The Danger of Blending In

Pin It Originally: How To Add a Pinterest (Pin it) Button to your Blog/Website http://cs-doon.blogspot.com/#ixzz1ryXJUBEC

I Samuel 8--Israel wanted a king.  Since coming into the Promised Land, they had fought many battles to gain possession of their inheritance.  They had won many, but they had lost some too.  The battles that they had lost could be attributed to one thing:  in some way they had not fully followed the commands of God.  When they were obedient, God's favor was upon them and God routed many of the people from the land without Israel fighting a battle.  But when they were disobedient, God's favor was removed and they fought alone.  Ultimately, they lost these battles  because they tried to fight without God.

Now they wanted a king.  Their perspective of what a king would mean to their nation was in direct opposition to what God's perspective and plan was.  Israel wanted 3 things as seen in verses 5b and 20:

1. They wanted to be just like all the nations around them
2. They wanted a man to judge them, not the Holy God
3. They wanted to just live their lives, without having to fight for their land 

God wanted just one thing from His chosen people.  Verse 8 reveals the heart of God.  He desired the trust and loyalty of Israel.  But His heart sounds like it is breaking again when He recalls their past, saying, "According to all the deeds that they have done, even to this day, forsaking Me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you."

By desiring a human king, Israel was forsaking their God who had made them a people when they were not one, who brought them out of bondage in Egypt, who walked with them in the wilderness, who brought them in to their new land, and who had helped them dispossess the wicked people who lived their.  Having done all of that, they now had grown independent of their  God, and wanted a king in who they would completely rely on, a king who might not judge them so harshly, and who would take his armies to battle. But most importantly, they just wanted to be like everyone else.  They no longer wanted to stand out; they wanted to blend in.

Anything that we use to dethrone and replace our Lord will have a negative effect on us, just like it did Israel.  God tells Samuel to warn the people about asking for a king.  Samuel tells Israel all that a king will take from them.  But his critical last sentence to them in verse 18, regarding replacing God with an earthly king, was a stern warning, a warning we would be wise to pay close attention to:

"And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day."

I cannot read these Old Testament stories of God's people without thinking about my own life as a Christian.  How often do I turn to a 'king' in my life, depending on that particular idol so that I can blend in and be more like the world, so that I won't stand out so much? How often do I turn to the 'kings' in my life who will not judge my sin as harshly as a Holy God?  But it is the last category that hits home the hardest for me.  What 'kings' do I allow in my life for the sheer comfort of being an idle Christian?  You know the ones I speak of, don't you?  They are  the 'kings of laziness and sloth' that I sit under so that I don't have to do the hard work of evangelism, ministry, engaging with people, acts of love, crucifixion of my flesh.  

These sinful 'kings' lead me down the path of unrighteousness, and they weaken my faith.  They are replacements for the one true living God, and they are, moment by moment, causing me to blend in instead of stand out.  Today my heart must answer the question:  Will I be a regular paper clip or will I be the only bright colored one in the bunch?  How will you answer that question?

Standing Out Or Blending In?

Pin It Originally: How To Add a Pinterest (Pin it) Button to your Blog/Website http://cs-doon.blogspot.com/#ixzz1ryXJUBEC

(Excerpt from Cheryl Gnagey's Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory, Chapter 9)

"Just like Abraham was asked to sacrifice his own flesh and blood, Isaac his only son, we have an altar of death that we must face as well.  And the sacrifice we must bring to the altar is our flesh.  These two verses describe it well.

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God which is your spiritual service of worship. (Romans 12:1)

God is asking for our crucified flesh when He urges us to be living sacrifices.  You might be asking what your flesh actually is.  What is God really asking for?  Your flesh is made up of the body , the mind , our intent,  and our thoughts.  Our flesh is anything that stands in opposition to what God says.  And this is what God asks of us:  to put to death anything that is unacceptable to Him.  This crucifixion of our flesh unto death, given up as a sacrifice of our living being, is what God defines as worship.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2)

This a a huge problem with Christians today.  We don't look any different, in most cases, than those who are not believers.  The world can barely tell the difference, if at all.  We do not stand out; we blend in.  We are conformed to the world when we watch the same television shows and movies that the world watches.  We are conformed to the world when our CD's, iPods, and radios pump the same kind of music into our minds and hearts that the world listens to.  We dress like the world. talk like the world, and think like the world.  We take firm hold o the reins of our lives every morning when we wake up, and we don't lay them down until we fall into bed at night.  We continue doing what we know is wrong to do.  We want the same things that the godless want--more money, bigger homes, all the newest toys--security in all the wrong things.  We often are independent, self-sufficient, multi-taskers who have no need for a God who wants to take away our control."

In order for God to have His rightful title of Lord of our lives, we must crucify our flesh.  We will make the choice to blend in or stand out.  So which one are you?  Are you a chameleon who changes with every situation, always protecting himself by blending in?  Or are one who, moment by moment, is courageously crucifying your fleshly and worldly drives in order to be the stand out Christian God desires you to be?