Tag Archives: Holy Spirit

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I Choose- Everything

Quote - Sacrificial Love[1]

Luke 12:22-34 (Message), “ He continued this subject with his disciples. “Don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or if the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your inner life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the ravens, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, carefree in the care of God. And you count far more. Has anyone by fussing before the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? If fussing can’t even do that, why fuss at all? Walk into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They don’t fuss with their appearance—but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them. If God gives such attention to the wildflowers, most of them never even seen, don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Don’t be afraid of missing out. You’re my dearest friends! The Father wants to give you the very kingdom itself. Be generous. Give to the poor. Get yourselves a bank that can’t go bankrupt, a bank in heaven far from bankrobbers, safe from embezzlers, a bank you can bank on. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.”

Jesus was talking to his disciples about “things” or clothes and food and He tells them “fear not” or in another version, “don’t be anxious” about those things. I like the messages version- “don’t fuss”. Babies and toddlers fuss. They get fussy because they are hungry or thirsty and it’s the only way to express this, or they can’t verbalize what they need. We shouldn’t be fussy. Also the message says to relax, don’t be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God’s giving.”He wants to give us all we need and even things we don’t need, but really want. The Israelites always had a sense of entitlement. Their title of “God’s chosen people” made them think that they alone were entitled to His goodness, even when they rebelled against Him and behaved like fussy toddlers.

The spirit of entitlement is rampant in the United States. We leave jobs, churches, marriages, friend ships, and sometimes even our country because we think we haven’t received what “we are entitled to.” A common phrase is, “they owe me!” Whether it is used in regards to our parents, pastor, boss, or our government. There are some that even go as far as to think their children owe them “for all we’ve done for them.” Entitlement causes laziness and an “it’s not my job” mentality. How many of us walk past garbage on the sidewalk, or our church parking lot and don’t bend to pick it up? How many of us on our jobs refuse to do anything that isn’t in our job description? In fact that is part of the problem of modern day unions. They breed the entitlement mentality.

The opposite of entitlement is a quiet confidence that God will provide what I need. We need to keep our eyes on God, our source, not on our boss, the government, or our pastor. Now, don’t get me wrong, we need people! No man is an island. God put us together in families, and He told us to bring our petitions before Him. To ask and keep on asking, but keep your attitude right. He doesn’t bless us because we deserve it, or because we are entitled to it. Nope, His only motive is love.

“The only way to break the spirit of entitlement is thru service. Allowing God to use us in any way He asks us.” Pastor Isaac Litke

This world has nothing for us. God is our provider.

Galatians 4:1-7 (NIV), “ What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.”

Jesus came so that we could be adopted into the family. Now we are joint heirs with Him. What does Jesus need? What does He lack? We have what He has, no really! You might not see it in the natural, but isn’t that what faith is all about?

Hebrews 11:1 (KJB), “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Think of it like the money you have in your checking account. You may not have it in your hand, but you know it is there. In fact you are so confident in this fact that you use your debit card to get gas and write checks to pay your bills. We have an account in heaven with “treasures old and new” (Matthew 13:52). Before we can ever see it with our natural eyes, we have to see it with our spiritual eyes.

Who gets everything? Everyone- who surrenders themselves to Him. Surrender isn’t a bad word! When we aren’t God’s we are Satan’s. You can’t serve two masters. So which “Father” do you want to surrender to? Which mission do you want to work under (that’s what the word submit means)? I choose to serve a loving Father. I tried it the other way, even though I didn’t fully understand who I was serving, and it didn’t work too well for me.

I choose God.

I choose Love.

I choose Everything!

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Access Granted

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Ephesians 2:4-7 (AMP), “ But God, being [so very] rich in mercy, because of His great and wonderful love with which He loved us, even when we were [spiritually] dead and separated from Him because of our sins, He made us [spiritually] alive together with Christ (for by His grace—His undeserved favor and mercy—you have been saved from God’s judgment). And He raised us up together with Him [when we believed], and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, [because we are] in Christ Jesus, [and He did this] so that in the ages to come He might [clearly] show the immeasurable and unsurpassed riches of His grace in [His] kindness toward us in Christ Jesus [by providing for our redemption]. For it is by grace [God’s remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God; not as a result of [your] works [nor your attempts to keep the Law], so that no one will [be able to] boast or take credit in any way [for his salvation]. For we are His workmanship [His own master work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works, which God prepared [for us] beforehand [taking paths which He set], so that we would walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us].”

