eventually carry out the murdering of them in order to silence them. In this way, these spies who are Christians, or who claim to be Christians, let go of their own inheritance as they assist their own government in taking down their own nation and their own people.
Flesh His Strength (vv. 5-8)
These who serve as government spies and who rat on their own people for a price, or for some other personal gain, put their trust in humans instead of in God. They make humans their strength instead of relying on the strength of the Lord. Many of these who end up becoming informants are those who are already weighed down with numerous sins, and thus they are most vulnerable to being solicited by the government for such purposes. The government may even help feed their addictions, and this is one way in which the government is able to maintain control over their minds and hearts. Possibly many of these informants are those who profess Christ as Savior of their lives, but have returned to sinful ways, and instead of making the Lord their trust, have turned to humans in order to make themselves feel important and powerful. But, it will be their downfall.
In contrast to those who feel as though they must trust in their own strength or in their own conniving, manipulating, and deceiving in order to get what they want, or in response to fear of man, and what man might do to them, are those who make the Lord their trust, and who do not turn to false gods, but who rely on the strength of the Lord as their all-sufficiency. They will have confidence in the Lord, and will be given strength from the Lord to endure persecution, “gang stalking,” or whatever types of opposition they receive from the enemy and even through those, perhaps, who are closest to them. They will continue in faithful surrender to their Lord, and in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, even if it means that their reputations are destroyed, they are abandoned by family and friends, and even to the point of their death. When they are put under “heat” by the enemy, they will respond in faith, rather than in fear, because they know that their God is all powerful, and that he is completely sovereign over every aspect of their lives, and they know where they are going.
Deceitful Hearts (vv. 9-11)
Sometimes it is difficult to understand why people do the things they do, or even why we, ourselves, do what we do. Although, as believers in Jesus Christ, our hearts have been cleansed of sin, we have been forgiven, and we have been given eternal life with God, we still live in flesh bodies, thus we still have the propensity to sin. Yet, we have been delivered from slavery to sin, and we have been given all we need from God to resist Satan and to flee temptation, and to draw near to God in full assurance of faith. So, we should no longer be under the control of sin nor give way to temptation, especially not as a regular practice of our lives. In Romans 8 we read that Jesus died that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us who walk not after the flesh but who conduct our lives according to the Spirit, for if we continue (persist) in conducting our lives after the flesh, we will die, but if by the Spirit we put to death the deeds of the flesh, we will live (Ro. 8:1-14; Luke 9:23-25; John 6:35-66; Ro. 6:1-23; 2 Co. 5:15; Eph. 4:17-24; 1 Pet. 2:24-25; & 1 Jn. 1:5-9).
Sinful practices never gain us anything. It is foolish to think we can turn away from God and go our own way and that nothing should happen to us, or that we will not be found out. God disciplines those he loves, so we should be earnest and repent (Heb. 12:3-11; Rev. 2-3). We also should not have the false notion that God cares nothing about our sin or that he does not require repentance (turning from sin) and obedience, for he does (see scripture references in above paragraph). God’s grace to us is not a free license to continue in sin. His grace, which brings salvation, teaches us to say “NO” to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives while we wait for Christ’s return (Tit. 2:11-14; cf. Ro. 12:1-2; Gal. 2:20). If we claim to have fellowship with God, but we persist in continuing in living our lives according to our flesh, we are liars (1 Jn. 1:6).
The Fountain of Living Water (vv. 12-14)
Those whose sins are hidden, who deceive and who keep their sins secret, are self-deceived into thinking they will not be found out, but nothing is hidden from God, and it will come back to bite them. God is calling out to all his rebellious and idolatrous people, and he is calling them to surrender to him, to put their trust in him, to confess their sins, to turn from them, and to follow him with their lives, even if it means their deaths because they betrayed the government and thus the government must take them out or will expose them. Better to be exposed, and to have people know the truth, than to live a lie, and to hurt those you are supposed to love. So, repent of your sins and choose today to follow your Lord always.
Broken and Contrite / An Original Work / May 13, 2012
I come before You, Lord, my Savior,
With humble heart and crushed in spirit.
I bow before You, I implore You,
Heal my broken heart, I pray.
Love You, Jesus, Lord, my master,
You are the King of my heart.
Lord, purify my heart within me;
Sanctify me, whole within.
Oh, Lord, I long to obey fully
The words You’ve spoken through Your Spirit.
I pray You give me grace and mercy,
Strength and wisdom to obey.
Father God, my heart’s desire,
Won’t You set my heart on fire?
Lord, cleanse my heart of all that hinders
My walk with You, now I pray.
Oh, Jesus, Savior, full of mercy,
My heart cries out for understanding.
I want to follow You in all ways,
Never straying from Your truth.
Holy Spirit, come in power,
Fill me with Your love today.
Lord, mold and make me;
Your hands formed me;
Live Your life through me, I pray.
