Sunday Sermons
Staying in Love with God
Staying In Love With God
It may not lack of self-worth that would make a grateful husband or wife think “Boy did I marry up. I don’t even know how I could be so blessed to have had my husband or wife choose me for his or her soul mate. “I see my all my faults, and yet you knew, when you married me, you were marrying the faults as well, and loved me even still”. Anyone keenly aware of their shortcomings can on some level likely identify with such a sentiment. What really can blow the mind of a humble person, is the almost unthinkable reality that God, the Creator of everything great and small, actually wants you and I to be His bride. Why??!! I am a sinner (Romans 3:23). And yet when this holy God approached me through the amazing gospel with the offer of marriage (Matthew 22:3), I was really messed up, I mean, really messed up. And so were you. Admittedly, at one time in my life I had the mistaken impression that there were people who, when they became Christians, only needed a little improvement. Yet after talking to many people of the years, including those who were raised in godly homes, I find the same story. “Before I was baptized—I was a mess”. Even when God looked at His own professed people in the Old Testament, He saw a lot of bungled people (Romans 3:10-18), for it obviously does not require drug addiction or fornication to make for utter chaos in one's life, it can be arrogance, jealousy, bitterness, anger, envy, faction, and all other forms of selfishness.
The Way We Were
“I remember concerning you the devotion of your youth, the love of your betrothals, your following Me in the wilderness, through a land not sown. Israel was holy to the Lord, the first of His harvest. All who ate of it became guilty; evil came upon them’, declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 2:2-3).
Here God is telling Israel that He remembers their devotion and love in the early years. They had something uniquely special. The relationship was working. They were crazy about each other. In fact, any nation who attempted to mess with Israel was destroyed because of God’s great love for them.
Falling Out of Love
“What injustice did your fathers find in Me, that they went far from Me and walked after emptiness and became empty” (Jeremiah 2:5).
How heartbreaking. God cannot fathom what could possibly have happened. What did He do to deserve their abandoning Him? He'd only rescued them. What good reason could they have for walking out of such a wonderful relationship? Israel then began to do what so many have done when they are no longer loyal to their spouse, they began to rewrite the history of the relationship. Everything that God had given them—they now claimed another lover had provided them (2:6,8).
What are they doing?
“Be appalled, O heavens, at this, and shudder, be very desolate, declares the Lord”. (Jeremiah 2:12).
Have you ever been shocked when a husband or wife leaves an exceptional spouse (one they are quite blessed to have) and opt for some flake instead?—it leaves you shaking your head, doesn't it? And yet here on a much grander scale, the angels who are witnessing these events are stunned at the choice being made by Israel. They cannot believe it. What is Israel doing?! It makes absolutely no sense.
The Two Evils
“My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water” (Jeremiah 2:13).
What are the two evils? Obviously one is idolatry, which is to God, going after other lovers in the form of false gods (2:11). Yet maybe the bigger evil, what hurt God the most, is the fact that they are choosing other gods over Him. It is not simply that they left Him, but they left Him for such incredibly pitiful counterfeits. He is the very fountain of fresh, pure, sparkling life-giving water and they'd rather dig for muddy, bacteria-laden, dirty water from their broken cisterns— these false gods. And again the angels are absolutely appalled by all of this, as we should be.
The Book of James
In the book of James, some who call themselves Christians were committing the same tragic crime. They were also behaving like an unfaithful spouse by leaving God, and were spiritually cheating on Him (James 4:4 “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God?”). James tells them, “Be not deceived not beloved brethren” (1:16). That is, I, James, really love you. I care about you, my readers. Do not be fooled. Do not, under any circumstances, leave God. Don’t be so foolish as to leave the fountain of fresh water and go and dig your little hole and try to find refreshment in what cannot hold any water. Do not leave God for a broken cistern. Only God can satisfy the thirst He has placed within us.
Where Will You Be A Year From Now?
For all of my Christian life I have never been in a congregation that was identical in membership from year to year. Every year every congregation changes in one way or another. It could be that some moved out and some moved in. Yet sadly, in just about every year of my Christian life, I saw someone fall away, opting for some broken cistern in their life. Some leave God for another lover. Some break God’s heart—and walk away without any real explanation as to why. So what do I say to myself? And what do I say to you, beloved brethren, so that a year from now we will all still be faithful and growing? This:
Let No One Say: James 1:13
The first step against temptation, is to refuse to lie to yourself and or blame a sin on God or the fact that He created you. The arrogant and unrepentant feel compelled to blame someone, even God, stating, in essence: “God made me this way—so my sin is not my fault”. In fact, just about every human moral deviation is now linked with, “I was born that way”. The people that James was originally addressing were making the same accusation. When James says, “Let no one say”, he is saying, “Do not even dare to say such a thing". That is, "Have respect for God, don’t even go there”. When we claim “There is something in me, it has been there from day one and I just have to act upon it” we are accusing God of creating all of us with a ticking time bomb inside that will suddenly go off. Yet name one sin in your own life or in anyone’s life visible since day one. Where's the one-year-old bent on murder? I have never seen a two-year-old adulterer, fornicator or homosexual—have you? Seen any three-year-old false teachers? At 56 years of age, I am now old enough to have seen many young people from the day of their birth, who in adulthood have fallen away, ended up in sin, jaded, cynical, unbelieving, and angry—having changed from the innocent kids they once were. I was there. I am can testify of this tragedy. I am a witness—and so are you.
So What Happened?
We can answer this question by asking "What happened to Israel?" Remember that truthful picture that God gives in Jeremiah 2? Remember the picture of their waning love for Him? The answer is we must continually stoke the passion in our hearts for God. If we cheat on Him, we must admit such, with the attitude: “God, you are right! I was born pure. I was born innocent. I was believing, trusting and optimistic. I really did love you. But I was foolish. I became focused on sin. I thought they were might be greater happiness in it. I traded you, the fountain of living waters for something useless, but I'm back. And I'm back to stay.
The Source—It Comes from My Own Personal Longings
Simple rule—whenever I am tempted, I will acknowledge it is my fault. And while there are plenty of voices in the culture that will come to our defense and help us find someone to blame. I will refuse, when tempted, so say blame shifting things such as: “But they made me so angry”. “But they seduced me”. “But my life has been so hard lately—I just needed some relief”. “But I have a personally prone to…” “But it is all around me, it is impossible to resist”. Such excuses will make sin feel justified. Such excuses will damn my soul.
Success
- When tempted do not stare at the temptation. Instead, instantly replace a poisonous thought with something spiritually nourishing.
- When tempted, focus on God—just like the focus you already have when so intent upon a task you cannot hear anyone else in the room.
- Honestly look at the end of temptation. What does the consequence look like one week, one year, or five years from how. Then look for the final hook—it is death. It leads only to eternal sadness. It does not lead to anything meaningful or productive. It only leads to hell.
- Be honest. Sin never works out. Don’t buy into the bait that Satan is dangling before you. Sin ruins lives. And your life is no exception.
There is one reason why we all should walk away from whatever temptation is being offered to us right now—because God is better. Worlds better.
Mark Dunagan | mdunagan@frontier.net
Beaverton Church of Christ | 503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net
