Taking a Closer Look

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It is always a good idea to take in information, but an even better idea to apply what you have learned to your life.  But often that will require that you slow down and take a good, close look at your life.  Below are a few questions that will help you both process and apply what you have learned about taking full vengeance on your sins and idols that are a part of your life.  This is your time to introspect.  Take a moment to look within.

1. When we don't take full vengeance on our gods and sin, we actually create an environment in which they will be allowed to grow up in us.  Are you nourishing your weeds, or are you pulling them up and destroying them?
2. What influence do your gods and sin have on your spiritual growth?
3. God wanted the Israelites to eradicate all foreign gods from their lives by taking FULL vengeance on them.  What does God want you to do with your identified gods and sin?
4. There were severe consequences for Israel when the disobeyed God and kept the foreign gods alive by sparing (giving life to) the woman who were so idolatrous.  Are you willing to find out what God's consequences will be for you if you choose to let your gods and sins live, instead of destroying them?  Do you think that you are' bullet-proof'?
5. Why does God discipline us when we disobey?  How do your gods and sin affect your holiness?

It is time to pull up the weeds in your life that are choking out Holy Spirit within you and holiness and purity He longs to bring into your life .  Weeds that are left alone will eventually take over an entire beautiful garden of flowers!

THE RESURRECTED LIFE -- Day 9

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Day 9:  Lazarus (John 11: 1-46)

Lazarus was dead.  Now nothing could be done.  “Why had the Master not come?” Mary and Martha questioned in the depths of their grief.  They knew for sure that He could have healed their dear brother.  Why, oh why, had He not come?

Four days after the burial of Lazarus, his sisters heard that Jesus was just a short distance away.  Martha ran to meet Him immediately, and later Mary did as well.  Feeling great compassion for their overwhelming sorrow, Jesus Himself began to weep with them.

Wanting to see where they had buried Lazarus, Jesus asked to be taken there.  Seeing that a stone covered the opening, Jesus asked the men there to remove it.  Such a strange request! Surely there would be a great odor by now.  Yet the men complied, and with a great shout, Jesus yelled, “Lazarus!  Come forth!”  For a moment nothing happened, but then what looked like a mummy stood at the opening.  Lazarus, wrapped in burial linens from head to toe, was standing before the crowd—ALIVE!

Why had these precious friends of Jesus been put through such an agonizing set of circumstances?  If Jesus knew that He would raise Lazarus from the dead, why didn’t He just heal him to begin with?

Often Jesus allows us to experience painful events in order to bring glory to Himself through us.  Sometimes He allows our faith to be tested, and at the same time, brings others to a new level of faith because they are watching God work in us.  God was glorified when He brought Lazarus back to life.  He and his sisters also would return all the glory back to God because they were believers in Him.  Glory came to God when Martha and Mary’s faith was tested and strengthened by this trial, for they had never seen someone be raised from the dead; healed, yes, but not raised to life.  Now they knew Jesus as the Resurrection and the Life!  Their faith was tested, but some of the witnesses of Lazarus’ resurrection believed in Jesus, and came to faith, for the first time. 

Have you considered your trials a way for God to be glorified?  Are you growing in the tests?  Can others clearly see Jesus through your faith?

Setting Boundaries--Exodus 19: 10-12

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Humankind hates boundaries.  To them they, represent a lack of freedom.  Every boundary screams, "No!"   My children today do not like that word; neither did My chosen, Israel, in the days when I was leading them through the desert to their Promised Land.

On the day that I chose to meet with Moses on Mt. Sinai, in the wilderness, just 3 months after they had made their historic exit from Egypt, I set up boundaries for all the people except Moses.  I asked him to set up a boundary all around the perimeter of the mountain.  If anyone entered the restricted area, or even touched the border of the mountain, there would surely be consequences:  they would die!  

Now, don't misunderstand My heart; the boundaries were not set up to keep them away from Me.  On the contrary, I wanted them to draw near to Me, but spiritually close, not physically close.  You see, I desired for them to love Me by surrendering to My words and obeying what I said.  I desperately wanted My people to experience a special kind of freedom that can only be found in obeying Me.

It is so easy for you to think about My people, associating their desire to draw physically near to Me with their love and reverence for Me.  However, I was asking them to squash their own desires and feelings (what they wanted to do), and obey My voice instead (19:5).  To obey My words, they would have to make a conscious effort to submit themselves to My desires.  That kind of surrender shows Me their love, not running past My boundaries so that they could feel good.  

The same is true for you, My precious one.  When you ignore My sign saying that something is a "Restricted Area," running ahead with your own plans to meet your own desires, you are making an "Unauthorized Entry."  When you do that, you are walking in disobedience, and there are always consequences, whether you notice them or not.  

My boundaries are to protect you, but they are also to test you.  The boundaries I have set before you are not necessarily boundaries that I set for everyone.  I know what areas of your life need My protection and what areas that I need to test you in, so that your faith may be increased.  To enter where I have said "No!" is no freedom at all; it is disobedience that will lead you to bondage.  

Heed My sign, precious one, for what lies beyond it is a danger for you.  Walk the other direction, and you will be obeying My voice and keeping My covenant with you.  In this alone is your freedom. 

 

Are You Too Comfortable--Ex. 3:17

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Suffering . . . affliction . . . hardship.  This is exactly what My people were experiencing.  For 400 years they had been forced into labor for which they were receiving no pay.  Life was more than difficult; it was nearly impossible for them to live by faith in Me.  And remember, the Holy Spirit had not yet come, because I had not yet come.  And they had no Word of God by which they could be strengthened.  They only had the promises I gave to their forefathers, and the stories that had been passed down from generation to generation about Me.  And yet they cried out to Me in their suffering, and I heard their cries.  For these four centuries, I had not spoken to them, and they had learned to live where they had long since been planted.

Though you might think that they would be happy to hear from Me, in reality, My children, though suffering and calling out to Me to deliver them, had grown quite accustomed to their home in Egypt.  When Moses would bring the news that I was going to now move them to the land I promised them, they would surely FIRST think of what they perceived that they were leaving behind, as well as what such a journey to a new land would cost them. 