The Tablet of Their Heart (vv. 1-4)
The sin of Judah is written down with an iron stylus;
With a diamond point it is engraved upon the tablet of their heart
And on the horns of their altars,
As they remember their children,
So they remember their altars and their Asherim
By green trees on the high hills.
O mountain of Mine in the countryside,
I will give over your wealth and all your treasures for booty,
Your high places for sin throughout your borders.
And you will, even of yourself, let go of your inheritance
That I gave you;
And I will make you serve your enemies
In the land which you do not know;
For you have kindled a fire in My anger
Which will burn forever.
With a diamond point it is engraved upon the tablet of their heart
And on the horns of their altars,
As they remember their children,
So they remember their altars and their Asherim
By green trees on the high hills.
O mountain of Mine in the countryside,
I will give over your wealth and all your treasures for booty,
Your high places for sin throughout your borders.
And you will, even of yourself, let go of your inheritance
That I gave you;
And I will make you serve your enemies
In the land which you do not know;
For you have kindled a fire in My anger
Which will burn forever.
Recently the Lord has been showing me a sinful practice of both those who make no claims to faith in Jesus Christ and of those who profess Christ as Savior of their lives. The practice is that of serving as government spies (informants), who inform on people of their own family and of their church fellowships, and who inform on their neighbors, friends, co-workers, and acquaintances, etc. The US government has been soliciting US citizens for some time now to report what they deem as “suspicious activity” coming from people they know. I believe that at least some of these informants are remunerated in some way, and that serves as their motivation to do so, though I have no way of proving that. Some of them may have been coerced into ratting on their friends and relatives because the government has something on them and is threatening to expose them. Some will agree because it makes them feel important and powerful, some will agree because there are people with whom they want to get even, and some may truly believe they are helping.
These people could be members of our own families or of our church fellowships, or they could be our neighbors, i.e. people we already know, or they could be people who just recently came into our lives who pretend to be our friends or who try to get close to us who then take whatever information they can squeeze out of us which they then pass on to the powers that be. Those powers which are soliciting such spying on American (or other country’s) citizens, I believe, are tied in with the New World Order “Beast.” They are monsters, vipers, controlling, influential, hateful and vile people who are self-serving, and whose goal it is to take down sovereign governments and to destroy the gospel of Jesus Christ and its messengers. This “Beast” is authoritarian, communistic, a global military force, deceptive, and destructive, and will go to any means to conquer all people and all governments in the world so that it can establish its own one-world government and one-world religion, which means it must take out or silence all opposition.
These who agree to work as spies for the government, though, are not merely informants. They also assist the government in utilizing tactics to try to persuade the opposition to give up its stance. They do this through something called “gang stalking,” in which they use various tactics to try to take out, distract, confuse or otherwise drive crazy those who would oppose the New World Order, or those who stand as a threat to the N.W.O. and its one-world religion, mainly evangelical Christians who still hold to the truths of scripture, who obey Christ’s commands, and who still preach the full gospel message. They use harassment, psychological warfare, slander, persuasion tactics, hacking of people’s computers, planting information, etc. in order to try to silence their targets. If all that fails, they may eventually carry out the murdering of them in order to silence them. In this way, these spies who are Christians, or who claim to be Christians, let go of their own inheritance as they assist their own government in taking down their own nation and their own people.
Flesh His Strength (vv. 5-8)
Thus says the Lord,
“Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind
And makes flesh his strength,
And whose heart turns away from the Lord.
“For he will be like a bush in the desert
And will not see when prosperity comes,
But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness,
A land of salt without inhabitant.
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord
And whose trust is the Lord.
“For he will be like a tree planted by the water,
That extends its roots by a stream
And will not fear when the heat comes;
But its leaves will be green,
And it will not be anxious in a year of drought
Nor cease to yield fruit.
“Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind
And makes flesh his strength,
And whose heart turns away from the Lord.
“For he will be like a bush in the desert
And will not see when prosperity comes,
But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness,
A land of salt without inhabitant.
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord
And whose trust is the Lord.
“For he will be like a tree planted by the water,
That extends its roots by a stream
And will not fear when the heat comes;
But its leaves will be green,
And it will not be anxious in a year of drought
Nor cease to yield fruit.
These who serve as government spies and who rat on their own people for a price, or for some other personal gain, put their trust in humans instead of in God. They make humans their strength instead of relying on the strength of the Lord. Many of these who end up becoming informants are those who are already weighed down with numerous sins, and thus they are most vulnerable to being solicited by the government for such purposes. The government may even help feed their addictions, and this is one way in which the government is able to maintain control over their minds and hearts. Possibly many of these informants are those who profess Christ as Savior of their lives, but have returned to sinful ways, and instead of making the Lord their trust, have turned to humans in order to make themselves feel important and powerful. But, it will be their downfall.
