GOD IS NOT OBLIGATED TO ME

Have you ever been to a “Prosperity Crusade?”  Several years ago, Steve and I were invited to hear a speaker.  Unaware that he was a “Prosperity Pusher,” we accepted the invitation.  The speaker began his inspirational presentation, which swiftly progressed to a “seed sowing sermon,” complete with testimonies of a ten-fold, hundred-fold and even a thousand-fold return on the sowing of a tiny seed. 

Soon there were congregants actually dancing down the aisle, seed in hand, eager to sow and reap the harvest.  It was a very “seductive” presentation and I found myself wanting to reach for my checkbook and sow my own seed.  Fortunately, the Godly man beside me, leaned over and said, “Let’s get out of here.”

Prosperity preaching has not lost its appeal; its appeal to our flesh; its appeal to our desires; its appeal to our lust for power and its appeals to our fears…fear of need, fear of want and fear of not “keeping up” with  our neighbor. 

Prosperity preaching offers the hearer SELF-SUFFICIENCY rather than GOD-SUFFICIENCY over every situation.  It puts the hearer in a position of power rather than dependence on God’s provision.  It promises the gift of manipulation by just “sowing a seed.”

I have even heard preachers and prosperity advocates declare that “When we bless others, God is OBLIGATED then to bless us!”  Is that not the HEIGHT OF ARROGANCE???  The idea, that I can do anything to OBLIGATE GOD.  Next we will be told that we can actually EARN SALVATION by being good enough, doing enough, shunning enough or following enough rules.  WAIT…that teaching has already been tried and believe it or not, has gained quite a following.

GOD IS NEVER OBLIGATED TO US…

When you believe that EVERYTHING you have is a blessing from God and all that you have belongs to Him, how could you think God is ever OBLIGATED to do anything for us? 

Let’s think about this whole thing logically…EVERYTHING I possess is from God; NOTHING I possess actually belongs to me; I BLESS SOMEONE ELSE with something that doesn’t actually belong to me and that makes the OWNER OF EVERYTHING OBLIGATED to give me more stuff.  STOP!!!!  MY HEAD IS EXPLODING…. Yours should be too. 

GOD IS NOT OBLIGATED TO US!!!

Luke 12:32 “Do not fear little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.

We give because we love God and His love shines through us; NOT to get God to bless us or earn anything.  He blesses His children because He is our Father and it is His good pleasure, NOT HIS OBLIGATION.

BE A VULTURE CHASER

Matthew 24:28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. (ESV)

As I enjoyed an early morning walk, my attention was stolen by a sudden loud squawking.  Looking up, I saw a few large birds circling over a large wooded area.  They were not on a journey, they were not headed to a summer or winter destination, they had no flight plan; they merely circled an area…round and round and round.  Soon a few more birds joined in and more, until a great number of birds filled the sky over the grove of trees.

Although I could not see through the trees and view the object that had caught their attention, it was obvious that something had died or was near death and THE VULTURES HAD GATHERED.

Oh how many times have we come upon a fallen brother or sister?  They may be in pain, wounded, dying or dead, spiritually; it is clear that their strength is fading fast…what do we do? Often, there will be those who offer a shoulder to lean on, say a prayer and give advice, but as the signs of life diminish, the vultures move in, crowding out the “Spiritual Restorers.”

The vultures begin to circle, just waiting for the opportunity to pick apart the victim, anticipating the satisfying feast.  The circle grows, because one vulture attracts another and the “vultures in training” can’t wait to hone their skills.  Even the “wantabe vultures” gather, blending in with the hungry predators; talons extended; LET THE BANQUET BEGIN!

Galatians 6:1 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. (NKJ)

WHOA!!! STOP THE PRESSES!  The victim is not dead yet, the Holy Spirit is standing ready to breathe life into this precious person…is there just ONE who will chase away the vultures and administer “Spiritual CPR?”

