Discouraged

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Numbers 19-21; Psalm 46

TO CHEW ON:  "Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way." Numbers 21:4


Have you ever noticed how one little choice of bad attitude leads to the next and the next until you've worked yourself into a full-blown funk? That seems to be what happened to the Israelites in today's reading.

They have just conquered King Arad, destroying all the cities of his small kingdom south of Canaan. Perhaps the Israelites expected to enter Canaan from that point. Instead God led them on a detour away from the promised land. That understandable disappointment may have sparked their initial complaints.

They began with an attitude that is common — at least to me: discouragement — "discouraged" is also translated "impatient" (Amp, NIV, NLT), "depressed" (Amp), "irritable and cross" (Message).

Their complaints had typical characteristics:
- they were against leadership: "the people spoke against God and against Moses."
- they were against conditions: "There is no food and no water and our soul loathes this worthless bread."
- they had the typical faithless tone: "Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?"

God's response—sending poisonous snakes among them—may have seemed harsh. But it certainly got their attention. The remedy—Moses erecting a bronze snake to which the bitten looked and were cured—foreshadowed God's final blow to sin through Jesus on the cross (John 3:14-15).

I ask myself, am I struggling with a typical though negative attitude today? Discouragement, impatience, irritability in my situation may seem like a harmless, even expected response to irritations, disappointments, and difficulties. But it is just such common attitude choices that got the Israelites into trouble way back in the wilderness and still easily trip us up today.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to guard my attitudes. I want to nip my faithless bent in the bud before it blooms its toxic flowers of complaining, unbelief and depression. Amen

PSALM TO PRAY:  Psalm 46

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Love—antibiotic for a toxic church

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Jude 1:1-25

TO CHEW ON: "Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." Jude 1:21


The first part of Jude's letter is a warning about "certain men" who have "crept in" to the church. Jude exposes their behaviors and teachings which include immoral and sensual lifestyles, a denial of Jesus, slandering authority, made-up teachings, greed which shows itself in an over-concern about profit, grumbling, complaining, flattering people in order to take advantage of them, mocking, dividing the congregation and all this obviously without the Holy Spirit. If there ever was a toxic church, this sounds like one!

In the face of this mess, Jude gives two instructions:
- Build yourselves up in your faith.
and
- Keep yourselves in the love of God.

I've written about building ourselves up in the faith in other devos about this passage, so today let's drill down a bit into what it means to keep oneself in the love of God. Though we can't know for certain what this meant to the people in the church to which Jude was writing, we'll make some assumptions. And because we're still part of imperfect churches and living in a hostile world, this focus on love remains as relevant for us today as it ever was.

I can see keeping oneself in the love of God as having three parts.

First, we remind ourselves of the quality and extent of God's love for us. This helps to counteract the twisted doctrine that interlopers are so eager to dispense.

"The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying:
“Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you" - Jeremiah 31:3.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" - John 3:16.

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" - Romans 5:8.

Second, we put muscle into loving God back. This sets us on the path of the morally straight and narrow, to live a lifestyle that  pleases God, who loved us so much.

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength" - Deuteronomy 6:5.

"Oh, love the Lord, all you His saints!
For the Lord preserves the faithful,
And fully repays the proud person" - Psalm 31:23.

"Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ" - 2 Thessalonians 3:5.

Third, we express the love God has showered on us and which we reciprocate to Him, to others in the church and in the world around us. This sets a guard in our lives against ways we would sin against others.

" Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" - 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.

"And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma" - Ephesians 5:2.

"But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection" - Colossians 3:14.

Love—it's a simple yet powerful antibiotic against moral bacteria of every strain.

PRAYER: Dear God, when I'm troubled by the evil in the church and life in this world, help me remember this simple instruction about keeping myself in love. Amen. 

MORE: Feast of St. Simon and St. Jude

Today the church celebrates the Feast of St. Simon and St. Jude. (Simon and Jude, the writer of our reading today, were brothers of Jesus - Mark 6:3). The day's liturgy begins with this prayer:

"O God, we thank you for the glorious company of the apostles, and especially on this day for Simon and Jude; and we pray that, as they were faithful and zealous in their mission, so we may with ardent devotion make known the love and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen."

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Players in the drama of light

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Philippians 2:12-30

TO CHEW ON: "Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world." Philippians 2: 14-15 (ESV)

The story of light is woven through the Bible.

