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Deuteronomy 32 The Song of Moses

4/4/2016

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he said to them, “Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law.  For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.” Deuteronomy 32: 46-47
he said to them, “Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.” Deuteronomy 32: 46-47
Deuteronomy 32
God wants us to succeed. He wants us to do well. He knows we are prone to sin, to take the easy way or the flesh gratifying way. But He gives us the tools to make the right choices. Ancient Israel did not have the Holy Spirit indwelled in each person. God put His Spirit on a few and the rest were meant to trust Him and follow Him via these leaders and prophets. But they were given the Law, the priests, and the prophets. They were given the feasts and they were given prayers and songs.
In yesterday’s devotional The Lord had told Moses to write the song He would give him and teach it to Israel so that they would sing it through the generations and remember what He had done for them and not turn to idolatry as they were inclined to do (Deuteronomy 31:19-22). Chapter 32 is the song.
Deuteronomy 31:30 reads,
Then Moses spoke the words of this song until they were finished, in the ears of all the assembly of Israel:
Verses 1-3 read,
“Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak,
    and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
2 May my teaching drop as the rain,
    my speech distill as the dew,
like gentle rain upon the tender grass,
    and like showers upon the herb.
3 For I will proclaim the name of the Lord;
    ascribe greatness to our God!”

 
When the song was sung both The Lord and the people were called to hear it. God was the audience to the obedience of the singer and the listeners. Israel was to listen and learn from the words, the words written by The Lord Himself to proclaim His greatness, to reveal His character to people so that they might avoid sin and thus avoid the consequences their sin would bring.
How often do you think, “If only I had listened…?” Would your teenaged self have skipped a huge amount of turmoil if you had heeded your parents’ warnings? Would you have avoided much of your suffering had you heeded the words of God? How much sin do we commit when we choose to ignore the counsel of The Holy Spirit and the wisdom of the Word of God?
Verses 4-6 remind us of God’s perfect justice.
“The Rock, his work is perfect,
    for all his ways are justice.
A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,
    just and upright is he.
5 They have dealt corruptly with him;
    they are no longer his children because they are blemished;
    they are a crooked and twisted generation.
6 Do you thus repay the Lord,
    you foolish and senseless people?
Is not he your father, who created you,
    who made you and established you?”

God is perfect Justice and He made the way for Israel to be forgiven of sin and be counted as righteous. But they perverted worship, they perverted the sacrifices, and they sinned. It came to the point that God could no longer consider Israel separate and holy because although they venerated themselves as His chosen nation, they were worshipping idols and laws above the One True God. They forgot God in their religion. This song was to remind them God created them, He called Himself their Father. They could repent and turn to Him or they could suffer for their sin. It reminds believers too, not to leave the Lord out of religion.
. God can make a holy nation and Chosen people from anyone or anything. It was His choice to make Israel His own. It was His choice to make you and me His own.
The Lord commanded Israel to remember what their ancestors, the first singers and hearers of this song had gone through and what He had done for them. He chose them. He called them. He gave them their identity as His own. Verses 7-14 read,
“Remember the days of old;
    consider the years of many generations;
ask your father, and he will show you,
    your elders, and they will tell you.
8 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,
    when he divided mankind,
he fixed the borders of the peoples
    according to the number of the sons of God.
9 But the Lord's portion is his people,
    Jacob his allotted heritage.

10 “He found him in a desert land,
    and in the howling waste of the wilderness;
he encircled him, he cared for him,
    he kept him as the apple of his eye.
11 Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,
    that flutters over its young,
spreading out its wings, catching them,
    bearing them on its pinions,
12 the Lord alone guided him,
    no foreign god was with him.
13 He made him ride on the high places of the land,
    and he ate the produce of the field,
and he suckled him with honey out of the rock,
    and oil out of the flinty rock.
14 Curds from the herd, and milk from the flock,
    with fat of lambs,
rams of Bashan and goats,
    with the very finest of the wheat--
    and you drank foaming wine made from the blood of the grape.”

God’s provision is rarely just the bare necessities; it is full and complete. The Promised Land flowed with milk and honey, it didn’t trickle. God pours out provision and blessings. He is the One Who Overcomes our obstacles, He is the One Who Gives, and He is the One Who Lavishes. We are the ones who look at our success and prosperity and forget that it could only have come from The Lord. Enough success and we somehow forget God and take credit for it ourselves.
Those people who write books about how to get rich and stay rich, how to succeed in business, or how to make friends and influence people, they think they are the ones responsible for their success and so they think they can make money by sharing their wisdom and skills. The secret to success is not learning how Mr. Moneybags got rich; it is in remembering who The Lord God is. When we forget to give God the credit, the glory for us and who we have become, we get lazy. We forget God. We turn to idols like money, ourselves, and other religions. That happened to Israel time and again. It happens to so many of us repeatedly. We forget where our strength comes from and think we can do anything without The Lord because we are strong, have great resources, wisdom, or whatever. Verses 15-18 say it this way,
“But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked;
    you grew fat, stout, and sleek;
then he forsook God who made him
    and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation.
16 They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods;
    with abominations they provoked him to anger.
17 They sacrificed to demons that were no gods,
    to gods they had never known,
to new gods that had come recently,
    whom your fathers had never dreaded.
18 You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you,
    and you forgot the God who gave you birth.”

 
Jeshurun is another name for Israel. It means upright, just and straight. Success made Jeshurun grow from upright, just, and straight to fat, stout, and sleek. That may have looked attractive as her wealth showed, but it made her forsake God; it caused her to scoff at the idea that The Lord was her Salvation and Creator.
Believer, whatever success you enjoy, wealth, wisdom, or spiritual gifts, be careful to remember it is not you, but God. You could never be good enough to be saved. Jesus saved you. You are not the source of the prophesies, good works, wisdom, healing, or evangelism that you perform. The Holy Spirit manifests Himself in you. You couldn’t even have chosen Christ without the Father having called you. Without God, all those things that make you so great are just a harsh and meaningless noise (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
When we choose to turn to ourselves instead of The Lord, He lets us. He will hide His face from us and let us struggle without Him. He wants us to learn to depend on Him, to come back and be the sons and daughters He made us to be. Verses 19-25 read,
“The Lord saw it and spurned them,
    because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.
20 And he said, ‘I will hide my face from them;
    I will see what their end will be,
for they are a perverse generation,
    children in whom is no faithfulness.
21 They have made me jealous with what is no god;
    they have provoked me to anger with their idols.
So I will make them jealous with those who are no people;
    I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
22 For a fire is kindled by my anger,
    and it burns to the depths of Sheol,
devours the earth and its increase,
    and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.

23 “‘And I will heap disasters upon them;
    I will spend my arrows on them;
24 they shall be wasted with hunger,
    and devoured by plague
    and poisonous pestilence;
I will send the teeth of beasts against them,
    with the venom of things that crawl in the dust.
25 Outdoors the sword shall bereave,
    and indoors terror,
for young man and woman alike,
    the nursing child with the man of gray hairs.”

If prosperity and success make someone fall away from the Lord, then suffering often brings them back to Him. I know many people who only pray when they are at the end of their rope. When they have nothing left to do but cry out to God, that is the only time they talk to Him. Their prayers are one-sided dirges and monologues of grief. But sometimes their desperation begins a relationship and dependence on The Lord. And too often that relationship lasts for only the duration of the suffering. Do you depend on God through good times and bad, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health? Or do you only talk to Him when He is all you have left to turn to?
God can make a whole new nation for Himself, He can take the stones and trees and turn them to a worshipping people. But doing that would mean losing the chance that the sinner will repent. It would mean letting the people he used to exact justice think they were righteous gods. He will never leave us or forsake us, even when we have forsaken Him. Verses 26-27 read,
“I would have said, “I will cut them to pieces;
    I will wipe them from human memory,”
27 had I not feared provocation by the enemy,
    lest their adversaries should misunderstand,
lest they should say, “Our hand is triumphant,
    it was not the Lord who did all this.”’