How many of us as children wanted to belong to a “club”? We put signs on our bedroom doors, or the latter of our tree houses that read something like, “for girls only,” or “club members only.” Maybe we even had a secret handshake or a password to get in.

Heaven has a password… no really. It is the same password that gets us victory over any circumstance and sets the enemy running. I am sure you guessed it by now. Our password is “JESUS”.

Now, not just anyone who uses that name is part of the club. Even He said that some would knock on the door saying, “Lord, Lord, let us in,” yet not be able to pass through. He said that just knowing His name isn’t enough; we have to know Him in a close relationship. (Luke 27, Matthew 25)

The good news is that this club isn’t for just a special group. It’s open to everyone and anyone that chooses to get to know their Creator, anyone who is willing to open their heart to His love. We don’t earn entry, there is no exam, no great quest, no change of behavior, no dress code, or any conditions whatsoever. Well, maybe one… admitting our need for Him. As soon as we realize we have messed things up all on our own, or just come to the realization that there is Someone who really, truly loves us, and we give up, then we belong to the club.

Ephesians 2 tells us that salvation, accepting Jesus’ work on our behalf, is a free gift! That we were actually created to be like Him, to do good works that God has prearranged for us to do. It tells us that we are seated in Heaven, right now! Not just getting to go there someday, no, at the time I am seated at my computer writing this, I am also seated in Heaven with Him. When I am working, driving, sleeping, and yes, even when I have a bad day and am nagging my husband, I am still seated there with Him. I have access to the Father through Christ’s shed blood. I am living from Heaven because I live there. Access to all the Father has for me has been granted. All I have to do is believe it and accept it.

Religion can’t do that for me, laws, rules, sacrifices, and bribes can’t do it.

Only a relationship with the Father can.

Ephesians 1:3-7 (KJB), “ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.”

His good pleasure? It was to pour out His blood to redeem us so that we can abide in Him forever. Jesus is in me, I am in Him and we are both seated in Heavenly places. No enemy can take me away from my home, no sin can keep me from my position. If I mess up, I fess up and plead the blood over my life. God sees His Son in me and forgives it all. We don’t have to be perfect, just honest and real before Him.

He loves us that much. I am adopted into His family. He calls me “beloved.”

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Period

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I am going to try and set the record straight.

God does not hate anyone. Not liars, thieves, adulterers, murderers, rapists, child molesters, abusive people, transsexuals, homosexuals, Muslims, terrorists, politicians, idol worshipers, Satanists, cannibals, witches, warlocks, witch doctors, porn stars, prostitutes, pimps, drug dealers, addicts, or crooked cops. He isn’t out to get anyone. He isn’t mad at people. He isn’t going to “punish” anyone, or even send anyone to Hell. If Hell is in our future it’s because we chose it instead of Him and Heaven. He doesn’t send us there. Contrary to popular opinion, God didn’t send His son to judge the world. The scripture that is touted at ball games, and on t-shirts doesn’t read, “For God so hated the world that He sent His Son to condemn it. This is what it really says,

John 3:16-17 (NASB), “ For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”

Before you start spouting off Old Testament scripture, let me remind you that the only people Jesus railed at where the hard hearted, stiff necked, self righteous religious leaders of his time. (Four times in Matthew 23 Jesus says, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!”) To the woman caught in adultery, He said, “Where is your accusers…I don’t accuse you…go and sin no more.” To Zacchaeus, the crooked tax collector, He said, “I must stay to your house today!” He ate with sinners, and people of bad reputation. The religious people of His day found fault with this, but His answer was that well people didn’t need a doctor.

Who needs a Savior? People who are broken, lost, and unable to face this world on their own. Who needs a redeemer? People who are slaves to their own desires, greed, lust, and those who have chosen to drown their sorrows in alcohol, or take a permanent vacation through the latest designer drug. Who needs the Truth? Those who have believed the lie that they aren’t loved, aren’t wanted, and aren’t worthy.

Those are the people He came for.

