A Heart of Flesh for a Heart of Stone

“They will return to it and remove all its vile images and detestable idols. I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God. But as for those whose hearts are devoted to their vile images and detestable idols, I will bring down on their own heads what they have done, declares the Sovereign LORD.” Ezekiel 11:18-21

Heart conditions are so important. The heart is the most important thing.  God tried so hard to teach the Israelites that what was most important is the heart.

Do you have a heart of stone? It was a heart like the idols the Israelites were following. Stone for stone. A heart far from God and unyielding, cold, callous, and hard. They did not follow God’s decrees. Their hearts were devoted to things, worldly things.

God longed to bring the Israelites home. To give them a heart of flesh. Soft, yielding, alive, and warm. A heart after God. One that would keep God’s laws and remove the things in their lives that distracted them from God.

Today?

God has paid the highest price for our heart. His own Son. Jesus came to teach us how to obey God. To show us what love means. To be the first born of many. He came to touch our hearts and turn them from hearts of stone to hearts of flesh.

God bless.

Come, Let us Return to the Lord

When things are in the crapper who do you blame? Life hands me a bunch of sour grapes and I will be the first to tell you it is not my fault. When God deals out discipline, how should we react? The Israelites did one of two things, they grumbled or they returned to God.

1 “Come, let us return to the LORD.
He has torn us to pieces
but he will heal us;
he has injured us
but he will bind up our wounds.

 2 After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will restore us,
that we may live in his presence.

3 Let us acknowledge the LORD;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
like the spring rains that water the earth.”

4 “What can I do with you, Ephraim?
What can I do with you, Judah?
Your love is like the morning mist,
like the early dew that disappears.

5 Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets,
I killed you with the words of my mouth;
my judgments flashed like lightning upon you.

6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

7 Like Adam, they have broken the covenant—
they were unfaithful to me there. Hosea 6:1-7

This is a good example of God’s grace in the Old Testament. God clearly states his desire, “mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” God wants the heart not your stuff. He want our whole self not lip-service. God wants us to be faithful to the covenant.

The Israelites fell into a very real and very modern trap. It is the same trap the nations around them had already fallen into. They  had forgotten what God wanted from their worship. (By the way, it is the same thing God wants from us today.) In their worship, over time, they began to focus on the wrong things. They focused on things just like the nations around them did. The nations around them focused on the actions associated with conjuring a god. They fell into the trap that if they did XYZ they would get anything they wanted. (Not to mention that the nations around them used sex, drugs, and power in their worship, these things still turn heads today.)

Stay with me here. When we really mess up at work or with our spouse. Lets say you cheated on your girlfriend. What do you do when you feel the guilt afterwards? You go by flowers, you get a card, maybe you take them out to eat at a special place. You increase the good things you do to try to win back or at least salve your conscience. If we got caught we might really grovel and straiten up. So what do you do when you sin against the God of Heaven? We buy indulgences. We might give more to the Church, read the bible more, go on a weekend mission trip, pray for hours on end, fast, or whip ourselves.

ARE WE SUCH FOOLS? Is God so simple, shallow, blind that we can control him somehow by buying His grace? Can we conjure him up and use some tool (sacrifice) to get things from Him? Can we commit adultery with the world and then come home to Church on Sunday and expect Him to not be angry?

God is trying to wake us up. He will use whatever is at his disposal in our lives to turn our hearts and minds to Him. What does he wand from us, love, mercy, and acknowledgment of God in our lives. To live differently. To walk with God.

There are two sides to God. One is love, grace, and mercy. This is the side those in a relationship with God see. The side those who return to God see. AND there is the other side of God one of justice, anger, and punishment. This is the side you see when you try to control God. When your love is like dew (very temporary) and you do not keep the covenant, there is only punishment.

God bless. Keep the faith. Return.

Where am I Coming From

Seems like I have been a little preachy lately. I am. I am angry. Especially at myself. So often I find I have become so busy with life and crap that I forget God. I look up and am off on some deserted path lost. The things in this world are so appealing. They draw my focus away from God. I know you can relate. If not then I am not talking to you anyway. Go read some posts about the older brother.

My feelings are fueled to by some of my new reading. I have been reading from the prophets in the Old Testament. Talk about eye opening. Oh, my. If you think Jesus came to bring a new message from God you should spend some time in the prophets. God is trying to teach a very stubborn people all about mercy and obedience.

