Friday May 18, 2012

Think about the things you like that God doesn’t.

Ring a friend and ask them to keep you accountable to change.

 

Read Deuteronomy 18:10-14;  Ephesians 5:1-7

 

As you read these verses, what do you think God thinks of the Harry Potter series? These novels are simply a glorification and adulation of witchcraft. No matter what you call it or how you dress it up, it’s still witchcraft. Would God be happy that His people are indulging in such promotion of what is essentially witchcraft? Would God be happy that His children are excited about spells and incantations and are acting out witchcraft fantasies.

 

As you read these verses do you think God is pleased when His children seek guidance from clairvoyants or the cards or even from the stars in the local papers? God hates, even abhors, such things.

 

As you read these words do you think God is pleased with Christians who dabble in séances and those who try to mediate between the spirits? Rest assured, God hates these things too.  Now of course, one might reply that it’s just a bit of fun. But think back to Israel. When the average Joe went to the Asherah pole or high place to bow down and worship, do you think God would have accepted his plea of, ‘I was only having a bit of fun?’ When an Israelite passed his new born baby girl through the flames of the statue dedicated to Molech, do you think such a plea would appease God?

 

As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ we should strive to love what God loves and to hate what God hates. Part of the command to be imitators of God includes taking on His likes and His dislikes as our own personal likes and dislikes.  How can we possibly imitate God in our outward life if in our inner life we still love what God hates and hate what He loves?

 

Learning to love what God loves and to hate what God hates requires complete submission to the will of the Lord. It means denying yourself and taking up your cross daily to follow Jesus. It means studying his Word and applying it to our lives.  It means taking practical steps to eradicate those things that God hates from our lives and bringing in the things that he loves.

 

Are you up for the challenge? Will you rise to the occasion? Will you take the bull by the horns and come up victorious?

 

Prayer:

¥ Pray that we would see more R.I teachers involved in the local schools. Pray that every church would be sending out workers into this vast harvest field. Pray that God would bring many souls into his kingdom through this powerful ministry.

¥ Pray that God would raise up chaplains for the mining industry. Churches are finding it hard to reach these workers because of their unconventional shifts. The families they belong to are breaking down under the strain. Chaplains to the mining industry would provide invaluable in making disciples and growing them in their walk with the Lord.

¥ Pray that the Presbytery of the Darling Downs would be wise in the use of its limited resources and that it would be thinking and acting strategically in these and many other areas.  Pray that this group of ministers and elders would lead the way in reaching out in Christ’s name and in disciplining the believers.