Half-Hearted Christians….

The world has nothing but contempt for half-hearted Christians.

34 “Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again?35 Flavorless salt is good neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown away. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!” Luke 14:34-35

Never Get To Taste….

When people reject God, for whatever reason or excuse, they will never get to taste any of God’s banquet. They will not experience His eternal love, mercy, grace, or kindness. Even when unbelievers are subjected to God’s common grace, they don’t recognize that it’s God doing the serving. They will permanently be banned from His presence, only hearing “away from Me you worker of iniquity”. All for the same reason Lucifer was kicked out of Heaven, because of his pride. Is it really worth it?

15 Hearing this, a man sitting at the table with Jesus exclaimed, “What a blessing it will be to attend a banquet in the Kingdom of God!”16 Jesus replied with this story: “A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. 17 When the banquet was ready, he sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come, the banquet is ready.’18 But they all began making excuses. One said, ‘I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please excuse me.’19 Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out. Please excuse me.’20 Another said, ‘I now have a wife, so I can’t come.’21 “The servant returned and told his master what they had said. His master was furious and said, ‘Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’22 After the servant had done this, he reported, ‘There is still room for more.’23 So his master said, ‘Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full.24 For none of those I first invited will get even the smallest taste of my banquet.’ ” Luke 14:15-24

People Believe Everything They Hear….

We live in a day when people believe everything they hear. This hasn’t changed since the fall of man in the garden. A simple headline is taken as truth and never read through. The reason people do this is simple, they are lazy. And when the headline agrees with people’s distorted agenda, the effect is intensified even more. People want easy, they don’t want to have to think for themselves. People want to feel rather than think. As this proverb calls them, they are simpletons. Prudent people research topics/issues. They find the sources behind the research, within the stories. They find out who is funding the cause. This way it’s easy to spot a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Satan wants to deceive and destroy anyone who follows God. He finds it rather easy to distract a simpleton. Don’t be one.

15 Only simpletons believe everything they’re told!The prudent carefully consider their steps. 16 The wise are cautious and avoid danger; fools plunge ahead with reckless confidence. Proverbs 14:15-16

Prepared When The Pop Quiz…. Happens…

Sometimes, our mistakes are tests from God. When we fail to do this or that, God uses it as a test to see how we will react. An example of this is when Israel, specifically Joshua, failed to drive out all of the pagan people living in the “Promised Land”. God did it to show the Israelites their ineptness to be fully obedient. Because of this, they lacked discernment and faithfulness to God. The Israelites were not any different from the pagans living in the land. How much are we like that? How often to we allow ourselves to get caught up in the busyness of the day and fail to do things we should do? Like witness to co-workers? Or comfort a hurting, lost soul? Or even give God credit for doing something incredible? Or even something as simple as pointing another to God? Every single morning a Christian wakes up, he faces a battle, or a “test”, and how he responds determines his grade. Start your day getting into to God’s word, and in prayer ask for discernment, and I’ll guarantee you’ll be better prepared when the “pop quiz” that tests your faith happens.

22 I did this to test Israel–to see whether or not they would follow the ways of the Lord as their ancestors did.” 23 That is why the Lord left those nations in place. He did not quickly drive them out or allow Joshua to conquer them all. Judges 2:22-23

Faith Can Be Easy And Hard…

There are easy things in life and their are hard things in life. Christianity includes both. Having faith can be easy and hard. Being obedient to God can be easy, but most of the time it takes hard work. It takes discipline. It takes dedication. It takes a commitment. It takes fortitude. When we don’t listen to God, or better stated, disobey His commands, the consequences are much more difficult to deal with. Here in Judges we see an example of this playing out. The Israelites were instructed to drive out all of the pagan people living in the Promised Land. God told them He would fight for them and drive them out. But, as we all know, they failed to do it. As a result, God tells them that these pagan people will be a thorn in their side, and their false gods will be a constant temptation to them. This thorn in their sides was probably the same “thorn in the flesh” that the Apostle Paul had to deal with. When we don’t listen to God, and do what He says, we end up dealing with consequences far more complex than we ever imagined. And worse yet, they become a daily reminder of the fact that we failed in doing what we should’ve done. Be faithful, be obedient, for no one wants to deal with constant turmoil that could’ve been prevented.

1 The Angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said to the Israelites, “I brought you out of Egypt into this land that I swore to give your ancestors, and I said I would never break My covenant with you. 2 For your part, you were not to make any covenants with the people living in this land; instead, you were to destroy their altars. But you disobeyed My command. Why did you do this? 3 So now I declare that I will no longer drive out the people living in your land. They will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a constant temptation to you.”4 When the Angel of the Lord finished speaking to all the Israelites, the people wept loudly. 5 So they called the place Bokim (which means “weeping”), and they offered sacrifices there to the Lord. Judges 2:1-5

When Your Source Of Joy Doesn’t….

When your source of joy doesn’t come from God, the laughter will eventually end. The “fake it till you make it” mentality robs us of authenticity. When a person tries to fix things through worldly means, leaving God out of the picture, withholding truth, grief and sorrow can only be disguised for so long. God is the Ultimate, Permanent Healer of the soul. Go to Him, ask Him to heal you. He never disappoints, for He never fakes anything.

13 Laughter can conceal a heavy heart, but when the laughter ends, the grief remains. Proverbs 14:13

Both Are Eternal….

There’s two ways to live your life, your way or God’s way. They each have different outcomes. Both are eternal, but in opposing places.

12 There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death. Proverbs 14:12