Category: righteousness

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Who is God to you?

When was the last time you just sat and pondered God and His character? What thoughts went through your mind?  Read Neh 9; Ask yourself: “Who is God?”

 

The wall of Jerusalem is completed, the enemies were unsuccessful, the gates are in place and it is time to “party!” Well, no not exactly; it is time to stop and thank God! It is time to listen to His Word! neh 9 17 god isa In fact, as the people listened to Ezra read the word there was no party mentality.  They began to mourn and weep because they realized how they had failed God in the past. Ezekiel reminded his listeners that would be exactly what their future family members would do when they returned to Jerusalem! Ezekiel wrote: “you will remember, be ashamed, and remain silent because of your disgrace when I make atonement for all you have done, declares the Sovereign Lord.” And today as we read in chapter 9 of Nehemiah we see that many, many years later that they knew this truth: “You are righteous with regard to all that has happened to us, for you have acted faithfully. It is we who have been in the wrong!”

We quickly forget how gracious God is and sometimes it takes a rude awakening to help us see that truth! Who is He? The people said: “you are a God of forgiveness, merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and unfailing in your loyal love.”

That is the God I serve, obey and love…at least that is what I hope is true in your life today.

Add a comment below to answer that question.

 

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How do stories like God killing someone make you feel? Queezy? Sad? God has a lesson for us in how we are to treat him.

1chron 10 to 13 no other goda

1Chron 10-13  These chapters begin and end in the same way: The Lord killed.

The scripture is plain and clear; death is the enemy we all face once and after that the judgment. Thus the sadness of that statement is overwhelming because of the stench of death is what we avoid. We euphemisms like one has passed, gone to a better place and others, but God simply says He killed.  Do you have trouble wrapping your mind around that statement? Like the world, we fail to realize that God is holy and He is the author of life and death.

Why does God kill someone? 

God killed Saul for his unfaithfulness and God killed Uzzah for the same reason. God is jealous and He is holy and we are to treat him as such. Both Saul and Uzzah treated God carelessly. Because Saul failed to listen to the prophet Samuel and failed to listen to God, God eventually quit listening to Saul. In the end, God finally killed him because Saul’s attitude was irreverent.  Because Uzzah had perhaps come too comfortable with the Ark in his home, he failed to remember that the Ark was the very presence of God. When he reached up to touch the Ark, his irreverence was revealed and God killed him.

Do these two stories cause you to be uncomfortable?

Perhaps it is because we, like Uzzah or Saul, have become too comfortable with God.

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What do you think of sin?

Do you casually dismiss what God says about sin? Learn from this sad interlude in the life of Joshua.

Joshua 7  Joshua 7 john-mark-smith-2aJoshua may have been the ‘never.look.back’ man, but even he faced trials and like us, he too sometimes fell flat on his face seeking answers. Take the case of the sin of Achan. The victory at Jericho spurred Israel on and after scouting out the territory of the next city, felt a small force could take it. How wrong they were; 36 men died in that battle and the residents of Ai had a victory party.

Joshua fell on his face before God and his prayer is an echo of what the Israelites had said to Moses over a 40 yr period as they wailed and complained to God. But God was less than happy with his chosen leader and responded “Get up! Why are you lying there face down?” Sometimes God has to do that with us as well. It isn’t God’s fault that we are in this pickle, but our own sin. Unbeknown to Joshua, there was sin in the camp. God challenged Joshua to take steps to eradicate the sin and the sinner and we must do likewise. Even though the Israelites had heard of God’s directive of the ban on all things in Jericho, Achan had casually dismissed it. How like us. We know what God desires but we fail to think ahead to the consequences of disobedience. Do you dismiss sin? Do you think “God will understand.”  Unlike us, God does not dismiss sin but demands purity and righteousness. We foolishly think our sin only affects us. Be forewarned; “be sure your sin will find you out.” [Num 32:23]

Learn from this sad interlude. Allow the Holy Spirit to prick your heart of any sin that lurks there so that God can bless us.

Photo courtesy of: John-Mark Smith/Unsplash + caption

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Do You Pray for Righteous Leaders?

Did you pray for your spiritual as well as your government leaders today?

Deuteronomy 17 “Praying for Righteous Leadership”

Prov  14:34 “Righteousness Exalts a Nation” is as true today as it was when Moses penned the words of Deuteronomy. God knows his people’s hearts and how easily they can fall victim to the ways of Satan who often poses as an angel of light to sway our hearts and minds. His goal is to disarm us and why we need wise counselors and judges.

Moses said, choose wisely a man to lead who exhibits godly character and integrity.  He should know God’s Word for he will be the one held accountable for the nation’s sins and purity. That is why he was told to write a copy of the law and read it as long as he lives. In this way, he may learn to revere the Lord his God. Thus when faced with questions of guilt or innocence God’s law principles will guide him. He is to judge righteously so that men are protected from making presumptuous decisions hastily.

Today we are to pray for wise leaders who know the law so that the innocent are protected and the guilty held responsible. Pray their eyes are not swayed by the allure of silver and gold or the strength of horses. Pray they will not exalt themselves above their fellow citizens or turn from the commandments to the right or left.

deut 17 prayer jeremy-yapa-

This is what Moses wrote for Israel. Should we do less for the leaders we choose?

 

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Watch Out! You may be in Danger!

1Cor 3 “The Danger of Holy Huddles”

them vs us2AThe church at  Corinth was birthed under Paul but now left to their own they have become divided into Paul camps and Apollo camps. This is a warning to us about this happening to our churches and even para-church organizations. No matter how it comes about, know this; these “holy huddles’  divide.  As Paul hears about this,  his heart is grieved. This is the sin that grieves not only us but more importantly the Holy Spirit.

Paul’s response to the Corinthians goes something like this: you still are acting and reacting as if you never met Christ or were made righteous! You are behaving like one who is unregenerate and the evidence is front and center. This is not evidence of one who has a relationship with Christ and has become righteous, sanctified and redeemed!

Fast forward to today. If Paul could come to our local body of believers would he see the same thing? Listen to yourself, listen to your fellow congregants and see for yourself. Are we guilty of putting the pastor on a pedestal and not Christ? What happens when one of the church staff falls from grace? That very action reveals where our priorities were and are. Some of those who were followers of that person may also fall away too because they focused on them not Christ who became for us wisdom from God.

How does this happen? We need to look no further than what Paul noted. It happens when we revert to fleshy actions and attitudes. It should be a reminder of what Jesus told Peter: “You are a stumbling block to me because you are not setting your mind on God’s interest but man’s.” [Matt 16]

 

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