Governance: How Will You Decide For Whom to Vote? Jeremiah 22:3.

America once elected a president who was an excellent speaker. He was good at explaining his beliefs about government, and would tell a joke now and then to keep you listening. People called him the “Great Communicator” and his enemies marveled at the way he could get his message out no matter how journalists from the opposing side tried to stop him. More recently, the nation elected a president who got his message past journalists by using social media to communicate. He too proved adept at getting his 280-character messages to the people, though (like most presidents) he gave little thought to principles of governance.

How can you decide how to vote if you never think about “principles of governance”?  Things like, What is the proper role of the government? What should voters look for in a president? What do we need from our local and national leaders? Should we raise taxes? Lower taxes? Fight crime? Reform prisons? Feed the hungry? Secure borders? Go to war on drugs? Legalize drugs? Protect the 2nd amendment? Repeal the 2nd amendment? –These are questions of GOVERNANCE.

The Bible has answers. 

Many passages of scripture guide us and have been guiding America’s leaders for centuries. Jeremiah asserts one of the most fundamental principles for any civilization when he tells the king to stop crime and promote justice.

“Administer justice every morning, and rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor” Jeremiah 21:12.

The Lord continues, using the prophet to inform the king of his duties:

“Administer justice and righteousness. Rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor. Don’t exploit or brutalize the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow. Don’t shed innocent blood” Jeremiah 22:3.

What are the keys in Jeremiah 22?

1)Create a working justice system so you can “administer justice,”

2)Stop robbery,

3)Be fair to foreigners, orphans, and widows and don’t take advantage of them,

4)Protect the innocent and don’t ignore the shedding of innocent blood (get justice).

This is not a comprehensive study—the Bible has hundreds of passages on governance—and if you study the Bible, God will show you the best way to run a city or a nation.

God, thank You for Your word which teaches such practical things and shows us how to operate a society. Help us love Your word more every day.

ΑΩ

Is it a Leap of Faith or a LEAN of Faith?

Remember the leap of faith scene in INDIANA JONES: THE LAST CRUSADE? Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) finds himself facing a chasm no man could cross, time is running out, he checks his book of clues, and realizes what he is looking at.

“It’s a leap of faith,” he says to himself.  John Williams’ violins swell.

“You must believe, boy,” says his ailing father played by Sean Connery, “you must … believe.”

Jones stares at the bottomless pit before him, weighing his options. Then slowly, finally, he takes that first step, seems to fall for just a second, and suddenly a previously invisible bridge appears and he walks across the chasm, safe—and in case we still have doubts, the music assures the skeptics among us that we have just seen Harrison Ford do something amazing: BE NOT UNBELIEVING, BUT BELIEVING.

People of faith have always loved this scene. What is a leap of faith? It’s stepping out into nothingness and finding it was not nothing, but something: a dramatic moment, a once-in-a-lifetime test, like Abraham, Isaac, the altar, the ram.

I don’t know about you, but my life rarely presents such difficult tests. Falling to my death is not an everyday risk.

What is far more common than a LEAP of faith is a POSTURE of faith. God has never asked me to step off the side of building or to step in front of a moving train. Once or twice He has asked me to do a difficult thing—to take a leap of faith.  But what God asks me to do nearly every day involves not so much leaping as a slight cant of the head. A lean-in. It’s a posture.  God is not asking me to step off the pinnacle of the temple, or turn stones to bread for that matter, but rather to bow just a little.

When I read the Bible and find a question I can’t answer, I have a posture that allows me to move forward with my faith intact. How? I give God the benefit of the doubt. I know that’s a ridiculous choice of words, as though I were sitting in judgment over the Lord of the universe. But isn’t that the sort of judgment in which we all engage every day? (When you realize people have spent their entire lives judging God, perhaps being judged by Him is not as unfair as some would argue—but that’s beside the point.)

The Bible is a huge collection: 66 books written over 1,500 years. This many years later it can’t possibly be an easy read. You will have questions. And faith often comes down to this: giving the scripture the benefit of the doubt. Give God the benefit of the doubt. When you have questions you cannot answer, or when none of the answers satisfy you, faith means choosing to trust God anyway.  It is a posture of faith and peace rather than a posture of doubt and anger. Lean-in to God and submit to His sovereignty.

I love this expression:

DON’T DOUBT IN THE DARKNESS WHAT GOD TOLD YOU IN THE LIGHT. 

Don’t let your doubts make you DOUBT-FUL.

You will face darkness. Choose faith in those little moments. Keep trusting that God has a plan.