God has picked these few men to try to warn his people about their sin. Sin they have committed against their relationship with God. God has been faithful, he has been there, taken care of them, saved them, provided and loved. However, the people, chose to go find security  from other sources. They began to worship idols, sacrifice to other gods. I found it interesting that at one point God accuses them of going into the hills to sacrifice to foreign gods and then immediately going to the Temple to sacrifice too. Needless to say He was not happy.

Do we go worship other things and then go to Church on Sunday to worship God like nothing is going on? Do we try to hide our sin from God and think he is not aware of our deception?

Another thing I have found interesting is the idea that God is something to appease. The thought goes like this, “God asked for these sacrifices to make him happy. Lets make more sacrifices to get him to give us more.” Or today, “We have to go to Church to make God happy, I have to give lots of money to God so he will bless me.”

How more wrong could they be. God wanted to be their God. He wanted them to love him, know him, rely on him, ACT like Him. Over and over he told them through the prophets their sacrifices were detestable. I think this is because their hearts were so far away from God.

I cannot give lip service to God. It will not work. God is not someone you can conger, control, or appease. He is God. We cannot deal with him, make promises to Him or buy Him. He is God. We cannot cheat on him, we cannot find Him anywhere except how He has planed for us to approach Him. He is God.

Sorry, preachin’ again. God has revealed himself in his word. Am I listening. Are you?

Do You Need a Doctor?

I want to know why we are so quick to judge one another yet so incapable of honest personal assessment? Do you? I am always wondering how I can do better, looking for sin in me and struggling with it. I am far from perfect. My desire is to know God and be like his Son. I hope you do too. However, let me warn you, if you do not think you need a good deep look at yourself then you are a good as dead. If you think you are sinless, a light to the lost, and the keeper of truth then watch out. You are in for a hard fall.

Jesus ran into this blindness often. When he went to teach and heal, he kept running into the “religious”. Don’t get me wrong, these “religious” people meant well, they were decent folk.  They were trying to do what was right. The problem was they had missed the point. I think we have missed the point as well.

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ’sinners’?”

On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:9-13

As a side note I find it interesting that on one occasion after talking to the Pharisees like this, Jesus’ apostles took him aside and asked him if he realized he offended them. NO! Not Jesus.

Are you offended? Have you asked yourself lately, “Do I need a doctor? Am I sick?” Let me give this warning…

Jesus is coming back to this world. Will he find anyone faithful? Will he find be faithful to death? I know I am a crazy fundamentalist bible thumpin’ red neck. I know I am not talking about anything real popular. This is not as fun as American Idol or 24. BUT, GOD IS REAL. And he has a very simple message for us.

“I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” Go and learn what this means. It should scare you to death. And at the same time thrill you. God loves you so much he was willing to give up the thing he valued the most, His Son. Jesus loves you so much he was willing to give up his position and come to earth to be a sacrifice for sin. To heal our relationship with God.

So now what.

Be a different kind of people. Be Jesus kinds of people. Want deeply to love and obey this God who loves you so.

God bless.

Who Can You Believe?

Well there is no doubt the political winds are blowing. Now that super Tuesday has passed there is no end of news, commentary, and pontification. Across the board amongst all the candidates there is an overwhelming need to convince the general populous each is more believable than their opponent. In both political parties there is a lot of doubt about who their candidate will be or if the party will be happy with the final choices.

Who can you believe? Well I assure you not too many who walk this planet are believable. Jesus knew this and refused to accept man’s praise or acclaim.

 36“I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me. 37And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, 38nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. 39You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, 40yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

41“I do not accept praise from men, 42but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. 43I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God? John 5:36-44

The Jews would not accept who Jesus was. They wanted to kill him. (John 5:16-18) To their credit, they were having a hard time trying to decide who to believe. They listened to the religious leaders of their day. They read the scriptures and had preconceived ideas about how things should be. Jesus did not fit. Jesus still does not fit.

I am amazed at how far the world has gone from Jesus. Even religious leaders refused to believe who he was. They want to hold to his teaching, study the bible, and explain away the hard things.  It’s like they really do not believe that God is real. They work real hard to get the praise of men forgetting that the whole point is to know God and be known by him.

Does Jesus know you? Do you have the love of God in your heart?

God bless.

God Forgives Sinners!

That is the gospel. Pure and simple. God forgives. Think He does not? Think the God of the Bible is a vengeful and angry God who smites sinners down? Think there is no Grace in the Old Testament? Consider this from Ezekial.

 “Son of man, say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what you are saying: “Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?” ‘ Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?’

