Don’t forget what He has done

Don’t forget what He has done

Be very careful not to forget what the Lord has done, the bible teaches us that even God’s chosen can turn away. Then cry out only in need:

Judges 10:11-14

The Message (MSG)

11-14 God answered the People of Israel: “When the Egyptians, Amorites, Ammonites, Philistines, Sidonians—even Amalek and Midian!—oppressed you and you cried out to me for help, I saved you from them. And now you’ve gone off and betrayed me, worshiping other gods. I’m not saving you anymore. Go ahead! Cry out for help to the gods you’ve chosen—let them get you out of the mess you’re in!”

How many times do we betray the father, we dedicate our time to things of the world. When hardships come we short God in our time and in our tithe. Often we even blame the Creator and seek to handle things our own way. We think upon things as if God is a genie in a bottle, when all else is failed and after all our sin and self-indulgence we turn to the father and say, "why, how did you let this happen, I thought you were a good God?"

If I want to have a successful marriage I must be faithful to my wife, if I want to have success in business then I need to spend my time at work productively and being about the business. I also need to make sure to maintain both relationships. The same is true with God, for success we need to remain faithful, we need to be about the business of our walk, and we need to maintain the relationship. By doing so, walking as he would have us walk, we avoid the need for a genie in a bottle as we already have all that we need. If troubles befall us do to our worship of other "gods" then we can expect the same response from God as the Israelites got.





- MZG

Thought for today

God sounds like the Bible reads. Need a word from God. Read the Word.




- MZG

Abortion, Self-Idolatry

Jeremiah 1:5 (NIV)

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

As born again believers we are the prophets to the nation, commissioned by our Lord and Savior Jesus. If God knew us before we were formed, he knows the person and the spirit before it is born. Life begins at conception. I cannot imagine God’s horror.

Personal note:

I want children, I think of all the aborted kids and I cry. I was weeping and praying on day and asking God “what about all those children lost, all those workers for the kingdom, all those gifts and joy, lost worshippers”. God showed me children playing, He revealed to me, what Satan has meant for evil, He can use for good, while not His will, heaven has embraced the children, heaven is full of the laughter of all those children and their presence fills the kingdom.

But why do we allow this to continue, because we are a country of idol worship, it infests every aspect of our lives. If you have ever seen the movie “The Devil’s Advocate” at the end the devil says that vanity is his favorite sin. We are a nation of self-love individuals. Even in the Christian church it runs rampant, look around any church on Sunday, notice the fashion shows. Hear the people talk before and after service not about God or the work they witnessed for the kingdom, but about hair styles, clothes, cars, “got this one on sale”, ” I lost a few pounds”, “ how do you guys like my new phone”, and on and on.

We are a generation that cannot get out of its own way, “I want the enjoyment of sex, I want the sin of adultery, I want the fornication, but I don’t want the consequence of sin”, says the generation. This is why abortion exists. We sacrifice unborn children to the idol of self.

The people of Israel also had issues with idols, and with self-idolatry. In fact for their own benefit, they sacrificed their children to idols. Let’s take a look at what God has to say about that.

Ezekiel 16.20 (NIV)

“And you took your sons and daughters whom you bore to me and sacrificed them as food to the idols. Was your prostitution not enough? You slaughtered my children and sacrificed them to the idols. In all your detestable practices and your prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, kicking about in your blood. “ ‘Woe! Woe to you, declares the Sovereign Lord. In addition to all your other wickedness.”

Not only do we allow children to be offered up to idols, we forget those children belong to God, and we forget we were once just like them. Not only have we left he fold, but we take His children away. No one can argue that each of us started out just like the aborted babies. Conceived and growing in our mother’s womb, how dare we presume that our own wants and selfish justifications are worth the life of that child.

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Prayer:

 “Jesus, I plead your blood over my sins and the sins of my nation. God, end abortion and send revival to America.”

