Jeremiah 12:1 – “Lord, you have always been fair whenever I have complained to you.  However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice.  Why are wicked people successful?  Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives?”

As I read, prayed, and mused on the Word of God today, Jeremiah 12 commanded my attention.   The chapters preceding this one explore themes of obedience, righteousness, and right living.  The way Jeremiah began Chapter 12 gave me pause.  Jeremiah, like us, complained to God about what he saw and his evaluation of fairness.

He began right but quickly gave way to human thinking.   “LORD, You have always been fair whenever I complained to You.  However, (here it comes, the but), I would like to speak with You about the disposition of justice…”   

Imagine coming to God and saying, “God, you’ve always been fair, BUT You missed something, so let me make You aware of the problem.  You don’t see it, but I do so that I will apprise You of the problem.  Then he continued, “Why are wicked people successful?  Why do all (not some but all) dishonest people have such easy lives?” Yes, God, I’m struggling, and I’m limiting myself, doing all the right things, and yet they are not, but life’s a party for them.  What’s up with that?”

In Jeremiah 12:5, God answered, “If you have raced on foot against men and they have worn you out, how will you compete with horses?  And if you feel secure, only safe, and open country, how will you manage the thick undergrowth along the Jordan River?”

God’s sense of humor is on full display here.  He was saying, “Jeremiah, if you keep comparing yourself to others when it really doesn’t impact you, and things are relatively easy, what will you do if it becomes life or death?  You are looking at the wrong thing, being self-centered rather than trusting Me.“

• If we look to God and give everything to Him, we know He is always just. 
• If we are distracted by other people when things are easy, how distracted will we be when it gets really bad? 
• If our faith is stretched to the limit in ease, will we have any faith at all when it gets really bad?

John 14:1-2 and John 15 are my go-to passages for comfort and prevention when I’m tempted to look at others, seeming ease in their rebellion.     Why me, Lord?     There, I see the eternal destiny of everyone and know that no matter what, I’m loved, cared for, protected, and preserved.    In Him, I have hope.    Psalm 91 reminds me that I have angelic protection.

 So, never use human logic to rationalize how you think God should be acting.  Surrender everything to Him and rest in His perfection.  Ultimately, you get to abide in His house in heaven forever!    The Present, with its problems, is minuscule compared to the presence of His there.

May your day be filled with His goodness and your focus on His mercy, not the unfairness of life!

Acts 1:1-5 – “I wrote the former account, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach ² until the day he was taken up to heaven, after he had given orders by the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.  ³ To the same apostles also, after his suffering, he presented himself alive with many convincing proofs.  He was seen by them over a forty-day period and spoke about matters concerning the kingdom of God.  ⁴ While he was with them, he declared, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait there for what my Father promised, which you heard about from me.  ⁵ For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

 As I prayed, read, and meditated on the Word of God today, a singular thought kept reverberating in my head—First!   First?   What could that mean?  In our chaotic and troubled times, people are searching for answers and trying to make sense of the senseless.

The world is sinking deeper into confusion and corruption.  Believers are often confused and distracted, missing the most important: The First.

In Acts 1, God provides help in directing our focus.   The disciples were in Jerusalem, following Jesus’ directive.   They were waiting for the Promise of the Father.   Jesus said, “Go, stay, wait UNTIL…”   They likely did not know what being baptized in the Holy Spirit meant or how it would impact their lives, but they knew Jesus said it was essential.   They had the knowledge (through the Torah and 3.5 years with Jesus) but were still inadequately prepared for their mission.

They were waiting (something we find almost impossible to do).  Jesus said, “But you will receive power (Dunamis) when (or after) the Holy Spirit has come upon you (immersed you), AND you will be my witnesses…”   That was their directive – Do nothing until you are baptized in or with the Holy Spirit.

The disciples were asking the governmental questions about the kingdom.   The church today is consumed with eschatology and signs of the end.   Listen to what Jesus said in answer to their question, “You are not permitted to know the times or periods that the Father set by His own authority.  BUT you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…” (v.7)

We err if we focus on when He is coming back rather than our mission!  We have a mission (go to the world, occupy until), and we have the power to perform that mission IF or WHEN we receive the Promise of the Father.   We are not equipped for the assignment until we are baptized in the Holy Spirit (immersed into Him, saturated).

Being saturated and immersed is the key.   It is not a matter of not having had an experience; it is being continuously saturated.  At that point, the mission becomes more important than some revelation about when He is coming back.  He is, and that will take care of itself.   What we do until then is to be our focus.

We need to tarry, wait, seek, yearn for, and long to be FILLED, Saturated With the Holy Spirit so that we can be and do what we have been commissioned to do.  The mission is the gospel to the world.

I pray your day will be saturated with the presence of the Lord, and the Holy Spirit will overflow in your heart and life!

