Praying for booze

Things were really bad spiritually for the Hebrew people just before God sent the pagan armies to conquer the Northern and Southern kingdoms.

Though the conquests occurred at different times because of varying rates of rebellion in the divided Hebrew nations, the core reason for the disasters — rejection of God’s authority and purposes — was the same.

Millions died as a result of permeated sin when the Assyrian and Babylonian armies pillaged the Hebrew nations and countless others were dragged off as exiled slaves in Damascus and Babylon.

And this suffering doesn’t even count the spiritual death that awaited the millions in eternity because of stubborn, self-will.

It didn’t have to happen, of course.

But in giving man free will, God knew that most people would choose the path of living for themselves rather than living for their Creator.

A pathetic glimpse into the prevailing mindset in pre-exile days is revealed in today’s One-Year Bible reading.

The passage from Micah 2:11 almost sounds like a line from a Saturday Night Live skit mocking Christians.

“If a liar and deceiver comes and says, ‘I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,’ he would be just the prophet for this people!”

What is so sad is that irreverent, anti-Christian script writers didn’t craft this statement in order to prompt laughs.

Instead, it was written by a prophet inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Can you imagine how it must have broken God’s heart to see the calloused carnality of His people who were to the point of shouting “Amen!” if a priest prayed for free booze for temple tithers’ social events?

Flesh had not only eclipsed faith. It had squashed it.

Wow.

I’ve never heard a preacher praying for congregation members to get plenty of free booze at the liquor store.

But there are plenty of religious types on the TV, radio and Internet who prophesy that all sorts of earthly desires can be theirs if the listeners will just send in “love gifts.”

Gimme a break.

Actually, this same sort of thing happens via print media and in countless churches around the world.

Tickling ears.

That’s what it is.

Micah 2:11 shows that it makes God sick.

It makes me sick, too.

Will you pray with me that God reveal to us both if there are any yearnings of our souls that place flesh ahead of faith?

Will you pray with me that we reject any whispered suggestions to pray for God’s power to satisfy our earthly cravings?

Remember that the principle of Micah 2:11 applies to any fleshly yearning that shoves itself to the top the of prayer list.

“If a liar and deceiver comes and says, ‘I will prophesy for you plenty of __________,’ he would be just the prophet for this people!”

Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, my friend.

That’s the main lesson from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, recorded in Matthew 5-7.

Do this and you’ll never be drawn to churches teaching religion as a tool for satisfying desires of the flesh.

As always, I love you
Martin

Don’t sleep before doing this

Occasionally I am convicted by the Holy Spirit because I’ve been neglectful of adequately worshiping God during the day.

It is only proper that the Spirit prod my inner being into setting aside time at that moment for honoring God in a more fitting manner.

Sometimes I’ll stop to pray.

Sometimes I put worship music on the stereo.

Other times, I’ll pull out the Bible and start reading.

In every case of my Spiritual conviction, though, I move closer to being the person God wants me to be.

I need to better remember this fact, particularly in this day when there are so many tugs on my attention.

I was reminded of this need yesterday while reading in the One-Year Bible. The psalmist wrote in Psalm 132:3-5 the following words that gripped me tightly and wouldn’t let go.

“I will not enter my house or go to my bed — I will allow no sleep to my eyes, no slumber to my eyelids, till I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.”

Were these the words of King David as he desperately yearned to build a temple for the Lord his God?

Perhaps. We know that David was a man after God’s own heart and, despite his grievous sin with Bathsheba, David’s greatest joy was worship.

Making sure that God was first in his daily priorities was central to David’s sense of well-being.

And so it should be with us.

We’re not going to build a temple in Jerusalem. Or any other town, for that matter.

We can and should build a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob in our daily schedule, however.

The fact that you are reading this Morning Devotion is part of your efforts to do so for the God who gave you life and purpose and hope for living eternally.

Please look for other ways to expand the “dwelling” in your day.

Please make sure that you never close your eyes for the day until you’ve opened your heart to the One who opened the doors of physical birth and spiritual re-birth to you.

Show Him your love and adoration with dedicated time for honoring Him via prayer, worship, service, forgiveness of others or whatever else the Lord lays on your heart to do for Him.

When I’ve done this during the day, I sleep better during the night.

And so will you.

As always, I love you
Martin

Remember what God has forgotten

I’m glad that my parents didn’t keep of list of my childhood mistakes posted on the refrigerator door.
To know that everybody read every day about every bad choice that I made would be a horrible burden — until I grew sick of it and either stopped caring or stopped living at home, or both.
You know people who seemingly still carry their notepads around with them, waiting to record others’ errors in order to post the news that so and so messed up.
It’s very sad.
Thank God that my family isn’t like this.
And I strive to resist Satan’s whispers to do the same.
The fact is that our responsibility to be a forgiving people will not come true in our lives if we cherish and instantly update the record of sins by someone we know.
We’ll eventually become a bitter, anal person who walks around with a “white glove” mentality, ready to pounce on the first evidence of dust on a person’s life choices.
Boy, what a sad reality.
I can’t tell you how glad I am that God isn’t like this.
It’s not that He closes His eyes to the wrong we do.
It’s just that He doesn’t savor the opportunity to bash us because we’ve messed up.
Yes, we need to repent and confess our sins against Him and against others. That’s how we will find forgiveness, according to I John 1:9.
When we do, the sins are forgiven and the dirty laundry list is washed clean in the blood of Christ.
This fact was refreshed in my mind this morning when I read Psalm 130:3-4 in the One-Year Bible.

