 |
| Grace Words |
One staggering truth I found in reading the Word of God is when God told His people that they had assumed a form of worship that He did not not only asked them but also He had no thought or agenda, whatsoever, to ask them to perform that form of worship in their worship of Him.
There was nothing strange in offering sacrifice to Jehovah. Nor was there any wrong in offering that sacrifice with fire. Only that this time they didn't offer bulls and cattle and sheep and goats on the altar of Jehovah. They offered up also into the fire their own sons and daughters. Yes, a sacrifice was to be offered and burned with fire, but this time they burned strange fire on the altar of the Sovereign King.
They would usually sing in the sanctuary of Jehovah. Only that they are now singing censored music. They would usually dance in the house of their God. Only that now they dance as though they were dancing to Diana: their dancing have become sexually provocative. They are now dancing with masks on their faces, with mini-skirts and mini-shorts and skinny jeans. Talk about a confused people with men flaunting their earings as choir directors and as pastors.
They take after the practices of the Egyptians and native Canaanites and secularists; to draw tattoos on their bodies so they will look cool. Church has become a cinema, which is the altar of the devil.
But Israel, then, offered up their offspring into the fire, to pass through the fire. A strange phenomena has occured and Jehovah acted.
God doesn't want a cool church, He wants a holy church. "Be ye holy, for I am holy."
As though nothing is wrong with their evil practices, they ask "what's wrong with having a tattoo and sagging trousers, earings (as a man) and having hair wrought as that of women?" What happened to biblical manhood and biblical womanhood? What happened to your identify Church?
Jehovah had already sternly warned us and Israel before hand:
"And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD. Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination." (Lev. 18:21,22)
"Come out from among them and be ye separate."
But Israel didn't listen. We didn't listen. You didn't listen. He saw it. Jehovah saw the wickedness committed despite the warning and the holy command.
God does not sleep nor slumber. He is never on vacation or too busy to see nor deaf to hear the little, seemingly insignificant things we say and the little white lies that proceed from our lips. It's never too noisy that He doesn't here. If there's one sure truth you MUST never forget it is this, "Jehovah sees, hears and knows all things." You can bet your life on this one.
David proclaims, "Then the Lord awakened as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine." (Psalm 78:65)
Yes, God wasn't waking from an afternoon nap nor was He drunken when He acted. Those are the perfect examples that David could give to show us the manner in which God acted against His enemies.
So, as though He was unaware and just got wind of the news that His people had turned to strange fires and strange worship and strange marriages in His house, God spoke, after what seemed to be a long silence. He rebuked His chosen people.
"And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin." (Jer. 32:35)
Israel did what God never thought to include in their worship of Him. He wasn't ignorant of such practice, He just didn't plan or intend to ask them to do it for him. As horrendous as it was, Israel delighted in strange fires that killed families. Strange fires that aborted children. Strange fires that divorced husband and wife. Strange fires that cause fear. Strange fires that caused confusion. Society was breaking down and became morally evil and foolish.
Nowadays you hear foolish things happening in churches such as ladies in a particular church sleeping with their pastor because he apparently has holy semen. What foolishness! Or you hear of a pastor who convined his congregation to eat grass. And you ask, "God, what is happening to Your Church?" God is also asking His Church today “...Is it because of my long silence that you no longer fear me?" (Isaiah 57:11 NLT)
Is it because of His long silence that we have begun to imagine a form of worship that He never imagined to ask us to do for Him?
Do you fear God?
Don't we fear God anymore? A Christian rap artist sang "They don't let them Christians in the club (night club) oh my God." (Addition mine) Can you hear blasphemy?
Of course the church doesn't want to fear God anymore. Why? Because they don't want to think of and look at God as the God Who punishes, not only sinners, but His children who sin. My friend, sin doesn't commit itself. God must punish, not sin but the sinner who is the instrument of sin. A child of God who sins must be corrected. If it is to punish (to discipline as a father disciples his children) he or she will be punished justly. (By the way, our generation hates the disciple of children by their parents. They have a name for it. They don't call it discipline, they call it corporal punishment and they had sewn it into the law to call it an unlawful practice. So, children report their parents to Childline Lifeline and to the police so they are arrested - I'm not talking about child abuse. I'm talking about godly parenting). Yes, Jesus died for you. But sin has its consequences and a sexually immoral Christian will still fall pregnant out of wedlock. A thief who goes by the name brother will also have to pay back 7 times if he is caught and tried.
Fear of God is holy fear and we must tremble at the thought that choosing self indulgence is faithlessness and sin against a holy God, because "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise skilful and godly wisdom and instruction." (Pro. 1:7) Yes, we must love Him. When we fear God we will always walk with a mind full of wisdom, mindful to not sin against God by means of what we suppose to be cool practices.
Church, it's not about being cool. It's not about catching up with how things are done in our age. It's about worship a holy God and being like Him. Yes, this present world is changing. The secular lives for what is temporal and ours is a generation that doesn't want boring worship services. After all, is there ever a generation that liked boring worship service? For sure my Jesus is not boring. Ask Simon Peter, the son of Jonah.
Always be mindful that God is holy, has called us to be different from this world, this culture & to be like Him, shine Him and testify Him. Although He called us to be in this world, don't forget that you are not of this world.
Church, sing and dance to God. But don't show your nakedness. You want to do it like David? Go ahead. But don't try to be David. You will never be David. You can only follow his examples. And remember, David was not trying to be cool. He was worshiping his God. He wasn't trying to please his wife or his subjects, the people of God, the Israelites. He was simply worshiping his God.
Don't come and sing Beyonce or Shakira or Celine Deon in the house of God. What's wrong with you? Don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and it isn't yours? God owns it and He will punish anyone who defiles His temple which is His house.
God doesn't want to hear Ludacris' music being sang in His house. He doesn't care whether Justine Biber sings beautiful or whether Chris Brown sings like an angel. He doesn't want that junk and that crap in His Church. Put it away from you.
House of God, be careful to turn away from imagining and practicing a form of worship for Jehovah such as He has never thought of asking us to do for Him and yes He will never accept nor ever ask us to do such an worship for Him, for He is a Holy God.
2 Corinthians 6:16-18 ESV
(16) What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, "I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
(17) Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you,
(18) and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty."
For more spiritual resources visit:
Comments
Post a Comment