Here is what God asks of me. Can I trust Him with unpaid bills? Can I trust Him with a new health problem? Can I trust Him with that challenge on the job? My response to these things is to take a posture that says Yes, I trust you.  I don’t know how you will do it, but I trust you. There is no leaping involved—no leaping required. Instead, I bow a bit, if not physically, then emotionally. It is a cant of the head that says, There are two choices before me.  But because I know God’s heart, I will side with Him. I give Him the benefit of the doubt. That is faith, for me.  Decades in, that is what it comes down to: not a leap of faith, but a posture of faith. Perhaps it’s not so much a leap of faith as a lean of faith.

“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in Him” Psalm 34:8.

God is good; I trust Him. When life gives me doubts, when pastors or leaders create doubts, when Bible reading brings doubts, when a need or a lack or a fear brings me doubt, I give God the benefit of the doubt. He is good. He loves me. So I trust him.

For me, life has required a leap of faith maybe a handful of times—but a posture of faith has been essential every day.

Faith means giving God the benefit of the doubt.

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God Will Bless You During Judgment. Jeremiah 17:7-8.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, I listened to a Christian speaker who argued God was sending judgment beginning with Covid-19. It put me in a dark mood. But when I look back at 2020, I have to admit God blessed our family. Bad things happened, but we were not sick or hungry or impoverished. I did not miss a day of work. God blessed us in spite of 2020.

Today’s reading in Jeremiah says that is what He will do:

“The man who trusts in the Lord is blessed. He will be like a tree planted by water: it sends out its roots toward the stream, it does not fear when heat comes, its foliage will remain green. It will not worry in a year of drought, or cease producing fruit.” 17:7-8.

The prophet writes this in the middle of a passage about God’s judgment:

“Their sin is written with an iron stylus, with a diamond point it is engraved on their hearts… They have set My anger on fire; it will burn forever” vv. 1,4.

And then God says, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord” v.7. It is as though God says the rebellious “have set My anger on fire, it will never be quenched—BUT I will bless those who trust in Me.”

I don’t understand it all: there are times when God allows His people to suffer things far beyond what they might seem to deserve. But here He promises blessings during judgment. Maybe God uses blessings to show idolaters what they are missing by serving the wrong “god.”

Even if the future holds hard times for America, God promises to bless us. Look again at verses 7 and 8: God promises the faithful

1)blessings,

2) no fear of heat,

3) they will remain “green” (continued growth and creativity, maybe?),

4) no worry during drought,

5) a harvest of fruit that never stops.

Imagine that. Even during judgment, God promises blessings, freedom from fear, more growth, and more fruit for the Lord. Isn’t that amazing! Hang on to that, whatever the future brings!

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You Can Only Trust Your Heart Sometimes. Jeremiah 17:9.

Novelists wrestle with a constant struggle: how do you balance action with heart? Books and movies often open with car chases and gunfights, but it takes only a minute or two before audiences ask ‘Who am I supposed to root for? Why do I care about them? Who ARE these people?’ Action without heart feels pointless.  On the other hand, if a story opens with narration, or maybe someone drinking tea and writing in a journal, readers may lose interest—and no storyteller wants that. Good stories need both action and heart.

We talk more and more about the heart today. We make decisions differently. Few simply follow their father into a farming career. We have vocational schools, technical schools, and colleges.  We have aptitude tests and career counseling.  Where there were only three options for women of your grandmother’s generation (teacher, nurse, or secretary), today the number of choices available to both men and women seems nearly endless. So what is the best advice our culture offers a talented young person facing infinite possibilities?

FOLLOW YOUR HEART.

Everyone says it, right?  And it’s not bad advice.  Look inside yourself and ask questions: What do I enjoy? What do I dream of? What makes me feel alive? What have I loved for years and will I continue to love it for decades? Those are useful considerations. But sometimes God will surprise you in ways your heart could not have foreseen.

Christians should aim for something deeper than the heart. Don’t simply follow your heart.

FOLLOW YOUR LORD.

“The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. Who can know it or understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9. 

I can tell you from years of experience that your heart can be dead wrong, and following your heart can lead to disaster. (Yes, God gives believers new hearts according to Ezekiel 36:26. But we still struggle with the flesh; we remain vulnerable to deception from our own desires and from the enemy of our souls—whose voice will ALWAYS sound exactly like your heart.)

There is a balance to things: you must not ignore your heart.  But there are greater considerations. 

When making a major decision, I would ask questions in this order:

1)What does scripture say?

2)What is the Holy Spirit saying to me?

3)What are wise Christians around me saying?

4)What does my heart say?

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EAT YOUR DINNER. Jeremiah 15:16.

