Avoid God’s Anger, Show Your Allegiance!

The Bible – New Living Translation

Psalm106:19–23; 29

^{19 The people made a calf at Mount Sinai;}

^{they bowed before an image made of gold.}

^{20 They traded their glorious God}

^{for a statue of a grass-eating bull.}

^{21 They forgot God, their savior,}

^{who had done such great things in Egypt—}

^{22 such wonderful things in the land of Ham,}

^{such awesome deeds at the Red Sea.}

^{23 So he declared he would destroy them.}

^{29 They stirred up the Lord’s anger by their actions,}  

                 ^{and a terrible disease broke out among them.}

Thoughts:

In verses 23 and 29 God declared His anger, because He could no longer stand to see His people, for whom He did so much, totally disregard their blessings and instead choose to worship, or show homage to other gods. I believe that God opened my eyes to reflect on how this is applicable to me, and/or to His ‘church’ today. Friends, I often reflect on the critical happenings in our lifetime and question why God would allow such things to happen to His people. Often I receive the answer back that God is gently trying to get the undivided attention of His kids. After all, have you also noticed how similar to the ungrateful Israelites that we have become? After major disasters, our churches fill up, at least for a few Sundays/Saturdays, then when the people realize that they can handle the fallout from the disaster themselves, they stop attending church again and fall back to their old ‘gods’. So what are these other ‘gods’ you might ask? Well, anything that takes the place of the Almighty God in our lives, are our little ‘gods’. There is no need to name them, for I believe they are numerous. Just remember, Jesus, our Lord, sacrificed His life on a cruel cross at Calvary, so that we might have life eternally with Him in glory. How much is that worth to you? I heard a lady say yesterday that throughout the rest of her lifetime, she would never part with a bed mattress that saved her life in a hurricane. How much more important is it to us to never part with our Savior who sacrificed so much to save us from our lives of sin? There is nothing more important than your time with the Lord, whether it is your daily devotions, Bible study, prayer time or corporate worship, may I encourage you to not allow your small ‘gods’ to interfere with that time? Notice in verses 23 and 29 above that this really upsets God Almighty, and before you know it, there could be another show of His anger through some disaster in your life personally or nationally. Don’t go there friend. Show your allegiance to the King of kings and Lord of Lords. He alone deserves our praise!

Prayer:

Father, I want to thank You for Your daily bread, Your daily care of me and my family, Your daily allegiance to the promises made in Your Word. You are an awesome God. I thank You for drawing me to a relationship with You, and I thanks You for Your hand of protection over me each day. I regret that my daily weaknesses and disappointments may anger You at times. Please quickly draw my attention to those times that I get off track and not display the attitude and character that You expect from a child of Yours. Please continue to work on me, mold me into Your very image so that I may exemplify You in every way to the lost world that surrounds me. May I, in turn, be faithful to You in all things and may Your love and character be evident in all that I say or do. Please touch the lives of those friends that will stop by and meditate on this devotional. May they recommit themselves to you afresh today. I firmly believe that the world needs to see Jesus portrayed in all honesty and in its truest form, even if that differs from the ways of the world. I pray that your people may be touched in this special way without the need for You showing Your anger over the appalling ways of this world. Thank You for being my Master and my Lord. Please strengthen me to do Your will each and every day. I am Yours Lord, and I lift my voice in praise and honor to You, just as I lift these prayers before You, in Your wonderful name, Lord Jesus, AMEN!

NOTE: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com so that we can pray with you and give you help and or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Any words underlined above will indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray.