Backsliding in the Christian faith refers to those who lose their first love, and cease to be grateful for all the good things God has done for them.  A classic example is found in the Church of Ephesus.  Read what Jesus had to say to this church.

There are many forms of backsliding.  It comes it all shapes and sizes.  TV evangelism is many cases, although not all, encompasses backsliding when they decide making a average living off the gospel is not good enough–they have to get rich off it, thus turning into spiritual fat cats that cease to be of any earthly good.  Backsliding occurs when we lose our zeal for Christ.  We stop praying and believing.

Revelation 2

4But I have this [one charge to make] against you: that you have left (abandoned) the love that you had at first [you have deserted Me, your first love].

    2I know your industry and activities, laborious toil and trouble, and your patient endurance, and how you cannot tolerate wicked [men] and have tested and critically appraised those who call [themselves] apostles (special messengers of Christ) and yet are not, and have found them to be impostors and liars.

    3I know you are enduring patiently and are bearing up for My name’s sake, and you have not fainted or become exhausted or grown weary.

    What caused this beautiful church body to lose its way?  Look at all the good things Jesus had to say.

First, many impostors came into the church.  How many times have we been tempted to lose our faith because of the impostors in the evangelical community today?  They are liars to be sure, but how many of us blame God for this either directly or indirectly by not going to church anymore?  You go to church to worship God.  The solution might be to start a home church (see category for  home church). 

Second, we have desired the world over God.  Look at the parable of the sowers , especially the third soil type.

 7Other seed [of the same kind] fell among thorn plants, and the thistles grew and pressed together and utterly choked and suffocated it, and it yielded no grain.

    18And the ones sown among the thorns are others who hear the Word;

    19Then the cares and anxieties of the world and distractions of the age, and the pleasure and delight and false glamour and deceitfulness of riches, and the craving and passionate desire for other things creep in and choke and suffocate the Word, and it becomes fruitless.

Third, it is possible you never were serious about your relationship with Jesus to begin with.  Perhaps you accepted him as your savior for the wrong reasons–what he could do for you instead of what you can do for him.

Fourth and last, but not least, perhaps you feel abandoned by God.  You feel he quit caring so you quit caring.  I am finding more and more people that fall into this category.  They keep their feelings buried deep, but they suffer in silence.  The reason you feel this way primarily is because the Church as failed you, not God.  We are his tangible hands and feet, and when Christians become spiritual fat cats, they backslide and don’t feel the love of Christ enough to reach out to others.

Today, list some ways you have backslidden.  All of us are guilty of this, at least here in America.

Please remember that God does love you no matter how you feel. Remember always:

Praise him always!

My best friend in junior high said something once that is very profound.  “Whoever doesn’t love animals is missing out on a good part of life.”  God initially created animals for our enjoyment and pleasure.  I don’t think it is necessary to love animals as much as some people do, but if you honestly don’t like them, I think a self-evaluation is in order.

Garbage Island

July 30, 2010

Our Daily Bread is hosted by Les Lamborn

READ: Genesis 1:20-28; 2:15

The waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good. —Genesis 1:10

The other day I ran across a troubling report about people who think it is acceptable to use the ocean as a giant garbage dump. Here is an excerpt: “If you should see this amazing floating pile of plastic in the Pacific Ocean, it’s called ‘The Great Pacific Garbage Patch.’ It features three million tons of plastic debris floating in an area larger than Texas. An eye-popping 46,000 pieces of plastic float on every square mile of ocean!” Other sources estimate the amount of garbage is even bigger. Plastic is especially bad because it does not dissolve.

During our sojourn on earth, we have been charged, like Adam, with taking care of the earth and its creatures that God has given us. Genesis 2:15 says, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.” God delights in what He has made and this extends to the sea and all that live in it (1:10,20-21).

This world should remind us of the greatness of our Creator and serve as a springboard of praise to Him. Indifferently using it as a garbage dump mars its beauty and threatens the creatures that live here. Showing respect and caring for the land, the ocean, and the air is our duty as believers in Christ. —Dennis Fisher

For Further Study
To learn about our responsibility to care for the world God has created, read Celebrating The Wonders Of Creation online at www.discoveryseries.org/q1108

Caring for God’s creation is the believer’s duty

The spirit indeed is willing, but how weak the body is!

O Lord, we love to do your will!  Our hearts’ desire is to glorify your name.  All night long I search for you; earnestly I seek for God.

I know I am rotten through and through so far as my old sinful nature is concerned.  No matter which way I turn, I can’t make myself do right.  I want to but I can’t.  I love to do God’s will so far as my new nature is concerned; but there is something else deep within me, in my lower nature, that is at war with my mind and wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.  For we naturally love to do evil things that  are just the opposite from the things that the Holy Spirit tells us to do; and the good things we want to do when the Spirit has his way with us are jsut the opposite of our natural desires.  These two forces within us are constantly fighting each other to win control over us, and our wishes are never free from their pressures.

