How foolish are we?

 by David Long

"For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water" (Jer. 2:13). Get the picture here: A man has a fresh spring on his property but instead of getting water from it, he digs a cistern that catches rain water and gets his water from it. How foolish would he be? That would be stupid. Why? Because cisterns break and leak. But also, cistern water can go bad. How foolish is a Christian who would forsake Christ, the church for money, pleasure, popularity, prestige or whatever?  

Claiming to be something you aren't

 by David Long

Claiming something you are doesn't mean you are what you claim. A man can claim to be a woman but he can never be a woman or the other way around, a woman can never be a man. A person may identify as a cat but they can never be a cat. A person can claim to be a Christian but if they haven't done those things to become a Christian then they can never be a Christian. There will those at Judgement Day who claim they did things in the name of Jesus but Jesus will say He never knew them. "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity" (Matt. 7:21-23). 

On the offensive

 by David Long

"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:3-5).

It's time for God's army to go on the offensive. "pulling down strongholds and casting down imaginations" is an army on the attack. Christians must be proactive in talking to people about Christ and asking questions to generate interest instead of waiting for someone to come to them. Jesus said, "Go" (Matt. 28:19; Mk. 16:15). That's an army on the offensive. 

Still true

 by David Long

Read Jeremiah 11:1-8. Three lessons we learn from these verses.

1.     God had not forgotten. It had been over 800 years since the covenant was given (Dt. 5) and God had not forgotten it. If we think that God will forget what He says, we think wrong. Does God still remember the covenant He made with the giving of the rainbow (Gen. 9:11-17)?

2.     Time did not make the covenant void. Over 800 years had passed since the giving of the covenant and it was still binding. God still expected them to keep it. Every generation was expected to keep it. It has been over 2000 years since Jesus established the N.T., is it still binding? Is 2 Tim. 3:16-17 still true? Am I still expected to obey all things that Jesus has commanded (Matt. 28:20)? 1 Peter 1:24-25, “For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.”

3.     Their rebellion did not change anything. We can do that which is right in our own eyes but that doesn’t change the word of God. John 12:48, “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.”

The four areas of life

 by David Long

Developing in the four areas of live. "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man" (Lk. 2:52). Jesus increased in wisdom (intellectually or mentally), stature (physically), and in favor with God (spiritually) and with man (socially). These are four areas of our lives we grow in or should grow in. Some of them take more effort then others. We need to check ourselves to see how we are doing in these four areas.