Line Upon Line

Next the Devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him the nations of the world and all their glory. "I will give it all to you," he said, "if you will only kneel down and worship me." "Get out of here, Satan," Jesus told him. "For the Scriptures say, 'You must worship the Lord your God; serve only him.'" Matthew 4:8-10 (NLT)

In September 1995, trumpeter/singer/songwriter Phil Driscoll gave me his copy of a book that had ministered to him. He thought its message might speak to my heart, too. Well, Phil heard from God. The Rhythm of Life: Putting Life's Priorities in Perspective, by Richard Exley, helped me see the importance of balancing work, rest, worship, and play. There are many quotes from this book that I'd like to share with you, but here's one powerful truth that all God's kids need to take to heart.

The more we focus on our needs, our desires, our rights, the more unhappy we become.... For all its laughter and surface gaiety, our world is not a very happy place. That really shouldn't surprise us. I mean, how can we expect to be happy when we violate almost every principle of the Abundant Life? We work too long, play too fast, laugh too loud and worship too little. We are hendonistic, always looking out for number one. We are materialistic. We buy things we don't need and can't afford to impress other people we don't even like. Like a bunch of pack rats, we are constantly carrying home the latest gadget in a misdirected effort to satisfy our gnawing emptiness. Our only hope is to learn to love God and people instead of things.

Ouch! The truth hurts, doesn't it? On the other hand, the truth of God's Word brings healing and wholeness, too--if we choose to hear it, believe it, and act on it!

think on these things...

1 John 2:15-17 (NKJV)
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

James 4:1-4 (NKJV)
Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Exodus 20:1-5 (NLT)
Then God instructed the people as follows: "I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from slavery in Egypt. Do not worship any other gods besides me. Do not make idols of any kind.... You must never worship or bow down to them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not share your affection with any other god!"

"The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable." Anonymous