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Remember the wisdom, commandments and the great deeds of God
You most probably might be familiar with the Bible verse about God’s people getting destroyed for lack of knowledge. Now this comes in Hosea 4:6 but that is not there entire verse. The full verse is given below:
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. (Hosea 4:6)
This verse clearly says that the people of God get destroyed due to lack of knowledge and it shows where this lack of knowledge comes from. Now, I totally agree that if one never read nor heard of the Lord God and his wisdom and about the Gospel of Jesus Christ his Son, then such a person lacks knowledge in spirit. However, coming to the above mentioned verse, it means that due to the people of God rejecting the knowledge which comes from God they enter the path of destruction. And this is not the only thing the people do wrong. I mean, they forget the law of God, which leads to God’s judgement on them and their children.
What I’m trying to say is that don’t just read the Word of God, but make sure you do not reject it. Because when you choose to accept it, your chances become better for remembering the wisdom which the Holy Spirit has inspired all through the Scriptures.
Let me make it real to you; If a pilot suddenly in mid flight says he forgot the route to Canberra to Oregon, wouldn’t the passengers in the aircraft panic? If a soldier in the middle of the battle says he forgot how to reload his rifle, would the enemy ceasefire for him till he learns it for sure?
Then, even in the realm of spiritual things there are things, bad things which happen to those of God’s people who don’t make a commitment to remember all the instructions the Lord wants them to remember. For instance, there are people who attend church but never teach their children about not stealing. Suddenly, the children steal at school and get caught and so then their parents are called for by the school authorities to their shame. Next, instead of accepting the fact they didn’t teach their young one’s not to steal they blame God for ‘letting this thing happen to my family’. What a vile little concept of justice they have! For when they try to find fault with God they end up not respecting him as they should.
When the Bible clearly says that the people of God are to teach their children to fear the Lord God and follow his commandments, they cherry pick the things they want to follow and skip the part about exhorting their young ones to live in a holy manner at all times. And when their children are in trouble due to stealing, these very people have the audacity to blame the Lord! “Pathetic”, is what I’d call their actions.
Don’t follow the path of ignorance which only leads to trouble. If read the Bible and hear the Gospel preached, why not make it a point to remember the Word of God? This will ensure that when you live your life you never forget to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.
Bible verses for reflection:
* “Only take heed, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children’s children— how on the day that you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me, ‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children so.’ (Deuteronomy 4:9-10)
* then take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. (Deuteronomy 6:12)
* “Take care lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, (Deuteronomy 8:11)
* Remember His marvellous works that He hath done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth; (1 Chronicles 16:12)
* Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. (Luke 8:18)
* The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not slip. (Psalm 37:31)
* Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits (Psalm 103:2)
* My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. (Proverbs 4:20)
* For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.” (Luke 8:17-18)
* Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. (Hebrews 2:1-4)
* Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. (Revelation 3:3)
Christ be with you!
Spoon feeding people everything
I heard of a great Christian convention center where lots of miracles happen, even to this day. They were not teaching any new doctrine. All they did was to reemphasize all the teachings of the Bible systematically. People would receive the truth and be set free from their sins and sickness.
Since they taught very basic stuff I wondered that how come so many adults who over there for miracles (I was a kid at that time) behaved as if they’re hearing such teachings for the first time. Surely repentance, salvation, prayer and the love of God through Jesus Christ are things are taught at elementary levels. Why did they find it so difficult to grasp?
Then I realized that such people won’t attempt to learn anything from the Bible unless they’re spoon fed. If you ask them let’s pray for so and so person’s health they will demand to know everything about one. Yet after telling in detail they won’t commit themselves to praying for that person unless you prompt them again and again. If you point out the need to stop worshipping false idols they will stare at you in amazement until you read out to them the Ten Commandments and verses against idolatry.
As I’ve walked with the Lord God and have been ministering to people I couldn’t help but notice that the teachability factor for some is very low. They won’t do their research. They will avoid reading the Bible. All they want is someone to preach only on the topic they want to hear about. As usual they get offended if they don’t get to hear what they want, it’s if they know the teaching but only want you to parrot it for them. This provides an open door to deception and legalism. Deception because the Devil tricks both the preacher and the congregation into choosing to condone a sinful existence while only promoting blessings instead of repentance. Legalism because the people will accept only those things the pastor speaks about even if it’s already written in the Bible unless they personally hear it from their pastor.
About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 5:11-14)
I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready (1 Corinthians 3:2)
Now if you are in position where you are dealing with people who prefer to be spoon fed the doctrines of Christ what are you to do? Firstly, be patient and don’t lose your peace. Secondly, try to positively and politely encourage such people to have constant reading and discernment of every section of the Bible. And finally, learn to draw the line and say no to people who do not improve despite your warnings. The final tip may seem odd but you need to make them understand that being forever on ‘milk and baby’ mode won’t help them grow in the Lord Jesus. This doesn’t mean that you stop helping them if they will fall in trouble due to their ignorance. Rather it’s that you affirm and show that you value your time and efforts that you have applied to help them.
