Author: Bob

An extremely sad thing happened in our extended family. One man had the stunningly horrific experience of discovering two of his very young grandsons he deeply loved, die within 3 months of each other. That is devastating enough! He was directly or indirectly involved in both deaths. The subsequent pain resulting from these deaths has been overwhelming. The natural result of the shock is to point fingers and place blame. Try to imagine either losing your child or being the one who was associated with each death. How is a person supposed to deal with the pain, especially with the initial steps in the grieving process?

Where does God fit into that real-life scenario? Since we are believers in Christ, our minds tell us we can’t blame Him. Yet, in the recesses of our finite minds, we at least wonder if God was negligent in watching over these children. As Jesus’ close friends, Mary and Martha separately accused Jesus, saying, if you would have been here, my brother (Lazarus) would not have died. Or, if we don’t blame God, do we reluctantly blame the deaths on the negligence of a grandfather who deeply loved his children and grandchildren?

Let’s face it. Knowing God is who the Bible describes Him to be, He could have prevented it from happening, as He has done in so many other situations. No earthly human knows the full reason for all the tragedies or very unfortunate events that happen to us, our friends or to people we read about in the news.

The ironic thing is most of us have loved our pets. We watch our daughter’s dog (Biscuit). She wants to eat when we eat and seems to want to please. However, there is absolutely no way for Biscuit, or any other pet, to understand what we are thinking. God loves us and we love God. We understand He died for us, although we do not have the capacity to know all there is to know about that very important truth. We can understand, from what the Bible says, that God is love and comes to live within us. However, there is so much we cannot comprehend about all that is involved in that piece. Since He lives within us and He is love, how is it we don’t always shine out His love? We have a tough time understanding all that goes into that one aspect. I could write far more about that, but the fact is, we are finite, and He is infinite. Just as there is a chasm between what we and our pet can comprehend, there is an even wider chasm between what God’s creation can comprehend about its creator.

So why is it we become so emotionally charged when we don’t understand what God, in His great wisdom (enough to create and maintain the universe) plans and allows to happen? Our pet has enough sense to be content to not understand what we think or plan, so why can’t we accept we are not God and cannot know all He knows or does with us? Are we so egotistical that we won’t believe or trust God when He doesn’t tell us everything—even though our mind or emotions don’t have the capacity to grasp what He could tell us?

Try to imagine with me how different life might be if we didn’t think we had to understand the whys of everything that goes on in our life? Do you imagine we might be more content, at peace or rest, and happier just living within our given circumstances? I’ve been trying to get off my high horse and release my felt need to control the world around me. I’ve been learning in my retirement, I have more gratitude, more peace, more patience and more love as I take my hands off the steering wheel of my life. My goal is to mature to the level where I can face a tragedy and, after regaining my equilibrium, I can get on with living a grateful, joyful and peaceful life.

I’ve been listening to the book Generation Z Unfiltered by Tim Elmore. It is a terrific book for those raising or otherwise working with today’s teenagers. He effectively points out how those of us in a different generation focus on their obsession with phones, screens and apparent irresponsibility on their jobs. But in doing so, we are overlooking the admirable qualities this generation has. Our assignment is to rise to the occasion and help them build on their strengths rather than nag them about their weakness.

What Tim says we are doing is something we do in a variety of areas of our life, including our spiritual lives. We can become so obsessed with specific doctrine, liturgy, method of worship, etc. that, like the legalistic Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day, we miss the whole point in what Jesus teaches about the kingdom of God and His passion for us to become an integral part of it. We could say the same thing about obsessions of power, wealth, etc., found in our secular culture.

This micro-legalistic living is more prevalent than we imagine. It robs a person of a more dynamic and well-rounded life. In a religious setting, those raised in a more legalistic church, or who have a stronger traditionalist personality, can unconsciously fall into that obsessive mindset. I know because as I look back, I can see that dark cloud hung over my thinking.

King Hezekiah was a righteous king of Judah, but he made mistakes, as we all do. In Isaiah 37 and 2 Kings 18, without consulting God, Hezekiah presumptively rebelled against the king of Assyria—world leading empire of the day. When the king confronted Hezekiah with his massively superior army, Hezekiah recanted and offered to serve the Assyrians again—but that was not enough for the Assyrian king. The Assyrian king sent Hezekiah a devastating letter. He put on sackcloth and ashes and went to God’s temple and laid the letter before the Lord. God promised to intervene, which He miraculously did, but He never confronted Hezekiah about his presumptive act against God’s authority. When I noticed this, my initial response was, “but God, Hezekiah acted presumptively against you! Why aren’t You addressing this grave issue?”