Can you really be so comfortable in your affliction, that you would choose to stay in it?  The answer, unfortunately, is yes, My precious one.  You see, that is exactly where you are today.  You are in this world, with all of its temptations and trials and suffering, while I am calling you to My world of living surrendered and obedient to Me.  You complain about how "hard" it is here, and yet you refuse to come away to the land I have promised you, the land of walking in the Spirit. 

You are far too comfortable in this place.  Your flesh balks at surrender, and so you continue to live in your Egypt. I have already said to your enemy (the world, the flesh and Satan), "Let My people go!"  when I died on the cross, rose again, and ascended into heaven to sit down at the right hand of My Father.  You have been set free and My Spirit lives inside of you, waiting to lead you.  But you are still choosing in several areas of your life to stay in your comfortable chair, with you feet kicked up, with the TV remote in one hand and your cell phone in the other.  And since you do not have a third hand, you comfortably set your laptop in your lap.

You cannot stay and go at the same time.  You must choose which land you want to live in, this place or My place.  If you follow Me out of your place, you will have struggles, but I will be leading, guiding, and protecting you. 

Will you get out of your comfortable chair . . . for Me?  You will never know what the land of promise holds for you if you don't.

Taking Steps--Gen. 40

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Learning to trust Me in all things is My progressive work in you.  I am taking you to a place of balance, true balance, that can only be found in Me.  As with everything that pertains to Me, there are two sides of the same coin.  When it comes to the issue of trust, there are two sides of the positive coin, as well as two sides to the negative coin.

Let Me show you the negative coin first.  They are polar-opposite concepts.  On the one side is the fatalistic view.  It sounds something like this:  "I will just sit here and wait on God.  He's going to do what He is going to do, so it makes no difference if I do anything at all.  This is His deal."  Now for the other extreme, this side of the negative coin looks like this:  "Okay, so this what I am going to do.  It seems right to me, and I don't want to trouble God with this.  I can do this on my own.  Surely this is what God wants me to do, isn't it.  This is what God desires, right?"  Not necessarily.

You doing nothing or you doing everything reveals your lack of trust in Me.  When you operate in either of these scenarios, you are the one in control, not Me.  Neither of these is the pathway that I have ordained for you.  Let Me show you what I do want you to do.  The positive two-sided coin will make it clearer.

The first side of the coin is this:  You must know and trust My will for you.  My will is revealed through My Word and through My conversations with you.  Follow that with surrendering your will to Mine.  That shows Me that you trust Me.  When you fully trust Me, you are ready to turn the coin over. 

The other side of the positive coin is what I expect of you.  We have a relationship.  You entered that relationship through no work of your own.  I came to be your Savior, coming to earth for the sole purpose of dying as the perfect sacrifice for the sin of all mankind.  You only had to receive that to become Mine.  But now, in this relationship we both will be working to accomplish My will.  This side of the coin is the work you will do.  It is critical in this process for you to act upon your complete reliance on Me.  This is NOT the time to sit back and do nothing.

I have shared with you My particular plan for you in this season of your life.  You have trusted in Me and My will for you, but now it is time for your continued work toward accomplishing what I have called you to do.  Follow Joseph's example.  It was completely within My sovereign will for him to be imprisoned falsely.  But it was also in My will for him to be released, so that he could do even greater things for My kingdom and people.  He didn't just sit in jail waiting for Me to "break him out."  He took every opportunity presented to him to do the things that aligned with his understanding of My will, that he was to be free. 

After having interpreted the cup-bearer's dream in a favorable way, Joseph asked only one thing from him.  "Only keep me in mind when it goes well with you, and please do me a kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house."

Joseph took steps that were completely in line with My will for him.  You see, one might know and trust My will for them to be a runner, but they will only truly  be a runner when they lace on their  shoes, head out the door, and begin to put one foot in front of the other.

It takes both My will and your obedience to do what aligns with it for you to actually live within it.  Live in the peaceful balance of trusting Me and My will for you and acting obediently upon those things that align with the fulfillment of My will.  Choose the positive coin, both sides of it, by taking the necessary steps.  I am with you always, My precious one.

Are You "Baking" every day?

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Do you bake every day?  I know I don't, even though I much prefer baking to cooking!  Today's blog has everything to do with baking, but not the kind that you and I are thinking about right now.  

While reading in Ezekiel 46 I came across a "family recipe,"  one that is as old as eternity past.  It is not your ordinary kind of recipe, but one that will produce the sweetest aroma you can imagine, and it reaches to the highest heavens!

As God is concluding His instructions for His chosen people through the prophet Ezekiel regarding the Millennial Temple and the ministry to be carried out in it, He speaks to Ezekiel about the daily sacrifices that will take place in the future.  Ezekiel 46: 13-15 describes the sacrifices as daily . . . morning by morning . . . a continual burnt offering.  On the surface it sounds like the offerings God spoke to Moses about when the very first temple (the Wilderness Tabernacle) was being initiated.  How strange to think about that offering as one that will also be taking place in the Millennial Reign of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, after tribulation!

As I pondered this sacrifice, my thoughts turned to the here and now.  Was there a way for me to offer this kind of sacrifice to God . . . now?  I went back and read the verses again and the Spirit began to open my eyes to this passage's relevance to me today.  This is what He showed me.

The first and most important sacrifice is the sacrifice of the spotless Lamb, without which I have no reason to offer a sacrifice to God.  Jesus is the focal point of my worship, worship which should be happening every single morning, on a daily basis.  With my eyes firmly fixed on the altar of His sacrifice, the old rugged cross, I can see Christ the Lamb as who He truly is, and I also can see myself in light of the that, humbled in my sin and need of Him daily. 

Now I will be able to bring God my proper and true worship, the grain and the oil.   When you "moisten the fine flour" of the Word of God, which is the truth God has given us,  with the "oil" of the Holy Spirit, you only have a sticky, gooey dough.  But when you bake it in an oven (Ezek. 46: 20), you create bread,  baked daily, as you bring the right ingredients together!

