Micah 7:8
“Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.”
The confidence that sin takes from an individual who has sinned is
one of the greatest contributors that keeps them from recovering. Many
people who sin has knocked down sit on the sidelines for the rest of
their lives because they don't believe that they could ever do anything
for the LORD again. The verse above disagrees with that mentality when
it says, “Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise…”
This verse makes it clear that God is not done with a person who has
been knocked down by sin. So you fell! What next? Five steps are
prescribed to help the fallen make a complete recovery.
Amos 5:4
“For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:”
Two times in this chapter God tells His people to “seek” something. The first time is found in the verse above when He says, “Seek ye me, and ye shall live:” The second time is in verse 14 when He says, “Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live…” The result of seeking in both verses was life. God was giving Israel a chance to turn things around. They were facing God’s judgment, and He told them that if they would seek Him and good, they could turn things around and live.
Ezekiel 8:12
“Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.”
Everyone has had someone say to them at some time, “It’s all in your head.” In other words, they are saying that what you say is going to happen is only something that you imagined. They want you to think that you are letting your imagination run wild. Most of the time this is true, but it is never true when it comes to sin.
Lamentations 1:6
“And from the daughter of Zion all her beauty is departed: her
princes are become like harts that find no pasture, and they are gone
without strength before the pursuer.”
Have you ever had a car that you keep repairing because you don't
want to have to make those monthly payments on a new car? I’m the type
of person that holds on to a car as long as I can because I hate having
to make monthly payments on a newer car. There have been a couple of
cars I have owned that I kept too long. When I started looking at the
expense of the repairs I was consistently paying out, I realized these
cars just kept on taking and were not saving me any money.
Jeremiah 26:6
“Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.”
Throughout the years of my travels as an evangelist, I have had the privilege of going to towns that used to be thriving communities. It is not an uncommon thing for the pastor to drive me through a town and tell me the story as to how the city used to be a center of business. Sadly, while I’m being driven through the city, buildings are vacant and run down; buildings that have great stories of usefulness in history have become tales because the city is a ghost town.
Jeremiah 20:9
“Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any
more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut
up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.”
Anybody who has ever done anything for the LORD has gone through a
season like Jeremiah when they entertained the thought of quitting. When
you look throughout the Scriptures, some of the greatest Christians
thought about quitting or even quit for a short season. Elijah quit
after the great victory of praying fire down from Heaven. Peter quit at
Jesus’ trial. John Mark quit and went back home for a season. Jeremiah,
in the verse above, quit on the LORD, but it was only for a short time.
Jeremiah 5:5
“I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them;
for they have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God:
but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.”
The verse above may be one of the most misused verses in the
Scriptures. We often hear because of the verse above how the Scriptures
teach that we should go to the “great men.” The problem with
this statement is that the rest of the verse has been completely
ignored. Certainly, this statement may sound great, but the verse above
simply isn't teaching us to run to the great men.
Isaiah 53:1
“Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?”
Have you ever felt like no one ever listens to you? That must have been how our LORD felt. He says in the verse above, “Who hath believed our report?”
After everything the LORD has done for us through creation, history,
and our own lives, He still doesn't get the respect He deserves. It
doesn't matter that He wrote a Book to give us instructions on how to
live, and that Book has never failed one time. It doesn't matter that He
has been there for us for time and time again when others have forsaken
us. The LORD has revealed His mighty arm to us over and over again, and
yet He is ignored and disrespected. The response of the Saviour to
being ignored and disrespected is the response you should have when
others ignore and totally disrespect you.
Proverbs 29:17
“Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.”
Every parent would love to have a failsafe plan on training their
children to turn out right. The problem is that children have their own
will, and the parent cannot control it. However, a parent can instill
certain training methods that will give them the best chance for their
children to turn out right for the LORD. In Proverbs 29:15-18, God gives
the parent five things they must do to help raise children who “give delight” unto their soul.
Isaiah 47:6
“I was wroth with my people, I have polluted mine inheritance, and given them into thine hand: thou didst shew them no mercy; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke.”
I have had the privilege of traveling abroad to preach in foreign countries. One of the main things that stands out in my mind about some of the countries is the poor quality of air. Many of these countries have smog that has polluted the air. In some of these countries, it is not safe to drink the water because of the pollutants that have contaminated their drinking water. It is sad that these people live have to this way.