(June 3, 2011)
Prayer House News!
Please Note: This coming weekend we start our new schedule for Sunday services.
First service is at 8:30am - 9:30 pre-service prayer, 10:30am second service.
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Tomorrow morning at 9:00am we are gathering at the Genesis House for a work day. It's not too late to be a part of this. Bring yourself and $5.00 for supplies and we will give you work to do. This would be a great way to serve the Lord for those of you looking for something to do for Him.
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Devotional!
Sacrificed to, to sacrificed!
I believe our problem might be that we are satisfied with a partial victory. By partial victory I mean that we are all too often content to live with things in our lives that should not be there.
In the book of Judges we find an account where God had instructed the people of Israel to take possession of the hill country, which would include the city of Jerusalem. They were to do this by driving out the current inhabitants because they did not worship the God of Israel.
Judges 1:19-21 The LORD was with the men of Judah. They took possession of the hill country, but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had iron chariots. 20 As Moses had promised, Hebron was given to Caleb, who drove from it the three sons of Anak. 21 The Benjamites, however, failed to dislodge the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the Benjamites.
You might say that iron chariots were a good enough reason for not disloging the Jebusites but God had promised them complete victory. Instead they settled for partial victory and began to live with the Jebusites. I believe there is a spirit in the American church today that has convinced us that we need just a little bit of our worldly nature if we are really going to get along in this old world. We need just a little bit of the old nature if we are going to make it in the business world. When I was a youth pastor there was great pressure on me to accept a little of the spirit of this world if I was ever going to be successful as a youth pastor. However, I’ve come to believe that partial victory is not victory at all.
The big “I” is perhaps one of the greatest stumbling blocks to the work of God in this day. When a person is saved, all bad habits are to be completely erased and banished from the life; outward sins, immorality, carousing and such things are to be done away with. Hopefully we have been successful with those rather obvious sins. Our problem is that we have learned how to co-exist with other kinds of sins like, jealousy, wrath, strife, pride, division, and gossip. Many times we referred to people who manifest these types of qualities as being a strong personality. We excuse them as being an “A” type personality when in reality that is nothing more than a personality that has become comfortable with co-existing with his fallen nature.
Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites, Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron…and the story goes on and on throughout the OT. From one tribe to another the best that can be said is that the enemy, through co-existing rather peacefully even, had been given a place of honor. That, I am afraid, has become the same spirit in the church today and even considered to be the ultimate victory. That is the entire spirit of the seeker-sensitive church. It is a spirit that believes the church can have co-existence with the philosophies of the world.
George Warnock writes about this issue and says, “For a while this policy might seem to succeed, and all seems to go fairly well, as it did with Israel. But God warned that anything short of complete conquest would mean ultimate defeat. Sooner or later “the prince of this world” comes and because there is standing-room in our nature, his horrible works are manifest and we are brought into bondage.” He goes on to say, “This is why it is so important that we follow the Lord into complete victory and the complete destruction of every hidden enemy lurking in secret corners of our nature.”
Have you shuddered, along with me, at the revelation of the great potential for evil that has surfaced in your own nature from time to time? I have. There are times when I thost laugh at being called a man of God. I can’t think of how many times I have sacrificed my all to Jesus only to find myself sacrificing him once again a short time later.
2 Samuel 1:19 "Your glory, O Israel, lies slain on your heights. How the mighty have fallen!
The beauty of Israel is lost because of the high places she would not destroy. Many times the kings of Israel would refuse to destroy the high places of the enemy. The high places were the places of worship for the pagan religions. Israel tried to co-exist with the high places of other religions and lost her own beauty and glory because of it.
“How the mighty have fallen” is a reference to King Saul. Saul was mighty in the anointing, mighty in prophecy, mighty in battle, and mighty in God. But because he “spared King Agag, and the best of the sheep,” instead of completely destroying them as God asked him to do – he was brought to ruin. Saul even went so far as to dedicate Agag and the sheep to the Lord but it made no difference. Obedience always remains God’s ultimate desire for His own children, and it is always better than sacrifice.
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Medication!
Bacon and Eggs
Bacon and eggs walk into a bar after a long day of being
bacon and eggs. They walk up to the bartender and ask for a
beer.
The bartender takes one look at them and says, "Sorry
fellas, but we don't serve breakfast."
