GOD’S WORD IS ETCHED ON OUR HEARTS

 

Anyone, child or adult, who uses chalk on a chalkboard, pen or pencil on a notepad, or a word processor on a computer screen, also knows the importance of dusters, pencil erasers, ink erasers, whiteout, and the delete button. These products help us change our minds about what we previously wrote without anybody else finding out, whether due to a mistake or simply thinking differently.

There is one writing surface that is not that easy to erase. The back porch of the house where I currently live has the names and birth dates of the children who lived there before, etched in the cement. It probably never occurred to them that they might not live in that house forever. When something is etched in stone, it is very difficult, almost impossible, to alter. So even though they no longer live at this address, their names are still there.

God etched His commands in stone when the Israelites were in the wilderness (see Exodus 34:28). But that was not the first time God gave man His commands.  Prior to the Ten Commandments, He already had them on the tablets of our hearts, where they can never be altered or erased. Even those who have never read the Bible know right from wrong because of God’s law written on their hearts: their conscience lets them know each time they do one or the other (see Romans 2:14-15).

Mankind has been trying for years to alter these commands to suit the prevailing lifestyles but to no avail. One of the ways they’ve tried to alter the Word of God is by trying to alter their interpretation of it and accusing Christians of being stringent. Also, they think if they don’t acknowledge it, it won’t apply to them. What a waste of time and energy! Nothing we do can ever undo God’s command. We can choose to obey it or disregard it. Either way, we will be held accountable.

For us, the children of God, let’s know that obeying the commands of God has benefits, as stated in Proverbs: “My child, never forget the things I have taught you. Store my commands in your heart. If you do this, you will live many years, and your life will be satisfying” (Proverbs 3:1-2 NLT). As humans, we appreciate it when others relate to us in ways that assure or indicate to us that we are loved. Well, with God, obedience is our way of expressing our love to Him: “Loving God means keeping his commandments” (1 John 5:3). Let’s learn from the psalmist; he lovingly declares, “I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11). Child of God, are you taking His command seriously, or do you obey it only when it’s convenient for you?

The Bible teaches us that we miss blessings when we fail to obey His commands; the Israelites knew this so well, and Daniel expressed it when he prayed for his people. “O Lord, you are a great and awesome God! You always fulfill your covenant and keep your promises of unfailing love to those who love you and obey your commands” (Daniel 9:4 NLT).

God’s Word is written on our hearts and in the Bible: let’s read it, meditate on it, and obey it. Although that is our duty, He blesses us when we obey Him! 

ONLY YOUR BEST IS GOOD ENOUGH FOR GOD

 

            Why do people give gifts, and who decides the quality of the gift? What good is a gift if it’s not the giver’s best? What might be the giver’s motives for giving, and what might be his/her expectations for giving? In general, people give gifts as a way of expressing love, appreciation, friendship, and more. People give what they think is nice, usable, and acceptable, and they most likely expect a show of gratitude for their thoughtfulness.

God is Love, and He demonstrates His love by giving: “For this is how God loved the world; He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 NLT). Everything He gives is fueled by love, even when He reprimands us. If we, His children, have His nature (which we should), we should also give out of love and responsibility. God gave us His very best: His Son, Jesus Christ! Do we ever consider doing the same for Him? Do we know what He likes? God is a God of beauty and elegance. Giving to Him means giving to the work of the Church, other ministries, and, quite often, meeting the needs of others in His name (see Matthew 25:40). Only the best is good enough for God!

Child of God, how has the quality of your giving been? King David was prevented from building a temple for the Lord because he had fought too many wars. Instead, God appointed Solomon, son of David, to build the temple. David could have just given up and worked on other things, but instead, he started making preparations for the project. He wasn’t trying to be the first temple-builder in Israel. He wanted God’s temple to be jaw-dropping gorgeous, regardless of who built it; it had to be the best he could dream of. In his own words, “The temple to be built for the Lord must be a magnificent structure, famous and glorious throughout the world” (1 Chronicles 22:5 NLT). Only the best is good enough for God!

Once, when Jesus watched people put their offerings in the collection box in the Temple, He noticed a poor widow put in all her savings, two small coins. The rich, of course, put in more than the widow but Jesus was more impressed with the widow’s offering than that of the rich men. Let’s take note, God is more interested in the quality, and not the amount of our gifts (see Luke 21:1-4).  

Do you give God your leftovers, or what you have no need for? David once said, “I will not present burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing” (2 Samuel 24:24 NLT). God sees our hearts and our motives for giving. He blesses us as we give willingly, joyfully, and generously. It is good to remember that everything we have belongs to Him, and He’s able to take it all away at any time. Our attitude towards giving to God should be indicative of our love and reverence for Him. Like King David, let’s give God only our best because only that is good enough for Him. 

DEAR GOD, HELP: YOUR CHURCH IS DIVIDED!

