Evil Ways

Bible Reading:  II Kings 17:1-15

Key Verse: Verse 13 – “Yet the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.”

Key Words: evil ways

According to II Kings 17:7-8 Israel had learned the ways of the heathen when in Egypt and had evidently taught these ways to their children…who taught them to their children…and now they are worshipping false gods which God refers to as “evil ways.”

The word evil carries the idea of rejecting God.  Now, while I hate the idea of Israel rejecting God, there is some comfort to me in this.  When we are rejected for carrying the message of God, we have a God Who understands our hurt and discouragement of being rejected.

Campbell Morgan was one of 150 young men who sought entrance to the Wesleyan ministry in 1888. He passed the doctrinal examinations but then faced the trial sermon. In a cavernous auditorium that could seat more than 1,000 sat three ministers and 75 others who came to listen. When Morgan stepped into the pulpit, the vast room and the searching, critical eyes caught him up short. Two weeks later Morgan's name appeared among the 105 REJECTED for the ministry that year. 

Jill Morgan, his daughter-in-law, wrote in her book, A Man of the Word, "He wired to his father the one word, 'Rejected,' and sat down to write in his diary: 'Very dark everything seems. Still, He knoweth best.' Quickly came the reply: 'Rejected on earth. Accepted in heaven. Dad.'" 

In later years, Morgan said: "God said to me, in the weeks of loneliness and darkness that followed, 'I want you to cease making plans for yourself, and let Me plan your life.'" Rejection is rarely permanent, as Morgan went on to prove. Even in this life, circumstances change, and ultimately, there is no rejection of those accepted by Christ. 

                                                                                                Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:  

✞ There are worse things than being rejected by man, one of which is being rejected by God.

Wise Ways

Bible Reading:  I Samuel 18:1-16

Key Verse: verse 14 – “And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the LORD was with him.” 

Key Words: And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways

The essence of the text verse is that David conducted himself in a Godly manner.  Godly conduct is important.  It allows others to see Jesus through our actions.

The authors of the following illustrations are unknown.

When Queen Victoria was a child, she didn’t know she was in line for the throne of England. Her instructors, trying to prepare her for the future, were frustrated because they couldn’t motivate her. She just didn’t take her studies seriously. Finally, her teachers decided to tell her that one day she would become the queen of England.  Upon hearing this, Victoria quietly said, “Then I will be good.”  The realization that she had inherited this high calling gave her a sense of responsibility that profoundly affected her conduct from then on. 

A man in the Army of Alexander the Great who was also named Alexander, was accused of cowardly actions. He was brought before Alexander, who asked what his name was. He replied softly, "Alexander." "I can't hear you," the ruler stated. The man again said, a little louder, "Alexander." The process was repeated one more time, after which Alexander the Great commented, "Either change your name or change your conduct."

If you are acting “bad,” then don’t tell people you are a Christian.  Change your name or change your conduct.

                                     Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do: 

✞ Behave yourself wisely in all your ways.

Forceful Ways

Bible Reading:  I Samuel 8:1-9

Key Verse: verse 3 – “And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.”

Key Words: And his sons walked not in his ways

Samuel was a man of God, but not his sons.  They lived for money (verse 3).  Samuel forced his sons to be judges.  That was a mistake.  You can’t force people to do anything…either they want to or they don’t.  If they want to, they’ll do a good job; if they don’t want to, they’ll bring havoc into your life.  Let me give you an old saying that goes: “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.”

An old sailor repeatedly got lost at sea, so his friends gave him a compass and urged him to use it. The next time he went out in his boat, he followed their advice and took the compass with him. But as usual he became hopelessly confused and was unable to find land. Finally he was rescued by his friends. 

Disgusted and impatient with him, they asked, “Why didn’t you use that compass we gave you? You could have saved us a lot of trouble!” The sailor responded, “I didn’t dare to! I wanted to go north, but as hard as I tried to make the needle aim in that direction, it just kept on pointing southeast.” 

 That old sailor was so certain he knew which way was north that he stubbornly tried to force his own personal persuasion on his compass. Unable to do so, he tossed it aside as worthless and failed to benefit from the guidance it offered. You can’t force people to go in the right direction.  You have to lead them there.  It’s their choice whether or not to follow.

What to do:  

✞Be a leader, not a “forcer.”

The Way You Walk

Bible Reading:  Deuteronomy 5:22-33

Key Verse: verse 33 – “Ye shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.”

Key Words: Ye shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God hath commanded you

Have you ever given any thought to the way people walk?  Some people have a penguin walk.  Others have a duck walk, full of wobble.  Some people have a limp in their walk.  Others walk fast and others slow.  Now, any of these walks are fine with me, so long as we walk with the Lord.

When we walk with the Lord, we go where He goes.  It primarily deals with our location.  When we walk with God, we are safe.  We grow; we have fellowship and we have assurance, among other things.

As a young boy, I remember shopping with my family in downtown Mobile, Alabama. I was enamored by all the stores and people.  My dad on numerous occasions would say, “Now stay with me.”  As you can imagine, I didn’t.  I stopped to gaze in department store windows; as the old saying goes, “Oops, they were gone.”  When my brain finally kicked back into gear, my parents were nowhere around.  Here I am in this large city alone, scared, and seemingly doomed.  As I wandered from store to store, fighting back the tears, this large hand grabs me and says, “I told you to stay with me.”  Let me assure you from then on I did.  The same principle applies when it comes to walking with the Lord.  Our safety, peace, and assurance come from just staying with God!!

