Wednesday, January 6, 2016

What Are You Thinking About At 11:45 on Sunday

My Utmost For His Highest
 
He moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. —Genesis 12:8
 
“Bethel is the symbol of fellowship with God; Ai is the symbol of the world. Abram “pitched his tent” between the two. The lasting value of our public service for God is measured by the depth of the intimacy of our private times of fellowship and oneness with Him. Rushing in and out of worship is wrong every time— there is always plenty of time to worship God. Days set apart for quiet can be a trap, detracting from the need to have daily quiet time with God. That is why we must “pitch our tents” where we will always have quiet times with Him, however noisy our times with the world may be. There are not three levels of spiritual life— worship, waiting, and work. […] They were always together in the life of our Lord and in perfect harmony. It is a discipline that must be developed; it will not happen overnight.”  CHAMBERS
 
(Luke 6:45)  “The good man produces what is good and honorable and moral out of the good treasure in his heart; and the  evil man produces what is wicked and depraved out of the evil ; for his mouth speaks from the overflow of his heart.”  I am certain you are familiar with this verse.  People reveal their hearts by the fruit they bear in their lives and by the words that they say.  Here is an example.  A person comes to church on Sunday.  They sing, maybe shout, pray, and listen to the sermon, and then look at their watch.  You see they have given God 2 hours on Sunday and not a minute more.  Sunday is not for God, it’s for them.  They have given up two hours to God.  Not even 10% of the day, well maybe if you count travel time to church.  I have been asked on more than one occasion when I spoke at a church to not go past 12:00, the people would not be pleased.  Think about it.  What have those people revealed by their words?  They are more interested in their bellies than the Bible.  One of my “sayings”, at 11:45, the congregation is more interested in the meat in the oven than the meat of the Word.  Even the time they spend at church is all about them.  We want the Lord to provide for us, we want Him to save us, we want Him to heal us, we want Him to intervene in our troubles, but we don’t want him to encroach on our schedule and time. (The same can be said about our daily time with Him.)  We are more interested in checking the “Went to Church” box than in hearing from God.
 
I make it a point to listen to people carefully.  Eventually they will reveal their hearts .. whether for the good or the bad.  I don’t judge them, but I do pity those who have chosen poorly.  They spend their lives pursuing vain religion, refusing to lay the sum total of their lives down at the altar.  Considering themselves to be on point … spiritually on target because they go to church.  The Pharisees went to Temple, religiously, consider what Jesus had to say about them.  So my point for today is to caution you about robbing time from God and withholding your devotion.  Not only on Sunday but every day of the week.  Love equals relationship and relationship equals time.  ELGIN
 
Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)
 
Charley Elgin

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