The Gross Stupidity of Turning Away from God and following the Evil Satan!

Jeremiah 10:10a.        But the Lord is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king:

Ah mih people, I know it’s tough to get up and get going this Monday morning after all the marvellous celebrations of Mother’s Day yesterday. But one of the many things our mothers taught us is responsibility; that’s ensuring we do what we have to do to the best of our ability. Looking ahead, and not doing stuff that will negatively affect our responsibilities, like going to work. Consequently, we ought to have been careful to exercise a modicum of circumspection in our celebrations. (smile) 

But unfortunately, many of us ignore the wisdom of our mothers, and thus end up in unsavoury situations brought on by stubbornness and a kind of infantile rebellion.  We mistakenly feel, that as adults, we’re quite capable of controlling and guiding our destiny. (smile) And so often we’re proven wrong. It’s like the Lord said through Malachi to the people of Israel in one of their disobedient and rebellious times. ‘Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?’ (Mal. 3:7) 

Oh friends that’s the very same thing the Lord is saying to us today, in the evil, wicked and ungodly society that now prevails over the earth. At the height of our intelligence, the very pinnacle of our evolution, when we should be using our hard bought wisdom and embracing Almighty God as our Sovereign Lord and God, instead, we’ve fallen into the dark and dangerous abyss of Satan’s deceitful machinations, embracing evil and all its negative connotations, which is sadly driving our world on a crazy merry-go-round, of strife, wars, rumours of wars, and all that ungodliness brings. 

And though our God is LOVINGLY calling out for us to return to his wonderful fold, we are obstinately ignoring His fatherly call. Just like Israel did, and were summarily punished for it. And we won’t even talk about the robbing of God in tithes and offerings which comes after verse 7. That’s an entirely different sermon for another time, (smile) but we’ll move on to verse 13, where Malachi writes: ‘Your words have been stout (harsh) against me, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee? 

Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully (as mourners) before the Lord of hosts? And now we call the proud happy (blessed); yea, they that work wickedness are set up (raised up); yea, they that tempt God are even delivered (go free).’ (Mal. 3:13-15) 

And that’s exactly what’s happening today my people! A large proportion of the population doubt God, even challenging His existence. As the Sons of Korah declare in Psalm 42: ‘My tears have been my meat (food) day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?’ (Ps. 42:3) The complaints are also rife re, the wisdom of following Him, with calls to follow other religions with dead gods, while ours is the ONLY Living God in existence. Thus the prophet Jeremiah writes: ‘But the Lord is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.’ (Jer. 10:10) 

Oh friends, we definitely don’t want to experience the real wrath of God, for it is indefensible, as the world found out when He destroyed it all by the flood, except Noah and His family. And so many of us seem to revere Satan, but let’s remember who and what he was and why he’s where he is right now. 

Isaiah says of him: ‘How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer (Day Star), son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides (farthest sides) of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.’ (Is. 14:12-14) 

And that’s where he made his fatal error. Yes my brethren, once upon a time Satan was Lucifer or the Morning Star, one of the highest ranking angels in heaven, but his pride and greed caused him to try to overthrow God. What a joke! The created trying to overthrow the Creator. He was then kicked out of heaven with the other foolish angels who sided with him, and thus became the epitome of sin and evil. And it’s the same foolishness we’re trying to do today, encouraged by Satan’s evil and deceitful machinations. 

And as one commentary so wisely tells us: ‘The Significance of this scripture emphasizes the consequences of pride and ambition, illustrating how such motivations can lead to a catastrophic fall from grace, not only for Lucifer but also for all who seek to exalt themselves above God.’ 

So friends, let’s wake up to Satan’s purpose nuh, revenge against God, with much company in hell, and therefore ignore him and his evil cronies, by keeping the Word of God and its ordinances in first place in our lives. And to help us do that, let’s go to the throne of grace, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, seeking divine aid in these most difficult of times. 

Altogether: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. Heavenly Father, You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems. Yes, we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. 

So, we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading for wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems. Oh Father, please ease the pain of the many suffering from negative situations, show them Your awesome grace and mercy. And faithfully keep Your promise to prosper us if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again, we say: Amen!’ 

And it’s obvious from the chaotic state of the world, that we need to substantially improve our weak Christian witness, if we hope to receive divine aid. Much LOVE!

…you can either foolishly follow Satan…to eternal death…or wisely follow Christ…to eternal life…the choice is strictly yours…

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Today’s Scrip-Bit   15 September 2021 John 4:24.

John 4:24.     God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and truth.

Another day my people; another day of new mercies and compassions from Almighty God! Wow! What a marvellous God we serve and worship! No other supposed deity puts themselves out to give us new stuff every single day. But our great God Jehovah does! That’s because He LOVES us with the everlasting LOVE of a Father and only desires the best for us! 