In this setting, I realized my righteous value system was totally out of whack. God saw the bigger picture of Hezekiah’s humble heart, and that was far greater than his sin of presumption. I haven’t always seen it that way. It was a great eyeopener for me! I felt ashamed and again in need of God’s generous grace. But also, very grateful the Spirit revealed it now.

Carrying that perspective through life is an unnecessary weight I have carried far too long. I suspect I have now been set free of it. I think of so many others in the church who demand certain behavior, dress, doctrine before God can accept them. They even insist on using only the King James Version of the Bible. We sometimes put expectations of this sort on our children instead of stressing that they embrace an intimate relationship with God.

How about you? Are you expecting more of yourself than what God is expecting? God is far more interested in your heart and that of your family and friends than He is in the minutia of right things, beliefs or behavior. His love covers a multitude of sins. That is what He wants of us as well. Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8, NLT2).

I took a personality test in which my scores showed me to be a classic Traditionalist. My scores revealed my default thinking is more black and white on issues and being a rules follower. I suspect I may lean towards thinking as the religious rulers of Jesus’ day.

These religious leaders championed a form of righteousness (right living) that is still quite common today. They achieved their right living through self-discipline or determination. It was their expression of obedience to God. But Jesus said this about their righteousness. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:20 (ESV) The Message translates that verse this way. Unless you do far better than the Pharisees in the matters of right living, you won’t know the first thing about entering the kingdom. It is crystal clear; God is unimpressed with righteousness manufactured by human inventiveness. It is also clear if a person constructs their hope of entering Heaven based on their right living, they will NOT make it to Heaven.

The religious leaders had asked Jesus “by whose authority” (key word here) did He drive the money changers out of the temple? (Luke 20) Jesus uses an allegorical parable to picture the type of righteousness God does accept. He tells of a landowner (representing God’s authority) who went to great lengths to build an ideal vineyard. He rented it out before going on an extended trip. Upon returning, the landowner discovered his renter had claimed ownership of his vineyard, as shown in the renter’s physical abuse of the owner’s servant.

Righteousness (right living) was a symbol used to validate authority. The religious leaders had fabricated an elaborate system of right living and used it to validate their authority to control the people. In the parable, it meant they used their lookalike righteousness to validate their ownership of the vineyard. This mindset is justified their physical abuse of the landowner’s servants.

The defining difference between God and man’s lookalike righteousness is its source. God’s righteousness represents who He is, not just His behavior. He imbeds this part of Himself as a gift into the heart of the person who becomes a Christ follower. In contrast, God considers man-fabricated righteousness as filthy rags (literally, menstruating woman’s rags – Isaiah 64:6). It may look holy but was like fool’s gold, worthless. (Roman 3:10-16) God only honors the righteousness His Spirit plants within a person and detests whatever is created by our efforts.

You don’t have to understand the symbolism in Jesus’ parable to know this. You and I are misguided if we place living in just the right way over a passionate love for God. Jesus’ encounter with the rich young ruler clarifies that. (Mark 10.17-22) In that light, you must ask yourself, what is the real reason I try to live life in a right way? Am I putting out the effort in order to impress others or earn the favor of my family, friends, or community? Or am I doing it out of my passion to be an apprentice of Jesus? The religious rulers did the right things but only to impress others (play out their role as religious leaders) so they would receive their praise. They memorized the Bible and had admirable knowledge of it. Yet they totally missed the point of God’s message in it. Unfortunately, today many are just like the Jewish leaders, more in love with living right than in passionately loving the fullness of God. That is shown in how much they reflect on the Bible or otherwise spend intimate time with God. Where might you find yourself on this continuum? As I look back, at times I have been more concerned about living righteously than in learning more about the Bible God I claim to love so much.

Is God as interested in what you do in ministry for Him, in your behavior, or is He more interested the developing your spirit deep within you? There are scores of activities you can engage in. But normally, the leaders try to link your skill set with one of their ministry areas. In a recent conversation with a believer about their spiritual journey, I learned a lot about his involvement in a ministry and heard very little about his life-giving relationship with God. It reminded me of the story of a guy Jesus encountered who is often called the rich young ruler referenced in Mark 10.17-22.