Stop circling, you will eventually make yourself dizzy, fall to the ground and become the “Circlee.”  Don’t be a VULTURE, be a VULTURE CHASER…someone is gasping, just waiting for God to use you to breathe into their life.  Begin today…you can become a SPIRITUAL RESTORER.

HE KNOWS THE WAY I TAKE

HE KNOWS THE WAY I TAKE…

Job 23:8-10  “Look, I go forward, but He is not there and backward, but I cannot perceive Him; 9 when He works on the left hand, I cannot behold Him; when He turns to the right hand, I cannot see Him.  10 But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.

Have you ever felt as if you were living in the very situation described by Job in this set of scriptures?  You summon up enough faith to go forward, confused and with clouded vision, you think “maybe I got a little anxious and jumped ahead of God.”  You step back and not only can you not see God, sometimes it seems you cannot even feel is presence.  Your mind tells you that “God is working things out for your good,” but you see no evidence whether you look to the left or the right…you feel so lost and alone.

NOW, read verse 10…YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

Even when you cannot perceive God, He knows exactly where you are and He has “Heaven’s GPS” tuned to every move you make.  Keep looking up even when you do not see; keep listening even when you do not hear; the “still small” voice will break through the noise and confusion and His presence will once again fill your world, if you continue to trust in Him.

CAST IT OFF

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses”, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us and let us run, with endurance, the race that is set before us.

Ahh, the beauty of a September morning in Northern Michigan; the perseverance of the sunrise determinedly vanquishing the lingering overnight mist; a steaming cup of coffee enjoyed on the deck, a comfortable old flannel shirt, the smell of the prior evening’s campfire mingling with all the other unique up north aromas; a woodpecker knocking on the side of your house….WHAAAT?????

Yep, that’s right…stupid woodpecker, spoiling my serene morning.  Just as I settled back down, preparing to take another sip of coffee, there it was…tap, tap, tap…relentless, tap, tap, tap.  Oh as soon as I got up and walked around the corner, he would fly to the nearest tree but only temporarily.  Then back again, tap, tap, tap.

Such is life.  We are strolling along at any easy gait, enjoying the scenery and there it is…an aggravation, relentlessly tapping away at our serenity…a weight has beset us.  Now the verse in Hebrews also talks about “SIN” and though it can wrap its many tentacles around you, sin is something we actively choose to allow in our lives.  Sin is easily identified and can be avoided, resisted and turned aside.  Weights have some of the same characteristics but they are not so easily identified.

Weights can begin as necessary elements of our life; they are NOT sins but they can hinder life’s race and sap your endurance.  Tap, tap, tap, day after day; the weights began to wear us down.  They consume our thoughts, our energy, our emotions until we are no longer running the race and can hardly put one foot in front of the other as we survey the long road ahead. 

Oh there are days when we “yell,” wave our arms, and chase off the offenders but like a pesky woodpecker, they come back…tap, tap, tap…tap, tap, tap.  STOP yelling, waving and chasing…CAST OFF the offender.  I know that it isn’t easy.  You may have not picked up the weight in the first place but by carrying it day after day, you have allowed it to grow and you are allowing it to weigh you down.  Now it is up to YOU to do something about it…CAST IT OFF!!!

Back to that woodpecker on my house…he is looking for some tasty bugs, so I am going to REFUSE to supply the object of his search.  Step back; consider the weights you are carrying, what is their source of nourishment??? REFUSE TO SUPPLY THEM!   When they drag you down to your knees, LEAVE THEM THERE!   Don’t pick them up and hang them around your neck when you rise.  Cast your weights on God, He is much better equipped to carry them and HE HAS THE MIRACLE SOLUTION that will eradicate the tap, tap, taps of your life.

BRING THE RAIN

My song this morning, “Bring The Rain,” by Mercyme…

♪♪ “I can count a million times

People asking me how I can praise You with all that I’ve gone through

The question just amazes me,

can circumstances possibly change, who I forever am in You?

