That Which Is Needful

Focus verses: Acts 15:1-29

Some of the first century Messianic Jews had followed the Mosaic law all their lives. They could not conceive of anyone being chosen by God who did not follow those laws. Therefore they began to insist that the gentile believers be circumcised and follow all the dietary laws of Moses.

But Paul had seen gentiles converted by the Holy Spirit's falling upon them. The conversion of the heart came despite the outward appearances of the person. He recognized that people unaccustomed to the Jewish regulations would be hindered by these laws. What was important was the heart of the person being brought to Christ.

What is needed for the believer is a faithful heart, a heart hungry for the Good News.

Notice that the letter to the gentiles from this first church conference deals with the appetites. It asks them to follow certain dietary laws: abstaining from food offered to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.

These regulations are not only spiritually healthy, they have consequences for physical health as well.

When food has been offered to an idol, you have no idea what it has been exposed to, what salmonella or trichinosis or other disease it may be carrying. Often food contamination has to do with the dripping juices from raw meat (ie. blood). Blood is the ideal incubator for bacteria, especially at room temperatures. When an animal is strangled, the blood suffuses throughout the tissue - still an ideal incubator for bacteria. While there may be over-riding moral grounds for following the proscriptions, there are valid physical health reasons as well.

How interesting that sexual immorality is lumped together with these food proscriptions. I can't help wondering if the health reasons are not a large part of this proscription as well.

The thing most needed is a heart for God. When one desires only to please God, these "regulations" will not be onerous. They are simply a way of conveying one's gratitude to the Lord for all He has done for us.

Father, God,

Create in us grateful hearts, that we may follow Your edicts willingly, not grudgingly. Help us to recognize that what we gain is far more and better than what we eschew.

In Jesus' most precious name.
Amen

Fruits Of Idolatry

Focus verses: Ezekiel 23:46-49

The Lord has shown Ezekiel a picture of the sins of Samaria and Jerusalem. He likened them to prostitutes. They took what was actually due the Lord and gave it to idols and men. They traded the spiritual health of their cities for the tawdry baubles of power and wealth.

This should be a sign to us in the United States. We have adulterated the truth of God with a social gospel that proclaims tolerance of every kind of aberrant behavior. We fail to preach the facts of heaven and hell. We neglect the teachings of God's love and His righteous anger.

We have turned Him into a loving Father without regard for righteousness and His righteous wrath. We have given Him some respect - as long as we can make Him small enough to wrap our finite little minds around.

We seem to prefer a god that is as small as we are. We don't have that. We have a God who is too big to imagine. He's much too large to put into any box. And He is a jealous God. He will not allow us to give His glory and honor to another. That is spiritual prostitution.

It's ugly and self-defeating. It leaves us diseased in every sense of the word. God will let us reap the consequences of our infidelities so that we may know that He is the Sovereign God.

Father, God,

Preserve us from any form of adulteration of Your word. Keep us faithful to Your truth and help us to speak it without reservation.

In Jesus' most precious name.
Amen.

The Wages Of Sin

Focus verses: II Kings 23:1-28

This recounting of the deeds of Josiah fills this passage. After decades of unfaithfulness and the loss of the book of the Law of Moses, Josiah has the book read to him, and he decides to proceed under those auspices. He cleans the temples of their idols and forcibly removes all traces of worship to other than the Lord God.

The nation experiences a brief revival, but as soon as Josiah dies and his son, Jehoahaz, takes the reigns, the revival is over. Jehoahaz reigned only three months, but he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord - and the nation went along with it.

It makes me think that Josiah's success in returning Judah to the worship of the Lord was less about the Lord and more about the power and popularity of Josiah. This wasn't necessarily Josiah's fault, but people by their very nature are fickle. If Josiah had a winning personality and some charisma, then the people follow. But when Josiah's influence is silenced, the people go back to their faithless ways.

The consequences of the sins of the nation have been temporarily postponed, but they have not been canceled. The nation has sown wild oats; it is fruitless to pray for a crop failure. That harvest may be delayed, but the harvest will come.

We see many instances of skin cancer in our state. Generally this comes from an overexposure to the raw sun. If we don't wear skin protection while we are teenagers, we run the risk of multiple skin cancers which probably will not manifest until after we are fifty. Sun exposure as a teenager is the cause. Skin cancer forty or fifty years later is the effect.

In this instance multiple infidelities to the Lord. coupled with short-lived, shallow repentances have earned the nation this punishment. King Josiah's revival offered only a short reprieve.

Father, God,

Grant us wisdom in this hour to make decisions which will yield a fruitful harvest for You. Let us not be so short-sighted as to fulfill the desires of this moment at the expense of eternity.

In Jesus' most precious name.
Amen.

Adulterated Worship

Focus verses: II Kings 17:27-41

This passage just blew me away. I had always assumed that the children of Israel had worshiped either the Lord or the gods of the land where they were living. Here we're told that the king of Assyria sent a priest of the Lord back to the land of Samaria to teach the people how to worship the Lord.

But the people living there had their own gods so they simply added the worship of the Lord to the worship of the gods they had. Despite being warned against the practice of worshiping the Lord as just another god to appease, the people continued in their multiple gods form of worship.