God loves Israel. God loves ISIS. He loves you and He loves your enemies. He wants the best for you. He wants salvation for each and every person. So often the discipline He uses to bring you back into walking rightly with Him is also being used to call the lost He used to work the discipline. He understands that they don’t have His Holy Spirit and they need to see Him work in you and bless you with his mercy and grace. Maybe they will want that mercy and grace too, and they will call upon His name. Verses 28-33 read,
“For they are a nation void of counsel,
    and there is no understanding in them.
29 If they were wise, they would understand this;
    they would discern their latter end!
30 How could one have chased a thousand,
    and two have put ten thousand to flight,
unless their Rock had sold them,
    and the Lord had given them up?
31 For their rock is not as our Rock;
    our enemies are by themselves.
32 For their vine comes from the vine of Sodom
    and from the fields of Gomorrah;
their grapes are grapes of poison;
    their clusters are bitter;
33 their wine is the poison of serpents
    and the cruel venom of asps”

 
He has given each person the chance to repent. He gave you that opportunity and He gave the lousy neighbor, the one who cut down the tree on your property and whose dog pees in your roses the opportunity. He gives the punished and the punisher the chance to repent and be saved. When someone refuses that gift, God will give them what they deserve. It’s not up to you or me to take revenge. Every person will pay the price, either with her own blood or the blood of Jesus. God’s vengeance is fierce and it will not be pretty or light. It will not be a simple elevator trip to Hell. Hell is not like a biker bar where people will hang out with sinners forever. It will be more horrific than we can imagine. Verses 34-38 read,
“‘Is not this laid up in store with me,
    sealed up in my treasuries?
35 Vengeance is mine, and recompense,
    for the time when their foot shall slip;
for the day of their calamity is at hand,
    and their doom comes swiftly.’
36 For the Lord will vindicate his people
    and have compassion on his servants,
when he sees that their power is gone
    and there is none remaining, bond or free.
37 Then he will say, ‘Where are their gods,
    the rock in which they took refuge,
38 who ate the fat of their sacrifices
    and drank the wine of their drink offering?
Let them rise up and help you;
    let them be your protection!”

 
You can’t save yourself. Buddha, Mohammed, Baal, Satan, Money, or a bright smile cannot save you. Only the Lord God, Jesus Christ can save. One day every person will realize that Jesus Christ is Lord. At the name of Jesus every knee will bow (Philippians 2:10). Will it be in triumphant worship or in dreadful realization that your god is powerless and bogus? Verse 39-43 read,
“‘See now that I, even I, am he,
    and there is no god beside me;
I kill and I make alive;
    I wound and I heal;
    and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
40 For I lift up my hand to heaven
    and swear, As I live forever,
41 if I sharpen my flashing sword
    and my hand takes hold on judgment,
I will take vengeance on my adversaries
    and will repay those who hate me.
42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood,
    and my sword shall devour flesh--
with the blood of the slain and the captives,
    from the long-haired heads of the enemy.’

43 “Rejoice with him, O heavens;[
    bow down to him, all gods,
for he avenges the blood of his children
    and takes vengeance on his adversaries.
He repays those who hate him
    and cleanses his people's land.”

God is awesome! He is The LORD! Do you know it? Do you need to be reminded? Let His Word shape you before suffering and discipline must teach you. Know who God is now, before The Day of the Lord demonstrates it for you. God’s Word is a gift to us. Believers are indwelled with The Holy Spirit, so that we can understand it, write it on our hearts and live it out for the world. Do not forget who God is or who you are in Him. Verses 44-47 read,
Moses came and recited all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he and Joshua the son of Nun. 45 And when Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, “Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. 47 For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.”
 
After Moses taught Israel the song and exhorted them to live by God’s Word, he was reminded that he would not be with them. Moses had to pay the price for his disobedience and trust God to be God for Israel. Verses 48-52,
That very day the Lord spoke to Moses, 49 “Go up this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel for a possession. 50 And die on the mountain which you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, 51 because you broke faith with me in the midst of the people of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, and because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel. 52 For you shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there, into the land that I am giving to the people of Israel.”
​
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Deuteronomy 22:13-30 Why is Sexual Immorality Such a Big Deal?

3/24/2016

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Keep your heart with all vigilance,     for from it flow the springs of life. Proverbs 4:23
Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Proverbs 4:23
​Deuteronomy 22:13-30
As I read this section about sexual immorality, what struck me was how very important chastity is to the Lord. He created a woman so that her virginity can be proven, so that when it is broken blood spills. When that blood is spilled a covenant is formed or broken, a union is formed or destroyed.
Sexual sin may be taken quite lightly today and for several centuries now, but The Lord considers sexual sin very seriously because it is sin against the body and the Body and because it perverts the picture of our unity with Him. 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 reads,
All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. 13 “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” 17 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
 
Verses 13-21 read,
If any man takes a wife and goes in to her and then hates her 14 and accuses her of misconduct and brings a bad name upon her, saying, ‘I took this woman, and when I came near her, I did not find in her evidence of virginity,’ 15 then the father of the young woman and her mother shall take and bring out the evidence of her virginity to the elders of the city in the gate. 16 And the father of the young woman shall say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man to marry, and he hates her; 17 and behold, he has accused her of misconduct, saying, “I did not find in your daughter evidence of virginity.” And yet this is the evidence of my daughter's virginity.’ And they shall spread the cloak before the elders of the city. 18 Then the elders of that city shall take the man and whip him, 19 and they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give them to the father of the young woman, because he has brought a bad name upon a virgin of Israel. And she shall be his wife. He may not divorce her all his days. 20 But if the thing is true, that evidence of virginity was not found in the young woman, 21 then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done an outrageous thing in Israel by whoring in her father's house. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
There are two possible crimes in this passage. The man who falsely accuses his bride of not being a virgin and the bride who comes to the marriage without her virginity. Notice that her virginity is so serious that her parents are actually the ones who guard it, who collect the sheets or clothes with the blood which proves her innocence. We must do that today for our children, both physical and spiritual. Their righteousness is just as important to us as our own. We teach them, we guide them, and we guard them. Young Christians may be easily tempted, just as children are. We take note of the fruit of their lives, we collect the evidence that proves their faith.
If the man falsely accused her, the punishment was on him. He had to pay for the dishonor he brought to the honored woman and they were forever married, he gave up any rights to divorce her.  If the bride’s virginity could not be proven, because she was not, then the punishment was on her because she had brought dishonor to Israel and her father. She was killed for whoring. The Lord wanted Israel to be pure, honored, and different from other nations. He wants us, His bride to be pure, honored and different from the world.
A man and woman are supposed to cherish their virginity until they give it to their spouse when united in marriage. Our purity is something to be treasured. The Lord treasures our purity, our righteousness, even though He is the one who made us righteous. We hold onto it, we guard it until the day He comes for us, His bride and we unite with forever. If we take our purity lightly, accuse one another of wrong doing, or ourselves treat righteousness as cheap and live like the world, we cause disunity and dishonor the church, the Bride of Christ.
Verse 22 describes adultery.
If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman. So you shall purge the evil from Israel.
God hates adultery. It is a symbol of idolatry. His love for us is passionate. He describes Himself as Jealous. It is not with the bad connotation we give it, it is a pure and perfect love that knows where our adultery will lead us. He has no reason to have faith in us, we have all the reason in the world to have faith in Him. He is not guessing we might sin, He knows when we sin, He sees what we do in private, He sees our future, and forgets our past. Adultery deserves death because idolatry leads to death.
Verses 23-24 describe another sort of adultery.
If there is a betrothed virgin, and a man meets her in the city and lies with her, 24 then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry for help though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbor's wife. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
She was not yet married, but promised to someone else, she willingly gave up what she should have given to her husband to another. This man eagerly took it from her. Even though she was betrothed and not actually married, she is still considered the wife of her promised husband. We are promised to Christ, we are His betrothed. God is called our Husband though the wedding feast has not yet taken place. To give ourselves over to idolatry is to commit adultery. Idolatry can take the form of many kinds of sin. We can worship money, fame, acceptance, pleasure, food, and ourselves.
We are not always willing participants in sin. Sometimes evil acts are done to us. Sometimes false prophets, false teachers, and other liars come into the church and try and pervert it. We cannot let that happen. We have to protect the truth and guard our hearts. Verses 25-29 describe two kinds of rape.
“But if in the open country a man meets a young woman who is betrothed, and the man seizes her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die. 26 But you shall do nothing to the young woman; she has committed no offense punishable by death. For this case is like that of a man attacking and murdering his neighbor,27 because he met her in the open country, and though the betrothed young woman cried for help there was no one to rescue her.
28 “If a man meets a virgin who is not betrothed, and seizes her and lies with her, and they are found, 29 then the man who lay with her shall give to the father of the young woman fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he has violated her. He may not divorce her all his days.”
The rape of the betrothed woman represents the Christian who is sinned against in this most vile of ways. God says rape is the same as murder and the punishment should be the same. She cried for help but no one rescued her. Had someone heard her it would have been his duty to help her and rescue her from the scenario. We have a responsibility to our brothers and sisters. God will always rescue us, but there are times when evil is committed against us anyway. He does not sanction the sin, but He uses it for our good. He will avenge us, the rapist, murderer, liar, and thief will pay.
The second rape represents the woman who is not a Christian. She is taken against her will, but both she and the man have the opportunity for redemption. They are redeemed and their union is forever, there is no way the man may ever divorce her.
The last verse talks about a horrific sin, a sin that even the world recognizes as despicable. Verse 30 reads,
A man shall not take his father's wife, so that he does not uncover his father's nakedness.
Incest, there are not many people on this earth, even those who practice it that would approve a man and his mother or any other form of incest. Even a man and his stepmother is beyond the limits of any kind of morality. It is more than dishonor to put yourself in your Father’s place, to exalt yourself to god. It is the worst kind of adultery and idolatry.
Our genitals, our nakedness are body parts that perform the lowest functions and the highest functions. They remove waste and they are the vehicles of creating life. We give them honor by covering them. To uncover our father’s nakedness, to commit incest is something that destroys bloodlines. The life that might be created out of this situation is a life that forever bears the mark of disgrace.
God cherishes your righteousness. Do you? He cherishes your purity. Do you? Believer I urge you to guard your heart the way God does and to guard the hearts of your brothers and sisters the way He does. We are the Bride of Christ! That is an honor and joy to be taken seriously.
 
