Not Again?

Posted on by Dr. Linda Agnes Knowles

“‘Am I the one they are hurting?’ asks the LORD. ‘Most of all they hurt themselves, to their shame.’”

Jeremiah 7:19

Idolatry… yes, once again we are confronted with the people of Judah who committed the act of idolatry. They were making sacrificial fires and cakes to Ishtar, the Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility (Jeremiah 7:18); and they poured out liquid offerings before this false god.

Is it any wonder why God was infuriated? God was so infuriated He had told Jeremiah, “Pray no more for these people, Jeremiah. Do not weep or pray for them, and don’t beg me to help them, for I will not listen to you,” (Jeremiah 7:16). God was not looking the other way. He saw they were breaking His commandment not to have any other gods before Him. They were to love God with all their heart. Instead, the people of Judah had hearts filled with unfaithfulness towards God. In other words, they were being disloyal towards God.

In sinning against God, disregarding His commands, and turning away from Him, they were hurting themselves. Isaiah 59:2 says this: “It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.” By committing the act of idolatry, they had committed spiritual suicide. They had cut themselves off from the Wellspring of Life, the Source of Strength, their Deliverer. They turned away from the Almighty Everlasting God.

Before we judge the people of Judah harshly, we need to look at ourselves. Are we being unfaithful to God in any way that would cause Him to look away from us?

Let’s go further. The purpose of the sacrificial system God put in place was not to please Him. The purpose of the sacrifices to be made would make the people recognize their sin, cause them to repent, and to refocus them back to living for God. The purpose of the sacrificial system was to spur the people on, to encourage them to take joy in obeying God.

In this passage of Scripture, the sacrifices the people of Judah were doing before God dishonored Him because they were doing the sacrifices out of duty and obligation, not out of love or wholehearted devotion to Him. They were making sacrifices to the goddess Ishtar while they were also making sacrifices to God. They had turned away from God, disregarding His command not to have any other gods before Him.

Remember this: God DOES NOT conform to our will and our ways. We MUST conform to what God wills and desires. God is to have first place in our lives. He will not share His glory with another, and He is not sharing first place in our lives with anything or anyone else. Either God is God in our life, or He is not.

Let’s choose Life by choosing God because He is life. He is the Giver of Life. He is the One who sustains us, and He alone is worthy of all the glory and praise. Think of all that He has done for You. Let’s bring honor to His name by walking in obedience after Him. Let’s walk uprightly with undivided hearts, giving Him first place in our lives. Whatever it is that we need to remove to progress in our relationship with Him, then let’s remove it and press on. “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need,” Matthew 6:33.

Heavenly Father, You are still on the throne, and You are still sovereign. You are Lord, and You are Master. You are faithful and true. You know all things from beginning to the end. Nothing is hidden from Your sight, and everything is exposed before You. You, O God, truly know the depths of our heart. Father, when we walk away from You, we are only hurting ourselves. We are sorry for our wrongful ways and sinful attitudes before You. Lord, forgive us for our sins, and we ask that You cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Let us not be as the people of Judah but let us remember that You alone must have first place in our lives and that You will not share Your glory with another. Remind us that we are to conform to Your will and to Your ways. Give us the wisdom and the insight to understand that sin separates us from You. Help us to understand that You do not tolerate sin, that we are to be holy as You are holy. Give us the strength to remain steadfast in You. Time is short, Father God, and the return of Christ is nearer than it ever has been. There is no time to straddle the fence, and You do not play games. Lord, let us be living sacrifices before You that are pleasing and honorable in Your sight. Use us to bring glory to Your name. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Linda A. Knowles

WILL YOU STILL STAND FOR CHRIST?

Posted on by Dr. Linda Agnes Knowles

WILL YOU STILL STAND FOR CHRIST?

By Linda A. Knowles

“Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in heaven. Do not assume that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

Matthew 10:32-34

No matter who we are or what we do, what we believe about who Christ is and what He has done on Calvary matters. At some point, we are each faced with either choosing Christ and continuing on with Him OR we will choose someone or something else over Christ. Christ has done for us what no one else can do. There is nothing that will ever be able to fill the place in our heart and lives that He alone can fill.