"Even while theses people were worshiping the Lord, they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their fathers did." (v.41)

So what has this passage to do with us today? We don't necessarily call it worship -- perhaps hero worship -- but it's not the same thing, is it?

Yesterday, and for the last week, the news has been filled with the death of a single musician whom the tabloids and media hype called a king. We have a TV program titled "American Idol." We follow celebrities and their movements, their causes, their love lives, their clothing choices, their hairstyles. And many of us try to emulate them.

If that weren't enough, we have other idols that vie for first place in our lives, our professions, our influence, our finances, our positions of power.

God wants our whole heart - not just a small corner of it. Not even the top corner of it. He wants it all. Every other action or desire must flow from our love of God and His primacy in our lives.

All else is the worst form of adultery.

Father, God,

Help us to become more single minded, setting our hearts upon You alone. Teach us how to keep the other necessities of our existence in their proper place, subordinate to You.

In Jesus' most precious name.
Amen.

Presumption

Focus verses: II Chronicles 26:16-21

King Uzziah (also known as King Azariah just to help confuse us) was a successful King. He did what was right in the sight of the Lord -- except, he did not tear down the high places where the people sacrified to idols.

He became powereful and prideful -- a dangerous combination. He went into the temple to burn incense to the Lord. But only the priests were assigned and allowed to burn the incense. Uzziah had overstepped the bounds.

Worse than that, when the priests rebuked him for this transgression, he ranted and raved at them. But the Lord had the last word. Even as he was speaking leprosy broke out on his forehead.

Leprosy excluded one from all society in those days. Lepers lived in segregated valleys. If they were on the road they were required to call "Unclean, unclean" so that people would not come near them.

Uzziah was striken with leprosy as a punishment. I don't believe it was as much because of his attempt to burn the incense as it was because of his raging at the priests who tried to correct him.

Presumption is a terrible quality. It oversteps its bounds and refuses correction. It stiffens an unteachable and recalcitrant spirit.

Father, God,

Keep us open and malleable and teachable. Let us not fall into belief that our deeds, however good, entitle us to be more than You created us to be. Help us to be the best we can be at what You created us for.

In Jesus' most precious name.
Amen.

Promised Forgiv eness

Focus verses: Hosea 14:1-9

Despite the number of times Israel has strayed from the Lord, He promises forgiveness if Israel will simply return to Him.

That means to seek the Lord, to turn away from the idols they have chased, to truly repent of their unfaithfulness, to observe His commandments -- essentially to love Him above all else.

We have a problem with this. Loving a God whom you cannot see or hear or feel or touch is not as easy as loving something that has physical substance that you can see and feel. God is a spirit. But we live in a physical world. It's all too easy to get wrapped up in the things we can see and to forget that the real battle is in the spiritual plane.

The physical world makes demands on us. Things need tending; people require our attention; jobs must be fulfilled. All these things are important, but none so important as our spiritual well-being.

We can serve this portion of our lives only by our fidelity to God and to His edicts. Nothing less will do. Our return to Him will be rewarded by His forgiveness of our infidelities. He has said it.

Father, God,

Thank you for never changing. Thank you that You forgive those who repent and turn to You to heal their spirits. Grant that we may see the wisdom in loving and serving You alone.

In Jesus' most precious name.
Amen.

Nation Under God

Focus verses: II Chronicles 25:5-24

Time and again we see in scripture where the king followed God for a while and then turned to the idols of the country he just vanquished.

When that happens, the Lord sends a conquering invader to rebuke the wandering children of Israel. Then in captivity or distress, they begin to return to the Lord and ask Him to get them out of the straits they brought upon themselves.

Our country is in distress. We just heard our president say to an international audience that the United States does not consider itself a Christian nation. Anyone with a smattering of historical knowledge knows that the nation was founded by men who were primarily Christian. Some have argued that certain of the founding fathers were deists, not Christians, but that is sort of begging the question.

In fact, the favor of the Lord on the United States will be withdrawn if those of us who bear His name do not fall on our knees and follow the injunctions of II Chronicles 7:14.

If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

This is our challenge, to fall to our knees and seek God.

Father, God,

Grant us the special favor of hearts hungry for You. Keep us on our knees, seeking Your face for the sake of our country.

In Jesus' most precious name.
Amen.

Idols

Focus verses: Deuteronomy 5:5-10

God's first command to the Israelites deals with His essence and primacy in their lives. He tells the who He is -- the God who delivered them.

Then He proscribes worship or invocation of other gods. But time after time we see the children of Israel intermarrying and falling into the worship of other gods. Won't they ever learn?

Won't we?

We also fall away. When our total focus is our business, how does that honor God? We should put Him first in our business dealings. We may be the CEO of our business life, but He is the Founder and Owner.

Then there are our interpersonal relationships, family, friends, acquaintances. When we allow them to have first call on our lives, we have effectively turned them into idols. Anything that usurps our attention and draws us away from God is an idol.

So what is most important in your life today? Is it that project that must be done? Or is it time with God? A simple choice.

Father, God,

Help us to keep You first in our lives. Draw us ever nearer to Your heart and inflame our hunger and thirst for more of You.

In Jesus' most precious name.
Amen.