The reality is that we live for the purpose of fulfilling our agenda of achieving happiness. It is difficult for us to admit we have an agenda; we want to deny selfish ambition in our decision-making processes. We want to be able to disguise our self-centeredness. Who wants to be labeled as selfish?
Even within Christianity we have made room for our own carnality. We want to follow God in a manner that seems interesting and stimulating to our flesh. Our walk becomes infected with selfish ambition and vain conceit, while we wear the garb of the righteous. Because we do not know how to connect to the Holy Spirit, we contrive our own version of His will: “It would make me happy to do what God wants, and I believe God wants me to . . .”
As we learn to understand and obey His commands directly outlined in His Word, it becomes easier to listen and follow His still small voice when He specifically whispers to our hearts. But our quenching of the Holy Spirit is almost as frequent as His convicting of our sinfulness. Pursuing the flesh then becomes the mission of our faith. The issue is for self to be promoted and preserved while we pose as those who walk with God.
“Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matt. 23:28 NLT).
“So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:6–7 NLT).
The condition of “living in spiritual darkness” can be exemplified in statements such as “I love the Lord”; “I’m trusting Him”; “I’m willing to do whatever He wants me to do.” These assertions are proven to be false in our lives when they infringe on what we want. Then we are quick to abandon our professed loyalties to God in pursuit of what will make us comfortable. We deviate from His path to follow our own agenda.
Regarding Jeremiah 7:1-15 Warren Wiersbe writes “Because the people believed the lies of the false prophets, the people thought they could live in sin and still go to the Temple and worship a holy God. According to verses 6 and 9, they were guilty of breaking at least five of the Ten Commandments, but the false prophets assured them that the presence of God’s Temple in Jerusalem guaranteed the nation God’s blessing and protection from every enemy.”
Do we fall under the same consequences when we teach and believe that a mere profession of salvation without a life transformation is adequate to secure the salvation of our souls?
The LORD gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, “Go to the entrance of the LORD’s Temple, and give this message to the people: ‘O Judah, listen to this message from the LORD! Listen to it, all of you who worship here! This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says:What idol has God spoken to you about repeatedly, but you would not listen?
“ ‘Even now, if you quit your evil ways, I will let you stay in your own land. But don’t be fooled by those who promise you safety simply because the LORD’s Temple is here. They chant, “The LORD’s Temple is here! The LORD’s Temple is here!” But I will be merciful only if you stop your evil thoughts and deeds and start treating each other with justice; only if you stop exploiting foreigners, orphans, and widows; only if you stop your murdering; and only if you stop harming yourselves by worshiping idols. Then I will let you stay in this land that I gave to your ancestors to keep forever.
“ ‘Don’t be fooled into thinking that you will never suffer because the Temple is here. It’s a lie! Do you really think you can steal, murder, commit adultery, lie, and burn incense to Baal and all those other new gods of yours, and then come here and stand before me in my Temple and chant, “We are safe!”—only to go right back to all those evils again? Don’t you yourselves admit that this Temple, which bears my name, has become a den of thieves? Surely I see all the evil going on there. I, the LORD, have spoken!
“ ‘Go now to the place at Shiloh where I once put the Tabernacle that bore my name. See what I did there because of all the wickedness of my people, the Israelites. While you were doing these wicked things, says the LORD, I spoke to you about it repeatedly, but you would not listen. I called out to you, but you refused to answer. So just as I destroyed Shiloh, I will now destroy this Temple that bears my name, this Temple that you trust in for help, this place that I gave to you and your ancestors. And I will send you out of my sight into exile, just as I did your relatives, the people of Israel.’ (Jer. 7:1-15 NLT)
No comments:
Post a Comment
We would love for you to POST A COMMENT about the insights you have received on your journey toward desperate dependency.