No one wants to believe that a family member hates them or will go against them, but it does happen. Our stance in Christ may be the very thing that causes them to go against us. Our position in Christ may be the very thing that causes them to oppose us at any given opportunity. They can mock us and scoff at us. They can even work at trying to get us to change our beliefs about God and what God calls good and what He calls evil. Can family bring us to the point where we will have to choose between them or Christ? Yes. Not everyone will accept Christ. Not everyone is interested in following the ways of God. Not everyone will accept Christ as being Lord and Savior. Not everyone will believe all He did for us at Calvary. Not everyone in our families will be interested in hearing about Christ or about hearing what the Word of God says about living a life sold out to God. Unfortunately, this is altogether sad, but true.

For those who choose to stand for truth, even if it means losing beloved family members, there is hope. Our hope is found in Christ alone, and this is our assurance: Christ is with us until the very end. If we are not ashamed of Him before men, He will not be ashamed of us before our Heavenly Father. For those who choose Christ, even if it means we will be standing alone, the Lord is upholding us in His righteous right hand, and He has not forsaken us. For those who do not deny Christ and love Him with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength: to them, they have eternal life because Christ, their Savior and Lord, lives within them, and they will be living life with an abundance of blessings from the Lord.

Will you take a stand even if it means you are standing alone? Will you stand for what is right and holy even in the midst of family members who oppose and betray you? Each of us must ask ourselves these questions.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your love and mercy. Thank You for choosing me to live for You that I might produce lasting fruit for Your Kingdom. Lord, help me to always walk upright before You, keeping my eyes fixed on the prize before me. Help me to keep my eyes focused on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of my Faith. Strengthen me. Guide me and teach me all of Your ways. Thank You for saving and rescuing me. Father, help me to remain strong even though family members may come against me, though they may oppose me. Your approval of me, Abba, is the only thing that matters, not the applause of men. Instruct me as I walk along this narrow path and help me not to slip to the wayside. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

From the Quiet Place…

Posted on by Dr. Linda Agnes Knowles

God wants to live among His people.  He wants to protect them.  That has always been His desire since the beginning of time.  He desires to commune and have that fellowship with His children.  However, His people have rejected Him as their Lord and their God.  Those who have claimed God as their own have defiled their own bodies and have exchanged the Most High God for other gods, the creation created by God Himself and the things created by man.

GNBThe Church has exchanged what is holy for what is evil and exchanged the truth of God for lies.  Rather than seeking the God Who Provides her with all her needs, she seeks after that which is temporal such as power, prestige, wealth, popularity, and the like.

God is not welcomed in most places of worship, and His Word has been dissected and chopped up to the point it is unrecognizable.  The Word has been made to suit the lifestyles of the people instead of the people seeing themselves in light of the Word of God, repenting, turning from their evil ways, and humbling themselves before God.

God desires a relationship with His people, but they have kicked Him out of their lives and their hearts.  They have kicked God out of their homes and places of worship.

ROMANSThe consequences of their sin are falling on their own heads, and they are blaming God for their suffering.  Their choices have them on the broad road to destruction.  They are headed to Hell.  Their consciences are seared and their hearts calloused.

The anger of God is set against all sinful and wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.  They know the truth about God because He has made it obvious to them.  The creation clearly shows the invisible qualities of God and so they have no excuse for not knowing God.

HEBREWSEverything is exposed before the eyes of God.  He sees all and yet His children don’t believe He sees all they do and hears all they say.  They are clever at doing wrong, but they are stupid when it comes to doing what is right.  They have chosen death instead of life.  They have chosen to be cursed rather than blessed.

To all those who have believed Him and accepted Him, to them, He gave the right to become children of God.  Those who do His will and walk uprightly before Him, they belong to Him.

“Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD?  Or who may stand in His holy place?  He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor has sworn deceitfully.  He shall receive blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.  This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, who see Your face.”

