Victory! (2012) by Gerry James

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Living The Curse-Free Life

Some people call it passing the buck.  Others call it making excuses.  It's even been named the blame game.  Whatever, you want to call it, it's no game.  It's deadly serious. 

People everywhere are blaming everything and everyone for whatever is wrong in their lives.  They point at their husband or wife, their employer, the government, the economy, the Democrats, the Republicans, the banks.  "Someone's at fault for this mess I'm in," they think, "and it is not all me!"

That's how we'd expect someone who doesn't know Jesus to operate.  Unfortunately, too many times it is US that is falling for the game.

But, how about when we all blame God?  "I just don't know why the Lord doesn't bless me financially.  I tithe (some of the time anyway) and I'm doing the best I can.  It just seems like an honest man can't get ahead in this economy and if God is supposed to be blessing everything I put my hand to, He must be taking a nap!  You gotta be a crook to get anywhere these days, and all you deal with are crooks! Ha ha ha".

You know what?  That ain't funny!

Before you think it's just because times are so hard for everyone right now and it's making people say and think foolish things...   let me take you back a few thousand years.  It was during the time the Biblical book of Malachi was written.  Back  then, the Jews were complaining just like we do today.  When circumstances got tough, they said:  "It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts?  And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered" (Malachi 3:14-15)

In the modern vernacular they were saying, "Hey! We've been absolute hotshots for God, but the wicked are more Blessed than we are!" 

To see the seriousness of those statements, you have to realize that the word happy is translated from the Hebrew word for blessed.  So when those people called the proud and the wicked Blessed, they were actually maligning God's covenant of Blessing.

That Blessing is vitally important to Him.  So even as merciful and loving and patient as He is, such talk doesn't sit well with God.  In Malachi, He responded to it with a stern rebuke.  He told that ungrateful bunch, "Your words have been stout against Me!"

"Well, I don't mean to be saying strong words against God, but things are not working for me.  Everytime I turn around something else is going wrong.  I'm a Christian.  I do try not to complain and have all the faith I know to have.  Just nothing