20-20 Blog

Scripture Focus:

Amos 2:4
They rejected God’s revelation,
refused to keep my commands.
But they swallowed the same old lies
that got their ancestors onto dead-end roads.

2 Timothy 4:3–5
You’re going to find that there will be times when people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food—catchy opinions that tickle their fancy. They’ll turn their backs on truth and chase mirages. But you—keep your eye on what you’re doing; accept the hard times along with the good; keep the Message alive; do a thorough job as God’s servant.
Summary:
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Observation:

Apparently it’s pretty easy to believe a lie. Both Amos and Paul talk about this issue in today’s scripture reading. Believing a lie, even if you are deceived and think it’s the truth, has terrible consequences.

Paul mentions what will set you up for believing a lie: having no stomach for solid teaching, wanting something so badly that you’re an easy prey for a lie—because you want to believe it!

Application:

Watch out that you don’t want something so much that you’re willing to believe a lie to get it. God’s word is the final standard for everything. Measure everything against it.

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Scripture Focus:

Romans 13:11–14 But make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing!

Observation:

This is a repeat theme in scripture—getting overly concerned about this life and the accumulation of stuff. Building our house upon the sand. Letting the weeds (cares) of this world choke out our effectiveness.

Paul reminds me again in this passage that this life isn’t all there is. He warns me not to focus entirely on this life, but to keep an ear open to what God is doing, and how he wants me to participate in his grand plan for eternity. God’s work has eternal value and will last forever!

Application:

Listen to what God is saying. Be in tune with the Spirit today. Be willing to hold things loosely so I don’t get encumbered with the cares of this world and miss out on the most important things of all.

Prayer:

Father God, how can I join you today in your eternal purposes?

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Job 17:1 “My spirit is broken,
My days are extinguished,
The grave is ready for me.

Are not mockers with me?
And does not my eye dwell on their provocation?

Observation:

Job is in a world of hurt—no doubt—and his “friends” aren’t helping him one bit. As he feels beaten down and ready to die, he admits that he’s dwelling on the provocation of his mocking friends. All he can think about is what his friends are saying, and they’re not a positive influence for him, not a good place to dwell.

Application:

My circumstances are what they are, but I must always choose to dwell on the truth, on God’s promises, and on his presence, for he is surely with me, even in the darkest hour.

Prayer:

Father God, may I sense your presence with me through today’s circumstances. May I listen to your Spirit’s leading and guiding as I lead and guide my company today.

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Ezekiel 14:3 “Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity. Should I let Myself be inquired of at all by them?

Observation:

People set up idols in their hearts—things that they are devoted to in place of God. And they put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity. Instead of getting rid of the thing that tempts, they place it in plain view.

God declares that with such people, he will refuse to answer them when they pray to him.

Application:

It’s good to ask the question frequently, “What is coming between God and me?”

Prayer:

Father God, show me what I have set up in front of me, and what I cling to in my heart, that I might get rid of it.

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Ezekiel 8:12 Then He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the room of his idols? For they say, ‘The LORD does not see us, the LORD has forsaken the land.’”

Revelation 4:8 “ Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God Almighty,
Who was and is and is to come!”

Observation:

God is holy. There is no sin in him. It’s bad enough to compare ourselves with that kind of standard, but then we read in Ezekiel that God knows our thoughts, what we do in the dark, in secret. God’s holy standards include, not just what we do that other people see, but what we think in the secret chambers of our minds.

Application:

If I take this seriously, then I have to take my thought life seriously. I usually concentrate more on what I do externally, but if I think about the implications of God hearing my every thought, it really makes me pause!

One way to keep my thoughts holy is to be aware of God’s presence with me and his Spirit within me.

Prayer:

Father God, may the thoughts of my heart be pleasing to you today.

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Jeremiah 17:10 I, the LORD, search the heart,
I test the mind,
Even to give every man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his doings.