 

Times of Desperation Are The Best

Posted on by Dr. Linda Agnes Knowles

GRACE 2

You might be thinking, “Seriously, Linda? Times of desperation are the best? Are you crazy?”  Probably, but I have had a lot of time to think about desperation since I have been through desperate situations myself as well as knowing some others who have found themselves in situations and circumstances beyond their control. I have thought a lot about people in the bible who have found themselves in the most dangerous or crazy situations.  *Let’s face it. We’ve all had those moments where we have come face to face with trials and not knowing what to do in those situations… those situations that have had us laid out before the LORD, those situations that have had us completely at the end of ourselves, that have us carefully tuning in to hear GOD’s voice speak, paying more attention to what the Word of GOD has to say, and clinging to GOD more than we usually do.

“In my desperation I prayed, and the LORD listened; he saved me from all my troubles.” -Psalm 34:6 (NLT)
Are these times pleasant when we are going through them?  NO.  However, those are the rawest of moments where GOD can work WITHOUT US trying to help HIM because there is nothing of self to get in the way because we have given up the situation to GOD, completely surrendering whatever it is to HIM.  That’s where GOD wants us: FULLY SURRENDERED TO HIM, relying on HIM, not just in the bad times but in the good times as well…  in the time of blessings and in the time of tribulations.  *In the pages of Scriptures, we see Joseph, Daniel, and Nehemiah who all lived for GOD, served GOD, and did great things for GOD.  However, they all went through trying times.  Through it all, they clung to GOD with steadfast devotion and unwavering loyalty.  Their success did not come by walking an easy road but by walking a narrow road paved with humility, suffering, persecution, and all while walking in obedience to GOD who upheld them no matter what the circumstances or situations they were in.  GOD worked everything out for their good and for HIS purposes, and GOD can work things out for you just as HE did for them.  Joseph, Daniel, and Nehemiah were blessed for enduring their times of trial, those desperate situations.   Remember it was desperate times which took Joseph from the cistern to the palace (Genesis 37-41), Daniel from the Lion’s Den into prosperity (Daniel 6:28), and Nehemiah from cupbearer to heading up the rebuilding of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:1-9).  

REFLECTION:  “For he clung to the LORD; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the LORD had commanded Moses,” (2 Kings 18:6).  You can be like Hezekiah who did not depart from following GOD but kept the commandments of GOD.  Cling tightly to GOD at ALL times.  Be faithful to the GOD who has been faithful to you and who has kept you.  Be loyal to the GOD who has not let your enemies triumph over you.  Walk with HIM and follow the LORD’s commandments, obeying Him with wholehearted devotion.  Without GOD, you can do nothing.  With GOD, you are an overcomer and made victorious. *PRAYER:  Heavenly Father, Your power is made perfect in weakness. You are the Horn of My Salvation, and You are the Wellspring of Life.  No matter what the circumstance, good or bad, I will put my hope and trust in You for with You all things are possible.  Thank You for times of desperation because, in those moments, You teach me and show me more of Your goodness, Your faithfulness, and Your grace.  Thank you for making my feet like a deer able to climb the mountain heights You have set me on, and when I come to You to have my strength renewed as I wait upon you, let me rise up with wings like an eagle.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Linda A. Knowles

“Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the word of his servant? Let the one who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on their God.”  -Isaiah 50:10

God Is The Jealous God

Posted on by Dr. Linda Agnes Knowles

JEALOUS GOD 1

“Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame,” (Solomon 8:6).

Our God is a consuming fire, and He will NOT share His glory with another.  His jealousy is like fire.  He burns with a passion for His people who are to look to only Him as LORD and as GOD!

“So be careful not to break the covenant the Lord your God has made with you. Do not make idols of any shape or form, for the Lord your God has forbidden this.  The Lord your God is a devouring fire; he is a jealous God,” (Deuteronomy 4:23-24).

This passage shows God’s demand for loyalty and faithfulness to Him.  His jealousy is the kind that is appropriate and good.  God defends His name, His words, and His honor.  His demand for loyalty and faithfulness from His children is as passionate as a consuming fire and is an exclusive one.  GOD is LORD, and no one else is to be treated as such.  In other words, there is NO other God besides your Heavenly Father who is the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth.  No one compares to Him, and no one ever will compare to Him.  God is jealous for you.Mankind is frail, made of nothing but the dust of the ground, fading away along with everything in this world, BUT GOD is everlasting, the Omnipresent LORD, who does NOT fail.  He is glorious and majestic in all His ways, and He is jealous for you.  Remember to be faithful to the LORD in all you do for our God is a consuming fire and does NOT share His glory with another.

