What's Been Happening?A Devotional
© 2001 Steve Lattier and Men's Help MinistriesHave you ever been asked that by someone whom you haven't seen in a while, or perhaps you were the one who asked it? It is neat how we can inquire of each other and how God gave us the ability to be interested in the lives and goings on of our friends and family. Oh, don't think that we are alone in that respect. Our loving dog friends are well equipped to do the same. A couple of sniffs and a dog gets an aromatic picture of where his companion has been. Aren't you so glad that people can't do that! There is no lying to a dog's nose! A dog can smell that occasional cigarette or that hangover breath, or even that other persons cologne or perfume. I thank God that He, in His wisdom, didn't make us like that. See, us not being able to discern the truth as easily as a dog also prevents us from judging those around us who have fallen. God is the one that knows our hearts. He is like that dog, after a fashion, when He comes up He can see the sin that you have been in and everywhere that you have been. But He loves you enough to keep coming after you even when you really blow it and are trying to hide. God is so interested in what is happening that He will call out to you!
The Word:Genesis 3:8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. [9] But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" [10] He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." [11] And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"Take just a moment and swap the word “naked” in the scripture above for one of these: guilty, unworthy, unsaved. They fit in that passage just as well. I have no intention of rewriting scripture, but do you see the point. That is all that Adam and Eve had, was their nakedness. Up to that point there had only been one sin. I am sure you have heard that when God called to them both that is wasn't for God's knowledge that He asked. He knew full well where they were, I mean really what are the chances that He would have been in speaking distance, the garden of Eden was huge!!? God wanted to give them a second chance to come out from hiding and tell the truth. God already knew what they had done. He even made it easier for them to confess by simply stating what they had done and all they had to do was affirm it. God is so good that way. He will come to us in our deepest guilt and shame, and help us to get right again. You know that after Adam and Eve told God the truth God covered them. He does that for us every time we confess as well! It is not just sin that makes us wander from God. There was a couple that had bee married for twenty some years and they were driving to town in their old pickup truck just like they had done for twenty years. The wife suddenly sat up straight in the passenger seat and said “We used to sit together on the ride to town and back, what happened? Why don't we sit together anymore?” The husband never taking his eyes from the road says in a quiet voice “I have been over here in this same seat driving, for twenty years, it is you my darling, who has moved away.” Our relationship with God can get that way from time to time. We still love Him we just ease over to sit by ourselves after a time. He still drives our truck, but we are not with Him anymore.
The Word:Revelation 2:4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. [5] Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.Even in the bible this story is illustrated, they weren't running about in horrendous defiance of God, steeped in sin. They slipped away. They forgot what it was that they loved about God. They, just like that married couple didn't even see it as it happened over the space of years. One day it was shown to them and guess what? God gently instructed them how they could scoot back over in that seat to be next to Him! Repent and do the things you did at first! That sounds like a second chance to me! God is SO good. Sometimes it isn't shame or a falling away that takes us from God. Sometimes it is us believing the whispers of the enemy and getting fearful. The enemy has a powerful weapon in fear, it can make many strong Christians leave the church. Look what happened to one of God's anointed prophets.
The Word:1Kings 19:11 The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. [12] After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. [13] When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" [14] He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too." [15] The LORD said to him, "Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram.Once again, like God really had no idea why Elijah was hiding in the cave. God asked “why” to make Elijah think about it and give Him a chance to confess it. What was the first thing that God said to him? God told him to “go back the way he came” When you move away from God you don't get to just keep right on trucking, you must return to the place that you left Him, then you get to start over! What grace! Elijah was paralyzed with fear. He had received threats on his life from the people he was to minister to, he was human and he couldn't take the pressure anymore, he ran from his calling. God was right there ministering to him and calling him back. You can be sure of two things. 1. When you do slip, God will come looking for you whether you are in a garden or a cave. and 2. God will gently help you to confess and come back! That is relationship and restoration! God so earnestly pursues us when we stray because there is a dark principle at work as well. The enemy knows that the easiest way to conquer is to divide. The enemy wants to separate you from God, if he can do that then he can defeat you, or even easier, convince you to defeat yourself. All you have to do is believe one lie of his and it can change your whole life. Just look at Adam and Eve, satan said in Genesis 3 “surely you'll not die.” Believing that lie cost mankind, not just Adam and Eve. The enemy is actively trying to separate you. That punk would like to drive a wedge between you and your spouse this week, make you mad at the pastor to get you out of the church, have you turn your back on your friends or even God. See if the enemy can get you alone his chances of defeating you go up tenfold! When you are alone he has you all to himself and there is no one there to even warn you that he is in the room with you and he has a sword!
The Word:Judges 3:20 Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his summer palace* and said, "I have a message from God for you." As the king rose from his seat, [21] Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king's belly.Now do you see why God is so earnestly searching for you even if you miss just one church service? God will walk through gardens and look into caves because He loves you so much. His love for you is what makes the enemy hate you so bad. That punk wants to ultimately put distance between you and God, the more, the better. You may feel a little distanced from God right now. Maybe you have run in fear of what you heard. Perhaps you have been shamed or have guilt and you are hiding. Could you have forsaken your first love? Has that punk gotten you out of the church family? Have you stopped fellowshipping? God is there right now calling for you He wants to know what is happening in your life, He wants you to think about why you slid over on the truck seat. He wants to give you a second chance. Go back the way you came!
Pray with me: Father I am so sorry moving away from you. You know why I have done it, even before you called to me you knew. Father I repent of my sins and my lack of closeness and fellowship with you. Help me to remember my first love, show me the way to go back, I want to start over again with you. The enemy wants to split you and I, I know that you will never leave me, so Lord strengthen me to know the truth and to stand strong at your side. I have my hands out, pull me back across that old truck seat to sit by your side once again. I ask this humbly in Jesus name. Amen!If you are not saved and would like more information please email me, see me, or visit us at
http://mywebpage.netscape.com/pastorstevel/menshelp.html then click on the link for your free ticket!
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