Have You Exchanged the Truth?

 "They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, & they worshipped & served created things rather than the Creator - who is forever praised. Amen." (Romans 1:25)

When I read this verse the other day, my first thought was that it describes our society well. It's easy to apply there.

But, it doesn't stop there. It's not just for the world out there.

If we take a couple of minutes to think about it, we can see where we've done this in our churches & in our own lives.

We've exchanged the truth of God's Word for a lie. The lie often just subtle enough that we don't even realize right away. Or, in a desire to make the gospel most comfortable, we downplay what it actually says about something. Or we take something out of the context it was written in to make it say what we want that it doesn't actually say.

We've worshipped created things rather than the Creator. We have celebrity pastors & worship leaders - & then we're shocked when they fail. We let preferences divide & we see ours as the right ones.

But, let's make this even a little bit more personal for a few minutes.

We do this in our own lives. We believe lies rather than the truth. Sometimes we've intentionally chosen to. And sometimes we got a little off course at the start & now we're really far off course.

We've worshipped created things. We worship money, material possessions, power, a specific body type, health, etc.

So, we're left with some challenging questions:

Are there places in your life where you've exchanged the truth of God for a lie - either knowingly or unknowingly?

Are you willing to turn from those lies & turn back to God's truth - even if the truth is hard?

Are there places in your life where you're worshipping created things rather than the Creator?

How can you turn back to worshipping the Creator?

Guard Your Heart

 What comes to mind when you hear these words? 

What do you think of when it comes to guarding your heart?

Proverbs 4:23 says,

"Guard your heart, because everything you do flows from it."

What comes to mind when you think about what this means for your life?

There's all sorts off situations that come to mind for what this means that you could be thinking of.

For a long time when I read this verse, I thought pretty much only about romantic relationships, because that's where I heard this verse used the most. It was a caution against getting too involved with someone until I was married to them.

That's part of it, but there is so much more involved.

The idea of heart here is everything that makes you you. Your will. Your intellect. Your mind. Your emotions. Your passions. Your motives. Your desires. All of that makes up who you are.

This is what we're being told to guard here, because it impacts how we live our lives.

What we do & how we do it is impacted by our hearts. The way we interact with people & form relationships is part of this - whether friendships or other. Even our relationship with God is impacted by this.

Because of how important our heart is to how we live, we're told to guard it. We need to pay close attention to what we're allowing to have influence in our hearts. We can't go through life unaware. It matters.

So, how are you doing at guarding your heart?

Are there things in your life that need to change?

Worship as the First Response

I probably don't spend enough time reading the Old Testament. In doing so, it can be easy to miss some of the incredible things God wants to show me & teach me. After all, He has it included in our Bibles for a reason.

I was reminded of this recently when a devotional I was reading began with a single verse from 2 Chronicles. I couldn't stop thinking about it the rest of the day - it just felt like there was more there. 

I took time to sit down & read the whole chapter. I was struck by how much there was in it that spoke to me & where I'm at right now.

What is your response when you're overwhelmed or afraid?

Do you frantically try to figure out what to do?

Or do you ask God for His help right away?

2 Chronicles 20 opens with Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, receiving overwhelming & fearful news. He is told that Judah's enemies were coming against them.

Verses 3-4 say this in response:

"Jehoshaphat was afraid, so he decided to ask the Lord what to do. He announced that everyone in Judah should fast during this special time of prayer to God. The people of Judah came together to ask the Lord for help; they came from every town in Judah." (NCV)

Jehoshaphat's immediate response to this overwhelming & fearful news was to pray - to seek God's direction for what to do. And he invited the entire nation of Judah to join him in it.

In the following verses, we see the people of Judah gather as Jehoshaphat led them in prayer. His pray declared who God is & what their situation was. And Jehoshaphat ended with a statement of truth.

"We don't know what to do, so we look to You for help." (vs 12b, NCV)

He asked God exactly what he & the people of Judah needed.

Then they listened for God's response.

"Don't be afraid or discouraged because of this army. The battle is not your battle, it is God's . . . You won't need to fight this battle. Just stand strong in your places, & you will see the Lord save you. Judah & Jerusalem, don't be afraid or discouraged, because the Lord is with you. So go out against those people tomorrow." (vs 15b, 17, NCV)

After they sought God, they had God's battle plan revealed. A plan that would have looked much different than anything they could have come up with on their own.

Their job was to stand firm as God's promise to fight for them, not try to fight themselves.

The next day, as they set out to do what God told them to do, they went forward with worship.

"Jehoshaphat listened to the people's advice. Then he chose men, to be signs to the Lord, to praise Him because He is holy & wonderful. As they march in front of the army, they said,

    'Thank the Lord,

    because His love continues forever'." (vs 21, NCV)

The army went forward worshipping God & saw God act powerfully on their behalf.

"As they began to sing & praise God, the Lord set ambushes to attack Ammon, Moab, & Edom who had come to attack Judah. And they were defeated." (vs 22, NCV)

Jehoshaphat & the army of Judah walked in trust of God - they stood firm in what they knew of God - & they saw victory happen God's way.

This was a powerful reminder for me in this season as I face my current battles, & deal with fear & overwhelm at what is coming toward me. My response should be turning to God to seek His plan for it all. And, as I stand firm in His plan & trust His ways, I can see the outcome God has planned. My job isn't to frantically worry & fear, & try to solve it myself. My job is prayer & worship & trusting God's plan.

What in your life is causing you fear & overwhelm?

Have you prayed about it?

Take time to admit to God you don't know what to do. 

Worship God in the midst of it - even if you don't see an answer yet. As we stand firm on God's truth & worship Him, we see God acting in ways we might otherwise have missed.