Renewed Hope

The Lord Weeps    Meri Ford   February 20, 2015

How often do folks wonder what the Lord is doing in a time like we are in when hundreds are being killed, beheaded and made a public spectacle by insolent rebels who kill and destroy in the name of a god unlike the Lord God?  Today as I was reading I came across this scripture that stirred my heart.

Jeremiah 13:15---

Listen and pay attention;don't be proud!

For Adonai has spoken:

Give Glory to Adonai your God

before the darkness falls,

before your feet stumble

on the mountains in the twilight

and, while you are seeking light,

he turns it into deathlike shadows 

and makes it completely dark.

But if you will not hear this warning,

I will weep secretly because of your pride:

my eyes will weep bitterly, streaming with tears,

because Adonai's  flock is carried away captive........

When he sets over you as rulers

those you trained to be allies,

what will you say?  Won't pains seize you

like those of a woman in labor?

And if you ask yourself

"Why have these things happened to me?"

It is because of your many sins

that your skirts are pulled up and you have been violated.

....

This is....the portion I measure out to you 

because you have forgotten me

and trusted in the lie.

I myself will lift your skirts above your face

and your privates will be exposed. 

On the hills and in the fields,

I have seen your abominations,----

your adulteries, your lustful neighings

your shameless prostitutions.

Woe to you................

You refuse to be purified!

Won't you ever allow it?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Many aspects of this seem so pertinent to the day we live in....

When he sets over you as rulers, those you trained to be allies?  

How often must we see this played out

in the Middle East before we realize something is amiss in these United States of America? How many more 

and questionable behaviors must be exposed before we realize and repent of our wicked and evil ways? We 

whine a complain about the corruptness and lies that come from government but have you looked on the

streets of any city today to see the corruption in the hearts and minds of the people?  Look at the movies, at the book

stores, at the pot shops and liquor stores and the porn stores?  Do we think that the Lord God doesn't see our

idolatries and our lustful behaviors.  It is true, we can no more change our wickedness than a leopard can change its spots as Jeremiah 13: 23 says, but the Lord God can work change in our lives through Holy Spirit as we are willing to give Him the praise and honor due the creator of the Universe, the one who holds the stars in place, the one who controls the four winds and sets boundaries for the sea that it cannot cross.  

We whine and fuss over health care and advertise our idolatries, one of which in America is our health and our lives. We are fitness and health food junkies thinking we can live one more day and fight the battle against inevitable death. As a result we have put into place the most primitive, abusive, controlling legislation to replace God as Jehovah Rapha, the Lord our Healer. He is our Life and in Him we have no fear of death. Yet we in America are so afraid of death and the dying process that we have opened the door for oppressive legislation that is in many ways is becoming the undoing of Americans.  Yes,,,,our skirts are being pulled up and we are being violated...and the Lord God says, I myself will lift your skirts above your face and your privates will be exposed.  

Prophetic word after prophetic word have gone forth the last ten years saying that He was going to bring to the surface hidden sins and the rottenness that is buried in the lives of this nation and the corruptness that is in the halls of our legislature and halls of justice and in the houses of worship. And we read about it daily in the paper and point our fingers at those "wicked" people. Yet they are just a mirror of the condition that we all find ourselves in apart from Himself, Adonai, Jehovah Jesus!!

And why? They would not give the honor and respect to the Lord God that belongs to Him, but chose to use their energies to meet the needs of their own pride and lusts.  And so it is with all of us apart from living and having our dwelling IN CHRIST.

He welcomes all who come to Him, who believe that because of the blood of Jesus, The Lord God sees us as His Sons, the object of His eternal love.  He longs to pour out the greatness of His love and power upon His people. But to those who choose not to honor Him, they will receive the fruit of their worship, the benefits of the gods they serve, which is nothing less than death and destruction.

 And what with the Eternal wise God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ be doing while all this is happening?

He will be weeping "secretly because of your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly, streaming with tears, because Adonai's flock is carried away captive."

We are the sheep of His pasture and He cares for us, but He also gave us a choice to either recognize the greatness of His love and provision and guidance or to operate out of our own lusts and pride and run our own lives, even when it means running them into the ground, exposing ourselves to unseen enemies. And while He is weeping over the condition of His people, He will at the same time be  lifting our skits over our faces and exposing our private parts, that we might turn to Him and be restored and set free to be the sons of God that we were created to be and walk in the fullness of everlasting love that never fails.  Our shortcomings don't change God any more than seeing our young children fall while taking their first steps would turn our hearts against our young children. So our Father God, is a God of mercy...not giving us what we deserve, and of grace, giving us the fullness of His love that we don't deserve because of the sacrifice of His own begotten Son Jesus whose blood serves as a covering for our sins once and for all, that we might be seen as the perfect son of His Love!!

As the day grows dim and we continue to enter the darkness of this day, may we be reminded that He is Light, in Him is Light and in Him is no darkness. All the darkness that is in our souls and lives will flee as the Light of His Eternal Love shines into our hearts as we are willing to receive Him and honor Him...as the All Mighty, All knowing,seeing, Eternal, Every present God!

Meri Ford   February 20, 2015