All posts by Larry

In Pursuit

Proverbs 21:21 English Standard Version (ESV) Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor.

We are in a foot pursuit, not a car chase. We are much less likely to have a fatal crash on foot.

That is a cryptic message and will be useless for most people but might resonate with a few.

This life we have in Christ is a walk. His disciples walked with Jesus while He led them in a time when His ministry was performed by Him. Then He sent out His disciples to minister to the lost a word of salvation. He was there for them when they returned. For a time.

Now we live in the church age and that age is all about the bride, us, and our relationship. We as the bride have the indwelling presence and we are never separated, He is a part of us, and we are in Him.

How can we seek a righteousness that is already in us? Jesus is our righteousness, we are right with God because we are in Christ and He in us.

The answer to that question is that His righteousness goes out before us as we walk with Christ.

The reference of the car chase is a metaphor for a drive by shooting. If we speed by and shoot out righteousness in the hood, it will hit the lost but kindness is lost in the act and no glory goes to God. No honor would be given to Christ in us in our pursuit.

Don’t be in such a rush in our pursuit. Time is all we have left, everything else is already accomplished and abides in His finished word. 

Life passes us by at a much faster pace these days and it is easy to get caught up in the life that appears to be rushing past us. That is the world, that is flesh, that is not our relationship with our Lord. One of the greater aspects of walking with the ones we love is the time spent together. It is not the work that matters, it is being a cherished part of it in this bond we have in Christ.

It is a walk not a joy ride.

Egypt as a Tupos

Isaiah 19:1-4

English Standard Version

An Oracle Concerning Egypt

1 An oracle concerning Egypt. Behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt; and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.

2 And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians, and they will fight, each against another and each against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom;

3 and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out, and I will confound[a] their counsel; and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers, and the mediums and the necromancers;

4 and I will give over the Egyptians into the hand of a hard master, and a fierce king will rule over them, declares the Lord God of hosts.

Tupos means a type. This warning is about any nation that acts like the ancient Egyptians. Our Lord is the Lord over all the earth and no one should ignore the warnings in a word of prophecy just because their nation is not named Egypt.

So often we cry out, “He is not talking about us.” We talk about the prophetic word as if it is not about us, someone else will suffer, not us.

At the time of this writing in Isaiah the known world was much smaller. There were few examples to be used. The world is much larger now and those attitudes exist all over the world that existed in ancient Egypt. We should not ignore the attitudes that exist in our own country just because our nation’s name does not exist in prophecy. Our type, our tupos, may well suffer the fate as that named nation in prophecy.

Look around and see what false gods are being worshiped in our countries.

Turn to the Lord and seek His will in what part we have to play in prophecy. Follow the Lord.

Don’t look back as our Sodom and Gomorrahs suffer destruction.