I know it is popular in today’s culture to say that all believers are judgmental and critical, and those are the nice things people say. Again let me set the record straight. Religion judges. Why? Because religion is based on our performance, how we can follow the rules and long lists of do’s and don’ts. That is NOT what Jesus came to do. He set us free from the law of performance. We could never do enough to earn our place in the Father’s heart or family. Jesus came for one reason, to show us the Father’s love. Those that say people who go to Church, or Christians are some of the meanest people they met, have simply been misinformed. Those people were religious people, not followers of Christ. Those who truly know Him, aren’t tolerant, tolerance means I don’t like you or what you do, but I will tolerate sharing oxygen with you. Followers of Christ, those who love Him, love others. Big difference. Love says, I don’t care who you are or what you’ve done, I will love you anyway. Love says, you don’t have to be like me, look like me, or talk like me, I can still love you. Religious people draw a circle and say, “stay out!” Those who love draw a circle and say, “come in, I have someone I’d like you to meet,” and then introduce them to Jesus and the Father’s love.

Religion sets laws, tells you how to live, who to love, and what do believe. Relationship gives you direct access to God’s heart. You don’t need someone to tell you what to do, you will know what pleases Him and because you will be overwhelmed by His love, you will want to please Him. Religion makes you look down on others and criticize. Relationship makes you compassionate and wanting to help others. Religion promises a reward for certain behavior after you die, relationship is full of blessings right now. Religion holds signs at a funeral that say, “God hates Gays.” Love comforts those who are hurting and treats people with compassion and respect. Law kills, love heals. Law was only ever instituted because of the terrible condition of man’s hearts. It was to keep us from harming ourselves and others. On the other hand, relationship with God had only one law. Love. That’s it. Love Him and love others. There is no performance. We love Him, accept His love and then He does all the work of changing our hearts and minds. It isn’t us trying to clean ourselves up, that’s what Jesus called the Pharisees on. He said they were “whitewashed graves” clean on the outside but full of dead man’s bones. A relationship changes us on the inside. His love convinces us of who He is and who we are. We are loved, and cherished. Even when we sin!

Think of the one person who personifies evil, living or dead.

God loves that person.

God loves us so much that He would never force us to do anything. He lets us choose to love Him, or not, to choose heaven or hell, to heal or to try to put a big bandage on the gaping wounds. His arms are open, He is attentively watching, and always listening for your call, be it a shout or a whisper.

Are you a stranger to God and always believed that yielding to Him meant following a list of rules? Stop believing the lie! He requires nothing but your heart.

Are you a “religious” person who has strived to live by a list of rules, or found little love for others in your heart? Stop believing the lie! You can’t make God love you less, or more by anything you do or say.

Ephesians 2:1-10 (NIV), “ As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (emphasis mine)

We live in dark times, but His light should be shining in us in such a way that people are drawn to it. We should be showing the Fathers heart.

His heart is full of love.

PERIOD.

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Sojourner

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Ephesians 2:1-10 (HCSB), “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world , according to the ruler who exercises authority over the lower heavens , the spirit now working in the disobedient . We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires , carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts , and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also . But God , who is rich in mercy , because of His great love that He had for us , made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses . You are saved by grace ! Together with Christ Jesus He also raised us up and seated us in the heavens , so that in the coming ages He might display the immeasurable riches of His grace through His kindness to us in Christ Jesus . For you are saved by grace s through faith , and this is not from yourselves ; it is God’s gift ? — not from works , so that no one can boast . For we are His creation , created in Christ Jesus for good works , which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them .”

You may see my physical body here on earth and, yes, I am a citizen of the United States of America. However, I am really a citizen of Heaven. This earth isn’t my true home. I am just passing through. Heaven is my real home. I am only on a temporary visit here.

I am a sojourner.

Philippians 3:20-21 (NIV), “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”

According to orton.org the responsibility of a US citizen is:

“We must obey laws or pay consequences. Good citizenship for adults also means serving on jury duty and paying taxes. Responsibilities: As an adult, being an informed citizen about our government and community is an important responsibility. Voting in elections is just one responsibility of all good citizens.”

Let’s take a lesson from the natural responsibilities. First we must obey the laws or pay the consequences. Let me first remind you, that in our Heavenly Citizenship we no longer obey the Law of Moses, but the Law of Love. However, there is still a law and our responsibility is to obey it. Jesus said if we loved Him, we would obey His law.

Luke 10:27 (NASB), “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.”

