Randy Green's Blog - Posts Tagged "religiosity"
Slam the door!
“‘Oh that there were one among you who would shut the gates, that you might not uselessly kindle fire on My altar! I am not pleased with you,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘nor will I accept an offering from you’” [Malachi 1:10].
I recall back in the day spending summer vacations and Christmas holidays and spring break—in fine, any free time I had from elementary school—staying with my maternal grandparents out in the country. They had a small farm with chickens and rabbits and corn and assorted other crops. They were surrounded by big old farms with pigs and cows and humongous acres of corn and soy beans.
My granddaddy built their home with his own hands, right after World War I. He was a carpenter by trade. The home was heated with a wood burning stove in the living room, and that was it for all the rooms! As for air conditioning, well, you held this cardboard in your hand and waved it!
Grandmamma cooked the food on her wood burning stove. Some of the tastiest, mouth-watering meals ever originated there. We hunted squirrel and rabbit to eat and fished for food too. Even frog legs were on the menu sometimes. The homemade bread and biscuits sung their siren song, compelling us back for more. It never gets better than that.
Well, both the front door and the back had screen doors attached to them. In the center of the door near the doorknob one end of a strong, heavy-duty spring was attached, with the other end attached to the doorpost. This kept the doorsfrom staying open: the spring action pulled it shut.
When the door was pulled shut by the spring, the door would slam loudly. In fact for being such a light-weight door, it sure startled the dickens out of us when it slammed! And God forbid anyone should be so jejune as to stomp out mad and slam the door on purposes Yikes! That was even louder.
In the prophet Malachi’s time the Israelites got caught up in apathetically going through religious motions. They completely lost sight of the Lord and ignored His Word. Consequently the Lord spent His time by Himself every day because His people failed to spend time with Him. This didn’t sit too well with Him then, and it doesn’t sit too well with Him today (cf., Revelation 2:2-4).
This playing religion on the part of the Israelites became so intolerable to our long-suffering God, that He uttered Malachi’s words we quoted above. He said in essence, “Slam the temple doors shut and keep those religios out of My temple! I don’t want their worthless offerings because their hearts aren’t in it. They live to please themselves, when they are supposed to live for Me. I am the King of kings, but they behave toward Me as if I were a dead carcass back in Egypt. Keep them out of My sight!”
Strong words, those...not the pleasantries I normally associate with church. Maybe I shouldn’t take God for granted. Maybe I shouldn’t rise up late on Sunday mornings and hie off to the church building, thinking I am doing God a favor by being there. He doesn’t need me. I need Him! He bestows the favors (i.e., grace). No matter what I do or how much, I am merely an unprofitable servant. At best I have merely done my duty.
So what will I do to get this right with the Lord? I know. I’ll diligently spend time alone with Him daily, with Bible open and hands folded in prayer. He can talk with me and I with Him. That is the definition of a personal relationship with the Lord. It’s during such times I receive His blessing, and then I can share the blessing with others at church and elsewhere. Anyone is welcome to go and do likewise.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Leviticus: Volume 3 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. For more info please visit these sites to purchase my books:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
I recall back in the day spending summer vacations and Christmas holidays and spring break—in fine, any free time I had from elementary school—staying with my maternal grandparents out in the country. They had a small farm with chickens and rabbits and corn and assorted other crops. They were surrounded by big old farms with pigs and cows and humongous acres of corn and soy beans.
My granddaddy built their home with his own hands, right after World War I. He was a carpenter by trade. The home was heated with a wood burning stove in the living room, and that was it for all the rooms! As for air conditioning, well, you held this cardboard in your hand and waved it!
Grandmamma cooked the food on her wood burning stove. Some of the tastiest, mouth-watering meals ever originated there. We hunted squirrel and rabbit to eat and fished for food too. Even frog legs were on the menu sometimes. The homemade bread and biscuits sung their siren song, compelling us back for more. It never gets better than that.
Well, both the front door and the back had screen doors attached to them. In the center of the door near the doorknob one end of a strong, heavy-duty spring was attached, with the other end attached to the doorpost. This kept the doorsfrom staying open: the spring action pulled it shut.
When the door was pulled shut by the spring, the door would slam loudly. In fact for being such a light-weight door, it sure startled the dickens out of us when it slammed! And God forbid anyone should be so jejune as to stomp out mad and slam the door on purposes Yikes! That was even louder.
In the prophet Malachi’s time the Israelites got caught up in apathetically going through religious motions. They completely lost sight of the Lord and ignored His Word. Consequently the Lord spent His time by Himself every day because His people failed to spend time with Him. This didn’t sit too well with Him then, and it doesn’t sit too well with Him today (cf., Revelation 2:2-4).
This playing religion on the part of the Israelites became so intolerable to our long-suffering God, that He uttered Malachi’s words we quoted above. He said in essence, “Slam the temple doors shut and keep those religios out of My temple! I don’t want their worthless offerings because their hearts aren’t in it. They live to please themselves, when they are supposed to live for Me. I am the King of kings, but they behave toward Me as if I were a dead carcass back in Egypt. Keep them out of My sight!”
Strong words, those...not the pleasantries I normally associate with church. Maybe I shouldn’t take God for granted. Maybe I shouldn’t rise up late on Sunday mornings and hie off to the church building, thinking I am doing God a favor by being there. He doesn’t need me. I need Him! He bestows the favors (i.e., grace). No matter what I do or how much, I am merely an unprofitable servant. At best I have merely done my duty.
So what will I do to get this right with the Lord? I know. I’ll diligently spend time alone with Him daily, with Bible open and hands folded in prayer. He can talk with me and I with Him. That is the definition of a personal relationship with the Lord. It’s during such times I receive His blessing, and then I can share the blessing with others at church and elsewhere. Anyone is welcome to go and do likewise.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Leviticus: Volume 3 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. For more info please visit these sites to purchase my books:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Strange Bedfellows – Part 1
A command came to me by the word of the Lord, “You shall eat no bread, nor drink water there; do not return by going the way which you came.” [1 Kings 13:17]
I am a creature of habit. I take the same route to work each day, shop for food at the same market, and visit the same department store for clothing and bedding and window dressing. I generally am in bed at the same time and up again at the same time each day. Yep, I am a creature of habit.
Now there is nothing immoral in being a creature of habit. In many ways it can be a good thing, a very good thing. Structure is needed in life, if we are to be all that the Lord wants us to be. Discipline is structure, and all of us need to discipline ourselves so the Lord doesn’t have to do it for us.
Still, we need to have some moderation in our habits, or else they become bad habits. We need to have some flexibility when our routine is interrupted. And when it comes to living for the Lord, routine and habit can be a dangerous thing, a very dangerous thing. Too much routine in spiritual life is no more than ritualism, religiosity, tradition. It is known as “playing church”.
