:: To Worship Him ::

 

  We must all realize that we are living in very serious times.  All we have to do is look around us and know that we are experiencing the time that Jude talked about in verses 17-19.  We read that  ‘In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.  These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.’  Paul calls these people ‘enemies of the cross of Christ.  Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame.  Their mind is on earthly things.”  Philippians 3:18-19 

 

  We are experiencing a time when all the forces of hell are being used to prepare the world for the time of Antichrist.  We see marches in revolt against the good of our nation, we see brother against brother in conflict, we see debauchery, ungodly practices and deceptive teachings in the world that are not from God.  We are seeing forces walk into God’s houses and begin to influence and bend the teachings and practice of our churches.  These teachings are bringing a lethargic spirit, causing the members to become tranquil, relaxed and comfortable.  It is sapping the strength and vitality from the works of God, causing Christians to think more of self comfort, instant gratification, pleasures of the flesh and comfort.  It becomes all about me!  Not good!

 

  This laxity is extremely dangerous!  Remember the story of the experiment of the frog.  The scientist were trying to determine how much heat the frogs were able to survive in.  They decided to start testing with the highest possible level of heat.  Because of their natural reflexes, the frogs were able to jump immediately out of danger when they were dropped in boiling water.  After this procedure failed, the scientists put the frogs in cool water and gradually increased the heat.  When they used this process, they were able to bring the water to boiling and the frogs never moved.  We are somewhat like the frogs.  We have allowed ourselves to grow comfortable and have lost the edge and passion of our salvation.  We have become complacent!

 

  Our only hope is getting serious with the Lord.  In these last days we must wake from our slumber, repent and get back on track.  The world needs the Church.  I need the Church! 

 

 

  “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.  Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.  And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”  Ephesians 4:31-5:2

 

  So often we give far too much ground to satan in our lives because we refuse to forgive one another or we fail to walk in love.  We are to put off all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor and slander with malice.  These attributes are the opposite of Christian kindness.  They are part of the old corrupt self that must be put off.  After we have put off, we must put on Christian kindness.  Christian kindness is not merely an external change of manners.  It must be an internal change of heart.  We must be tenderhearted.  We must be moved with compassion when we see injustice, rampant abuse, and certainly never be used by satan as an instrument for such behavior.  Tenderhearted people are easily touched and affected.  Tenderhearted people are kind to one another and easily forgive others.

 

  God requires us to forgive others from our hearts or He will turn us over to the tormentors (Matthew 18:34,35).  We are to be merciful to others as our heavenly Father is merciful to us.  We are to forgive as we have been forgiven.  Forgiveness is a choice.  It is possible because God requires it of us.  God is the one that will bring justice in the situation.  Since He is the one that brings justice, we are then free to forgive others and release them. When we truly leave those hurts in God’s hands, we are no longer bound, but free.  We may not be able to forget but we are not bound by the pain any longer. 

 

  Lord, help me to walk in forgiveness, being tenderhearted and kind toward others as You have forgiven me, accepted me and love me.  What a wonderful and loving Father You are!  

 

 

  “And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity; And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.”  Luke 2:36-37

 

  Anna was a dedicated woman of God.  She ministered to the Lord day and night with fastings and prayers.  Anna was well aware that a Christian’s life must first be dedicated to ministering to the Lord.  She had learned  the most important thing.  Most Christians know this but we get busy and side-tracked.  When we have not prayed, or worshiped God before we try to serve Him, then we are only serving Him out of our own power.  When we do anything in our own strength we can forget the eternal value of it!  Anna did not minister in her own strength.  She was a prophetess of God and spoke forth His Word because she first ministered to the Lord. 

 

  We can so often be out of touch with God because we are racing ahead of Him.  It takes a lot of patience in this day, when everything is so fast-paced, to wait upon the Lord.  We think we are waiting but at the same time we have our foot gunning the accelerator.  “Hurry up, Lord, can’t You see I’m on a tight schedule!”   Isn’t it wonderful in a painful way that the Lord isn’t moved by our schedule?  I want to be like Anna, the minister of the Lord.  She had learned what I must learn: MINISTER TO THE LORD BEFORE SERVING!

 

 

James 1:22 tells us that we must “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”  In the Old Testament, book of Ezekiel 33:31 we read: “They hear thy words but they will not do them.”  Ezekiel prophesied the Word of God to a generation that heard his words but did not act on them.  In other words, his prophetic message to them had very little effect.  Also, Isaiah had similar response.  God had warned him that his message would blink eyes and shut ears and harden their hearts lest they convert and be healed. We see this same message show up in the four Gospels, Acts and Romans.  In the James passage (1:22)  we see the same warning. 

 

  What is so significant about ‘hearing and not doing?’  James gives it to us.  We deceive ourselves!  “Everyone that hears these sayings of mine and does not do them, shall be likened to a foolish man who built his house upon the sand.”  I heard someone say that truth heard and not acted upon is a dangerous thing; that not acting upon what we know to do will reap disastrous results. 

 

  Maybe our generation is no different.  Maybe we are getting too much information.  Maybe we are over-entertained.  Maybe we have learned to be spectators only and not participants.  Maybe we are the most miserable of all.  If we have been Christians for some time we probably have a head full of Scriptures.  The preachers have done their job, but as hearers have we heeded? 

 

  Let us not continue to fall into the trap of  hearing only.  We desperately need God’s help, lest we continue to hear God’s Words and do nothing about them, deceiving ourselves.  John 13:17 says, “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” 

 

 

  Galatians 6:7-9  “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.  For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” 

 

  How many times have we heard the phrase “We reap what we sow?”  If we are careful to scrutinize our past and look around at others’ history, we readily see the wisdom in that statement.  Every cause will bring its effect.  Every action will produce a consequence.  Madame Chiang Kai-shek wrote that the Chinese have a saying: “If a man plants melons he will reap melons; if he sows beans, he will reap beans.”  It is true that life keeps a record on each one of us.  At some point in our journey we pass through the department where our actions are scanned and totaled.  We are then faced with the reality; “our life equals the sum total of our actions.” 

 

       Fact:  What I am today is the result of what I did yesterday.

       Fact:  What I will be tomorrow is the result of what I did today.

 

  I have two options. 

        Sow to the flesh.  Reap corruption.  Experience the wrath of God.  Be denied from the Kingdom of God.

        Sow to the Spirit.  Reap everlasting life.  Experience the blessings of God.  Reap the bountiful harvest of my sowing. 

 

  Sir Robert Watson Watt, the inventor of the radar was arrested himself for speeding.  He had been caught in a radar trap.  Shortly after this irony,  he wrote this poem:

 

          Pity Sir Robert Watson Watt

            Strange target of his radar plot,

              And this, with others I could mention,

                A victim of his own invention.