Next, we must serve on jury duty (judge between right and wrong) and pay our taxes (give God His ten percent, a tithe of all our increase, time, energy, and resources). The most important, in my opinion, is to be informed of the government (God) and our community (fellow believers). For us, that means knowing who God is, what He has done for us, what His plan is, and who we are in Christ. It includes being a vibrant part of a local church and building relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Every citizen should know the laws of the land they live in. Now, I know that in the natural they pass new laws every day, but God’s ways are not complicated. He made everything simple. Though we don’t “vote” Him into office, we do choose to place ourselves under His leadership, so shouldn’t we know what He stands for? Wouldn’t it be beneficial to know His likes and dislikes? What is His plan for His people?

I think it also important to note, that even in the natural, these responsibilities are for adults. Children are a gift and a blessing, but they don’t contribute much in the respect of building a nation. Caring for them is very important and training them up to be good citizens as well. They will be our future adults and leaders after all. However, it takes productive adults to build a nation, those who are able and willing to work, to live right, to set good examples, and to be upstanding citizens, those who will represent their Sovereign well.

We all know some Christians who have the “Peter Pan Syndrome” and just don’t want to grow up. They prefer to have someone else doing the work and pressing in, while they get changed and fed and… babied.

If we remember that our visit here is temporary, we will want to grow up and move on, accomplish as much as we can in our short stay. Think of a vacation. For most of us they are too short. So we cram as much in as we can in the few days set aside. Who wants to waste time? The Psalms continue to remind us that our lives here are just a vapor. If we don’t get going on vacation the worst thing that happens is we don’t get to see everything we wanted to, or experience it all. If we waste time as citizens of Heaven, the consequences are much greater, we lose souls, and if we aren’t careful maybe even our own. Instead of adding to the family, we may hinder the growth of His Church.

Don’t get caught up in the cares of this world, it’s not your home. Change what you can change (always being led by His Spirit), pray about what you can’t, and move on. Don’t let yourself get anxious. “This too shall pass” applies to our short time here. Whatever we may suffer here is nothing compared to the glory we will experience and though it may seem to take forever for an answer, think about the situation in light of eternity. We aren’t waiting to experience Heaven, we should be experiencing it here and now. Again, think of a vacation, what if you could bring that cruise ship home and park it in your yard, or what if your daily budget on vacation was your normal daily budget in real life? Life would be pretty sweet wouldn’t’ it.

God has given it all to us, right now. We don’t have to wait for Heaven “one day”.

A sojourner doesn’t put any permanence on his stay; he knows that his forever home won’t be here. He isn’t building his mansion in his temporary country or laying up stores there. He knows he won’t be around to enjoy it. God wants us blessed here and now, but He doesn’t want our focus to be on temporary blessing. If we keep our eyes on Him, we will have what we need here and be laying up treasures in Heaven.

Matthew 6:19-21 (NIV), “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

 

 

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Get Out!

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“Hebrews 10:38 (KJV), Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.”

I love my bed. It has one of those pillow toppers and though it has some age on it, I still sleep very comfortably there. After a long hard day, I can crawl between my flannel sheets with my electric blanket set just high enough to be cozy, and feel like I am wrapped in a warm comfy cocoon. I never get the dishes done while I am in bed. The floors and laundry stay dirty and unfolded while I lay in my comfort. I do sometimes write in bed, and quite frequently do my morning devotions there. Why? Because I feel comfortable in that spot. Nothing challenges me while I snuggle there, though I can be inspired in my comfortable place, I rarely act out or work toward that inspiration. I have to get out of my comfort zone to accomplish much of anything. In fact people who are “bed ridden” would give anything to be able to get out of bed. What I consider one of my comfort zones, they think of as a prison.

God has so challenged me over the years. I hate change. I love being comfortable. That’s why conflict was always hard for me, moving was a nightmare, and don’t even talk to me about changing schools as a high school student! Did I mention I hate change? I know God also has a sense of humor, how did He get me to step out of my comfort zone? First off my parents moved around a lot. Each move to a better house, a better job, or a better neighborhood, and I hated it. Then I married a man with a gypsy heart. And guess what…we moved…a lot! I had to change Churches, doctors (I suffered from a chronic illness at the time), grocery stores, jobs, etc. One move was across the country, almost 2,000 miles away from family and friends. Did I mention I hate change? Life felt a great deal like one big roller coaster to me, and I didn’t handle it well. One of the manifestations of that was the symptom of my illness got worse, my marriage had its issues, and I wasn’t exactly a stellar parent.