• God created light (Isaiah 45:7).
• He lives in light (1 Timothy 6:16).
• He is clothed in light (Psalm 104:2).
• His sight penetrates darkness (Psalm 139:11-12).
• His light is our life (John 1:4).
• His word gives light (Psalm 119:130).
• The Gospel is called light (2 Corinthians 4:3-4).
• God's people are called children of light (1 Thessalonians 5:4-5).
• A person's way of seeing and interpreting life (the eye) demonstrates whether one is a child of light or darkness (Luke 11:34-35).
• We are blessed when we walk (live) in the light of His face (Psalm 89:15).
• Crafty Satan, knowing the power of light, disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14)
• We battle him wearing the armour of light (Romans 13:12)
• And we are to be a light to those around us by our good works (Matthew 5:16, Luke 8:15, Ephesians 5:8-9) and by refraining from grumbling and complaining (Philippians 2:14-15).

That last—"refraining from grumbling and complaining"—seems like a paltry item on the list of grand light sightings in the Bible. Who of us hasn't done it—perhaps even today, in our minds if not out loud.

However, going against our natural instincts/tendencies to grumble and complain is the outworking of an attitude that is deep-rooted and affects all of life. It proves that we accept God's sovereignty in little and big circumstances. It demonstrates our trust in Him and His ability to deal well with us. And it is one more bit of evidence that we are players in the eternal story of light.


PRAYER: Dear God, please help me make the connections between my behaviour and living as a child of light. May my thoughts, words and actions today be thoughts, words, and actions of light. Amen.

MORE: A thought

"...we either add to the darkness of indifference...or we light a candle to see by..." Madeline L'Engle (quoted in Patches of Godlight - Jan Karon)

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Scriptures marked ESV are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV® Text Edition: 2011. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.

Three thirsty days is a long time

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Exodus 15:6-27

TO CHEW ON: "And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. … And the people complained against Moses, saying, 'What shall we drink?'" Exodus 15:22,24

The Israelites had just experienced their most stunning victory—not through their own skill but through miracles straight from God. Even uptight Moses burst into song and matriarch Miriam led the women in a victory dance. But now, only three days later, there is complaining again.

For us, reading these stories, the Israelites' mood changes seem mercurial. They go from rejoicing to grumbling in four verses! Before we're too hard on them, though let's consider their situation.

They are in unfamiliar territory, walking in desert heat, sleeping in desert cold. And they're rapidly running out of the one essential that will keep them alive—water. Three days is a long time to be thirsty. Then, when they do find water, it's bitter. And so they grumble.

I ask myself, if I were in their shoes, would I act any differently?

The Israelites' desert experience demanded that the people mature in trusting God. It stretched them to look past how things appeared in the moment and see the situation with the eyes of faith. They were constantly challenged to remember how God had helped them in the past. Then they needed to apply that memory to current conditions.

"God knows exactly when to withhold or to grant us any visible sign of encouragement. How wonderful it is when we will trust Him in either case! Yet it is better when all visible evidence that He is remembering us is withheld. He wants us to realize that His word—His promise of remembering us—is more real and dependable than any evidence our sense may reveal. It is good when He sends the visible evidence, but we appreciate it even more after we have trusted Him without it" - Charles Gallaudet Trumbull, quoted in Streams in the Desert by L. B. Cowman - January 24th reading.

I too can go from high to low in a matter of days—hours! And so I too have lots of room for stretching and growth in the living-by-faith department. What about you?

PRAYER:  Dear God, I see myself reflected in these Israelites. Help me to get my eyes off circumstances and keep them on You and Your history and promises. Amen.

Streams in the Desert - 366 Daily Devotional Readings by Cowman

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Toxic grumbling

"The Brazen Serpent" - James Tissot

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Numbers 21:4-18

TO CHEW ON: "So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived." Numbers 21:9

Desert hardships continually tripped up the Israelites. We would expect their God-given victory at Hormah (Numbers 21:1-3) would have sealed their confidence in God. But no. A little while later "The soul of the people became very discouraged on the way."

They vented their discouragement to Moses: "Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread."

After that the test only got worse when God allowed poisonous snakes to slither among them, killing many.

This time, not like some others, the people approached Moses in repentance: "We have sinned for we have spoken against the Lord and against you."

Moses prayed and God told him to erect a bronze snake statue, to which the people could look and be healed.

This story convicts us as we recognize ourselves in those discontented Israelites.

1. How often don't we grumble about situations far less severe than what the Israelites were going through? But grumbling of any kind and about anything is toxic.

2. The Israelites' grumbling was sparked by simple discouragement—an attitude that is hardly uncommon among us. It's an attitude that begins with negative, discouraged thinking. Joyce Meyer says:

"Discouragement destroys hope .... The Bible repeatedly tells us not to be discouraged or dismayed. God knows that we will not come through to victory if we get discouraged, so He always encourages us .... God wants us to be encouraged, not discouraged.


