Thoughts on Christ and His Word

What are hard conversations? They are conversations that are difficult to have because they will affect you and the person you're talking to emotionally. Jesus had these types of conversations all the time. He rebuked the Pharisees and his disciples, he threw hard questions at those who tested him, and challenge people's attitudes and actions when they weren't in accordance with godliness. Below are some quotes from John Maxwell's the 360-degree leader. "Be ready to have hard conversations. There is no development without hard lessons. Almost all growth comes when we have positive responses to negative things. The more difficult the thing is to deal with, the more we need to push in order to grow. The process is often not very pleasant, but you always have to pay a price for growth." "Good leaders are willing to have hard conversations to start the growth process for the people under their care. When you don't want to have a difficult conversatio

Hosea 4:6: "my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. "Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children." The priests were supposed to be faithful in studying and teaching God's Word. But they had rejected God's Word and the people were suffering for it. As a pastor I must be faithful to studying, applying and teaching God's word. I am reminded of Ezra the priest:  "for Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and to do it and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel." Ezra 7:10

In Daniel 6:4 we see that Daniel was faithful and that there was no fault found in him. But Daniels righteousness did not keep him from suffering or injustice. His enemies plotted against him and had him thrown into the the Lion's Den. But God delivered him from the Lions and King Darius praised the Living God of Daniel "Who has delivered Daniel from the power of the Lions (v.27).  This story exemplifies what the apostle Peter wrote: "the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment" 2 Peter 2:9

Iin Daniel 4 we see a clear example of how God is Sovereign and yet man retains free will. After being warned about his humiliation Nebuchadnezzar remained prideful and sinful. After one year of the warning he said in his heart that the greatness of Babylon was because of his mighty power and for his own honor and Majesty. That's when he was slapped down and made to live like a beast in the wild. God created the circumstances that helped him to come to repentance. After a while Nebuchadnezzar lifted up his eyes to heaven and recognize that God is the king of Heaven and nobody can restrain him. So while God did bring down discipline on Nebuchadnezzar it was Nebuchadnezzar out of his own free will turning to God in Repentance. God will lead us to Him but he will not force us to cross the line of faith and repentance.

There is a huge difference in God's eyes between the death of the wicked and the death of His Saints. Ezekiel 33:11 says "As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Contrast this to Psalms 116:15 that says "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his holy ones." We his Saints are of great value to God and it is a precious and holy moment when we die and go into the presence of God. But God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked because they will be eternally separated from Him.