How many times a day do you eat? How many meals and snacks? Do you open the refrigerator and stare into the cold, waiting for inspiration? At night, my children trail in and out of the kitchen, often leaving with a snack hidden in the upstage hand, not wishing to discuss that third popsicle.

Imagine being dropped into a world of hunters and gatherers. We would be hungry constantly! Maybe Americans eat too much, but we NEED to eat. God created us to eat.

Jeremiah compared God’s word to a pleasant meal:

“Your words were found and I ate them. Your words became a delight to me and the joy of my heart, for I am called by Your name, Yahweh, God of Hosts” Jeremiah 15:16.

After fasting, Jesus quoted Moses when He said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the Mouth of God” Matthew 4:4. God’s Word is better than food—strong words from a Man who had eaten NOTHING for forty days!

Americans get up every morning and put food in our stomachs—it’s our routine. Whether an elaborate meal or a three baby carrots and a half a muffin, we always eat. We NEED to eat. We need strength, nourishment, energy. We MUST restore nutrients or end up sick. EATING IS ESSENTIAL.

God’s word is also essential. Are you eating the word?

Are you consuming a steady diet of scripture? Is it part of your DAILY routine, or do you leave it for Sundays? Imagine if you only ate food one day a week!

Your soul requires daily nourishment like your body requires daily nourishment. Without the word, you will be spiritually sick. In fact, missing the word may be MORE harmful than missing meals.

God, remind us to CONSUME YOUR WORD. Help us to make it part of our DAILY ROUTINE, to take as much care for our souls as we do for our stomachs.

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COME TO THE FEAST! Jeremiah 15:16.

We know hunger and thirst. Most Americans do not know hunger the way the world’s truly poor know it. But everyone has been hungry. Can you remember the last time? Can you remember the satisfaction of finally eating?

Bible readers over the centuries have known hunger well, living through wars and famines, and in deserts and barren wastelands or icy tundra where food was scarce. So Jeremiah crafts a perfect metaphor:

“When I found Your words, I devoured them, and they became a delight to me and the joy of my heart, because I bear Your name, Oh God of the Angel Armies!” Jeremiah 15:16.

To what does Jeremiah compare Bible reading? Eating.

And why does Bible reading bring him so much joy? Because he bears God’s name.

Like Jeremiah, we bear the name of the God who is the Commander of the Angel Armies. We are officers in God’s army. And when we consume His word, it brings us deep joy because it reminds us of His love and forgiveness, and of our purpose and eternal destiny.

Have you experienced that joy? Have you ever read the Word and realized how much joy it was bringing you? Even when we are not aware of it, spending time in God’s Word fills our hearts with peace and joy.

If you have fear, anxiety, or stress, read your Bible. Read the Gospels, or one of Paul’s letters to the churches. After a few minutes, your anxiety will lift and you will feel peace. And if you spend more time—if you FILL UP on the Word, if you FEAST on the Word, it will fill your heart with JOY.

We eat every day. There are six billion people around the world, and every one of them tries to eat every day. Most eat two, three, or more times a day. Why do we think we can go days, weeks even, without FEEDING OUR SOULS the Word of God?

Feast on the Word. It will fill you with PEACE and JOY.

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Feed Yourself the Word of God: Eat Every Day. Jeremiah 15:16

Are you consuming the Word of God? Ask yourself—are you feeding your spirit, or letting it starve? You have to eat every day.

Your words were found and I ate them. Your words became a delight to me and the joy of my heart, for I am called by your name. Jeremiah 15:16.

Key verse of the day.

So when was the last time you feasted on the Word? Don’t let yourself starve.

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Fastened at the Waist. Jeremiah 13:11.

Christians discuss circumcision and giggle. We read that “testify” comes from “testicle” because of the practice of swearing on the loins, as when Abraham told his servant to “place your hand under my thigh and swear,” Genesis 24:9—and again we giggle. Our understanding is so OVERWHELMED by the sexualization of our culture, we are unable to think with purity when we think about human anatomy. (Was God’s mind less than holy when He created men? No. The problem lies with us.)

Then God tells Jeremiah to fashion a linen undergarment. It’s not supposed to be awkward (although you must consider your audience—this is no lesson for junior high).

“Just as underwear clings to one’s waist, so I fastened the whole house of Israel to Me—this is the Lord’s declaration—so that they might be My people for My fame, praise, and glory, but they would not obey” Jeremiah 13:11.

What amazing intimacy: The GOD WHO MADE YOU fastens you to His waist (and we snicker like idiots).

Think of it this way:

God looks at women and says ‘you will bear children.’

And He looks at men and says ‘you will father children. Here’s a device that will allow you to generate life. Be CAREFUL with it. We will mount it in the one spot that is the easiest to defend. And we will make it super-sensitive to injury—so you will never forget to protect it. And because you can create life, you have something in common with Me.