The intriguing aspect of the story was a young man who had the best of all this earthly life could offer: youth, wealth, and power. However, he also had a sense he was missing some of the more important things in life than power and possessions. Why else would such a successful man come to Jesus and ask this question?

Religion, regardless of what brand or flavor it might be, is essentially composed of doing the right things and avoiding the wrong things. Knowing humanity, Jesus answered by giving him an answer that would expose the intuitive need that the man was seeking to fulfill. Carefully note this. Jesus answered You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother’ (Mark 10:19, NIV). Wow! Can you say that about how you have lived your life? The man’s response was very revealing. He said, Teacher, all these I have kept since I was a boy Mark 10:20 (NIV)! Does that sound like how you may have answered about your faith in God?

Please note that Jesus points to ‘why’ the man sensed he still lacked something important. Jesus looked at him and loved him. One thing you lack. Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me (Mark 10:21, NIV). Please know that there is nothing intrinsically wrong with youth, wealth, or power. They can only be a hindrance when allowed to blind a person from their felt need for God’s help. If anyone trusts more in their performance than in God’s mercy and grace, their inner spirit will sense they need something more. This becomes evident to them as it did for this man when they slow down long enough to take a personal inventory. They can then sense, like this man, that there is more to Christianity than just the doing part. Please understand that doing in the form of loving and serving is essential to following Christ—but ONLY when it is done out of a deeply felt passion for God.

Jesus wasn’t saying his wealth, power, or anything else the young man had was bad—not at all! He was saying until the heart of a person is totally invested in loving and serving God, all he/she has is unadulterated religion—whatever brand it might be. Remember Jesus said, you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength (Mark 12:30, NLT2). When a person loves that deeply, even an unbeliever can sense the loving believer possesses something more significant than religion.

Let me be very clear. The Bible teaches serving in a ministry is vital to the spiritual maturation process (Eph. 4:12-13). However, there IS more to Christianity than what so many fantasize it to be. It is not just about developing knowledge or busy activities. There is an indescribable pleasure that comes from an intimate relationship with God. It can even restore health to our body, soul, and spirit. Are you more like the rich young ruler or like Jesus?

I have erroneously assumed that God created humankind to have man love, praise, and serve Him. But I can now see that is not true. The idea of Him creating something or someone that would bring Him love would infringe the fact that God is perfect and therefore would need nothing, including our devotion. John Piper writes that “the impulse to create the world was not from weakness, as though God were lacking in some perfection that creation could supply”. Johnathan Edwards wrote: “It is no argument of the emptiness or deficiency of a fountain, that it is inclined to overflow.” God did not create man to get anything by doing so. How might that strike you? So why would a fully satisfied God create humankind who would bring Him so much pain?

It is illuminating when the Bible says, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4, ESV). But can we take just a single verse and have a complete picture of all the truth the Bible teaches? Never! Looking deeper into the Bible, we find it also reads: Then God said, “Let us (plural) make man in our (plural) image, after our likeness” (Genesis 1:26a, ESV). This reveals more about the Bible God. This verse means God is not a single being but exists in multiple parts. I found another Bible verse that adds clarity about God in Jesus’ words to His disciples. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19, ESV) Here we discover God exists in three persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Another verse that adds insight into God is in the Son’s (Jesus’) prayer to His Father. How might this relate to the question, why would a completely satisfied God create humankind who would bring Him so much pain?

Jesus, the Son, said “Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy (John 17:13, NLT2). Who receives this joy? It is not God nor His Son. The Son is giving joy, not receiving it. Jesus prayed, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me (John 17:20-21, ESV).

Why, then, did God create you and me? When one loves deeply, he/she wants to give generously. God did not create us to GET joy, but to GIVE. What do we receive? We receive the unbelievable privilege of becoming one in love and unity with the triune Godhead. God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have such mutual love, it is evident in how they think and live. It is like they dance as One. Try to imagine this. Christ has made it possible for you and me to become one with Them and dance with Them in their impeccable love, ecstasy, truth, righteousness, and all that makes Them divine. Let that fill your mind, emotions, and inner being!

