“Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles. So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.”
Romans 1:21-25 NLT
I’m sure you’ve probably heard the phrase: “All that glitters is not gold.” Indeed, many people have lived the painful truth expressed therein.
In the days of the California gold rush (1848-1855), over 300,000 people from all over the United States risked life and limb in hopes of finding a mother-lode of gold. The thing is, many of the inexperienced prospectors—far from finding a mother-lode of gold—found a load of, well, pyrite. And although pyrite can be a source of sulfur, it’s not the quick trip to wealth they were seeking.
Tragically, the running after of a false hope doesn’t end with inexperienced gold prospectors caught in the spell of glittering pyrite.
The fact is that people have always had the tendency toward chasing after what appeals to their flesh senses, only to be left more miserable and destitute in spirit after each empty pursuit.
The Lord, speaking through the prophet Jeremiah, addresses the tendency of Israel to always be looking to a source other than Himself.
“For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned me— the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!”
Jeremiah 2:13 NLT
Israel refused to seek after God, the source of life, choosing rather to seek the empty source the world offers.
In our opening scripture, we see Paul writing to the Romans concerning just such a situation in terms of those who worshiped idols. But make no mistake, idol worship goes far beyond sitting in front of an image and humming. Anytime we allow the “shiny objects” dangled in front of us by the devil to divert us from seeking after the Lord, we have abandoned the true and living God to run after falsehood.
Child of God, we must keep our eyes on Jesus, following after Him, seeking Him above all else, and not fall for the distractions offered up by the enemy of our souls. Otherwise, we may well find that the fool’s gold we are pursuing has our name written all over it.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
“Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” “But we are descendants of Abraham,” they said. “We have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean, ‘You will be set free’?” Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.”
John 8:31-36 NLT
Most people are aware of the power of addiction. We’ve all seen lives, families, hopes and dreams, destroyed because of addiction. Many of us have even seen family members suffer because of addiction. Sometimes we are the one who has fallen into the trap of addiction.
We understand all too well the power and pull of chemical addiction with alcohol and other addictive drugs. We’ve also seen addictions that involve things like food, or even being addicted to things having to be done in a certain way (compulsive behavior).
Some people are addicted to pornography, or even to social media. Have you noticed that when you are “scrolling” on your phone, it is sometimes difficult to stop? Even that behavior is self-perpetuating.
Now, an aspect of sin of which many people are unaware, is the addictive nature of sin—any sin. And, the more sin someone commits, the more they are compelled to commit sin.
The irony is that people who want to do whatever they want to do without regard to whether it is sinful, equate that with freedom. What they fail to realize is that with every sin, the hold sin has on them is further tightened.
The bottom line is that without the freedom that comes through faith in Jesus Christ, we are addicted to sin and can’t break loose from it.
In our opening scripture we see that the religious leaders were offended when Jesus said that He offered truth that would make them free. After all, their father was Abraham!
Jesus’ answer to them pointed out a simple truth: Those who sin are enslaved to sin. Sin cannot be “managed.” We must die to sin by identifying with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Only then can we follow after righteousness. Only then are we free to become like our Lord.
“Therefore there is now no condemnation [no guilty verdict, no punishment] for those who are in Christ Jesus [who believe in Him as personal Lord and Savior]. For the law of the Spirit of life [which is] in Christ Jesus [the law of our new being] has set you free from the law of sin and of death.”
Romans 8:1-2 AMP
Make no mistake, if we are not submitted to Christ, we are necessarily slaves of sin. And sin, leads to death. But if we do submit ourselves to Jesus as our Savior and Lord, we can say no to sin and pursue righteousness.
Only when the Son has set us free from the power of sin, are we totally free!
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
Psalms 34:15 NLT
You are probably familiar with the story of Abraham and Sarah. As well, you probably are familiar with the “Hagar incident.”
Sarah, being barren, encouraged Abraham to have a child by Hagar, Sarah‘s servant.
It seems that as soon as Hagar became aware that she had conceived, she began to treat Sarah with contempt. So, being very distressed with the situation, Sarah confronted Abraham concerning Hagar‘s behavior towards her.
Abraham left dealing with Hagar to Sarah, as Hagar was her own servant. Sarah then began to deal harshly with Hagar, causing her to run away into the wilderness.
As the story goes, the angel of the Lord found Hagar in the wilderness, and instructed her as to what she should do.
“The angel of the Lord found Hagar beside a spring of water in the wilderness, along the road to Shur. The angel said to her, “Hagar, Sarai’s servant, where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I’m running away from my mistress, Sarai,” she replied. The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her authority.” Then he added, “I will give you more descendants than you can count.” And the angel also said, “You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael (which means ‘God hears’), for the Lord has heard your cry of distress. Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, “You are the God who sees me.” She also said, “Have I truly seen the One who sees me?” So that well was named Beer-lahai-roi (which means “well of the Living One who sees me”). It can still be found between Kadesh and Bered.”
Genesis 16:7-11, 13-14 NLT
Hagar’s interaction with the angel of the Lord caused her to address the Lord as, “You are the God who sees me” (El Roi in Hebrew). In fact, this name for the Lord first appears in the Bible in the story of Hagar.
Hagar must’ve felt very alone and scared out in that wilderness. But it doesn’t take being in a wilderness to experience the feeling that no one really sees or understands what you’re going through.
I suspect that you can identify with that lonely, sometimes desperate, feeling. Indeed, most of us can. Ironically enough, sometimes we can feel alienated and alone, even in the midst of a crowd, even in the midst of our own family and friends. And, we may feel this way, even when we know there are others who are ready and willing to help us.
In our opening scripture, we see David expressing his confidence in the fact that the Lord watches over the righteous, sending help when it’s needed.
Child of God, whatever you are going through. No matter how alone you feel. Please understand that as you call out to the Lord from a heart that is broken and yielded before Him, He will not fail to see you. He will not fail to answer you.
I’ll leave you today with some lyrics from an old spiritual that originated in the days of slavery in the United States. People, working hard in fields owned by someone else, cultivating and raising food for someone else to eat, found solace in these words:
Nobody knows the trouble I've seen
Nobody knows but Jesus
Nobody knows the trouble I've seen
Glory, Hallelujah
Indeed, we can all find solace in those words.
No matter what our situation, no matter how bleak the road we walk, He knows! He sees! He cares! He answers!
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!