October 28, 2011 … The Law Devastates the Sinner

Romans 7: 9 – 11 [highlight verse in bold/underlined] … 7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet." 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead. 9 Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death.

My Journal for Today: Again we look at the effect God’s Law has on our dealings with sin. And The Law not only REVEALS and even AROUSES sin in mankind (see my last two devotional entries); but when man is really able to look into God’s mirror of truth (i.e., God’s Law), sin DEVASTATES US with the realization that we are utterly incapable of living up to the Law’s demands for righteousness. The lies of the master of deceit (Satan) and the condition of our deceit-ridden hearts (see Jer. 17: 9) would have us perceive that our good works could or would make us blameless. Paul once saw himself in this way (see Phil. 3: 16); and the Apostle recognized that his own deceitful heart gave him the tendency to be blind to his own sin. That’s why he wrote with such conviction about his own sinful condition in the passage with which we all probably identify - Romans 7: 14 – 24.

Unfortunately today many, as did Paul when he was Saul of Tarsus, fall prey to Satan’s con-game, leading the lost, and even some Christians, to believe the lie that our good works can satisfy God’s Holy Law. However, anyone who is really able to look honestly at The Law, will realize their need of a Savior (see Rom. 5: 6 – 8). And Jesus (see Matt. 9: 12) said that it is not the healthy who needs a doctor; … it is the sick. And most certainly The Law is a devastating tool for God’s diagnosis of our sickness of sin.

So, as you read this, as I have meditated writing it, you (and I) must decide where we stand with regard to satisfying God’s Law. Just because we live now under the dispensation of grace, i.e., under the New Covenant, it doesn’t mean that God’s Law is null and void in its demands. It still is our mirror of Holiness, revealing the horror of our human weakness to sin. Have we been conned by Satan’s lies and his world to think that our good works will usher us into Heaven? Or do we see that trusting in Christ, i.e., being in total surrender to His truth, is our only way to be justified when we stand before a Holy God and His Holy Law.

I pray that the latter is our response to God’s call for holiness from His Law; and that you, like the writer of this entry, have found salvation, and are in pursuit of our ongoing sanctification, … in Christ.

My Prayer Today: I am saved unto Your Law, Lord, … only in You. Amen

October 26, 2011 … The Law Reveals Sin

Passage of the Day: Romans 7: 7 [note verse from context in bold/underlined] … Rom. 7: 4 ... So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. 5 For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. 6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. 7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet."

My Journal for Today: If you’ve been with me here, In the past week of devotional entries, we’ve seen the truth that God’s Law cannot save us (see Rom. 7: 4 – 5 above, which is the context for today’s highlight verse (Rom. 7: 7). And continuing on, … once we are converted Christians, the law can help to sanctify us (see Rom. 7: 6) by being our mirror unto truth. However and therefore, in today’s focus verse, we see that God’s Law is also not to be considered evil or sinful either. That’s what John MacArthur desired to explore in his next few devotional entries from Strength for Today. And so, in the next few days, I will follow suit by exploring what God’s Law does for the believer.

And the first of the reasons for God’s Law remaining a viable spiritual force in the life of a New Covenant Christian is that The Law reveals sin. God’s Law is His Holy standard; and without such a standard of righteousness the concept of “sin” becomes meaningless (see 1st John 3: 4 as well as Romans 3: 20, 4: 15, and 5: 13). That is why the Apostle Paul was/is so emphatic in today’s verse of record that The Law, coming from a Holy and Righteous God, Who could never be evil to produce sin in man. And as you read on in Romans 7 (primarily after v. 14), this was very personal for Paul, who had once lived a counterfeit version of God’s Law as a Pharisee and a pursuer of Christians. And even after Paul came to know Christ as the true Messiah, he still recognized, from the Law, that he struggled against sin in his life, … the Law revealing just how sinful he was even as a believer in Christ [again read Rom. 7: 14 – 24 - linked here].

