An Explanation

An Explanation Please

Micah 6:3

"O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me."

When you read the verse above, you can see that God simply wanted an explanation from His people for why they left Him for other gods. In fact, when you read the previous verse you will see that God had a controversy with the people. The word "controversy" means a debate or dispute over something that happened. In other words, God asked the people to give Him a chance to explain His position. It is apparent that God could not figure out why the people were upset with Him. The people should have given God the dignity He deserved by giving Him an opportunity to explain His side of the story.

It is sad that many times God is never given a chance to explain His position to us. Too often people get angry at God over something that someone else has done. Just because a preacher has done something to you does not mean that God had any part of it. Just because a fellow Christian has hurt you does not mean that you should hold it against God. Christian, if you are not careful, you will hold something against God for which He had no part. You should always give God the benefit of the doubt and allow Him to explain Himself. You may wonder how does God explain Himself? God explains Himself through time. Like a preacher once told me, "Time always tells." If you will be patient with God, you will see that God will explain Himself by how He deals with your situation.

I remember years ago a preacher who had deeply wronged me. This man made it his agenda to try and destroy my ministry. At first I did not understand what God was doing. Because it was early on in my evangelistic ministry, it would have been easy to quit evangelism and move on to something where I could make better money. Yet, because that preacher told me that time always tells, I waited on God and He explained Himself to me by revealing to everyone the faults of the offending preacher. In time, God vindicated Himself to me by blessing my ministry through that situation. If I would not have given God the chance to explain Himself, I could have easily stayed bitter towards God for many years to come.

Let me take this thought one other direction. When you feel someone has wronged you, you should be sure to give them a chance to explain themselves. Many friendships are destroyed because one person held something against a friend that they never did. If they had given that person a chance to explain themselves, that friendship could have been salvaged. Yet, because the one who was hurt never gave them a chance to explain themselves, they allowed false information to cause them to hurt, hinder and destroy a good friendship.

Be careful that you always give people an opportunity to explain themselves. Matthew 18:15 commands, "Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother." Always remember that when you don't give your brother a chance to explain himself, then you are not only opening yourself up to bitterness, but you are also disobeying God. Be a good Christian and learn to always give others a chance to explain themselves.

Bitter

Bitter and Poisonous

Amos 6:12

"Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plow there with oxen? for ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock:"

When God pronounced His judgment upon Zion, He gave His reasoning for why He judged them. God said that Zion "...turned judgment into gall,..." Gall is anything that is extremely bitter. In other words, these people disliked God's judgments. These people were not interested in justice prevailing, they were only interested in having their own way.

Furthermore, God said the reason He would judge Zion was because they turned "...the fruit of righteousness into hemlock:" Hemlock is a poisonous plant. It is a plant from which you would avoid any fruit, for it could cause you to get very sick or even die. However, God said that the people of Zion made righteousness like the fruit of hemlock, very poisonous. In other words, they avoided righteousness like you would avoid poison. They had no desire for righteousness to prevail for they simply wanted to live life their own way.

One of the dangerous things every Christian must be wary of is getting to the point in their life where they only want to have things their way, whether or not it is right or wrong. Many Christians have gotten so wrapped up in themselves that they are not interested in justice prevailing, they are only interested in what they want. There are many Christians who are more interested in getting their way then they are about whether their way is right or wrong. The only thing about which they are concerned is getting their way.

Christian, when your way is the only thing about which you are interested, then you are at the point where you will soon face the judgment of God. When you are not interested in righteousness prevailing over your own desires, then you are in a dangerous position. You must always realize that justice and righteousness should always take precedence over your desires.

One area where you must be very careful that you don't let justice and righteousness become bitter and poisonous is with your family. I have watched many good people get to the point in their lives where their family can do no wrong. Their desire for their family to do well on a job or in acquiring position causes them to be blinded to their sin. These families will literally set aside what they know is just and right for the sake of preserving the family name. You cannot let sin go unpunished in your family, even if it may bring shame to the family name. Justice and righteousness must always prevail when dealing with your family.

Likewise, a church must be careful about getting to the point where it doesn't care what it must give up to get big. Setting aside justice and righteousness for the sake of getting big is never right. A church that is willing to set justice and righteousness aside for the sake of numbers is a church that will compromise and eventually face the judgment of God.

Finally, be careful about becoming the type of Christian who only wants your own way. Always keep in mind that life is not about your way. It is about justice and righteousness. When justice and righteousness are practiced, then God's way will be followed. Don't ever allow yourself to look at justice and righteousness as bitter and poisonous because you didn't get your way. Always be willing to let justice and righteousness change what you do, even if it means that you won't get your way.

Excuse

What's Your Excuse

2 Chronicles 34:1

"Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years."

One of the things you get used to hearing in the ministry are the excuses of why people can't serve the LORD. You would think of all that the LORD has done for people that they would lay their excuses aside; however, churches are filled with people who think their excuse is unique. They don't realize that the excuse they give has been used before, and it is full of holes.

