REJECTING WHAT I KNOW...

My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge.

Because you have rejected knowledge;

I also will reject you from being priest for Me;

Hosea 4:6a (NKJV)

WARNING! WARNING! Complete Rhonda thinking things out post ahead...Enter at your own risk.

Heard it a million times. Destroyed for a lack of knowledge. Cure, or preventative measures, for that....get knowledge of God. Get knowledge of Christ.

Rejecting knowledge though? I am thinking that is a different ball game. It is one thing for me to just not know. It is completely different when I know and I don't do. I reject the knowledge He has given me. Reject. As in my way is better than Yours Lord, and I am just not going to __________ like You told me to. You fill in your own blank.

Yep. That is a whole new deal right there.The question is how many times have I done just that? More than I care to count. More recent than I want to recall. Do I still have some things I am pretending I didn't hear Him about?

And when I do that, He rejects me from being priest. Not that I am rejected. That won't happen. But the ability for Him to use me to minister to others, that gets shutdown maybe? My ability to serve Him fully in impaired.

A lack of knowledge is not often deliberate. A continued lack could be. A rejection of knowledge is a choice I make. A deliberate choice.

The good thing about choice is when you have chosen wrong, the next chance you get you can choose right.

I can choose to not reject the knowledge Christ has provided.

I can choose to submit to that knowledge.

I can be deliberate about making my decisions based upon that and not my own knowledge.

I don't think it will be easy.

I am willing to bet it will come up soon.

I can guarantee that it will go against everything my flesh wants to do.

So I must be deliberate.

In order to be deliberately delivered.

MY PASTOR DONE GONE AND DONE IT NOW...

The young whippersnapper we call Pastor Todd said something last Sunday that, well, I just didn't like. Not one bit. Not to take it out of context, or argue prosperity, he basically said that for some of us, financially this is a good as it is going to get. Some of us may very well be called to live by faith our entire lives. (FYI, you can listen to the sermon to get the full picture).

I can't say I disagree with him, but I can't say I liked his answer right then.

I thought on it all day Sunday and pretty much everyday this week. The questions that kept coming back to my spirit were:

What if he is right?

Will that be enough?

Will I be satisfied?

All questions that go right along with my memory verse for the past two weeks,

Proverbs 27:7

A satisfied soul loathes the honeycomb, but to a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.

What am I finding my satisfaction in? Is it food? If I am satisfied in Christ, then I won't need that brownie or third piece of pizza to "fill' me. If not? Then I go on one of those rampages where I want to eat everything, no matter how bitter it is. What about the other way? What if my satisfaction is in how small that scale number says? Am I willing to do anything, no matter how bitter, to get there? And what about that money? Is my satisfaction in having just a little bit more and am I willing to do the next thing to make more? Always looking for that next big opportunity. Or am I satisfied with what I have and commit to using it to the glory of God?

I didn't like what he said because it hurt. It did. It stung a bit. It caused me to look at my own heart and it wasn't pretty. I do tend to want more. I don't like having to worry about money. But there in lies the sin...the worry. When I give that area completely to Christ, the worry goes away. Sure it doesn't go away quietly, but it has to submit to Christ when placed before Him. When placed before Him.

For any area you want to apply this verse to, and I think I can safely say that is pretty much all of them, my satisfaction has to be in Christ. Satisfaction that comes from being confident in who He is, who I am in Him, submitting my all to Him and obeying. Following through with what He has called His followers , of which I do profess to be, to do.

Easy to do? Not always. It is a choice to say it is enough....food, money, fame, status....

It is a deliberate choice.

In that choice, though, comes a deliverance you will never get from any number on a scale or in a bank account.

And that is pretty sweet.

The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;

The judgements of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold,

Yea, than much fine gold;

Sweeter also that the honey and the honeycomb.

Moreover by them your servant is warned,

And in keeping them is great reward.

Psalm 19:9-11 (NKJV)

BATTLE READY...

"These are the nations the Lord left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any wars in Canaan (He did this only to teach warfare to the decedents of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience)...And they were left, that He might test Israel by them, to know whether they would obey the commandments of the Lord, which He had commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses."

