Matthew 5:13 You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
Years ago, I heard an anointed missionary and personal friend speaking on the consequences of sin. He told a story about a pair of brothers he knew quite well.
In his teenage years, the older brother went through a time of rebellion against his Christian upbringing. He went to a few parties, drank a little alcohol, tried a few drugs and quickly felt convicted of his behavior and repented before the Lord. While it was only a short few weeks of rebellion, it made a real impression on his younger brother. You see, he was looking up to his big brother. And in those few months of watching him rebel, he decided that trying out a worldly thing or two himself was okay to do.
The older brother readily overcame that time of rebellion. He went on to Christian college and grew to be a wonderful man of God. He traveled all over the world teaching, reviving, and leading many to the Lord.
As he came to this part of the story, my anointed missionary friend began to quiver.
"That older brother was me," he said, tears rolling down his cheeks. And my younger brother, he whimpered, is dying of drug addiction today...and it all started during my time of rebellion."
"I would give just about anything to take back that few weeks of backsliding just to see my little brother living for the Lord today, but I can't. I can only pray that you who are listening today will realize that the consequences of sin are no joke".
What a painful example of the consequences of sin. We never know who's watching and how they may be affected by our actions.
The job we have as believers is no small one -- whether you realize it or not, there are so many who are observing our lives to see where our faith will lead us. There are many who are hungry for Him and so much work to be done! Let's strive to get serious about God and influence many for Him!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]Yesterday, in our devotional I spoke of the two rains in Israel, the early rain and the latter rain. The prophet Joel speaks prophetically of these two rainy seasons in connection with the outpouring of God's spirit.
For much of the year, Israel receives little to no rain. The early rains ( "Yoreh") begin at the time of the Fall Feasts, September-October, and the "Latter Rain (“Malkosh”) concludes the rainy season around the time of the Spring festival of Passover.
The legendary preacher, Charles Spurgeon once said, "Discernment is not simply a matter of telling the difference between what is right and wrong; rather it is the difference between right and almost right."
En Gedi is a nature reserve about 40 minutes from our home. Surrounded by dry, barren, rocky ground, except to the east where the Dead Sea lies, it is an oasis, fed year round by springs of fresh water, and home to some of the most unique wild and botanical life in the world.
A father asked his son to carry a letter from their camp to the village. He pointed out a trail over which the lad had never gone before. “All right Dad, but I don’t see how that path will ever reach the town,” said the boy. “Well son, I'll tell you how. Do you see that big tree down the path?” asked the father. “Oh, yes, I see that far.” “Well, when you get there by the tree, you’ll see the trail a little farther ahead -- and farther down you'll see another big tree -- and when you reach that one you'll be closer and so on until you get within sight of the houses of the village.”
Yesterday was a big day for us, but especially for baby Obi. He was circumcised in the presence of our friends and family (many of them not believers) at our congregation in Tel Aviv. We had the chance to share about the false report we got concerning Obi's health and how the doctors told us to abort him early on. I tied in the faith that Abraham must have had, especially concerning circumcision. There may not have been a dry eye in the house. Thank you, God!
What a week we've been having! We're getting ready to fly to the States for a much needed time, to see our families and to share what's going on here in the Land. Along with all the hustle and bustle of packing, running loads of errands and training a new volunteer, we just got word that the airport employees have begun a strike and customers have not been able to get on their flights all day. Not only that, we've been having computer problems galore! As the saying goes -- when it rains it pours!