One of the
seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show
you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters. With her
the kings of the earth (leaders of the people) committed adultery and the
inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.”
Rev. 17:1-2
Sometimes
our prosperity, popularity or physical attributes blind us to our spiritual
helplessness. Positions of leadership are especially vulnerable. Many leaders
today fall into one of two camps:
1) Proud,
arrogant, self-indulgent, intoxicated with personal perceptions
OR
2) Confident,
meek, selfless, intoxicated with the Living Spirit
~But
before we start pointing fingers, let’s insert our own name in the following blanks:
______, be sure, your sins will find you out. It’s
time for judgment to BEGIN with the household of God. (Num. 32:23; 1Pet. 4:17)
Be holy, for God is holy, ______. Offer your body as
a living sacrifice. (1Pet. 1:16; Rom. 12:1)
The Lord God is compassionate and gracious, slow to
anger, and abounding in loving-kindness and truth…YET, ______, He will by no
means leave the guilty unpunished. (Ex. 34:6-7)
______, how your adulterous heart has hurt Me. You have turned away from
Me and by your eyes have played the harlot. (Ezek. 6:9)
OUCH, huh?!
God
our Savior desires ALL men to be saved and to come to knowledge of truth. 1
Tim. 2:4 So…after examining our own life and making some changes, perhaps we
can encourage a loved one to do the same? (It takes guts to question someone we
care about. That’s why we must examine our own life first, pray for our loved
one, then with a compassionate heart speak forth only when God opens the
opportunity.)
The
time is short! “An overwhelming scourge WILL sweep by us…. The Lord will rise
up…to do His work, His strange work, and perform His task, His alien task, so
stop your mocking. For suddenly, in an instant, the Lord Almighty will come
with thunder, earthquake, great noise, windstorm, tempest and flames of
devouring fire.” (Is. 28:18; Is. 29:5-6)
Crazy
times we live in! ~Let’s live out loud for His Name sake.
Much
love,
Shaun
and Betsy
