Meditation

09/06/2021

“Remember today that your children were not the ones who saw and experienced the disciples of he Lord your God: his majesty, his mighty hand, his outstretched arm; the signs he performed and the things he did in the heart of Egypt, both the Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his whole country; what did did to the Egyptian army, to its horses and chariots, how he overwhelmed them with the waters of he Red Sea as they were pursuing you, and how the Lord brought lasting ruin on them. It was not your children who saw what he did for you in the desert until you arrived at this place, and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when the earth opened its mouth right in the middle of all Israel and swallowed them up with their households, their tents and every living thing that belonged to them. But it was your own eyes that saw all these great things the Lord has done.” (Numbers 16:28-35)

Love for God leads His people to accept gladly and obey the moral limits He sets for us. Such obedience is never a temporary means of gaining something from God, but a continuing, permanent response of love towards God. God led the people out of Egypt and He allowed them to see the signs of His acts on their behalf, and to see the evidence of His power in history to lead us to love and obey Him. Does He do this for every generation, no. He expected the first generation to teach their children and grandchildren and so on from that time forward. God can and still does some pretty amazing things, not all recognize because they haven’t been taught about Him and His Son Jesus Christ. People have come to believe that being a good person is enough, because they don’t know and have not been taught, that faith without acts is a requirement to enter the kingdom.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY:

Precious Abba, You call all of us to seek You out in our lives, and so many do not. We are to be Your witness to the world, of Your Power, Grace and Marcy, and that You desire all come to know You in their own lives. Today, let us recommit ourselves to serving God through His Son, Jesus Christ. We know that we must be about witnessing our own stories, to reveal You to as many as we can, before You send Jesus back. It is in His Name we pray. Amen

THOUGHT OF THE DAY:

“A world of love makes a world of difference.”

KNOWING GOD:

“Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what is good in his sight.” (1^st Chronicles 19:13)

Beloved, God is faithful t His own basic character. He is a righteous God who always does what is right. In all circumstances. Because he is righteous, He defines what is good. We do not always have sufficient information and wisdom to know what is right, but if we place ourselves in His capable hands, good will result for our faithfulness.

I AM:

“Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women. Must we hear now that you too are doing all this terrible wickedness and are being unfaithful o our God by marrying foreign women?” (Nehemiah 13:26-27)

Looking back at Nehemiah 10:28-30 it says: “Faithfulness to family is subordinated to faithfulness to God. Nehemiah forcefully condemned Judean men who risked their allegiance to God by marrying women who worshiped other gods. Marriage should strengthen faith, not test it.

Historical examples teach us God’s moral will. Nehemiah could show the sin of His people by merely pointing to Solomon’s example. Sin is sin, beloved, and there is no exception to it, but there is repentance. By confessing your sin before God, and revealing to Him you know you have sinned and seek His forgiveness; then, and only then is forgiveness given. God does not look at our minds or hear our words, He looks at our hearts, and knows if we are truly seeking your relationship with Him to be restored. If you are seriously sorry for your sins, He will forgive.

SECOND THOUGHT of the DAY:

“For when I brought your forefathers out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you, but they did not listen or pay attention, instead they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward. From the time your forefathers left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants, the prophets. But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their forefathers. When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you; when you call to them, they will not answer. Therefore say to them, “This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord is God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips. Cut off your hair and throw it away; take up a lament on the barren heights, for the Lord has rejected and abandoned this generation that is under his wrath.” (Jeremiah 7:22-29)

God’s people need to understand all of God’s history, not just the parts they may like. Israel chose to remember the call for glorious ritual but conveniently forgot the call to moral obedience. Judgment is the end result for their actions.

These words form the ideal of the covenant relationship (Deut. 26:16-10). God’s desire for His people involves relationship rather than ritual. God’s ideal is that He should be the God of all people with all serving Him. Being God’s people means obeying Him. He loves us and wants us all to serve Him obediently, with joy in our hearts, and to brings others to Him. For those who teach a prosperity message, He has a place for them as well, and it is not in the kingdom. Beloved, it’s about faith, truth, seeking salvation and a willingness into His kingdom to praise His holy name and serve only Him. I pray this is understood and a blessing for each of you.