“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor. If My people, who are called by My name, humble themselves and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, I will forgive their sin and will heal their land”.

“Do you really think you can steal, murder, commit adultery, lie, and burn incense to Baal and all those other new gods of yours, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’— only to go on doing all these abominations? Yet, they act so pious! They come to the Temple every day and seem delighted to learn all about me. They act like a righteous nation that would never abandon the laws of its God. They ask me to take action on their behalf, pretending they want to be near me”.  My brothers and sisters in Christ, we cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons, too. We cannot eat at the Lord’s Table and at the table of demons, too. Let us not provoke the Lord to jealousy with our strivings, but repent and return to the Lord, lest his wrath come upon us.

Lord, “With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments”. Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You. Blessed are You, O Lord; teach me Your statutes; I will meditate on Your precepts and fix my eyes on Your ways”. Psalm 119

My brothers and sisters in Christ, we get so distracted by our troubles, that instead of turning to God who alone is able to deliver us, who alone knows the beginning and the end, we get caught up in situations that lead us into more trouble. Lord, teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom, for before we were formed in our mothers’ womb, you knew us, you predestined our path. Let us continually seek your guidance and love, so that we could discern the path you have set before us, and faithfully walk in it. Like many of us, Job was tested, and he said, “My anxiety intensified, and as I thought about it, I became impatient, and I spoke with my tongue”. That is a dangerous move! Yet, even though we know it is, we still utter words that we cannot take back. Job cried out saying, “”Lord, how long will I live? When will I die? Tell me how soon my life will end.  What is my strength that I should wait? And what is my end that I should endure? How long, Lord, will I wait expectantly”? But, when Job came to himself, as I am hoping all of us would before it’s too late, he repented, saying, “I have placed my hope in you, deliver me from all my transgressions; make me not the reproach of the foolish. I will keep quiet, I will not say a word, for you are the one who made me suffer like this; but, I am confident, that you already know the way I will take; and after you have tried me, I shall come forth as gold”, and he did.

“Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy, now I will arise,” says the Lord; “I will set him in the safety for which he longs.” What an awesome piece of encouragement for anyone of us this morning going through trials and tribulations! My brothers and sisters in Christ, keep the faith! This too shall pass! And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive his salvation. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold, even though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So, when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor, on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. God’s promises are true, he will not let us be ashamed of our hope in him.

What is the trial that you have been through recently that you have triumphed over or fallen victim to? Too many of us who claim to be Christians fall apart at the first sign of trouble, instead of boasting in them. But, we are reminded in Romans 5:3-5, that, “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance, and endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation, and this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” Keep the faith!

How are we presenting ourselves to others as servants of God? Scripture reminds us, that, we should magnify our ministry, to tell out your souls the greatness of the Lord, in the hope that we may provoke others to jealousy, enough to lead them to Christ. Let us follow the example of the apostle Paul who said, “I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm. Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure upon me of concern for all the churches. When someone is weak, then I feel weak too; when someone is led into sin, I am filled with distress. When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can for the sake of the Gospel, hoping that in this way I will be able to make some of my own people jealous enough to be saved.” Praise the Lord!

We who are alive in Christ, knows that there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, and we must share this knowledge with those who are uninformed. But, my brothers and sisters in Christ, we were called to freedom, and scripture warns us, that, we must be careful, however, not to let our freedom of action make those who are weak in the faith fall into sin. For if others see us with our “superior knowledge”, eating in the temple of an idol, won’t they be encouraged to violate their conscience by eating food that has been offered to an idol? Therefore, let us live in such a way that no one will stumble because of us, and no one will find fault with our ministry.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, as I continue on this journey in my walk with God, my role is to be a good steward and continue to live the life I sing about; to use the gifts that God has given me for his service, so that others could see that there is something different about me, and be curious to ask. Then, I will let them know about my awesome God, who has done for me what no one else was willing or able to do, so that they too, could come to know and believe in my awesome God and experience his goodness.

How many of us are willing to stand up to our brothers and sisters who are not obeying the truth? Too many of us engage in course jesting and idle babble, gossip and slander; we stand by and laugh with those who ridicule others, but, we are just as guilty if we stand by and do nothing. Ephesians chapter five and verse eleven warns us, to take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them; but, too many of us refuse to take a bold stand for God for one reason or the other. My brothers and sisters in Christ, we cannot win souls for God if we are not leading by example. If we cannot call out our friends whom we claim to love when they are doing wrong, and expect them to do the same for us, we are failing as their brothers and sisters. “Better is open rebuke that love concealed”. So, to all of us who carry vessels of the Lord, second Corinthians chapter six and verse seventeen warns us, “Therefore, come out from among them, and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord; do not touch their filthy things and I will welcome you”, and Revelation chapter eighteen and verse four says, “Then I heard another voice from heaven say, come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins or contract any of her plagues”. My brothers and sisters in Christ, we are known by the company we keep; we cannot walk in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of the scornful and expect to force others to walk aright. “We should publicly rebuke those who sin, as this will serve as a strong warning to others”, Ephesians chapter five verse twenty.