We need structure because without it we don’t accomplish much. Withoug structure we hang out, enjoy ourselves, put off our responsibilities, and generally fail the Lord. If we don’t set aside a daily time to be with Jesus, we won’t often be with Jesus, you see. On the other hand, if we want church service to follow the same format each week, we can’t help ourselves: we wind up in a rut putting on a religious show and relegating Jesus to the outside looking in.
In the Bible verse we quoted at the start of this study, the Lord taught this truth to His people back in the day. Let me present the context to you. The twelve tribes of Israel ceased being governed by “judges” at the time of the prophet Samuel. The Israelites insisted on having a “king”, so the Lord gave them Saul, a man after the people’s own heart. Saul was what the people were looking for, but not what God wanted in a king.
After the people got a taste of what they wanted and learned what not to look for in a king, the Lord then gave them King David, a man after the Lord’s own heart. Under King David Israel became a united kingdom, rather than a collection of twelve tribes.
When David’s son Solomon became king, he began well but finished abysmally. Solomon became too big for his breeches and fell into idolatry. Consequently, upon Solomon’s death the Lord divided the kingdom between southern Judah and northern Israel.
Now that we’ve reached the divided kingdom, we can take a break and chew the cud on what we’ve learned today. But don’t forget to return same time same station tomorrow. We still have to find out what the two points of the Lord’s instructions are all about! See you then.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
I am a creature of habit. I take the same route to work each day, shop for food at the same market, and visit the same department store for clothing and bedding and window dressing. I generally am in bed at the same time and up again at the same time each day. Yep, I am a creature of habit.
Now there is nothing immoral in being a creature of habit. In many ways it can be a good thing, a very good thing. Structure is needed in life, if we are to be all that the Lord wants us to be. Discipline is structure, and all of us need to discipline ourselves so the Lord doesn’t have to do it for us.
Still, we need to have some moderation in our habits, or else they become bad habits. We need to have some flexibility when our routine is interrupted. And when it comes to living for the Lord, routine and habit can be a dangerous thing, a very dangerous thing. Too much routine in spiritual life is no more than ritualism, religiosity, tradition. It is known as “playing church”.
We need structure because without it we don’t accomplish much. Withoug structure we hang out, enjoy ourselves, put off our responsibilities, and generally fail the Lord. If we don’t set aside a daily time to be with Jesus, we won’t often be with Jesus, you see. On the other hand, if we want church service to follow the same format each week, we can’t help ourselves: we wind up in a rut putting on a religious show and relegating Jesus to the outside looking in.
In the Bible verse we quoted at the start of this study, the Lord taught this truth to His people back in the day. Let me present the context to you. The twelve tribes of Israel ceased being governed by “judges” at the time of the prophet Samuel. The Israelites insisted on having a “king”, so the Lord gave them Saul, a man after the people’s own heart. Saul was what the people were looking for, but not what God wanted in a king.
After the people got a taste of what they wanted and learned what not to look for in a king, the Lord then gave them King David, a man after the Lord’s own heart. Under King David Israel became a united kingdom, rather than a collection of twelve tribes.
When David’s son Solomon became king, he began well but finished abysmally. Solomon became too big for his breeches and fell into idolatry. Consequently, upon Solomon’s death the Lord divided the kingdom between southern Judah and northern Israel.
Now that we’ve reached the divided kingdom, we can take a break and chew the cud on what we’ve learned today. But don’t forget to return same time same station tomorrow. We still have to find out what the two points of the Lord’s instructions are all about! See you then.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Strange Bedfellows – Part 2
A command came to me by the word of the Lord, “You shall eat no bread, nor drink water there; do not return by going the way which you came.” [1 Kings 13:17]
In Israel Jeroboam became king. He feared that his subjects in the north would go to Jerusalem in the south to worship the Lord, and soon they would favor King Rehoboam of Judah. Then they would kill Jeroboam and reunite the kingdom under Rehoboam.
To thwart such a possibility, Jeroboam of Israel had two golden calves constructed. He placed one in Dan to the far north and the other at Bethel in the south of Israel. He commanded his subjects to worship the calves in those locations. The calves were Israel’s gods!
Needless to say, but the Lord wasn’t exactly thrilled at this. He sent a prophet from Judah to prophesy Jeroboam’s demise. The Bible verse at the start of this lesson was part of the Lord’s instructions to His prophet from Judah. Now let’s note the two parts of the Bible verse.
1. do not eat or drink while in Bethel of Israel
2. don’t return to Judah by the same route you took to Bethel
Are you nonplussed by those instructions? Why would the Lord tell the prophet not to eat or drink while there? And why specify that he take a different route back to Judah? “Hmm. I don’t get it?” some of you are saying to yourself.
Allow me to explain. In the Bible the Lord often employs visible physical realities to teach us invisible spiritual truths. The two points listed are the visible physical realities, and now we need to mine the ore and recover the invisible spiritual truths contained therein.
The first point forbade the prophet of Judah from sitting down and sharing a meal with the folks of idolatrous Israel. This is in keeping with the doctrine of separation which begins in Genesis 1 and continues to the end of Revelation 22. God’s kids are not to fraternize with the devil’s kids. Israel worshiped two golden calves. Judah worshiped the Lord. Don’t fraternize while in Israel, O prophet!
The second point has to do with how I began this study today. I am a creature of habit, but in spiritual life habit and routine can easily spell deadness. If we keep doing the same things we’ve always done, we will keep being what we’ve always been. That is the death knell of true spiritual vitality, dear friends.
Our life is often expressed as the road we travel or the way we take. The Lord told the prophet to go to Bethel one way but to return a different way. In doing so the Lord taught that we cannot serve Him by doing the same old same old day after day. We cannot learn something from Him and then run around doing the same thing all the time and call that “serving the Lord”.
If we would truly serve Jesus, we need to go to Him daily and receive our marching orders from Him. If we habitually spend time alone with Him, we will grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He will be leading us and we will be following His will. Otherwise, not so much.
So which will it be? Will we return by the same route we went? Or will we take an alternate route and remain dependent on the Lord for guidance?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
In Israel Jeroboam became king. He feared that his subjects in the north would go to Jerusalem in the south to worship the Lord, and soon they would favor King Rehoboam of Judah. Then they would kill Jeroboam and reunite the kingdom under Rehoboam.
To thwart such a possibility, Jeroboam of Israel had two golden calves constructed. He placed one in Dan to the far north and the other at Bethel in the south of Israel. He commanded his subjects to worship the calves in those locations. The calves were Israel’s gods!