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Fighting alone for the Lord?
It may be possible at certain times in your life that you are fighting alone for the Lord. Your cause is to uphold the name of the Lord where someone has tried to malign his name either by words or by misuse of God given authority. However, most of the people you know won’t get into the fight as this doesn’t fit into their ‘theology’.
I’m not talking about arguments with atheists and other non-Christians. This is where you usually get support from other believers in Christ. Actually, the case here is when there is sin and heresy rampant in certain churches. For instance, a minister of the church is found living in adultery or committing child abuse and there is 100% valid and unquestionable evidence against them. Suddenly you find yourself the only one opposed to such wicked leaders of the church. No one in the church wants to take them on out of fear of being kicked out of the church or being called a hypocrite. They only want the church services to continue normally as if something never went wrong.
Why would they do so? There are many reasons. They value such leaders more than the victims and church and even God himself. Some fear being made outcasts by the Christian community they live in. Of the many reasons, I personally hate the most silly reason by some who say they don’t have the time for this. Yeah right, but they have time to get abundantly offended when atheists make fun of their wicked church leaders who are by the court of law proven to be molesters and adulterers.
Why just protest abuse? There are instances in which religious leaders steal from the church funds. Sometimes they preach blatant heresies which directly contradict the Holy Scriptures and even cast doubt on the Gospel. People try to be in their comfort zone and do not question such practices. In fact they go out of their way to protect such leaders instead of correct them. The most common excuse is ‘we need to maintain the peace and unity of the church‘. My questions to such people are “United to what, a party of evil doers?” and “Are you saying you want to allow sin so that peace multiplies?” Such people who support such evil doers will give you multiple scriptures like ‘Do not touch the Lord’s anointed‘ and ‘judge and you will be judged’, sometimes they will tell you to ‘forgive‘. But ask them back what about the corrupt leader at least leaving his wicked ways even if he is not willing to acknowledge them in public and you’ll be amazed to see their offended looks. The truth is being offended is not always the sign that they are right.
Remember this, King Solomon who allowed many idols and temples of false gods was never opposed by the people who were fully aware of the Ten Commandments. They did a wonderful job of keeping ‘peace and unity’ among the Jews. What did they get in return? Multiple invasions from foreign countries that killed and destroyed thousands of Jew, not just for like a decades but in fact for hundreds of years. At least later some prophets stood against the corruption among the kings of Judah and Israel. However, though some of the kings did repent up to some level from worship of false gods, most of them didn’t. These even killed the prophets who were sent from God every now and then. Then God allowed the evil, despotic and blood thirsty empire of Babylon to attack the Jews in Israel. The Babylonians killed more Jews than ever before at that time and then destroyed the temple of Jerusalem and the remaining Jews lived in abject poverty and slavery.
The below verses are things God spoke to the prophet Jeremiah:
- “Now, gird up your loins and arise, and speak to them all which I command you. Do not be dismayed before them, or I will dismay you before them. “Now behold, I have made you today as a fortified city and as a pillar of iron and as walls of bronze against the whole land, to the kings of Judah, to its princes, to its priests and to the people of the land. “They will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 1:17-19)
- I will make you a wall to this people, a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you to rescue and save you,” declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 15:20)
If God has called to speak out against any corrupt leader in the church, firstly consider if this really comes from God, this is highly important. Secondly, tally this up with proven facts about your church leader. Thirdly, realize that not every church leader is corrupt. Finally, take action against the corrupt leaders. Speak only what is right in the eyes of the Lord God. Don’t lose your temper and be polite. Question everything that is inconsistent with the Bible.
A word of caution, avoid bloodshed or violence as this will attract the attention of the police and may even make the corrupt leaders gain undue sympathy from the people of the church who are ignorant of the leaders crimes. See if you can resolve the matter amicably with the leader, if not get a neutral person (or a higher church leader of good moral standing) to monitor the negotiations. If even that doesn’t work or its way to risky for you to meet up, then go to the law of the state and/or appeal to the Holy Spirit that you have warned them as needed and now he must take bring justice.
Now the Holy Spirit knows everything but I must say when you go the police, please have all the evidence with you in advance or they won’t consider you. Also please note that the court of law doesn’t take in case of religious heresies as they are supposed to be neutral to all religions. However, they easily consider instances of physical harm, money laundering and general breaking of the law as long as there is valid evidence or witnesses.
I want to remind you that the prophets didn’t give up on God and neither on their faith even though there were corrupt religious leaders. You pray about such people that they turn away from their sins and stop harming others. You can fight such leaders without actually breaking up the church or causing a commotion. Just because you see others sinning that doesn’t make you a holy person. Only Jesus can make you holy and pure. So keep your basic discipline in order. When you are fighting alone for God remember you are fighting for God, don’t lose the big picture. Keep your daily discipline of faith, Bible reading and prayer. Be dependent on the Holy Spirit in such situations and wait for his promptings.
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Disciples of hope 