Judges 3:1-2,4 (NIV)

I have spent days trying to think of what to say with these verses. What clever opening can I use? What examples can I share from my own life? How can I relate it to you in a blog?

What I came to realize this morning was the fact I can't say it any better than the Word does.

So I will give you my two cents:

1. Some stuff, or people, are left in your life to prepare you for warfare. Not with them, but with our real enemy.

2. You are not going to get through this walk with Christ without engaging in spiritual warfare. If you have so far, maybe time for a gut check.

3. Some battles, as much as we hate to think of them as so, are tests. Tests to see if we will stick with the plan.Tests to see if you and I will stay faithful to Christ Jesus when things get hard or scary.

I guess here is my point. Look at your life today. Whatever you are battling may just be a strategic skirmish to help prepare you for warfare. It is beneficial. It is purposeful. Yep, it may be difficult, but most battles are. Stay in there. Stand your ground. Wield your sword. (Ephesians 6)

He is deliberate in preparing you. Be deliberate in letting Him.

He trains my hands for battle, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. Psalm 18:34 (NASB)

THE LEVITE PRIEST

Judges 17-18 has an interesting story about a young Levite priest. Here are some thoughts of mine after reading it and the corresponding footnotes.
1. He wasn't where he was supposed to be.

The Levites had designated areas, and he was out of them. How often have I found myself in trouble while being out of my designated area? Times when I have literally been places I was not supposed to be. I am sure I am not the only one. Spiritually, as well. When I try to take over a role that is not mine. In my marriage. In my church body. In my relationships with others. I have designated boundaries in my life. Boundaries I don't cross because I am a wife. Lines I operate within because I am a mom. Boundaries I respect because I am a Christian. The word boundaries sounds so restricted, but it is really not. Those lines are laid out for not only my good, but for the good of the body of Christ, and as with everything else, laid out to bring glory to God. Within those lines I am free to act, free to live, free to serve and love.

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. (HCSB, Psalm 16:6)

2. He settled for man's security.

He was wandering. He was just looking for anywhere to stay. Anywhere he could feel secure. Can we relate? How often do we just look for that place in which we feel secure? Security is a good thing, and you should feel safe in your life. The problem is when we settle for that security from man and not from God. When we elevate our need for earthly security above God's call on and in our lives. We are not called to wander aimlessly in this life looking for things that make us feel secure. Not relationships, and how many times have we done that, not churches, not jobs. I may love my job, but I cannot put my trust in that above my trust in Christ Jesus. I love my husband and family, but my security cannot be tied up into one man and two little men children. My church or your church may be the best church ever! It can not replace the security I have in Jesus. My security is to be tied up in One...Christ Jesus ... God our Father. Settling for anything else is compromising the very security I am looking for.

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. (NIV, Hebrews 6:19)

3. His let his ego rule him.

They promised him status. How much better to be over many than just one? So the priest's heart was glad...(Jud. 18:20). Listen, I think promotion is a great thing, when it is a God thing. When we do our jobs like we are supposed to, promotion will often follow. He did not get promoted. Keeping in mind he had already taken two huge steps away from God, he simply took the next one. When you and I step away from where we are to be, when we settle for security of man, our flesh gets a whole lot more vocal, and we end up listening. I end up listening. When that happens, my ego starts making decisions and that is never good. Never.

I can't tell you I would not have been tempted to do exactly what he did when they offered him "more". More people. More money. More influence. More status. I know my weaknesses too well.

I know my flesh too well. The good news, I am not my flesh's. It does not own me. It is a dead man walking.

And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Galatians 5:24 (NKJV)

However, I must stay diligent in my walk with Jesus Christ. I have to tune myself to listen for His voice over the loud shouts of my dying flesh. I have to do it from the start.

Deliberate.

In seeing what my true motivations are.

Deliberate.

In making sure I stay as close to Him as I can.

Deliberate.

In laying it all before the Lord.

Deliberate.

In trusting Him above all else.

He will deliver.