Observation:

There is a principle that is repeated with some frequency in the Bible: you will reap what you sow. Even the hidden things are known to God who searches the heart and tests the mind. Therefore, if I don’t like the fruit I’m seeing in my life, perhaps I’d better look at what I’m sowing.

Application:

I’ve heard it said that “Insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result.” God said it first long ago: You will reap what you sow. So what do I want to reap? Aaaah! Now that’s the question I must answer!

Prayer:

Father God, give me a vision for what can be when I follow biblical principles, and give me the courage to take steps in the right direction.

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Jeremiah 6:19–20 Hear, O earth!
Behold, I will certainly bring calamity on this people—
The fruit of their thoughts,
Because they have not heeded My words
Nor My law, but rejected it.
For what purpose to Me
      Comes frankincense from Sheba,
      And sweet cane from a far country?
      Your burnt offerings are not acceptable,
      Nor your sacrifices sweet to Me.”

Observation:

Every action is the result of a thought. Thoughts may remain hidden, and we may even put on a pretty good show of being religious, but thoughts have a way of bearing fruit if they’re not dealt with.

In these two verses we see that the people were going through religious motions, but their thoughts were far from wanting to obey God. The result? God promised to bring calamity upon them, for he knows the thoughts of the heart.

Application:

It’s easy to act religious when my thoughts aren’t in line with God’s commandments. It’s better to deal with things at the thought level before they bear bad fruit in my life.

Prayer:

Father God, convict me of wrong thinking so I may walk before you in honesty and bear good fruit in my life!

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Psalm 104: 33-34 I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
May my meditation be sweet to Him;
I will be glad in the LORD.

Observation:

God likes us to sing songs of praise to him. In Psalm 104 the psalmist says he will sing praises to God as long as he lives. This isn’t something we do as a child in Sunday School. This is something the old and the young get to do forever!

I love the phrase, “May my meditation be sweet to Him.” And the psalmist makes a conscious decision to be glad in the Lord.

Application:

I have a choice what I will allow myself to meditate on. Will I be worried, distracted, anxious today? Or will I meditate sweetly on God as I go about my duties today. It helps to sing songs of praise. Maybe that’s why the psalmist declares he will sing songs to the Lord as long as he lives. It’s hard to be desperate or scattered or upset when the thoughts you think and the songs you sing put God in his rightful place—in Control.

When my kids were little and I taught Sunday School, I used to turn Bible verses into little songs that made them easier to remember. I did that today with these two verses from Psalm 104, and it immediately gave me a feeling of calm.

Prayer:

Father God, you’re in control today. That’s worth singing about!

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2 Chronicles 25:1–2 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a loyal heart.

2 Timothy 3:5 having a form of godliness but denying its power.

Observation:

It’s quite possible to do the right thing without having a right heart. It looks pretty good to people around us, but God knows the heart.

Application:

This theme is repeated often in Scripture—probably because we need to hear it often. So, Linda, how’s your heart?

Prayer:

Father God, keep my heart tender toward you. When I stray, for we all stray, may the loyalty in my heart soon turn back to you.

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2 Chronicles 12:13 Thus King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and reigned . . . and he did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek the LORD.

Observation:

This verse says King Rehoboam did evil because he did not prepare his heart to seek the LORD. Elsewhere we read that he reacted out of fear that the people wouldn’t be loyal to him if they went to Jerusalem for the feasts and to offer sacrifices, so he set up bogus idols and priests. The result was that the majority of the nation of Israel was led astray for generations.

Sin is like weeds in a garden. Weeds grow naturally without any encouragement whatsoever, but the good plants must be intentionally planted and nurtured.

Application:

If I’m not intentional about preparing my heart to seek and follow God, sin will fill the void. Today is an opportunity to prepare the soil of my heart to seek the LORD and reap a good harvest.

How do I prepare my heart to seek the Lord? I put him first. I look to him for guidance. I trust in his promises more than the circumstances around me.

Prayer:

Father God, I put you first today. May I not let fear or my own appetites rule my actions today. This is your day. What’s my next step?

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