Sunday, August 16, 2009, 6:54 a.m. – I woke to this song:
Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee / Henry Van Dyke / Beethoven / MacMillan
Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee,
God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee,
Opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness;
Drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness,
Fill us with the light of day!
All Thy works with joy surround Thee,
Earth and heaven reflect Thy rays,
Stars and angels sing around Thee,
Center of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain,
Flowery meadow, flashing sea,
Singing bird and flowing fountain
Call us to rejoice in Thee.
Thou art giving and forgiving,
Ever blessing, ever blest,
Wellspring of the joy of living,
Ocean depth of happy rest!
Thou our Father, Christ our Brother,
All who live in love are Thine;
Teach us how to love each other,
Lift us to the joy divine.
Mortals, join the happy chorus,
Which the morning stars began;
Father love is reigning o’er us,
Brother love binds man to man.
Ever singing, march we onward,
Victors in the midst of strife,
Joyful music leads us Sunward
In the triumph song of life.
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Jeremiah 43:
My Understanding: In Jeremiah 25:3, Jeremiah said this: For twenty-three years—from the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day—the word of the LORD has come to me and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened.
The Lord called me five years ago to give these messages of coming judgment, of the shortness of time, of the Lord’s soon return, and of calls to repentance and to return to the Lord in genuine faith and obedience. Five years feels like a long time, though I would not trade these five years for anything in the world. Yet, when I consider that Jeremiah gave out these messages of warning of judgment and calls to repentance for at least 23 years, often with the same response from the people, I can not help but feel his pain.
I can’t imagine 23 years of giving out messages and in return to be called a “liar” and to have the people still not listen, yet this is what God called him to do. These were God’s words and Jeremiah knew he must give them out to the people even if they didn’t listen. And, the people did not listen. They went ahead and did what God told them, through Jeremiah, not to do. They did what they wanted to do in direct defiance to God Almighty’s command. So, God declared that his judgment against the people would come in the form of a king of Babylon who would set up his throne over the people and who would attack the people, killing some, injuring others and taking yet others captive.
I believe a time like this is coming to America because we, as a nation and as the church in America, have not listened to God’s messages of warning of impending judgment, we are living in spiritual adultery, we have become an idolatrous nation, we have continued to go our own way and we have not repented. I believe the signs are all around us that point to the time we are living in, of the shortness of time, of the Lord’s soon return and of God’s hand of judgment coming down on America. And, I believe the Lord is still calling us to repent and to turn from our sin and to turn back to God in complete faith and obedience before it is too late.
I’d like to encourage all of God’s servants who have also been called to such a ministry as this to remember that Jeremiah did this for at least twenty-three years and the people called him a liar and they said God had not spoken to him and they refused to listen. I know that doesn’t sound very encouraging, but I do believe that the example of Jeremiah’s perseverance, even in the face of all that he suffered, can encourage and strengthen our hearts. His relationship with God, his endurance in suffering and his fortitude are all great examples to us to keep fighting the good fight of faith, no matter what ministry God has called us to.
I do believe a time is coming in America when all genuine believers in Jesus Christ will undergo this same kind of treatment. We will be severely persecuted for our faith in Jesus Christ. There will be no more “riding the fence” between following God and pursuing the pleasures of the world. There will be those who have the mark of the beast and those who have the mark of the Holy Spirit. And, those who follow the beast will persecute, kill, injure and take captive those who have the mark of God.
This is where this song, thus, comes into play. Even when we are going through these severe times of persecution and people are even saying to us, “You are lying”, we can be joyful:
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day!
Jesus is our joy! He can melt those clouds of sin and sadness and drive our doubts away, and we will have doubts. Even Jeremiah had doubts, which he expressed openly to God. And, God reassured him during those times. Sometimes God chastised him for his lack of faith, yet God was always with him to lift him back up and to put him on his feet again and to keep using him.
Ever singing, march we onward, victors in the midst of strife,
Joyful music leads us Sunward in the triumph song of life.
We are victors through Him who loves us and who gave his life for us on the cross; who shed his blood so that we can be set free of sin and death. And, he lives to intercede for us on our behalf. He wants to make intercession for each and every one of us if we will only turn from our sin and will turn back to him in faith and obedience. Faith = obedience. Faith = repentance. So many people trivialize faith and try to reduce it to the level of “Even the demons ‘believe’ and they shudder” only minus the ‘shudder’. We have lost the fear of God here in America. We have reduced faith to merely words spoken. The books of James and I John, in particularly, speak strongly of the need to have actions as evidence of our faith – not just any actions, though – actions that result from obedience to Almighty God.
Thou art giving and forgiving,
Ever blessing, ever blest,
Wellspring of the joy of living,
Ocean depth of happy rest!
Thou our Father, Christ our Brother,
All who live in love are Thine;
Teach us how to love each other,
Lift us to the joy divine.
Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee / Henry Van Dyke / Beethoven / MacMillan
Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee,
God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee,
Opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness;
Drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness,
Fill us with the light of day!
All Thy works with joy surround Thee,
Earth and heaven reflect Thy rays,
Stars and angels sing around Thee,
Center of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain,
Flowery meadow, flashing sea,
Singing bird and flowing fountain
Call us to rejoice in Thee.
Thou art giving and forgiving,
Ever blessing, ever blest,
Wellspring of the joy of living,
Ocean depth of happy rest!
Thou our Father, Christ our Brother,
All who live in love are Thine;
Teach us how to love each other,
Lift us to the joy divine.
Mortals, join the happy chorus,
Which the morning stars began;
Father love is reigning o’er us,
Brother love binds man to man.
Ever singing, march we onward,
Victors in the midst of strife,
Joyful music leads us Sunward
In the triumph song of life.
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Jeremiah 43:
My Understanding: In Jeremiah 25:3, Jeremiah said this: For twenty-three years—from the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day—the word of the LORD has come to me and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened.
The Lord called me five years ago to give these messages of coming judgment, of the shortness of time, of the Lord’s soon return, and of calls to repentance and to return to the Lord in genuine faith and obedience. Five years feels like a long time, though I would not trade these five years for anything in the world. Yet, when I consider that Jeremiah gave out these messages of warning of judgment and calls to repentance for at least 23 years, often with the same response from the people, I can not help but feel his pain.
I can’t imagine 23 years of giving out messages and in return to be called a “liar” and to have the people still not listen, yet this is what God called him to do. These were God’s words and Jeremiah knew he must give them out to the people even if they didn’t listen. And, the people did not listen. They went ahead and did what God told them, through Jeremiah, not to do. They did what they wanted to do in direct defiance to God Almighty’s command. So, God declared that his judgment against the people would come in the form of a king of Babylon who would set up his throne over the people and who would attack the people, killing some, injuring others and taking yet others captive.
I believe a time like this is coming to America because we, as a nation and as the church in America, have not listened to God’s messages of warning of impending judgment, we are living in spiritual adultery, we have become an idolatrous nation, we have continued to go our own way and we have not repented. I believe the signs are all around us that point to the time we are living in, of the shortness of time, of the Lord’s soon return and of God’s hand of judgment coming down on America. And, I believe the Lord is still calling us to repent and to turn from our sin and to turn back to God in complete faith and obedience before it is too late.
I’d like to encourage all of God’s servants who have also been called to such a ministry as this to remember that Jeremiah did this for at least twenty-three years and the people called him a liar and they said God had not spoken to him and they refused to listen. I know that doesn’t sound very encouraging, but I do believe that the example of Jeremiah’s perseverance, even in the face of all that he suffered, can encourage and strengthen our hearts. His relationship with God, his endurance in suffering and his fortitude are all great examples to us to keep fighting the good fight of faith, no matter what ministry God has called us to.
I do believe a time is coming in America when all genuine believers in Jesus Christ will undergo this same kind of treatment. We will be severely persecuted for our faith in Jesus Christ. There will be no more “riding the fence” between following God and pursuing the pleasures of the world. There will be those who have the mark of the beast and those who have the mark of the Holy Spirit. And, those who follow the beast will persecute, kill, injure and take captive those who have the mark of God.
This is where this song, thus, comes into play. Even when we are going through these severe times of persecution and people are even saying to us, “You are lying”, we can be joyful:
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day!
Jesus is our joy! He can melt those clouds of sin and sadness and drive our doubts away, and we will have doubts. Even Jeremiah had doubts, which he expressed openly to God. And, God reassured him during those times. Sometimes God chastised him for his lack of faith, yet God was always with him to lift him back up and to put him on his feet again and to keep using him.
Ever singing, march we onward, victors in the midst of strife,
Joyful music leads us Sunward in the triumph song of life.
We are victors through Him who loves us and who gave his life for us on the cross; who shed his blood so that we can be set free of sin and death. And, he lives to intercede for us on our behalf. He wants to make intercession for each and every one of us if we will only turn from our sin and will turn back to him in faith and obedience. Faith = obedience. Faith = repentance. So many people trivialize faith and try to reduce it to the level of “Even the demons ‘believe’ and they shudder” only minus the ‘shudder’. We have lost the fear of God here in America. We have reduced faith to merely words spoken. The books of James and I John, in particularly, speak strongly of the need to have actions as evidence of our faith – not just any actions, though – actions that result from obedience to Almighty God.
Thou art giving and forgiving,
Ever blessing, ever blest,
Wellspring of the joy of living,
Ocean depth of happy rest!
Thou our Father, Christ our Brother,
All who live in love are Thine;
Teach us how to love each other,
Lift us to the joy divine.