 

The USA just went through a horrible election; the saddest thing I’ve experienced in almost forty-seven years. I have been sad, and I’m still sad. You might be wondering why the sadness. I see the Church divided into two factions: one for each political party! How sad! Both factions cannot be right in their views at the same time, but both could be wrong. Jesus’ call to us says nothing about which candidate or political party to follow; we need to stand for what is right and true, and that is Jesus. Men ultimately fail; only God doesn’t fail! Solomon, with all his wisdom, failed. I wonder how his followers reacted.

Neither candidate running for office is perfect, and let’s remember that God puts up kings, and also puts them down (see Daniel 2:21). God is not asleep; He knows exactly what’s going on. No nation or individual can act outside God’s control. He can allow it or prevent it; His will always prevails. We need to line up behind our leader, Jesus! The world can have fights and disagreements over issues but the Church shouldn’t. If both factions are listening to the voice of God, we should all be hearing the same thing. And if not, we need to sit together, pray, and discuss issues objectively and biblically. God knows the kind of person He needs at any given time to do His bidding. Let’s stop taking sides and resenting those who think differently from us! It is sad to hear one faction demonize the other; God’s heart must hurt over such behavior.    

If the apostle Paul were here in 2021, I’m sure he’d give this advice: “I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, in thought and purpose” (1 Corinthians 1:10). I’ll say we haven’t been of one mind in thought or purpose. If we had, our attitudes would be a lot different. The devil wants it like that, so he’ll do whatever he can to keep it that way. Let’s not allow the Church to be used to accomplish his evil purposes; let’s pray for grace to dialogue with each other in love, and God’s will and purpose to be accomplished for His glory.

If we put more time and effort into living right and sharing the gospel, we might not even have this issue to deal with. “If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land” (1 Chronicles 7:14). Our first and foremost charges as the Church are to live godly lives and go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey the Lord’s commands (see Matthew 28:19-20). This should be a done deal because we are going in the power of the One who has all power and authority in heaven and on earth, and He promises to be with us.

I see our civil role in society as praying that the Lord will guide us to vote for the candidates He’d have us vote for, and then to accept the outcome as His will. We should then continue to pray that He will direct and use appointed leaders in ways that help us lead quiet and peaceful lives marked by godliness and dignity (see 1 Timothy 2:2). Let’s be vigilant, and educate ourselves with what’s going on in society and government, so we can intercede as needed. There are many areas of life we need to pray about, like making godly policies, demanding justice for all, and the like. May God help us to faithfully accomplish our role to bring about peace.

Oh, Lord, help; Your church is divided over issues that You have under control. Please help us forgive each other; please help us heal and continue to seek Your peace on earth. Thank You! 

 

THE BIBLE IS YOUR ONLY DEPENDABLE RESOURCE FOR LIVING

 No individual is perfectly versed in every aspect of life; hence the need for reference books. For instance, all appliances, machinery, and the like come with instructions that teach users exactly how these gadgets work, and what to do when they malfunction. Similarly, the Bible (Scriptures) is the Christian’s only guide to living the Christian life the way God intended.

The Bible is the Word of God! It contains sixty-six books written by different individuals as they were inspired by God. The Bible addresses every area of life: “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Knowing the role the Bible should play in the Christian’s life means comparing all other instructions against the Bible to ensure we are not doing anything contrary to the Word of God. This also means we need to verify what other ‘Christians’ say. They might even quote Scripture to try to mislead us, but allow the Holy Spirit to guide you into accepting or rejecting whatever is being taught.

There’s a story in the book of 1 Kings that makes this point. Soon after Jeroboam became king in Israel (northern tribe), he tried to stop the people from going down to Jerusalem to worship as God commanded, for fear that the people might switch their allegiance to King Rehoboam of Judah (southern tribe). In order to ensure his fears won’t be realized, he made two golden calves for them to worship. In addition, he built shrines and ordained priests for service. Jeroboam also instituted a religious festival for Israel. Needless to say, this became a terrible sin for him and the people.

In 1 Kings 13, God sent a prophet from Judah to Bethel to rebuke Jeroboam and prophesy what would happen in the future at the altar he had built. When Jeroboam heard the prophet, he pointed at him and shouted a command for him to be seized. Immediately, Jeroboam’s outstretched arm became paralyzed, and he could not pull it back. At his request, the prophet prayed for him and his arm was restored. Jeroboam invited the prophet for dinner, but he answered: “Even if you gave me half of everything you own, I would not go with you …For the Lord gave me this command: ‘You must not eat or drink anything while you are there, and do not return to Judah by the same way you came’” (Verse 8-9).

The prophet who had come from Judah left to go back home but was chased down by an older prophet who lived in Bethel at the time. The older prophet was able to convince this prophet to go to his house and eat and drink. During the prophet to prophet visit, the Bethel prophet prophesied: “You have defied the Word of the LORD and have disobeyed the command the LORD your God gave you. You came back to this place and ate and drank where he told you not to eat or drink.” (Verse 21-22).