We were created to satisfy our deepest thirst for life, love, and pleasure as we orbit our life around Him—NOT in trying to get others, or our circumstances, to orbit around what we think makes us feel good. When you and I glorify God by centering our entire life around Him; then each of us will step into the dance for which we were created.

Are you finding your greatest pleasure in dancing with God? If not, what have you been allowing to keep you from that ultimate pleasure? What attitude, habit, mindset might you need to adjust so you can enjoy dancing with the Godhead? Why not start to identify what adjustments need to be made today so you can live the best life possible for the rest of your earthly life?

We normally do not enjoy facing hardships, especially the tragic or very painful ones. Our initial response to them is to go out of our way to avoid them. They blur our fantasy of God being all-loving and kind.

 

I have erroneously assumed that God created humankind to have man love, praise, and serve Him. But I can now see that is not true. The idea of Him creating something or someone that would bring Him love would infringe the fact that God is perfect and therefore would need nothing, including our devotion. John Piper writes that “the impulse to create the world was not from weakness, as though God were lacking in some perfection that creation could supply”. Johnathan Edwards wrote: “It is no argument of the emptiness or deficiency of a fountain, that it is inclined to overflow.” God did not create man to get anything by doing so. How might that strike you? So why would a fully satisfied God create humankind who would bring Him so much pain?

It is illuminating when the Bible says, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4, ESV). But can we take just a single verse and have a complete picture of all the truth the Bible teaches? Never! Looking deeper into the Bible, we find it also reads: Then God said, “Let us (plural) make man in our (plural) image, after our likeness” (Genesis 1:26a, ESV). This reveals more about the Bible God. This verse means God is not a single being but exists in multiple parts. I found another Bible verse that adds clarity about God in Jesus’ words to His disciples. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19, ESV) Here we discover God exists in three persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Another verse that adds insight into God is in the Son’s (Jesus’) prayer to His Father. How might this relate to the question, why would a completely satisfied God create humankind who would bring Him so much pain?

Jesus, the Son, said “Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy (John 17:13, NLT2). Who receives this joy? It is not God nor His Son. The Son is giving joy, not receiving it. Jesus prayed, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me (John 17:20-21, ESV).

Why, then, did God create you and me? When one loves deeply, he/she wants to give generously. God did not create us to GET joy, but to GIVE. What do we receive? We receive the unbelievable privilege of becoming one in love and unity with the triune Godhead. God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have such mutual love, it is evident in how they think and live. It is like they dance as One. Try to imagine this. Christ has made it possible for you and me to become one with Them and dance with Them in their impeccable love, ecstasy, truth, righteousness, and all that makes Them divine. Let that fill your mind, emotions, and inner being!

We were created to satisfy our deepest thirst for life, love, and pleasure as we orbit our life around Him—NOT in trying to get others, or our circumstances, to orbit around what we think makes us feel good. When you and I glorify God by centering our entire life around Him; then each of us will step into the dance for which we were created.

Are you finding your greatest pleasure in dancing with God? If not, what have you been allowing to keep you from that ultimate pleasure? What attitude, habit, mindset might you need to adjust so you can enjoy dancing with the Godhead? Why not start to identify what adjustments need to be made today so you can live the best life possible for the rest of your earthly life?

While a quotation may be true, unless it is put in context, how it is repeated may come out being the exact opposite of the truth. This is often motivated by a newspaper wanting to sell newspapers or by someone on social media who intentionally or unintentionally repeats only what they wanted to hear. I’ve been falsely quoted in our local newspaper. It misrepresented me and what I said. Sadly, words are like fire that destroy and cannot be reversed, even though they may later be retracted—which rarely ever happens. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it! It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell. James 3:5-6 (MSG)

When a highly sensitive incident occurred in our community, a reporter asked for my comments on it. Unfortunately for me, she took my comments totally out of context. It may have sold more newspapers but at my expense. The inaccuracy of what she wrote irreparably damaged my reputation and that of the church family I served. A false truth is compounded many times over because of the deeply sown suspicion of the truth. No one knows what to believe as truth.

This happens even when quoting words out of the Bible. A verse taken out of context with the rest of what the Bible teaches can seriously mislead others. An example of this can be noted in what Jesus taught.… Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. John 16:23b (ESV) Taken along with another passage like John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 40  For the one who is not against us is for us. Mark 9:38-40 (ESV) If these verses are singled out, they lead one to think if they just verbalize the words ‘in Jesus’ name’, they can get whatever they selfishly want.

