Act on God's word, and live!

New Guest: Like this one, most posts are devotional; those related to CAR BIZ can be found by searching for that title. You might start with 'Welcome,' the first post in the archives, dated November 12, 2008, where I introduce myself and the blog.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Devotions: Ps 101, 109; 2 Ki 18:9-25; 1 Cor 8; Mt 7:13-21

I will sing to You, my God, of loyalty and justice. I will walk with integrity in my house; I will not set anything base before my eyes. I hate the deeds of those who fall away; I will set perversity far from me; I will refuse to know evil. I will counter those who slander their neighbors. I will not tolerate the haughty and arrogant. I will favor the faithful, and the blameless shall minister to me. I will throw out and ignore those who practice deceit. Day by day I will cut off all that is wicked and evil. Let God arise and speak against those who slander me, those who reward evil for the good I undertake. I submit these to God’s judgment and punishment. Let the consequences of my enemies’ deliberate evil fall upon them, as God wills. Let God deliver me, through His steadfast love. Lord, save me according to Your steadfast love and faithfulness, that all may know that You have done this. And I will praise YHWH in public, for He stands by those who follow Him, and protects us from our enemies.

Shalmaneser of Assyria besieged and overthrew Samaria—it was in the sixth year of Hezekiah’s reign in Jerusalem. The Assyrians carried the Israelites into exile in Medea—all because they had not obeyed YHWH their God. They broke covenant with God, and He allowed them to fall into exile. Eight years later, a new king, Sennacherib, led the Assyrians in assault against Judah. Hezekiah asked for terms, and Sennacherib laid a tribute on Judah. Hezekiah sent to the Assyrians all the precious metal from YHWH’s temple. But soon, three representatives of the Assyrian king appeared at Jerusalem’s gates. Sennacherib’s emissaries called out the Jewish leaders, and before God and the people, they dictated terms to the representatives of King Hezekiah: ‘You cannot rely on Egypt’s defense. And you cannot depend on YHWH your God—you could not repulse a single captain among the least of our master’s forces. We are here at the invitation of your God, to take this land and destroy it.’

Paul addressed the Corinthians’ concern about food offered to idols: this is a matter of knowledge, but also one of love. An idol has no real existence, and there is only one God for us: the Father, Creator of all that is, and for Whom we exist. And there is one Lord, Jesus the Messiah, through whom all that is was created and through Whom we exist. But not all know these things, and some, when they consume food that has been sacrificed to idols, eat it believing that it was dedicated to something real and ungodly, and their conscience is defiled thereby. So dietary practices are of little impact for us—we’re not worse off if we abstain, and no better off if we consume. Just take care that in exercising your knowledge and liberty, you do not create stumbling blocks to the faith and praxis of the less knowledgeable and the weak in faith. For if someone sees you, a man of knowledge, at table in a pagan temple, might he not also be encouraged to do likewise? And if he does this believing he is paying homage to a deity apart from God, this brother for whom Christ died may be destroyed. You sin against Jesus, not by eating food sacrificed to an idol, but by wounding the conscience of the weak brother or sister through the arrogant exercise of your superior spiritual knowledge. Therefore, if food is a cause of my brother’s falling, I will never eat meat, lest I cause my brother to fall. [This abstention, recommended by the first Jerusalem counsel, is an act of godly love, not mere legalism.]

Jesus was nearing the conclusion of His Sermon on the Mount: ‘Enter God’s kingdom by the narrow gate: the gate is wide and the path is easy that leads to destruction, and many travel by that way. But the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to eternal life, and few find and follow that path! Beware of false prophets—they come to you disguised as godly sheep, but they are ravening wolves. You can discern prophets by the fruit of their prophecy. A sound tree bears sound fruit; an evil tree, evil fruit. And those which fail to bear good fruit will be hewn down and burned. You will know prophets, true or false, by the outcome of their prophecies. Not everyone who calls Me their Lord will enter God’s kingdom—only those who do my Father’s will. On the final day, many will say to Me, “We prophesied, and cast out demons, and did mighty works in Your Name.” But I will reply, “I never knew you. Depart from Me, you evildoers.”’