Needless to say, but the Lord wasn’t exactly thrilled at this. He sent a prophet from Judah to prophesy Jeroboam’s demise. The Bible verse at the start of this lesson was part of the Lord’s instructions to His prophet from Judah. Now let’s note the two parts of the Bible verse.
1. do not eat or drink while in Bethel of Israel
2. don’t return to Judah by the same route you took to Bethel
Are you nonplussed by those instructions? Why would the Lord tell the prophet not to eat or drink while there? And why specify that he take a different route back to Judah? “Hmm. I don’t get it?” some of you are saying to yourself.
Allow me to explain. In the Bible the Lord often employs visible physical realities to teach us invisible spiritual truths. The two points listed are the visible physical realities, and now we need to mine the ore and recover the invisible spiritual truths contained therein.
The first point forbade the prophet of Judah from sitting down and sharing a meal with the folks of idolatrous Israel. This is in keeping with the doctrine of separation which begins in Genesis 1 and continues to the end of Revelation 22. God’s kids are not to fraternize with the devil’s kids. Israel worshiped two golden calves. Judah worshiped the Lord. Don’t fraternize while in Israel, O prophet!
The second point has to do with how I began this study today. I am a creature of habit, but in spiritual life habit and routine can easily spell deadness. If we keep doing the same things we’ve always done, we will keep being what we’ve always been. That is the death knell of true spiritual vitality, dear friends.
Our life is often expressed as the road we travel or the way we take. The Lord told the prophet to go to Bethel one way but to return a different way. In doing so the Lord taught that we cannot serve Him by doing the same old same old day after day. We cannot learn something from Him and then run around doing the same thing all the time and call that “serving the Lord”.
If we would truly serve Jesus, we need to go to Him daily and receive our marching orders from Him. If we habitually spend time alone with Him, we will grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He will be leading us and we will be following His will. Otherwise, not so much.
So which will it be? Will we return by the same route we went? Or will we take an alternate route and remain dependent on the Lord for guidance?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Busted!
(Israel asked the Lord), “Why have we fasted and You do not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?”(The Lord answered), Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire, and drive hard all your workers [Isaiah 58:3].
I recall back in the day when I was a young tyke, barely knee-high to a grasshopper. I had a not so unusual way of obeying my dad. When he told me to clean my room, I did…sort of. Everything on the floor I swept under my bed. Everything on the chair and bed and dresser I tossed into the closet, abruptly closing the door behind the mess.
“Ah, I cleaned my room in short shrift,” I applauded myself. “Dad will certainly be pleased with my diligence in obeying his directions.” After all, when I looked around the room it appeared clean. I saw nothing out of place and in need of redirection. If possession is 90% of the law, appearance ought to be 90% of clean. Right?
Too bad for me I wasn’t the law. Dad was! And he didn’t buy what I was selling. He didn’t settle for poking his head through the door to have a look-see and settle on appearances. He had the audacity to actually enter my bedroom, open the closet door for a peek, and raise the bed skirt to see what was under the bed.
Busted! Dad knew my propensities better than I did. When I “cleaned” my room, I acted without thinking. Dad, contrariwise, recognized my puerile predilection for appearance over essence and cut to the chase. It didn’t take many of those inspections to learn that going through the motions in my obedience to Dad didn’t cut it. I learned to clean my room for real at a very early age.
In Isaiah’s day the Lord’s kids, the Israelites, behaved in much the same way to Father God’s instructions. They were very religious, you see. They tithed mint and cumin, dotted their “i’s” and crossed their “t’s”, and fasted at every conceivable opportunity. And then they parked their carcasses on all the street corners and every other high profile place, and prayed out loud to God, “See how good we are, God? No need to thank us. It’s our pleasure.”
Yes, indeed. These guys were holy rollers and Father God just had to be proud of them! Or were they? And was He? According to the Biblical text quoted at the start of this study, God wasn’t buying what they were selling. He actually had the audacity to enter their room, open the closet door for a closer look, and peer behind the bed skirt to discover the truth. Who’s He think He is anyway? The nerve of some people!
The Biblical text records Israel’s hurt feelings by the words “fasted” and “humbled ourselves”, while the Lord didn’t acknowledge the holiness of their behaviors. Despite the Israelites’ protest, it would seem the Lord had a good reason. His indictment of their religious activity was this: On the day of your fast you find your desire, and drive hard all your workers.
This means that, while the Israelites were going through the motions of fasting, they were cavorting in their own pleasures. They were also oppressing their fellow Israelites who worked for them. The whole point of fasting is to temporarily set aside our indulging of the flesh, in order to strengthen the spirit. In this manner we attempt to draw closer to the Lord in our personal relationship with Him.
The Israelites, you see, outwardly performed religious functions, but inwardly they were still living to please the flesh, to please themselves. Father God gave them quite specific instructions about obeying His Word, but only from the heart, only out of love for Him. They preferred to sweep the mess under the bed and hide it in the closet for appearances’ sake. In this way they had more time to please themselves. Alas for them, but Father God took a closer look into their hearts. Busted!
So how about you and me. Are we busted too? Or do we truly love the Lord and obey His Word as the outworking of our love for Him? It wouldn’t do to be busted at the Bema of Christ and lose our eternal rewards.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
I recall back in the day when I was a young tyke, barely knee-high to a grasshopper. I had a not so unusual way of obeying my dad. When he told me to clean my room, I did…sort of. Everything on the floor I swept under my bed. Everything on the chair and bed and dresser I tossed into the closet, abruptly closing the door behind the mess.
“Ah, I cleaned my room in short shrift,” I applauded myself. “Dad will certainly be pleased with my diligence in obeying his directions.” After all, when I looked around the room it appeared clean. I saw nothing out of place and in need of redirection. If possession is 90% of the law, appearance ought to be 90% of clean. Right?
Too bad for me I wasn’t the law. Dad was! And he didn’t buy what I was selling. He didn’t settle for poking his head through the door to have a look-see and settle on appearances. He had the audacity to actually enter my bedroom, open the closet door for a peek, and raise the bed skirt to see what was under the bed.
Busted! Dad knew my propensities better than I did. When I “cleaned” my room, I acted without thinking. Dad, contrariwise, recognized my puerile predilection for appearance over essence and cut to the chase. It didn’t take many of those inspections to learn that going through the motions in my obedience to Dad didn’t cut it. I learned to clean my room for real at a very early age.
In Isaiah’s day the Lord’s kids, the Israelites, behaved in much the same way to Father God’s instructions. They were very religious, you see. They tithed mint and cumin, dotted their “i’s” and crossed their “t’s”, and fasted at every conceivable opportunity. And then they parked their carcasses on all the street corners and every other high profile place, and prayed out loud to God, “See how good we are, God? No need to thank us. It’s our pleasure.”