However, Jesus also puts those words in context when He said; “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ Matthew 7:21-23 (ESV)

Jesus’ promise that incredible things will happen if we use His name is absolutely true. But we can’t write checks in His name for things we selfishly want. Using His name implies living as an authentic apprentice of Jesus. This means seeking to learn and practice thinking about how He thinks and responds to His guidance as He responded to that of His Father. In the context of the rest of what the Bible says, this does NOT mean if we unintentionally make a wrong choice, it nullifies His promise. He is so generous in giving us His grace. It does mean earnestly endeavoring to live as He lived and humbly confessing our sin when we do slip.

How long have you gone in life without facing a speed bump? Not a literal one as in a school parking lot, but what felt like a crisis of any sort in your daily grind of life? These are the times when your plans are thwarted by struggles with your health, family, job, financial, life-changing decisions, or even your faith in God. Tension between good friends or unpredictable weather conditions can force you to change your plan, leaving you very annoyed. All speedbumps are not equally severe, but all disrupt life’s routine.

In spite of all the incredible miracles God did on behalf of the early Hebrews, speedbumps like shortage of water on occasion and boring manna (God provided food) seriously discouraged them. At times, they wanted to get rid of Moses (their leader) and go back to slavery in Egypt. Of course, we see that as an insane option, but sometimes speedbumps can look and feel so daunting, they seriously twist our minds and emotions. The first time the Hebrews arrived at the Promised Land, they acknowledged it was their dreamland, but they also saw the speedbumps. Intimidating giants occupied their Promised Land! They must have been fantasizing they could just waltz into vacant cities with ready built homes. All they expected to do was to walk in and set up housekeeping and live happily ever after. But that is not God’s way of loving us. He intended for them to have to fight for this gift so He could give us even more. They would not have to fight with their own strength alone. He would join them and use His power and wisdom to bring down the walls of cities, give them strategies to defeat their enemies, and empower their warriors to fight. The people would definitely have a divine advantage over anyone they fought, but they would still have to fight.

This is one of God’s wondrous ways. He doesn’t want to just give us a magnificent gift. He wants to position us so He can continue to give us more of Himself, His love and power. How does He do this? He does by allowing us to repeatedly encounter speedbumps that will force us to humbly acknowledge our need and go to Him for help! Without question, salvation is clearly a gift we cannot earn! However, the Bible also tells us to fight the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12) and work out your own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). It is in and through the fighting and the working out of our salvation that we are shaped into His very likeness. Discovering more of just how great and loving God is literally transforms the way we think and what we believe. His objective for you and me is NOT to give us money, good relationships or to have fun. His express goal for us on this earth is for us to keep growing until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ (Ephesians 4:13, NLT2). Imagine that! All the gold, popularity, power or whatever else looks so appealing, fades away when compared to being made into the full and complete standard of Christ!

So, when do you want God to stop allowing you to endure speedbumps? Paul explains that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them (Romans 8:28, NLT2). You and I will never know this dimension of His grace if we don’t encounter those pesky speedbumps. The most daunting speed bump Jesus endured physically was the abuse of the cross and, spiritually, separation from His Father. How did He do it? The same way you and I can endure our speedbumps. He saw the joy ahead of him, so he endured death on the cross and ignored the disgrace it brought him. Then he received the highest position in heaven, the one next to the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2b, GW).

I am captivated by how Hezekiah, a highly revered Old Testament king of Judah, was so much like us today. Apparently, He made a presumptuous decision that later brought him to a crisis point. You can only appreciate the resemblance by knowing his backstory.

Hezekiah’s father, king Ahaz, claimed to worship God but was a horrendous model of a follower of God. Hezekiah became a co-ruler then sole ruler at 25 years of age (2 Chronicles 29:1). Perhaps because of a godly mother, one of the first acts of his reign was to open the doors of the Temple of God and lead the people into a spiritual revival. The Bible reads Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before or after his time. 2 Kings 18:5 (NLT2) That would have included David and Solomon!