We note in today’s highlight verse, Paul uses the sin of covetousness as his example of sinfulness, because the Apostle wanted us to see that God’s Law reveals more than merely external behavioral sin [such as murder or theft]. It also reveals internal – attitudinal - sin as well. It becomes God’s all-revealing mirror of holiness, which, when we use it as God’s standard, provides us with a clear picture of how inadequate we are in dealing with sin without Christ as our Savior and His Spirit as our guide and enabler to avoid sin. God’s Law reveals ALL of whom we are … or are not … but only IF we are willing to look into that mirror to see ourselves through God’s eyes of holiness … to recognize our sinful form … and to let God’s truth (primarily from His Holy Word) guide us to His transforming grace.

God’s word, … His truth, is that mirror, revealing God’s holiness and our sinfulness. How often and how deeply are we looking into that mirror to allow God’s Law to reveal us and to guide us toward the righteousness demanded by a Holy God [see Matt. 6: 33 - and I hope you have that one memorized!]? Taking time, as I have this morning, to stand before God’s mirror will reveal who we are; and even more importantly whom God wants us to become as the image of our Lord, Jesus, becomes clear in our viewing of His truth.

My Prayer Today: You reveal me by Your Truth, my Lord. Amen

October 22, 2011 … Dead to the Law

Passage of the Day: Romans 7: 4 [see verse in bold/underlined in context below] … 1 Do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to men who know the law—that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives? 2 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. 3 So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man.
4 So, my brothers, you also died to the Law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.

My Journal for Today: Often when discussing sin, it is good to know how our sinfulness, especially our past sin, relates to God’s Law; and John MacArthur, citing Romans 7: 1 – 4, helps his readers in Strength for Today to see this relation. In today’s devotional entry MacArthur uses the word picture of a drunk driver, who, dying in a car accident, cannot be indicted for the laws applying to drunk driving. In Romans 7: 2 – 3, the Apostle Paul applies this same principle to marriage, citing a wife’s release from the marriage laws at the death of her husband. And then we read in Rom. 7: 4, today’s focus verse, that this principle also applies to God’s Old Covenant Law and our sin, for which Christ died that we may be released from The Law’s indictment.

Having received Christ as my Lord and Savior, at my conversion, being born-again in Christ, I am now bound only to my Covenant to Christ and not to “The Law,” to which my sin indictment became null and void due to Christ’s death/resurrection. And to emphasize this truth, Paul, inspired by God’s Spirit, repeated this Spirit-written case law for the Corinthians (see 2nd Cor. 5: 21) and the Galatians (see Gal. 2: 19 – 20).

As a Christian, I must realize – and internalize – that I have died to The Law in Christ (see Rom. 6: 3 – 7); and now I am bound eternally in life only to my New Covenant relationship to my Lord and Savior, … as the bride to my Bridegroom, Jesus. However, by this New Covenant, I must equally realize that I will only be free from The Law (i.e., the Old Covenant) when I recognize and live in obedience to my new Master, …the Groom in my marriage to Jesus Christ. And in many respects His demands are even more rigorous that was my binding to the Old Covenant (see Matthew, Chapters 5 – 7, the Sermon on the Mount).

However, now, in Christ, I know that I have God’s Spirit in me to enable me to be completed in my relationship and covenant with my Savior (see Rom. 8: 29 and Phil. 1: 6). Rejoice with me; and let us live in this truth.

My Prayer Today: Hallelujah, Lord, …You are my law. And You are my freedom. Amen

2010 – June 19 – Good Cop, Bad Cop

Study from God’s Word… Hosea, Chapters 10 – 14; 2 Kgs 14: 17 [2Chron 25: 25]; 2Kgs 14: 18-20 [2Chron 25: 26-28]; 2Kgs 14: 21; 15: 1-2 [2Chron 16: 1, 3]; 2Kgs 15: 3 [2Chron 26: 4,5]; 2Kgs 15: 4; 2 Kgs 14: 22 [2Chron 26: 2]; 2Chron 26: 6-10, 15; 2Chron 26: 11-14 … Passage for Reflection: Hosea 11: 8 – 9 … NIV 8 "How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused.
9 I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim. For I am God, and not man — the Holy One among you. I will not come in wrath.

My Journal for Today: Balance is one of the hallmarks of God’s character, which is evidenced by his infinite love balanced with His eternal wrath. God is the ultimate “Good Cop and Bad Cop,” which we’ve seen played out many times, haven’t we, in the cop dramas on TV? And as Christians we often have trouble achieving balance between such Godly characteristics as grace and law. Left to our own, we’d distort both ends of this Godly continuum; but the Lord has infinite balance even if we so often see as extremes.