Yes, indeed. These guys were holy rollers and Father God just had to be proud of them! Or were they? And was He? According to the Biblical text quoted at the start of this study, God wasn’t buying what they were selling. He actually had the audacity to enter their room, open the closet door for a closer look, and peer behind the bed skirt to discover the truth. Who’s He think He is anyway? The nerve of some people!
The Biblical text records Israel’s hurt feelings by the words “fasted” and “humbled ourselves”, while the Lord didn’t acknowledge the holiness of their behaviors. Despite the Israelites’ protest, it would seem the Lord had a good reason. His indictment of their religious activity was this: On the day of your fast you find your desire, and drive hard all your workers.
This means that, while the Israelites were going through the motions of fasting, they were cavorting in their own pleasures. They were also oppressing their fellow Israelites who worked for them. The whole point of fasting is to temporarily set aside our indulging of the flesh, in order to strengthen the spirit. In this manner we attempt to draw closer to the Lord in our personal relationship with Him.
The Israelites, you see, outwardly performed religious functions, but inwardly they were still living to please the flesh, to please themselves. Father God gave them quite specific instructions about obeying His Word, but only from the heart, only out of love for Him. They preferred to sweep the mess under the bed and hide it in the closet for appearances’ sake. In this way they had more time to please themselves. Alas for them, but Father God took a closer look into their hearts. Busted!
So how about you and me. Are we busted too? Or do we truly love the Lord and obey His Word as the outworking of our love for Him? It wouldn’t do to be busted at the Bema of Christ and lose our eternal rewards.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Slam the door!
“Oh that there were one among you who would shut the gates, that you might not uselessly kindle fire on My altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord of hosts, “nor will I accept an offering from you.” [Malachi 1:10]
I recall back in the day spending summer vacations and Christmas holidays and spring break—in fine, any free time I had from elementary school—staying with my maternal grandparents out in the country. They had a small farm with chickens and rabbits and corn and assorted other crops. They were surrounded by big old farms with pigs and cows and humongous acres of corn and soy beans.
My granddaddy built their home with his own hands, right after World War I. He was a carpenter by trade. The home was heated with a wood burning stove in the living room, and that was it for all the rooms! As for air conditioning, well, you held this cardboard in your hand and waved it!
Grandmamma cooked the food on her wood burning stove. Some of the tastiest, mouth-watering meals ever originated there. We hunted squirrel and rabbit to eat and fished for food too. Even frog legs were on the menu sometimes. The homemade bread and biscuits sung their siren song, compelling us back for more. It never gets better than that.
Well, both the front door and the back had screen doors attached to them. In the center of the door near the doorknob one end of a strong, heavy-duty spring was attached, with the other end attached to the doorpost. This kept the doors from staying open: the spring action pulled it shut.
When the door was pulled shut by the spring, the door would slam loudly. In fact for being such a light-weight door, it sure startled the dickens out of us when it slammed! And God forbid anyone should be so jejune as to stomp out mad and slam the door on purposes Yikes! That was even louder.
In the prophet Malachi’s time the Israelites got caught up in apathetically going through religious motions. They completely lost sight of the Lord and ignored His Word. Consequently the Lord spent His time by Himself every day because His people failed to spend time with Him. This didn’t sit too well with Him then, and it doesn’t sit too well with Him today (cf., Revelation 2:2-4).
This playing religion on the part of the Israelites became so intolerable to our long-suffering God, that He uttered Malachi’s words we quoted above. He said in essence, “Slam the temple doors shut and keep those religios out of My temple! I don’t want their worthless offerings because their hearts aren’t in it. They live to please themselves, when they are supposed to live for Me. I am the King of kings, but they behave toward Me as if I were a dead carcass back in Egypt. Keep them out of My sight!”
Strong words, those...not the pleasantries I normally associate with church. Maybe I shouldn’t take God for granted. Maybe I shouldn’t rise up late on Sunday mornings and hie off to the church building, thinking I am doing God a favor by being there. He doesn’t need me. I need Him! He bestows the favors (i.e., grace). No matter what I do or how much, I am merely an unprofitable servant. At best I have merely done my duty.
So what will I do to get this right with the Lord? I know. I’ll diligently spend time alone with Him daily, with Bible open and hands folded in prayer. He can talk with me and I with Him. That is the definition of a personal relationship with the Lord. It’s during such times I receive His blessing, and then I can share the blessing with others at church and elsewhere. Anyone is welcome to go and do likewise.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Leviticus: Volume 3 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. For more info please visit these sites to purchase my books:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
I recall back in the day spending summer vacations and Christmas holidays and spring break—in fine, any free time I had from elementary school—staying with my maternal grandparents out in the country. They had a small farm with chickens and rabbits and corn and assorted other crops. They were surrounded by big old farms with pigs and cows and humongous acres of corn and soy beans.
My granddaddy built their home with his own hands, right after World War I. He was a carpenter by trade. The home was heated with a wood burning stove in the living room, and that was it for all the rooms! As for air conditioning, well, you held this cardboard in your hand and waved it!
Grandmamma cooked the food on her wood burning stove. Some of the tastiest, mouth-watering meals ever originated there. We hunted squirrel and rabbit to eat and fished for food too. Even frog legs were on the menu sometimes. The homemade bread and biscuits sung their siren song, compelling us back for more. It never gets better than that.
Well, both the front door and the back had screen doors attached to them. In the center of the door near the doorknob one end of a strong, heavy-duty spring was attached, with the other end attached to the doorpost. This kept the doors from staying open: the spring action pulled it shut.
When the door was pulled shut by the spring, the door would slam loudly. In fact for being such a light-weight door, it sure startled the dickens out of us when it slammed! And God forbid anyone should be so jejune as to stomp out mad and slam the door on purposes Yikes! That was even louder.
In the prophet Malachi’s time the Israelites got caught up in apathetically going through religious motions. They completely lost sight of the Lord and ignored His Word. Consequently the Lord spent His time by Himself every day because His people failed to spend time with Him. This didn’t sit too well with Him then, and it doesn’t sit too well with Him today (cf., Revelation 2:2-4).
This playing religion on the part of the Israelites became so intolerable to our long-suffering God, that He uttered Malachi’s words we quoted above. He said in essence, “Slam the temple doors shut and keep those religios out of My temple! I don’t want their worthless offerings because their hearts aren’t in it. They live to please themselves, when they are supposed to live for Me. I am the King of kings, but they behave toward Me as if I were a dead carcass back in Egypt. Keep them out of My sight!”
