Hosea 8:4-5
"They set up kings without my consent; they choose princes without my approval. With their silver and gold they make idols for themselves to their own destruction. Throw out your calf-idol, O Samaria! My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of purity?"
"How long will they be incapable of purity?"
These words are so applicable today. After all that God has done to redeem us, we are so prone to depart from Him, to seek the pleasure of our own lust, and to focus upon ourselves the glory and praise that are due to God alone.
Seemingly, we have time, energy, and concern for "everything but God." How feeble are our excuses! When an opportunity for service arises, the time is not convenient. When we need to be responsible, other things occupy us. How unfaithful we are when it comes to spending time with God in the study of His Word, or in intercessory prayer for the needs and concerns of others. How needful it is for us to search our hearts to see "where Christ is" in our spiritual journey. I think we will find that He is right where we left Him. He is waiting to cleanse and reconcile us to that blessed communion we once had with Him. Just as God asked Israel, so He says to us, "How long will you be incapable of purity, of giving your heart fully unto Me?"
May we learn to lean upon God's strength and discard our weak, sinful self for only then can we confess that we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.
blessings,
M.
"that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." (2 Corinthians 2:5)
20 May 2008
13 May 2008
How Long...
Exodus 16:23-30
He said to them, "This is what the LORD commanded: 'Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.' "
So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. "Eat it today," Moses said, "because today is a Sabbath to the LORD. You will not find any of it on the ground today. Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any."
Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. Then the LORD said to Moses, "How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions? Bear in mind that the LORD has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where he is on the seventh day; no one is to go out." So the people rested on the seventh day.
Read the passage and if you find yourself rolling your eyes and wondering why some of the people just didn't listen to God's simple instructions because there will be no manna on the ground on Sabbath, you are not alone.
The pigheadedness of such people does seem rather laughable, because we see wileful behaviour in action. It really begs the following question to be answered, "why would anyone choose to disbelief the simple instructions of a God who parted the Red Sea and rescued them from the pursuing Egyptian army?"
The truth is, our human hearts and minds are short-termed. All it takes is one incident and we will forget about the amazing might of God.
Did you know that that the disbelief shown in the passage above was the second time in a week? Just a few days earlier in Exodus 16: 19-20 it records the first incident:
"Then Moses said to them, "No one is to keep any of it until morning."However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell."
Sometimes we wonder why we often don't listen, or heed simple instructions. In instances where I encounter individuals who do what is wrong despite knowing otherwise, I can't help but to grit my teeth in frustration and wish I could strangle them. Thus, I'm really amazed by the patience of our God who has the grace to endure pigheaded creations like us. That He is slow to anger and quick to forgive our deafness and deliberate rebellion.
What can we learn from this passage? Plenty! Today can you look at your life with honesty and ask yourself if you are heeding God's instructions and commands? Or are you simply doing what your soul wants to do despite knowing that you need to live like the salt of the earth?
Here's a few common wrongs which God instructs us to not commit: Lust, quick to anger and equally quick to lash out, disobeying our parents, not honouring the Sabbath day, having a mouth that spews forth vulgarities or undignified language, dating an unbeliever, slothful attitude when you are to be productive, robbing God of His tithes and love offering, behaving as you desire instead of being a humble servant which brings God's glory.
Under the microscope of the living God, it is really scary to see the stubborn stains of sin which are on our life. As scary and aweful it is to step into God's light to see the dark stains of our sins, we have to recognise that this true revelation of our being will save us. Why choose to live a self-deluded, self-righteous life today and end up being thrown into the lake of fire at the end of our life.
May our eyes and ears be opened today!
blessings,
M.
"The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear." (Matthew 13:41-43 )
He said to them, "This is what the LORD commanded: 'Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.' "
So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. "Eat it today," Moses said, "because today is a Sabbath to the LORD. You will not find any of it on the ground today. Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any."
Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. Then the LORD said to Moses, "How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions? Bear in mind that the LORD has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where he is on the seventh day; no one is to go out." So the people rested on the seventh day.
Read the passage and if you find yourself rolling your eyes and wondering why some of the people just didn't listen to God's simple instructions because there will be no manna on the ground on Sabbath, you are not alone.
