FWD: Morning Manna Aug. 21-BP: Jer. 14; RBTTY: I Cor. 4; Ps. 107-109

 
Samuel D. High
sdhigh@aristotle.net

 

---

-----Original Message-----
From: "Smith, Lynn " <lsmith20@Central.UH.EDU>
Sent: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 06:11:27 -0500
To: "Smith, Lynn " <lsmith20@Central.UH.EDU>
Subject: Morning Manna Aug. 21-BP: Jer. 14; RBTTY: I Cor. 4; Ps. 107-109
 

August 21                                                                             “When God Says ‘Enough’”

 

“O, the Hope of Israel, the Savior thereof in time of trouble, why should You be as a stranger in the land and as a wayfaring man that turns aside to tarry for a night?. . . You, O Lord, are in the midst of us and we are called by Your Name; leave us not. . . Then said the Lord unto me, ‘Pray not for this people, for their good.  When they fast, I will not hear their cry.  And, when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them.  But, I will consume them by the sword and by the famine and by the pestilence.”

                                                                                                 Jeremiah 14:8, 9b, 11-12

      Woe to him/her that reaches this point and doesn’t care.

     How tempting it is to always preach on God’s love and all that He offers those who come to Him in repentance and faith.  Streets of gold and unclouded days are sought by both the Godly and the ungodly.

 

     But, those streets and skies in “God’s Fair Land” are not found by just anyone.  They only await those who’ve come to Him the way He prescribes (Jn. 14:6; Mt. 7:13-14).  And, woe to them who think otherwise (Rev. 21:11-15).

 

     Although God the Father is all-loving—i.e., “whosoever will may come” (Jn. 3:16; Rom. 10:9-10, 13)—the fact remains that there is also wrath in His love (Rom. 1:18-32).  He hates sin and must punish it.  And, unless our sins are covered by the precious blood of His Lamb (Rom. 5:6-11), we shall also be punished by His consuming Judgment.

 

     Jeremiah knew his message was a stern one.  That’s why he wept over the people’s hardened hearts and stiff necks.  He had no crystal ball in which to gaze; he simply had God’s Word to proclaim—and how sharp it was/is (Heb. 4:12). 

 

     Yet, he still cried out to “the Hope of Israel, the Savior thereof in time of trouble” and tried to reason with Him why “He should act towards them as a stranger in the land and as a wayfaring man that turns aside to tarry for the night (in someone else’s house).”

 

     Oh, dear Pilgrim, it’s not wrong for us to “wrestle with God” as Jacob did that night near the brook Jabbok (Gen. 32:24-32).  Too often our prayers go unanswered because they’re not empowered by the fires of fervency and faith.

 

     But, there comes the time when the Lord says “Don’t pray any longer” (cf. Jer. 7:16; 15:1).  “I’ve given them repeated opportunities to return to Me, but they would not.  So, now the chastening rod must fall—and those who know Me will turn from their wicked ways and those who don’t will depart into everlasting darkness where the worm dies not” (Mt. 9:44, 46, 48).

     Does this mean we quit praying when repeated efforts to woo and warn fall on deaf ears?  No—a thousand times no—for many a soul has been plucked from hell by persistent prayers of a loved one.  Knowing the time will come when God says “Enough!” should cause us to pray more earnestly even now in these last days.

 

 

Thanks,

 

 

Mr. Lynn M. Smith

Department Business Administrator

Department of Economics

University of Houston

204C McElhinney Hall

Houston, TX 77204-5019

(713) 743-3802 (office)

(713) 743-3798 (fax)

LSmith20@central.uh.edu (email)

http://www.class.uh.edu/econ/ (department website)