PRAYER:  Heavenly Father, You are the King of Glory, and You do not share Your glory with another.  There is no other god who can compare to You because You are the All-Knowing God worthy of all honor and praise.  Salvation belongs to You alone.  You are full of grace and mercy, and You are the Eternal One.  Help me to remember You are jealous for me and to set my affections on You alone.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Linda A. Knowles

Digging Cracked Cisterns

Posted on by Dr. Linda Agnes Knowles

CISTERN 3“For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned me-the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!”  –Jeremiah 2:13

If we look at the first four chapters of Jeremiah, you will notice that Spiritual Adultery and Idolatry are used interchangeably.  In the eyes of God, these two issues are the same issue.  To commit spiritual adultery is to be unfaithful to God and to commit idolatry is to worship another god.  Both require no loyalty, commitment, faithfulness, or courage to stand for what’s right.

Looking at the above verse from Jeremiah, the people of Israel were digging cracked cisterns for themselves.  Cisterns hold water, but in this particular passage, the cracked cisterns were the false religious systems and their continual idolatry of false gods the pagan nations served.  Whenever the Israelites turned away from God to serve the gods of pagan nations, they were building cracked cisterns that could not hold the amount of spiritual adultery, the pagan rituals they adopted along with the adoration of foreign gods.  The cracked cisterns represented everything temporal which would eventually fade away or erode.

However, the Fountain of the Living Water holds Truth and Life, and the Fountain of Living Water is eternal, unbreakable, the Source of Our Hope, and the Source of Life.  The people of God traded in their God, The Creator of Heavens and Earth, for gods made out of the hands of man.  Note:  Not even the pagan nations traded in their national gods as we can see in verses 11-12 which states, “Has any nation ever traded its gods for new ones even though they are not gods at all?  Yet my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols!  The heavens are shocked at such a thing and shrink back in horror and dismay, says the Lord.”

Nowadays, we’re no different from the Israelites.  We could call them foolish people, but today, we’re just as foolish as they were.  We trade in the Fountain of the Living Water for cracked cisterns of our own making called money, power, wealth, prestige, religious systems, or whatever it is taking first place in our lives.  First place in our lives belongs to God and Him alone.  Why would we trade our glorious God for what is going to fade away?  Why would we trade our glorious God for what is broken and cracked when He offers what is whole and eternal?  Why should we cling to cracked cisterns when God is faithful to His promises of restoration and renewal, promises of hope?

God has shown us He does not change.  He is our Constant and Assurance.  He knows the motivations and intentions of the heart.  God does not look at the appearance of any man or woman.  He sees us digging cracked cisterns or if we are drinking from the Fountain of the Living Water.

If we have dug cracked cisterns for ourselves, then we must know we are being called back to a place of repentance.  God promises restoration for those who truly have a broken spirit and contrite heart before Him and does not turn away those who are humble and broken, truly repentant before Him.

What cracked cisterns do you have?  Are you truly willing to lay them down at the feet of God?  No one can answer those questions for you.  You must answer for yourself.

God must be First place in our life, our First Resource, not our last resort.  Let us come before God to be renewed, to be restored and purified.  Let us come bow our hearts before Him, seeing ourselves in light of who He is.

“You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.  You do not want a burnt offering.  The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.  You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.” -Psalm 51:16-17

 

Much Love To You All,

L.A. Knowles

 

 

 

We Will Not Back Down

Posted on by Dr. Linda Agnes Knowles

WE WILL NOT BACK DOWN

Written By Linda A. Knowles

ARMOR 1

We pledge allegiance to God Almighty,

Creator of the Heavens and the Earth.

Representing Him who holds our citizenship in Heaven,

we will strap on the full armor of God

so our loyalty will not waver as we stand firm

in the face of opposition.

We will be strong and courageous,

without fear,

without dismay.

Leaving everything behind,

we offer our lives as a living sacrifice

unto Him who spared no expense to rescue us.

As we are striving to serve Him wholeheartedly,

we know the battle is not ours, but God’s.

With a steadfast determination and the strength He gives,

we will not back down.