Author: admin

If we ignore our sins long enough, we will lose our sensitivity to offending God. What was embarrassing and even convicting to us in the past will become second nature in the future. Sin, left unchecked, eventually becomes a habit.

God expressed dismay that His people had become so calloused to their sin that they had “forgotten” how to blush. They had utterly lost their sense of shame.

Such might be said of our nation today as well. Behaviors once considered scandalous are now publicly flaunted. Behavior that would have been roundly condemned a generation before is now laughed at uproariously on prime time sitcoms.

God could well ask of us as well, have we lost our sense of shame? Have we forgotten how to blush?

Such a question goes straight to the heart of our understanding and walk with God. Who do we think God is? And, who do we think we are?

When we draw near to God, we step into the presence of our Creator. Our Judge. The Sustainer of our every breath. With a thought He has humbled world powers. With a look He has destroyed seemingly invincible armies. The eternal destiny of every person who has ever lived rests in His all-powerful hands. He is not someone to treat lightly.

Yet to God’s amazement, His people were prancing into His presence without so much as a second thought. They offered their glib, shallow worship as if they were doing almighty God a favor merely by showing up. God asked where the trembling was.

Do you have a holy trembling occur every time you approach Him. Or have you lost your sense of awe at Who you are dealing with?

The Israelites understood circumcision! Every male had undergone that ritual. Their bodies all carried the sign that they had been set aside as God’s people.

Tragically, however, although the Hebrews carried the physical mark that they were God’s, their hearts often belonged to someone else. God said it was not our outer body, but our hearts that mattered most to Him.

Just as we can undergo rituals and observances to reflect our loyalty to God, so we can also choose to consecrate our hearts to Him. Again, this is something God will not do for us. God may choose us, and consecrate us, but dedicating ourselves to Him is something we must do.

When God looks at your heart, is it obvious that it belongs to Him?

Valentines Day and Hollywood like to glamorize the heart. But the truth is that it has a nasty tendency to harden. The busy traffic that traverses across it as well as the cares and heartaches that inevitably come all tend to make our hearts calloused. If left untended, our hearts gradually grow brittle. As our hearts grow hardened, they become impervious to God’s word as well as His efforts to reach out to us.

God does not look tend our heart. That is something we must do. In fact, God tells us to break up the fallow ground of our heart. That means we are continually softening our heart and making it receptive to receive whatever God has for us.

Hollywood would have us believe that we have no control over our heart. If we “fall out of love” with someone, then it is beyond our control. If we no longer care about someone, then we are not to blame. But God makes it clear that we are to be the masters of our heart. We must irrigate it so it is soft and pliable.

We cannot determine when God might choose to speak to us. However, we can prepare our heart so we are ready to respond when He does.

God has an infinite number of solutions for our problems. One of His most common is to provide us with godly leaders. A man or woman of God can transform even the worst mess we find ourselves in!

God was keenly aware of every person who had backslidden from Him. He desired to bring them back to Himself. First, God drew his wayward people away from where they had been. He removed them from their temptations and distractions. Instead, He took them to a godly place. Second, God provided leaders who would shepherd His people according to His own heart. Such leaders brought the best out in God’s people and kept them safe from backsliding once again.

At times our spiritual condition can deteriorate to the point that drastic measures are required. Staying where we are will continue to produce the same dissatisfying results. Do you presently have a spiritual “shepherd” in your life who is encouraging you and guiding you in the way you should go? Do you need to make some significant changes to find a trustworthy shepherd?

Backsliding is a common term in the church. It usually refers to people who do not attend services regularly as they once did. But of course, there is far more to it than that.

Backsliding means our heart and devotion for Christ have declined in their fervency. It signifies that something has been lost. We are not in the same place with God we once were.

There can be innumerable explanations and excuses for this. “I have been so busy lately!” “I don’t care for the pastor’s preaching.” “I don’t feel like I fit in.” “I am taking a little break.” But the truth is, our heart has turned away from our God.