When discouragement or condemnation tries to overtake you, examine your thought life. What kind of thoughts have you been thinking?" Joyce Meyer, Battlefield of the Mind, p. 33.

3. The Israelites' grumbling about Moses was really grumbling about God (Numbers 21:5,7). When we grumble about people in our lives, church leadership, or our circumstances we too are really grumbling against God who has brought us to this place and allowed these things into our lives. Paul warns the Corinthians (and us) about this attitude in 1 Corinthians 10:9-11.

PRAYER: Dear God, please forgive me for sinning against You by grumbling and complaining. Help me to nip in the bud negative thoughts of discouragement and fault-finding, and instead to make it a habit to put my hope in You - Psalm 42:5. Amen.

MORE: The foreshadow of Divine healing

A sidebar note in my Bible reminds us that Jesus was intimately connected to this event:

"The plague of fiery serpents sent upon God's people was, in reality, a self-inflicted punishment, resulting from their frequent murmuring. God's judgment was in allowing what their own presumption invited, and many died from the bites of the serpents.


But in answer to the repentance of His people, God prescribed the erecting of a bronze serpent to which any might look in faith and be healed. Jesus referred to this account in John 3:13-14. He clearly implied that the bronze serpent typified His being raised upon the cross. Our healing, both spiritual and physical, comes from looking to and identifying with Christ crucified, 'by whose stripes you were healed' - 1 Peter 2:24" - Nathaniel M. Van Cleave, "The Focus of Divine Healing," New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 205.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Complaining? Nip it, zip it!

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 1 Corinthians 10:1-17

TO CHEW ON: “Nor (let us) complain as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer.” 1 Corinthians 10:10

Here, alongside grave sins like idolatry, sexual immorality, and tempting Christ we find complaining? There must be some mistake! How can this common attitude, that most of us indulge in daily, be so bad?

The story referred to here happened when Korah, Dathan and Abiram challenged Moses and Aaron’s leadership during the Israelites’ 40 years in the wilderness. When they confronted Moses saying they were every bit as much leaders as he was, the earth opened and “swallowed them up.” Then fire from God consumed 250 others who were offering incense unlawfully. The next day the “congregation” of Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron saying, “You have killed the people of the Lord.” Immediately God sent a plague to destroy the grumblers (read the entire store in Numbers 16).

In this example the complaint was against leadership—something we never complain about, right? (Ahem!) The drastic action of God in defending Moses and Aaron, the leaders He had appointed, shows how seriously He views this sin.

The word “complain” here doesn’t have a Greek equivalent (no number in Strong’s concordance), but its range of meaning is borne out by the various translations: Phillips – “curse the lot,”; NASB - “grumble”; Amplified - “discontentedly complain”; Message – “stir up discontent”; Good News – “complain”; Living Bible – “murmur against God.”

Complaining / grumbling is an example of an attitude leading to action that has its roots in our thoughts. A complaining, grumbling tongue starts with complaining, grumbling thoughts like: I deserve better than this; I can’t trust God with this situation; He obviously doesn’t know what He’s doing; I know better than He does. They are thoughts of rebellion toward God. When we express these thoughts, we multiply our sin by stirring up discontent in others.

So next time your thoughts toward your pastor or your church’s leadership turn in a critical, complaining direction, nip them in the bud. Replace them with thoughts and words of intercession. For sure zip your mouth from complaining and grumbling to others.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for the leaders You have placed over me. Help me to remember to pray for them daily. Amen

MORE: Intercession for Pastors
Barb Billett’s wonderful book Praying With Fire has a prayer for pastors. Based on words straight from the Bible, it is a good prayer to pray regularly for our leaders. It begins:

"Father, in the name of Jesus, I confess, that the Spirit of the Lord: the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord, rests upon Pastor _____. I pray that as Your Spirit rests mightily upon Pastor _____, we believe he has quick understanding.

I confess and believe that You Lord, have anointed and qualified him to preach the gospel to the meek, the poor, and the afflicted. You have anointed Pastor _____ to bind up and heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the physical and spiritual captives, and the opening of the prison doors and of the eyes of those who are bound..."

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Complaining about the food

"And thou shalt smite on the rocks..." 
Lithograph by Marc Chagall

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 78:1-20

TO CHEW ON: "He also brought streams out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers. But they sinned even more against Him by rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness" - Psalm 78:16,17

I identify with Carolyn Arends when she writes in Theology in Aisle Seven:

"I was making my way through Exodus, feeling a little jealous of my spiritual ancestors. It seemed they never had to wonder if God was there. They had only to follow pillars of cloud and fire, gathering up the manna served fresh daily from God's kitchen .... I wondered why the present-day actions of the immutable God sometimes seem so muted in contrast to the God of Moses. I wouldn't mind a pillar of cloud or fire when I need direction, or some manna on my front lawn when I pray for provision" - Carolyn Arends, Theology in Aisle Seven, Kindle Location 507.

