Quick Devotional Thoughts: Joshua 7 Don't hold accursed things!

 Reading in Joshua today (Joshua 7) how God commanded the Israelites to not take any item from the wicked people that they destroyed. And of course, one guy did. (these guys never learned... kinda like the rest of us!) God commanded Joshua to destroy the next city of Ai. The city only had like 12,000 people so it should've been easy but they went to destroy it and ended up being chased away and some Israelites were killed by this small city. Joshua was upset and scared and God told him: (vs. 10-13 in the pic)

Yikes right? Well, as the story goes, they found the guy and the stuff and they killed him and burnt his body along with the accursed items AND THEN God gave them triumph over the city of Ai. This is not a pleasant story, just like many accounts of things that happened in the Bible. But it does drive home one very important thing: God does NOT like our disobedience and He literally HATES sin. He does not want sinful things or people influencing His Children. Has anything really changed????

Sweet friends, there are so many things for us to learn and understand about God isn't there? I read about how God did things in the Old Testament and then He sent Jesus. What an AMAZING MERCIFUL ACT OF LOVE that really was!!! I don't think we can ever fully grasp what an incredible gift Jesus is to us. BUT... through Jesus, brought His grace and His mercy into our lives, taking the place of sacrifices and death on the spot for our disobedience. We should be so very thankful for that!

But here's the thing sweet friends, God still hates sin and God still does not like our disobedience. God still does not want wickedness or wicked people influencing the lives of His Children. And God is still not with us or allowing us to win our battles against the Enemy, if we are indeed embracing the same wickedness that our Enemy (Satan) possesses.

This Truth is still Truth today! If we want God to protect us and lead us to victory, and bless our lives.... we MUST be obedient to Him with our lives and stay away from the wickedness of this world. "But Darby, how do we witness to the lost if we can't reach out to them where they are at?".... We witness to them, by being different, by not engaging in the same wicked things, we love the people of this world... it doesn't mean we act like them. It doesn't mean we participate in evil in order to reach the lost. We, love Jesus with EVERYTHING we do, and we realize that GOD is SOVEREIGN and He is more than capable of bringing lost people into your path without you needing to seek out wicked places and activities to find them. The important thing, is know the voice of your Heavenly Father, if HE tells you to go, then go. But only if it's His voice. He is still the same God who calls His Children to righteousness despite how the world "feels". He is the same God who despises wickedness and is angry when His Children turn to it and embrace it.

As a "Christian Community" or the "Church", we have stepped outside of God's heart on these issues in our own desire to "reach the lost". We have pushed our "seeker sensitive" agendas, patting ourselves on the backs and high fiving each other because we have become so effective in "saving people" and "bringing them into the Kingdom of God" (and I am just as guilty here...) but the real question is: Have we? Have we really led people to the feet of Jesus where they have embraced Him and have allowed Him to transform them into His Children, living their lives in victory and freedom against the Enemy of their souls? Where they love Jesus with all their hearts and strive daily to please their Creator? OR.... have we merely played with wickedness, and not only played with it in order to gain an audience, but have we not also brought it into our Houses of Worship? God is Love.... but He is Holy First. We must remember Who HE is so that we can actually BE Who He is calling us to be. Worth a ponder. Love you sweet friends, praying God will help you in this area and pray for me too, we all have work to do!

Child, Come out of your Mess!

Sweet friends whether you've given your heart to Jesus recently or you gave it to Him many years ago, I'm sure you've realized at least one thing: it isn't easy! Giving our hearts and lives to Jesus is the best thing we could ever do but it does come with a price. As we become "living sacrifices" (Romans 12:1) we are constantly learning how to love Jesus more and more with our lives. In doing this, we begin to learn more about the heart of our Savior. We begin to recognize the things which bring Him honor and glory and the things which break His heart, and we do our intentional best to do what we know pleases Him right?

     So why is it in our "Christian culture" today, that we often find ourselves celebrating our "beautiful mess"? Now I totally understand the concept that "no one is perfect and Jesus loves us anyway" which IS TRUTH however I am afraid that this attitude that seems to be sweeping across our Christian community is incredibly dangerous to the minds and hearts of Believers. Here's Why:

    Our sin... is a big deal. Jesus died on the cross for it. Not so that we could freely sin but that we can be free from sin, no longer bound by it, no longer overcome by it. FREE. When the World looks at us they should see people who are different, who walk in Freedom and Victory. What an incredible witness to the power and love of God, if His Children are walking examples of how He can change a life! And that is exactly who He calls us to be sweet friends. We are the example of what a "New Creation" looks like. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

      So what is the danger of living a life drenched in our failure to be free from sin? Or even basking in the fact that our lives are a little messy? or we are a mess because of... what? What type of things in your life is causing you to label yourself a mess? ..... This mindset is dangerous because, we are missing out on God's Plan for our lives! Let's tackle the first LIE we have allowed ourselves to believe: 

Lie #1. God loves you so come just as you are... and STAY just as you are! 

