Devoted to Christ

Did you know that if your lifestyle contradicts what you believe, your worship can actually be offensive to God? Amos 5:23-24 (NLT) says, “Away with your hymns of praise! They are only noise to my hears. I will not listen to your music, no matter how lovely it is. Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, a river of righteous living that will never run dry.”

One day people can talk about how much Christ means to them. The next day they’re engaged in something that is clearly sinful. What happened? A week later they’re back in church, singing louder than anyone else. A week after that, they’re back in sin again.

This is why David prayed in Psalm 51, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and Renew a right (steadfast) spirit within me.”

The word David used for steadfast means to be consistent.

Got another DVD from Netflix. I’m watching David today. Gotta see how the guy lived on a visual perspective. A guy that always talks to God and a guy who gave in to pleasure and murder. Let’s not forget about Goliath too!

UPDATE: Just finished watching the film and it gave great referenced based on biblical scripture. That God will even punish the great men who love God. For if one is with God, and still commits the act of sin, God will remind us that he is a Father of discipline.

Fil-Am Worship Center Podcast

Narration: Michael Serna
Intro Music: Leony Pearl Cotanda
Word of God: Pastor Lionel Cotanda
Ending Music: Sarah Joy Cotanda

Summary:

• Why should I submit myself to God?
• Our Defiant and Rebellious Ways (Wages of sin is Death)
• Goliath
• The Weapon of Our Enemy
• Psalms 23

Biblical Text from: Jeremiah 7:23
23 But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.

Right click here and download this message to your computer. MP3 Format

Subscribe via iTunes

I can’t say enough how much Greg Laurie’s devotion comes to my attention. Almost every single post he makes a day has to do something with my life and I’m very glad to post something on what he has in store for us today as God’s mouthpiece. I was gonna post something different but I can’t help that almost every time I read something of his is something I understand and feel greatly about. I would send a direct link but I’m afraid it’ll be redirected or pointed to another devotional reading. So I’m gonna copy and paste it here. Enjoy and be feed!

This may sound strange, but the time to put up your guard as a Christian is when things are going well.

When we are facing times of crisis, we are usually looking to the Lord. When a hardship hits, when a difficulty comes, we say, “God, if you don’t come through for me, I am not going to make it.” Those are not the times to be extra careful.

The time to be extra careful is when things are going reasonably well, when the bills are paid, when the health is good, and when there is no crisis looming on the horizon—at least that you know of.

Sometimes we can get a little lazy and forget God. It is not that we turn against God. We just forget about Him.

That is exactly what happened with David when he committed adultery with Bathsheba. He had set the scene for his defeat with things he had already done in direct disobedience to God. David had multiple wives and took concubines after he became king (see 2 Samuel 5:13), even though God specifically warned in Deuteronomy 17:17 that a king was never to do this.

David’s heart was slowly but surely turning away from God, and he was allowing lust to consume his life.

Perhaps David thought he was above the law. Yet the Bible warns, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18 NKJV).

Sins we commit today may not have their full impact until much later. In other words, some people are sowing the seeds of sin today and may not see immediate repercussions. So they mistakenly conclude that they won’t have to pray a price for what they are doing.

But Galatians 6:7 says, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (NKJV).

David’s sin with Bathsheba was the outcome of earlier sins that he had committed. He didn’t fall suddenly. It was a process, as it is with everyone.

David should have been leading his troops into war, which is what a king in his day would do. But David wasn’t in battle; he was in bed.

There is nothing wrong with taking a vacation, but we need to remember there is no rest from the spiritual battle. The devil never takes a day off. The Bible describes him as “a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8 NKJV).

David was kicking back, lowering his spiritual guard. So when he saw the beautiful Bathsheba, he took immediate action to have her brought into his chambers. As David was driven by his lust, all rational thinking went out the door, along with any regard for the repercussions or his reputation.

The sin was committed. The wrong had been done. Then a little time passed, and Bathsheba sent word to David that she was pregnant.

At that point, David should have said, “I have sinned against God.” But David would not come clean. He thought he could cover up what he had done.

But the Bible says, “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy” (Proverbs 28:13 NKJV). David had not considered one important thing: he had displeased the Lord (see 2 Samuel 11:27).

Despite his extreme wickedness, David was still a believer—a very disobedient one, but a believer nonetheless. And in Psalms 32 and 51, he wrote about the tortured state he was in as a result of the unconfessed sin in his life. For 12 months, he fought the conviction of the Holy Spirit and was not experiencing the presence of God as he had before. He described it as having his strength evaporated.

David’s life serves as a reminder that God simply will not allow His children to get away with sin. And as His children, He will tell us what is right and what is wrong.

If we are crossing the line as His sons or daughters, then He will tell us. Hebrews 12:11 says, “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (NKJV).

So if you start to go the wrong way and roadblocks are placed in your path, if conviction kicks in along with guilt, then rejoice. It means that you are a child of God. And God is disciplining you because He loves you.