So I pray…

Bring me joy, bring me peace, bring the chance to be free

Bring me anything that brings you glory

And I know there’ll be days when this life brings me pain

But if that what it takes to praise you,

Jesus, bring the rain.” ♪♪

Because of our unwavering faith in God and because we don’t choose to hang our laundry in full view of FB Land, you may never know our struggles, heartbreaks or setbacks.  We are not always “On Top of the World.”  More often than not, we are down on our knees, picking up the pieces and letting God put the pieces of our shattered dreams back together.

Perhaps that is why this line in the verse, perfectly describes my world view, “THE QUESTION JUST AMAZES ME, CAN CIRCUMSTANCES POSSIBLY CHANGE, WHO I FOREVER AM IN YOU?”

THAT’S IT!  THAT’S THE KEY…I know who I am in You!  You have loved me with an everlasting love.  You are able to keep all that I have committed to You.  You are faithful and just to forgive.  I am in the Beloved; I’ve been redeemed by Your blood and NOTHING can separate me from You.

SO LET THE RAIN FALL; GOD WILL BE MY UMBRELLA!

LASTING FREEDOM REQUIRES A FIGHT

Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free and do not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

Musing on freedom this morning...

As Citizens of the United States, we love our freedom, or so we proclaim.  If you listen, however, to an Immigrant from an oppressed country and compare their view of freedom to a Citizen that was handed freedom as a birthright, there is a marked difference.  The Immigrant has such a love and appreciation for the freedoms protected by our Constitution because he/she has had to FIGHT oppression.  Over a couple hundred years, some of those freedoms have been severely eroded or simply slipped away…and we adjust because those freedoms didn’t really affect us that much anyway.  We who were born under the Constitution of the United States, mostly, take freedom for granted because it has always been available and we assume FREEDOM JUST IS!!!

We are all born into OPPRESSION because we are all born under the Curse of Sin.  Jesus Christ made a way that we can all be BORN AGAIN under HEAVEN’S CONSTITUTION.  At first, as NEW IMMIGRANTS in the Kingdom, we have such a love and appreciation for our FREEDOM from sin. We stand proudly at attention, joining in when our anthems are sung and unashamedly spread the message of our new Kingdom.  Our “Constitution” is kept within reach so that it can be referred to frequently.  Then something happens and our freedoms are slowly and silently stolen; we barely notice because we have begun to take our FREEDOM for granted and we assume SALVATION JUST IS!!!

FREEDOM doesn’t “just happen,” it must be FOUGHT FOR and PROTECTED.  This fact is painfully apparent in the world’s history.  Since its inception The United States, has attempted to “export” this great American Idea of freedom to the oppressed citizens of dictatorial regimes.  Our military makes short work of the oppressors, the people are handed freedom and we all rejoice.  But then something happens…there are always more oppressors just waiting in the shadows for their opportunity.  Slowly and sometimes not so slowly, the Oppressors move in and the citizens, who never learned to FIGHT FOR and DEFEND their freedoms which were “given” to them by someone else, find themselves once again enslaved and oppressed.

We have been given FREEDOM FROM SIN through SALVATION by the BLOOD OF JESUS but there are OPPRESSORS just waiting in the shadows.  Satan will constantly present opportunities to tempt us to hand over our freedoms.  Religions develop “regulations” and sign “Executive Orders,” slowly eroding the freedom given you by God.  The biggest threat to our FREEDOM IN CHRIST, however, is our own desires, distractions and malaise, in which we merely lay down our freedoms because we think FREEDOM AND SALVATION, JUST IS!

Until you’ve been in the “trenches;” until you have stood and FOUGHT off the oppressive invaders; until you have DEFENDED the “Liberty by which Christ has made you free,” you will never appreciate this great SALVATION of which we are blessed to be partakers.  Mama can’t give it to you; it can’t be inherited and neither the “world” or the “church” can take it away, if you will STAND UP, FIGHT and DEFEND the freedoms JESUS DIED to give you.

Have a blessed, joy-filled day.