They LAID DOWN Their ARMOR

                                                                                 

                                                                             

And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:) then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord's side? Let him come unto me" (Exodus 32:25-26).

The Hebrew word used here for naked is para, meaning "to loosen, expose, dismiss." It also implies "a new beginning."

A modern beer commercial admonishes this generation to "turn
it loose tonight." It simply means to throw off past moral inhibitions, shake free of all law, begin pleasing yourself. Do your own thing, whatever makes you happy.

Merely taking off their clothes was not corruption; it was the signal, the message they were sending to the heathen looking on. Can you see the Amalakites on the surrounding mountains, far off, looking on this peculiar scene? These enemies, who had trembled when they saw God at work among them, now laughed and mocked, "Look at them. They are just like us! Their God has no power. They don't even trust in Him! They want to lust and party and play just like all the rest of us. What hypocrisy!"

In that one act of nakedness they belittled their God in the eyes of the ungodly! They made God seem heartless, cruel, uncaring and helpless. They besmirched the honor and majesty of an omnipotent God. They were no longer an example, no longer admired or feared or respected.

They had laid their armor down to party! They put in jeopardy God's plans for their salvation. They were saying to the world, We don´t want to fight any more enemies! We don´t want to resist! We have had enough of rejection, of sacrifice, of future hopes and far-off blessings. We want to live now! We want to enjoy ourselves! We want the good times to roll."

The corruption was this: This was to be their new beginning. No
more combat! If they were going to have to exist in a hard, cruel
wilderness, then they would quit the struggle and make do the
best they could-on their own.

~David Wilkerson~

Waiting On The LORD

I waited patiently for the Lord. (Psalm 40:1)
 
Waiting is much more difficult than walking, for waiting requires patience, and patience is a rare virtue.

We enjoy knowing that God builds hedges around His people, when we look at the hedge from the aspect of protection. But when we see it growing higher and higher until we can no longer see over it, we wonder if we will ever get out of our little sphere of influence and service, where we feel trapped. 

Sometimes it is hard for us to understand why we do not have a larger area of service, and it becomes difficult for us to brighten the corner where we are. But God has a purpose in all of His delays. 

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord” (Ps. 37:23 KJV). Next to this verse, in the margin of his Bible,George Mueller made this note: “And the stops too.”It is a sad mistake for someone to break through God’s hedges. It is a vital principle of the Lord’s guidance for a Christian never to move from the spot where he is sure God has placed him, until the pillar of cloud (Ex. 13:21) moves.
~from Sunday School Times
 
Once we learn to wait for the Lord’s leading in everything, we will know the strength that finds its highest point in an even and steady walk. Many of us are lacking the strength we so desire but God gives complete power for every task He calls us to perform.
 
Waiting—keeping yourself faithful to His leading—this is the secret of strength.And anything that does not align with obedience to Him is a waste of time and energy. Watch and wait for His leading. 
~Samuel Dickey Gordon
 
Must life be considered a failure for someone compelled to stand still, forced into inaction and required to watch the great, roaring tides of life from shore? 

No—victory is then to be won by standing still and quietly waiting. Yet this is a thousand times harder to do than in the past, when you rushed headlong into the busyness of life. 

It requires much more courage to stand and wait and still not lose heart or lose hope, to submit to the will of God, to give up opportunities for work and leave honors to others, and to be quiet, confident, and rejoicing while the busy multitude goes happily along their way.
 
The greatest life is: “after you have done everything, to
stand” (Eph. 6:13). 
~J. R. Miller

The Holy Spirit Will Prohibit Your Movement If You Attempt To Take A Wrong Course

Act 16:6  Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia

It is interesting to study the way God extended His guidance to
these early messengers of the Cross. It consisted mainly in prohibiting their movement when they attempted to take a course other than the right one.

When they wanted to turn to the left, toward Asia, He stopped them.When they sought to turn to the right, toward Bithynia in Asia Minor, He stopped them again. In his later years,Paul would do some of his greatest work in that very region,yet now the door was closed before him by the Holy Spirit.