The remedy to backsliding is to return to God. God has not gone anywhere! We have! So it is our response that is crucial. Thankfully, God not only welcomes us back, but He urges us to come.

Are you in the same place, or even a better place with God than you were last year? If not, is there an area of your walk with God where you have backslidden?

There are cheap substitutes for every aspect of the Christian life. Whatever God does, Satan tries to mimic. He can even feign repentance and revival.

Of course, it is not genuine revival, only a hollow impersonation. In Satan’s version, people appear to have returned to God. They can claim to be sorry for their sin. There is often tears. Yet it is not real. Often the anguish is because of the consequence of their sin, rather than for their sin itself. There may be a sense of guilt, but not conviction. There may also be pledges of fresh commitment, but these are a mirage. Such proclamations will evaporate like the morning dew. It makes a great show in church, but it is nothing more than religious hype.

Kind-hearted people can be fooled into assuming that the professed repentance is genuine. But the truth is it is only skin deep. The heart is unaffected. The moment soon passes and the life of sin is resumed.

We might assume that partial revival is better than no revival at all. But there really is no such thing. If our heart is not fully for God, then we have not returned to Him. We may have thought about returning. We may have expressed a desire to return. We may even have performed outward acts that give the impression of returning, But unless our hearts are once again wholly for God, we have not experienced genuine revival.

The only thing more incredible than the fact that God loves us, is that He invites us to return to Him after we have forsaken Him. Our just lot ought to be eternal banishment in unquenchable fire for demonstrating such insolence to our Creator. Instead, God lovingly invites us to return to Him. And, when we do not respond, He invites us again, and again. Such patient love is unfathomable.

Israel had broken every promise they had made to God. They had committed spiritual adultery against the One who loved them infinitely. Despite countless blessings, God’s people had shunned their Benefactor and become enamored with cheap trinkets. Righteous indignation ought to have been poured out in abundance. Instead, after all that Israel had done, God invited them to return.

Revival is God’s word. He initiates it. He empowers it. He is the one who forgives out sin. But it is our responsibility to return. Without a conscious decision to return to Him, we cannot experience restoration. Have you drifted away from Him? Do you need to return?

We treat God in ways we would never condone in human relationships. God asked a question: Would society accept marriages where couples divorced and remarried, only to repeat the process again and again? A land that practiced such abominable behavior would be morally and spiritually polluted into ruin. No marriage could survive such disloyalty and disregard to commitment. Yet this is how people assumed they could relate to God.

The people were regularly forsaking their commitment to God and giving their hearts to idols. They might eventually return for a time, but would inevitably forsake their Lord once more. The land had become polluted with broken promises and fickle commitment.

Nevertheless, God’s invitation was tor His people to return to Him. Not in a casual, insincere manner, but with all of their hearts.

Our land has become polluted with spiritual betrayal and insincere confession. People occasionally return, but not with all of their heart. Even as they are returning to God they are already sowing the seeds of their next apostasy. For our land to be purified, God’s people must return to God with all of their heart.

Right standing with God hinges on repentance. Without repentance there is no way for us to receive forgiveness for our sins. But without acknowledging our sin, there is no possibility of repentance.

Some people adamantly reuse to acknowledge wrongdoing. They have done nothing wrong! It is not their fault! They have no need of making any changes.

At times people can take this delusion to ludicrous levels. They may be suffering from multiple broken relationships. Their prayers may be hollow and unanswered. There may be an acute absence of victory and divine power in their life. Nevertheless, these same people loudly proclaim their innocence. They have done nothing wrong! They were well intentioned. They have simply been misunderstood. Factors beyond their control have complicated their lives.

But God awaits their confession. Until people admit their wrongdoing, there can be no forgiveness. And, without divine pardon, we are lost in our sin.

Perhaps if we put as much effort into our repentance as we do into the defense of our behavior, we would experience life-transforming freedom and cleansing.

Are you ready to agree with God about your sin?