Our daily life is the oven in which the bread bakes.  Even as the priests took the flour and the oil, mixed them together, and baked them outside of the temple, so we, the chosen, royal priesthood, are to take the flour (the Word) and the oil (the Holy Spirit) and mix them together. . . daily, morning by morning, for a continual offering!  As we take that "dough" out into our earthly walk, it bakes in the heat of this world and becomes bread.  This bread is the fruit of our walk, which others can then partake of!  This is true worship!

John 4:23-24 says this:

"But an hour is coming, and NOW IS, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in SPIRIT and in TRUTH; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.  God is spirit, and those who worship Him MUST worship in SPIRIT and in TRUTH."

Isn't it time for the body of Christ to begin to take BAKING a little more seriously?  Make a plan for yourself.  Determine that you are going to mix up a batch of dough every morning as an offering to the Lord.  Then take that dough out into your daily life, and watch how it bakes!  It is time to feed the hungry, but we cannot feed them if we are not, in our own lives, mixing up the batter of the Word and the Spirit and sticking the batter into our lives.  We cannot feed Christ to the world if we are not baking bread!

  

The Distant Sound of the Trumpet Call

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Do you hear it?  It is not the blare of a trumpet, but it is a trumpet call nonetheless.  God is calling this Christian generation to a lifestyle of holiness.  For too long we have been "winking" at our sin or simply turning a blind eye to it.  But God neither winks at our sin, nor does He close His eyes to it.  

One of the biggest problems I see in Christianity today is that we are living lives that are sinful and impure, but we are not attacking our sin and impurity.  We seem to be quite content to peacefully co-exist with unholiness, with a great sense of "entitlement."  We know that we are believers and that our eternity will be spent in heaven, so we tend to let sin off of hook instead of daily dealing with it by surrendering to the Spirit and with the repentance that should follow our surrender.  We are very good at telling God we are sorry for the sins we commit, but are we good in the area of turning around from our sin so that we can walk back to God?  Do we really desire to walk on His highway to holiness?

While reading in Ezekiel the past several days, some truths jumped off the page for me to consider.  Ezekiel's message was to Israel because they, as God's elect and chosen ones, had fallen far away from His commandments, and were guilty of assumption that God would do them no harm.  They even had "prophets and priests" claiming that God didn't really see what they were doing!  My heart has taken notice that it would be easy to think, that because I am now in the family of God, my sin really is irrelevant now because I am covered by the covenant.  It is easy to think that now, and it was easy to think that just prior to God exiling His own people to Assyria and Babylon.  

Ezekiel 16: 1-14 outlines God's merciful grace to Israel when they were nothing but a sinful group, just like the rest of the world.  He declared to them, "Live!"  Then He entered into a covenant with them. Ezekiel reminds them that God then bathed them, washed off the blood on them, anointed them with oil, and clothed and adorned them.  Having done all of that, He made them beautiful, famous, and full of splendor.

Now I have to ask.  Isn't that exactly what He did for you and me?  He offered us eternal life through His Son, and when we accepted it, He entered into covenant with us, and us with Him.  He baptized us into His family, washing away our sin-stained hearts and continues to wash us with the water of the Word of God.  He anointed us with oil by sending the Holy Spirit to dwell within us, and we wear robes of righteousness when we walk in the Spirit, obey the righteous commands of God.  God has made the Gentile believers, who were once no part of God's chosen,  to be beautiful and full of splendor now.

Ezekiel 16: 15-29 tells the sorrowful story of Israel's ultimate trust in themselves and their "beauty."  The result of that was their idol worship that took their trusting eyes off of God, focusing instead on the gods of their own making.  They exchanged the "jewels" of  God, His bountiful blessings, for those activities, thoughts, and beliefs that fed their own flesh.  Having forgotten the place out of which God had saved them, Israel now turned to their selfish ways and began to live again like the world around them, trusting more in the world than in their God.  Chasing every other god and idol around them, and doing whatever they wanted to do, they still seemed to think that their one true God didn't mind.  Yet He said to them just prior to taking them into exile, "Were your harlotries so small a matter?"  Israel never seemed to catch on that they never were satisfied living in the ways of the world.

Have we not, in this 21st century, created the exact same scenario for ourselves?  We trust more in our ticket to heaven than in the God who stamped the ticket with His own blood.  We have exchanged the many blessings He bestows on the repentant and obedient for what the world and our flesh can give us.  We, too, have forgotten the wretched state that our Savior pulled us up and out of, desiring more to jump back into that "miry clay," thinking that our lifestyle of "some" sin is okay with God, because He has saved us from sin and death.  And He is saying to you and me today, "Are your sins and the things you put before Me a small matter to Me?"  The answer seems obvious.

In Ezekiel 16: 30-43 God called His people harlots several times, and also referred to their lovers whom they had chosen far above Him.  Are we not His people, too, who have chosen so many lovers (mostly ourselves) over Him?

Finally, in Ezekiel 16: 44 an old proverb is quoted, "Like mother, like daughter."  For Ezekiel's day Israel was the mother, and Judah was the daughter.  But if we Gentile believers were grafted into the branch of Israel, adopted into the original family, then Israel is the mother, and we are the daughter.  God is saying we are just like them, doing exactly what they did.  He didn't like it then; He doesn't like it now.  If you look at verse 47, He also declares that what the daughter is doing is more corrupt than the mother.  That would seem to be true, given that Israel had no fulfilling Sacrifice, no Holy Spirit and no written Word of God.  We have the privilege to partake of all three, yet we are unwilling to surrender ourselves and turn from the wicked idol worship present in us all.

I cannot speak for you, but I know that this message has convicted my heart and causes me to desire to walk according to the calling on my life, to be holy because God is holy, using the "everything" that has been given to me for life and godliness.