But that life-giving device is really important. You will protect it, swear by it, and scar it to symbolize that you are MINE, and that you understand YOUR POWER TO GIVE LIFE COMES FROM ME. Don’t let the enemy pervert it into something weird. It’s not weird:

Circumcision is a scar that says that you understand that the power to give life comes from the God who gives life.

God, deliver us from the sex-crazed, adolescent culture that cannot speak or think intelligently about anatomy. Thank you that you FASTEN US TO YOUR WAIST.

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How Can We Know Anything About God? Jeremiah 15:16.

Today I found myself engaged in an online conversation about particle physics.  My friend Jim wrote that 99% of matter is nothing, and because God is everywhere, God is 99% nothing. 

First, I attempted to correct his physics—because though space is mostly nothingness, matter itself is never nothing.  But I’ve had discussions like this with Jim before and he tends to read my comments in a rush and often misses the point.  So instead of arguing physics, I tried to explain analogies.  Jim was using data from science to draw an analogy to theology. And even if he had been correct on the physics, it’s a big leap to use “facts” about space to draw conclusions about the nature of God.  You risk committing the fallacy of the false analogy.

A false analogy says that because two things have one thing in common, they must have other things in common.  For example, “Apples, strawberries, and raspberries are all red, and they are all fruits. Therefore, all fruit must be red.” 

In Jim’s case, he created a false analogy when he assumed God and the universe have multiple traits in common: Jim argued, in effect, that “God is everywhere, and the universe is everywhere. And because the universe is mostly nothingness, therefore God is mostly nothingness.” But this is a false analogy.

I wanted Jim to recognize that no subject is more critical to human life than the question of the nature and existence of God.  That is, if God is real, nothing matters more than knowing the truth about him and his opinion of us.  And because the topic is so important, we should do all that we can to ensure that our thinking is as logical as possible.  When it comes to knowing the truth about God, we need to get things right!

And that brings us to the scriptures.

God KNOWS how important it is for His people to know Him, and to believe the right things about Him and to make the right decisions about following Him. God also knows how easy it is for us to get it wrong, for people like Jim to read one article online about physics—misunderstand the article—and draw conclusions about the God of the universe based on that misunderstanding. That’s human nature: we misunderstand and immediately jump to the wrong conclusions. That is the risk when you reason from analogy. But that is why God gave us His WORD!  We don’t have to reason from analogy. We don’t have to be experts in science—or any other field.  We simply have to read the Bible.  

“All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” 2 Timothy 3:16.

The Bible has the answers we need.  And when you read it–when you consume it–it will fill you with joy:

“Your words were found and I ate them. Your words became a delight to me and the joy of my heart” Jeremiah 15:16.

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Never Say Never. Jeremiah 10:23.

Conversations about the future often end with the cliché: Never say ‘never.’ It’s true: you never know what is going to happen. Sometimes things go exactly as planned; often they do not. God has a way of interrupting our plans. Never say ‘never.’

During my childhood a few things were clear: I could not sit still, I was good at reading and writing, I loved adventure and had a flair for creative projects, but no patience for anything I considered dull or overly structured. I had no self-discipline, especially for things like long division. As I was finishing college many years later, I briefly considered going to law school. I had skills that might make me good at some aspects of the law, but it all seemed dull and overly structured.  It was the LAW, after all—an entire field dedicated to RULES and structure (so much STRUCTURE!). For example, every judge has his own Local Rules and every pleading filed in his courtroom better comply, right down to the size 13 font.

So I dismissed the notion. I was never going to law school. (Contrary to the cliche, I said ‘never.’) But eight years later, God called me to do just that. And everything I thought about it proved true—I was good at the things I expected to be good at, and struggled with the things with which I expected to struggle. Yet, God had a plan–and it makes a bit more sense looking back so many years later.

“I know, Lord, that a man’s way is not his own. No one who walks determines his own steps” Jeremiah 10:23.

God directs our steps. If you are following Jesus, be ready: He may surprise you! Things you think will never happen, may happen.  Consider some other translations of Jeremiah 10:23:

“I know, God, that mere mortals can’t run their own lives, that men and women don’t have what it takes to take charge of a life.”

“I know it is not within the power of man to map his life and plan his course.”

“I know our lives are in Your hands. It is not in us to direct our own steps—we need You.”

ONLY GOD CAN PLAN YOUR LIFE.

“Trust in the Lord with all thy heart. Lean not on thine own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct thy paths” Proverbs 3:5-6.

Let Jesus take the wheel in all your decisions: trust God–and never say ‘never.’

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