When things were going so well, he made a costly decision. His father had agreed to pay taxes to the Assyrian empire when it was at its zenith. However, that empire was fracturing by the time Sennacherib became its king. Hezekiah then decided to join in the rebellion of other nations (such as Egypt and Babylon) and stop paying the tribute his father had agreed to pay. When Sennacherib’s army began to crush scores of the rebellious cities, King Hezekiah sent this message to the king of Assyria when he was laying siege to Lachish: “I have done wrong. I will pay whatever tribute money you demand if you will only withdraw.” 2 Kings 18:14a (NLT2) If he would have consulted God before deciding to rebel, do you think he would have felt the need to make such a humble confession? It is easy looking back in history to criticize Hezekiah for not trusting God to deliver him.

However, if God had told Hezekiah to rebel, Hezekiah most likely would have told Sennacherib he was coming against God, so prepare to be defeated. But he didn’t. Nor is there any hint that he had consulted God before making this humble confession. Could it be that Hezekiah realized he had neglected asking God before stepping out in rebellion? If so, this humble confession was a reflection of his righteous character, not lack of faith?

When God chooses to bless our humble love and worship, it is extremely easy to become so caught up in the moment we neglect to continue to be the same humble, God-fearing person that allowed God to bless us in the first place. Instead, we presumptuously make critical decisions without consulting Him that later humbles us. I’m sure I have done that and I’ve watched others pridefully fall into the very same trap. Some people begin to overspend money, abuse their power by lording it over others, or try to use man’s methods to improve on the talents they have assumed to be their own.

In Hezekiah’s case, God saw his freshly humbled heart and miraculously intervened. We remember this incredible intervention story, not the broken humility involved due to his presumptuous decision. Our broken and contrite heart is what arouses God to show Himself strong on our behalf. Are you being careful to not take God’s blessings for granted and remain totally dependent upon His mercy and grace? Or, has your pride been keeping you in the unwise decision mode which goes from bad to worse? Are you feeling grateful for living dependent on Him or feeling a ping in your inner person that, like Hezekiah, you also have become too presumptive and need to humbly repent to God and man and receive God’s forgiving grace?

I recently read an excellent devotional by Nicky Gumbel who has worked with the Alpha program. He pointed out there has been a shift in our culture so that the battle today is not as much about God as it is about Jesus. He reported many will say that they believe in God and are even open to the idea of the Holy Spirit. But increasingly, Jesus has become the stumbling-block. They say things like, ‘I don’t get the Jesus bit.’ It is not logical to them. It reminded me of how Satan put such a subtle spin on God’s love and commands that Adam and Eve doubted God was truly good. This led them to reject His Word and authority. This deceptive tool has continued to mislead humanity through the millenniums. Why? Because far too often it works.

I received a response from a misled man who read one of my blogs. He saw God as autocratic and cruel by demanding suffering from humans (including Jesus). In my lifetime, I have seen how the atrocities of sin against God’s laws for living the best life possible have dramatically shifted. So many, including many church goers, sin is now synonymous with a mistake or not the best choice. It is not reasonable to them that God’s Word would define sin being so bad it requires the death penalty. This redefinition has deluded thousands! The Bible clearly teaches, the person who sins is the one who will die. Ezekiel 18:20 (NLT2) For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 (NLT2) Indeed, nearly everything is purified with blood according to the law, and apart from the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. Hebrews 9:22 (LEB)

Jesus, God’s Son, was born as a human so humanity could identify with God. Satan has nefariously taken this identification factor and spun it around so that today young people so identify with the humanity of Jesus that they totally miss His deity. By redefining sin to be nothing more than a casual bad choice of the moment, a spiritually blinded person does not get the fact Jesus had to die on the cross for their sin! This is clear in how few experience godly sorrow which alone can result in changing the direction of their life. For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death. 2 Corinthians 7:10 (NLT2)

Sad to say, I suspect this delusion is due to neglecting to stress, in churches or small groups, how terrible sin really is. This subtle failure will lead hundreds to reject God’s authority over them as Adam and Eve did.

Our failure to stress the severity of sin has caught up with us and now people are paying the terrible consequences of our neglect.

This is NOT to suggest that those who share Christ should stress doom and gloom, in contrast to joy in serving Christ! Truth MUST be balanced with the love as well as fear of God. It is the joy of the Lord that is your strength! (Nehemiah 8:10) It is essential to live His joy out in our daily lives. Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Philippians 4:4 (NLT2) In the midst of that, the lack of healthy, reverential fear of God’s righteousness and justice will gradually drain away that same joy of our Lord because, sin separates us from God. (Isaiah 59:2) It happened to King David in the Bible and can happen to any of us today.