I can do everything God asks me to with the help of Christ who gives me the strength and power.  Our only power and success comes from God.  I am with you; that is all you need.

Mt 26:41. Is 26:8,9. Rom 7:18,22-23, Gal 5:17. Phil 4:13. 2 Cor 3:5, 2 Cor 12:9.

Taken from Living Light

From Gail:

Struggling to overcome evil is nothing to be ashamed of, rather something to be proud of.  God sees that you want to do what is right.  Just be careful that you are not trying to overcome on your own power.  Only God can change your heart.

I’ll just keep on walking!!  You have to understand my life to understand the depth of this song for me.

You keep on walking when:

You stumble and fall.

You keep on walking when:

You run into a 20 mile detour that is all up hill.

You keep on walking when:

You have no one to walk with you.

You keep on walking when you:

See no signs of the end of the road.

You keep on walking when:

you want to quit but Jesus says “continue on.”

You keep on walking when:

the only company you have is the judging and jeering committee.

You keep on walking when:

All signs point to you going in the wrong direction but Jesus says to “go anyway.

How many “keep on walking scenerios can you come up with that is applicable to your life?

Psalm 57

A David Psalm, When He Hid in a Cave from Saul

 1-3 Be good to me, God—and now! I’ve run to you for dear life.
   I’m hiding out under your wings
      until the hurricane blows over.
   I call out to High God,
      the God who holds me together.
   He sends orders from heaven and saves me,
      he humiliates those who kick me around.
   God delivers generous love,
      he makes good on his word. 

 4 I find myself in a pride of lions
      who are wild for a taste of human flesh;
   Their teeth are lances and arrows,
      their tongues are sharp daggers.

 5 Soar high in the skies, O God!
      Cover the whole earth with your glory!

 6 They booby-trapped my path;
      I thought I was dead and done for.
   They dug a mantrap to catch me,
      and fell in headlong themselves.

 7-8 I’m ready, God, so ready,
      ready from head to toe,
   Ready to sing, ready to raise a tune:
      ”Wake up, soul!
   Wake up, harp! wake up, lute!
      Wake up, you sleepyhead sun!”

 9-10 I’m thanking you, God, out loud in the streets,
      singing your praises in town and country.
   The deeper your love, the higher it goes;
      every cloud is a flag to your faithfulness.

 11 Soar high in the skies, O God!
      Cover the whole earth with your glory!

Taken from www.clarion-call.org

Taken from www.clarion-call.org

From Gail:  I have found from personal experience that we define things from God as we would define them here on earth with our finite minds.  It doesn’t work that way.  Isaiah 55:8,9 states:

 ⁸ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
       neither are your ways my ways,”
       declares the LORD.

 ⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
       so are my ways higher than your ways
       and my thoughts than your thoughts.

When we define the things of God as we would define them, we put God in a box and run into trouble with our faith just because God doesn’t answer when we want him to, or how we want him to.  We have a tendency to define God, our heavenly father,  as we would our earthly father.  If we had an abusive father, we will see God as abusive.  In my case, I come from a middle class home.  I didn’t have everything I wanted but always had everything I needed.  If I needed lunch money for school, for example, I just asked for it and got it, just like that.  When I got out on my own, I found out quickly that it doesn’t work that way with God.  I can’t ask things of God, and get it instantly, even though I didn’t ask for a lot of “wants” just needs.  God wanted to teach me to be resourceful, to exercise my mind,  He didn’t want me to turn into a spiritual “fat cat.”  

I believe the same concept works for most situations.  Maybe when God says no or wait, we need to examine our belief systems to make sure they are correct.  If we believe wrongly, God doesn’t want to reinforce it.  Perhaps God wants to teach you to be more resourceful.  If you have a money shortage, what can you do to improve it?  How can you cut back on expenses?  Can you sell something?  Are there certain food items you buy you could and should do without?

The phrase “God helps those that help themselves” is not in the Bible but the concept is true.  There is a Bible scripture in 2 Thessalonians 3:10, for example, that states 

 ¹⁰For even when we were with you, this we commanded you: that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some among you who walk disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.

  When we don’t work, we get ourselves in trouble.

So, in conclusion, what is faith?  It is trusting and believing that God works all things out for our good, sometimes sooner rather than later, and sometimes later rather than sooner.  Solomon put it all together in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

 ¹³Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. ¹⁴For God shall bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil.

.

Yesterday there was a knock on my door so I answered it and it was two Mormon missionaries.  They were so sweet and were all smiles.  They didn’t act pushy.  They just portrayed the image that they cared about me.

Although I can never endorse the cult of Mormonism, it did bring back memories of two childhood summer friends I had growing up in the 60’s when I would spend the summer in Springfield, Mo. We all lived in the same neighborhood within three houses of each other.  My grandmother always taught me to never “stick my nose up” at someone just because their belief systems were different than mine.  That would be a contradiction to the commandment to “love one another.”