The pigheadedness of such people does seem rather laughable, because we see wileful behaviour in action. It really begs the following question to be answered, "why would anyone choose to disbelief the simple instructions of a God who parted the Red Sea and rescued them from the pursuing Egyptian army?"
The truth is, our human hearts and minds are short-termed. All it takes is one incident and we will forget about the amazing might of God.
Did you know that that the disbelief shown in the passage above was the second time in a week? Just a few days earlier in Exodus 16: 19-20 it records the first incident:
"Then Moses said to them, "No one is to keep any of it until morning."However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell."
Sometimes we wonder why we often don't listen, or heed simple instructions. In instances where I encounter individuals who do what is wrong despite knowing otherwise, I can't help but to grit my teeth in frustration and wish I could strangle them. Thus, I'm really amazed by the patience of our God who has the grace to endure pigheaded creations like us. That He is slow to anger and quick to forgive our deafness and deliberate rebellion.
What can we learn from this passage? Plenty! Today can you look at your life with honesty and ask yourself if you are heeding God's instructions and commands? Or are you simply doing what your soul wants to do despite knowing that you need to live like the salt of the earth?
Here's a few common wrongs which God instructs us to not commit: Lust, quick to anger and equally quick to lash out, disobeying our parents, not honouring the Sabbath day, having a mouth that spews forth vulgarities or undignified language, dating an unbeliever, slothful attitude when you are to be productive, robbing God of His tithes and love offering, behaving as you desire instead of being a humble servant which brings God's glory.
Under the microscope of the living God, it is really scary to see the stubborn stains of sin which are on our life. As scary and aweful it is to step into God's light to see the dark stains of our sins, we have to recognise that this true revelation of our being will save us. Why choose to live a self-deluded, self-righteous life today and end up being thrown into the lake of fire at the end of our life.
May our eyes and ears be opened today!
blessings,
M.
"The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear." (Matthew 13:41-43 )
11 May 2008
Confess and be Saved
Romans 10:10
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
A Scottish proverbs says "An open confession is good for the soul". The dictionary defines confession as acknowledgment; admission. It doesn't always have be a confession of guilt or sins, but just the act of opening ourselves up to bare one's soul and issues is often comforting- as opposed to concealing everything inside.
These past weeks, I'm learning to practice the act of verbal confession in my life. Especially through the darkest days of this past week. As I walk to the bus stop, I confess to myself the song which is based from Philippians 4:4 "this is the Day which the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it". I do it in full acknolwedgment that my head knowledge tell me that all things are in the Lord's control, yet my rational heart justs finds it hard to trust this truth completely. Therefore, I confess this scriptural truth because with my mouth, I will seal in faith what I choose to declare to my soul and my spirit.
Why should I, who am by nature no different from the careless and unsaved individuals at work "Rejoice in the Lord"? Because in spite of my wavering heart, my head knows that all things are under the control of and are being regulated by the Sovereign God, and because He has declared His love toward His own.
I fully know that all things are ordered by Him, and they are made to minister to our ultimate good. As Christians who have a hope in the everylasting God, the command is to "Rejoice in the Lord". There's really such a power behind this verse, simply because it is telling us that as we rejoice in the "Lord", Jesus is positioned as the master of every circumstance.
Every saturday when I enter in Living Spring's church compound, I see this verse of Ecclesiastes 3:1 which proclaims "there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven". It greatly reminds me that through the low seasons of my life and the current worries that I amble through, there is a purpose decreed by God, and not an act of random fate.
Therefore when the darkness closes in Lord, still I will say: blessed be the name of the Lord, blessed be the glorious name of the Lord. May you too choose to rejoice in the Lord, because all things work together for good of God.
blessings,
M.
"Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed." (Romans 13:11)
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
A Scottish proverbs says "An open confession is good for the soul". The dictionary defines confession as acknowledgment; admission. It doesn't always have be a confession of guilt or sins, but just the act of opening ourselves up to bare one's soul and issues is often comforting- as opposed to concealing everything inside.
These past weeks, I'm learning to practice the act of verbal confession in my life. Especially through the darkest days of this past week. As I walk to the bus stop, I confess to myself the song which is based from Philippians 4:4 "this is the Day which the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it". I do it in full acknolwedgment that my head knowledge tell me that all things are in the Lord's control, yet my rational heart justs finds it hard to trust this truth completely. Therefore, I confess this scriptural truth because with my mouth, I will seal in faith what I choose to declare to my soul and my spirit.