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Deuteronomy 13 God does not Coexist with False Gods nor Tolerate Idolatry

3/6/2016

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And He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.  And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:37-40
And He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:37-40
​Deuteronomy 13
What do you imagine is the worst, the most vile act a person can commit against the Lord? What sin does He hate more than any other sin? Is it murder? Or perhaps witchcraft? What about pride? No, although those sins are on His “list,” He detests idolatry. Idolatry is at the core of nearly any sin you could think of. To take someone’s life is to make yourself god. Practicing witchcraft or any other religion is idolatry. Pride makes you refuse to submit to the Lord or to anyone else and you usurp The Lordship of Christ to make yourself regent. Idolatry is what the Lord hates more than any other thing. What is the great commandment? When Jesus was asked, He answered,
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.  And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40).
What are the first five of the Ten Commandments?
“‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
“‘You shall have no other gods before me.
 “‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image…
 “‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain…
“‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,” (Deuteronomy 5:6-15).
All these commandments are about loving the Lord with your whole being and against idolatry. The second five are about loving other people with the same consideration you want for yourself. I believe there is only one thing, the Lord hates more than idolatry, and that is leading others to commit that sin of sins. Verses 1-5 read,
“If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. 5 But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.”
False prophets can be sly. They make their words sound good, similar to God’s Word but not quite. If someone doesn’t know The Lord well enough to recognize His voice they can be carried off by false prophecies and visions that came from the prince of the power of the air and not from The Lord. True prophecy from the Lord leads to the Lord, not away from Him. Moses warned the people to cling to The Lord and His commandments to obey God’s voice. He said that the false prophet had to be put to death.
In today’s world, we can’t put false prophets to death. But we can expel them from our midst and as the body of Christ we can stand together against their idolatrous deceptive words. We are not to even engage with false prophets, false teachers, or people proclaiming anything other than the True Gospel of Jesus Christ. 2 John 1:9-11 reads,
“Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, 11 for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.”
Whatever we do, we do not let them affect us or influence others. Even people we love dearly can be swayed to follow strange practices, religions, and other idolatry. Verses 6-11 say,
“If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or the wife you embrace or your friend who is as your own soul entices you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which neither you nor your fathers have known, 7 some of the gods of the peoples who are around you, whether near you or far off from you, from the one end of the earth to the other, 8 you shall not yield to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him, nor shall you conceal him. 9 But you shall kill him. Your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. 10 You shall stone him to death with stones, because he sought to draw you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 11 And all Israel shall hear and fear and never again do any such wickedness as this among you.”
Not only does Moses say the enticer is to be put to death, but that you ought to be who brings his crime to light and that you should throw the first stone! If you keep his sin quiet, if you try and empathize with him, you will let him think you agree and you will give him the chance to persuade you and others to idolatry. Who do you love more, yourself, your friend, or The Lord your God? Of course we don’t stone people today and we can’t kill someone for trying to get us to check out Mormonism or Buddhism, but we can make the church aware, cut off contact with them, and refuse to let them beguile anyone else into false religions.
People try and say that love means tolerance. They try and say Jesus would be gentle against false religions and people keeping anyone away from truth. That is a lie. True love does not let people walk to their deaths without a warning. True Love does not say, “Peace, to each his own.” Jesus, the epitome of genuine love, called the Pharisees vipers and hypocrites (Matthew 12:34, Matthew 15:7). He turned over the tables of the merchants who turned the Temple into a den of thieves (Matthew 21:12-13).  In Matthew 10:34-39 Jesus said,
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
The people telling you Jesus would put a ‘COEXIST’ sticker on His bumper, do not know Him, they know themselves as lord and give the True Lord their own idealized character. They say, “My god would never call a church leader a lying snake!” Well, guess what, the One True God did and does!”
Idolatry starts with one person whispering to another and before long it spreads to the church and then the city. Do you imagine that the city of Sodom just happened to be evil? No, it became evil because no one would stand up for The Lord, for good, or for the Truth. Verses 12-18 read,
“If you hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you to dwell there, 13 that certain worthless fellows have gone out among you and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, 14 then you shall inquire and make search and ask diligently. And behold, if it be true and certain that such an abomination has been done among you, 15 you shall surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword, devoting it to destruction, all who are in it and its cattle, with the edge of the sword. 16 You shall gather all its spoil into the midst of its open square and burn the city and all its spoil with fire, as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. It shall be a heap forever. It shall not be built again.17 None of the devoted things shall stick to your hand, that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of his anger and show you mercy and have compassion on you and multiply you, as he swore to your fathers, 18 if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, keeping all his commandments that I am commanding you today, and doing what is right in the sight of the Lord your God.”
We do not just assume rumors are true, we do our due diligence and find out if it’s true. If it is, then we take action. Once again, today we can’t take our church and sack a city for God, but we can bring them the Gospel of Peace and then if they refuse to hear it, have nothing to do with them. We do not even let the dust from thier streets sully our shoes. Jesus explained it this way in Matthew 10:11-15,
“And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. 12 As you enter the house, greet it. 13 And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. 15 Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.”
Idolatry is a devious evil. Tolerating it is dangerous. Though you may be discerning enough to recognize false prophets, lying friends, or idolatrous cities and religions others might not be. That trip to the psychic, especially the one with the ichthus (fish symbol) is treacherous and can easily lead to death. Do not go along for the ride and do not let anyone else go along without a warning. Is it really love to let people blindly walk away from the Lord toward their own destruction?
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2 Kings 17 Hoshea and Israel Rejected the LORD so He Made a Covenant with Other Nations

2/10/2016

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Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.  Deuteronomy 31:6
Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. Deuteronomy 31:6
2 Kings 17
Verses 1-5 read,
“In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah began to reign in Samaria over Israel, and he reigned nine years. 2 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him.3 Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria. And Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute. 4 But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year. Therefore the king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison. 5 Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and came to Samaria, and for three years he besieged it.”
Hoshea’s evil against The Lord was not the same as his predecessors. Their evil had been to lead Israel to sin in Jeroboam’s twisted copy of worship. But Hoshea’s wickedness went further. He went against God and His people in a new way. When the king of Assyria came against him, instead of fighting for the Lord, the freedom of his people, or the protection of Israel, Hoshea made Shalmaneser his lord and paid him tribute, much like Ahaz had done for Shalmaneser’s father Tiglath-Pileser. But Hoshea didn’t keep his end of the contract. He sent to Egypt for help and did not pay his tribute to Assyria. He assumed that So would take care of him and fight Assyria. But that isn’t what happened. Assyria invaded Israel, threw Hoshea in prison and besieged Samaria for three years.
Israel had worshipped the Lord wrongly. They had idols, made with their own hands and worshipped them. But Hoshea gave his life and soul to a man, Shalmaneser instead of The Lord. He called a man lord and gave him offerings as if he were a god. He couldn’t even do that with any honesty. He treacherously lied to his lord and hoped So would come to his rescue. He looked to man after man instead of The Lord God Almighty.
How often do we do that? We look to the government to save us, to a lawyer to fight for us, to a pastor to lead us, or a colleague to battle for us. We give our honor and our allegiance to an earthly nation, king, celebrity, or religious leader. And how often is that allegiance false? How often is that loyalty only so that we can save ourselves? Are we ready to give our shaky fidelity to the next guy, who is more charming, stronger, or better? People’s loyalty to others seems to move with every wave of the storm.
But The Lord never waivers. He is steadfast. He is faithful to us regardless of our lack of faithfulness to Him. He fights for us. Why is our faith to Him so mobile? Why is our faith so tottering? He is The LORD! He is Able. He is Almighty. He is The Creator. The more we exercise our faith in Him, the more He will strengthen our faith until it is as unfaltering and persistent as Christ’s. 2 Thessalonians 3:2-5 puts it this way,
“and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. 3 But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. 4 And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. 5 May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.”
Hoshea’s sin led to Israel’s fall. Verse 6 reads,
“In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria, and he carried the Israelites away to Assyria and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.”
Shalmaneser didn’t leave any Israelites. Every last one of them was taken into captivity in foreign places, scattered far and wide. Their promised land was no longer their home. They rejected The Covenant God had made with them. God’s purpose was not hidden. His reasons were not unknown. Israel had ignored the Covenant. Verses 7-23 in The Message explain it.
“The exile came about because of sin: The children of Israel sinned against God, their God, who had delivered them from Egypt and the brutal oppression of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They took up with other gods, fell in with the ways of life of the pagan nations God had chased off, and went along with whatever their kings did. They did all kinds of things on the sly, things offensive to their God, then openly and shamelessly built local sex-and-religion shrines at every available site. They set up their sex-and-religion symbols at practically every crossroads. Everywhere you looked there was smoke from their pagan offerings to the deities—the identical offerings that had gotten the pagan nations off into exile. They had accumulated a long list of evil actions and God was fed up, fed up with their persistent worship of gods carved out of deadwood or shaped out of clay, even though God had plainly said, “Don’t do this—ever!”
13 God had taken a stand against Israel and Judah, speaking clearly through countless holy prophets and seers time and time again, “Turn away from your evil way of life. Do what I tell you and have been telling you in The Revelation I gave your ancestors and of which I’ve kept reminding you ever since through my servants the prophets.”
14-15 But they wouldn’t listen. If anything, they were even more bullheaded than their stubborn ancestors, if that’s possible. They were contemptuous of his instructions, the solemn and holy covenant he had made with their ancestors, and of his repeated reminders and warnings. They lived a “nothing” life and became “nothings”—just like the pagan peoples all around them. They were well-warned: God said, “Don’t!” but they did it anyway.
16-17 They threw out everything God, their God, had told them, and replaced him with two statue-gods shaped like bull-calves and then a phallic pole for the whore goddess Asherah. They worshiped cosmic forces—sky gods and goddesses—and frequented the sex-and-religion shrines of Baal. They even sank so low as to offer their own sons and daughters as sacrificial burnt offerings! They indulged in all the black arts of magic and sorcery. In short, they prostituted themselves to every kind of evil available to them. And God had had enough.
18-20 God was so thoroughly angry that he got rid of them, got them out of the country for good until only one tribe was left—Judah. (Judah, actually, wasn’t much better, for Judah also failed to keep God’s commands, falling into the same way of life that Israel had adopted.) God rejected everyone connected with Israel, made life hard for them, and permitted anyone with a mind to exploit them to do so. And then this final No as he threw them out of his sight.
21-23 Back at the time that God ripped Israel out of their place in the family of David, they had made Jeroboam son of Nebat king. Jeroboam debauched Israel—turned them away from serving God and led them into a life of total sin. The children of Israel went along with all the sins that Jeroboam did, never murmured so much as a word of protest. In the end, God spoke a final No to Israel and turned his back on them. He had given them fair warning, and plenty of time, through the preaching of all his servants the prophets. Then he exiled Israel from her land to Assyria. And that’s where they are now.”
Verse 9 says, “And the people of Israel did secretly against the Lord their God things that were not right.” Who were they kidding that they thought The Lord didn’t know? Who are we kidding when we commit our secret sins and think because no one knows that somehow God doesn’t know? God sees what is done in secret, in the dark, and in the light. What we do in secret should honor God, what we do in public should show us as humble as Jesus (Matthew 6). Hebrews 4:10-14 puts it this way,
“for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.
11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”
They scorned The Lord’s Covenant and so The Lord foreshadowed what would happen with the Gospel when they refused Christ and He did something extraordinary. Verses 24-33 read,
“And the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the people of Israel. And they took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities. 25 And at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear theLord. Therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them. 26 So the king of Assyria was told, “The nations that you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land.” 27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Send there one of the priests whom you carried away from there, and let him go and dwell there and teach them the law of the god of the land.” 28 So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel and taught them how they should fear the Lord.
29 But every nation still made gods of its own and put themin the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived. 30 The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, 31 and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvitesburned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. 32 They also feared the Lord and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places. 33 So they feared the Lordbut also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.”
The Lord spoke to the people in Samaria and the rest of what used to belong to Israel in a way they understood. He proclaimed himself to them and gave them a priest to teach them how to worship Him. Did they do any better than Israel? They included God among their gods. But The Lord remained faithful anyway. He did not only taught them how to fear Him, he made a covenant with them. They were not Israel, yet He chose them and offered them His covenant of salvation. Verses 34-41 read,
“To this day they do according to the former manner. They do not fear the Lord, and they do not follow the statutes or the rules or the law or the commandment that the Lordcommanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel.35 The Lord made a covenant with them and commanded them, “You shall not fear other gods or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them, 36 but you shall fear the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm. You shall bow yourselves to him, and to him you shall sacrifice. 37 And the statutes and the rules and the law and the commandment that he wrote for you, you shall always be careful to do. You shall not fear other gods, 38 and you shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you. You shall not fear other gods, 39 but you shall fear the Lord your God, and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.” 40 However, they would not listen, but they did according to their former manner.
41 So these nations feared the Lord and also served their carved images. Their children did likewise, and their children's children—as their fathers did, so they do to this day.”
Israel abandoned The Lord and so The Lord gave Himself to other nations. They were not holy (separate and called out from other nations) but they were given God’s word. They didn’t listen, they took The Lord and put him with their gods and idols. They worshipped Him alongside the plethora of gods they already had. God did it so that Israel and Judah would become jealous and realize they were not special. It was not them who chose God but God who chose them.
Believer, God chose you. He didn’t have to. He didn’t have to offer Himself to you but He did. You do not need to turn to anyone or anything else to save you or fight for you. “The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” (Exodus 14:14). When you are in trouble, turn to The Lord not men. When you are in need to The Lord. When you are happy turn to The Lord. Whether you are celebrating or suffering the LORD is your Faithful God. He is always with you. He will never forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:6). Draw close to Him and He will draw close to you. Do what is right and stop dividing your loyalty between God and whichever man looks like he might rescue you this week. James 4:8 reads,
“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
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Is Ministry an Idol?

