Friday – Further Thought: The Crisis (Within and Without)
Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes
(Deut. 12:8). When thou shalt hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of the Lord thy God
(Deut. 13:18).
Image © Krieg Barrie from GoodSalt.com
In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes
(Judg. 17:6, Judg. 21:25).
There’s a crucially important contrast presented in these verses, especially in this day and age when many people revolt against the idea of being told by an outside authority what to do, or being told what is right and wrong. Yet we can see here a clear distinction between these two worldviews. In one, people do whatever they think is right
in their own eyes; in another, people are to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord thy God.
The problem with the first position is that, so often in history, what is right
in someone’s own eyes is often wrong in God’s. That’s why we have to submit everything, even our own conscience, to the Word of God.
Discussion Questions:
- What are some examples you can think of where
good
people did very bad things, even though they thought at the time that what they were doing was right? Many cultures today look back in horror at what were once common practices. What lessons can we draw from this for ourselves today about why we not only need to submit to the teaching of the Bible, but also need to be very careful in how we interpret the Bible? This is especially important when we realize that, in some cases, some of thebad
things that were done were done by those who believed they could justify their actions by the Bible. What should this tell us about how basic and foundational to all our beliefs the Ten Commandments need to be? - As we study Jeremiah this quarter, keep in mind the idea that despite warning after warning, the people believed that they were right with God. What could have caused them to be so deceived about their true condition? What message should this have for us as well?
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When we trust our heart only to make decisions in our life we can do the heinous things. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? -Jeremiah 17:9 Jesus also warned us. They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. -John 16:2
1) Some examples where good people made very wrong decisions:
David killing Uriyah for Bathsheba
Slavery
If we follow the 10 Commandments to a tee, then we will live harmoniously with our projimo
2)To avoid what happened to the Israelites in Jeremiah, we have to have spiritual leaders who are honest with us about the church's condition and the sins facing the congregation, and we have to be diligent in reading our bibles to make sure that our behavior is in line with what God wants from us.
sometime we let our will get confuse with God will. I remember to pray this prayer often. Our Father which is in heaven your will be done. Jesus taught His disciple that prayer. It keeps me humble and reminds me to follow Him.
James 5:16 (NKJV)
". . . The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much."
(AMP)
"The heartfelt and persistent prayer of a righteous man (believer) can accomplish much [when put into action and made effective by God—it is dynamic and can have tremendous power]."
Brothers and Sisters none can believe of or from their natural self. Faith is a gift from God.(Jhn 6:29; Eph 2:6-9; Phi 1:29; Rom 10:17; James 2:5)
God made Man a perfect being physically and spiritually. He had free will and choice. What did this perfect being choose? Eve was deceived into choosing death. The representative man, Adam, willfully chose death!
Because we are born of Adam we are living corpses, dead in sin, and rotting like Lazarus in need of a resurrection. “For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners.”(Rom 5:15,17,19) That is Adam’s gift to us. How is this being expected to “choose” God? Is his / her will free? Spiritual things are foolishness to the natural man.(1Cor 1:23; 2:14) Christ came to His own and they did not accept Him. The Light shone in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it.(John 1:5,11)
Thanks be to God for the second Adam, Christ our lord!! As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. We were “in Adam” when he sinned and we received the gift.(Heb 7:9) Those “in christ” from before the foundation of the world receive the gift of Life. “If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see his seed”(Isa 53:10) “ Just as He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him”(Eph 1:3-6) “For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one (Father),....Behold I and the children whom God has given Me”(Heb 2:10-16).
Jesus said, “all that the Father gives me will come to Me, and they that come to Me I will certainly not cast out, but raise it up on the last day....For this is My Father’s will, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day”(Jhn 6:35-40).
Who believes? “No one can come to me unless it has been granted him from the Father.”(Jhn 6:65) “Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear my word. You are of your father the Devil....If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear, because you are not of God”(Jhn 8:42-47)
“I told you, and you do not believe....But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. My sheep hear My voice and i know them, and they follow Me....My Father, who has given them to Me.... I and the Father are One.”(Jhn 10:25-30) “Father, glorify Your Son.... As You gave Him authority over all flesh that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life....I have manifested Your name to the men whom you gave Me out of the world; they were yours and You gave them to Me....I ask on their behalf; ....of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours.”(Jhn 17:2, 6-9)
Good point, our hearts lead us right into the heart of temptation and sin in many instances we are deceived into believing we are taking the right action when in reality we are bowing to the flesh and selfish ways of our own wanting. It is an insidious path and way and staying close to Jesus and filled with the Holy Spirit walking in Gods way is the only safe path. How many times do we act in accordance with our selfish heart justifying our ways, and hurting ourselves and others along the way. Thank God He made a way of salvation and repentance may the scales sty off of our eyes once removed, may our ears continue to hear the voice of our Lord and may we taste Him and know that He is good and feel the peace that passes all understanding in Christ Jesus.
Despite her Creator's clear counsel (Gen 2:16-17), Eve thinks contrary to Him (Gen 3:6) and Adam voluntarily consents to her contrary thinking. Since then, every iota of human history has been the manifestation of that primary, diseased condition (Gen 6:2,5-7,12; Gen 8:21). Twice, Scripture records (Gen 12:11-13; Gen 20:2-3) the failings of the "father of the faithful" (Rom 4:11-12). Abraham's "white lie", on both occasions, negatively impacts those he was living among. Like Eve, his practice was the product of his thinking (Gen 20:11). Scripture records he had company among the prophets in the likes of Elijah (1 Kings 19:9-10,18) and Nathan (2 Sam 7: 2-7). Apparently his "child of promise" also inherited the bug (Gen 26:7)!
Abraham is ALL of us. Those "holy men" were not different from us (James 5:17; Acts 14:15). We consistently think contrary to our Creator and those contrary thoughts ripple out from us with real-life consequences to ourselves and others (James 1:14-15). The imagery accompanying this post of a snake wrapped around a heart, would be more accurate if it depicted one wrapped around a brain...very tightly, in agreement with Scripture (Jer 17:9; Jer 13:23; Jer 9:14; Jer 7:31)!
All praises to the Creator, flawed Abraham's expression of faith (Gen 22:8) has been made manifest in Christ to remediate our collective problem...individually (Jn 1:29). Like Abraham, all who recognize they are diseased, look by faith to the Lion-like Lamb (Rev 5:5-6, 9) who continues to provide forceful, effective release (Eze 20: 32-33) from the serpent's prison (Lk 4:18,21; 1 Jn 3:8).