Josiah had plenty of excuses he could have used not to serve the LORD. His father and grandfather were very wicked men who gave him no example of how to serve the LORD. He was young when the pressures of the kingdom came upon him, and yet he served the LORD. He was reared in a single parent home from eight years of age and on. The environment around him was one of wickedness and idolatry. Yet, Josiah threw every excuse aside so that he could do right and serve the LORD.

Let me ask you, what is your excuse as to why you won't sell yourself out to serve the LORD? Is it that you're parents are not good people? If that is your excuse, then Josiah showed it can be done. Every young person can turn out right in spite of their home environment. Your parents may be as wicked as the Devil himself, but you still have a choice to serve the LORD. If you are reading this devotional, then that means you have had some opportunity to hear what is right from someone; therefore, to use your parents as your excuse not to do right is a lame excuse.

Is your excuse that you are too young to serve the LORD? I get so tired of this excuse, especially when it comes from parents talking about their children. If a child is old enough to get saved, then they are old enough to serve the LORD. Josiah was eight years old when he had to make the choice to serve the LORD. God uses children in His work just as much as He uses adults. Parents, don't hold your children back from serving the LORD because you think they are too young. Be sure that you give your children plenty of opportunities to serve the LORD.

Is your excuse that you are a teenager? If this is your excuse then you must realize that Josiah served the LORD as a teenager also. Certainly, if anyone had an opportunity to do wrong it was Josiah. He was king of Judah. He had the power to do whatever he wanted to do and nobody could do anything about it. Yet, he still did right and served the LORD. You can use your teenage years as an excuse of why you don't serve the LORD, or you can decide as a teenager to do right and serve the LORD.

Age, environment and circumstances are never good reasons for you not to serve the LORD. You can find people of all ages, in every environment and circumstance serving the LORD. It all comes down to this, your heart. The excuse you use not to serve the LORD is simply a camouflage of a backslidden heart. Josiah had a heart for God and that is why he served Him. Likewise, you must decide with your heart that you are going to serve the LORD. Throw out all of your excuses and decide right now that you will serve the LORD in spite of your age, environment or circumstance.

Helping

Helping the Ungodly

2 Chronicles 19:2

"And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD."

One of the great weaknesses of Jehoshaphat was that he never learned to stop helping the wicked. Over and over again he yoked up with the wicked to help them in their ungodly ways. It is sad to see a man with so much potential ruin it by helping the ungodly. In the verse above, Jehu the seer went to King Jehoshaphat and told him that God was angry with him because he helped the ungodly. Jehoshaphat could have experience the blessings of God in a greater way if he would have learned not to help the ungodly.

I find that many Christians make the same mistake that Jehoshaphat made. There are many Christians whose actions help the ungodly. Christian, we don't need you to help the ungodly. Fighting the world's system is hard enough without God's people helping the world move their agenda forward. You may wonder how we can help the ungodly. Let me show you several ways in which God's people help the ungodly.

First, don't help the ungodly with what you look at and watch. Every time you watch an ungodly movie you are helping the ungodly with their agenda. Though this devotional is not about whether the television is right or wrong, it is about you watching things on that television that you should not be watching. Don't help the ungodly by looking at websites that promote people dressed indecently. Don't look at magazines that are published by wicked people whose whole purpose is to defile your mind. They know what they are doing with these magazines. They know they are creating an addiction that will cause you to come back and purchase more, thus furthering their agenda.

Second, don't help the ungodly by where you go. Christian, don't be guilty of going to places that help the ungodly with their wicked agenda. You're not to go to the bars and dance halls where wickedness abounds. You have no business going to these places for you represent Christ. Are there places that you go that Christ would not enter? If there is, then you're helping the ungodly by attending these ungodly places.

Third, don't help the ungodly by the things you say. Don't be guilty of allowing curse words to come from your mouth. Don't be guilty of saying jokes that are off-color or are downright dirty. Don't be guilty of talking like the world. What you say should push Christ's agenda and not the worlds. Be careful that you don't help the ungodly with the things that you say.

Last, don't help the ungodly by backsliding. There are too many Christians who are helping the ungodly with their backsliding ways. These Christians are ones who do right for awhile, and then backslide. This has become their pattern. Don't let your pattern be one of backsliding. Always remember that when you backslide, you're helping the ungodly.

Christian, if you're going to be guilty of helping anyone, then be guilty of helping Christ's agenda. Be sure that everything you say, watch and do are things that will help further the cause of Christ. It is only the cause of Christ that will bring the greatest blessings in your life. It is only the cause of Christ that will bring your nation back to what it ought to be. Don't be like Jehoshaphat who was part of the problem, but we like the Prophet Jehu who was part of the solution. Ask God every day to help you be the Christian who helps Him further His cause.