In contrast to those who feel as though they must trust in their own strength or in their own conniving, manipulating, and deceiving in order to get what they want, or in response to fear of man, and what man might do to them, are those who make the Lord their trust, and who do not turn to false gods, but who rely on the strength of the Lord as their all-sufficiency. They will have confidence in the Lord, and will be given strength from the Lord to endure persecution, “gang stalking,” or whatever types of opposition they receive from the enemy and even through those, perhaps, who are closest to them. They will continue in faithful surrender to their Lord, and in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, even if it means that their reputations are destroyed, they are abandoned by family and friends, and even to the point of their death. When they are put under “heat” by the enemy, they will respond in faith, rather than in fear, because they know that their God is all powerful, and that he is completely sovereign over every aspect of their lives, and they know where they are going.
Deceitful Hearts (vv. 9-11)
“The heart is more deceitful than all else
And is desperately sick;
Who can understand it?
“I, the Lord, search the heart,
I test the mind,
Even to give to each man according to his ways,
According to the results of his deeds.
“As a partridge that hatches eggs which it has not laid,
So is he who makes a fortune, but unjustly;
In the midst of his days it will forsake him,
And in the end he will be a fool.”
And is desperately sick;
Who can understand it?
“I, the Lord, search the heart,
I test the mind,
Even to give to each man according to his ways,
According to the results of his deeds.
“As a partridge that hatches eggs which it has not laid,
So is he who makes a fortune, but unjustly;
In the midst of his days it will forsake him,
And in the end he will be a fool.”
Sometimes it is difficult to understand why people do the things they do, or even why we, ourselves, do what we do. Although, as believers in Jesus Christ, our hearts have been cleansed of sin, we have been forgiven, and we have been given eternal life with God, we still live in flesh bodies, thus we still have the propensity to sin. Yet, we have been delivered from slavery to sin, and we have been given all we need from God to resist Satan and to flee temptation, and to draw near to God in full assurance of faith. So, we should no longer be under the control of sin nor give way to temptation, especially not as a regular practice of our lives. In Romans 8 we read that Jesus died that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us who walk not after the flesh but who conduct our lives according to the Spirit, for if we continue (persist) in conducting our lives after the flesh, we will die, but if by the Spirit we put to death the deeds of the flesh, we will live (Ro. 8:1-14; Luke 9:23-25; John 6:35-66; Ro. 6:1-23; 2 Co. 5:15; Eph. 4:17-24; 1 Pet. 2:24-25; & 1 Jn. 1:5-9).
Sinful practices never gain us anything. It is foolish to think we can turn away from God and go our own way and that nothing should happen to us, or that we will not be found out. God disciplines those he loves, so we should be earnest and repent (Heb. 12:3-11; Rev. 2-3). We also should not have the false notion that God cares nothing about our sin or that he does not require repentance (turning from sin) and obedience, for he does (see scripture references in above paragraph). God’s grace to us is not a free license to continue in sin. His grace, which brings salvation, teaches us to say “NO” to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives while we wait for Christ’s return (Tit. 2:11-14; cf. Ro. 12:1-2; Gal. 2:20). If we claim to have fellowship with God, but we persist in continuing in living our lives according to our flesh, we are liars (1 Jn. 1:6).
The Fountain of Living Water (vv. 12-14)
A glorious throne on high from the beginning
Is the place of our sanctuary.
O Lord, the hope of Israel,
All who forsake You will be put to shame.
Those who turn away on earth will be written down,
Because they have forsaken the fountain of living water, even the Lord.
Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed;
Save me and I will be saved,
For You are my praise.
Is the place of our sanctuary.
O Lord, the hope of Israel,
All who forsake You will be put to shame.
Those who turn away on earth will be written down,
Because they have forsaken the fountain of living water, even the Lord.
Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed;
Save me and I will be saved,
For You are my praise.
Those whose sins are hidden, who deceive and who keep their sins secret, are self-deceived into thinking they will not be found out, but nothing is hidden from God, and it will come back to bite them. God is calling out to all his rebellious and idolatrous people, and he is calling them to surrender to him, to put their trust in him, to confess their sins, to turn from them, and to follow him with their lives, even if it means their deaths because they betrayed the government and thus the government must take them out or will expose them. Better to be exposed, and to have people know the truth, than to live a lie, and to hurt those you are supposed to love. So, repent of your sins and choose today to follow your Lord always.
Broken and Contrite / An Original Work / May 13, 2012
I come before You, Lord, my Savior,
With humble heart and crushed in spirit.
I bow before You, I implore You,
Heal my broken heart, I pray.
Love You, Jesus, Lord, my master,
You are the King of my heart.
Lord, purify my heart within me;
Sanctify me, whole within.
Oh, Lord, I long to obey fully
The words You’ve spoken through Your Spirit.
I pray You give me grace and mercy,
Strength and wisdom to obey.
Father God, my heart’s desire,
Won’t You set my heart on fire?
Lord, cleanse my heart of all that hinders
My walk with You, now I pray.
Oh, Jesus, Savior, full of mercy,
My heart cries out for understanding.
I want to follow You in all ways,
Never straying from Your truth.
Holy Spirit, come in power,
Fill me with Your love today.
Lord, mold and make me;
Your hands formed me;
Live Your life through me, I pray.