And as I read through the remainder of the Book of Hosea and some other passages today from my Daily Bible in Chronological Order, I was struck by how often God had to be both “Good Cop” and “Bad Cop” with His chosen people in the Old Testament. Israel just couldn’t seem to get the concept that they had an all-powerful “Good Cop” on their side, … a God Who would treat them with incredible compassion and mercy; but their fleshly disobedience so often brought on God’s “Bad Cop” side, which had to be invoked – even though it was out of God’s love – to draw those recalcitrant Hebrews back into the Good Shepherd’s flock. God’s “Bad Cop” is always exercised by Him in love just as a parent will often have to lay a hand to a child’s backside to save him/her from destructive behavior. If you’re a parent or a grandparent, you hate at times being forced into the “bad cop” role; but you know you must be there in that role at times to save your kids from going places or doing things that could one day kill them or hurt them permanently.

And that was God being the “Bad Cop” at times with Israel; but as we read today, there were times when the “Good Cop” was very apparent; and God, the Eternal Father of His people, came shining through, … yes, even at times when we would see that God’s love and grace was tested to the limits … right to the edges of God, the “Good Cop.” It distresses me greatly to see men in the ministry where I am a Pastor, … men who just seem to be like one of my little grandkids, who, knowing where the limits/boundaries are will test out the reality of my love by just stepping over the edge of the boundaries, testing my “Bad Cop” side to see if I will do what I’ve said would be the consequences of disobedience.

And for those in Battle Plan Ministries, knowing that repeated sexual sin, especially in certain dangerous areas of behavior, can bring on death, some of the men in our ministry seem to be compulsively drawn to test out God, the “Good Cop,” to see if God, “the Bad Cop” will be consistent with the consequences of their disobedience. Unfortunately, as it is with our little granddaughter, granddad, the “Bad Cop,” sometimes has to get tough with his love; and God, in this role can be very tough as well with the consequences of our disobedience. And we’ve seen some that we know in prominent roles of ministry, like Ted Haggard, who have been laid low, testing the boundaries of God, the “Good Cop,” finding out that God, the “Bad Cop” is really there and His love can be very tough when disobedience becomes chronic, evident, and dangerous.

I hope that we all come to realize that courting the love and grace from God, the “Good Cop” is a much better strategy in life than testing out and trying to bring out God, the “Bad Cop.” Because ultimately there will be a time when God, the “Good Cop” will become God, the “Bad Cop;” and it is not a good deal to be there when that becomes reality for our lives.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, I’ve experienced Your stick and Your hugs; and I’ve learned that the latter is what I seek. Amen

2010 – Mar. 7 – A False Sense of Security

Study from God’s Word… Deut 26: 16-19; Deut 28: 1-68; Deut 29: 2-29; Deut 30: 1-20; Deut 27: 1-26; … Passage for Reflection: Deut 29: 19 … NIV 19 When such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself and therefore thinks, "I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way." This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry.

My Journal for Today: Well, in all the devotional entries I’ve read from F. LaGard Smith this year thus far, this one today is the most disquieting and personally disturbing. In The Daily Bible in Chronological Order, Dr. Smith, as the Editor, had readers today reading through the sections from Deuteronomy where God solidified His covenant with His people, demanding that they realize the seriousness of disobedience to this oath to God as well as reviewing the blessings which would flow to them from their obedience.

Unfortunately, I agree with Dr. Smith in his devotional entry today, that in our New Covenant lives as Christians, we have a far too lackadaisical attitude about our saving relationship with Christ than we should. Sadly, in this post-modern era, I believe we’re living in an age of “easy” (or “cheap”) grace, many thinking that they have spiritual fire-insurance against “hell” (though many don’t even believe there is such a place). However, these folks, who become nominal “christians,” don’t live out their lives as if God has saved them from their sinful nature. Smith states, “… it is frightening – as long as we confess our sins, we’re tempted to believe it’s actually okay to persist in those very sins! If we just throw God a bone, we think surely He will be satisfied!” So, making and keeping solemn vows to our God concerning our way of living has become passé; and we float through life thinking and acting no different from the world nor showing any of the fruitfulness promised by our God to those who are truly saved.