12/2/2015

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I have noticed in Christianese culture, including myself a tendency to take care of everyone else and forgo caring for one’s self. I’ve seen people run themselves ragged doing things for others, serving others, and giving to others. They often forfeit their family time, their spousal time, their “me” time, and worst of all their God time to “minister” to people. They have replaced a relationship with God with the ritual and work of serving. The Bible does not support saying yes to every request. It does not support sacrificing taking care of yourself or your family to care for others.
Jesus understood the importance spending time with God outside of service to others and of taking time to Himself for rest. (Luke 5:15-16). He understood the importance of taking time with his very closest friends. (Luke 9:28). And He understood the importance of taking time with his circle of friends. (Matthew 26:36-38). Hosea 6:6, twice quoted by Jesus in The Bible[i] reads,
“For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
    the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”

God wants a relationship with us above everything else. Does He want us to actively love people? Yes! But not in lieu of a relationship with Him. All that ministry is ritualistically sucking time from God and sapping our spirits.
Let’s look first at Jesus commitment to time alone with The Father. Before He began His ministry He spent 40 days alone with God, fasting and praying. He was then tempted by Satan to end His fast, to skip His purpose and be the king of the world instead of the King of kings. But after the temptations, before He left the wilderness He spent time recuperating and letting angels minister to Him, He rested. (Matthew 4:1-11). Matthew 4:11 reads,
“Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.”
Jesus spent a lot of time truly doing good for others. He healed the sick, exorcised demons, taught God’s word and will, and spoke with people everywhere, but He never neglected to spend time with God and in doing so, He took care of His own spirit as well. Luke 5:15-16 says it this way,
“But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. 16 But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.”
Do we really think we are so much better than God that we do not need to spend time with Him, that we do not have to take time for Him and ourselves sometimes? Not all of Jesus’ time alone was spent in prayer. He took rest where and when He could. When He and His friends were on a boat, He left the boating to the professionals and slept. He knew if they needed Him, they could wake him. (Mark 4:35-41). That wasn’t very Christianese of Him? Shouldn’t He have spent that time being an example, looking good, and doing some sort of busy work? We can sleep, we can rest, God gave us the gift of rest. He tells us to rest. And we can trust that just because we sleep, doesn’t mean He isn’t being God. We can sleep in the midst of trouble, in fact we need to have enough faith to rest. Psalm 3:4-6 reads,
“I cried aloud to the Lord,
    and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah

5 I lay down and slept;
    I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.
6 I will not be afraid of many thousands of people
    who have set themselves against me all around.”

Are we tired? Are we dragging ourselves through the day, with not enough sleep and rest? God doesn’t want that for us. He gives us sleep. He gives us rest. He refreshes us. Jeremiah 31:24-26 reads,
“And Judah and all its cities shall dwell there together, and the farmers and those who wander with their flocks. 25 For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.”
26 At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.”
It is not our skipping sleep to mow our neighbor’s lawn which satisfies our weary soul, it is The Lord God! It is not our missing prayer time to make dinner for someone which replenishes our souls, it is God. If our neighbor is a widow, then it is probably a good service to mow her lawn for her or make her dinner for her, but not in place of time with God. Not all service is for God and His glory. And it doesn’t glorify God for us to be so tired we can’t even pray. Busyness doesn’t glorify God.
When Jesus visited the home of siblings Lazarus, Martha, and Mary who would become three of His dearest friends, it was an instant party. Martha was busy cleaning, cooking and serving. But Mary sat down at Jesus’ feet and spent time Him. She chose not to serve the crowd in her home, she served herself by spending time with God. And He commended Mary’s choice, not Martha’s. (Luke 10:38-42). In Luke 10:41-42 Jesus said,
“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
Martha’s busyness looked better and it met unnecessary short-term goals, which could have been met by the people she was serving. If someone wanted to eat or drink, they could get themselves a drink or ask. Mary’s choice would benefit her for eternity. How often do we meet needs for people that they could have met themselves or asked God to meet? How often do we take away a chance for a person to see the greatness of God, because we practice Christianese culture and will not say no? Sometimes we are supposed to help, but what are we forgoing to do the services we are doing? Are we losing a chance to rely on God, are we stripping someone else of that privilege? Are we sacrificing time with our spouse or child? Are we giving up time with the Lord? Are we depriving ourselves of rest, peace, or health?
Serving others, should never come before God and it should never replace God. I’ve seen service and ministry become idols. Ministry should not take time from your spouse or children. Paul explained how a husband and wife belong to one another. They do not have sole authority over their bodies or time, they share that with each other. Even sex comes before ministry and abstaining must be mutually agreed upon and brief. He was single and so He could devote more of His time and energy to ministry, but the married have to put each other before others. 1 Corinthians 7:1-7 reads,
“Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” 2 But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. 3 The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4 For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. 5 Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
6 Now as a concession, not a command, I say this. 7 I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another.”
We cannot love others well if we do not love ourselves well. This is not about self-esteem, “love yourself, you’re super.” It is about concern for one’s welfare and health.  Leviticus lists many of the rules The LORD gave Israel for beneficence. Leviticus 19:9-10 reads,
“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. 10 And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.”
Does it say “give your entire harvest to the poor?” Does it read, “Ignore your field and harvest your neighbors for him?” No! It says, “when you reap,” when you collect the benefits of your work leave a little and let the poor and the sojourner come in an gather the extra God gave you for themselves. We love ourselves and we gather for God first and ourselves second. We give to others after that. Leviticus 9:15-18 continues to explain what it means to do good for others.
“You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. 16 You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.
17 “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. 18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”
Loving our neighbor as we love ourselves means being concerned with justice for them just like for ourselves, with not wanting them hurt just as we do not want ourselves hurt, and with letting God be God for them just as He is God to us.
There is nothing noble or Christian about working ourselves to the bone and neglecting ourselves to be busy with ministry. That may be Christianese but it is not biblical. Jesus, God With Us, took time to be alone, pray, and rest. We are not better than He is. If He rested, then we need to as well. If He purposely made time to be with God alone, then we have to as well.
Believer, I have to repent from replacing God with serving. I hope that if you recognize this in you too, that you will also repent and spend time with God and let Him refresh your spirit and soul, revitalize your body.


[i] Matthew 9:13 and Matthew 12:7
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Malachi 2 Are You Following Jesus Christ or Guru Jesus?

11/18/2015

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Malachi 2
Believer, how is it that you think of The Lord? What do you consider Him? It is good to reflect on how you envision God and what and who He is to you. Some people consider Him a sort of Santa Claus/Papa in the sky, doling out gifts to the good children. Some people see Him like a vending machine, ‘I want this so I do this, pray, and receive what I want.’ Others see God as an angry mythical being, far removed and sending lightning bolts down to smite those who offend Him. He is none of those things.
But when we do not know the true God, we are likely to warp His image and therefore our relationship with Him. Malachi addressed the second chapter of his book to priests. That is you and me Brothers and Sisters. (1 Peter 2:5). Verses 1-2 read,
“And now, O priests, this command is for you. 2 If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart.”
God is deserving of our deep respect. He is The LORD! He created the universe with only spoken words. (Genesis 1). He created man with his hands and the dirt of the earth, and breathed His own life into him. (Genesis 2:7). He is Almighty God! Yet I see so many people who claim to be Christians muddy who He is, call Him someone He is not, and treat Him like a god of their own making instead of God. Just last night, I prayed for a man, who called himself a Christian but referred to Jesus, not as the Christ, but as the greatest guru of all gurus.
This mixed up false religion does not affect only the person practicing it, it affects our children as they learn who God is from us. It affects the people on the outside looking in as they expect us to lead them to Jesus. How can we lead them to Jesus Christ if we are pursuing Guru Jesus? Verses 3-9 read,
 “Behold, I will rebuke your offspring, and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it. 4 So shall you know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may stand, says the Lord of hosts. 5 My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name.6 True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity.7 For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. 8 But you have turned aside from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts, 9 and so I make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you do not keep my ways but show partiality in your instruction.”
The malarkey so many are teaching as a path to god is so offensive to God that He calls it, their offerings, and their worship poo. And says he’ll take that manure, the refuse and leftovers they give Him and spread it on their faces! All that dung is ritual. It is all following the rules of a god we made up and has nothing to do with God. He wants a relationship. He wants us to know the real Him. One of my favorite verses is Hosea 6:6. It reads,
“For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
    the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”

