Challenges

Serve Him Today, Release the Problems of Tomorrow

Hebrews 9:11-12
But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

I find myself so focused on things that, in the long run, probably don’t matter. John Wesley writes:

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When You are in a Dark Place

One evening recently a dear friend and I sat talking about the fact that though she was praying and seeking God for clear direction, she seemed to receive no answer and couldn’t “see” the way she was supposed to go. As I listened to her, it became clear to me (isn’t it always easier to see/hear God’s direction for someone else than for ourselves?) that God had her exactly where she was for a specific purpose. She was unable to see where God wanted her to go next because He had called her to hide (and rejoice!) for a season under the shadow of His wings.

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Tear off Satan’s Mask

“A man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet Him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones!” Mark 5:2-5

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Where is God When Things are Going Wrong?

“For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened,
and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:5

Many of us understand that the serpent came to Eve in the Garden and tempted her to question God’s Word: “Has God indeed said…?” (Genesis 3:1). However, that was only half of his line of attack. In addition to casting doubt on God’s Word, the serpent called into question God’s character. In essence, he said, “If you do what God forbids you to do — eating the forbidden fruit — you’ll become equal to God. Why do you think He has forbidden you to do it? Because He doesn’t want what’s best for you. He wants to keep the best for Himself.”

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How Not to Interpret the Bible

The Children of God (COG), a cult founded by David (Moses David) Berg, used sex as an intoxicant to keep the cult together. Homosexuality, lesbianism, incest, and group sex were all legitimized by the COG cult. Berg’s daughter, Deborah (Linda Berg) Davis, writes in The Children of God: The Inside Story, of how her father justified his perverted view of sex because he first perverted Scripture. He promoted “Flirty Fishing,” using sex to entice young people into the cult, a way to “win souls to Christ.” The Bible was used to support this immoral practice: “Just as Jesus laid down His life, so you must lay down your life (or wife) for these men.” As time went on, the question of lesbianism arose. “There is nothing in Scripture that forbids it,” Berg maintained.

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Oncoming Traffic

Oncoming Traffic – is most dangerous when you stare at it.

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. [1 Peter 5:8]

How often to you consciously think about evil?

When I learned to drive I developed the dangerous habit of staring at approaching cars and discovered that you tend to steer toward your focal point. A number of animated reminders from my parents convinced me that it’s good to be aware of traffic but I needed to concentrate primarily on my own path.

By making them my focal point, I multiplied the threat posed by oncoming vehicles.

EVIL AND TRAFFIC

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Has God Forgotten You?

I think that one of the most difficult words in the Bible is wait. And there are other words that are related to wait, like faith and patience. When I was growing up, one of the sayings that was bantered around was “Lord, give me patience while I stand on one foot.” For me, that wouldn’t be very long because I have absolutely no balance. But patience is a far weightier thing than we think. The English definition of patient is “bearing pains or trials calmly or without complaint” and “steadfast despite opposition, difficulty, or adversity.” So when the translators looked at the Greek words and used the word patience, these are the concepts they were thinking about.

Hebrews 6:10-12 NKJV

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