Our hidden idols separate us from God

We are not the first to have hidden idols, ones that have crept in, when we look back at Israel we ask ourselves why they did not see the issues, I think when we look back on our lives we could do the same, how do we get to where we can recognize when it happens in the present?

Ezekiel 7:19-22 (NIV)

They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be an unclean thing. Their silver and gold will not be able to save them in the day of the LORD's wrath. They will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs with it, for it has made them stumble into sin. They were proud of their beautiful jewelry and used it to make their detestable idols and vile images. Therefore I will turn these into an unclean thing for them. I will hand it all over as plunder to foreigners and as loot to the wicked of the earth, and they will defile it. I will turn my face away from them, and they will desecrate my treasured place; robbers will enter it and desecrate it.

Here we have the Israel; God’s chosen
people, having a history full of miracles, forgetting the True God, and worshiping idols. They turned from God and God brought judgment in the form of
the Babylonians who carted all of the wealthy, educated, craftsmen, and
soldiers away into exile in foreign lands. Exiled Israel is full of stories
about how while in exile God became their sanctuary and he blessed them even in
the oppression they were in. They found refuge in God, there removal from
Israel allowed them to remember before they had a nation, they had a GOD!!!! If
we could get that in our spirit, oh, what we could do. Our possessions and
lands do not matter, only God.

But the remnant of Israel in Jerusalem
did not turn to God, they created idols and worshiped them, in visions Ezekiel
saw even the hidden idols that people were serving. Idols of wealth and
influence were rampant even among the priests. “I will turn my face away from
the people, and robbers will desecrate the place I treasure.” The Lord turned
away and allowed the sin to not only consumes them but to consume the Holy Place
(the temple, where God’s presence dwelled) in order to rid the city of the
sinful, and allow for the arrival of all those exiled that would burn for him.
The people in God’s nation, in his house, would not receive him, so he made way
for another group. This is what we see in the New Testament, God sends his son
to the Jews and is rejected and he makes way for the Gentiles. Jesus was
defiled with the sin of all persons in order to cleanse us, and remove sin so
that we may rebuild God’s kingdom. God allowed his Son to carry the sins of all
eternity to the grave. Jesus was being separated from the holy place (presence
of God) as he cried out, “Why have you forsaken me”. God will not reside in relationship
of sin. When our sins were on Jesus, God had no choice but to look away, just
as we see him do with the temple. He looked away not because of what Jesus has
done but what you and I had done. Just as Ezekiel saw all the sins that came
between Israel and God, what if we are honest, what did Jesus see in each one
of us?

(1Peter 3:18) For Christ also suffered once for sins, the
righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God.

God is a God of growth and pursuit, lay
down false idols and turn to him, he will use you as a worker to build his
kingdom. The death of Jesus allows us an intimate relationship with God,
ushering us into the presence of the Father, just as it is written, bringing us
to God.

Prayer:

Lord; forgive my sins, blessed be my
Savior Jesus. Lord remove false idols, destroy self, take my life, return me to
clay so that you can mold me. Give me strength to fill my life with you
allowing no room for anything ahead of you. Make your will my heart’s desire. I
love you Lord!

1st Corinthians.2:4-5

And my speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
1st Corinthians.2:4-5.asv
- MZG

We complicate the simple

So today I happened upon a term that I heard a few times before and decided to research it.

Red Letter Christians

If you are not familiar a quick google will allow you to find there website and publications. So the idea is that this group will live by the words of Jesus, hence red letter, specifically the sermon on the mount. I was intrigued and though this could be a great thing. But on the start here page of the website you find members of the organization arguing over the validity and literal use of scripture in everyday life. Now I will not make a case for the literal use of word for word bible (I mean we don't really want to go back to slaves and chariots) but we should realize that information is relevant to the time. At the same time I am not seeking to discredit the idea or this organization as I think the idea is sound. I also believe that all organizations suffer from the same thing. All of us need to realize something, we make it all too complicated, and so with that here comes my take on the matter.

