Daily Devotional for Tuesday November 11, 2008
Do You Honor God with Your Lips or with Your Life
(Isaiah 29:13; James 3:9,10)
Several months ago, I did a Devotional on how God calls what those who try to speak to the dead, those who are involved in fortune telling and other psychic activities do, an ABOMINATION. I gave a mountain of scripture to support that God clearly says this is activity we are NOT to be involved in.
I used John Edward, this fraud who claims to speak to the dead as an example in that Devotional. At best, Edward and those like him are highly polished carnival acts, at worst, they are operating with demonic powers. Every time I deal with this issue, the demons of hell come flying out of the woodwork. Those who defend Edward, Sylvia Brown, and the rest of these deceivers all say the same thing, "They have to be of God. They pray, and they always talk about God."
The prophet Isaiah said it so well in the anchor verse for today. "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." It is not what you say that makes you Godly, it is what you do! These psychics honor God with their words, then proceed to engage in activity that is 100% in opposition to God.
I read recently that a woman won an award for appearing in a pornographic movie and said that she wanted to thank Jesus for the award. I cringe as I watch an athlete give glory to God for what he accomplished on the field, then moments later proceed to take God's name in vain. Saying the word "God" does not make you "of God." It is your actions that make you "of God!"
Please don't get me wrong. I am not saying that we should not give God all of the glory, honor, and praise that He deserves. WE MUST! But God is more interested in how we honor Him with our lives. My mother used to tell me that actions speak louder than words. She was 100% correct as mothers always are.
The greatest impact that we can have on someone we are close to is not by what we say, but how we live our life. Our most powerful testimony is not our words, but our actions. The greatest impact that you can have on unsaved family members, friends, those that you may see at school or work, is not what you will say to them about Jesus, but how you show them Jesus in YOUR day to day life.
I love you and care about you so much. I pray today that just because someone uses the name "God", or "Jesus" , or "Christian", that you just don't automatically accept all that they say and do. You can't be "of God" and then blatantly live in 100% opposition to God, or in the case of the Mormon cult, in 100% opposition to His Word by following the lies of that cults founder Joey Smith OVER the Word of God.
The Bible, our final authority in all matters, the ABSOLUTE TRUTH that we base our very lives on, says that those who do what Edward does, what Brown and the other psychics do, is a SIN. So they can invoke the name of God, pray all they want, that does NOT make what they are doing "of God" any more than what the porno actress does, even though she also gives glory to God. God is not impressed with our words, but our actions.
My question to you today is this: "Do you honor God with your lips or with your life?"
In His love and service, Your friend and brother in Christ, Bill Keller