God is not bipolar.

Nor is He a manic-depressive. But if you have never been ‘introduced’ to the God of the Old Testament’ and you dabble some reading back in those pages, one might be misled to think otherwise. All that wrath and judgement and curses and destruction...my goodness- Who’s got time for all that these days? We need a ‘God’ and a ‘religion’ that is uplifting and makes people feel good about themselves and offers them light and hope in a dark and dreary world, right? That would seem to be the common theme we hear ‘preached’ so often. Yet, why do we not seem to understand why there is so much ‘darkness and dreariness’ in the world today to begin with?

Well, He has an answer to that if we’d just take the time to come to Him and allow Him to explain.

Oh, by the way, God is not some lonely deity sitting amongst the angels in heaven wishing humans would come to see Him more often at their local church like an older relative who spends countless hours a day in a nursing home crying and wishing their kids would come to visit them more often.

The Lord God Almighty is the creator of the heavens and the earth, and He is Your ‘maker’. Why, before you were even in the womb, He knew you. (Jer. 1:5)

He determined the pre-appointed times and boundaries of where and when you would live with the hope that you might seek after and find Him...even though He is not far from each one of us. (Acts 17:26-27)

Something else you might want to know about this eternal God who is the creator of all things - He never changes. Never has, never will. He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Mal. 3:6; Heb. 13:8)

But if all you have ever heard about and been introduced to is this ‘Jesus’ character who is sweet and kind and loving and ‘has a plan for your life’ and wants to make you feel better about yourself and encourages you to trust your heart and not beat yourself up for messing up all the time..., well, there’s a chance you might have been introduced to ‘another Jesus’. (2 Cor. 11:2-4).

Please don’t be offended by that and I’m not judging you nor saying you don’t know the ‘real Jesus’. But by chance, if/when you read through your bible and most of it makes you scratch your head and be confused, if not offended at times, then that might be a clue that something is amiss. You do realize that for generations, there have been many arise and mis-represent God and who He is. Jesus refers to them as ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing’. (Matt. 7:15)

Why even back when Jesus was here, He actually pointed out that the religious leaders of that day, along with their fathers, were guilty of laying aside God’s message and in place, were teaching their traditions. The way it is worded in my Bible is Jesus told them: “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition...and as a result, you make the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down.” (Mark 7:9,13). You might want to read that one more time, that last quote in Mark.

I’ve written about this before, but we were never given the luxury to treat God’s word like a buffet line where we just go through and choose what looks appealing to us and skip over those things we don’t ‘care for’. I mean, how many books have been written, sold and promoted that are nothing but select ‘promises’ taken out of scripture for people to ‘claim’ and believe for?

The problem that many of us have run into in our upbringing and such is we are taught one thing and then later in life, when confronted with more ‘truth’ taken from scripture...we tend to reject it if it does not ‘fit’ with the structure we have come to grow comfortable with and love and remain ‘devoted’ to. That’s what the Pharisees did and when God stood before them, they did not even recognize Him. “He came unto His own, and His own did not receive Him.’ (John 1:11). We should be cautious to assume the same could not happen to us.

In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he quotes writers of old to explain God’s assessment of His people saying things like “There is none righteous, no not one, there is none who understand, there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside...the way of peace they have not known, there is no fear of God before their eyes.” (3:10-18).

The prophet Isaiah offers us this word picture: “all we like sheep, have gone astray”. (53:6). [We’ll come back to that illustration shortly.]

IF you read through that portion of scripture in your Bible that I quoted in Romans 3, you might have noticed vs 16 that also describes the condition of this dark and dreary world saying “Destruction and misery are in their ways”. Which then leads me back to Hosea 4:6 that I quote often in these writings:

“My people...(MY people) are destroyed...for a lack of knowledge...”

That word ‘destroyed’ comes from a Hebrew word that implies ‘to cause to cease’ or ‘to be cut off’ or...to ‘perish’. It’s not good, however you want to read that. But it’s the last line in that verse that can rattle you: “...Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.” You should go look at Deut. 28:32 , Lev. 26:22, and Lamentations 1:5.

The reason I direct your attention to those last three verses is because one of the promises that God made over and over to His people early on was if they would just listen to Him and do what He asked...that things would go well for them...AND...their children and grandchildren. In fact, He really made a point to stress the importance of teaching these things God had to say to their kids continuously. (Deut. 11:18-21). But really, who’s got time for all that when we have so many other entertaining things vying for our affections and interest?

The OT book, Lamentations, is a heartbreaking description of what the fallen city of Jerusalem looked like after Babylon came in and destroyed it which lead in to the 70 years of captivity. You might be surprised to see multiple passages jump off the pages there and have relevance for even us today. Jeremiah explains why “her children have gone into captivity before the enemy’ (1:5). He speaks of why “the Lord has inflicted in the day of His fierce anger’ the people. (1:12). “They have gone into captivity because they rebelled against His commandment”. (1:18).

You might also want to underline 2:9 that states: “The Law is no more”...and “her prophets find no vision from the Lord’. (There is no ‘fresh word’ for the people...sort of like that famine Amos spoke about perhaps? Amos 8:11).

So then ponder this one for a moment: “Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions; they have not uncovered your iniquity to bring back your captives, but have envisioned for you false prophecies and delusions.” (3:14). What you might also find a bit sobering as well is this ‘destruction’ came on the heels of Jeremiah’s book of ‘warnings’; so go look what he told them prior to the collapse there in Jer. 23:16-20.

Do you realize what the underlying problem was here? People did not take God seriously nor did they seem to believe the fact that God means what He says. (Does Genesis 2:17 ring a bell?)

And yet...because He is a God of mercy and slow to anger, He continues to send light and extend His grace to whosoever will call upon the name of the Lord. It has never been God’s will for ANY...to perish but to come to repentance. (2 Pet. 3:9)

Going back to His assessment of all of His people...He makes it clear: “The way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Rom. 3:17-18). That tells me two things...God really has a pathway of peace He wants us walking in but for reasons unknown to many, that path has eluded them. And the lack of the ‘fear of God’ might have something to do with that.

So you know what He did? He came down Himself and clothed Himself in flesh and humanity and dwelt among us. (John 1:1,14). He came to lead us Himself in this path of peace. But it was important that not only do we come to Him, but we continue to follow Him. How else can we experience those ‘green pastures and still waters’ that we love to quote from Ps. 23?

And get this: He did not send His Son to condemn us, rather that through Him, we might be saved. (John 3:17). Sadly, many people today don’t even know what it is that they are being ‘saved from’. They just walk an aisle, say a prayer, ‘join a church’ and then keep showing up without ever really grasping what all this is about. Why is it that so many people sitting on pews today remain in ‘captivity’ as they struggle with sin and suffering and misery and such. But by golly, they can sure sing well.

Would you like to see the heart of our Maker, our Creator, the Lord God Almighty? Finish up reading in Matt.9:35-36. He saw the multitudes as afflicted sheep that had wandered and were weary as if they had no shepherd. And He was ‘moved with compassion for them...and healed every sickness and every disease among the people.”

Friends...as I stated earlier...God has not changed. Join me tomorrow?