Jesus quoted this scripture in Matthew 9:13 and Matthew 12:7. It is knowing the real God which allows us to follow Him, recognize His voice, guard His Word, and instruct others in the truth. It is that relationship which allows us to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.
When we worship God, we can’t simply worship the parts of Him we think are good, like the man I prayed for. He worships God as a teacher, a beneficent being, and “love.” But he misunderstands who and what Love really is. He ignores the parts of God that don’t fit his new age religion. He ignores our Righteous Judge, The Lord God of Hosts, and Savior. He isn’t worshipping God. And God is not interested in this man’s worship.
The messed up worship of God is profane to God. He calls it dung, the feces of a bull. I didn’t write that, He did. We want to say it is our effort or intention that counts. But real effort means seeking the truth, pursuing God as He is, not god as we make him. That is an abomination to God. It is idol worship. And it is done in His name! We may as well get a pig, slaughter it, and drink its blood, if we are going to worship our god instead of The One True Living God. Verses 10-12 read,
“Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? 11 Judah has been faithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god. 12 May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob any descendant of the man who does this, who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts!”
Are you worshipping The LORD or are you worshipping a god you envision. Perhaps your god would never send someone to Hell or let people suffer. Maybe your god makes you perfectly healthy at all times, sends sickness to punish, and wants you to be rich. Or maybe your god wants you to be sick, and he doesn’t love you as much as he loves Billy Graham. Perhaps your god gives you everything you ask for and doesn’t care about your sin. Or maybe he considers you a sinner and you have to do great things in order to be considered good enough for him. Is that really what the Bible says about God? Is that who God is? No! He is not those things.
What do you do about it, if you realize the god you’re pursuing is an idol? Do you cry and hope God becomes the idol you worship? Do you plead with God to change? Do you decide it’s all futile and give up? Many do. Rather than give up their idol and get to know who God is, they prefer to stay where they are and give up on God.
When you first learned who Jesus is, it was simple. You understood it with child-like faith. But it got mucked up by someone and instead of seeking the answers, you sought the lies. You turned from God and made Him into someone else. You became faithless. You cheated on Jesus Christ with Guru Jesus or Prophet Jesus, or Good Man Jesus. Verses 13-16 read,
“And this second thing you do. You cover the Lord's altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. 14 But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. 15 Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. 16 “For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”
Have you cheated on God with a god you created? If you have, repent and turn to The One True Living God, get to know Him by all of His names, by all of His works, and by all of His greatness. If you have not turned from Him, guard the Truth with your entire heart. Be diligent about following God and don’t let the lies in. Proverbs 4:4-5 reads,
“he taught me and said to me,
“Let your heart hold fast my words;
    keep my commandments, and live.
5 Get wisdom; get insight;
    do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.”

All paths do not lead to God. If it was a sin 10,000 years ago, it is a sin now. If it was a sin 100 years ago it is a sin now. The lies are so easy to fall into. “It isn’t wrong to kill an unborn child if you don’t want or can’t afford to be a parent.” “You can cut up and restructure your body if you don’t like who you are.” Real love lets people live and do whatever they please.” Verse 17 reads,
“You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”
Keep your focus on Christ and don’t flit from this to that. Keep your focus on Christ, be in constant communication with God through prayer and God will give you peace that cannot be understood by the lost who watch you. He will guard your heart and your mind. You’ll know God, since you are always in fellowship with Him. Philippians 4:4-9 says it this way,
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you”
​
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1 Kings 14:21-31 There is no Substitute for The LORD

10/1/2015

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God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. John 4:24 On photo of door by Donna Campbell
God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. John 4:24
​1 Kings 14:21-31
Worldly substitutions will never be equal to The Lord. Books about the Bible cannot replace the Bible. Listening to worship cannot replace worshipping. Idols cannot replace God. Men cannot replace the Holy Spirit. And pastors, popes, and apostles cannot replace Jesus Christ.
The last couple of days we’ve been reading about Jeroboam, the man to whom The Lord gave 10 tribes of Israel and who disregarded the Lord to create a false religion in order to keep Israel from returning to Jerusalem and joining Judah. But in the meantime Rehoboam was still king over Judah. Verse 21 reads,
“Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite.”
Rehoboam was the son of Solomon and Naamah the Ammonite. Interestingly enough he was not the son of Solomon’s favorite wife the daughter of Pharaoh, for whom Solomon built her own palace. But Naamah may have been Solomon’s first wife. She was the only queen mother to be a foreigner and this may have played a part in Rehoboam’s choices. Rehoboam was forty-one when he began ruling after Solomon’s death. Solomon had reigned as king for forty years, placing Rehoboam’s birth in the last year of King David’s reign. (1 Kings 11:42). That means that Rehoboam had every advantage. He was raised while Solomon was still following the Lord, while his father was using his vast wisdom to prosper Israel and he understood the importance of The Temple. But his mother must have had more influence on him than Solomon. We already read how foolish Rehoboam was, even at forty one when he should have had a measure of wisdom, he made a stupid choice that resulted in losing Israel to Jeroboam. (1 Kings 12). He replaced the joy of the Lord with the pleasures of the world.
Verses 22-24 read,
“And Judah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins that they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. 23 For they also built for themselves high places and pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, 24 and there were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations that the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.”
Israel had a past filled with times of evil, rebellion, and idol worship, yet Rehoboam led Judah to be worse than at any time in her sordid past. They followed the false religions of the nations who had been driven out of Canaan. They went further than Israel had ever dared to go, including sexual worship of cult idols. So the Lord had to move against Rehoboam and He did it using Egypt. Verses 25-26 read,
“In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. 26 He took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's house. He took away everything. He also took away all the shields of gold that Solomon had made,”
Shishak took away the treasures and riches that Solomon had collected. He stole Judah’s prosperity, the Temple’s opulence, and the protection of the king. Rehoboam made his own protection. He had shields made of bronze and gave them to the guards in place of the gold shields that had carried before. We can’t replace the perfection and holiness of God with brazen objects and efforts of our own making. Bronze will never be as good, pure, or valued as gold. But without the Lord, Rehoboam had no wealth. He could not prosper like Solomon because he was okay with substitutions, like bronze shields instead of gold ones and gods instead of God. Rehoboam gave those bronze shields to the guards and they were used to parade him back and forth to The Temple whenever he went there. He kept up appearances, he made a show of going to The Temple, but he didn’t worship the Lord in truth. He just made it look good. The pageantry of going to the Temple meant nothing to God. God doesn’t want ceremony and ritual, He wants us to know Him and love Him. (Hosea 6:6). He wants genuine worship with an understanding of who it is we worship. He wants us to worship Him in truth and in spirit, meaning we adore The One True Living God, not an icon we have imagined. We worship Him in the way He has prescribed. John 4:22-26 reads,
“You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
True worship of God requires a union with Him. That peace and reconciliation can only happen through Jesus Christ. That authentic knowledge of Him can only happen through The Holy Spirit. Jesus is the way and the truth, and the life. He is the only way to The Father. (John 14:6). The Holy Spirit completes our worship and perfects us. (Acts 19:1-7, Ephesians 1:13-14).
If you have not made Jesus your Lord (Master) and Savior (The Christ who died and resurrected and forgave your sins), then you are not worshipping the One True God in spirit because Jesus is God and it is through Him you receive the Spirit. If you have not been indwelled with the Holy Spirit, you are not worshipping in truth because you cannot know God without His Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:9-16 says it this way,
“But, as it is written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
    nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”--

10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.”
To worship the Lord in spirit and in truth, requires the mind of Christ, The Holy Spirit who helps us to understand the Word, discern the truth, and receive instruction from God. Do you worship The LORD? Or do you worship a substitution? Have you replaced the parts of God you don’t understand with bronze surrogates? Have you accepted less than the fullness of blessings of Christ? 
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Zephaniah 1 God Warns us for a Reason. 