These are the ideas that God spoke to me about in His word this morning.  They are a trumpet call to me.  Maybe they will be to you, as well.  The trumpet is calling me to put away my sin for good.  Is it calling you to do the same?

Are You A Busybody?

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When I was 6 years old, my family got its first pet.  Tippy was her name (because of the white tip on her tail), and she looked very much like this sad-eyed beagle.  I wasn't much of a "dog person," having really preferred to have a cute, adorable, fluffy kitten, but my brothers and dad outnumbered my mom and me.

Every third day it was my job to take Tippy her food and water (a child must learn responsibility at a young age!).  But there was just one problem:  every time I entered the pen, Tippy would jump up on me, eager to have her one meal of the day.  I disliked very much that she did this, and in a quite normal reflex, I would lift the food bowl above my head out of fear.  You can imagine what happened then!  You see, I just didn't know the natural tendencies of a dog.  I had to learn them, and Dad was my teacher.  He also taught me one other thing about dogs--never, EVER, pull their ears.  They really don't like that!  I had completely forgotten about this tidbit of information that I was given as a child, until I read today's passages in my read-through-the Bible plan.  Proverbs 26:17 jumped off the page and took me back to my childhood and this one particular thing I learned from Dad.  Read it and smile with me!

"Like one who takes a dog by the ears is he who passes by and meddles with strife not belonging to him."

What an incredible and powerful image that came to mind as I read that this morning!  

I had to really think about what this verse was saying.  The one who meddles in the business of another is like the one who would cruelly yank on a dog's ears.  This kind would be considered lacking in compassion, mean at heart, and inhumane.

So what is really meant by the term "meddles".  If we are to understand the gist of this verse, we must understand first what meddling is.  In translating the Hebrew, it was found to mean this--"to alienate and provoke to anger, to run over the top of," and its primitive root is "to cross over."  In other words, to meddle it jump into someone else's strife, in such a way that you "take charge" of their situation by speaking out your opinions on the matter.  And in so doing, you alienate them, and possibly make them quite angry with you.  

As you can see, this is quite different than being asked your opinion and expertise in a mentoring sort of fashion.  On the contrary, to meddle in someone's strife is to speak out from some place of assumed "authority," and to lord over them, not only your superiority, but all of your thoughts on the matter that you assume are correct.  (Certainly more correct than the one with an issue; otherwise, they wouldn't be experiencing strife in their situation, right?)

I think we can cross the bridge and say that if we are meddling in the affairs of others, we are busybodies who will likely offend and make angry those who are suffering in their strife.  They will likely hear our meddlings in a way that will likely cause them to rise up in anger, maybe even viciously.  There response will be akin to how a dog would respond if you pull its ears.

We would be wise to remember this analogy given to the wisest man on the earth.  Solomon was given great wisdom and understanding to both the good and bad nature of man.  Consider carefully each time you come in contact with someone who is having difficulty in their personal lives.  Is God calling you to speak a word of encouragement or exhortation?  If you choose to run ahead of Him, and blurt out all that you are thinking on the matter, you might be received as an "ear-puller" and end up with an "angry dog" lurching at you, ready to attack you for being a busybody meddler.  And who could blame them?  We might just react the same way if we are treated that way.

This challenges me.  Does it you?

In The Valley of Affliction

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Job was a man who had been truly blessed of God because he walked with God in a way that was considered to be holy.  God Himself called Job blameless, upright, God-fearing, and repentant of evil found in his life.  And then the greatest storm of his life came crashing upon him.  In a very short amount of time all of Job's servants were killed, his animals were slaughtered, his children died together in a cyclone that collapsed the house in which they were celebrating a birthday,,and if that wasn't enough, Job himself was covered with boils from the top of his head to the soles of his feet.  He had clearly been standing under the "anvil tree," and it had dumped all of its "fruit" on this holy man of God.

What followed was an attack on his emotions and spirit.  His wife told him to "curse God and die" (what a woman), and three of his friends told him over and over that his afflictions had come upon him because he had been a prideful, sinful man!  In an instant Job's life on the mountaintop of blessedness took a very sudden turn.  Now he found himself in the valley of affliction, with no end in sight.  The holy man, in his suffering, lost sight of the God he loved and served.  He argued, "tit for tat." with his friends, asserting that he was a blameless man, not being punished for some undisclosed sin.  But that became his sin.  Job never defended God to his three friends.  Instead, he only defended himself.   In doing that, Job began to speak too many words and some of them spewed forth lies about God, lies he was certainly hearing whispered into his ears from Satan's warriors.

After many days of suffering, another man by the name of Elihu spoke up.  From him came words that defended God, words that were setting Job up for his confrontation with God.  Elihu gave great counsel to Job, counsel that is good for us to hear as well.  He challenged Job to:

1. Stop allowing his affliction to cause him to scoff (speak unintelligibly--like a description of how a foreigner would talk)
2. Turn from seeking to die (or in our case, to run away from our affliction)
3. Cease turning to evil (de)vices to bring comfort in his pain
4. Praise and worship God's characteristics and creation
5. Listen for God's voice, for it would be his shelter from the storm
6. Meditate on the GOD of all the wonders on earth
7. Exalt God!
8. Fear God, giving Him his full reverence and respect

In the trials, afflictions, and suffering that will surely come in our lives, this is truth we must face..  God uses our afflictions and trials for good, not to harm us.  While it may not seem good to us, and we might even call it harmful, we would be wise to come to grips with the fact that God's definitions of "good" and "harm" are very different than ours.  After all, His thoughts, His ways, His plans and purposes are exceedingly higher than ours.  And He is God, and we are not!

 If you are going through a very dark valley of affliction, do not believe the lies of the enemy who would discourage you.  He desires for you to come to hate God for what you are experiencing.  Remember, God will is for you to be made into His Son's likeness.  He wants to perfect you.  He wants to bring you to the end of yourself.  In the end, He wants to humble you so that you can be exalted with Him in Heaven.   Is this a difficult medicine to swallow?  Absolutely!  But once you do, it will surely bring spiritual healing to your heart!

