2124AFC061121 – How does God get it done?
Read it online here, please. And please, when you visit there, use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.
Follow the ► for an important prayer request. READ THE WARNING FIRST.
Ezekiel 17:24d – I the Lord have spoken; I will accomplish it.
2 Corinthians 5:9-10 – 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10 For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense* for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil.
Mark 4:33-34 – 33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; 34 he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.
*recompense – κομίσηται: I receive back, receive what has belonged to myself but has been lost, or else promised but kept back, or: I get what has come to be my own by earning; recover. I get what’s coming to me because I earned it.
Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Grace and Peace to each of you from God our Father and our Lord, Jesus the Christ, in the Power of the Holy Spirit. This is another surprise topic. With this set of readings, I usually talk about seeds and growth. One of the main features of this coming Sunday’s readings is TREES. In the passage from Ezekiel, God speaks of propagating trees by a number of different means. His spoken words make it clear that no matter what method he uses, it will succeed so well that even the birds will come to make their homes there. In the second letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul says we are courageous because we walk by faith and not by sight. Although he does not express it directly, he is – in a way – saying that we see neither the forest nor the trees because we are not looking at either of those; we are only following our faith and that faith is leading us to our Home with the Lord. In the Gospel Jesus gives two parables – one about scattering seed for a crop and one about the mustard seed which – though tiny – grows into a pretty good-sized bush, a bush big enough for birds to nest in it. There is another, and perhaps more subtle but at least equally important commonality among these passages: They tell us how God does what he does. We’re going to take a quick Bible tour so you can make a good guess at the answer to the question in today’s title – How does God get it done?
Please scan the Key Verse entries again and look at the verbs. In the passage from Ezekiel, the Lord says, “I the Lord have spoken.” Does that ring a bell? How about over 70 bells? At least that many times in the Bible a passage contains the phrase “God said.” Probably the passage most of us call to mind containing that statement is found in the first chapter of Genesis. “And God said, let there be … And it was so … And God saw that it was good.” Another familiar passage is Genesis 6:13 – 13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence because of them; now I am going to destroy them along with the earth …” When God speaks, change happens, and the change is always what God wills to be. Whatever God speaks becomes reality. Sometimes when God speaks Creation happens as we see in the first 3 chapters of Genesis. Sometimes when God speaks devastation happens. It can come upon a single person or upon thousands. This is a fairly long passage, but I want to include it because it’s one of those “OH WOW” moments in Scripture, I am asking you to use the link to see in context what I’m going to quote for you. What you will see here would be “shocking” to some of our more Worldly acquaintances, but remember “When God speaks, change happens.” Read the excerpt, then check out the context: Exodus 32:24-34 – 27 He [Moses] said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Put your sword on your side, each of you! Go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill your brother, your friend, and your neighbor.’” 28 The sons of Levi did as Moses commanded, and about three thousand of the people fell on that day. That is a WOW, right? The “why” is in the context.
Another “action phrase” we see very frequently is “Thus says the Lord,” which is often coupled with “the God of Israel.” Usually when we see that phrase pops up, it means devastation is moments away.
Going back to Moses standing before Pharaoh, we have this which combines God speaking and instructing his Prophet (remember a Prophet is one who speaks the Will of the Lord on the Lord’s behalf) and the Prophet passing God’s declaration to Pharaoh: Exodus 4:21-22 – 21 And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: Israel is my firstborn son. Well, we all know what happened after that! Later, as Israel moved toward Canaan, there were more problems. Do you remember the story of A’chan? It is found in Joshua Chapter 7 – try check it out (↔ Click Link). After the fall of Jericho, Joshua had warned the people they were not to take any of the spoils because God had said the place and its people and cattle and riches were to be utterly destroyed. A’chan disobeyed and grabbed a bunch of goodies and buried them in his tent. It ended badly for A’chan and his whole family.
Read the story, and you’ll know how God’s spoken word saying “So you shall purge the evil from your midst” (↔ Click Link) ended up separating the chaff from the wheat among the wandering Israelites. Wherever we read that God spoke – either directly or through his prophets – change happens. Considering the obliterations God Willed in the Scripture we’ve reviewed, it should be plain to us that it is better to please God than to offend him. As we have seen repeatedly in these pages and this post, failure comes with deadly consequences. But certainly we wouldn’t make that mistake, to fail to obey God? Hmmm. Yup, we are still sinners, but we know there is a way to do right things better and better things right. Let’s look more closely at the passage from 2 Corinthians. The Apostle Paul says (inspired by the Holy Spirit who is God) “9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.” “Aiming to please” sounds familiar, yes? We all aspire to please – Mom and Dad, maybe even our siblings, certainly some of our favorite teachers, and – yes – even God. It is our hope that we can always be pleasing in God’s sight. I’m sure you’ll agree with me that it not always a piece of pie to do that (“easy as pie”).