Strong words, those...not the pleasantries I normally associate with church. Maybe I shouldn’t take God for granted. Maybe I shouldn’t rise up late on Sunday mornings and hie off to the church building, thinking I am doing God a favor by being there. He doesn’t need me. I need Him! He bestows the favors (i.e., grace). No matter what I do or how much, I am merely an unprofitable servant. At best I have merely done my duty.
So what will I do to get this right with the Lord? I know. I’ll diligently spend time alone with Him daily, with Bible open and hands folded in prayer. He can talk with me and I with Him. That is the definition of a personal relationship with the Lord. It’s during such times I receive His blessing, and then I can share the blessing with others at church and elsewhere. Anyone is welcome to go and do likewise.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Leviticus: Volume 3 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. For more info please visit these sites to purchase my books:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Strange Bedfellows – Part 1
A command came to me by the word of the Lord, “You shall eat no bread, nor drink water there; do not return by going the way which you came.” [1 Kings 13:17]
I am a creature of habit. I take the same route to work each day, shop for food at the same market, and visit the same department store for clothing and bedding and window dressing. I generally am in bed at the same time and up again at the same time each day. Yep, I am a creature of habit.
Now there is nothing immoral in being a creature of habit. In many ways it can be a good thing, a very good thing. Structure is needed in life, if we are to be all that the Lord wants us to be. Discipline is structure, and all of us need to discipline ourselves so the Lord doesn’t have to do it for us.
Still, we need to have some moderation in our habits, or else they become bad habits. We need to have some flexibility when our routine is interrupted. And when it comes to living for the Lord, routine and habit can be a dangerous thing, a very dangerous thing. Too much routine in spiritual life is no more than ritualism, religiosity, tradition. It is known as “playing church”.
We need structure because without it we don’t accomplish much. Without structure we hang out, enjoy ourselves, put off our responsibilities, and generally fail the Lord. If we don’t set aside a daily time to be with Jesus, we won’t often be with Jesus, you see. On the other hand, if we want church service to follow the same format each week, we can’t help ourselves: we wind up in a rut putting on a religious show and relegating Jesus to the outside looking in.
In the Bible verse we quoted at the start of this study, the Lord taught this truth to His people back in the day. Let me present the context to you. The twelve tribes of Israel ceased being governed by “judges” at the time of the prophet Samuel. The Israelites insisted on having a “king”, so the Lord gave them Saul, a man after the people’s own heart. Saul was what the people were looking for, but not what God wanted in a king.
After the people got a taste of what they wanted and learned what not to look for in a king, the Lord then gave them King David, a man after the Lord’s own heart. Under King David Israel became a united kingdom, rather than a collection of twelve tribes.
When David’s son Solomon became king, he began well but finished abysmally. Solomon became too big for his breeches and fell into idolatry. Consequently, upon Solomon’s death the Lord divided the kingdom between southern Judah and northern Israel.
Now that we’ve reached the divided kingdom, we can take a break and chew the cud on what we’ve learned today. But don’t forget to return same time same station tomorrow. We still have to find out what the two points of the Lord’s instructions are all about! See you then.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
I am a creature of habit. I take the same route to work each day, shop for food at the same market, and visit the same department store for clothing and bedding and window dressing. I generally am in bed at the same time and up again at the same time each day. Yep, I am a creature of habit.
Now there is nothing immoral in being a creature of habit. In many ways it can be a good thing, a very good thing. Structure is needed in life, if we are to be all that the Lord wants us to be. Discipline is structure, and all of us need to discipline ourselves so the Lord doesn’t have to do it for us.
Still, we need to have some moderation in our habits, or else they become bad habits. We need to have some flexibility when our routine is interrupted. And when it comes to living for the Lord, routine and habit can be a dangerous thing, a very dangerous thing. Too much routine in spiritual life is no more than ritualism, religiosity, tradition. It is known as “playing church”.
We need structure because without it we don’t accomplish much. Without structure we hang out, enjoy ourselves, put off our responsibilities, and generally fail the Lord. If we don’t set aside a daily time to be with Jesus, we won’t often be with Jesus, you see. On the other hand, if we want church service to follow the same format each week, we can’t help ourselves: we wind up in a rut putting on a religious show and relegating Jesus to the outside looking in.
In the Bible verse we quoted at the start of this study, the Lord taught this truth to His people back in the day. Let me present the context to you. The twelve tribes of Israel ceased being governed by “judges” at the time of the prophet Samuel. The Israelites insisted on having a “king”, so the Lord gave them Saul, a man after the people’s own heart. Saul was what the people were looking for, but not what God wanted in a king.
After the people got a taste of what they wanted and learned what not to look for in a king, the Lord then gave them King David, a man after the Lord’s own heart. Under King David Israel became a united kingdom, rather than a collection of twelve tribes.
When David’s son Solomon became king, he began well but finished abysmally. Solomon became too big for his breeches and fell into idolatry. Consequently, upon Solomon’s death the Lord divided the kingdom between southern Judah and northern Israel.
Now that we’ve reached the divided kingdom, we can take a break and chew the cud on what we’ve learned today. But don’t forget to return same time same station tomorrow. We still have to find out what the two points of the Lord’s instructions are all about! See you then.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Strange Bedfellows – Part 2
A command came to me by the word of the Lord, “You shall eat no bread, nor drink water there; do not return by going the way which you came.” [1 Kings 13:17]
In Israel Jeroboam became king. He feared that his subjects in the north would go to Jerusalem in the south to worship the Lord, and soon they would favor King Rehoboam of Judah. Then they would kill Jeroboam and reunite the kingdom under Rehoboam.
To thwart such a possibility, Jeroboam of Israel had two golden calves constructed. He placed one in Dan to the far north and the other at Bethel in the south of Israel. He commanded his subjects to worship the calves in those locations. The calves were Israel’s gods!
Needless to say, but the Lord wasn’t exactly thrilled at this. He sent a prophet from Judah to prophesy Jeroboam’s demise. The Bible verse at the start of this lesson was part of the Lord’s instructions to His prophet from Judah. Now let’s note the two parts of the Bible verse.
1. do not eat or drink while in Bethel of Israel
2. don’t return to Judah by the same route you took to Bethel
Are you nonplussed by those instructions? Why would the Lord tell the prophet not to eat or drink while there? And why specify that he take a different route back to Judah? “Hmm. I don’t get it?” some of you are saying to yourself.
Allow me to explain. In the Bible the Lord often employs visible physical realities to teach us invisible spiritual truths. The two points listed are the visible physical realities, and now we need to mine the ore and recover the invisible spiritual truths contained therein.