Ouch! Ugh!! Groan!!! … I think of the Apostle Paul’s admonition and exhortation in Romans 5: 20 – 6: 4, upon which we should all meditate here and now (as I have in the NIV):

>>> 20The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. … 1What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

Yes, 1st John 1: 9 is no less true in the life of any Christian today; but the promise that our sins have been paid for in full on the cross and our confession of those sins brings full cleansing does not give the Christian the right or the license to sin with impunity and treat God’s saving grace with such reckless abandon. In fact, reading the entire 1st letter of John, tells us that Christians – true, born-again believers – simply will not be able to continue to sin with chronic and reckless disregard of God’s Law and His provisions for us to join Him in heaven. I grieve to think that there are many – if not most – of those who will sit with me in church today who believe they have a license to be a sinner, rather than the grace to be a saint in the eyes of God. I can only pray to my Lord that I am not one of those.

My friends, I pray that I pursue the righteousness which is eternally mine when I know that I know that I know that I know that Jesus Christ is my LORD … as well as my Savior, … when I live so that the fruit of His Spirit (see Gal. 5: 22-23) is apparent in my life, … when I have a sense of dread when I feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit upon my sinfulness so that I can keep short accounts and be cleansed from self in order to glorify my Savior.

May I never have a false sense of security in my walk as a CHRISTIAN.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, I sit and stand here as a CHRISTIAN, … let me live as one! Amen

2010 – Feb. 28 – Mixed Signals from the Law

Study from God’s Word… Deut. 5: 17; Exod. 21: 12-14; Lev. 24: 17, 24b; Num. 35: 20-21, 16-19, 29-34; Exod. 22: 2-3; Num. 35: 22-25; Deut. 19: 4-6; Num. 35: 9-15; Deut. 19: 1-3, 7-10; Num. 35: 26-28; Deut. 19: 11-13; Num. 35: 32; Exod. 21: 25; Exod. 21: 16; Deut. 24: 7; Lev. 24: 19-20; Exod. 21: 26-27; Deut. 22: 25-29; Exod. 21: 15-21; Deut. 25: 11-12; Deut. 5: 19; Exod. 22: 1-4; Deut. 19: 14; … Passage for Reflection: Exodus 21: 20-21 … NIV 20 "If a man beats his male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies as a direct result, he must be punished, 21 but he is not to be punished if the slave gets up after a day or two, since the slave is his property.

My Journal for Today: Today’s highlighted passage (oh, I wish Dr. Smith had not chosen this one) is a case where my human comprehension cries out for explanation from God; but from our so-called “modern day” concept of justice; God’s word, in this regard, is nothing but confusing to me.

For centuries, and even into the 19th century in this county, I can imagine that this passage was used to justify the horrible enslavement of other humans, especially the stench on our country which was our enslavement of our African-American brothers/sisters. I know that there were those, even into the 20th century, wearing KKK robes and calling themselves “christian,” who spouted out this very passage as justification for their beatings of our darker-skinned brothers/sisters in Christ, whom they felt should have been retained as their “property.”

So, how do we explain many of the laws and rules of justice which I have studied today as the precursors for the system of law we have today? I’m afraid my heart, and especially my mind, is not astute enough to be able to do so with any great clarity. Dr. Smith feels that it may have been God moving His children through a cultural milieu which was much more cruel and punitive with regard to justice than those laws about which I was reading today which He imparted through Moses to His people. The pagan cultures surrounding the Israelites in Moses’ time were much harsher than would God’s Law be for the Hebrews as they were being prepared to go into the Promised Land. So, … maybe God had to give them laws which they could accept and use in their culture and their times; but by today’s standards, these laws, at times, seem bizarre at best and unusually vindictive at times.

Hence, here’s where I am forced, by my very limited ability to grasp these concepts of justice, to trust that God knew EXACTLY what He was giving His children for their just needs and cultural limitations in those days. I have to trust that God was moving His people toward the realization of justice which would come in the Person of The Messiah, Who would become the fulfillment of THE LAW. So, I’ll not try to speculate with “perhaps this” or “perhaps that” when it comes to understanding why God set His law in motion through Moses with laws like the one quoted as a study passage today.

