Speed Read – "Forecast" [Monday Morning Momentum]

by | Oct 1, 2012 | Uncategorized

Stock Tip?
     Did you make some big money betting on Apple stock with the new iPhone release?  Dozens of prognosticators were telling people to jump on the band wagon. But, this isn’t new. Who doesn’t dream of investing in the next Microsoft before it becomes the next Microsoft? We all love a good forecast – sometimes to know where to put our money, other times to know when to cut and run, right?

     But, what about a spiritual forecast? Does bad news on the horizon help you out at all? Just caught a glimpse of something in Josiah that may give us all a forecast out of the past:

“When Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king cut it with a scribe’s knife and threw it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier. Yet the king [Jehoiakim] and all his servants who heard all these words were not afraid, nor did they rend their garments. (Jeremiah 36:23-24)”

     Think about that – a prophet of God sends word to men that they need to make a course correction – they’ve put all their money in “Me, Inc.” and Jeremiah’s telling them, that stock is under investigation by the Lord. If they would just shift everything in their portfolio back to “God, Inc.” they could avoid total loss. You’d think the king, of all people, would be happy to know this.

     Nope.

     In fact, he tears up the warning, piece by piece and has it thrown into the fire. “Jeremiah’s an idiot. My father built this deal from the ground up, and I know what I’m doing. No superstitious mumbo-jumbo is going to topple my empire.” We now know how the story went. But, isn’t even that news from the past a bit of a look forward? Look at what Paul tells the Corinthians centuries later:“But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. (2 Cor 11:3)”

     Every one of us can be misled – Eve was, King Jehoiakim was, you in Corinth have and can be, and today in 2012, you and I can be. Isn’t that great news? No? Okay, then let’s look at the remedy: “simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.” There we go. There’s the great news – the antidote for being led astray is just that: simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. What if Eve had been simple and pure in her devotion? Would Jehoiakim have repented like his father Josiah? What about us? What about you?

Be Encouraged
     We’ve been given a great forecast – there will be trouble, wolves among the sheep, tares among the wheat, and all of them coordinated by an enemy who speaks spin as his native tongue – don’t buy any stock there. Go all in with Jesus and hold it for the long hall. The dividends can be sketchy, but the retirement payout is out of this world.