The Burning Fire of Lust

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Cravings . . . we all have them, don't we?  I was not one of those pregnant women that had the strange food cravings common in pregnancy.  But I certainly know what it feels like to crave something.  You know what I am talking about!  The inner urgency to have what you want, and right now!  Here is the simplified pattern of a craving.  You look at something or just think about it, then you desire it so strongly that you just have to have it.  It can take several days, weeks, months, or even longer, for the process to be completed, or it may take a mere matter of seconds.  Either way, one way or another, you will satisfy the craving, not matter what.  If you can relate to that because you have experienced it (and we all have!), then you know what it is to lust after something.

LUST . . . it is a topic most Christians want to avoid talking about, yet every one of us struggles with it. We usually attach a sexual connotation to the subject, yet most of our lust issues have nothing to do with sex.  They have to do with trying to remove God's rightful place on the throne of our lives with things that we consider far more self-satisfying and flesh-feeding.  Since we dethrone God in order to place a higher priority on our lusts and to enthrone them, we can also call our lusts both 'gods' and 'idols.'  Lusting after anything but God and the things of God, and chasing after them until we get what we want, is ultimately about placing ourselves on the throne of our own lives.

Your lust may not seem like an earth-shattering sin.  It might not even be sinful.  But in the beginning, lust spreads through our hearts like a wildfire.  It starts with just a little spark of fire, but has the potential to destroy thousands of acres of fertile ground, charring and blackening everything in its path.  And its path is not a simple line; it is far-reaching and in every direction.  

Lust is a fire in the soul that seeks to burn up every good thing found there.  One lust that begins as the spark of one simple action, if continually practiced over and over will, given enough time and attention, begin to destroy in your heart the good workings of God.  Your walk with Him, that once seemed so intimate and precious, soon will take on the stench of smoke.  If you take a closer look , you will likely see where the fire has already been.  You once green vine is now charred  and your fruit has burned up.

The fire of lust can be kept outside of the Christian heart, but it only takes one tiny opening for a spark to enter and set ablaze the house of the Holy Spirit.  Our hearts are to be set on fire, but by the Holy Spirit, who calls us to walk in holiness and righteousness, crucifying our fleshly desires, and establishing Christ as our only ruler on the throne.

What does your heart look like?  Are you faithfully keeping the world's flames at bay?  Do you smell smoke?  Where there is smoke, there is fire!  Surrender your lusts.  Lay them down at the foot of the cross.  Now, let the fire of the Holy Spirit ignite your heart!

 

The Chambers of Your Heart

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What is gathering in your heart?

Israel completed the job of rebuilding Jerusalem's wall.  The enemy could now be kept at bay because of their obedience to both God and His leader, Nehemiah.  Now the city was being turned from a broken down ghost town into the powerful city God intended it to be.  By a lottery men were chosen to live in Jerusalem.  Others would establish their home there because they were the leaders.  Still others simply chose to move their families there to be a part of this new and exciting plan of God.  But it didn't take very long for sin to return to the priesthood, and its slippery slope, that had landed their city in ruin became a disaster waiting to happen.  Little by little the disobedience of one priest of God began to clutter the temple of God with junk that was displeasing to Him.

While the newly rebuilt city was in its infancy, one of the priests (named Eliashib), who was over the chambers of the new temple,  thought it would be good idea to set aside a very large room for one of his relatives--Tobiah.  This Tobiah had been one of the men who constantly discouraged the men of Israel as they rebuilt the wall around Jerusalem.  The room Eliashib reserved for this vile man had formerly been used as a storage area for the temple.  It stored the grain offerings, the frankincense and utensils used for worship at the altar of incense, the tithes of grain, wine, oil, and the contributions that were reserved for the priests use.

Nehemiah had returned to service to the King of Persia when this sin took place, but when he returned to Jerusalem to check up on the city, he found this room that the priest had set aside for Tobiah.  Not only was Nehemiah incensed over the sin, he was appalled to learn that it was a priest who had broken such a strong and severe commandment of God.  You see, Tobiah was an Ammonite, and God had strongly forbid Israel to EVER allow an Ammorite or a Moabite to enter into the house of God!  And Eliashib, being a priest, would certainly have known he was breaking God's law! 

So displeased was Nehemiah that he entered the room set aside for Tobiah, and he threw out everything in it.  Next, he gave an order for the room to be cleansed of its unholiness.  Only then did Nehemiah call for the utensils and the offerings for worship to be replaced in the room.  Nehemiah also expelled Tobiah, and he was never again allowed into the temple of God.  

Once again we must bring this story into our 21st century lives, but the correlation is clear.  Our hearts are the temple of God.  So often we enter into a relationship with God, and we quickly rebuild the protective walls around our hearts to prevent the enemy from breaking in.  But once we do, little by little, we allow sin to reside within the walls, within its chambers.  The "little bit of sin" gathers more sin with it until we have a chamber that looks like the dirty, messy bedroom of a teenager!  Our true worship of God (the daily reading and study of our daily bread--the grain, our thankfulness for the precious wine of Christ's blood sacrifice, and our walking in the oil of the Spirit) is tossed aside to make room for the sin we desire so much more.

God is calling us all to spiritually clean out the chambers of our heart, and to put them in holy order!   Today, ask yourself what sins are cluttering your heart.  What is preventing you from the worship that God desires from you?  What is He displeased with in your life?  What have you allowed to creep into your life, bit by sinful bit? 

Don't just peek in the room and take an assessment.  God is calling you boldly walk into that room, bag up the trash, put things in their proper place, and then scrub it down until it is clean and pleasing to Him.  Will you be a Nehemiah today and cleanse the chambers of your heart?  Or will you be guilty of the same sin as the Priest Eliashib? Remember, as a believer you are of the royal priesthood of Christ.  Will you be content to allow the stench of dirty, rotten sin dwell in the same place the Holy Spirit calls His home?  

