Monday, November 12

You get what you give.....

Isaiah 66:3 (AMP)
[The acts of the hypocrite's worship are as abominable to God as if they were offered to idols.] He who kills an ox [then] will be as guilty as if he slew and sacrificed a man; he who sacrifices a lamb or a kid, as if he broke a dog's neck and sacrificed him; he who offers a cereal offering, as if he offered swine's blood; he who burns incense [to God], as if he blessed an idol. [Such people] have chosen their own ways, and they delight in their abominations; 4So I also will choose their delusions and mockings, their calamities and afflictions, and I will bring their fears upon them--because when I called, no one answered; when I spoke, they did not listen or obey. But they did what was evil in My sight and chose that in which I did not delight.


Pastors are using the Dianetics book by Ron L. Hubbard for inspiration and affirmation within the church walls. Scientology is being displayed as 'non-christian' inspiration for the Christian aspirations. And no one sees anything wrong with this.

In a recent poll, we find that a majority of the '83%' professed Christians in the American population really aren't anything close to the truth, and yet we are comfortable with 'seekers' and 'questioners' who are led by a watered-down, flower-child mentality of Love, Love, Love….without ever coming into the deeper waters of a relationship with the Lord and Savior. Polls have questions like, "Do you believe there are many paths to Heaven?" or "Jesus was a prophetic teacher, but not truly divine, Yes or No?"

When we stray from the biblical truths and muddy the waters with non-biblical sources that are touted as not totally truthful, but useful, we fall into a situation of accepting everything as "useful" so long as we flavor it with biblical wording. By being seeker friendly, we have become user-friendly in a way that is biblically dangerous.

By touting God's love and desire to have none perish, we forget that there will be those who will…..God has enabled us to live our lives in choice, not as some machine that has nothing to do but repeat their Creator's words. God has given us the ability to reach beyond man's attempts throughout the generations to be God and to understand that we are God's children, vested with His love and His grace through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

By touting God's love and desire to have none perish, we have 'newbie' and 'seasoned' Christians falling into sin and turning their backs upon their Savior because they are hit with the evilness and sinfulness of the world. They cannot understand how this partial picture they have been given of God can allow the death of a loved one who claimed faith, the sorrow over not being able to provide simple food for their families, or the loss of their ability to walk.

And the "name it and claim it" crowd, while partially truthful in their Scriptural references, tend to leave off the fact that it is God's ability to deliver and not ours to affect. Great for motivational and inspirational settings, how many Christians have turned from the faith because they haven't 'claimed what they named?' How many Christians fall because they think their faith is not enough?

As God tells us in these two verses from Isaiah, such hypocritical views are an abomination to Him. And will be dealt with according to His righteousness, by getting what they asked for…….delusions and mockery…….

Jim