“Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.” (John 12:42-43 NASB)
Here are some questions for you to think about before you head off to church. What did you do when it came to choosing between the approval of man or the approval of God? What did you do when your friends were misleading or misdirecting? Did you do it their way or do it God’s way? What did you do when someone told you they would not like you anymore if you did not do this or that and your decision was hard? Did you tell them, “I’m not about pleasing you, but I’m about pleasing my Lord.” What did you do when the right choice may have cost you the affection of peers, promotions, and possibly fame? Did the right choice fueled by your faith on the inside cause your righteous action on the outside, in perfect sync with heaven remain? What did you do when push came to shove? Did you forget about the Lord’s love and His commandment to love? What did you do when you had an opportunity to be the light of the world? Did you hide your belief? Or did you find the revelation of your faith to be such a right and pleasant sight in the eyes of heaven? What did you do when influences started to shove you in the wrong way? Did you say openly, “I’ll watch, fight and pray?” Did you slide to the left or slide to the right, just to gain the adoration of some? Or did you stand firm to please the Holy One? What did you do? Did you give in to Satan, who said, “It’s all right” or did you stand firm, unmoved unchanged, and unchallenged in your conviction that what’s right is right? What did you do? Did you say, “I forgive you” or “I will never forgive you? What did you do? What did you do when the truth was presented to you? Did you recognize how Satan was trying to manipulate how you received that word by influencing your perception by your personal prism? And thus you saw that all Scripture is profitable? By the way, Satan is good, very good manipulating, working our prisms unconscious with radical misbeliefs.
If I were to run into you late to day to see what you did this morning, would your response mirror at least some of the words of found in our closing verses, if were to ask you, in reference to this Sunday, “What did you do?” God be with you, my dear friend! Enjoy the special presence of the Lord this morning! Be blessed?
“Let the whole earth sing to the Lord! Each day proclaim the good news that he saves. Publish his glorious deeds among the nations. Tell everyone about the amazing things he does. Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! He is to be feared above all gods. The gods of other nations are mere idols, but the Lord made the heavens! Honor and majesty surround him; strength and joy fill his dwelling. O nations of the world, recognize the Lord, recognize that the Lord is glorious and strong. Give to the Lord the glory he deserves! Bring your offering and come into his presence. Worship the Lord in all his holy splendor. Let all the earth tremble before him. The world stands firm and cannot be shaken. Let the heavens be glad, and the earth rejoice! Tell all the nations, “The Lord reigns!”(I Chronicles 16:23-31 NLT)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King