Watchmen on the Wall

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Israel had completed the task of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem under the keen direction and leadership of Nehemiah.  They had overcome several discouraging moments by simply continuing on in the work God had brought to them.  Finally, after just 52 days, their wall was finished, with all the door and gates hung in their places.  It would have been tempting for Israel to let down her guard, now that the wall stood resolute between them and their enemies who still wanted to destroy them.  But Nehemiah's wisdom took them down the path of further protection when he laid out to the people how they should live within their walls.  

Nehemiah taught the people in simple practicality.  The gates were not to be opened to go in and out of until the sun was hot.  In other words, until the sun was very high in the sky.  Dawn would prove to be too risky.  The gates were to be closed while the guard were still on duty.  That simply meant that they would be closed long before the sun went down.  These two rules would, in large part, keep Israel's enemies out, and Israel safe inside except in the brightest daylight, when it would be unlikely that their enemies would attack them.  

Then Nehemiah offered on more sound piece of advice.  At all times there would be guards around the entire wall who were responsible for watching for the attacks that might come.  Though Israel had secured a sound victory in the completion of the wall, the wall could not protect itself!

In our lives, the same is often true.  Have you ever experience a great spiritual victory, say, over a particular sin?  You not only built at stone wall to keep it out of your life, but when temptation came you "stonewalled" it again.  Days passed and the temptation did not return, so you, in the pride of conquering your enemy, settle into that "safe" life.  Then one day, seemingly out of nowhere, the enemy returns and tempts you quickly to sin.  Caught "off-guard" you instantly fall prey to it again.  The problem was not that you hadn't been victorious in building a wall to keep it out of your life; the problem is that you did not train your eye to keep watch for its return.

Israel needed men to watch for an enemy attack on Jerusalem.  In the same way we need to be watchmen on the wall who are scanning the horizon for any sign of our enemy who will come again and again to try to defeat or destroy our lives and testimonies.  Our enemy will never be defeated by our spiritual walls.  Quite the opposite!  He will look for more and more ways to re-enter your life, to take you as his prisoner, to lead you back to bondage.

Building a wall against sin through prayer, Bible study, and even accountability is only one part of the solution to sin.  You must add to those a discerning eye, a humble heart that knows how easy it is to be infiltrated by evil, and a reliance on the Holy Spirit that comes from surrender to His commands.

Are you standing on the wall 24/7?

"So That " Points to Consequences

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I have noticed as I read the Word it is often the smallest words or phrases that have the most profound statements behind them.  Take, for instance, the phrase "so that."  While learning to study my bible inductively, one of the phrases Kay Arthur teaches you to look for is the phrase "so that."  When I first began to interrogate the text, I couldn't quite grasp the importance of those two little word.  But now, every time I come across them a blinking neon light goes off in my head that prompts me to slow down and take a closer look.  Upon doing so, I inevitably discover on either side of the "so that" is two other small, but powerful, words . . . "if" and "then."

King David stood before all of Israel to address them about the temple that his son, Solomon, would build.  He had a very important message to deliver to his people and to the soon-to-be king.  After he reminds them of all that God has said regarding them as a people and the kingly lineage, David speaks the heart of God to all of them.  (I Chronicles 28: 1-10)  In his address to them, tucked between the implied "if" and "then" is a very powerful "so that."  Here is how it reads:

"So now, in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the LORD, and in the hearing of our God, [the "if you will"] observe and seek after all the commandments of the LORD your God SO THAT you may possess the good land and bequeath it to your sons after you [ the "then you will"]."  

Do you see it?  "So that" so often means what blessings God will bestow on us in return for our obedience to Him.  In the case of the Israelites, it sounded like this:  "If you are obedient to all of My commands, then I will give all of the land to you so that you can pass it on to your children."  It can also mean what consequences might come for disobedience.  God could have just as easily stated this same verse from a negative point of view.  That would have sounded something like this:  "Refusal to obey Me will result in disaster SO THAT you may not possess the land and pass it on to your children." "So that" points to the "then," the action God will take, whether favorably or unfavorably.

 You can see it again in the following verse (vs.9) as David speaks to his son.  "If you seek Him, (then) He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, (then) He will reject you forever."  Either response from Solomon will surely have the appropriate consequence!

Just prior to the if/then of verse 9 you can clearly see the way to avoid the unfavorable consequences in your own life.  It is as true for you today as it was for Solomon hundreds of years ago.  It is simple, and yet profound and eludes the grasp of many Christians.  These 4 points are timeless and will never fail you:

1. Know God
2. Serve Him
3. Give Him your entire heart
4. Willing follow

In every choice you make God wants you to know Him so well that you choose as He would have you.  It matters not how you serve Him, but that you serve Him alone.  God does not want your leftovers, but your whole heart.  God wants you to stop leading so that He can!

"Consider now . . . be courageous and ACT!"  (2 Chronicles 28:10)  As the picture says, "If you'd just do as you are told, then it might all work out right!"  Obedience and disobedience are choices.  What will you choose?

What Does Your Giving Look Like?

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God loves a cheerful giver and we are to consider it a greater thing to give than receive.  We have known these biblical principles for giving almost since the day we first believed.  They are taught in Sunday School classes from the youngest to the oldest.  And yet most believers find it hard to give up what they really want to hang onto.  If the truth were told, we often give grudgingly, trying to hold as much back for ourselves as we possibly can.  And we seem to be much happier when we are the recipient of a gift, rather than when we are the giver. 

We often think of the woman who gave her last to coins, and some how we let ourselves off the hook by dropping a couple of bucks into the offering plate on Sunday, truly believing we have done as  well as she did.  We forget that they were her entire bank account!  She had no more money left in her leather money pouch.  She gave everything she had left.  Is that how you give?  I know I don't.

It seems that in this day and age, and especially in a country whose materialism is sin, that we have no idea what it is to give so sacrificially.  More often than not we are guilty of giving whatever amount we think that will "get us by."   We throw in a five dollar bill with the full knowledge of what we have spent the rest of our money on, bills, yes, but also on ourselves in the selfish accumulation of things and services that feed our flesh.  And there are those who began tithing a tenth of their income, who are as comfortable in that as the one who throws his crumbs into the pot of giving.  If it is no longer a sacrifice to give our 10% then should we be considering 12%?  