9/6/2015

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But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:33-34 on photo of  Pelican Flying in Blue Sky by Donna Campbell
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:33-34 on photo of Pelican Flying in Blue Sky by Donna Campbell
Zephaniah Chapter 1

Do you ever wonder why God warned people about imminent events? He sent prophets to His people time and again, sometimes they listened and sometimes they didn’t. Sometimes as in the case of Jonah and Nineveh, the people listened and heeded the message. (Jonah 3:6-10). But more often they did not pay attention to The Word of God. But the Lord is Just and He always makes a way for salvation.

Zephaniah was a prophet to Judah and Jerusalem during the days of King Josiah. He had a royal lineage, his great great grandfather was King Hezekiah. (Verse 1). In this chapter God warned Judah and Jerusalem about the upcoming Chaldean invasion. King Josiah was a good King who sought the Lord and who made sweeping changes to rid the nation of Idolatry. (2 Kings 22-23). Perhaps he listened to Zephaniah. We know he listened to other prophets. (2 Kings 22:14).

Verses 2-6 read,

“I will utterly sweep away everything
    from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
3 “I will sweep away man and beast;
    I will sweep away the birds of the heavens
    and the fish of the sea,
and the rubble with the wicked.
    I will cut off mankind
    from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
4 “I will stretch out my hand against Judah
    and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal
    and the name of the idolatrous priests along with the priests,
5 those who bow down on the roofs
    to the host of the heavens,
those who bow down and swear to the Lord
    and yet swear by Milcom,
6 those who have turned back from following the Lord,
    who do not seek the Lord or inquire of him.”


Josiah’s father was Amon, he was a very wicked king like his father Manasseh who brought lots of idol worship and evil to Judah and Jerusalem. (2 Kings 21:19-26). The Lord is a Jealous God. (Exodus 34:14). He wants nothing else between us and Him. He wants our entre heart, not the small part remnant that isn’t taken up with the flesh. Deuteronomy 6:5 reads,

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

When Jesus quoted this scripture, He took it one step further. Luke 10:27 says,

“And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

Jesus added that we are to love the Lord with our minds as well as our heart, soul, and strength. Our minds can get so busy, so cluttered with to-do lists, entertainment, and work. Those things, even seemingly good things can take God’s place in our minds, hearts, service, and spirit. Ask yourself, are you so busy doing God’s work that you are putting that ministry above The Lord? Are we heeding the Truth of the Word of God? Are we listening, trusting, and obeying Him? Is our disregard for The Lord’s message causing us to be disciplined?

The Day of the Lord is near. He is coming. His judgement is perfect. He has warned us. Are we heeding the warning? Verses 7-9 read,

“Be silent before the Lord God!
    For the day of the Lord is near;
the Lord has prepared a sacrifice
    and consecrated his guests.
8 And on the day of the Lord's sacrifice--
“I will punish the officials and the king's sons
    and all who array themselves in foreign attire.
9 On that day I will punish
    everyone who leaps over the threshold,
and those who fill their master's house
    with violence and fraud.”


Many who claim to be Christians, do not actually worship The Lord God Almighty. They worship a god they created, who has an outlook similar to their own. He is not named Jealous, or Lord of Hosts, or Justice. He is love, but not Agape. He is requires no repentance. And he lets them do anything they please or he requires strict adherence to rules. But whoever it is they worship, it is not The One True and Living God. They jumped the threshold and think they have entered the church but they have only entered the building. They’ve tried to steal salvation when Jesus already paid for it and is giving it away. They will be sadly shocked when The Day of Lord arrives. They will cry out “Lord, Lord! Wasn’t I a good Christian? Look at all the work I did for you!” but God knows they do not submit to Him. He knows they are idolaters. He’ll reply, “Go away, your work was for evil, I never had a friendship with you.” (Matthew 7:22-23).

Verses 14-16 read,

“The great day of the Lord is near,
    near and hastening fast;
the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter;
    the mighty man cries aloud there.
15 A day of wrath is that day,
    a day of distress and anguish,
a day of ruin and devastation,
    a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness,
16     a day of trumpet blast and battle cry
against the fortified cities
    and against the lofty battlements.”


To the lost, The Day will come suddenly and swiftly. To the saved who have paid attention to the warnings and signs, it will come exactly on time. We do not know the day or hour but we now the season. We know the signs. We have time to prepare. We have time to warn people and give them a chance to repent and call on Jesus as Lord and Savior. Matthew 24:36-44 reads,

“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

Nothing and no one can save except Jesus Christ, The Lord of lords and King of kings. All the money in the world won’t do anyone any good on The Day of the Lord. It won’t matter if you’ve memorized the entre Bible if you do not take it to heart. It won’t matter how strong you are or who the president is. You can look everywhere for salvation, but you will only find Him in Jesus. Verses 17-18 read,

“I will bring distress on mankind,
    so that they shall walk like the blind,
    because they have sinned against the Lord;
their blood shall be poured out like dust,
    and their flesh like dung.
18 Neither their silver nor their gold
    shall be able to deliver them
    on the day of the wrath of the Lord.
In the fire of his jealousy,
    all the earth shall be consumed;
for a full and sudden end
    he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.”


Don’t waste your life worrying about your money, your goodness, your strength, or your pleasure. Spend your time investing in eternity. Be concerned with The Kingdom of Heaven, God’s wealth, Jesus’ righteousness, The Lord’s power, and His joy. In Matthew 6:19-21 Jesus said it this way,

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

A few verses further He told us we didn’t have to worry about all the earthly stuff. Matthew 6:32-34 reads,

“For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

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Psalm 50 Do You Know God or Do You Know a god?

7/10/2015

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Psalm 50

I think that many proclaimed Christians want to forget part of God’s Character, perhaps thinking of Him as a grandfatherly Santa Claus in the sky doling out gifts or the wrathful destroyer of evil. But when we ignore parts of who God is, we do not worship The LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we worship an idol, a god of our own making.  But God is holy, and God is the creator of the entire universe. It is His, and He is judge over every soul in it. Verses 1-2 read,

“The Mighty One, God the Lord,
    speaks and summons the earth
    from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
    God shines forth.”


Asaph, the psalmist, priest, and temple singer begins this Psalm by identifying The Lord by His names The Mighty One and God the Lord. He establishes the power, strength, and sovereignty of The Lord with these names. The Lord speaks His will and His will is manifested. That is how great He is. He spoke and the world was created. His Word became law. His Word became flesh and lived among us, showed us who God is, lived for us, died for us, and resurrected for us. (John 1:1-18). The Lord summons, calls all the earth, not just one race of people, but everyone. He never stops calling people to Him. To those who don’t know Him, He says, “Come and know Me.” to those who call Him Father and Lord, He says, “Come and know Me.” He doesn’t only call with words, He speaks through His work, His perfect beauty is evident through creation, through Jesus life, death, and resurrection, through the Holy Spirit, through the storm, the sun, troubles, and peace. Verses 3-6 say,

“Our God comes; he does not keep silence;
    before him is a devouring fire,
    around him a mighty tempest.
4 He calls to the heavens above
    and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 “Gather to me my faithful ones,
    who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”
6 The heavens declare his righteousness,
    for God himself is judge! Selah”


Righteous Holy God judges the whole earth but first He judges those who have made a covenant with Him, those who claim to follow Him, love Him, and be His. Those who represent Him to the rest of the world have a higher calling and responsibility to holiness. Verses 7-15 read,

“Hear, O my people, and I will speak;
    O Israel, I will testify against you.
    I am God, your God.
8 Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;
    your burnt offerings are continually before me.
9 I will not accept a bull from your house
    or goats from your folds.
10 For every beast of the forest is mine,
    the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know all the birds of the hills,
    and all that moves in the field is mine.