But Asaph, the writer of today's psalm, reminds us that despite that luminous GPS, six-day-a-week meal service, and all the other tangible evidences of God's presence, the Israelites still struggled with bad attitudes of discontent, grumbling, and rebellion. Why?

Perhaps verse 18 holds a key to their problem: "They tested God in their heart..."

[Test—nasah—means to put to the test, try, prove, tempt. It's the thing that God does to us through life, not we to Him. As the Word Wealth writer of my Bible's notes concludes: "In this reference, the wilderness generation insulted and grieved the Lord by tempting and limiting Him as if to test His patience or His power" - Dick Mills, Word Wealth, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 747.]

Note the place those discontented complaints and rebellions originated: "their heart." It was an inner thing first before an outer action. Really as simple as choosing to see life's glass half empty instead of half full.

And so you and I too have a choice to make. Do we focus on what's wrong with life, the things we wish were different, what we would like more of, and so in effect test God, telling Him He's not doing a good enough job in our circumstances? Or do we, in our hearts, focus on gratitude, thankfulness, what's right with life? For it's as easy for us to test God as it was for the Israelites—as easy as complaining about the food!


PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to live with gratitude every day, choosing to see life in a positive, not negative light, choosing not to test You in my heart. Amen.

MORE: Ingratitude—the catalyst of all my sins?

"From all our beginnings, we keep reliving the Garden story.

Satan, he wanted more. More power, more glory. Ultimately, in his essence Satan is an ingrate. And he sinks his venom into the heart of Eden. Satan's sin becomes the first sin of all humanity: the sin of ingratitude. Adam and Eve are, simply, painfully, ungrateful for what God gave.

Isn't that the catalyst of all my sins?"

- Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts, p. 15.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

But it's just a little thing

Art from Iceberg

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Exodus 16:1-16

TO CHEW ON: "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Behold I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them whether they will walk in My law or not.'" Exodus 16:4

The Israelites had just experienced the great high of crossing over the Red Sea and watching the Egyptians perish. But from that high they soon plunged to a low when they needed water and the water they eventually found was bitter. Their reaction: they grumbled and complained against Moses.

Would we blame them? Yet Moses' response to their grumbling shows that this was no frivolous thing: "Your complaints are not against us but against the Lord" (Exodus 16:8).

A little while later, remembering their Egyptian diet and comparing it to what they now ate now, "...the whole congregation complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness" (Exodus 16:2). God sent manna to satisfy their hunger. It was food that had an interesting side purpose: "And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them whether they will walk in my law or not." The "quota" was enough for each day and double that amount on the day before Sabbath so Sabbath was a day off. How they followed those instructions was God's test.

These are such little things—grumbling and complaining, not following instructions. Haven't we all been guilty of doing something similar?

Jerry Bridges in his book The Pursuit of Holiness says,

"We do not take some sin seriously. We have mentally categorized sins into that which is acceptable and that which may be tolerated a bit .... Andrew Bonar said, 'It is not the importance of the thing, but the majesty of the Lawgiver that is to be the standard of obedience .... Some, indeed, might reckon such minute rules as these trifling. But the principle involved in obedience or disobedience was none other than the same principle which was tried in Eden at the foot of the forbidden tree. It is really this: Is the Lord to be obeyed in all things whatsoever He commands? Is He a holy Lawgiver? Are His creatures bound to give implicit assent to His will?'" - Jerry Bridges, The Pursuit of Holiness, Kindle Location 110 - Bonar quote from Andrew Bonar, A Commentary on Leviticus, 1846, reprint 1972, p. 218 (emphasis added).

And so when God convicts about some little thing let's not try to wriggle our way out of dealing with it, giving the excuse that it's too insignificant to be concerned about. Rather, let's do the needed thing—make it right and change our ways because of the worth of our holy, majestic Lawgiver.


PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for these examples of how you test us in the little things. Help me to live with a sensitive conscience before You today, quick to change my ways where You apply pressure. Amen.


MORE: "The great disposition of sin underneath"

"When I get into the presence of God, I do not realize that I am a sinner in an indefinite sense; I realize the concentration of sin in a particular feature of my life.... The conviction is concentrated on—I am this, or that, or the other. This is always the sign that a man or woman is in the presence of God. There is never any vague sense of sin, but the concentration of sin in some personal particular. God begins by convicting us of one thing fixed on in the mind that is prompted by His Spirit; if we will yield to His conviction on that point, He will lead us down to the great disposition of sin underneath. That is the way God always deals with us when we are consciously in His presence" - Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, July 3 reading (emphasis added).