The first point forbade the prophet of Judah from sitting down and sharing a meal with the folks of idolatrous Israel. This is in keeping with the doctrine of separation which begins in Genesis 1 and continues to the end of Revelation 22. God’s kids are not to fraternize with the devil’s kids. Israel worshiped two golden calves. Judah worshiped the Lord. Don’t fraternize while in Israel, O prophet!
The second point has to do with how I began this study today. I am a creature of habit, but in spiritual life habit and routine can easily spell deadness. If we keep doing the same things we’ve always done, we will keep being what we’ve always been. That is the death knell of true spiritual vitality, dear friends.
Our life is often expressed as the road we travel or the way we take. The Lord told the prophet to go to Bethel one way but to return a different way. In doing so the Lord taught that we cannot serve Him by doing the same old same old day after day. We cannot learn something from Him and then run around doing the same thing all the time and call that “serving the Lord”.
If we would truly serve Jesus, we need to go to Him daily and receive our marching orders from Him. If we habitually spend time alone with Him, we will grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He will be leading us and we will be following His will. Otherwise, not so much.
So which will it be? Will we return by the same route we went? Or will we take an alternate route and remain dependent on the Lord for guidance?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
In Israel Jeroboam became king. He feared that his subjects in the north would go to Jerusalem in the south to worship the Lord, and soon they would favor King Rehoboam of Judah. Then they would kill Jeroboam and reunite the kingdom under Rehoboam.
To thwart such a possibility, Jeroboam of Israel had two golden calves constructed. He placed one in Dan to the far north and the other at Bethel in the south of Israel. He commanded his subjects to worship the calves in those locations. The calves were Israel’s gods!
Needless to say, but the Lord wasn’t exactly thrilled at this. He sent a prophet from Judah to prophesy Jeroboam’s demise. The Bible verse at the start of this lesson was part of the Lord’s instructions to His prophet from Judah. Now let’s note the two parts of the Bible verse.
1. do not eat or drink while in Bethel of Israel
2. don’t return to Judah by the same route you took to Bethel
Are you nonplussed by those instructions? Why would the Lord tell the prophet not to eat or drink while there? And why specify that he take a different route back to Judah? “Hmm. I don’t get it?” some of you are saying to yourself.
Allow me to explain. In the Bible the Lord often employs visible physical realities to teach us invisible spiritual truths. The two points listed are the visible physical realities, and now we need to mine the ore and recover the invisible spiritual truths contained therein.
The first point forbade the prophet of Judah from sitting down and sharing a meal with the folks of idolatrous Israel. This is in keeping with the doctrine of separation which begins in Genesis 1 and continues to the end of Revelation 22. God’s kids are not to fraternize with the devil’s kids. Israel worshiped two golden calves. Judah worshiped the Lord. Don’t fraternize while in Israel, O prophet!
The second point has to do with how I began this study today. I am a creature of habit, but in spiritual life habit and routine can easily spell deadness. If we keep doing the same things we’ve always done, we will keep being what we’ve always been. That is the death knell of true spiritual vitality, dear friends.
Our life is often expressed as the road we travel or the way we take. The Lord told the prophet to go to Bethel one way but to return a different way. In doing so the Lord taught that we cannot serve Him by doing the same old same old day after day. We cannot learn something from Him and then run around doing the same thing all the time and call that “serving the Lord”.
If we would truly serve Jesus, we need to go to Him daily and receive our marching orders from Him. If we habitually spend time alone with Him, we will grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He will be leading us and we will be following His will. Otherwise, not so much.
So which will it be? Will we return by the same route we went? Or will we take an alternate route and remain dependent on the Lord for guidance?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Busted!
(Israel asked the Lord), “Why have we fasted and You do not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?”(The Lord answered), Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire, and drive hard all your workers [Isaiah 58:3].
I recall back in the day when I was a young tyke, barely knee-high to a grasshopper. I had a not so unusual way of obeying my dad. When he told me to clean my room, I did…sort of. Everything on the floor I swept under my bed. Everything on the chair and bed and dresser I tossed into the closet, abruptly closing the door behind the mess.
“Ah, I cleaned my room in short shrift,” I applauded myself. “Dad will certainly be pleased with my diligence in obeying his directions.” After all, when I looked around the room it appeared clean. I saw nothing out of place and in need of redirection. If possession is 90% of the law, appearance ought to be 90% of clean. Right?
Too bad for me I wasn’t the law. Dad was! And he didn’t buy what I was selling. He didn’t settle for poking his head through the door to have a look-see and settle on appearances. He had the audacity to actually enter my bedroom, open the closet door for a peek, and raise the bed skirt to see what was under the bed.
Busted! Dad knew my propensities better than I did. When I “cleaned” my room, I acted without thinking. Dad, contrariwise, recognized my puerile predilection for appearance over essence and cut to the chase. It didn’t take many of those inspections to learn that going through the motions in my obedience to Dad didn’t cut it. I learned to clean my room for real at a very early age.
In Isaiah’s day the Lord’s kids, the Israelites, behaved in much the same way to Father God’s instructions. They were very religious, you see. They tithed mint and cumin, dotted their “i’s” and crossed their “t’s”, and fasted at every conceivable opportunity. And then they parked their carcasses on all the street corners and every other high profile place, and prayed out loud to God, “See how good we are, God? No need to thank us. It’s our pleasure.”
Yes, indeed. These guys were holy rollers and Father God just had to be proud of them! Or were they? And was He? According to the Biblical text quoted at the start of this study, God wasn’t buying what they were selling. He actually had the audacity to enter their room, open the closet door for a closer look, and peer behind the bed skirt to discover the truth. Who’s He think He is anyway? The nerve of some people!
The Biblical text records Israel’s hurt feelings by the words “fasted” and “humbled ourselves”, while the Lord didn’t acknowledge the holiness of their behaviors. Despite the Israelites’ protest, it would seem the Lord had a good reason. His indictment of their religious activity was this: On the day of your fast you find your desire, and drive hard all your workers.
This means that, while the Israelites were going through the motions of fasting, they were cavorting in their own pleasures. They were also oppressing their fellow Israelites who worked for them. The whole point of fasting is to temporarily set aside our indulging of the flesh, in order to strengthen the spirit. In this manner we attempt to draw closer to the Lord in our personal relationship with Him.
The Israelites, you see, outwardly performed religious functions, but inwardly they were still living to please the flesh, to please themselves. Father God gave them quite specific instructions about obeying His Word, but only from the heart, only out of love for Him. They preferred to sweep the mess under the bed and hide it in the closet for appearances’ sake. In this way they had more time to please themselves. Alas for them, but Father God took a closer look into their hearts. Busted!