 

                                                                                            Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:

✞Walk with God and you’ll be glad you did.

The Greatest Judge

Bible Reading:  John 5:19-47

Key Verse: Verse 22– “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:”

Key Words: hath committed all judgment unto the Son

Dr. John Phillips, who has since gone home to be with the Lord, said about John 5:22: “The fact that the Lord Jesus is the universal judge means that He has personal knowledge of all the countless human beings in all the ages of history.  He has detailed acquaintance with the endless variety of circumstances of each and every individual.  He knows the character of each one of us.  He knows our motives, opportunities, hidden passions, mental ability, thoughts, desires, words, and acts.  He knows the lasting influence for better or for worse of our every act and look.  Moreover, He has a perfect grasp of all the laws of God by which to judge the world.  And He has the absolute right to pass eternal sentence, with no court of appeal and with no cases dismissed.  In other words, the Lord was claiming, in no uncertain terms, to be God over all.”

Dr. Arthur Glasser quotes an anonymous rabbi who has said, “A time is coming for all men when they will be either wish they were born again, or wish they had never been born at all.”

Batesville, Arkansas, resident Johnny Harrington lost his mother in 1991.  Before the funeral he threw a party for his dead mother.  He propped her up in the casket and put a beer in one hand and a cigarette in her other hand.  When questioned about what he had done, he simply said, “I did exactly what she told me to – and I would do it again.”  Although many would not espouse to Mr. Harrington’s actions, many are adopting his trivialized view of death.  Hebrews 9:27 reminds us that a beer can and a cigarette aren’t what await us after death.

No one will escape standing before the greatest of all judges.  The question is: Will you stand before Him at the Judgment Seat as a believer or at the Great White Throne as a non-believer?  The choice is yours.

 

                                                                                        Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:

✞ Live your life as if the judge is watching, because He is.

The Judge Who Lost His Power

Bible Reading:  Matthew 25:1-28

Key Verse: Verse 25 – “And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.”

Key Words: hid thy talent in the earth

Everyone knows the story of Samson and Delilah.  It just seems as though Samson couldn’t resist the Philistine women.  So now we find Samson with this Philistine harlot, Delilah, which eventually leads to his death.  The story and life of Samson is filled with sorrow, but to me the saddest part is when Samson was so far away from God that he didn’t even know that God had departed from him.

I believe today we have many believers who sit in our church pews in just such a spiritual condition as Samson.  They are trying to fight spiritual battles never realizing the power of God has departed from them because they are living in sin.  How sad!!

Reminds me of a story I read recently.  “In his book Spiritual Stamina, Stuart Briscoe tells the story of a man who bought a new computer.  Bringing his new prize home, he carefully opened the box, gingerly took the machine out, studied its manual, and connected the wires.  Eagerly he flipped on the power switch – but nothing happened.  Puzzled, the man switched the computer off and rechecked all the connections.  He rounded up a screwdriver and fastened the wires more securely.  He read again the relevant portion of the manual.  Satisfied that he’d followed directions, he flipped the computer on – and again nothing happened.  As his anger rose, the man’s little girl walked into the room.

“’Hi, Daddy!’ her cheery voice rang out.  ‘What a pretty computer!  Can I plug it in?’”

 

 I trust today you are plugged in to the right power source.

                                                                                                Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:

✞ Evaluate your power source today.

1. How’s your prayer life?  Are you living with unconfessed sin?
2. Are you currently living in sin?
3. Do you have a close relationship with God?  Do you walk with Him and talk with Him and witness for Him?
4. Is your relationship with fellow believers right?

Pastor’s Note:  The Scripture does not specifically state that Delilah was a Philistine, but she lived in the valley of Sorek (verse 4) which was a region of Philistine-held territory.

The Judge Who Married Out Of God's Will

Bible Reading:  Judges 15

Key Verse: Verse 2   – “And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her.”

Key Words: I gave her to thy companion

There are two events in Chapter fifteen which immediately grabs our attention.  The first event is when Samson catches three hundred foxes and ties their tails together and sets them on fire sending them running through the Philistine corn fields.

His second act that grabs our attention is when Samson takes the jawbone of an ass and slew a thousand Philistines.

But understand, this conflict all began when he went down to Timnath and took a Philistine to be his wife.  All of this began when he married out of God’s will.

Four-year-old Suzie had just been told the story of “Snow White” for the first time in her life.  She could hardly wait to get home from nursery school to tell her mommy.  With wide-eyed excitement, she retold the fairy tale to her mother that afternoon.  After relating how Prince Charming had arrived on his beautiful white horse and kissed Snow White back to life, Suzie asked loudly: “And do you know what happened then?”  

“Yes,” said her mom, “they lived happily ever after.”

“No,” responded Suzie, with a frown,”...they got married.”

A lady wanted to marry four different men in her lifetime.  She said each one would help her with the four things she needed the most.  First, she wanted to marry a banker – second, a movie star – next, a clergyman – and finally, a funeral director.  When asked why, she answered, “One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, and four to go!”

Marrying out of God’s will is disastrous.  Charles Wesley once said that his wedding day was the beginning of the worst days of his life.  Marry in God’s will.

                                                                                         Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do before you marry:

✞ Get your parents’ approval of who you want to marry.

✞  Get your pastor’s approval.

✞ But most of all, make sure you have God’s approval.