I believe Chambers has put his finger one of the reasons little things aren't really little at all. It is because they are symptoms of our real condition. They are the one tenth of the iceberg jutting above the surface, hiding the nine tenths of that "great disposition of sin" underneath."

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Attitude check

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Numbers 21:1-9

TO CHEW ON: "Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way." Numbers 21:4

Have you ever noticed how one little choice of bad attitude leads to the next and the next until you've worked yourself into a full-blown funk? That seems to be what happened to the Israelites in today's reading.

They have just conquered King Arad, destroying all the cities of his small kingdom south of Canaan. Perhaps the Israelites expected to enter Canaan from that point. Instead God led them on a detour away from the promised land. That understandable disappointment may have sparked their initial complaints.

They began with an attitude that is common—at least to me: discouragement—"discouraged" is also translated "impatient" (Amp, NIV, NLT), "depressed" (Amp), "irritable and cross" (Message).

Their complaints followed the usual format:
- against leadership: "the people spoke against God and against Moses."
- against conditions: "There is no food and no water and our soul loathes this worthless bread."
- had the typical faithless tone: "Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?"

God's response—sending poisonous snakes among them—may have seemed harsh. But it certainly got their attention. The remedy, Moses erecting a bronze snake to which the bitten looked and were cured, foreshadowed God's final blow to sin through Jesus on the cross (John 3:14-15).

I ask myself, am I struggling with a seeming innocuous negative attitude today? Discouragement, impatience, irritability in my situation may seem like a harmless, even typical response to irritations, disappointments, and difficulties. But it is just such common attitude choices that got the Israelites into trouble way back in the wilderness and still easily trip us up today.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to guard my attitudes. I want to nip my faithless bent in the bud before it blooms its toxic flowers of complaining, unbelief and depression.


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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Complaining? Nip it, zip it!

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 1 Corinthians 10:1-17

TO CHEW ON: “Nor (let us) complain as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer.” 1 Corinthians 10:10

Here, alongside grave sins like idolatry, sexual immorality, and tempting Christ we find complaining? There must be some mistake! How can this common attitude, that most of us indulge in daily, be so bad?

The story referred to here happened when Korah, Dathan and Abiram challenged Moses and Aaron’s leadership during the Israelites’ 40 years in the wilderness. When they confronted Moses saying they were every bit as much leaders as he was, the earth opened and “swallowed them up.” Then fire from God consumed 250 others who were offering incense unlawfully. The next day the “congregation” of Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron saying, “You have killed the people of the Lord.” Immediately God sent a plague to destroy the grumblers (read the entire store in Numbers 16).

In this example the complaint was against leadership–something we never complain about, right? (Ha!) The drastic action of God in defending Moses and Aaron–the leaders He had appointed–shows how seriously He views this sin.

The word “complain” here doesn’t have a Greek equivalent (no number in Strong’s concordance), but its range of meaning is borne out by the various translations: Phillips–“curse the lot,”; NASB - “grumble”; Amplified - “discontentedly complain”; Message – “stir up discontent”; Good News – “complain”; Living Bible – “murmur against God.”

Complaining / grumbling is an example of an attitude leading to action that has its roots in our thoughts. A complaining, grumbling tongue starts with complaining, grumbling thoughts like: I deserve better than this; I can’t trust God with this situation; He obviously doesn’t know what He’s doing; I know better than He does. They are thoughts of rebellion toward God. When we express these thoughts, we multiply our sin by stirring up discontent in others.

So next time your thoughts toward your pastor or your church’s leadership turn in a critical, complaining direction, nip them in the bud. Replace them with thoughts and words of intercession. For sure zip your mouth from complaining and grumbling to others.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for the leaders You have placed over me. Help me to remember to pray for them daily. Amen

MORE: Intercession for Pastors
Barb Billett’s wonderful book Praying With Fire has a prayer for pastors. Based on words straight from the Bible, it is a good prayer to pray regularly for our leaders. It begins:

"Father, in the name of Jesus, I confess, that the Spirit of the Lord: the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord, rests upon Pastor _____. I pray that as Your Spirit rests mightily upon Pastor _____, we believe he has quick understanding.

I confess and believe that You Lord, have anointed and qualified him to preach the gospel to the meek, the poor, and the afflicted. You have anointed Pastor _____ to bind up and heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the physical and spiritual captives, and the opening of the prison doors and of the eyes of those who are bound..."