They Didn’t Want To Hear

“And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and put themselves in array against Gibeah, as at other times” (Judges 20:28).

In the closing pages of Judges you find reports of wife abuse, blatant homosexuality, gang rape leading to murder, injustice, brother killing brother, and kidnapping.  When David Jeremiah said, “I never thought I’d see the day,” you and I have never encountered a day as the day we live in. It is bad. Violence, vice, immorality, idolatry, and blasphemy are rampant.

This is the daily food people enjoy. TV and film violence is habitual and routinely accepted. It has become the fodder of unredeemed America. What is happening on the screen is being duplicated in the streets. When a nation is entertained by acts of violence, is there much hope for that nation?

Brother went against brother in Israel because evil was not properly dealt with punitive action. The Word of God tells us that “brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child; and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death” (Matthew 10:21).

Sin in the city will infect those in it and around and it will lead to war. The center cannot hold with stability. The home, the ministry, and society are disintegrating before our very eyes, and it seems as if people disdain the truth! But whether people want truth or not, the world must be told that Jesus Christ died for lost sinners, and that the power of Christ can transform homes, hearts, churches, and society if people will only trust Him.

“Christ beats His drum, but He does not press men,” said English preacher and poet John Donne in 1631; “Christ is served with voluntaries.”

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  • Are You “THERE”?

    “And the word of the Lord came unto him {Elijah}, saying, Get thee hence and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the Ravens to feed thee THERE…” (I Kings 17:2-4).
    If Elijah had rambled here and around I do not believe that Elijah would have had God’s provision. “THERE” was the place of God’s will for Elijah. The ravens were sent to the brook Cherith, and no where else.

    God has a “THERE” for you and me. There is somewhere He wants us to be, something He wants us to do. True joy and happiness has to be where He wants you. We can not please God anywhere but “there.”

    We can do many lovely things and become a “success,” but always there will be the haunting sense of having chosen life’s second best. If we miss the approval of God, the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, we shall feel at the close of the day the attitude of giving all of our earthly awards and crowns for the one we missed.

    “THERE” is the place of God’s abundant power and marvelous provision. Are we “THERE”?

  • Whiners or Workers?

    “Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that you may become
    blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved
    generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out
    the word of life” (Philippians 2:14-16).

    J.B. Philipps translates this verse: “Do all you have to do without
    grumbling or arguing.” Don’t be a whiner. Kim and I went to the library
    years ago and found a video entitled “Wendy the Whiner.” We showed it to our
    oldest and every time she felt like whining we would remind her of the cloud
    that came from Wendy’s mouth when she whined.

    It is not fair to ask others to do something that you and I would not do by
    ourself. If it is leading a family, a Sunday School class, a youth group, a
    group of deacons, a small group, or in any situation or group, the one who
    leads will lead out front without grumbling. This is not to show off or to
    pour on guilt, but it is to grow oneself for the glory of God personally and
    socially.

    It has been said that most of the significant things done in the world were
    done by persons who were either too busy or too sick. There are few ideal
    and leisurely settings for the disciplines of growth. Unity and harmony in
    the home and the church home is paramount to the glory of God!

  • A Crazy Kind-Of-Love

    “…Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad” (Acts 26:24)

     

    Francois Fenelon said, “To just read the Bible, attend church, and avoid “big” sins – is this passionate, wholehearted love for God?” Is the church missing what God intended her to be? In many ways, and I’m nervous about it, the church is not doing so well.

     

    It used to be that “Good Christians” avoided drinking, drugs, sex, swearing, and fought their desires in order to please God. That is the way many were brought up during the Christian culture of the day. In reality and hindsight, I don’t believe the church’s teachings were incorrect, just incomplete.

     

    If we would get into the Word of God and think Biblically instead of conventionally, it would change our paradigm. Our thinking would explode and it would be exhilarating. We have all we need. We have all of Jesus we need. What we don’t have is to want Jesus more.

     

    Are you bored with American Christianity and that which it offers? Do you want to rise above the plateau of the American style of doing church? Would you want to get to the place where you would rather die than let go of your convictions in Christ?

     

    “More God” and “more life” follows. Not to be immune from self-giving is to realize how wonderful God is. To not hold back anything but to give all is the utmost way to live. To be totally abandoned is to be totally absorbed.

     

    God wants to lead a group of comfortable people into lives of risk and adventure. He wants us to love people like we never have before and to go to extremes to do just that.

  • The Must of Salvation

    “Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again” (Luke 24:7).

    God delivered His only Son into the hands of sinful men to be crucified. It doesn’t seem fair for God the Father to desert His Son in that manner but He did. Why? Because it is the only way to be saved from sin. Do you see the “must”?

    God must take on human flesh if we are to be saved. He must be seen as the sinless Son of God. God must show His sovereignty and control. God’s must is divine and purposeful. His must is for you and for others is to be saved from SIN.

    Are you saved? Why are you waiting to repent? Why would you tarry so long when you understand the drawing of the Spirit saying, “Come to Jesus.” You must be born from above. You must be born again. The only way for you to be saved is you must come to Jesus. He must come again. He must judge sin. He must and you must!

  • Spiritual Discipline

    “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul” (Psalm 19:11).

    We live in an undisciplined age. The old disciplines are breaking down. Today the discipline of divine grace is derided as legalism by those who are not disciplined. We have an illiterate generation that is not steeped in the Scriptures or the very truth of God. Without this rugged strength of Christian character that originates from the discipline of grace and Scripture we will continue to fall on hard times.

    There must be direction given to the soul of a man if he is to succeed in this life and be rewarded in the future. Prayer threatens to be a drudgery but if one looks into the future and views prayer accomplishments, we would pray with discipline. Meditation on Scripture is certain but we treat it as if it is not important in our lives then we fail to know the ways of God.

    Sunday is a day to come back with the people of God under the Word of God and yet when we treat it as an unworthy discipline then we will fail to glean the benefits of assembling with one another. God is looking for men and women in whom He can trust to wield His presence and power in and through and for a lost people who need to know there is a true God.

    It is crucial to see the Lord in these days for without holiness no one can see Him. This generation is lost. The god of this age has blinded their minds and we can become obstructions to God instead of stepping stones that lead to Him. Godliness is God’s goal for you and for me. Live a life of discipline and count upon the future to be kind as God shapes you into one of His own.

  • Standing on the Promises

     

    “And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease, while I leave it, and come down to you?”  —Nehemiah 6:3

         Have you heard the music boxes that plays music after it is wound up? There is one box that plays that old song “Standing on the Promises.” When it is wound up to full strength it chimes with vibrant enthusiasm. The song and sounds are beautiful.

        After a while the music box begins to wind down. It can stop even before the tune is finished. Instead of playing the familiar song all the way through, it no longer is standing on the promises; it is now sitting on the premises! So many christians mistake the one for the other! Standing for sitting

         It is possible to stand on the promises in such a routine manner that we become so orthodox in our teaching, living, and behaving that we really are sitting on the premises. No longer resting in the promises and living day by day in the strength of God’s Word and prayer, we slow down and finally stop. I don’t want to run down in the middle of the song or in the middle of life. I want to stand on the promises of Christ my Lord. What about you?