“If You, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with You, there is forgiveness; therefore You are feared.”

When we repent and seek forgiveness for our sins, God forgives and wipes the slate clean.
Please rejoice over this fact.
Please grow closer to Him because He does so.
Please strive to do the same for others when they sin against you.
Remember what God has forgiven from your stained past.
And remember to forgive those who have sinned against you.

As always, I love you
Martin

Looking for the oasis

Sometimes, when it comes to reading the Bible, we have to remember the concept of the oasis.

I’m talking about the tiny spot in a desert where a weary traveler can find refreshing shade and water to keep him or her going toward their final destination.

The oasis is not to be a home, but it sure is a help.

Amos 5:14 is such an oasis.

Today’s One-Year Bible reading includes Amos 1-3:14, a sobering sequence of promised punishments handed down from the Ultimate Judge against nation after nation that rejected God’s Word and sovereignty.

The litany of destruction promises is shocking. I reviewed the passage several times today to see if I had missed seeing some sections containing words of encouraging grace.

I saw none that stood out as obvious.

This doesn’t often happen in the Bible. With few exceptions, most books of the Bible will liberally sprinkle words of hope and grace even in the midst of passages pointing to approaching judgment.

Thankfully, I knew that God would not leave me for long in my daily Bible reading without a witness to His mercy.

That’s why I peeked ahead to tomorrow’s reading and saw the oasis that God embedded into Amos’ “The hammer is gonna fall!” book.

And what an oasis it is.

“Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say He is” (Amos 5:14).

This might not seem like a theologically earth-shaking revelation to you, but instead as a simple principle for living.

But to God-rejecting people in God-forsaken lands, receiving this simple truth was as receiving a simple map to the oasis of water in a seemingly endless sea of sand.

I’m glad that I trusted the nature of God and that He wouldn’t only promise punishment.

You see, God doesn’t want people to perish.

His heart’s desire is to everybody saved.

He has given mankind free will, though, and knows that most will reject His identity and authority.

Even so, He still makes sure that those willing to drink from His fountain of truth are able to do so, even if they come to the oasis parched because of personal sins.

Whether your times in the desert are as minor as a few Bible chapters without warm, loving words or as major as a lengthy season of sinful rebellion against the Word of God, just remember that your Father in heaven will always lead you to an oasis where you can drink in the Truth — if you choose to.

Because some Hebrews in the prophet Amos’ day did drink in the above truth, there were people who changed their paths and were used by God to pass on the ancient faith to those who followed.

You and I are blessed now as a result.

When you are parched, dear friend, whether in your Bible reading or in your rebellious living, look for the oasis.

God has placed it into your path so that you might find refreshment in Him.

If you’re in a desert now, please remember this.

Seek good, not evil, that you may live.

Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you.

Wow.

As always, I love you
Martin

Don’t trust your opinion

Most mornings while reading my One-Year Bible I have the cable TV channel playing that broadcasts Christian music while displaying rotating photos.

On some of these photos are overlaid advertisements. Most are promoting the service that is providing the music.

Today included an exception, however, that I wasn’t expecting.

While a smooth song by a female artist described the gift of Christ’s birth played, the advertisement visually blaring on the screen was calling for people to call a “Cash for Gold” business to get the top dollar for any gold they wanted to sell.

The advertisement, of course, was presented as a bar of gold with “CALL NOW” text.

Talk about out of place!

I was enjoying the sweet message about the greatest gift the world had ever received, something with a worth beyond measuring, and then I looked up and saw this gold bar encouraging me to trade gold for cash.

You can be sure that I wouldn’t have placed such an ad on this Christian music site.

I wouldn’t want to have any part in sending mixed signals to people about my Christian motives.

Yes, I know that there is nothing illegal about “We buy gold” advertisements on Christian music sites, or any other Christian site, for that matter.

Some Christians have gold that they’d rather trade for money and if such a choice helps them to better manage their financial resources, then that’s OK.

It’s just the “how” and “where” of today’s advertisement that seemed out of place to me.

I pray that I was the only one who was bothered by this advertisement.

I pray that any non-Christians watching the Christian music channel weren’t left with confusion about the music service’s motives for the Kingdom.

No, the music/photo station on the TV was not a church service.

And, no, it’s not like the advertisement was on the projection screen during congregational worship time.

But it still left me with the sort of feeling as if it had been.

This experience has reminded me of how important it is to test our actions not only against our comfort zone but also against how other Christians might perceive them, against how non-Christians might perceive them and, MOST importantly, how God perceives them.

There are countless choices that we face during our lives and even more variables when we consider all those whom we must consider when we decide how to speak or how to act or how to advertise or with whom we choose to associate.

If we are to have any hope of reliably making the right choices that point confirm our faith in the eyes of others rather than confuse them, we need simple, core principles, I’m convinced.

That’s why I am so very glad for Colossians 3:17 and for Proverbs 11:14.

They keep me focused on choices that point my motives and actions in the right direction.

“Whatever you do, whether in word or in deed, do it all for the glory of God.”

“For lack of guidance a nation falls, but many advisers make victory sure.”

I encourage you to avoid trusting your own opinion about the appropriateness of your choices when there is any association of business and spiritual interests.

It is much better when we prayerfully consider if our potential choice might send mixed signals to others about our motives.

Check every motive and action against the Kingdom purposes and then ask a trusted, mature Christian for his or her opinion.

No matter how much financial benefit might come from a mixed-motives choice, it will never compensate for the “Why did you do that?” question from God when we stand before Him.

As always, I love you
Martin