A Look at the Book #453

A Look at the Book #453

by Jesse Abel

Daily Devotional – A Look at the Book #453

A Thought for today by Papa “J”

If possible; a nation might be found sending its’ unborn and elderly to war. While the stiff-necked, self-righteous and self-indulgent core of the population indulges in reality entertainment; all are empty stars of darkness. John 3:19

A DAY IN THE PAST

After retiring from a naval career my sons and I started a landscaping business. Imagine that! From the waters of the world’s oceans to the ground we walk on. Let me tell you; but I am sure you already know! It is much harder to punch a hole in the dirt then to punch one in the water. This was a good time for us as a family; as men we bonded some and there was even a few dollars to be made, but here is the heart of the matter. I believed that the three of us were saved, but now I know that we were not all grounded, or as the scripture reveals; we were not standing on a solid foundation of faith. We laughed and played the harlot with our relationship with God, in other words we were not serious and we had no endurance. James 3 and 4 reveal to me that those days were full of the untamable tongue. Blessing God out of one side of our mouth and cursing those around us who threatened our work. From a distance one day a saw a woman carrying a small baby in one arm and carrying a white bag. She was walking in an area we were preparing for a sidewalk, the steel mesh was laid and she was walking on the mesh. I was afraid she would trip on the mesh and injure herself and the baby. My yelling and comments to her were not measured with grace, but with a dose of worldly ignorance. As it turned out the woman was one of the daughters of the pastor of our church and she was bringing us coffee and donuts. You know as well as I do; we do not intentionally start out our day to hurt people, but if we fail to walk in the Spirit, there will be plenty of opportunity to mourn and weep.

James 4

James 4:1-10 – We do not express an anguish of heart toward the things of God these days. You may remember the man; David Wilkerson who authored the book, The Cross and the Switchblade. He writes; but these are not quotes, that the church of Jesus Christ is in serious trouble because we have no depth of faith. Our faith is shallow and our works are the cheap work of entertainment rather than the edification needed for the children of God in grace and truth.

The local church these days is full of prideful men and women who like to entertain their congregations with programs that can last a day, a week or a month that promote a mixture of religion and worldly venues that confuse people. Using the Holy Bible they entice a person to apply a thought or promotion that has little to do with the context of scripture surrounding a verse of the Living Word. Yet they will spend a full hour on that one verse of scripture in an attempt to convince the congregation to participate in some worldly effort to trap more confused souls to join in their entertainment.

The world around us lives in the power of darkness and much of that darkness has infiltrated the church of our God. These passages in James point to this truth; Humility is the only cure for Worldliness! It is past time for many leaders of our churches to stop laughing and start lamenting over the spiritual condition of their congregations. There is a day of judgment; even for the churches and I believe that this nation would not be in the worldly condition it is in, if men who were called by God would become like the men He intended them to be. Isaiah 56:1-12 sums it up!