“Therefore, son of man, say to your countrymen, ‘The righteousness of the righteous man will not save him when he disobeys, and the wickedness of the wicked man will not cause him to fall when he turns from it. The righteous man, if he sins, will not be allowed to live because of his former righteousness.’ If I tell the righteous man that he will surely live, but then he trusts in his righteousness and does evil, none of the righteous things he has done will be remembered; he will die for the evil he has done. And if I say to the wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ but he then turns away from his sin and does what is just and right- if he gives back what he took in pledge for a loan, returns what he has stolen, follows the decrees that give life, and does no evil, he will surely live; he will not die. None of the sins he has committed will be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he will surely live.

“Yet your countrymen say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But it is their way that is not just. If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil, he will die for it. And if a wicked man turns away from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he will live by doing so. Yet, O house of Israel, you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But I will judge each of you according to his own ways.” Ezekiel 33:10-20

In summary: 

God does not enjoy punishing the wicked, rather He wants us all to turn back to Him.

A huge amount of good is nullified by one bad, you cannot rely on goodness to cover anything with God. In other words you can lie to yourself (and think you are okay) but you cannot lie to God.

A huge amount of bad is nullified by one good, turning (repenting) back to God is the good you have to do. I think it interesting that God did not say, “sacrifice lots of animals, give away all your money, walk around in sack-cloth and ashes, and you will live.” NO! He said give back what you stole, give back what you have taken as security, follow my ways that give life, and stop sinning.”

God will judge by what you do. Your behavior matters. Even Jesus said this (Matt. 16:27) so don’t get off saying this is “Old Testament” thinking. It isn’t easy to talk ourselves out of this one. God wants us to act different. The world is into selfishness, sex (heterosexual and homosexual, both equal opportunity sins), cheating, hording, lies, idolotry, witchcraft, greed, hatred, jealousy, rage, drugs, and the list goes on.  A Christian cannot partake in the world and still have God, do not be fooled. Friendship with the world is hatred toward God, James 4:4.

God bless. Think about it.

The Rest of the Story: The Older Brother

Let me borrow one of Paul Harvey’s favorite phrases and tell you the rest of the story about the prodigal son. I know you have read or heard the parable before. If not you can read it all at biblegateway.com in Luke 15:11-32. I have also posted several other posts about this parable. This is one of my favorites.

Basically, the little brother asks his father for his inheritance (before his father is dead). He takes the money and hits the road and starts living the good life. He has lots of food, fun, and friends. That is until his money runs out. Just so happens when he hits rock bottom he comes to his senses and remembers how good it was living with his father. So he decides to go home and apologize. Because he no longer considers himself worthy of being his father’s son he decides to ask his father for a job. When the son gets close to home, his dad sees him and comes running. He welcomes him home enthusiastically and seems to completely forget of all the wrongs the son committed. He forgives him. Of his return home the father says, ‘this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’

Most of the time this is as far as anyone gets in the parable. However, this is not the point of the parable. It is an important part. We need to see ourselves as the prodigal son because we all are; however, in the context of the scriptures, the parable is really about what happens next.

You see, Jesus is telling this parable to the people gathered around him in response to the Pharisees accusation that Jesus accepts sinners.

Now the tax collectors and “sinners” were all gathering around to hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”  Luke 15:1-2

Jesus was trying to teach them a lesson. So he told 3 parables, the parable of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and finally the Parable of the Lost Son. All three about looking for something lost. God is looking for those who are lost. They are who He is after, who he loves. (Okay, he loves everyone so by default that means he loves sinners.) And in all three the people celebrate finding the lost item. That is until Jesus gets to the last parable of the three, the lost son.

Someone was not happy. More than that, he was ready to give up on his daddy. Out in the fields, after everyone else was celebrating was the older brother. Remember him, he stayed home. He did what his dad asked. He worked hard and never asked his dad for anything. Now he was angry. How could his father let this no count brother come back? Not just come back but celebrate his return?

“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

” ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ ” Luke 15:28-32

As far as the Pharisees were concerned, “sinners” were not going to take any part in God’s kingdom. Only the Pharisees were going to be saved. Because they were the good people. They suffered and gave up things for God. Everyone else was having all the fun, not them, they were strict, disciplined, and outwardly perfect.  I love this parable because Jesus really gets in the Pharisees’ faces and preaches.

Do you hear the message? Here is one.

Stop thinking you are suffering for Christ when you do not live like the world does. Stop condemning those who have chosen to ignore God and face the world alone. Clean off the welcome mat outside the door of your heart and get ready to welcome some folks home. Home is so sweet and so warm. Everything in it is Yours, get ready to share.

God bless.