Don’t be afraid of those times in the wilderness…
When you can’t seem to hear from God…
When nothing seems to make sense in your life…
When there’s a nervousness about your future…
When you sense something is about to change…
When there’s a new stirring in your heart…
When you are tempted to become fearful…
In my experience…
God uses those times to prepare you for better times…
Need more?
Tweet It’s Easter weekend, so what would be a more appropriate verse than this week’s memory verse? What difference would it make if you and I lived with the reality…
Tweet I can’t wait to see Disney’s new movie African Cats. I love exploring God’s handiwork in creation. And African cats are amazing. I love the imagery of a mother…
Tweet A common email for me is one where someone is questioning their salvation. The typical person is one who has been in the church for a number of years,…
Tweet Even if you only memorize the first sentence of this verse, I think it has the potential…as all Scripture does…to change your life. What if you memorized this scripture,…
Tweet Are you struggling these days? Are there more bad days than good days lately? Do you feel like you are doing the best you can, but nothing seems to…
“Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.” Malachi 1:10
What a powerful and scary verse!
Let me set the stage…
Times were hard for the Israelites. The land was dry. The crops were barely producing. The animals and people were suffering. The enemies of the Israelites were prevailing in battle. The people, who had time after time seen the delivering hand of God, were wavering in their faith.
They went to the altar of God, but instead of sacrificing their very best, they gave God their rejects. If they had prize sheep or goats, they kept these for breeding. It was their way of protecting their own investments. Afterall, they must have thought, in hard times, it didn’t make sense to waste the best, of which they had very little, on God? (Oh Lord, forgive me for even having to type that…but it’s true!)
God would not accept their half-hearted worship!
God said He would rather see the church doors closed than to be worshipped in such a way. Whew! That’s tough stuff!
I don’t know about you, but
Tweet I’ve spent a good portion of my ministry sitting with people who had more questions than answers. Often during desperate times, all I can do is point to a…
Too many people shy away from what God has called them to do…
They run because of:
I’ve learned, however, that the sweetest days of life are when you are found within the center of God’s will for your life...
Even as scary, unknown, and risky as living that will may appear…
So…let me ask you…
Are you doing what God has burdened your heart to do?
If not, what’s your next move?
An open rebuke is better than hidden love! Proverbs 27:5
I was talking to one friend recently who made a very pointed criticism of another mutual friend. It was obvious he has a sincere concern about our other friend, but instead of addressing it with him, he decided to mention it to me. Honestly I wondered how many other “friends” with whom he has had this same conversation. I simply told him I thought he should speak with our friend directly about his concerns.
This is such a difficult verse for some people…especially people pleasers…maybe even some pastors…because we are afraid to offend people, but the principle is that we must be willing to help those we love, even when it is uncomfortable.
Proverbs are principles. They aren’t promises from God as much as the are pieces of wisdom from God to help us live life better. The are commands as much as they are guidelines. You can live a very principled life and not be guaranteed success, but in the majority of circumstances, these principles work best. In this specific proverb, you are not guaranteed to be received well when you offer “an open rebuke”, but it is “better than hidden love”. We shouldn’t be constantly looking for flaws in other people and we should look at our own faults first, but when a friend is obviously making bad choices in life that will eventually cause them or others harm, the loving thing to do is to offer correction.
I believe the principle behind this proverb is simply that if you love someone…truly care for others…then you should be willing to confront the issues you see in their life. Sometimes others can see things in us that we can’t see in ourselves. If a friend or loved one is making bad decisions, it’s better to bring it to their attention than to ignore it in the name of love. I hear people say, “I don’t want to offend them” or “It’s none of my business”, but the idea here is that if you love someone enough, you’ll be willing to help them realize where they are making mistakes.
Is this tough for you? Do you agree or disagree with my assessment here?
If you are the one who needs rebuking, would you rather hear it from a friend, a stranger, or not at all?
Now the harder question, who in your life needs your “open rebuke” more than they need your “hidden love”?
Help me out with this post.
