Exodus 3:8 (NIV)
8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.
Exodus, the time God brings His children out of slavery and promises them a land flowing with milk and honey. The phrase is used 20 some times through out the Bible to include once in the Song of Solomon:
Song of Solomon 4:11 (NIV)
11 Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride;
milk and honey are under your tongue.
The fragrance of your garments is like that of Lebanon.
The love song of love songs.
How much we are loved by a God who gives us nothing but His very best.
I believe, however, that we have turned His land of milk and honey into "our" land of tolerance and self indulgence.
It started with my reading in Western Civilization. As much as I have disliked this class, there has been a small gleaning of knowledge, in the area of necessary change. Notice I used necessary change, not potential change, not a goal to reach one day, but change that is necessary and immediate.
Matthew 20:16 (NIV)
16"So the last will be first, and the first will be last."
This scripture pertains to the parable of the workers in the field. A land owner hires workers in the beginning of the day for a denarius. As the day progresses, the land owner continues to hire more workers, right up till the last hour of the day.
When the work day ends, the land owner pays those hired last, first. The land owner pays everyone a denarius. As you might expect, those who have worked a full day were not happy, though they agreed to work for a denarius, thought they deserved more.
How many of us are racing to the top, thinking we deserve or want more, only to find ourselves at the bottom of the heap. The only race we should be running is the one Paul references:
Hebrews 12:1 (NIV)
God Disciplines His Sons
1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. People are watching. They should see that we are different than the ways of this world. Throw off anything. We all have things in our lives that cause us to stumble. If we have witnesses, those things that cause us to stumble may very well cause them to stumble as well. The race marked out for us. God has a specific plan for each and every one of us. The more we seek His face, the more we will know that we are running the right race. Any other race will result in not reaching the height of our potential through Christ.
Earlier I mentioned tolerance and self indulgence. While reading my text: A Brief History of the Western World, by Greer and Lewis, we see a growing tolerance after the 100 year war and the start of the Protestant Reformation. People did not see a need to fight the good fight. To stand for what is righteous and holy. Granted this is spoken in generalities, as there were some who ran the race marked out for them, but what we see after the days of the Apostles, is a lack of fire for the Gospel of Christ. No longer are the days of great public displays of spreading the Word and demonstrating a love that can only be of Christ to those in need.
Christ tells us:
Matthew 5:9-11 (NIV)
9Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.
I do not believe it is the fear of persecution that has caused this, but a focus on self and a lack of focus on the path less traveled.
Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV)
The Narrow and Wide Gates
13"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
I am 44 years old, when I think back to what was played on the radio and shown on the television when I was a child and compare it to what we see today, I first wonder how we got so far away from where we were. The language on the radio, the soft porn on the television that we call prime time TV intertainment. Welcome to the land of tolerance.
First Amendment - Religion and Expression
Amendment Text | Annotations
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
(http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.
Please do not get me wrong, I am all about our freedoms granted under the first amendment, but with rights come responsibilities, and it is the responsibilities that we have grossly neglected. For the sake of being able to speak what is on our mind, we have polluted the airways with talk and music that broadens the gate and widens the road, making it more difficult to focus on that narrow gate.
We have separated ourselves as the body of Christ to gain ground in what we believe to be the "true" end time’s revelation. We turn a deaf ear and a blind eye to our brothers and sisters because we disagree about salvation issues relating to baptism and forget what we are called to, the Great Commission and the living out of the two great commandments:
Mark 12:28-31 (NIV)
The Greatest Commandment
28One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"
29"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' 31The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'There is no commandment greater than these."
How easily we forget our place:
Psalm 112:2 (NIV)
2 His children will be mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.
Matthew 19:14 (NIV)
14Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."
Romans 8:16 (NIV)
16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.
We are children of the Holy One of Israel. We are children of the Creator. We are children of the One and only living God. For those who are parents with their own children, how distressed we are when our children rebel. Our Father in heaven is no different.
Isaiah tells us that:
Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV)
8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.
9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
There is much we are not to understand, yet we try and formulate under our own power what is right and wrong outside of what has been given us. We are self indigent to our own thoughts, attempting to put ourselves in a position of understanding when it really is not our place.
Isaiah 30:1 (NIV)
Isaiah 30
Woe to the Obstinate Nation
1 "Woe to the obstinate children,"
declares the LORD,
"to those who carry out plans that are not mine,
forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit,
heaping sin upon sin;
Isaiah 30:9 (New International Version)
9 These are rebellious people, deceitful children,
children unwilling to listen to the LORD's instruction.
Would not a righteous Father allow punishment for those who defy? Either in the form of direct punishment or natural consequences?
So, what do we need to do?
Pray daily, read His Word daily. Even if we feel distant from God. Despite our not seeing His answers to our prayer. Pray daily, read His Word daily.
Luke 18:1-8 (NIV)
The Parable of the Persistent Widow
1Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. 3And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.'
4"For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, 5yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!' "
6And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"
If you feel He is distant, more oft than not, it is us that is distant and we are holding on to something in our hearts that needs to be let go. Is it sin? Is it a need to forgive? Pray for God to reveal.
Proverbs 27:17 (NIV)
17 As iron sharpens iron,
so one man sharpens another.
We are not meant to walk this walk as believers by ourselves! Find a group of brothers and sisters that you connect with and enjoy the fellowship and accountability.
If you are not a believer, you need to seek Christ and start that relationship today! For it is only through Him that we receive the gift of mercy, grace, and forgiveness and discover a love that transcends all things.
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