Why should I, who am by nature no different from the careless and unsaved individuals at work "Rejoice in the Lord"? Because in spite of my wavering heart, my head knows that all things are under the control of and are being regulated by the Sovereign God, and because He has declared His love toward His own.
I fully know that all things are ordered by Him, and they are made to minister to our ultimate good. As Christians who have a hope in the everylasting God, the command is to "Rejoice in the Lord". There's really such a power behind this verse, simply because it is telling us that as we rejoice in the "Lord", Jesus is positioned as the master of every circumstance.
Every saturday when I enter in Living Spring's church compound, I see this verse of Ecclesiastes 3:1 which proclaims "there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven". It greatly reminds me that through the low seasons of my life and the current worries that I amble through, there is a purpose decreed by God, and not an act of random fate.
Therefore when the darkness closes in Lord, still I will say: blessed be the name of the Lord, blessed be the glorious name of the Lord. May you too choose to rejoice in the Lord, because all things work together for good of God.
blessings,
M.
"Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed." (Romans 13:11)
Pig & Dog Friends
Proverbs 13:20
He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.
I always found the chinese term to describe friends who are actually scums, Pig & Dog friends, to be rather hilarious. But it is also a wise point for us to find ourselves good friends.
Behavioural psychologist state that we surround ourselves with people whom we admire and inspire or likeminded people who spur us. But in this day and time, we often have many friends and often anyone around us is loosely classified as a friend. But the mettle of true friendship is only tested in trials and hardships of life. you never know who is a true friend until a tragedy strikes.
I was taught once this lesson which I still hold in my head, be selective with how you define your friendship. Generally, everyone whom I know is an acquaintance and should not be considered a friend. This covers from colleague, classmate and church mates. The moment I classify the person as a friend, he/she is someone which I'm willing to open myself to and invest my time and effort on. A close friend is harder to find and this is someone which I'm able to have close communications and can rely on in my days of trouble. Therefore, I'm extremely selective and never really consider everyone whom I know to be a friend.
In the age of technology, I realised that the Gen Y people of today have many friends and buddies around them. Everyone knows someone who knows someone else, and with the explosion of social networking on the internet, it's become a global village. You must be either very aloof or have something wrong with you to have few friends. But, it also works both ways for someone to know so many people and surround themselves with so many contacts. After all how much good is derived from having so many contacts?
I do want to caution, however, the type of peers which you should have around you. In the corporate world, the best people often surround themselves with great leaders or peers because these people either provide the much needed wise counsel or they would spur them on to achive a higher sense of excellence. But if you select a group of whiny losers, it's unlikely you'll go anywhere. afterall, King of the fools is still a fool.
As a Christian, you have a responsibility to walk well and be that wise counsel to the non believers around. Importantly, are you also walking today with people who say things which you desire to say but are actually fools who are not spurring you ahead? We are all called to be the salt of the world, but we are also challenged to not foolishly seek after the company of fools. Who's a fool? He who says in his heart, there is no God.
Today may you reflect hard on the people whom you surround yourself with. Are you providing the wise counsel and light of God onto their paths. Or are they dead spiritually and preventing you from achieve a higher purpose in your life? Choose well your friends and the people whom you surround yourselves with daily.
blessings,
M.
"on behalf of a man he pleads with God as a man pleads for his friend." (Job 16:21)
He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.
I always found the chinese term to describe friends who are actually scums, Pig & Dog friends, to be rather hilarious. But it is also a wise point for us to find ourselves good friends.
Behavioural psychologist state that we surround ourselves with people whom we admire and inspire or likeminded people who spur us. But in this day and time, we often have many friends and often anyone around us is loosely classified as a friend. But the mettle of true friendship is only tested in trials and hardships of life. you never know who is a true friend until a tragedy strikes.
I was taught once this lesson which I still hold in my head, be selective with how you define your friendship. Generally, everyone whom I know is an acquaintance and should not be considered a friend. This covers from colleague, classmate and church mates. The moment I classify the person as a friend, he/she is someone which I'm willing to open myself to and invest my time and effort on. A close friend is harder to find and this is someone which I'm able to have close communications and can rely on in my days of trouble. Therefore, I'm extremely selective and never really consider everyone whom I know to be a friend.