I am being challenged in my own giving right now.  God has been pointing me to "other offerings" that no one but Him sees.  And if I am honest, it is a struggle sometimes in my flesh to let go of the few extra dollars He is asking me to give.  As I submit (sometimes willingly, sometimes not) I am finding that it truly is more fun, more fulfilling, more joyful to be on the giving end. 

In one story in the Old Testament God has shown me two principles by which we are called to live:  Willingness to give everything and Being unwilling to give something to God that has cost me nothing.  Here is the story found in I Chronicles 21.

David had foolishly took a count of all of Israel's people, looking to see just how big his army now was.  This showed his lack of trust in God, and there would be an undesirable consequence for his sin.  David was asked to choose between three punishments.  He chose pestilence on the land and 70,000 men died.  David called out to God to stop the death that he was fully responsible.  Having accepted his responsibility in the matter, God's angel told him to go to Ornan and build an altar on Ornan's threshing floor.

David obey and went directly to Ornan.  When Ornan saw his king approaching, he laid down with his face to the ground, an act of humility and submission.  Then King David asked Ornan for the site of the threshing floor, and offered to pay him the full "asking price."

Now we see the two principles come forth, one from Ornan, and one from David.  Ornan's response to the King was that he not only take the land for his altar to God, but he also offered David the oxen for the  sacrifice, wood for the necessary fire, and the wheat he had just been threshing for the grain offering.  Ornan was willing to give everything David needed.  He held nothing back from his King.  Are we willing to do the same for our King?

Now let's look at David's response to such an offer.  His simple answer was this:  "No, but I will surely buy it for the full price; for I will not take what is yours for the LORD, or offer a burnt offering which cost me nothing."  David knew that for his sacrifice on the altar (in his case for the sin he had committed) to be pleasing to his God, it would have to cost him something.  

God can see our hearts.  He knows what our thoughts and attitudes toward giving are.  Does He see  a willingness in your heart to give above and beyond what you normally would?  Does He see, too, that you are willing to sacrifice what you want so that what you offer Him truly costs you something?  Or do you just want to stay in the "comfort zone" of your current style of giving?  David brought his own animals and grain to offer to God, and the pestilence on the land stopped.  If he had used what Ornan was willing to give, it is likely that the pestilence would have continued.  David also paid the full price for the land out of his own pocket.  The blessing of God on the sacrifice of David's heart as well as the burnt offering is this:  the threshing floor of Ornan became the exact spot where Solomon's temple was erected!  God sees into our hearts and responds accordingly!

 

Are You Dressed Appropriately?

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The Full Armor of God

If you are a believer, you are engaged in a vicious battle.  I bet you didn't need me to tell you that!  As Christians we know that there is a battle raging in the heavenlies over our souls.  God has us; Satan wants us.  We have been schooled in this topic; we know that we are often attacked in the area of temptation.  But there is just one problem that I can see, in my life as well as in the lives of the believers I know.  We do not often WIN the battle at hand.  What is it that keeps us from winning?  Simple.  We are not wearing the proper attire for battle!  All to often we find ourselves in the midst of an all out attack, and our armor is still hanging neatly in our closet!  Or maybe this sound more like you. . .You always have your helmet of salvation on, but the rest of your armor has gone missing.  You are not even sure where you left your sword!

Today while I was reading in I Chronicles 12, I came across a description of David's military force.  Think again of the picture in your mind of you, as a warrior against the enemies of God, inappropriately lacking pieces of your armor.  Now consider David's army as described in the  Word:

• Mighty men of valor
• Men trained for war
• Men who could handle both shield and spear
• Men whose faces were like that of a lion
• Men who were swift in action

As I considered how often I go out each morning to battle, with my helmet of salvation tightly strapped on to my head and the Word of God, my sword, in my hand ready to fight if necessary.   Yet, I lack the rest of my armor.  Realizing this,  I began to understand just why it is that I am prone to lose my battles with temptation.  You see, I know I am saved; but I set out each morning, knowing the enemy desires to do battle with me, leaving behind the rest of my armor except for the study I have done that morning.  Though having my helmet on and my sword in my hand, it is not sufficient armor to win.  On these days, dressed inappropriately for battle, I cannot win.  

In my case I must go to that closet, take out and put on the pieces I so often leave behind.  There is the breastplate of righteousness, that covers and protects my heart, and the belt of truth that helps me discern the lies that the enemy tells me.  Going barefoot is of no military help when I leave my shoes of the gospel of peace on the floor of my closet.  Those shoes are a reminder that God and I are on peaceful terms now because of the shed blood of His Son on my behalf.  And what good is a soldier without his shield of faith?  One cannot walk in both fear and faith at the same time.  It is one or the other.  Without faith in full bloom, the enemy will terrorize us fear, shooting us with one fiery dart after another.  With no faith in place, no truth in place, no righteousness in place, no peace with God in place, our relationship with God and His word will not prevent us from being hit over and over again by an enemy seeking to destroy us.

We must learn that it is vitally important to our walk with God that we be Mighty Children of Valor -- trained to fight, able to use our shield of faith and sword of the Spirit together, with a face of strength, being willing to act quickly against every temptation of our enemy.  

This was the description of David's mighty men.  Is it a description of you?  If not, you need to go to your closet and drag out that dusty armor, and put it on!  Don't leave home without it!

 

God's Windex

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Many evil kings in both Israel and Judah had led their people in spiritual harlotry.  In the land God had given them they openly practiced idolatry and sin.  In the city in which God said HIS name would dwell, foreign gods were worshiped.  In His holy temple altars to other gods had been set up for the worship of the people, and the land was littered with the altars of false worship on the high places.  King after king followed in the evil path, each one seemingly outdoing the previous evil worship practices.  Then along came King Josiah.

