CHASING FALSE IDOLS AND FALSE RELIGION TO AVOID PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY

As one studies the Old Testament in Scripture, it becomes painfully apparent that God’s chosen people truly struggled with the same basic things that we struggle with today in our own societies. God had presented Himself to the Israelites as their One True God. He had led them out of slavery into safety, guiding them as a “Pillar of Fire” by night, and a “Pillar of Cloud” by day. Leading them on the correct path and lighting it so they could see His Power, Protection, and Love for them. He wanted them to come to Him on Mount Sinai, but they were fearful, having Moses go to God instead and bring back to them His Words. Think about this from their perspective; “In the meantime, we can decide our ‘Own way’ to envision God and create our ‘Own way’ to worship Him. Lets engage in raucous behavior, convince our high priest to make us a “Golden Calf” to worship because WE FEEL LIKE IT, AND IT”S WHAT THE CROWD WANTS.” Engage God directly and HEAR WHAT “HE” HAS TO SAY ? No Thanks. That would make me responsible for my actions rather than blaming it on a ‘Misunderstanding’, or ignorance, or putting the blame on others. On that mountaintop, God gave Moses the very Commandments that He Wanted His People To Live By. God has always wanted one main thing for us as His Creation….A RIGHTEOUS RELATIONSHIP ! God has in his very essence TOTAL COMPLETENESS of Holiness, Righteousness, Truth, and Justice. These are the things that He created us to be IN HIS IMAGE.

BLESSED ARE THEY WHO OBSERVE JUSTICE, WHO DO RIGHTEOUSNESS AT ALL TIMES. Psalm 106;3

AND BE FOUND IN HIM, NOT HAVING MY OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS, WHICH IS FROM THE LAW, BUT THAT WHICH IS THROUGH FAITH IN CHRIST, THE RIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH IS FROM GOD THROUGH FAITH. Philippians 3:9

DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT TO WHOM YOU PRESENT YOURSELVES SLAVES TO OBEY, YOU ARE THAT ONE’S SLAVES WHOM YOU OBEY, WHETHER OF SIN LEADING TO DEATH, OR OF OBEDIENCE LEADING TO RIGHTEOUSNESS. 2 Corinthians 9:10

STAND THEREFORE, HAVING GIRDED YOUR WAIST WITH TRUTH, HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. Ephesians 6:14

Our Truly Holy and Authoritative God has never changed WHO HE IS OR WHAT HE WANTS FROM US. God has given us a “template” of how to live, and in His Son Jesus, He has Provided The Path to Relationship with Him, removing us from “Sin and Death” into a place of being REBORN into the Salvation and Resurrected Life that Jesus gives us. In our rebirth God Still Wants Us To Live To His Standards, not our own. Jesus perfectly lived and fulfilled God’s Commandments and Ways, because He focused on ONE THING….HIS FATHER AND HIS FATHER”S KINGDOM. HE DID IT IN FAITH ! HE DID IT FROM HIS HEART. He didn’t try to add meaning or add extra steps to what His Father said. He saw God’s law and commandments in their fulness and purpose. He encountered Satan, and temptation, and he experienced the world and all it’s flesh all around Him…and yet, HE OVERCAME IT ALL, EVEN THE CURSE OF DEATH WHICH HAD HAUNTED MANKIND FROM THE FALL FROM GRACE IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN. So, here we are. Mankind, always at a crossroads. It is truly a struggle to give up all our self wisdom and desires. There are a lot of really “Good People” in our world that do amazingly good things. We also see the face of Evil all around us every day. We see a bounty of ‘New’ causes that continually crop up to ‘Protect us, or our planet’. We see the amazing advancements in technology, in medicine, in new illumination of happiness and contentment. If you just ‘see the brilliance and agree to agree that IT is the real truth and justice and righteous way to think, you have reached Completeness !!! Only, IT IS NOT COMPLETENESS, AND IT IS NOT WHAT GOD”S VOICE IS SAYING TO US. It leads us into places of fear, of slavery, of inability to think critically. It leads us away from uniqueness, and freedom, and RESPONSIBILITY for our actions. It puts self before God, and our needs before others. Everything that God DID NOT make us to be.

HE HAS TOLD YOU, O MAN, WHAT IS GOOD, AND WHAT DOES THE LORD REQUIRE OF YOU BUT TO DO JUSTICE, AND TO LOVE KINDNESS, AND TO WALK HUMBLY WITH YOUR GOD. Micah 6:8

PUT TO DEATH THEREFORE WHAT IS EARTHLY IN YOU: SEXUAL IMMORALITY, IMPURITY, PASSION, EVIL DESIRE, AND COVETOUSNESS, WHICH IS IDOLATRY. Colossians 3:5

FOR ALL THAT IS IN THE WORLD-THE DESIRES OF THE FLESH AND THE DESIRES OF THE EYES AND THE PRIDE OF LIFE-IS NOT FROM THE FATHER BUT IS FROM THE WORLD. Hebrews 13:4

God requires us to be SET APART from the world. God has a template of Morality and Behavior that we must embrace in our lives, and DEMAND in our leadership, and pulpits, and schools, It is past time for all of us to STAND UP AND LEAD OUR WORLD IN A GODLY MANNER ! We need to remember that GOD LOVES US, but He also holds us accountable ! He calls us to a Narrow Path and to Righteousness. It starts in OUR HEARTS AND OUR EFFORTS. I know that someone in the midst of all the debauchery going on at the foot of Mount Sinai must have been in complete shock and dismay at what was going on around them. Angry, confused, afraid maybe ? Caught in a moment that they couldn’t get away from, and swept away to a death in the Wilderness. Father In Heaven, let it not be us. Let us not be Pharisees, or sorcerers, or lukewarm believers, or lost sheep with no shepherd, only hirelings in disguise. Let us honor you, and seek you, and worship you. Let our lives and our actions please you and may we be blessed to be YOURS FOREVER. AMEN.

SEEK HIM ALWAYS/JAA

I HAVE BEEN CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST. IT IS NO LONGER I WHO LIVE, BUT CHRIST WHO LIVES IN ME. AND THE LIFE I NOW LIVE IN THE FLESH I LIVE BY FAITH IN THE SON OF GOD, WHO LOVED ME AND GAVE HIMSELF FOR ME. Galatians 2:20