In the age of technology, I realised that the Gen Y people of today have many friends and buddies around them. Everyone knows someone who knows someone else, and with the explosion of social networking on the internet, it's become a global village. You must be either very aloof or have something wrong with you to have few friends. But, it also works both ways for someone to know so many people and surround themselves with so many contacts. After all how much good is derived from having so many contacts?
I do want to caution, however, the type of peers which you should have around you. In the corporate world, the best people often surround themselves with great leaders or peers because these people either provide the much needed wise counsel or they would spur them on to achive a higher sense of excellence. But if you select a group of whiny losers, it's unlikely you'll go anywhere. afterall, King of the fools is still a fool.
As a Christian, you have a responsibility to walk well and be that wise counsel to the non believers around. Importantly, are you also walking today with people who say things which you desire to say but are actually fools who are not spurring you ahead? We are all called to be the salt of the world, but we are also challenged to not foolishly seek after the company of fools. Who's a fool? He who says in his heart, there is no God.
Today may you reflect hard on the people whom you surround yourself with. Are you providing the wise counsel and light of God onto their paths. Or are they dead spiritually and preventing you from achieve a higher purpose in your life? Choose well your friends and the people whom you surround yourselves with daily.
blessings,
M.
"on behalf of a man he pleads with God as a man pleads for his friend." (Job 16:21)
01 May 2008
Find Rest My Soul
Psalm 116:7
Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you.
I've just returned from a RR leaders training and it was inspiring and a good break away from life. But now that I'm back home, reality is setting in. I must confess that I'm not really looking forward to each day. So much incomplete work all around me, everything seems to be in a mess.
Work's got its issues which is getting me more riled up by the days. The options to move on seem available but then it's all not confirmed and I realised that I've grown to get more unnerved when circumstances around me are not in my control. Don't even get me started on Camporama stuff which seem to be going nowhere and seem to need alot more work and time, of which I seem to have none. Added to all is the key issue of having to witness people problems in church, or what would be clearer defined as problematic people. I really wish I won't be so affected by the weakness which I see in people. Oh that I pray that all would start living lives which are born out of wise decisions and Godly fear.
Frankly, Days/seasons like these I really remind myself why I don't want to live a long life and would rather pass away soon.
It all just hit me the past hour, this feeling of being depressed with the issues all about. A very dry feeling which is sapping me of life. All I wish I could do is to give up and take a long break. Yet, I know it's just a convenience called escapism. I've gone through such seasons before where I identify with David's cry "Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me?"
Yet I know that times like these, no amount of words, no songs, or anything else but the Holy Spirit can carry my soul through. For there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven. I shall walk these few daily steps and remember to comfort myself with the truth that the Lord has been good to me. (amen!)
My heart may not feel it yet, but with my mouth I'll confess Psalm 116:7 till I my heart follows what my mouth professes: "Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you." In the meanwhile, may the Lord protect my heart, head and senses that I would find rest and not tire myself out in wild imaginative abandon.
blessings,
M.
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matthew 6:34)
Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you.
I've just returned from a RR leaders training and it was inspiring and a good break away from life. But now that I'm back home, reality is setting in. I must confess that I'm not really looking forward to each day. So much incomplete work all around me, everything seems to be in a mess.
Work's got its issues which is getting me more riled up by the days. The options to move on seem available but then it's all not confirmed and I realised that I've grown to get more unnerved when circumstances around me are not in my control. Don't even get me started on Camporama stuff which seem to be going nowhere and seem to need alot more work and time, of which I seem to have none. Added to all is the key issue of having to witness people problems in church, or what would be clearer defined as problematic people. I really wish I won't be so affected by the weakness which I see in people. Oh that I pray that all would start living lives which are born out of wise decisions and Godly fear.
Frankly, Days/seasons like these I really remind myself why I don't want to live a long life and would rather pass away soon.
It all just hit me the past hour, this feeling of being depressed with the issues all about. A very dry feeling which is sapping me of life. All I wish I could do is to give up and take a long break. Yet, I know it's just a convenience called escapism. I've gone through such seasons before where I identify with David's cry "Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me?"