So how about you and me. Are we busted too? Or do we truly love the Lord and obey His Word as the outworking of our love for Him? It wouldn’t do to be busted at the Bema of Christ and lose our eternal rewards.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
I recall back in the day when I was a young tyke, barely knee-high to a grasshopper. I had a not so unusual way of obeying my dad. When he told me to clean my room, I did…sort of. Everything on the floor I swept under my bed. Everything on the chair and bed and dresser I tossed into the closet, abruptly closing the door behind the mess.
“Ah, I cleaned my room in short shrift,” I applauded myself. “Dad will certainly be pleased with my diligence in obeying his directions.” After all, when I looked around the room it appeared clean. I saw nothing out of place and in need of redirection. If possession is 90% of the law, appearance ought to be 90% of clean. Right?
Too bad for me I wasn’t the law. Dad was! And he didn’t buy what I was selling. He didn’t settle for poking his head through the door to have a look-see and settle on appearances. He had the audacity to actually enter my bedroom, open the closet door for a peek, and raise the bed skirt to see what was under the bed.
Busted! Dad knew my propensities better than I did. When I “cleaned” my room, I acted without thinking. Dad, contrariwise, recognized my puerile predilection for appearance over essence and cut to the chase. It didn’t take many of those inspections to learn that going through the motions in my obedience to Dad didn’t cut it. I learned to clean my room for real at a very early age.
In Isaiah’s day the Lord’s kids, the Israelites, behaved in much the same way to Father God’s instructions. They were very religious, you see. They tithed mint and cumin, dotted their “i’s” and crossed their “t’s”, and fasted at every conceivable opportunity. And then they parked their carcasses on all the street corners and every other high profile place, and prayed out loud to God, “See how good we are, God? No need to thank us. It’s our pleasure.”
Yes, indeed. These guys were holy rollers and Father God just had to be proud of them! Or were they? And was He? According to the Biblical text quoted at the start of this study, God wasn’t buying what they were selling. He actually had the audacity to enter their room, open the closet door for a closer look, and peer behind the bed skirt to discover the truth. Who’s He think He is anyway? The nerve of some people!
The Biblical text records Israel’s hurt feelings by the words “fasted” and “humbled ourselves”, while the Lord didn’t acknowledge the holiness of their behaviors. Despite the Israelites’ protest, it would seem the Lord had a good reason. His indictment of their religious activity was this: On the day of your fast you find your desire, and drive hard all your workers.
This means that, while the Israelites were going through the motions of fasting, they were cavorting in their own pleasures. They were also oppressing their fellow Israelites who worked for them. The whole point of fasting is to temporarily set aside our indulging of the flesh, in order to strengthen the spirit. In this manner we attempt to draw closer to the Lord in our personal relationship with Him.
The Israelites, you see, outwardly performed religious functions, but inwardly they were still living to please the flesh, to please themselves. Father God gave them quite specific instructions about obeying His Word, but only from the heart, only out of love for Him. They preferred to sweep the mess under the bed and hide it in the closet for appearances’ sake. In this way they had more time to please themselves. Alas for them, but Father God took a closer look into their hearts. Busted!
So how about you and me. Are we busted too? Or do we truly love the Lord and obey His Word as the outworking of our love for Him? It wouldn’t do to be busted at the Bema of Christ and lose our eternal rewards.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Slam the door!
“Oh that there were one among you who would shut the gates, that you might not uselessly kindle fire on My altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord of hosts, “nor will I accept an offering from you.” [Malachi 1:10]
I recall back in the day spending summer vacations and Christmas holidays and spring break—in fine, any free time I had from elementary school—staying with my maternal grandparents out in the country. They had a small farm with chickens and rabbits and corn and assorted other crops. They were surrounded by big old farms with pigs and cows and humongous acres of corn and soy beans.
My granddaddy built their home with his own hands, right after World War I. He was a carpenter by trade. The home was heated with a wood burning stove in the living room, and that was it for all the rooms! As for air conditioning, well, you held this cardboard in your hand and waved it!
Grandmamma cooked the food on her wood burning stove. Some of the tastiest, mouth-watering meals ever originated there. We hunted squirrel and rabbit to eat and fished for food too. Even frog legs were on the menu sometimes. The homemade bread and biscuits sung their siren song, crooning us back for more. It never gets better than that.
Well, both the front door and the back had screen doors attached to them. In the center of the door near the doorknob was attached one end of a strong, heavy-duty spring, with the other end attached to the doorpost. This kept the doors from staying open: the spring action pulled it shut.
When the door was pulled shut by the spring, the door would slam loudly. In fact for being such a light-weight door, it sure startled the dickens out of us when it slammed! And God forbid anyone should be so jejune as to stomp out mad and slam the door on purpose. Yikes! That was even louder.
In the prophet Malachi’s time the Israelites got caught up in apathetically going through religious motions. They completely lost sight of the Lord and ignored His Word. Consequently the Lord spent His time by Himself every day because His people failed to spend time with Him. This didn’t sit too well with Him then, and it doesn’t sit too well with Him today (cf., Revelation 2:2-4).
This playing religion on the part of the Israelites became so intolerable to our long-suffering God, that He uttered Malachi’s words quoted above. He said in essence, “Slam the temple doors shut and keep those religios out of My temple! I don’t want their worthless offerings because their hearts aren’t in it. They live to please themselves, when they are supposed to live for Me. I am the King of kings, but they behave toward Me as if I were a dead carcass back in Egypt. Keep them out of My sight!”
Strong words, those...not the pleasantries I normally associate with church. Maybe I shouldn’t take God for granted. Maybe I shouldn’t rise up late on Sunday mornings and hie off to the church building, thinking I am doing God a favor by being there. He doesn’t need me. I need Him! He bestows the favors (i.e., grace). No matter what I do or how much, I am merely an unprofitable servant. At best I have merely done my duty.
So what will I do to get this right with the Lord? I know. I’ll diligently spend time alone with Him daily, with Bible open and hands folded in prayer. He can talk with me and I with Him. That is the definition of a personal relationship with the Lord. It’s during such times I receive His blessing, and then I can share the blessing with others at church and elsewhere. Anyone is welcome to go and do likewise.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Leviticus: Volume 3 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. For more info please visit these sites to purchase my books:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
I recall back in the day spending summer vacations and Christmas holidays and spring break—in fine, any free time I had from elementary school—staying with my maternal grandparents out in the country. They had a small farm with chickens and rabbits and corn and assorted other crops. They were surrounded by big old farms with pigs and cows and humongous acres of corn and soy beans.
My granddaddy built their home with his own hands, right after World War I. He was a carpenter by trade. The home was heated with a wood burning stove in the living room, and that was it for all the rooms! As for air conditioning, well, you held this cardboard in your hand and waved it!
