Scripture: Deuteronomy 28 v 20 - 22: "The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.
21 The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.
22 The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish."
Matthew 18 v 32 - 35: "Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:
33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?
34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses."
One thing we have learned is that God never changes His mind about sin and disobedience. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. What was condemned in the Old Testament is condemned in the New.
Our God is not interested in us being politically correct in line with the world view. He wants us to line up with His Word and obey what it says. It's not a choice or a debate or putting out a fleece like Gideon in Judges. If we truly have a personal relationship with Him He expects us to hear His voice and follow directions.
He sees the pitfalls we have no clue about. He wants to guide us past them and protect us from harm. When we do our own thing and expect Him to like it, His hands are tied and if we fall into difficulties and cry out He waits for us to acknowledge our stupidity and do the right thing. Then His hands are free to lift us out of our problems.
A few years back I was asked for advice to counsel an American couple who were heading away from their strong and sound church to go to a Bible College that was anything but solid and true. The person asking had a meeting with this couple and showed them what they were getting into but they were determined and went.
This week I have been asked to pray for the wife, who has a one month old baby and is desperately ill in hospital needing emergency surgery but has so many additional serious complications that surgery is impossible. She is in constant and severe pain. My only prayer is that she remember the warnings given and realises that God's hands are tied until she obeys His Word.
Over the years of this ministry there has been more prayer to extract people from God's response to their behaviour than releasing them from demonic bondage. The passage from Matthew above, the words of Jesus, My Father will hand you over to the tormentors unless you forgive.
How many of us are tormented by addictions, fears, diseases, insanity, debt, loss, nightmares, affairs, and many other miseries because our Father is waiting for us to forgive someone who we may not even remember. Check out your life and cancel all emotional debts to turn your ship around and get out of the doldrums. If you owe someone an apology then humble yourself and fix it. It frees God's hands to fix your own problems.
The Lord showed me a vision of my life, and it applies to everyone really. He showed me a hosepipe. If its not connected to the tap it remains empty. The tap and hose can be connected but the tap not opened. Still empty. Jesus is holding the spray end of the hose ready to water the spiritual seeds sown but if the hose is empty He will discard it for one that is full and ready.
So the tap is connected to God and the water is the Holy Spirit. If there are kinks in the hose the flow will stop. Unkink the hose. Those kinks are disobedience, racism, hatred, and every other sin. Clear everything out and turn the tap on full and be a useful instrument in the hand of Jesus.
Prayer: Heavenly Father Thank You for Your mercy. You are changing us into the likeness of Jesus, Your perfect Son. Help us remove all kinks from our hoses, connect them properly and turn taps on full so that flames can be put out and good seeds watered. We want to be part of the solution. In Jesus' name. Amen.