Exodus 13:18 – “But God led the people by the Red Sea; and the children of Israel went up armed out of the land of Egypt.”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, I saw a progression that encouraged and enlightened me.   In Exodus 12, as Israel was preparing for their deliverance and exodus from bondage, the ceremony of the Blood was revelatory.

The blood of atonement and protection (grace) was applied, marking the house as a safe zone, a place of safety.  The blood saved them from destruction.   To enjoy that safety and security, they had to stay in the house.  Outside, the blood was death; inside, it was life.  This is a picture of salvation and the Christian life.

Salvation is the beginning, the first step, not the whole picture.   They had to go out of Egypt and be trained in the wilderness.  A very interesting statement is found in Exodus 13:18, “They went up ARMED!”    They had been in bondage with no opportunity or training for war.  However, they left Egypt ARMED!    

As they left bondage, they had the equipment but not the training to use it.   That would be part of their development in the wilderness.   At salvation, all the weapons are available, but we do not know how to use them.   We need to be trained!

They had been set free by God’s supernatural power.    They were armed but still did not know who they were by knowing the God to whom they belonged!

Exodus 14:10 – “And when Pharaoh drew near (in the wilderness), the children of Israel lifted up their eyes and saw the Egyptians marching after them; and they were terribly afraid, and the children of Israel prayed before the LORD.”

They saw (their focus was on) the enemy.  They feared, and they prayed before the LORD.   Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but their focus produced fear and controlled them.   They saw the Egyptians as a threat, failing to remember God’s deliverance. 

They prayed before the LORD.    They did not simply pray to, but before the LORD.    Ritualistic praying does not produce faith but is a seedbed for doubt.   We need to fill out hearts and minds with Who God is.  We then pray to Him!

God said something to Israel through Moses that He is saying to us.  Exodus 14:15 – And the LORD said to Moses, “Why do you pray before Me?  Tell the children of Israel to go forward…”

Sometimes, we pray for God to do something when He is telling us to do it.  He won’t do for us what He has commanded us to do.  He gives us the grace, which includes the equipment and ability, and sends His presence before us to enable us.  Yet, we cry, “LORD, do it for us!”  He says, “You do it!”

We have been redeemed by the Blood of Jesus, armed by the Grace of God, empowered by the Spirit of God, and commissioned to do it, so let’s do it!

Hebrews 13:8 – “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever!”  

Nothing is impossible for God, and we are in Him, so nothing is impossible for us.  He is saying – JUST DO IT!

Lord, train our hands for war, teach us to use the weapons of warfare You have given!

Exodus 3:2 – “The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from within a bush. He looked, and the bush was ablaze with fire, but it was not being consumed!”

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, I heard a captivating and challenging question in my heart.   “Who is God?”   As I read in Exodus about the encounter of Moses at the burning bush, the question came.    It was expanded as I meditated. “Who is God to you?” That personalized it powerfully.   It reminded me of Jesus’s question and Peter’s response to the disciples.

In Exodus 3:2, an angel of God appeared to Moses in a flame of fire in the bush.   Fire in the desert would consume and reduce to ashes all it touched.   The fire of God illuminates but does not destroy the obedient.

God called Moses and commissioned him with a gargantuan task—to deliver Israel.   Moses asked, “What is the name of the one by whom I am sent? What name do I tell the people?”   They believed in the God of Abraham.   People today believe in the God of the Bible, at least as a concept.

In Exodus 3:14, in the Aramaic to English translation, God’s answer to Moses was, “I am AHIAH ASHAR HIGH (that is, THE LIVING GOD); and He said, Thus shall you say to the children of Israel: AHIAH has sent me to you.”

That’s where I was challenged.  Who is God to me?   Is He truly THE LIVING GOD living in me, operating through me, and being my All, or is He a concept or theory that I profess belief in but without the manifestation of His power?

Moses tried diligently to convince God that he (Moses) was inadequate for the task.   That was one of the reasons God could use him.   He was not filled with his own importance but dependent upon God.   Moses left that encounter having been transformed from believing in the historical God of his ancestors to a faith in THE LIVING GOD experientially.   That transformation is necessary for us to become who He says we are.

The question is, “Who is God? Who is God to us personally?”     Is He THE LIVING GOD? Hebrews 13:8 reminds us that Jesus is eternally the same.   We also read that He resides in our hearts by faith.   We read that the life we now live in the flesh we live by, with, and through the Son of God. Christ in us… Christ through us… Christ with us…

THE LIVING GOD waits to be THE GOD WHO LIVES to us so that He can be THE LIVING GOD through us.

Are you tired of being defeated by the devil?   Then, let the Holy Spirit open the eyes of your heart to see Him as AHIAH ASHAR HIGH – The Living God!    The Living God is undefeatable, and those in Him are undefeatable. Who is God to you?

May the God Who is and Who Lives be the Living God to you!