I believe if Jesus had arrived in this time his parables would have worked around different subject matter. Instead of the Good Samaritan he may have given the story if the illegal immigrant (both vilified by their current time). I could see the loaves and fishes being the feeding if the 5000 by one teenagers grilled stuffed burrito meal from TacoBell. Sounds funny for sure, but the parable or miracle is not the message. The message is in the meaning. We forget this so much of the time.

We don't need Red letter Christians. We don't need Baptist, Methodist, or Non-denomination. We need one body of faith based people who love The Lord our God, and who love one another.

People make this real hard. Let me over simplify.

God created man to glorify himself. Man is sinful and does not glorify God. God still loves man gives him laws and a way to fellowship. Man fails. God loves man enough to send his son Jesus. Jesus carries our sins to a cross. Dies with the sin so that we do not have to live bound by it. He ascended back to heaven leaving the Holy Spirit to guide and comfort us. We can enter the presence of God because we are made righteous by accepting the Son.

The rest are details. At the end of the day. Not critical.

I will explain it like this. If a child runs away. The parent searches. Finds the child a day later. The child is dirty. They have broken the rules, torn up some of the parents stuff, run away to hide. The child wasted time and resources of the parent. But non of it is really critical to the parent. The important thing is the child is safe.

Faith is like that story in that if we love the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit can guide us into a right mindset. If we love The Lord and love others as he does. All the other works out. The idea of debating the rest when we don't have the first would be like the parent of the lost child worrying and fussing because the child was going to get their clothes dirty, when the child was still not found. Sounds crazy right?

Think real hard , are you guilty of the same actions in the name of religiousness ???

For example people waste time arguing about "once saved always saved" as opposed to those who believe salvation can be lost. Both have valid points to be made from scripture based on view points.

I say. Not important. If you really meet Jesus. You don't wanna lose it or give it back. Because of the change in your life and the love for God that whole argument is mute. Why ask a question regarding an issue that will never come up.

Would a parent ask a 8 year old child "if I drop you off in a foreign country will you work your way back to me?" No. Of course not. A parent would not do that to the child. So to even argue an answer or discuss what would be the right answer becomes mute.

If you think you have been guilty of this, cart before the horse mentality, here is a prayer to help get you back on track.

Pray:

God I love you. Strengthen my spirit that I may remember in all I do you are my first love. Lord mold me so that I am a vessel that you can use to love the rest of the world. If anything creates disharmony in my love for you or my love for others Lord let your Holy Spirit steer me away from the hindrance. Lord I bless your name. Through the blood of your Son I pray. Amen





- MZG

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Do you have a "Bronze Serpent" in your closet?

The Bronze Serpent

Let us review what we know about the Bronze Serpent. The bronze serpent was made according to God's instructions to save the Israelites from death as they transitioned from Egypt to the promised land. See below:

"Numbers 21:4-9

New International Version (NIV)

4 They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea,[a] to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; 5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”

6 Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.

What Became of the Bronze Serpent? Well we know from scripture it was kept, and became a distraction from worship to God. So centuries later, the bronze serpent was destroyed because the Israelites had turned it into an idol. See below:

2 Kings 18:1-6

New International Version (NIV)

In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah[a] daughter of Zechariah. 3 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done. 4 He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.[b])

5 Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. 6 He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses.

What I really hope we can all see and take from this is twofold. 

First) What God uses to save us can become a sinful action if we place our faith in the instrument of saving instead if who sent it. When God sends us that spouse or job, we must remember although an answered prayer, they are gifts from the Father and he should be praised. Place nothing before him. 

Second) Things from God can be bad for us if we hang onto them too long. God sent them the miracle to heal a problem. When the problem was gone they should have trusted him, to supply again if needed, and that God had growth in mind. God intended for the Israelites to continue moving towards the promise, not stay where they would need this snake. We do this, God leads us to a place and we grow comfortable. We stay there even though his work is completed and he wants us moving forward, then we ask why are we not being blessed. We need to make sure we do not get caught holding on to old things of God when he is calling us to move into new things, otherwise we are disobedient.

Bound4Life.com

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