Josiah was a man whose heart was pure.  Having been shown a book of God's Law, he realized how angry God must have been with the unfaithful hearts of so many generations.  His repentant heart caused him to rip his clothes and weep before the Lord for the atrocious sins of the people. Then he set his heart and mind to reform Jerusalem, the priesthood, the temple practices, and the hearts of his people.  God, knowing all that was in Josiah's heart, saw that his heart was tender and humble.

A heart that is pure and crystal clear, rid of the sins that want to hide there in the darkness, is a heart that God can write on.  When God writes on a heart, the heart is transformed from doing evil (practicing disobedience) to doing what is right in His sight (practicing obedience).  

A pure heart can be seen by the unsaved.  It is pure motives, love and compassion, that inspire truly pure actions.  God uses pure-hearted people to help those who are unbelievers "see" Him.  But all too often our words, our attitudes, and our actions (or lack thereof) show the hypocrisy of our lives.

Bit by painful bit, our hearts have to be surrendered to God, so that He has control of our hearts.  And when we have surrendered ourselves to Him, to do as HE pleases, the joy of obeying His commands will follow.  

How clear and shiny is your heart?  Windex, anyone?

Who Do You Serve?

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 Have you noticed that I seem to use a lot of pictures of hearts?  It is not because I like them so much.  It is because my message always seems to involve the heart!  And today is no different.

You also often will read in my blog the comparison between our Christian lives today and the lives of the Israelites of the Old Testament.  That is because we are not very different in that area as well.  Today we will look at yet another glimpse of ourselves.


Israel had gone through many kings.  They had all been evil kings who followed in the ways of wickedness.  None of them walked in the commandments that God had given them to follow.  And they led their people astray--from King Rehoboam to King Hoshea.  When God had had enough of their idolatry, He set in motion His plan for Assyria to capture Israel and take them into captivity.  God's list of reasons for allowing Israel to be taken out of their country into bondage is listed in 2 Kings 17: 7-18.  It is a lengthy list, and when read carefully we can see how Israel clearly hurt the heart of God.


But God would not be content to leave His land empty.  He might remove the people, but He would never allow HIMSELF to be removed from the Promised Land.  After the land had been filled with Assyrian people, God caused the king of Assyria to send in one priest to teach them of the "god" of that land--yes, the One True God!  So one priest was allowed to move back to Bethel to teach the people now living in the land.


But here was the problem, and it is our problem today.  The people, while they had learned to fear God, also made gods of their own!  And there were many different gods represented! (2 Kings 17: 29-31)


Verse 29 says, "But every nation still made gods of its own," and verse 32 says, "They also feared the LORD."  Now what is wrong with this picture?  Their hearts were DIVIDED!

And that is precisely our problem today.  While we have believed in Jesus, been baptized, serve in our churches, bring our tithes, pray, and read our Bibles, we still follow after the other gods of our hearts.  Our hearts are just as DIVIDED!  We look to, bow down before, serve unashamedly, and make sacrifices to those things that have a greater priority in our lives.  

God is asking for your whole heart, undivided and unable to be divided from here after.  He jealously seeks it all!  When He looks into your heart today, what will He see?  Will it be your humble submission to Him in all things, or just those areas that you are willing to surrender to Him?  Will you listen and follow God to an undivided heart or will you continue to close your ears and live as you wish?  Verse 41 says, "So while these nations feared the LORD, they also served their idols; their children likewise and their grandchildren, as their fathers did, so they do to this day."


We fear the LORD, but who do we serve?

Seeking Answers

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King Ahaziah was the son of Ahab, and he ruled in the Northern Kingdom called Israel in the days when Israel was divided.  His father Ahab, and the kings that preceded him, walked in evil ways and did not follow after the LORD.  When Ahab died, and his son Ahaziah ruled in his place.  Shortly after taking the throne Ahaziah fell through the lattice of the upper level of the home in which he was staying.  Being severely wounded and failing in his health, Ahaziah wanted to know the answer to just one question:  "Will I recover from this?"  We too have many such questions in our lives, don't we?

God understands that we have questions.  Our questions are designed to bring us to Him!  When the answers seem far off and confusing, we sometimes lose sight of the facts that God is there, He has the answers, and He desires for us to come and tell Him what our questions are.  It is true that while all the previously mentioned facts are factual, we are certainly not guaranteed that God will tell us what He is thinking and planning and doing when it comes to our lives.  But He certainly does want us to turn to Him and ask our questions of Him, talking to Him about all that is on our hearts and in our minds.

You may be asking right now, "Did Ahaziah ask God whether he would recover from his fall and the illness that followed?"  Second Kings 1 tells us that he did not.  King Ahaziah sought instead to get his answers from a false god named Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron.  Does that name sound familar?  Beelzebub is another name for the devil! Elijah the prophet was led to the men who were going to Baal-zebub to ascertain the answer to the question.  An angel of the Lord directed Elijah to say this to these men:

"Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?" 

These messengers returned (quite quickly, I presume) to their king Ahaziah, and told him what Elijah had said.   Ahaziah did not like the message that Elijah sent back.  So he continued in his plan to find a different answer from Elijah that resulted in the deaths of two of Ahaziah's captains and 100 of his militia.  And eventually his own death.

While reading this story today, I was struck by one single thought.  Am I behaving like Ahaziah, seeking the answers from everywhere from anyone but from God?  How many times have I run to safe places of hiding, to counselors with easy and appealing solutions, to my own thoughts and opinions and guesses as to what the answer might be, and to the false gods such as the internet, friends, and family who might be more prone to "tickle my ears?"  How many times has God looked down from the heavenlies, just waiting for me to turn my face toward His, and witnessed me run away from Him?  

God would have been right, in those moments of idolatry,  to send me a messenger who would say to me the same thing that was said to Ahaziah, "Is it because there is no God who dwells within you, as well as dwelling in Heaven, that you are going to inquire an answer from your own thoughts or your gods?"

God wants His children to trust only in Him.  He is the answer, even if He keeps us guessing for awhile.  Who or what do you run to when you have a question about your life?  Is God your last choice?