As Dr. Smith closes, he asks a provocative question, ”If I am ever tempted to give up on God when I don’t understand how He acts (i.e., through His word and truth), what would be my alternative?” And to that I say, “Right on, brother!” When I don’t understand God’s word, I know that I’m being challenged to dig deeper into God’s full counsel (i.e., His entire Word) to get to know Him more deeply and intimately and to find His wisdom; and I know that every time I do that, I come out loving Him more, wanting to obey Him more diligently, and desiring to serve Him with more fervor. And that I know is a good and Godly pursuit, drawing me ever closer to my Savior.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to understand; but even more, help me to trust You when I don’t. Amen

2010 – Feb. 27 – A Most Intriguing God

Study from God’s Word… Deut. 17: 14-20; Exod. 22: 28b; Deut. 16: 18; Deut. 17: 8-9; Deut. 17: 8-13; Deut. 1: 9-18; Exod. 23: 8, 3-6, Lev. 19: 15; Deut. 24: 17-18; Deut 16: 19-20; Deut. 5: 20; Exod. 23: 1-2; Exod. 23: 7; Deut. 19: 16-21; Deut. 19: 15; Deut. 24: 16; Deut. 25: 1-3; Deut. 21: 22-23; … Passage for Reflection: Deut. 17: 14 – 15a … NIV 14 When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, "Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us," 15 be sure to appoint over you the king the LORD your God chooses.

My Journal for Today: Today, in my devotional studies from The Daily Bible in Chronological Order, Dr. Smith, the Editor, had me bouncing through quite a bit of the Pentateuch to see some pretty intriguing principles about God and how He governed His people during the times of Moses and those theocratic times. And in this topical area of study today, we read of God actually anticipating man’s desire – much later in history – for a king; and so we read of the establishment of God’s laws with regard to the rule of men over men by earthy kings.

And, as Smith points out, isn’t it intriguing that God would actually allow man to rule men when he knows the sin nature of His fallen creature; and when God’s chosen could see what the pagan governments and cultures which surrounded them in Moses’ day had done? But God, in His omniscience, did anticipate and establish rules and methods for kingship; and really, in retrospect, it all makes perfect sense.

And let me quote the questions raised by Dr. Smith which help us to answer this seeming conundrum. He writes, “Without earthy kings how would we (i.e., believers) understand God’s own kingship over a (His) spiritual kingdom? … Without bad kings, how could we (God’s people) appreciate good kings – especially the righteous King of kings? … And how could we learn to honor our secular leaders, whether kings, presidents, or governors?” Yes, we do serve a most intriguing God, with a most intriguing sense of justice and righteousness, as well as an infinitely intriguing sense of humor. And so, it’s our responsibility to go with God’s flow; and wow, that is certainly being called into question in today’s world, isn’t it?

We have kingdoms [i.e., nations] in today’s world which are much like the pagan lands into which God injected Moses and His people, setting them free from one such mighty nation to follow Moses, a very human sinner; but one who would follow God and lead God’s people. And we see how even Moses, who certainly had God’s ear, had trouble ruling a nation of sinners. Now, today, why would we be surprised by kings and Presidents trying to rule nations of sinners, who are very much like God’s chosen … fickle, selfish, and disobedient people? And yet, we are to understand that it is God Who establishes governments and leaders of governments – for His good favor and as part of His plan. Thereby, and therefore, we must let our leaders lead; and we must do so until and unless our leaders cause us to break God’s law and to be disobedient, individually, to our God. Then, and only then, must we stand for righteousness in anticipation of the coming of the King of kings who will rule forever on God’s throne of grace and righteousness.

So, are you hanging in these days while governments all over the world seem to be becoming more and more evil and corrupt? We must always remember that God is still in control; and His righteousness will one day rule in the Personage of the Lord of lords and the King of kings. Jesus WILL RETURN; and HE WILL RULE - … FOREVER !!

