Getting Tipsy with Earth

The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall totter like a hut; its transgression shall be heavy upon it. And it will fall, and not rise again. -Isaiah 24:20

...we will fill ourselves with intoxicating drink, tomorrow will be like today, or even far better. -Isaiah 56:12

The earth is made to be intoxicating, no matter how hard we resist we daily take sips of her pleasures by sin. It could be an angry exchange we have with a partner, or a lustful thought about a stranger. Maybe we spend time daydreaming about our plans for future successes, or play out the reasons why we should be treated better by our spouse--considering all our pros and all their cons. When we start to enjoy and look forward to our sips of the world's lusts, they soon become a full glass. Next thing we know, we are tipsy in the flesh, and finally regularly being drunk. One of many things I love about the Bible is how literal and symbolic each lesson can be taken. Even if we never touch alcohol, we can become addicted to "the wine of her (the earth's) fornication" (Rev. 17:2). And what does alcohol do? It numbs, it lowers inhibitions, it distracts, it falsely empowers, and its most deadly characteristic is its ability to pull us away from God. LORD, allow my mind to always stay sober in order to glorify You, and recognize when the enemy is approaching. Help me Jesus to bear the fruit of the Spirit and stay clear of the lusts of the flesh. In Jesus name.

AMEN

Hear Him

And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Matthew 3:17

...suddenly a voice came out of the cloud saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, Hear Him!" Matthew 17:5 (emphasis added)

I love how God shows us over and over throughout the Bible how in need of teaching and correcting we are. Sometimes, or maybe I should say oftentimes, we are told something and we don't do what we should with the information we have. The greatest of these is the fact that we have a Savior in Christ Jesus, we have access to eternity in paradise with our LORD; yet may of us are still so infatuated with this temporary and short lived world. We focus on a single breath rather than our source of life itself. When God speaks of Jesus in the Bible He tells us He is pleased with Him and that He loves Him. God says this for us to know once at the baptism of Christ, and then again during the transfiguration--but at that time, God includes instructions. He wants us to "Hear Him!"; to listen to what Christ says. Prior to this verse, Jesus said to Peter, "Get behind Me satan!" because Peter had rebuked the will of God that Jesus made plainly known because it wasn't what he wanted to hear. Is there something God is telling you today that your are rebuking or just not listening to? The lessons we learn from scripture are as true today as they have always been--we must hear Him.

AMEN

If...then...

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. --Ephesians 2:8-9

I don't live in an "if/then" world anymore, I live in a finished one. As Christ took His last breath He said, "It is finished." That means all of God's promises were fulfilled. He paid the one and final payment for our sins, granting atonement and complete forgiveness to all who repent and believe. Before my faith was firm in this realization I was living in what I'll call an "if/then" mind-frame. Which is to say, "If I do this, then that will happen." This way of thinking is a works based attitude at best, and blasphemy at worst. In either case, it is the devil's way to have us diminish the value of Jesus's sacrifice--often without us even realizing it. The evil one will continually tempt us into this way of thinking, and it often takes the form of worry or anxiety--both of those thought patterns distract from our faith and trust in God's sovereign plan for our good. I think we can all relate to an "if/then" worry that is tailor fit to our current circumstances. LORD, I take hold of Your finished work--I accept Your perfect plan for me. Allow me to keep this mindset in my ups, downs, and all the days in between. In Jesus name.

AMEN