No Other Gods

“You shall have no other gods before me.”

 Exodus 20:3

It is a firm command but we have watered it down.

We neuter that word ‘god’ as it were.

We say to ourselves –

“Well. I certainly don’t pray to statues or saints as others do”

Then we go on to routinely place other gods in our life before God.

What of that career, that bank account or even the other person we have placed on a pedestal?

We protest that these things are important.

No one would argue that point.

But when we elevate these things above God, they become gods.

We spoke recently of God never failing, yet all of these other things we so often place above Him fail over and over.

He never will.

We can confidently place Him above all else in our lives.  

No other gods before our God!

Unfailing

“My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

 Psalm 73:26

Have you ever failed?

Of course you have.

Me too!

And, unfortunately it’s not like the clock has to be turned back too far for that failure in my life.

So often it is measured in seconds or minutes rather than hours, days or months.  

We are all less than perfect.

But God NEVER fails.

Turn the clock back eternally and there still is no evidence of God failing.

That is why David could acknowledge God as his strength and his portion.

Because we fail we have a hard time understanding how we could say of anyone that they never fail.

But our failure to acknowledge or understand does not change the truth of it.

God is unfailing in His love for you too.

Despite the stumbles, the falls, the reversals and rebellions, His love for us does not change.

What a comfort that is to me, even as it was to King David.

Let’s exalt the unfailing love of God rather than magnifying our own failures.

As you do, know that He will strengthen you and lift you up.

GOD NEVER FAILS!

(Forgive my shouting, but it’s true)

Unrelenting

Only those who are unrelenting will see their expectations come to pass.

Unrelenting is defined as: not letting up or weakening in vigor or pace.

Paul encouraged us with this verse:

“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm.

Let nothing move you.

Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

I Corinthians 15:58

To relent is to give in, give up and to throw in the towel in the face of opposition.

What greater example can we have of someone who was unrelenting than Jesus.

“...For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

All of hell was arrayed in opposition to the Son of God.

But it was not enough to stop Him from completing the Father’s will.

We too have a wonderful inheritance that we can walk in now.

But it will not be realized if we surrender to those who come to oppose what God wants to do in your life - whoever or whatever it may be!

Should you be struggling now with opposition, remind yourself of Paul’s words –

“...Let nothing move you...”

Indeed!

They Said...

“The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.”

Jeremiah 31:3

“But what will they say?”

Their words are often enough to cause us to stop believing for our expectations.

Who are they that they wield so much control over your life?

Simply stated – they are anyone who speaks contrary to what God says.

Could be family, could be friends, could be coworkers, could even be you because our self-talk can so often be destructive.

We need to take the time to dig into Gods’ word.

In it we find who we truly are in Christ.

We are sons of God.

We have a Father who loves us and pours blessings upon blessings on our lives.

We must train ourselves to hear Him above all others.

It is easy to listen to the naysayers.

The valuable and true words God speaks to us can be crowded out.

Take some time today to dig into His word.

Let Him speak louder into your spirit than anyone else!

Let Him speak louder than the “they’s”.

The “Loyal” Opposition

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.”

Isaiah 5:20

 

Righteousness, peace and joy – who could oppose such things?

Listen to what Romans 14:17 declares:

“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,”

Jesus brought a Kingdom.

Yet, He was opposed at every turn.

It was a Kingdom of good and honorable things as we read above.

Still, the kingdom of darkness stood in opposition to it.

Sadly, it is no different today.

            As the people of God we must be wise and discerning.

It is easy to follow the crowd, to be captivated by the culture and to follow along to get along.

Yet we must be careful to be a people who bring the Kingdom to the earth.

Even when the opposition seems overwhelming, popular and persuasive!

Let God rule and reign in your life.

Don’t allow the opposition to deter you.

“Plan B”

Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them.

Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on.”

Mark 2:3-4

The people had heard that Jesus was in the house!

Desperately, they filled every room to overflowing.

The mob, which it had become by now, was spilling over outside like rising floodwaters.

The narrow street that passed the homes door was packed with humanity ‘till there was no longer any hope of entry into the house where Jesus was visiting.

Imagine if you were trying to force your way past all the people attempting to gain the same access to the Savior that you seek.  

You might expect a little opposition, don’t you think?

Perhaps even a riot.

Maybe they had naively planned on walking right up to Jesus.

That wasn’t going to happen!

Some probably suggested to them that the wisest course was to turn around and go home.

But they knew better.

Like the woman with the issue of blood or like blind Bartamaus, they were not about to surrender to the opposition, no matter how fierce.

Truly it was as if it made them redouble their effort.

One of them had an idea...

Let’s climb on the roof and set him down at the Messiah’s feet.

The opposition they faced was now met with steely determination to see their “Plan B” through.

Would you?

I Shall Not Be Moved

Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them.

Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on.”

Mark 2:3-4

Opposition

We’ve all faced it.

We face opposition to who we are, what we are doing or where we are going.

Maybe you’ve begun something with the best of intentions:

a diet, a New Year’s resolution or breaking a bad habit.

But as soon as opposition comes – whether from our own flesh or whatever other form it takes, we fail to complete what we set out to do.

We can’t always blame the devil either – as much as we might like to!

Today’s scripture reveals some friends who – even in the face of opposition in the form of a very large crowd – refused to be dissuaded from what that had set themselves to do.

Their tenacity was rewarded by Jesus and I am certain the friend they carried in was grateful for their perseverance.

How about you?

Are you ‘carrying a friend’ to Jesus in prayer?

Or maybe you are called to do something for God and have felt the sting of opposing words and actions.

Don’t surrender, don’t give up.

Don’t let the opposition win.

God has these words of encouragement for you –

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.

 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

Stand firm then...

Will you stand firm in the face of opposition?