NEXT PODCAST
THE REAWAKENING OF GOD’S PEOPLE
What’s happening in the world is nothing short of a reawakening of God people. A reawakening to God as we come to him with our broken culture and sick society. For millions it’s like waking up to riding their bike down an ally they never intended to turn down in a city you didn’t don’t recognize. They have been awakened to the reality of God’s Word and His ways as THE TRUTH. This is not just in the United States but in Europe and all over the world.
For example, Italy just removed the title or designation “wife” from same sex marriage certificates. I love all people including homosexuals just as Christ does…and I love God’s institution of marriage more than man’s ways. We should be encouraged and energized to stand with and for God in the same way; not in anger against others. Let’s remember to share the truth of God in love with such lost people in an effort to reach them for Christ. This is but one example of what those committed to Christ can and are doing to turn our upside down world right side up again. This is nothing short of wonderful and encouraging!
We should all be encouraged and energized to stand with and for God, not in anger against others, including homosexuals. Let’s remember to share the truth of God in love with such lost people in an effort to reach them for Christ. The movement is different from the individual remember. What Georgia Meloni and the Italian government has done is but one example of what those committed to Christ can and are doing to right side our upside down world. And again, this is nothing short of wonderful and encouraging!
Millions if not billions of people have finally awoken to a world turned upside down, where right is called wrong and wrong called right. I would assert that it’s the materially comfortable church and Christian body who ALLOWED the moral deterioration to fester and become mainstream in order to keep the “status quo”. Evil is never that good, it’s us not being salt and light that allow evil to fester and spread. Let’s not be frustrated but become resolute to to change our world back towards God and His ways. In doing so, let’s keep in mind that we we didn’t get here in a day and we won’t get back in a day. The Psalmist in 119 tells us that the road back to God’s ways is one of obedience that will change us in the process of making the world a better place for our children’s generation. For example, Psalm 119:1-8 says that because those who obey the Lord are “blessed”, the psalmist prays that he would be even more “OBEDIENT” (v.5). In our modern culture, obedience is seen as a degrading attribute, even within many so called Christian homes. But God demands obedience along side His grace.
WHERE DO WE START?
The best place for you and I to start is in grasping such obedience. Is found in Psalm 119: 9-16. These verses make clear that a thirst and hunger to take hold of and authentically follow the Word of God spiritually cleanses us. Yes, it cleanses us. Verses 17-24 says that an ever-increasing understanding of the Word (v.18) will “Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderous things about your law”. Embracing God’s Word and ways promotes a heavenly perspective for us as we pursue God in life. “Even though princes sit plotting against me, your servant will meditate on your statutes” (v.23). Even when tracked digitally, followed, watched and even persecuted, government officials have no power to stop you and I from meditating on God’s Word and statutes. If you feel helpless, please stop as that is nothing less than apathy and depressed thinking. Instead, let’s accept where we are at with great joy, as the Lord is waiting for you and I to embrace where He has allowed us to be in the present as authentic Christians.
Let’s zoom out and read Psalm 119 verses 20-24 below as the central point of today’s devotion. Please read these very short few verses.
Psalm 119:20-24 (ESV)
“20 My soul is consumed with longing
for your rules at all times.
21 You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones,
who wander from your commandments.
22 Take away from me scorn and contempt,
for I have kept your testimonies.
23 Even though princes sit plotting against me,
your servant will meditate on your statutes.
24 Your testimonies are my delight;
they are my counselors.”
MY TAKE-AWAY for you and I today is that our souls will be consumed by God’s ways if we invest in His Word, prayer and Spirit. If we pursue living out God’s statutes, which are His guard rails for how we are to think, act, raise our children, work, and treat others we will see the world begin to tilt right upside again over time. I want to make clear that seeking and working hard to keep God’s rules should not translate or evolve into religious legalism but rather culminate into an authentic faith effort to keep God’s ways in obedience out of life. The Psalmist in 119 says that this is something we as authentic followers of God “LONG FOR”. We should strive to keep God’s statutes as best we can at “ALL” times, not just on Sundays. And when God’s rebuke comes, we should stop and embrace what God is telling and teaching us as we need it. We should covet God’s correction and statues in obedience as the proper direction to keep us from waking up disoriented-driving that bicycle down an ally way we don’t recognize, in a city filled with chaos, in an upside down world. It didn’t need to be this way but the reality is that it is at present.
The good news is that the liberal, godless world order has peaked and is on its way down. The damage has been done and more is to come as they claw their way down to the pit of hell if they fail to submit to God’s biblical statutes by way of relationship with Jesus Christ.
Psalm 119:22 says “take away from me scorn and contempt”. While things thin out, the world still scorns us with contempt for keeping God’s Word, His ways (statues) and His testimonies. That is a good thing because it teaches us to stand strong in His Word and ways. And it shows us the true value of His ways, His Word and the blood of His son Jesus Christ. We have taken this for granted as a people and nation. Even though our leaders (princes v.23) sit plotting against us as God’s servants-WHAT CAN YOU AND I DO? We should meditate on and study God’s Word, get into daily prayer, and live out our faith in obedience to His ways. (vs.23). Let’s keep in mind that God’s testimonies are our DELIGHT and our COUNSELOR(S) for how we are to live out life; work order our marriage, be parents, treat our neighbors, govern our nation, and the list goes on.
CONCLUSION: We are strangers on and to this earth. It’s important to understand that the psalmist in Psalm 119 was not native-born but sojourner. Because of this, he needed the road map of God’s commandments in order to find his way back to his home with God (Psalm 119:17-20). We are no different. We are at the same exact place today the Psalmist was at thousands of years ago. God’s Word is our counselor. Keeping his ways (rules), statues is our guard rails in living out our life. The psalmist knew that his source of comfort was found only in God’s ways, not mans or his own strength. He asked God to “open” his “eyes that” he might “behold wonderful things from God’s “law” (v.18). No matter how difficult the psalmist’s circumstances were, he was determined to “observe” God’s “testimonies” and make them his “delight”, function as his “counselors” (Psalm 119:22-23). And we can and should do the same.
What’s happening in the world is nothing short of a reawakening of God people. A reawakening to God as we come to him with our broken culture and sick society. For millions it’s like waking up to riding our bike down an ally they never intended to turn down in a city you didn’t don’t recognize. We have been now awakened to the reality of God’s Word and His ways as THE TRUTH. This is not just in the United States but in Europe and all over the world. And this is nothing short of wonderful and encouraging!