The time was not yet ripe for the attack on these apparently impregnable bastions of the kingdom of Satan. Apollos needed to go there first to lay the groundwork.

Paul and Barnabas were needed more urgently elsewhere and required further training before undertaking this responsible task.
 
Beloved,whenever you are in doubt as to which way to turn, submit your judgment absolutely to the Spirit of God, asking Him to shut every door but the right one.

Say to Him,“Blessed Spirit, I give to You the entire responsibility of closing every road and stopping every step that is not of God. Let me hear Your voice behind me whenever I ‘turn aside to the right or to the left’ [Deut. 5:32].”

In the meantime, continue along the path you have already been traveling. Persist in your calling until you are clearly told to do something else. O traveler, the Spirit of Jesus is waiting to be to you what He was to Paul. Just be careful to obey even His smallest nudging or warning.

Then after you have prayed the prayer of faith and there are no apparent hindrances, go forward with a confident heart. Do not be surprised if your answer comes in doors closing before you. 

But when doors are shut to the right and left, an open road is sure to lead to Troas.
 
Luke waits for you there, and visions will point the way to where
vast opportunities remain open, and faithful friends are waiting. (from Paul)

~F. B. Meyer~

Is there some problem in your life to solve, Some passage seeming full of mystery?
 
God knows, who brings the hidden things to light. He keeps the key. Is there some door closed by the Father’s hand Which widely opened you had hoped to see?
 
Trust God and wait—for when He shuts the door He keeps the key. Is there some earnest prayer unanswered yet, Or answered NOT as you had thought ’twould be?
 
God will make clear His purpose by and by. He keeps the key.
Have patience with your God, your patient God, All wise, all knowing, no long lingerer He, And of the door of all your future life He keeps the key.
 
Unfailing comfort, sweet and blessed rest, To know of EVERY door He keeps the key. That He at last when just HE sees is best,
Will give it THEE.
 
~Anonymous~

Troublers Of Israel

Who are the real troublemakers in the house of God today? 

It is not the Elijah company, who sigh and cry over the abominations of the church. It is not those who expose sin and testify against the wicked deeds of religious leaders and those at ease in Zion.

No, all division is caused by compromise.

All trouble in God's house is the result of apostasy and the forsaking of the Lord's commandments.  

For where envying and strife is, there is disorder and every evil work" (James 3:16).

Paul warns the brethren to "mark them which cause divisions  and avoid them (Romans 16:17). 

But who were these who caused offenses contrary to the doctrine taught?

They were none other than a self-centered, backslidden group who "served their own belly" (verse 18).

This proves that division is caused by proud, arrogant catering to self-interests. 

Paul said, "By good words and fair speeches [they] deceive the hearts of the simple (unsuspecting) verse 18.
 
Those who are soft on sin, overlooking evil deeds and crying unity, are the real divisionists.

The true body of Christ has never been nor ever will be divided. Those in holy union with Christ are already united to each other. Sin is the divider!

Paul and Silas were brought before the magistrates of the city of Philippi, having been accused of "exceedingly troubling" the city (Acts 16:20). They were beaten and cast into prison as a result of the trouble they had caused.

What was this exceeding great trouble? 

Paul and Silas had cast a fortune-telling spirit out of a damsel who had "brought her masters much gain by soothsaying. . . And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas" (Acts 16:16 and 19).

When self-interest is threatened in any way, the cry goes up, "Troublemakers!
 
Division! Threat to unity!" Paul and Silas had uncovered a religious con game,a demonic deception under the guise of religion. 

It was a very profitable scheme for a select few who knew how to manipulate undiscerning crowds. 

What raised the cry, "Division"? 

It was a revival of cleansing. 

Those who accused Paul and Silas of causing dissension had ulterior motives and they refused the call to repent and walk in holiness.

God, give us more troublers of Israel who are not afraid to stand up against religious hypocrisy and disobedience!

~David Wilkerson~