You wanna know the crazy Truth about Christianity? Christianity is THE MOST INCLUSIVE Religion on the Planet. No matter who you are, what you've done... Jesus loves you and His arms are wide open to you. His love is unconditional. God loves everybody. AND..... Christianity is THE MOST EXCLUSIVE Religion on the Planet! Once you've decided to give your life to Jesus, He sets you on a path of Transformation as you continue to grow closer to Jesus. See, you have to actually "mean it", you can't just say "yes I want to give Jesus my life" and then not give Him your life. Lip service will not get you an eternity in Heaven, only a heart surrendered to Him will. He makes this VERY clear in His Word. (there are many passages of scripture that address this but Psalm 119 is one of my favorites)

Lie #2. Our sin doesn't really bother God. 

Oh sweet friends, our sin breaks God's heart! Yes, Jesus came to this Earth and willingly took every sin you and I have ever and will ever commit and He placed the weight of the death and shame of those sins on His own shoulders and died a long, painful, agonizing death for you and me so that we still had a way to an eternity in Heaven with Him.... because He loves us that much.  We can never fully understand what a HUGE deal it was for Jesus to do this for us. It was so bad, even God turned His face away... do you think after watching His Son die so brutally with the entire weight of OUR sin on His shoulders, that God doesn't get angry when we treat His sacrifice so callously by having the attitude that it's "no big deal" if we continue to sin? Do you know why it breaks God's heart sweet friends? Because when we casually sin and we don't stop and think about what we are doing as His Children, we are missing the point and the freedom of what God actually did for us! It means we don't really have a grasp on Who He is and who we can be through Him! We are missing out on so much more because we choose to live selfishly and we miss out on the true freedom and victories and blessings that God has for our lives if we would just give Him our hearts completely. 

Lie #3.  Striving for Righteousness is prideful and self-righteous....

Huh? I cannot tell you how many times this attitude comes out in people. I think we have adapted to this attitude of "no one is perfect" so much that anyone who literally strives to live a life that is pleasing to God, gets labeled as something bad; as someone who "thinks" they are better than those who choose to live in sin and talk about Jesus. Sweet friends, we have stepped so far outside of God's Word in our world today, that actually living for Jesus seems radical and crazy. How sad is that? Let me reassure you, if you are striving to live for Jesus and please Him with your life, there is NOTHING "prideful" about that. In fact, it takes more humility to walk closely with the Lord and seek His face daily over the decisions in your life. It takes humility to ask Him to show you the things in your life that don't please Him and work to get rid of those things. It takes humility to lay down things that you want to keep simply because He tells you to let them go. It is more "self-righteous" to think that you can embrace the things that God tells you to stop doing and somehow it won't really matter to God that you walk in disobedience because somehow you think you "deserve" Heaven despite walking all over His sacrifice simply because you can point out to Him that "nobody's perfect"?  Don't be deceived sweet friends, it is never wrong to strive to love Jesus with your life. It all boils down to your heart attitude. You can "pretend" with words and deeds or you can "do" with words and deeds. God knows your heart and He calls us all to WALK IN RIGHTEOUSNESS, never apologize for taking God seriously with your life!

 "Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know hat He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him." 1 John 3:4-9

     Now it all comes down to this, We are Children of God and we need to be so very careful where we set our minds. No, we are not perfect and we won't be until we are safely in the arms of Jesus in Heaven, but until then, we need to fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and PERFECTER of our Faith (Hebrews 12:2) We need to continue to allow God to transform us as we grow closer to Him, we need to AIM for perfection (2 Corinthians 13:11) This world that we live in.... might be messy, that is to be expected, but WE are not supposed to be like the world but set apart, full of the Spirit and everything that entails, none of which implies that we are left a mess in Jesus. If you truly find yourself feeling like you are in fact, a "mess", I encourage you sweet friend, don't stay there and don't be comfortable there. Jesus died for your mess so that you would not have to live in it and be bound by it. He came to set you free and through His Grace, you can walk in victory! 

"Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless. Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy." Jude 1:24

"Little Children (new believers), let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God." 1 John 3:7-9

God offers us hope doesn't He? We do not have to be a mess! That is Awesome! We have the choice sweet friends, we can spend our time practicing sin, or practicing righteousness... now, which one will you choose?