Instead of taking it all away, and setting me in one spot, God strengthened me, and healed me, and taught me how to stand on His word. In the middle of all of that, He called me to the full time ministry. My faith was enough to step out in that area, though most of the time I felt like someone would notice how unqualified I was and send me home. I ended up in the full time ministry (working at the Church or for the Church) for over 16 years, for two different Churches. I helped and reached countless people, most of them children, during that time. My confidence in myself, and mostly in my Heavenly Father grew leaps and bounds. My marriage was healed, my body was healed, my kids turned out great, and I was able to put down roots in one place for an extended amount of time. God never wanted my roots to be in a place, but to be rooted and grounded in Him.

Ephesians 3:16-20 (NASB), “ that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,”

So if your comfort zone is a place, get out! If it is a person, walk away! If it is a certain set of circumstances, have faith! God always intended for us to have a “comfort zone” it is Him and it is Heaven. When we abide in Him no matter who we are around, what the world is doing, how the weather is, how tired or confused we seem to be, how rebellious our own flesh can become, we can be confident that He is on our side and will bring us through. When we place our trust in Him and live from Heaven (we are citizens there after all) we know the victory is ours.

Back in the day when I suffered from Anxiety, slowly I stopped going anywhere I had ever felt anxious. It started with standing in a line for anything, then it was the Movie Theater, then restaurants, pretty soon it was anywhere there was a crowd, or something unfamiliar. Unless, my “safe person”, my husband came with me. I might still get anxious, but I could handle it if he was there. God wants to be our “safe person.” When we know He is there with us, we abide in Him, and He abides in us, we can safely go anywhere, do anything, and accomplish His plans for our life.

Hebrews 11:6 (NIV), “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

Do you want to please God, then GET OUT!

Of any comfort zone outside of Him.

 

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Complacency is My Enemy

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Complacency is My Enemy

Someone who is complacent has become overly content — the junk-food-eating couch potato might be feeling complacent about his health. The literal meaning of this word’s Latin root is “very pleased,” but even though complacent people may seem pleased with themselves, we are rarely pleased with them. They are unconcerned by things that should concern them, and they may neglect their duties. A complacent person might be heard saying, “Ehh, don’t worry about it!” — when there really is something to worry about. (vocabulary.com)

Have you ever felt like you just don’t care? Like you couldn’t work up or fake interest even if your life depended on it? Maybe you grew tired of life, or weary of well-doing. Maybe Satan boxed your ears and you were completely blindsided by the attack. Or, maybe it wasn’t too much bad, but too much good. You finally made it, have the trophy wife, 2.3 children, white picket fence, and that dream job. What else do you need? Right. Maybe it was all of the above and like King Solomon, decided it was all vanity, pointless. Has serving God become too much bother, too much of a chore, or not enough fun?

Consider one of the signs of the last days.

II Timothy 3 (NASB), “ But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

The word complacency isn’t used here, however… A person stagnant in their spiritual growth, person complacent with their life, exhibits some of those behaviors. When King Solomon allowed complacency and apathy to rule his life, he led his family and a whole nation astray.

Any living thing is a growing thing. When you stop growing, you are dead. Where would you rather go fishing, in a freshwater lake, or the Dead Sea? A stagnant pool isn’t conducive to life, but a spring fed one sure is. It takes a long hard winter to make the trees roots go deeper into the ground to anchor itself. It takes resistance of weights to build up muscle tissue. Sure we all want an easy life. We dream of the day when we don’t have to work so hard. Sometimes getting our flesh to submit is like trying to get wrestle a greased pig. But an easy life doesn’t force us to change, to build up muscle, to rely on God and His strength for us. We stay carnal Christians, or spiritual babies.

James 1:2-15 (NIV), “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business. Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”

Blessed is the one who perseveres, who battles uphill, who swims upstream, and who allows God to change them, the one who is truly alive in Christ. There is a saying, “any old dead fish can float downstream”. There is only one acceptable form of “death” for a Christian.

Romans 6:11-14, (NIV), “ In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.”

One of our Pastors used this example from the Movie “Wall-E”. If you haven’t seen this animated movie, you should! There is so much a Christian could learn from it. In case you haven’t let me just explain a bit. Wall-E is a robot, the last functioning one on earth, which is devoid of all life. His job is garbage duty. Every ancestor from earth is living in space, it’s been hundreds of years. Those humans are all attached to a bed, think of our modern hover-rounds, and look like blobs of flesh. They don’t do anything, but look at their screens, suck fluids out of big cups, and move on their “beds.” No struggle, no stress, everything handed to them and they never lift a finger. The result? A vain existence, or as Solomon said, “Vanity, Vanity.” They were way past complacent, until this little robot sneaks on board to save his love. The chaos that ensues causes them to take a look around them at what they have become.