Pam, Kathy and I did everything together.  We were a threesome.  We went to the movies, went roller skating, hiking, and just had fun talking.  What was so unique about us that made my grandmother grin?  She used to comment, “interesting–one Protestant, one Catholic, and one Mormon.” 

Pam and Kathy both came from good moral homes, and that was what was the primary concern for my grandmother.  I don’t remember the three of us ever arguing or having a conflict. 

This is a good lesson for all of us.  Remember, people can come to the Lord only as the Holy Spirit draws them in.  It isn’t our place to play the role of the Holy Spirit to convict people of their sin.  Today, ponder on these scriptures:

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.” John 12:32)

This people draweth nigh unto Me with their mouth, and honoreth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. (Matthew 15:8)

“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. (John 6:44)

“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)

A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.  (Proverbs 18:2)

“And why call ye Me, `Lord, Lord,’ and do not the things which I say? (Luke 6:46)

Today, list some ways you have not let your light shine for Jesus before people this past week.  Let us learn to judge not and love instead.

How do we know we are in the end times?  Haven’t people always predicted the end?  The key is understanding that the beginning of the very end of the dispensation of grace began when Israel became a nation in 1948.  To understand the rapture, you must understand that God has separate plans for  Jews and Gentiles.  When the dispensation of grace ends, the church age ends.  The first 3 chapters of Revelation deal with the Churches and after Revelation 4:1 when Jesus commands to “come up hither (here)” the church is mentioned no more.  ¹After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”
 ⁵¹Behold, I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep; but we shall all be changed ⁵²in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. ⁵³For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. (I Corinithians 15: 51-53)

Matthew 25

   ”Then shall the Kingdom of Heaven be likened unto ten virgins, who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom ²And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. ³They that were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, ⁴but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. ⁵While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. ⁶And at midnight there was a cry made: `Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.’ <sup>7</sup>Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. <sup>8</sup>And the foolish said unto the wise, `Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out.’ ⁹But the wise answered, saying, `Not so, lest there be not enough for us and you; but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.’ <sup>10</sup>And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut <sup>11</sup>Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, `Lord, lord, open to us!’ ¹²But he answered and said, `Verily I say unto you, I know you not.’ ¹³Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh.

Five of the ten virgins had fallen in soil three.  What is soil three?  It is found in the parable of the four soils we fall into when we first hear the Word of God.  It shows us four ways we respond when we hear the Word of God.

 ²And He taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in His doctrine:  ³“Hearken! Behold, there went out a sower to sow. ⁴And it came to pass as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. ⁵And some fell on stony ground where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth. ⁶But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.⁷And some fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. ⁸And other fell on good ground; and it yielded fruit that sprang up and increased and brought forth: some thirty, and some sixty, and some a hundredfold.” ⁹And He said unto them, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” ¹⁰And when He was alone, those who were about Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable.¹¹And He said unto them, “Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the Kingdom of God; but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables ¹²that, `seeing they may see, and not perceive, and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted and their sins should be forgiven them.’”¹³And He said unto them, “Know you not this parable? And how then will ye know all parables? ¹⁴The sower soweth the Word. ¹⁵And these are they by the wayside, where the Word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately and taketh away the Word that was sown in their hearts. (Didn’t understand it or wasn’t listening)¹⁶And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground who, when they have heard the Word, immediately receive it with gladness; ¹⁷but they have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time. Afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the Word’s sake, immediately they are offended. (a “not worth it selfish” attitude)¹⁸And these are they which are sown among thorns, such as hear the Word, ¹⁹but the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts other things entering in, choke the Word, and it becometh unfruitful. (Those that love the world more than God, are lukewarm and have one foot in the world, and one foot in Christ)²⁰And these are they which are sown on good ground, such as hear the Word and receive it and bring forth fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred. (those that accept Christ for the right reasons and realize they are lost and owe God everything) 

The Lukewarm Christians are described in Revelation 3:14-17

 ¹⁴“And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write: `These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God: ¹⁵I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot; I would thou wert cold or hot. ¹⁶So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of My mouth. ¹⁷Because thou sayest, “I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing,” and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable, and poor and blind and naked,”

The rapture is only promised to the Church of Philadelphia in Revelation 3:10, which is soil 4.

   
 ¹⁰Because thou hast kept the word of My patience, I will also keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth. ¹¹Behold, I come quickly; hold fast that which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

Life is serious because your future eternity is at stake.  The rapture is only promised to the Church of Philadelphia. 

Remember, salvation can be compared to you drowning in a well.  You are hopelessly lost (thanks to Adam and Eve, the beginning of the human race).  Jesus is throwing down a rope shouting “grab on and come up hither.”  Don’t you want to be set free and have your sins washed away?  Bible prophecy is nothing to be ignored.  Listen to this song again, and then click on how to find Jesus under categories.