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Let Us Return

Lamentations was written after the exile to Babylon and had become the outcome of the prophetic warnings of the prophet Jeremiah. They did not listen to Jeremiah or reform their lives to serve the God of Israel. At the time Israel’s leaders was under the influence of the prophets of Baal. Since God said he did not speak to the prophets of Baal or send them they were prophesying from their imaginations. Jeremiah stated if God had sent them; any prophetic word given to them would come true. Even after Israel had fallen into the hands of the Babylonians a few Israelites still questioned the words of Jeremiah whom God sent with his word to instruct them.

Was it by chance that the Babylonians captured Jerusalem? For twenty three years God spoke to and sent Jeremiah to his people demanding that they reform their ways. Yet Jeremiah might as well been howling at the moon because there wasn’t very many that listened to his words. Unfortunately it is not until the consequences came to pass that they paid attention to the warnings they were given. Even to this day the average person doesn’t understand there is no rescue for those God is punishing.

Again both Christians and the average person don’t understand the instrument God uses to punish his creation does not discriminate between those who have obeyed him or those who have done evil. The sword, famine and plagues sent by God destroys everything in its path. When you look closely at the exile of Judah there was no sorting between orthodox Jew or sinner, both went to Babylon. God was punishing the nation as a whole because their leadership was rebelling against God by ignoring God and his commands.

Today separation of church and State has become our nation’s God.  Separation of church and State really means that men are thrusting God’s moral laws out the window to make room for the very things God restrained men from doing.  Look at what is happening to the moral compass of mankind. Same sex marriages make our nation weaker for when population increases so does our nations might. How does mankind increase in number when God’s law designated the unit of mankind as a man and woman is changed because it is unconstitutional? God has the last word so no matter what man does will ever remove God’s authority over mankind.

Have we considered how our leader’s actions are seen by God? Will our leader’s actions cause sane men to partake in immoral acts that contradict God’s law?  Human history warns us that evil leaders led their nation to ruin. Let’s assess what men in authority are doing today. By ignoring the laws of God they are allowing God’s design for mankind to be exchanged and neglected for personal desires. The corrupt behavior that brought the wrath of God on the people of Sodom and Gomorrah is being accepted as politically correct today. 

Men are rebelling against God to fulfill the lust of their desires because they have rejected God and lack the knowledge of God’s holiness to understand the wisdom that forms God’s reasoning.  According to Hosea 4:6; men suffer the consequences and perish for the lack of knowledge. Since mankind does not seek God they have no knowledge of what God expects and demands of his creation.

The choices we make today forge our future but immoral decisions may not be prudent. We are God’s creation and responsible to God for our actions whether good or evil.  Because people follow leaders for personal benefits, every person must look at the decisions our leaders make and ask is this what God wants.  We must not follow the rulings of mankind just because man has made it legal that allows the immoral man to do as he sees fit. Even if it is legal it does not give us the right to follow man that is not right with God.

Paul wrote that we must test our ways to see if we are of Christ.  If we fail the test we must repent of the evil we have done and return to the Lord. We have an agreement of peace with God when Jesus is Lord but when man leads mankind into immorality, mankind becomes subject to God’s wrath. Immorality is a sin that initiates a war of hostility against God. By examining our ways and testing them we can determine whether we are at peace with God.

Do we love God enough to be honest and frank with him? After examining his life the man who desires to be at peace with God humbles them self, admit their sin and seeks God’s forgiveness. Think about the message Jonah preached to the people of Nineveh; forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown Jonah 3:4. This message stirred the people of Nineveh to repent from the king to the beggar.  Because the people of Nineveh repented God forgave them and did not overthrow them as he had planned to do.

When we look at the story of Sodom and Gomorra Abraham pleaded with God to save the righteous in the city.  Abraham asked God if he would destroy ten righteous people with the wicked. Abraham knew God was a gracious and compassionate forgiving God, slow to anger and abounding in love.

Again Lot attempted to protect the Lord from the people of Sodom and Gomorrah by taking them into his house. Lot stepped outside to preach don’t dishonor God to fulfill your wicked deeds but to no avail. Lot and his wife were ushered out of the city and the rest was history.

In a vision Ezekiel was shown the judgement of his people that was over the detestable things done in the house of the Lord.  God sent a scribe to put a mark on the foreheads who grieved and lamented over the evil they saw and heard throughout the city of Jerusalem. God then sent some of his servants to slaughter those who partook in the wicked things going on in the city. Let’s also consider those who indiscriminately killed the wicked began at the house of the Lord. Ezekiel 9:4-6

In the examples above whom were the people serving? Some were serving a god that was not the true God and they were leading men away from God. Others had some authority and were doing things their way. And another group was indecisive and went with the flow of things.  God wants us to:

Church leaders often shape the foundation of our beliefs and faith in God. Of late there has been a power struggle within the church that disrupts overall worship. Too many in the congregation want the structure of worship done their way. The problem derived from wanting things done your way is whom we are serving. If both sides of the problem were serving the Lord there would be no struggle for we would all be worshipping God his way.

Division in how to worship God has driven men apart and it has made men ineffective in the church. Let us examine our ways and test them to see if our way is superseding or overriding God’s Authority.  We need to return to the Lord by putting him back on the throne of our lives and in our churches. Let us examine our lives so we may return specifically to serve God alone. December 3 2015

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