Yet I know that times like these, no amount of words, no songs, or anything else but the Holy Spirit can carry my soul through. For there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven. I shall walk these few daily steps and remember to comfort myself with the truth that the Lord has been good to me. (amen!)
My heart may not feel it yet, but with my mouth I'll confess Psalm 116:7 till I my heart follows what my mouth professes: "Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you." In the meanwhile, may the Lord protect my heart, head and senses that I would find rest and not tire myself out in wild imaginative abandon.
blessings,
M.
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matthew 6:34)
21 April 2008
The Goodness of the Lord
Psalm 27:13
I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living.
I love this verse. It's been made into a song which I can't recall the title but it's something along the line of Faithful God.
When I chanced upon this verse today in the midst of the devotional passage, I'm reminded of the hope that Christians possess that differentiates us from anyone else.
At the moment of salvation, we exchange the new life which Christ brings for the old that we live. In all circumstances, we enter into the realization of life more abundant as we draw upon the never failing grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. What we get is rejoicing for weariness, radiance for dreariness, strength for weakness, triumph through difficulties, and hope for uncertainty.
These past weeks have been trying with frustrating work issues. Honestly, if my eyes sees what is natural and I don't see God in the picture, I would say that work life is really annoyingly sucky and not worth pursuing. But, I'm reminded again that life is worth going through without despair because God is there in the picture and His hope avails inspite of what I perceive.
May you learn to trust this verse that you and I will see the goodness of God in the land which we are living in now.
blessings,
M.
"Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?" (Matthew 6:25)
I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living.
I love this verse. It's been made into a song which I can't recall the title but it's something along the line of Faithful God.
When I chanced upon this verse today in the midst of the devotional passage, I'm reminded of the hope that Christians possess that differentiates us from anyone else.
At the moment of salvation, we exchange the new life which Christ brings for the old that we live. In all circumstances, we enter into the realization of life more abundant as we draw upon the never failing grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. What we get is rejoicing for weariness, radiance for dreariness, strength for weakness, triumph through difficulties, and hope for uncertainty.
These past weeks have been trying with frustrating work issues. Honestly, if my eyes sees what is natural and I don't see God in the picture, I would say that work life is really annoyingly sucky and not worth pursuing. But, I'm reminded again that life is worth going through without despair because God is there in the picture and His hope avails inspite of what I perceive.
May you learn to trust this verse that you and I will see the goodness of God in the land which we are living in now.
blessings,
M.
"Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?" (Matthew 6:25)
07 April 2008
Amazed but not Transformed
1 Kings 18:21
Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him."
But the people said nothing.
Elijah was a great man who exemplified extraordinary faith and effective prayer. There are four remarkable instances in his life of the efficacy of the fervent prayer of a righteous man. He prayed for the restoration of the widow's son at Zarephath, and the child was restored to life. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three and a half years.
The last document of how God used him amazingly is written in 1 Kings 18 where he confronted the 450 priests of Baal at Mt Carmel. In modern context, it would have been an amazing television/cable reality spectacle as Elijah's challenge was to prove who was the true and living God.
What is alarming is the silence of the children of Israel. They were so blinded in their sinful lives that no one could answer Elijah's question. Similiar to today's popular reality programmes, the people literally participated in a game where they waited to see which God would answer the prayer with fire. Only then would they decide which was the real God for them to follow!
The bible records that when the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the sacrifice, the people fell prostrate and cried "The Lord, He is God". However, we need to notice something very significant. God's power was miraculously manifested, and the people were prostrate in fear. You would have thought that this would have inferred that the children of Israel weren saying; "If He is the true and living God, He shall be our God, and we will serve Him only."
I'm sure there were some who believed and committed their lives to Him. However, numbers of these people were only convinced, not converted, not transformed! They did not yield to the truth that He was the only true God, nor consent to the covenant He gave to all who believed in Him. The "miracle of the moment" had impressed them, even Ahab, but their hearts were not changed nor were their lives transformed. No true faith had taken root in them!
Today, when I realised the truth of the people of Israel in the bible, I'm deeply concerned as I draw some parallel to some of the lives which we have in church. These are individuals whom have seen with their eyes, felt with their physical, touched in the emotional and encountered with the spiritual, yet their lives today are unyielding, disobedient, wayward and disconnected despite the weekly attendance in church.
