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November 29, 2006

Word for Today.....Straddling the Fence Can be Painful

Scripture:          And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him.  And the people answered him not a word.  1 Kings 18:21
 
 Halted between two opinions...
 
Elijah was a prophet who boldly spoke the word of the Lord to the children of Israel.  Jezebel had prophets of Baal (a pagan god) that the people had been worshipping and then they would attempt to worship the God of Israel.  However, God doesn't work that way.  The bible tells us that He is a jealous God and doesn't play seconds to anything or anybody.   God had allowed three and a half years of famine due to the sins of Israel, but still they played both ends of the court. (A phrase my mother used to always say). The only reason Elijah had to risk his life to face down 450 prophets of Baal was because the people of God couldn't make up their minds.  They went with whoever was "on top" at the time.  Long before that day on Mt Carmel, the Israelites had received the Promised Land with a command to possess the land and to remove anybody and anything that would defile the kingdom and their holy God.  They delayed and compromised until those who followed God were in the minority.  Does that sound familiar?
We must take a stand for holiness and against sin and ungodliness!  "Fence straddlers" are those who refuse to make a decision on whether to be holy or not.  They tend to want to "go with the flow".   However, this is not the time to wander aimlessly between whether or not to obey God.  The bible says, "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other..."  Nobody wants to be considered second to their only love, so why do we expect God to accept that things, people, or whatever is more important to us than He is.
We MUST be willing to forsake ALL to follow and obey God.  The economy, changes in political structure and ever-changing whims of men do not affect God and neither should it affect us.  We have to do like Joshua and say "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."  When we straddle the fence we only hurt ourselves.  There is a song that I used to hear sang, "Whose side are you leaning on, I'm leaning on the Lord's side."  I want to rephrase the song to say, "Whose side are your sitting on; God or Satan?"


Be Blessed!   

 

Posted by donna at 03:35 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

November 22, 2006

Word for Today.....Power of Prayer & Praise

Scripture:  And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.  And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened and every one's bands were loosed.  Acts 16:25-26

 

EVERYONE'S BANDS WERE LOOSED!!!!

 

Paul and Silas had been beaten and thrown into prison simply for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.  The many stripes they had laid upon them were very sore, and you might have expected to hear them complaining of the rawness and soreness of their backs and shoulders. Not to mention, they were in the inner prison, their feet in the stocks, which, some think, not only held them, but hurt them; and yet, at midnight, when they should have been crying, they prayed and sang praises to God.  
This was not simply a time of prayer, but a "midnight" prayer; it was not in a house of prayer, but in a dungeon; yet the prayer was acceptable. It is at those times that we many times lose it and being to complain and wonder has God really give us the vision that we are trying to fulfill. We began to wonder if God is with us or not.  However, if we are facing afflictions,  the bible says, “Is any afflicted? Let him pray.”  No trouble, no matter how grievous, should hinder us from prayer.  Next, they praised God; for we have been commanded “in every thing give thanks”.  They not only praised God, but they sang praises to him.  They sang so loud that there neighbors heard the praises.  That is how we should react to trouble.  Instead of telling our troubles to our neighbors, we should praise God so much that they take notice.  Paul and Silas praised God for the miraculous favor that would be shown to ALL for the sake of Paul and Silas.  They praised God for being counted worthy to suffer for the sake of Christ. 
Right in the middle of their praise & worship service the earth began to shake and the doors of the prison were opened and EVERYONE’S shackles were released.  Those men praised God until their neighbors were delivered.  The power of prayer and praise is effective!  If we can ever understand the power that praise and prayer can bring not only to us, but also the people around us.  However, we have to stop thinking about where we are and think about WHOSE we are.  Stop being can't be concerned about what is going on around us or what trouble we are in, but WHO is in you.  Praise is a weapon that we have the God-given right to use when we are locked in the prisons of our lives.


Be Blessed!

 

Posted by donna at 10:32 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

November 15, 2006

Word for Today............THE REFINERY!

Scripture:   And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. Mal 3:3


THE REFINERY!


What is a refinery?  A refinery is a complex group of unit processes and operations used to refine or make pure certain materials or convert raw material into products of value.
The book of Malachi talks about God sitting as a refiner and purifier of silver.  Did you know that silver and gold are made up of the same metal components?  However, the purification and refining process determines the end and the VALUE of the metal.  Both go into the fire and are purified, but gold stays longer and therefore have more impurities removed. 
The scripture tells us that God SITS as a refiner to purify AND purge the sons of Levi (US!!).  The refiner sits and works with the metal and watches for the removal of the impurities and dross from that which is valued.  And so Christ is here represented as sitting, while his people are purifying and refining by the various ways and means he makes use of: it denotes the continued care of Christ over them; his eye is upon them, that nothing be lost but their dross and corruption.  His goal is not to destroy us, but He holds the silver and gold in the fire until he can see HIS reflection.  He performs this process not because He is a cruel God with a sick sense of humor, but He wants an offering of righteousness from us and we can’t do that unless we are refined AND purified.  That is why Christ died for our sins and has sent his word that he might SANCTIFY and cleanse the church (US AGAIN) with the washing of water BY the word. 
Christ wants to see HIS reflection in us and the only way for that happen is we take a trip to the refiner fire and jump in.
 Be Blessed!

Posted by donna at 12:54 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

November 02, 2006

Word for Today.........Love & Obedience

Scripture:  If ye love me, keep my commandments.   John 14:15

IF...

 

That is the real question!  IF we love Christ we would keep His commandments.   Do we love Christ enough to obey?   God NEVER demands obedience; He tells us very emphatically what we ought to do, but He never takes us and forces us to do it.  We have to obey Him out of pureness, honor and respect.  That is why whenever Christ talked about discipleship, He prefaced it with IF - you don't need to do it unless you really love me.  "IF any man will be my disciple, let him deny himself" (paraphrased) which means that we must give up our rights to Him.  God makes his standards and commandments very clear and if our relationship to Him is that of love, we will do what He says without resistance.  And if we resist, it is because we love some thing or someone more than Him.  Now everyone will argue that they have a "love" for God, but it is not a matter of whether or not you love Him.  The argument is whom do you love more.  See, I love to watch CSI and have come to also like Grey's Anatomy, both of which are television programs.  However, these two programs now come on at the same time, but on different television stations.  So the dilemma is which do I love more?  WHY?  My time can’t be spent going back and forth from one station to the other. (which many of us will attempt)  For me, there is no dilemma it would definitely be CSI.  Nonetheless, we some times try to "flip" between our love for God and our love for the world.  God ISN’T having it!  The bible says that you can not serve two masters, you will love the one and hate the other or hate the one and love the other."  Today technology has done us a favor and manufacture red televisions with picture within a picture, for those who are able to afford them.  This latest technology allows you to watch two different programs at the same time.  But with God there is "picture in picture” or "I love you but..." 

 

If we really love God, the choice is simply; KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS!

 

Be Blessed!

Posted by donna at 09:38 AM | | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)


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