Trials strengthen us in so many ways. Mostly by building our faith in God, in His loving care for us.

Don’t be complacent, complacency is your enemy

 

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Set Your Face Like Flint

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Isaiah 50:7 (ESV), “But the Lord GOD helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.”

How many times have you heard someone say, “Practice what you preach”? I thought of that while reading through proverbs. Solomon didn’t do that!

Proverbs 1:2-9 (NIV), “For gaining wisdom and instruction; for understanding words of insight; for receiving instruction in prudent behavior, doing what is right and just and fair; for giving prudence to those who are simple, knowledge and discretion to the young- let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance—for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.”

King Solomon spends verse after verse insisting that his son listens to his teaching, he grasps for wisdom and understanding, and then he gives chapters of wise sayings and warnings to anyone who will take heed. Solomon is written about in the Bible as the” wisest man that ever lived or ever will live”. (I Kings 3:12). So, what happened? We clearly see by reading Kings, Chronicles, and Ecclesiastes that somewhere along the way, Solomon stepped off the path. In fact he couldn’t have gotten any farther away. He built pagan altars, places of worship to false gods, and even worshipped them himself.) One of those false gods was Molech the god who demanded children be sacrificed in his ovens, I Kings 11.)

I can’t help thinking, “if he was so wise…what happened?”

Clearly “wisdom” isn’t the key to staying on track. If it had been, Solomon would never have turned his back on God, or ever left the path that God had laid out for him.

What do you think caused his backsliding?

We know that his many wives and concubines had something to do with it. The bible says, “Solomon married seven hundred princesses and also had three hundred concubines. They made him turn away from God, and by the time he was old they had led him into the worship of foreign gods. He was not faithful to the Lord his God, as his father David had been.” (I Kings 11:3-4) It is easy to put the blame on all of those women, but let’s dig a little deeper here.

Why did Solomon marry so many “Princesses”?

He was trying to broker peace with other nations. It was s common practice in the day to form alliances through marriage. The thinking was that rival kings wouldn’t attack if their daughters were married to and living in the palace of the king. God had already told Solomon that he reign would be a peaceful one. God had planned it all out and His plan didn’t include hundreds of women! Solomon was trying to work out something God wanted to give him. Does that sound familiar? Think of Sarah and Abraham, or Adam in the garden, and what about Satan’s temptation of Jesus (to give Him something by means of another way instead of by God’s will.)

He stopped looking to God as his source. In all of his hundreds of relationships, he left out the most important one! His relationship with God. All the wisdom in the world won’t get you far without a relationship with the one who gave you the wisdom to begin with.

After turning his back on God, Solomon tries everything to find meaning in life. Instead he finds that it is all vanity!

Ecclesiastes 1:2-8 (NIV), “ Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again. All things are wearisome, more than one can say.”

These verses sound like someone in the throes of depression. If you read through Ecclesiastes you will see he tried everything, work, leisure, pleasure, and even turned himself over to false religions and idol worship, yet found no meaning in life. All the wasted time, the wasted life, and the ruin of a whole nation! All he had to do was repent (turn back to God).

Compare his lamenting in verses 2-8, to the scripture in Isaiah. Isaiah states that he had not been disgraced, or put to shame. He set his face like stone, keeping his eyes and his focus on God. Maybe that is why he had such a great revelation of Jesus. Yet, Solomon’s life is full of shame and disgrace, so much that his sin caused the kingdom to be divided, leaving a legacy of selfish, hard-hearted, kings in his wake.

In all of the warning he gave his sons, and us, through proverbs, he didn’t practice what he preached.

A sad story.

We know that at some point he came to his senses. We can read in the last chapter of Ecclesiasts, “ Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.”

He realized his mistake, yet he couldn’t undo the evil influence that he propagated to the people of Israel, or his own children. God had made it plain what would happen if Solomon or his children didn’t do all that He had commanded. The die was cast and there was no taking it back. Sadly for Solomon and Israel, it was “too little, too late”.

Thankfully, we live in God’s glorious grace! It’s never too late for us to return to our first love. Any move to gain more intimacy with God is never too little.

Set your face like flint! Don’t let anyone pull you away from your relationship with God. Make Him number one.