Is God Relevant In Our Lives?
2009-06-28

Happy Sunday morning!

Had a tiring, but exciting day yesterday. We went car-shopping, but I'll post more about that in my other diary later today. I don't want to waste time on that this morning. There are more important things to do.



Here's a prayer request for today from the PPT site.

North Korea threats. Some 100,000 North Koreans packed Pyongyang's main square Thursday for an anti-U.S. rally as the communist regime promised a "fire shower of nuclear retaliation" for any American-led attack.

Lord, I pray that you give our government wisdom as they try to concentrate on doing their real job, that of protecting us from outside attack.



Psalm for today: 79:1-6

1-4 God! Barbarians have broken into your home, violated your holy temple,
left Jerusalem a pile of rubble!
They've served up the corpses of your servants
as carrion food for birds of prey,
Threw the bones of your holy people
out to the wild animals to gnaw on.
They dumped out their blood
like buckets of water.
All around Jerusalem, their bodies
were left to rot, unburied.
We're nothing but a joke to our neighbors,
graffiti scrawled on the city walls.

5-7 How long do we have to put up with this, God?
Do you have it in for us for good?
Will your smoldering rage never cool down?
If you're going to be angry, be angry
with the pagans who care nothing about you,
or your rival kingdoms who ignore you.
They're the ones who ruined Jacob,
who wrecked and looted the place where he lived.
(The Message)

"The most eminent of the servants of God may be put to a cruel and ignominious death--a punishment which we know is often executed upon murderers, and other despisers of God; but still the death of the saints does not cease to be precious in his sight: and when he has suffered them to be unrighteously persecuted in the flesh, he shows, by taking vengeance on their enemies, how dear they were to him."

"When he exposes his own children to the like indignity, he may seem for a time to have forsaken them; but afterwards converts it into the means of furthering their salvation; for their faith, being subjected to this trial, acquires a fresh triumph."

(Commentary from Heart Aflame: Daily Readings from Calvin on the Psalms)



Holiness Day by Day

"When God is Irrelevant"
1 Corinthians 10:31

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

I bet your first thought is "What?? When could God possibly be irrelevant??"

The author speaks of what he calls "subtle," or "acceptable" sins. Sins that people often say are caused by pride. While he agrees that pride often plays a key role, he believes that there is a deeper, more basic sin that is more likely the root cause of other sins. Ungodliness. And he says we are all, to some degree, guilty of that sin.

I bet your saying, "What?? Ridiculous! I can't be 'ungodly!' I'm a Christian!"

"Ungodliness may be defined as living one's everyday life with little or no thought of God, God's will, God's glory, or our dependence on God. You can readily see that someone can lead a respectable life and still be ungodly in the sense that God is essentially irrelevant in his or her life.

"The sad fact is that many of us believers tend to live our daily lives with little or no thought of God. We may read our Bibles and pray at the beginning of each day, but then go out into the day's activities and basically live as though God doesn't exist. We seldom think of our dependence on God or our responsibility to Him. We might go for hours with no thought of God at all. I believe that all our other acceptable sins can ultimately be traced to this root sin of ungodliness."

We live every moment of every day under God's all-seeing eye. Let us be aware of this, knowing that he sees every deed, hears every word, and knows every thought.

Ouch.



Father, I thank you this morning for your "all-seeing eye." I thank you and praise you, as always, for your grace and mercy that allows us to continue taking breaths each day.

I pray that you forgive me for the moments, hours, and days that I live as though you don't exist. And I confess that, yes, this does happen. I cannot deny the truth of it. And I also confess that, when I am in that mode of not thinking about you or not being aware of your influence in my life, my thoughts, words, and actions, don't always reflect my belief in you. This is a grevious sin!

I pray, Father, that the Holy Spirit would be more forceful in my life in making me aware of the fact that you are always there! And then let my thoughts, words, and actions reflect that truth!



It is difficult for us as Christians to ever admit that we might live as though God is irrelevant. The truth of that reading hurt my heart. It was like a sharp knife, piercing my soul. I pray that others like me would feel the same, and endeavor to be more aware of God's relevance in our lives every day.

Grace and peace, friends.



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