"Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago." (Isaiah 25:1)
Today I am going to discuss something that many Christians in Western Civilization are "too busy" to do: praise God. Let's just think about this for a moment. God has created our entire universe out of nothing and has sent His only Son to be KILLED so that we can have eternal life through Christ's resurrection. Without Him, we wouldn't even be able to breathe (Numbers 27:16). Yet we are too busy to praise Him for it? Seriously, can't we just take some time away from Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, and everything else that we do while we are glued to our smartphones (or tablets/computers) and praise the One who is the source of our very existence?
Look, I'll admit, praising God hasn't always been my highest priority. In fact, it has probably been my lowest. Then tonight, a thought hit me. What if I was married, and my wife, for whom I sacrificed everything to be with, constantly refused to have sex with me because she "had a headache"? Or what if I constantly refused to take my wife out on romantic dinners, after she has sacrificed everything to be with me, so that I could watch UFC on Fox? Ultimately, we would just be selfish if we treated each other like that. Well, in our case, God has sacrificed everything to be with us. How many of us can say that we loved someone so much that we allowed ourself to be tortured, stripped naked, and suffocated to death in order to be with them? Jesus can, and I'm no longer going to selfishly withhold the praise that He deserves. How about you? What's more important: your Savior, or your busy schedule?
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Sunday, November 25, 2012
God Cannot Be Thwarted
"For the Lord Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?" (Isaiah 14:27)
This verse comes near the end of a chapter in which judgment against Babylon and Assyria is prophesied. The question is a rhetorical one. After all, God is all-powerful. Can anyone stop Him from doing what He wants to do? Absolutely not. Nonetheless, as human beings, our pride often gets in the way of our reason, and we tend to think of ourselves as more than we really are. I don't think it's any coincidence that the majority of the deities worshipped throughout history are, for all practical purposes, just superpowered men and women. Since we are the greatest creatures that we can see, it only makes sense that we assume that the universe is run by stronger and more ancient versions of ourselves. Nonetheless, this mentality will always put us at odds with God. After all, if we make ourselves gods, then what does that make Him? Ultimately, there can only be one supreme power in the universe, and God has made it clear that that is Him and Him alone.
"I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God..." (Isaiah 45:5a)
Since He is the only God in the universe, we are all accountable to Him. Not even the most powerful nations can evade His judgment. Babylon once ruled the known world, just like Assyria had before it. Both empires now lie in ruins in modern-day Iraq. If they couldn't escape God's wrath, what makes us think we can? Before we let our hubris get the better of us, we need to meditate on the questions asked in Isaiah 14:27, so that we don't make the same mistake that those two nations did and think that we are invincible when we are clearly not.
This verse comes near the end of a chapter in which judgment against Babylon and Assyria is prophesied. The question is a rhetorical one. After all, God is all-powerful. Can anyone stop Him from doing what He wants to do? Absolutely not. Nonetheless, as human beings, our pride often gets in the way of our reason, and we tend to think of ourselves as more than we really are. I don't think it's any coincidence that the majority of the deities worshipped throughout history are, for all practical purposes, just superpowered men and women. Since we are the greatest creatures that we can see, it only makes sense that we assume that the universe is run by stronger and more ancient versions of ourselves. Nonetheless, this mentality will always put us at odds with God. After all, if we make ourselves gods, then what does that make Him? Ultimately, there can only be one supreme power in the universe, and God has made it clear that that is Him and Him alone.
"I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God..." (Isaiah 45:5a)
Since He is the only God in the universe, we are all accountable to Him. Not even the most powerful nations can evade His judgment. Babylon once ruled the known world, just like Assyria had before it. Both empires now lie in ruins in modern-day Iraq. If they couldn't escape God's wrath, what makes us think we can? Before we let our hubris get the better of us, we need to meditate on the questions asked in Isaiah 14:27, so that we don't make the same mistake that those two nations did and think that we are invincible when we are clearly not.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Is Your Idol Worth God's Wrath?
"For before the boy knows how to say ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.” (Isaiah 8:4)
Why does God allow evil and corrupt nations to rise to power? Well, ultimately, He does it to carry out His will. Now, don't get me wrong. God never condones wicked and evil governments. That being said, if He can use them to fulfill His plan for the world, He will. For example, He used the Pharisees and the Jews' Roman oppressors to bring about salvation for all of humanity. Their unjust trial and execution of Jesus Christ ultimately allowed Him to atone for our sins so that we could become right with God again through repentance. However, in this particular instance described in Isaiah, the purpose is not salvation: it is judgment.
Israel had been divided into two kingdoms. Judah was the southern kingdom, and the northern one was still called Israel. King Jeroboam, the ruler of the northern kingdom, feared that, since God's temple was located in Judah, his subjects would go back there to make sacrifices. He believed that this would lead them to kill him and reunite with their southern brethren. In order to prevent this from happening, he created two golden calves for the people to worship, claiming that these idols were the gods who delivered them out of Egypt instead of the one true God (1 Kings 12:26-30). The people fell for his scheme and descended into a downward spiral of wickedness which led them to commit unbelievably evil deeds, including the use of the occult and child sacrifice (2 Kings 17:17). Finally, God ran out of patience and chose the most violent nation around at the time to punish them: Assyria.
The Assyrians were basically the Vikings of the Middle East. I saw a relief taken from the tomb of one of their kings, Ashurnasirpal, inside of a museum in London, which showed Assyrian soldiers playing a soccer-like ball game with the decapitated heads of their enemies. When God needed someone to teach the rebellious Israelites a lesson, the Assyrians were more than willing to oblige. They completely sacked the northern kingdom and deported everyone into slavery throughout other parts of their empire.
