Let our love change others not the other way around

27/01/10

Let our love change others not the other way around

Jeremiah 34:2,3 - Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire: And thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.

If one reads the history of Israel and the Lord's dealing with them, they would find whenever Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord, He delivered them unto their enemies. But out of His mercy and due to the Covenant He had made with them He would once again save them.

Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babylon was bought by the Lord against Israel because Israel was proud of their wealth, therefore all the wealth of Israel including the vessels of House of the Lord and people were taken away. Latter Zedekiah was made king by Nebuchadnezzar; he too did evil and did not listen to the Man of God, Jeremiah. So in the hardness of his heart, he was led to go against the king of Babylon and was delivered unto the king.

Today's message is a wake up call for us Christians; we too were delivered unto Babylon (confusion) and did many things against God's Word. It is time for us to be saved out of this city of Babylon and this will happen only if we do the opposite of Zedekiah. We need to refrain from doing evil and need to abide by the Word of God. We should not try to imitate or practice the things of the heathens for the Lord is very possessive of those things which are sacred to Him. When man tries to defile them he evokes the wrath of the Lord.

Loving others does mean we need to partake in their sinful ways. Our love should be such that it changes their ways. Jesus loved us so much that He gave His life for us, He did not follow the evil that we did, instead kept Himself without blemish.

Let us follow Jesus Who has set Himself as an example for us.

[ Prayer Starter ]
Lord Jesus, You came as man to be an example for us. Your people who call themselves Christians as today giving up on You to have peace with this world. Lord, it is the hardness of their heart not to change which is bringing them unto their destruction. Lord, open the eyes of your people and let them see that they are not following You the Only Way...

We make this prayer in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[ Reference Scriptures ]
2 Chronicles 36:5-19
5 Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God.
6 Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon.
7 Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of the LORD to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon.
8 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations which he did, and that which was found in him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.
9 Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.
10 And when the year was expired, king Nebuchadnezzar sent, and brought him to Babylon, with the goodly vessels of the house of the LORD, and made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem.
11 Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.
12 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the LORD.
13 And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the LORD God of Israel.
14 Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.
15 And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place:
16 But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy.
17 Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand.
18 And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon.
19 And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.

The Word of God was given free to us, therefore we should also share it freely with others.
(All rights are with God)