When Times Are Tough, What's The First Thing To Go?!

"Then the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying, 'Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?'" (Haggai 1:3)

 

(Now no one get paranoid.  This is just in my regular reading the other day.)  Some regular viewers of Christian television have told me that there are a number of prominent ministries which are no longer on the air in the Pittsburgh area.  I have heard too that there are many ministries which have had to cut back in their services because of the economy.  It would be good for Believers to take a look at the first thing they cut when times get rough.

 

In our text, we see that the Jews were taking good care of their own private houses, but the House of the Lord lay "in ruins."  There was no, "Oh, I understand.  Times are tough and you must make choices as to which bills to pay."  Rather, the Lord God told them, "You have planted much but harvested little....You have wine to drink, but not enough to satisfy your thirst....Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes." (NLT)  This sounds like the headlines in today's media.  Could the reason be that America is in this most embarrassing situation because of its abandonment of our heritage in Jesus Christ, His Kingdom, and His Words?

 

Too many in the modern American church have been acculturated to live by, "Seek first your own survival, and you will survive."  It is incumbent upon every Follower of Jesus to live by His "God-Breathed" Word, not the foul breath of society.  Jesus said it very succinctly and clearly, and it applies to individuals, congregations, businesses, and nations alike.  "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."  

 

Father, in Jesus' Name, Blessed Holy Spirit, convict me any time You and Your Kingdom are not my priority.  Amen.  

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Be sure to see the prophetic video at: www.antipasprayerforce.blogspot.com

 

 

"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

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"Tradition" Such As This Is Not A Bad Word

"Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, for in You do I trust; cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I life up my soul to You." (Psalm 143:8)

The 29th of the month-- the reading in Psalms.  I simply could not pray it better myself.  Here are some other prayers in Psalm 143--
     "Hear my prayer
     Do not enter into judgment with Your servant
     Answer me speedily
     Do not hid Your face from me
     Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness
     Cause me to know the way in which I should walk
     Deliver me...from my enemies
     Teach me to do Your will
     Lead me in...uprightness
     Revive me, for Your name's sake
     Cut off my enemies
     Destroy all those who afflict my soul."    
I cannot encourage you too strongly to pray the "God-Breathed" Word.
When we pray His Words, we are participating in, yea, breathing in and breathing out the very Breath of God.  I know that in reality this sounds strange to the formal religionists, but this theology has been around since "the beginning."  Throughout the centuries of the Covenant People, this, what the world calls "mysticism" or "pietism" has driven the Church and reached a dying world with the Good News, Jesus Christ.  It is no different from, "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being"----- and by the same Breath of the Blessed Trinity, you and I continue to live. 

I think some times that my "'God-Breathed' Word" theology is a little "strange" to some.  But this morning I came across an article online about the German Pietists.  It was written by one of my theology professors I had back in the late 1960s, James Nelson.  Quite a surprise.  After being in his class for a while, he told me that I was in the tradition of the German Pietists.  As a young man, I didn't know if he were swearing at me or what.  In time, however, I came to realize that it was a compliment, and that Dr. Nelson and I were in a great tradition.  As time and study went on, I became exposed to such seventeenth and eighteenth century "pietists" as August Hermann Francke, Jacob Spener, and, as was my Dad, Nikolaus Ludwig, Graf von Zinzendorf.  Would to God we would have such men again!  Franke's theme for his service in the Body of Christ was:
               A Life Changed
               A Church Revived
               A Nation Reformed
               A World Evangelized              
This is not irrelevant mysticism or pietism.  This is life in Jesus Christ, a changed heart which leads to reviving a church, reforming a nation, and evangelizing the world.  And make no mistake.  Such a life begins, continues, and is sustained by the "God-Breathed" Word manifested in  Jesus Christ.  

Father, in Jesus' Name, as Job, "As long as my breath is in me, and the breath of God in my nostrils...." I worship You.  Amen.  
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"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2



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Take Jesus Out of Anything And You Have Nothing

"For by Him all things were created, in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created by Him and for Him.  And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together (KJV- "in Him all things  consist")  (Colossians 1:16, 17-- NASB)

 

A teacher in a Christian school once asked a class of second-graders, "What is gray, fury, and lives in trees?"  One little boy answered, "Well, I know the answer must be, 'Jesus Christ,' but it sure sounds like a squirrel to me."  Okay, cute and funny, but the disobedient have used this story to show just how ridiculous and unscientific is evangelical Christianity.  Our text indicates, however, that the theology of, "Jesus Christ in Everything," is not only good Biblical Theology, it is also good science.  Scientists define "cohesion" as "the intermolecular attraction by which the elements of a body are held together."  You see; even science confirms the "God-Breathed" Word. 

 

The reality is that no axiom which is deemed "true," mathematically, scientifically, politically, socially, or ethically can eliminate the centrality of Jesus Christ and our "God-Breathed" Word.  The moment it does, it becomes "false teaching," inaccurate even in the temple of science.  It is akin to the Darwinian lie concerning "the origin of the species," the secularists' lie that Jesus Christ is just a historical figure, one among the many founders of irrelevant religion, and the lie of Islam that the Followers of Jesus are polytheists.  The Bible affirms that there is no truth apart from Truth Himself, Jesus Christ.  Take Jesus Christ out of your anything, and you have nothing. 

 

You and I have a daily choice as to whom we will believe?  Believe the Words of God, or believe, as Paul called it, the "vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called?"  May that little second-grader never forget that he lives today because Jesus Christ literally holds him together-------even that squirrel.  

 

Father, in Jesus' Name, I thank You that You literally keep together my body, soul, and spirit.  Amen.

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"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

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Seems "Good,..Pleasant,..And...Desirable?-- Maybe Not

"So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took...."  (Genesis 3:6)

 

Our text yesterday referred to "the pretty garden path to destruction." How "pretty" sin appears.  If it did not, who would ever be so tempted to give into it?  "The woman" liked what she saw------ so did the man.  They took the deception "pretty" and lost the reality "Pretty."  How deceiving can be "pleasant to the eyes" and "desirable" things.  Notice in our text that the goodness of "the tree" was not in the tasting.  It was just in the seeing. 

 

I would suggest today that you beware of "the pretty garden," the "pretty" anything and anyone.  You will remember the saying, "All that glitters is not gold."  This does not mean we should be suspicious, but it does mean that we should not be naive.  There is a modern chorus which says, "You're altogether lovely, altogether worthy, altogether wonderful to me."  Jesus is indeed.  And since He is, and if we walk in the reality, we will never succumb to "the pretty garden," the one which is the "path to destruction."  Jesus Himself, the "God-Breathed" Word, is "The Tree of Life," the one from which the man and the woman should have fed, and the One from Whom you and I may continually feed. 

 

You and I have the same continual choice today as did Adam and Eve.  From what and whom shall we eat?--- political promises, Hollywood beauty, smooth talking, facade wisdom pundits, or, "I am the living bread which came down from Heaven?"  To the religious mind, the choice sounds simple enough---------- at least in church services and the reading of a daily devotional.  Just be careful, though.  Out "there" the choice is not always that obvious.

 

Father, in Jesus' Name, keep me from assuming too much from my "spirituality."  Amen.

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"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

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