What makes me fearful (even somewhat resigned) is the sober recognition that the children of God who lived with one of the greatest prophets and witnessed such a powerful miracle still refused to respond and turn from their wicked ways. Therefore, what hope do the wayward ones of today have?
I struggle with the reality of 'believers', who are drawn by the Holy Spirit to a deeper commitment to the Lord, and yet often do not surrender their lives to be transformed. They, like the children of Israel, are impressed and convinced by the truth, but choose to live liberally instead of surrendering to God's righteous ways. Yet today, I acknoweldge in faith that with God all things are possible, therefore I elect now to pray in faith and break the bondages of corruptable sins in the individuals whom I observe to be indifferent to God. They will not continue to live a life like those of the Israelites of the old testement.
"Lord I plead the transforming power of Jesus, which you revealed to Saul on his way to Damascus, on the lives of those who have seen, felt and experienced you before but today have elected to walk otherwise. I pray 1 Kings 18:37 and for my 33 birthday present, this month I ask boldly for these lives to be transformed and returned".
If my God is for me who can be against me! Therefore, surely today I will declare, blessed be the name of the Lord!
M.
"Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again." (1 Kings 18:37)
Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him."
But the people said nothing.
Elijah was a great man who exemplified extraordinary faith and effective prayer. There are four remarkable instances in his life of the efficacy of the fervent prayer of a righteous man. He prayed for the restoration of the widow's son at Zarephath, and the child was restored to life. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three and a half years.
The last document of how God used him amazingly is written in 1 Kings 18 where he confronted the 450 priests of Baal at Mt Carmel. In modern context, it would have been an amazing television/cable reality spectacle as Elijah's challenge was to prove who was the true and living God.
What is alarming is the silence of the children of Israel. They were so blinded in their sinful lives that no one could answer Elijah's question. Similiar to today's popular reality programmes, the people literally participated in a game where they waited to see which God would answer the prayer with fire. Only then would they decide which was the real God for them to follow!
The bible records that when the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the sacrifice, the people fell prostrate and cried "The Lord, He is God". However, we need to notice something very significant. God's power was miraculously manifested, and the people were prostrate in fear. You would have thought that this would have inferred that the children of Israel weren saying; "If He is the true and living God, He shall be our God, and we will serve Him only."
I'm sure there were some who believed and committed their lives to Him. However, numbers of these people were only convinced, not converted, not transformed! They did not yield to the truth that He was the only true God, nor consent to the covenant He gave to all who believed in Him. The "miracle of the moment" had impressed them, even Ahab, but their hearts were not changed nor were their lives transformed. No true faith had taken root in them!
Today, when I realised the truth of the people of Israel in the bible, I'm deeply concerned as I draw some parallel to some of the lives which we have in church. These are individuals whom have seen with their eyes, felt with their physical, touched in the emotional and encountered with the spiritual, yet their lives today are unyielding, disobedient, wayward and disconnected despite the weekly attendance in church.
What makes me fearful (even somewhat resigned) is the sober recognition that the children of God who lived with one of the greatest prophets and witnessed such a powerful miracle still refused to respond and turn from their wicked ways. Therefore, what hope do the wayward ones of today have?
I struggle with the reality of 'believers', who are drawn by the Holy Spirit to a deeper commitment to the Lord, and yet often do not surrender their lives to be transformed. They, like the children of Israel, are impressed and convinced by the truth, but choose to live liberally instead of surrendering to God's righteous ways. Yet today, I acknoweldge in faith that with God all things are possible, therefore I elect now to pray in faith and break the bondages of corruptable sins in the individuals whom I observe to be indifferent to God. They will not continue to live a life like those of the Israelites of the old testement.
"Lord I plead the transforming power of Jesus, which you revealed to Saul on his way to Damascus, on the lives of those who have seen, felt and experienced you before but today have elected to walk otherwise. I pray 1 Kings 18:37 and for my 33 birthday present, this month I ask boldly for these lives to be transformed and returned".
If my God is for me who can be against me! Therefore, surely today I will declare, blessed be the name of the Lord!
M.
"Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again." (1 Kings 18:37)