My Prayer for Today: Lord, You will always be my King of kings and Lord of lords. Amen

2010 – Feb. 19 – Misusing God’s Name

Study from Lev. 19: 20b; 19: 31; 20: 6-8; Deut 18: 9-14; Exod. 22: 18; Lev. 20: 27; Deut. 13: 1-5; Deut. 18: 15-19; 18: 20-22; Deut. 5: 11; Exod. 22: 28; Lev. 24: 10 – 16, 23; Exod. 22: 29-30; Exod. 34: 19, 20; Exod. 22: 29; Exod. 23: 19, 34: 26; Deut. 15: 19-23; Deut. 18: 1-8; Deut. 14: 22-29; Deut. 26: 1-11; Deut. 26; 23-25; Exod. 31- 16, 17; Lev. 19: 30; 26: 2; Lev. 23: 1-3; Exod. 35: 3; Exod. 24: 21; Exod. 31: 12-15: Num. 18: 32-36 … Passage for Reflection: Deuteronomy 5: 11 … NIV You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

My Journal for Today: Well, it is unlikely that you’ve followed along with me in reading what I have read from God’s word today unless you have the Daily Bible in Chronological Order, which I’m using for my reading adventure through God’s word this year and most certainly today. Being led by Dr. F. LaGard Smith, I’ve been through quite a few passages from the first five books of the Bibles as Smith has brought me to read today about the many laws – laws about everything one could imagine – which were given BY GOD through Moses to/for His people. But in the final offering, Smith settled on one of the Ten Commandments, from Deut. 5: 11, to discuss in some depth today; and you know that one. It’s about not taking the Lord’s Name in vain.

Well, it’s way too much to ask you to dig out and read what my Chronological Bible led me to read today; but reading and meditating on Deut. 5: 11 is not too much to ask. So, I hope you’ve gone back and reviewed those Ten Commandments in Deut. 5, which were also spelled out in detail in Exodus 20 for us believers. And this one, in Deut. 5: 11 points to the reverence we need to have for our God in the use of His Holy Name. And wow, there certainly is a lot of misuse we can use to illustrate how we take God’s Law and trivialize God through the use of His Name!

Before I was a Christian, calling myself an “agnostic,” it always felt wrong to me somehow to cry out, “Jesus Christ!” as a statement of anger. Maybe it was the way I had been raised; but that use of God’s Name just seemed wrong to me. But yet, at that time in my life I totally disclaimed the deity of Jesus Christ. How hypocritical was that?! And how common is that foul use of God’s name these days? But Smith points out something quite interesting as he points out that when someone is surprised, flabbergasted, or angry we never hear them using the name of “Buddha” or “Mohammed.” Yet I know you’ve often heard others say something like, “Oh, … my God!” when they are surprised by something. We hear people say the latter when they are totally surprised by something or even when they taste some luscious piece of cake. And the use of “Jesus Christ!” or “Oh, my Lord!” as exclamation is about as close to prayer as some people in our culture will ever get.

And all of these, of course, flagrantly break with God’s Law in the Ten Commandments. But Dr. Smith then points out a very sad and notorious misuse of God’s Name; and that is how mankind will take oaths, even legal oaths, saying, “… so help me God;” and they are lying at the time or subsequently they break the oath. Taking oaths in “God’s Name” is serious business; and I would expect that the Angels cringe when they hear us humans making or taking an oath in God’s Name than then breaking it. We mock our God when we take an oath in His Name and then fail to carry it out. And that, my friend, is serious business!

But I’m most convicted by probably the most common misuse of God’s Holy Name by Christians, one which I’m afraid I’ve breached God’s Law all too often; and that has to do with invoking the name of Christ, calling myself “Christian,” and then living in a way which misappropriates that blessed Name. Oh, I know that I’m not the only one who does it. Whole Universities do it when the name of the University is labeled as a “Christian” University but where many ungodly things are being taught in the curriculum of the school. But I’m no better when I am called “Reverend” Bill Berry, my title of Ordination, and I do things which dishonor the Name of Christ. And how many of us witnessing in the world as “Christians” do things which dishonor the Name of God?

Oh, may God have mercy on me when I misrepresent My Lord by my choices or my actions, especially when I publically call myself a “Christian.” Well, conviction has been leveled here for me today, my friend; … how about you?

My Prayer for Today: Lord, may my life be a reflection of the Holiness of Your Name; and forgive me when it has not been so. Amen