I was concerned about the turn of events in this story; in fact, I was heartbroken. This prophet from Judah had tried to obey the Lord, but unfortunately, he gave in to deception. He knew without a doubt what God’s instructions were, and even repeated them to the king, but allowed himself to be deceived, leading to his disobedience. Similarly, when we know what the Bible says, let’s not allow others to talk us into doing otherwise. Sometimes, even Christians can talk you into doing what you know to be wrong. If we’d like to be pleasing to the Lord, we’ll need to obey Him to the letter.

There are many teachings, sayings, and doctrines out there that are not biblically accurate. Please, let’s always make sure we compare whatever we hear against the Scriptures. The book of Jude warns against ungodly people who have sneaked into the churches to teach false doctrines. Along with this warning comes the reminder that the Israelites, although they were delivered from Egypt, faced destruction in the wilderness for not remaining faithful. Jude’s benediction: “Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault. All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen” (Verse 24-25).

All quotes are from the New Living Translation (NLT). 

PREPARE TO FACE TEMPTATION HEAD ON

 

To be tempted is to be enticed to do wrong based on a promise of pleasure or gain. It’s important to understand that “God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else” (James 1:13). Temptation, according to James, “Comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions” (Verse 14-15). To prepare means to get ready for a future event, and for the purpose of this topic, preparation will be developing habits that keep us ready at all times to be victorious when we are tempted.

When we are tempted, we are enticed to do something we know or feel is wrong. The devil’s goal for tempting us is to cause us to disobey God, by dangling enticing things or behaviors in front of us. He used that trick with Eve in the Garden of Eden; he promised her the ability to become like God. He said to her, “Your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). So, desiring to be wise, and also finding the forbidden fruit desirable, Eve gave in to the temptation, ate the fruit and gave some to her husband, Adam. Needless to say, the outcome was disastrous! We, their descendants, are still dealing with the consequences. 

How does the devil tempt us these days? He promises us pleasures for indulging in sin, with the assurance that it’s okay, and besides, we won’t get caught. Some of these sins include “sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outburst of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these” (Galatians 5:19-21). At the end of verse 21, we are warned, “Anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.”

Knowing therefore that we are the devil’s target, just as Eve was, we need to be ready all the time to resist him, taking necessary precautions. He is bent on devouring us any way he can; let’s not be the agents of wickedness he so desires us to be.

We need to start by putting on the whole armor of God (see Ephesians 6:13-18). If we keep every piece of the armor on all the time, we will always be ready, and won’t need to go and get ready, when we are tempted. If we enter a tempting situation with our full armor on, we will be victorious, and remain standing at the end of the encounter. 

 

The Word of God

Included in the armor of God is the Word of God. We need to know the Bible! We need to know what God hates by studying it, and allowing the Spirit to grant us understanding. When we do that, we are agreeing with the psalmist, “I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11). Quoting Scripture is one of the ways to encourage ourselves in the Lord and to rebuke the devil, just like Jesus did when He was tempted (see Luke 4:4, 8, 12).

Influence and Example

Don’t follow the advice of unbelievers or hang around with them; they might rub off on you the wrong way because their feet run to evil (see Psalm 1:1); they might mislead you. Be at the right place at the right time. Would you go somewhere If you knew ahead of time that you would likely be exposed to sinful situations? The answer is ‘No!’ The best way to avoid wrong influence is to avoid notorious places and people who go there.

Plan Ahead

Like Daniel, the young Israeli, plan ahead of time what you will or won’t do in certain situations. While in captivity in Babylon, Daniel made up his mind not to defile himself with the king’s food and wine (see Daniel 1:8). And so, when he was offered the king’s food, he had his response ready; he didn’t have to think about it. He just said ‘No!’

Watch and Pray

Finally, we need to stay prayerful throughout the day and in all situations, and listen to the Spirit’s voice for encouragement and direction (see 1 Thessalonians 5:17). It is imperative that we watch and pray as Jesus taught His disciples; if we are not vigilant, we could be taken off guard. Jesus took some of His disciples to the Mount of Olives to watch with Him; they fell asleep while He was away praying. When He returned, He said to them, “Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak” (Matthew 26:41; Mark 14:36). Good intentions not backed by prayers don’t always materialize; the disciples meant to support Jesus, but they fell asleep.   Prayer has a way of building up our strength and courage, so let’s make it a top priority.

It is good to prepare for all kinds of situations, especially if you expect to be successful. Students, for example, do well on their exams when they study the material, consult with their professors for help as needed, get enough rest, and eat a decent meal prior to taking the exam.

Dear brothers and sisters, let’s follow these steps and trust God to help us not to succumb to temptation!