12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
    for the world and its fullness are mine.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
    or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
    and perform your vows to the Most High,
15 and call upon me in the day of trouble;
    I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”


God is always aware of the rituals of our religion. He ordained some of them and He is not displeased with our sincere offerings, sacrifices, and prayers. But He doesn’t need them. When Israel sacrificed bulls and goats, they were not giving them to God although they viewed it that way. When we give money in the offering, we are not giving our money to God. It is His money we offer back to Him in faith and thanksgiving. God has no needs. We have needs. He doesn’t need us. We need Him. We aren’t doing God any favors when we obey Him or otherwise worship Him. He is The Mighty One, God our Lord.

What displeases our Lord is disingenuous religion and insincere sacrifice. The pious person who recites verse after verse without a relationship with Him, the sanctimonious person who heals the sick without love, and the moralizing person who demands people follow all the laws but leaves out love may as well be a cacophony. They leave the Lord out. Their religiosity is futile. Their god is themselves. They lead people to Hell. They forget that God is their judge. Verses 16-21 read,

“But to the wicked God says:
    “What right have you to recite my statutes
    or take my covenant on your lips?
17 For you hate discipline,
    and you cast my words behind you.
18 If you see a thief, you are pleased with him,
    and you keep company with adulterers.


19 “You give your mouth free rein for evil,
    and your tongue frames deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother;
    you slander your own mother's son.
21 These things you have done, and I have been silent;
    you thought that I was one like yourself.
But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.”


So many people claim to be Christians but do not call Jesus Christ Lord. They spout God’s laws but the law is not written on their hearts. They are religious but ignore the wholeness of God. They do not rejoice in suffering, knowing God uses it to mature. They hate discipline and refuse to think God might allow trials and tribulations. They are the ones who speak hate against others. They talk themselves into believing God is pleased by their insincere piety and arrogance. God judges us. We will all be judged. Those who have not formed a friendship with Him through Christ and been sealed by the Holy Spirit, no matter how religious they are, no matter the miracles they perform or the scriptures they preach will go to the eternal pit of Hell. Verses 22-23 read,

“Mark this, then, you who forget God,
    lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!
23 The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;
    to one who orders his way rightly
    I will show the salvation of God!”


Do you know The LORD or do you know a god of your imagination and wishes? Do you depend on God or does your god depend on you? Who is exalted by your life? Who is glorified by your testimony? We need to examine our hearts and lives and be sure we know God for who He is. He is not only Love or only Avenger or Justice, He is God our Almighty Loving Father, Savior, Peace, and Creator. He desires for us to know Him and love Him. He wants a relationship with us not a religion with us. In Mark Chapter 12 Jesus had a conversation with a scribe Verses 28-34 recorded it.

“And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. 33 And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.”

God wants you, not your religiosity. God doesn’t need you, He desires you. He loves you and wants you to know the joy of knowing Him. 

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Leviticus 26 Obedience And Disobedience Have Consequences

5/20/2015

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Leviticus Chapter 26

This chapter tells about two opposing lifestyles for Israel and for the child of God, obedience and disobedience. First the Lord gives two statutes that exemplify a relationship with Him. Verses 1-2 read,

“You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the Lord your God. 2 You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.”

We know looking at Israel’s history that they couldn’t and wouldn’t stop worshipping false gods. They made idols every chance they got. Even at Mt. Sinai they made a golden calf. Even then when The Lord was so obviously present with them and doing miracles for their redemption. We also know that Israel turned the Sabbath from a celebration of rest and peace with God into a ritualistic job. They put a huge amount of effort into keeping His rest. That was never the intention of the Sabbath.

Both of those laws were about keeping the Lord first in their hearts, communing with the Almighty in love and fellowship. But they missed the boat. How many of us missed it?

Next The Lord told them how obedience would lead to blessings. He is referring to Israel and today to Believers. He doesn’t expect the gentile or the lost to obey Him, because they don’t know Him or His proclamations. Verses 3-5 read,

“If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, 4 then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. 5 Your threshing shall last to the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last to the time for sowing. And you shall eat your bread to the full and dwell in your land securely.”

He gives His obedient children everything we need and more. He makes sure we have plenty. He gives His compliant children peace and security. We let Him deal with those who would hurt us and with the enemy. That isn’t our concern. Our enemy will be afraid of us because The Lord of Angel Armies fights for us. Verses 6-8 say it this way,

“I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid. And I will remove harmful beasts from the land, and the sword shall not go through your land. 7 You shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. 8 Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand, and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.”

His security goes beyond fighting the enemy for us. It is in the fruit of our wombs, the fruit of the land, and the fruit of The Spirit. Obedience is possible because of faith and faith is fortified by obedience. Obedience, faith, and peace form an unending circle as each strengthens each.  The Lord gave us freedom, not so we could be enslaved by the law, but so we could freely worship and adore Him and so we could unreservedly fellowship with Him. Verses 9-13 read,

“I will turn to you and make you fruitful and multiply you and will confirm my covenant with you. 10 You shall eat old store long kept, and you shall clear out the old to make way for the new. 11 I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. 12 And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. 13 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.”

Believer, is your relationship with the Lord like that? He wants you to know Him intimately. If your faith is too small to let you obey Him, is your fear is too great to let you give yourself wholly to Him, He will do what He must to bring you into that complete and lovely dependence on Him. His discipline is for your benefit. Verses 14-17 describe it like this,

“But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, 15 if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, 16 then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. 17 I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down before your enemies. Those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when none pursues you.”

With each disciplinary action He allows, He gives the opportunity for us to turn to Him and repent. And each time we refuse to give up our pride and submit to Him the correction becomes more severe. If we choose not to trust in His provision and instead toil away for ourselves, He allows it. But without Him our laboring comes up empty. If we choose to fight our enemy ourselves, He permits it, but without Him our fight is futile and our hearts are filled with fear.

If we keep walking against Him, He will allow others to come in and fight us, harm us, and dominate us. How many times was Israel sent into captivity when they disobeyed? He will do what He must to restore us into a relationship with Him. Verses 21-22 read,

“Then if you walk contrary to me and will not listen to me, I will continue striking you, sevenfold for your sins. 22 And I will let loose the wild beasts against you, which shall bereave you of your children and destroy your livestock and make you few in number, so that your roads shall be deserted.”

If we choose to walk without Him, He will let us go the road alone sweating and striving to meet our needs and fighting our own battles. Not because He doesn’t love us, but because He does and He will not force Himself on us. He takes His hands off our lives in those desperate times so we will turn back to Him. But He never spurns us, He never forsakes us. Verses 27-28 say,

“But if in spite of this you will not listen to me, but walk contrary to me, 28 then I will walk contrary to you in fury, and I myself will discipline you sevenfold for your sins.”

God doesn’t send discipline to us for no reason. He loves us deeply. He wants a friendship with us. He wants a union with us that is so profound that we have His nature and His heart and that we bear His image. All we ever have to do is turn to Him with repentant submissive hearts and He restores us to His intimacy. He prefers to be our tender loving Father instead of our wrathful God. Verses 40-42 read,

“But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me, 41 so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, 42 then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.”

Verses 45-46 read,

“But I will for their sake remember the covenant with their forefathers, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the Lord.”

46 These are the statutes and rules and laws that the Lord made between himself and the people of Israel through Moses on Mount Sinai.”

Are you being disciplined? Is the Lord calling back to obedience? Examine your heart. Is it beginning to harden against your adoring Father? Is your neck too stiff to turn to your loving Lord? Let His discipline break your pride. Find your faith and use it to bow to The Lord God Almighty.

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