Now, we may think that we are safe from God's judgment. After all, we don't go around worshipping golden cows, so we should be in excellent shape, right? Not necessarily, for the following reason:
Anything that we worship other than God is an idol!
Take an honest look at your life. Do you worship money? Has your career become more important to you than God? Do you worship sex? Have hours of pornography stolen your quiet time with Jesus? Do you worship your friends/family? Is their approval of your life more meaningful to you than God's approval? Do you worship your boyfriend/girlfriend? Is their love more important to you than the love of Jesus? Or do you worship your public image? Are all of your good deeds just an attempt to make yourself look better than everyone else?
Be very wary of what you worship, because if you choose something other than Christ, then that idol will completely consume you. Once that happens, you may become capable of unspeakable acts, just like the Israelites. After that occurs, you are putting yourself in the path of God's judgment. Now, if you are a Christian, you cannot lose your salvation (John 10:27-29). However, God can still discipline you for what you do. There may be an "Assyrian army" waiting to enslave you if God chooses to remove His protection from you. They could be the backstabbing coworker who will get you fired once your ruthless ambition causes you to make a horrible mistake. They could be the promiscuous young lady who tries to "babytrap" you when you decide to live out your lustful fantasies with her. They could even be the local gossip at your church who will destroy your reputation once they find out that your lack of private integrity does not match your public image. So before you bow down to that idol, ask yourself if it is really worth incurring God's wrath.
Why does God allow evil and corrupt nations to rise to power? Well, ultimately, He does it to carry out His will. Now, don't get me wrong. God never condones wicked and evil governments. That being said, if He can use them to fulfill His plan for the world, He will. For example, He used the Pharisees and the Jews' Roman oppressors to bring about salvation for all of humanity. Their unjust trial and execution of Jesus Christ ultimately allowed Him to atone for our sins so that we could become right with God again through repentance. However, in this particular instance described in Isaiah, the purpose is not salvation: it is judgment.
Israel had been divided into two kingdoms. Judah was the southern kingdom, and the northern one was still called Israel. King Jeroboam, the ruler of the northern kingdom, feared that, since God's temple was located in Judah, his subjects would go back there to make sacrifices. He believed that this would lead them to kill him and reunite with their southern brethren. In order to prevent this from happening, he created two golden calves for the people to worship, claiming that these idols were the gods who delivered them out of Egypt instead of the one true God (1 Kings 12:26-30). The people fell for his scheme and descended into a downward spiral of wickedness which led them to commit unbelievably evil deeds, including the use of the occult and child sacrifice (2 Kings 17:17). Finally, God ran out of patience and chose the most violent nation around at the time to punish them: Assyria.
The Assyrians were basically the Vikings of the Middle East. I saw a relief taken from the tomb of one of their kings, Ashurnasirpal, inside of a museum in London, which showed Assyrian soldiers playing a soccer-like ball game with the decapitated heads of their enemies. When God needed someone to teach the rebellious Israelites a lesson, the Assyrians were more than willing to oblige. They completely sacked the northern kingdom and deported everyone into slavery throughout other parts of their empire.
Now, we may think that we are safe from God's judgment. After all, we don't go around worshipping golden cows, so we should be in excellent shape, right? Not necessarily, for the following reason:
Anything that we worship other than God is an idol!
Take an honest look at your life. Do you worship money? Has your career become more important to you than God? Do you worship sex? Have hours of pornography stolen your quiet time with Jesus? Do you worship your friends/family? Is their approval of your life more meaningful to you than God's approval? Do you worship your boyfriend/girlfriend? Is their love more important to you than the love of Jesus? Or do you worship your public image? Are all of your good deeds just an attempt to make yourself look better than everyone else?
Be very wary of what you worship, because if you choose something other than Christ, then that idol will completely consume you. Once that happens, you may become capable of unspeakable acts, just like the Israelites. After that occurs, you are putting yourself in the path of God's judgment. Now, if you are a Christian, you cannot lose your salvation (John 10:27-29). However, God can still discipline you for what you do. There may be an "Assyrian army" waiting to enslave you if God chooses to remove His protection from you. They could be the backstabbing coworker who will get you fired once your ruthless ambition causes you to make a horrible mistake. They could be the promiscuous young lady who tries to "babytrap" you when you decide to live out your lustful fantasies with her. They could even be the local gossip at your church who will destroy your reputation once they find out that your lack of private integrity does not match your public image. So before you bow down to that idol, ask yourself if it is really worth incurring God's wrath.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
November Celebrity Prayer Project: Anthony Ervin
This month I will be praying for another Olympian: champion swimmer Anthony Ervin! I first read about him in "Rolling Stone" magazine and was inspired by how he turned his life around. He won the gold in the 50m Freestyle at Sydney in 2000 and a silver in the 4 x 100 Freestyle Relay. Shortly after that, he went on a downward spiral of drugs and womanizing. However, he cleaned up his act and made a triumphant return to the London Olympics this year, placing 5th overall in the 50m freestyle. That's pretty amazing, especially considering all of the damage that he did to his body and the fact that he was 31 at the time. I saw that race and was really hoping that he would get the gold again. That being said, fifth in the world is still pretty awesome. Since he has overcome his personal demons, he has truly inspired me and is one of my personal heroes. I just hope that he doesn't "throw out the baby with the bathwater" and stop playing rock music.
The guy also is trying as hard as he can to be a good person, up to selling his gold medal to raise money for the UNICEF tsunami relief fund. On top of that, he is a spiritual seeker, even visiting a church while looking for truth. That's why I am praying this month that he finds the One who his heart is truly seeking: Jesus Christ.
You can read more about his amazing story here:
http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/videos/olympics-2012-gold-medal-swimmer-anthony-ervin-is-out-to-reclaim-his-title-20120727
(Photo from anthonyervin.com)
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