365 Reflections

Paul, the Apostle, informs Timothy that all who wish to walk with Jesus will be persecuted.  2 Timothy 3:12 (ESV) Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, Jeremiah was of course, no exception.  Jeremiah 20:1–2 (ESV) Now Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, who was chief officer in the house of the LORD, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. 2 Then Pashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper Benjamin Gate of the house of the LORD. For telling God's people what God wanted them to know, Jeremiah was beaten and imprisoned by the very people who claimed to work for God. Notice it was "Passhur the priest" who instigated this attack on Jeremiah.  Jeremiah responds by changing Pashur's name.  Jeremiah 20:3–4 (ESV) The next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The LORD does not call your name Pashhur, but Terror on Every Side. 4 For thus says the LORD: ...

Sometimes you share the Word of God and live the life He calls you to and you get nothing but vicious attacks from the mouths of those you are sent to help. This was Jeremiah's reality and it helps us handle the pushback we get from modern culture which seems intent on destroying itself.  After declaring God's warnings through the image of the potter, the people respond: Jeremiah 18:18 (ESV) Then they said, “Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah, for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not pay attention to any of his words.” The NLT is helpful here: Jeremiah 18:18 (NLT) Then the people said, “Come on, let’s plot a way to stop Jeremiah. We have plenty of priests and wise men and prophets. We don’t need him to teach the word and give us advice and prophecies. Let’s spread rumors about him and ignore what he says.” The people were confident of their roster of pr...

Psalm 83 reminds us that enemies of God's people always abound. The opening verses mention 10 nations gathered around Israel to attack and destory them. These are their enemies. Child of God, we will always have enemies... 1 John 3:13 (ESV)   Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. The world throughout history has hated this ancient family of the Jews. God's chosen people have been the rejected ones in society down through the ages, from Egypt to Nazi Germany. Yet God's blessing has been upon them to this day. For Christians it will be no different. Men will hate us. Yet we are to regard this  as blessing! Luke 6:22–23 (ESV) “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! 23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets. The Psalmist readily acknowledges the adversary. He then ...

Most of Western Christianity is so out of touch with the roots of this movement. We pray for good days.  We pray for good weather.  We pray that our home expansion will be done by Christmas.  We pray for things the first century Christians didn't even know were problems. The writer of Hebrews gives us a clue as to why we may be just so out of touch in one of the final verses of this great work. Closing out his 13 chapter-long-sermon to a struggling church dealing with persecution and trouble from the authorities as well as their own inner battle for purity and righteousness, he gives a sort of bright spot of good news for the Christians at large: Hebrews 13:23 (ESV) You should know that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom I shall see you if he comes soon. Good news everyone!  Tim's getting out of jail! Why was Tim in jail?  Because Tim was a Christian pastor!  That's why.  And the good news is he and another Christian will so...