I sin, you sin, we sin and we know we sin. We tell God we’re sorry. We tell the people against whom we’ve sinned we’re sorry and – if we can find a way – we attempt to make restitution as we seek and (hopefully receive and accept) from them their forgiveness thereby blessing our forgiveness by God. It’s The Absolutely Perfect Plan. That outcome is certainly more appealing than the alternative. Remember this: 10 For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil. In every management course, every religious education program, in dealing with my children, in all things where I can help speak The Word of the Lord, I will state: THERE ARE NO INCONSEQUENTIAL ACTS because we are being watched!
Who sees us and everything we do? (Hint: it’s not Santa Claus) Who knows our thoughts, the paths we take, the words we speak, the very mystery of when we were being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. (See Psalm 139) Belovéd, that Psalm should be read by ever Christian and non-Christian daily! How easily and conveniently we forget that there is no hiding anything from God, and what he sees he will judge, and what he judges will be changed. If we think we’re getting away with it, we are – literally – dead wrong. That means wrong and dead. Why is that true? Sin is wrong. Sin is Death. Therefore wrong is Death. Oh, if only there was someone or something to speak to us, to say, “Hey you! That’s wrong! Stop it!” Ahhh, Belovéd, but there is. There is the Voice of God.
We hear that Voice in our hearts, in our mind, in our whole being. We can heed or ignore, change or die. What an elegantly Absolutely Perfect Plan! But wait! There’s more! Act now and you can receive double the blessing or double the curse! Obedience begets forgiveness while disobedience begets destruction. Can it really be that simple? All we have to do is hear the Word of the Lord, do what the Word says, and Live? Quick, someone tell me how that relates to the Gospel! Look, hear, perceive, and understand the Word of the Lord: 33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; 34 he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples. We are his Disciples if we hear his Word and treasure it in our hearts so that when any or all of the events in Psalm 139 happen, we will Trust and Obey. Yes, I’m going to give you that same music link for Trust and Obey (↔ Music Link) as well as the post from April 2013 (↔ Click Link). There is a four-word phrase that is the greatest enabler for sinners: “It is too hard.” There is a four-letter word that teaches us how to make it easier: FROG Faithfully Rely On God. We can Trust God – we’ve got his Word on that.
We can Obey God – we’ve got his Promise on that in The Absolutely Perfect Plan (The APP) found in our End-User Manual, the B.I.B.L.E.; but guess what! Ya gotta use it or you’re gonna lose it. If you do the sin, you cannot win … unless you stick with The APP. Yep, there’s an APP for that, but it’s not on our phone or our tablet or pad. It’s in our hearts and we can download it at the APP Depot. Just look for this personal ad: Jeremiah 31:33b – I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. You see, God has chosen us (↔ Music Link) People of God, AWAKE! The “woke” walk among us and are the Shades of Death. Ahhh, Belovéd, what do you suppose will be the change when God speaks to each of us in our hearts? Hmmm, hold up your hand(s) if you know where we can find the answer to that one. BINGO! Good for you! It’s in the B.I.B.L.E. at 2 Corinthians 6:16 – 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will live in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Let us make his people our people by being The People of God using the APP he gave us. In the APP there are NO INCONSEQUENTIAL ACTS and we are promised we will get what’s coming to us because we earned it. God has spoken. When God speaks, change happens “whether good or evil.” THAT, Belovéd, is how God gets it done – whatever he says … is.
Ohhh, I just LOVE this stuff, don’t you?!?!? ▼▼▼ Scroll down
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.
Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
.
► Let’s ask God to speak against the horrid medical experimentation (↔ Click Link) on aborted fetuses as is written in Habakkuk 1:2-4 – The Prophet’s Complaint 2 O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? 3 Why do you make me see wrongdoing and look at trouble? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. 4 So the law becomes slack and justice never prevails. The wicked surround the righteous— therefore judgment comes forth perverted.
WARNING!! THIS VIDEO IS DISTURBING.
VIEWER CAUTION IS ADVISED.
.
.
.
