Blame-shifting, most of us are tempted at times to blame others or various situations for our behavior. We blame our nationality, our temperament, our race, our financial situation, our social status, our lack of opportunities, and our lack of education. We blame our parents, our family of origin, our bosses, our spouses, and our children. And I’m sure we could all come up with other people and things that we’re tempted to blame. We even blame God. And if we don’t come up with our own excuses, there are plenty of so-called experts out there who will do it for us. But what does the Bible actually say about the subject?
Are you a person of prayer? Do you pray at the first sign of a problem? Or do you first exhaust all your other options and pray only as a last resort? And when you do pray, what is the focus of your prayers?
King Hezekiah gave us one of the greatest examples of prayer in the Old Testament. His amazing prayer has a lot to teach us about the importance and right focus of prayer.
In our Old Testament reading, we’ll see God’s patience come to an end with the Northern Kingdom when He allowed Israel to be taken into captivity by the Assyrians. The Assyrians brought in settlers from other areas to till the land and live there. But when God sent lions to kill them, they decided they needed to learn something about the “god of that land.” Not so they could truly worship Him. They just wanted to tack on a little Jewishness to what they were doing to pacify him. What about us … have we tried to add a little Jesus to our lives … put a Christian veneer over a heart that’s still worshiping other things?
Today (among other things), we’ll talk about something that can be one of the greatest challenges: responding well to criticism. But how we respond reveals things about us that God wants us to see. So, how can we respond in ways that allow us to benefit from even the most unfair criticism? And on the other hand, are there ways of responding that can result in God’s discipline?
Family feuds can be some of the most difficult to settle, yet God places a high priority on unity and peace within our biological families and within the family of God.
Sometimes that can be challenging to achieve in the midst of family feuds and misunderstandings. And there are times when we do all we can to be at peace with someone but the other person simply won’t. There can, also, be times when choosing what might look like peace is really a compromise at the cost of truth and righteousness.
Do you look around and see wicked people doing fine … even prospering? Have you ever thought, “Why bother doing what is right?!” or “I’ve been good for nothing!” Those were the Psalmist’s thoughts. Psalm 73 has a powerful message for every believer who has ever struggled with those kinds of thoughts and feelings about wicked people.
And speaking of wicked people, we’ll read about a grandmother so evil she had her own grandchildren murdered. We’ll, also, consider the influence wives and mothers can have on their children, grandchildren, and the world around them … for good or for evil.
And read about the foolishness of judging when you only hear one side of the story and the danger we run of taking sides without knowing the facts.
As human beings, we can withstand great physical and circumstantial difficulties, but when we lose hope even small problems can seem insurmountable. How do we find hope and learn to trust God when we have lost hope and the pressure seems too much to bear?
Also, how should we respond when someone speaks to us in unbiblical ways or threatens us foolishly? What can we learn from Jesus’ responses to Pilate?
And from our Old Testament reading:
Even though God is love, He is also the righteous Judge of the universe. In His mercy, He gives people many opportunities to repent and change, but He does eventually judge evil. Such was the case with Ahab and Jezebel. Ahab died in battle but his wicked wife Jezebel’s death was especially gruesome.
God’s Word has much to say about pride, humility, and wise living. When we heed its counsel, it can help us avoid many of the pitfalls that lead to embarrassment, humiliation, and disaster. But when we don’t, and we become prideful, we often think we can handle things, especially temptation, and don’t need God’s help.
Even within Jesus’ inner circle, prideful, self-confident Peter had told Jesus he would never deny Him. Yet, three denials later, as he heard that rooster crow, he must have experienced the worst grief and humiliation of his life!
In what way might you be thinking or saying, “I would never ________” … you fill in the blank?
In 2 Kings 5, we will read about a little servant girl who had been ripped away from her family and life as she knew it, and forced to work as a slave. But her heart attitude was one of loyalty and concern for the people under whose authority God had placed her. I wonder how you and I would respond to a similar situation. The truth is, most of us have difficult things going on in our lives. How are you responding to your challenges? Are you living based on the hope that is in you or something else? Why is doing so the way to true blessings?
What causes laziness? What does the Bible say about laziness? Is it a choice or could it be a self-esteem issue or something else altogether?
How and when does laziness show up in your life? In the physical area? With mental pursuits? Or maybe with spiritual things? And when we spot laziness in our lives, what should we do?
And most important of all, how does the gospel intersect this area and every area with which we struggle?
And from our Old Testament reading:
The devil has always sought to destroy what God loves. Proverbs says, “… All those who hate me [God] love death.”
Pagan religions frequently involve human sacrifice or behaviors that result in sickness, death, and destruction. And while the devil may seem less obvious in developed countries like ours, has ours become a culture of death, too?