Grandmamma cooked the food on her wood burning stove. Some of the tastiest, mouth-watering meals ever originated there. We hunted squirrel and rabbit to eat and fished for food too. Even frog legs were on the menu sometimes. The homemade bread and biscuits sung their siren song, crooning us back for more. It never gets better than that.
Well, both the front door and the back had screen doors attached to them. In the center of the door near the doorknob was attached one end of a strong, heavy-duty spring, with the other end attached to the doorpost. This kept the doors from staying open: the spring action pulled it shut.
When the door was pulled shut by the spring, the door would slam loudly. In fact for being such a light-weight door, it sure startled the dickens out of us when it slammed! And God forbid anyone should be so jejune as to stomp out mad and slam the door on purpose. Yikes! That was even louder.
In the prophet Malachi’s time the Israelites got caught up in apathetically going through religious motions. They completely lost sight of the Lord and ignored His Word. Consequently the Lord spent His time by Himself every day because His people failed to spend time with Him. This didn’t sit too well with Him then, and it doesn’t sit too well with Him today (cf., Revelation 2:2-4).
This playing religion on the part of the Israelites became so intolerable to our long-suffering God, that He uttered Malachi’s words quoted above. He said in essence, “Slam the temple doors shut and keep those religios out of My temple! I don’t want their worthless offerings because their hearts aren’t in it. They live to please themselves, when they are supposed to live for Me. I am the King of kings, but they behave toward Me as if I were a dead carcass back in Egypt. Keep them out of My sight!”
Strong words, those...not the pleasantries I normally associate with church. Maybe I shouldn’t take God for granted. Maybe I shouldn’t rise up late on Sunday mornings and hie off to the church building, thinking I am doing God a favor by being there. He doesn’t need me. I need Him! He bestows the favors (i.e., grace). No matter what I do or how much, I am merely an unprofitable servant. At best I have merely done my duty.
So what will I do to get this right with the Lord? I know. I’ll diligently spend time alone with Him daily, with Bible open and hands folded in prayer. He can talk with me and I with Him. That is the definition of a personal relationship with the Lord. It’s during such times I receive His blessing, and then I can share the blessing with others at church and elsewhere. Anyone is welcome to go and do likewise.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Leviticus: Volume 3 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. For more info please visit these sites to purchase my books:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Strange Bedfellows – Part 1
A command came to me by the word of the Lord, “You shall eat no bread, nor drink water there; do not return by going the way which you came.” [1 Kings 13:17]
I am a creature of habit. I take the same route to work each day, shop for food at the same market, and visit the same department store for clothing and bedding and window dressing. I generally am in bed at the same time and up again at the same time each day. Yep, I am a creature of habit.
Now there is nothing immoral in being a creature of habit. In many ways it can be a good thing, a very good thing. Structure is needed in life, if we are to be all that the Lord wants us to be. Discipline is structure, and all of us need to discipline ourselves so the Lord doesn’t have to do it for us.
Still, we need to have some moderation in our habits, or else they become bad habits. We need to have some flexibility when our routine is interrupted. And when it comes to living for the Lord, routine and habit can be a dangerous thing, a very dangerous thing. Too much routine in spiritual life is no more than ritualism, religiosity, tradition. It is known as “playing church”.
We need structure because without it we don’t accomplish much. Without structure we hang out, enjoy ourselves, put off our responsibilities, and generally fail the Lord. If we don’t set aside a daily time to be with Jesus, we won’t often be with Jesus, you see. On the other hand, if we want church service to follow the same format each week, we can’t help ourselves: we wind up in a rut putting on a religious show and relegating Jesus to the outside looking in.
In the Bible verse we quoted at the start of this study, the Lord taught this truth to His people back in the day. Let me present the context to you. The twelve tribes of Israel ceased being governed by “judges” at the time of the prophet Samuel. The Israelites insisted on having a “king”, so the Lord gave them Saul, a man after the people’s own heart. Saul was what the people were looking for, but not what God wanted in a king.
After the people got a taste of what they wanted and learned what not to look for in a king, the Lord then gave them King David, a man after the Lord’s own heart. Under King David Israel became a united kingdom, rather than a collection of twelve tribes.
When David’s son Solomon became king, he began well but finished abysmally. Solomon became too big for his britches and fell into idolatry. Consequently, upon Solomon’s death the Lord divided the kingdom between southern Judah and northern Israel.
Now that we’ve reached the divided kingdom, we can take a break and chew the cud on what we’ve learned today. But don’t forget to return same time same station tomorrow. We still have to find out what the two points of the Lord’s instructions are all about! See you then.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
I am a creature of habit. I take the same route to work each day, shop for food at the same market, and visit the same department store for clothing and bedding and window dressing. I generally am in bed at the same time and up again at the same time each day. Yep, I am a creature of habit.
Now there is nothing immoral in being a creature of habit. In many ways it can be a good thing, a very good thing. Structure is needed in life, if we are to be all that the Lord wants us to be. Discipline is structure, and all of us need to discipline ourselves so the Lord doesn’t have to do it for us.
Still, we need to have some moderation in our habits, or else they become bad habits. We need to have some flexibility when our routine is interrupted. And when it comes to living for the Lord, routine and habit can be a dangerous thing, a very dangerous thing. Too much routine in spiritual life is no more than ritualism, religiosity, tradition. It is known as “playing church”.
We need structure because without it we don’t accomplish much. Without structure we hang out, enjoy ourselves, put off our responsibilities, and generally fail the Lord. If we don’t set aside a daily time to be with Jesus, we won’t often be with Jesus, you see. On the other hand, if we want church service to follow the same format each week, we can’t help ourselves: we wind up in a rut putting on a religious show and relegating Jesus to the outside looking in.
In the Bible verse we quoted at the start of this study, the Lord taught this truth to His people back in the day. Let me present the context to you. The twelve tribes of Israel ceased being governed by “judges” at the time of the prophet Samuel. The Israelites insisted on having a “king”, so the Lord gave them Saul, a man after the people’s own heart. Saul was what the people were looking for, but not what God wanted in a king.
After the people got a taste of what they wanted and learned what not to look for in a king, the Lord then gave them King David, a man after the Lord’s own heart. Under King David Israel became a united kingdom, rather than a collection of twelve tribes.
When David’s son Solomon became king, he began well but finished abysmally. Solomon became too big for his britches and fell into idolatry. Consequently, upon Solomon’s death the Lord divided the kingdom between southern Judah and northern Israel.
Now that we’ve reached the divided kingdom, we can take a break and chew the cud on what we’ve learned today. But don’t forget to return same time same station tomorrow. We still have to find out what the two points of the Lord’s instructions are all about! See you then.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