And that led to Him sending His sinless Son Jesus Christ to earth to die for the propitiation of our abominable sins. All other false gods expect mankind to sacrifice to and for them, but ONLY the One true God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was willing to sacrifice for mankind. And not just a simple unimportant sacrifice, but His most beloved, the apple of His eye, His one Son Jesus. And if that doesn’t tell us the depth of LOVE and compassion that the Lord holds for us, I don’t know what else will nuh. 

The false gods, and the man-made idols that so many of us worship, don’t do a thing for us, and in fact they can’t do a bloody thing for us since they are all dead, inanimate and without life. So how can a dead object do anything for you eh? But the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is alive and kicking, that’s why He can make promises and keep them! So today we are just going to look at a few scriptures that describe our God as a living being. And the first scripture comes from Jesus Himself, when He told the Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob: ‘God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and truth.’ (Matt. 4:24) 

Yes friends, our God exists, but not as a being with a body, but as a Spirit. And the scholars give us this explanation re, the Definition of God. ‘4:24. John gives us three descriptions of God. He is Spirit (John 4:24), LOVE (1 John 4:8), and Light (1 John 1:5). God is a spiritual being who is invisible and without a body; He is a divine person who reveals Himself in perfect intellect, emotion, and will: He is the source and personification of all material and spiritual life. 

He is self-existent; He is eternal in relationship to time; He is unlimited in relationship to the immensity of space; He is immutable in His nature; He is the unity of all existence; and He is consistent in His being – that is, He corresponds in actual fact to His nature and attributes as they are revealed to us. (First Ref. Gen. 1:1; Primary Ref. John 4:24).’ 

So you see friends, the only thing our God lacks is a material body. But as a Spirit, it means He can be all places at the same time. And that’s one of the many reasons He’s so valuable to us; He can be with ALL of us ALL of the time. And if we turn to Genesis 1:3, we will find the first and biggest reason why we say that God is alive and kicking. The Good Book tells us: ‘And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.’ Now please tell me, how can a dead God speak eh. One must have life, that’s breath to speak. And it’s oh so worthwhile to know that God spoke everything in the world into existence, except man. 

And if you still don’t believe that God is alive and speaks, then check out Deuteronomy 5, where Moses reminds the Israelites of how they heard God’s voice in the fire at Mt. Horeb on their journey through the wilderness, when He made the covenant with them and gave them the Ten Commandments. Moses recounts: ‘And ye said, Behold, the Lord our God hath showed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth (still lives).’ (Deut. 5:24) 

So God doesn’t only talk to the universe, He also talks to man, whom He created to be in relationship with Him including to talk with Him. But like everything that concerns the ears, you won’t hear God, or anything or anyone else unless you LISTEN! That’s the crux of the matter…LISTENING! And unfortunately, that’s something we don’t do very well at in these modern times. We all desire to talk, to be heard, but we rebel when it comes to listening. 

Just like the church leaders in Jesus’ time weren’t listening to Him when He quoted them the scriptures re marriages in heaven. ‘But as touching (concerning) the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living,’ (Matt. 22:31-32) Ah mih people, if our God is the God of the living then it means that He must also be alive! Glory be! Bless His holy name! 

And though there are several other scriptures I would like to include, because of time and space this is the last one. And it’s a scripture that’s always fascinated me. They are the words of the pagan king of Babylon, Darius, after Daniel walked out of the lion’s den unscathed. He right royally declared: ‘I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men (must) tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and steadfast forever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end. He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power (paws) of the lions.’ (Dan. 6:26-27) 

Now if an idol worshipper can make such a testimony to the power of Almighty God, a God who doesn’t change, why do we have such trouble acknowledging Him and His sovereignty eh? I don’t know, and I won’t venture to comment. (smile) But anyway, here is an interesting part of a commentary from the Christian Science Monitor website – It’s titled ‘A Christian Science perspective: What does it mean that God is a ‘living God’? By Liz Butterfield Wallingford. 

She ends the article by saying: ‘To know God as a truly “living God” goes beyond simply acknowledging that He exists. He is unceasing, unending Life itself. His goodness can’t fade. Our receptivity to His infinite goodness, inherent in our very nature as the reflection of the living God, can’t be diminished. When we wholeheartedly yearn to know God better, to receive the forever-active Christ, to understand that God could never for a second stop expressing His LOVE and goodness in each of us – then we begin to see this spiritual fact increasingly evidenced in our everyday lives.’ 

And that’s totally true my brethren. The more we yearn for the living spirit-filled God and all that pertains to Him, the more we will see real evidence of Him in our everyday lives. So, for those of us who have that eternal yearning for Almighty God, let’s go home now declaring (awright!!!) our Wednesday Wail letting all and sundry know of the wonderful position we now enjoy in Christ Jesus. 

As one strong voice: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’ 

And yuh better believe friends, that if we endure unto the end, that future will be even more glorious than we can ask or imagine. So let’s hang in there nuh, and with Jesus’ awesome help live and LOVE for Him! Much LOVE!

…now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible…the only wise (living) God…be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen… (1 Tim. 1:17)                                                                                                                

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