Until we are able to examine our hearts, we are not able to understand the struggle that is in our hearts. We look back at the Old Testament and see that they served many gods, as idols were spread throughout the land. We feel a sense of pride that we do not have statues in our homes that illustrate our worship of other religions. However, our struggle is that our idols are much more insidious, and dangerous, because they are idols of the heart. They are things that we have placed in our lives that motivate us to do what we do. It can be a simple as the “idol of peace” which is the idol that a husband craves when he does not take the leadership role he should in his house, or the idol a mother may choose to worship when she refuses to deal with the behavior of the sinning child. We do what we do, because we want what we want. Our choices reveal what we are truly worshipping. James 4:1-10 gives us a call to examine our hearts, we need to take time to evaluate our heart motivation and what we are truly worshipping.… READ MORE

The Fruit of Rebellion is threefold: First, our rebellion angers God (Joshua 22:18). It is that rebellion of heart that separates us from God for all eternity. It takes a humble heart before God that seeks forgiveness and reconciliation. Second, Rebellion affects others as well as ourselves (Jeremiah 28:16, 32). We never act in a vacuum, there are unintended consequences to all acts good and bad. There is no way that we can surmise the ripple effects of our actions, and we must realize that what we do always affects those around us for good or evil. And Finally, Rebellion alters our future. In Numbers 13-14 the children of Israel rebelled against God and as a result were not allowed to go into the Promised Land. This consequence is like number two, but the ripple effects filter into our own lives. While at times it appears that people get away with their rebellion, Revelation 20:11-15 reveals that one day those who have rejected God will be answerable before him for their actions. The time to seek and find forgiveness for our rebellious heart is today, while there is still time to repent.… READ MORE

Why is our hearts so bent toward a rebellious nature? According to the Word of God, the beginning of rebellion started with Lucifer (the Devil) in Isaiah 14:12-14. It is then manifested in mankind in Genesis 3, as the Devil challenges Adam and his wife to eat of the forbidden fruit. The reality is that true rebellion grows out of a desire to have or do something that is forbidden. That rebellious nature has been passed down from Adam (1 Corinthians 15:22) to all of humanity, and as a result we struggle. Jeremiah 17:9 reminds us that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” It is as we recognize the deceitfulness of our hearts that the beginning of victory is passed to us, through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. God manifests His Word in our hearts, and as a result we are able to combat the rebellious nature that is innate within us because of the principle of sin that dwells in us. May we learn to submit to the authority of God’s Word and turn from our rebellious nature.… READ MORE