Others had impotent gods who were powerless to intervene. But these people had the only true and mighty God as their God. They had seen displays of His mighty power. When they were slaves in a foreign land He delivered them. When the Red Sea became an obstacle, their God simply cut a path through the waters, so they could walk to the other side on dry ground. When they were thirsty, He caused water to flow in the most unlikely places. Their God made them into a nation and was taking them to a new land that would be their own.

All too often we forget what God is doing for us, and we focus on what we perceive He is not doing for us. When we start having those thoughts, we can get nasty with God. We accuse Him of abandoning us – sheer neglect! We go for days secretly harbouring less-than-worshipful thoughts about our God – if you know what I mean.

When the children of Israel left Egypt, other people (the rabble) joined the bandwagon and tagged along with them. Maybe they were caught up in the excitement or perhaps they were friends – so they decided to go with them. After the exciting drama subsided, they became disgruntled with mostly everything. Chronic complainers.

Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.” Numbers 11:4-6

Their vision was impaired. Psalm 78:17-33 Rather than seeing what God had done for them and what His great plans were for the future, they looked at the immediate. They totally lost perspective.

 “Yes, the melons were delicious, and the cucumbers may have been scrumptious but what about the brutal lashes you received as a slave? What about the disrespect and the ridicule?”

You know something is drastically wrong in your heart when you start thinking you had it better back in your days of darkness. The little-pleasers and pleasures of the distant past become so exaggerated in our minds, that the enormous blessings of today are eclipsed, becoming invisible to our weeping eyes.

Often the discontent starts with the rabble – those who don’t find much enjoyment in Christ. If Christ does not have His rightful place or worse still, no place in a person’s heart, the discontentment will surface rather quickly.

 “This is totally boring! What’s here anyway? There’s got to be more than this. This is pathetic. They’ve got it all wrong here. There’s nothing good here – nothing to enjoy.”

Dear Child of God, what’s your status today? Have you been influenced by the negativity others are spreading?  Has the discontentment of the rabble caused your discouragement to become greater and darker?

Maybe it’s time to distance yourself from the sources of negativity, even if they happen to be your closest friends. Your usefulness for God is at stake. The time has come to deliberately and strategically seek-out new friends who are enjoying Christ and are actively trying to please and honour Him. Pure negativity will eventually cause you to collapse and crash.

Walk carefully and closely with the Lord today.

Warmly in Christ
Peter Ramsay

h4s   Share-Christ Tip & Prayer Cards

18 Lessons for New Believers

Vehicle Magnet:  9″X2.5”” (22.5cmX6cm) A quiet Gospel witness and a helpful tool to help Christian drivers curb their tendencies to exceed speed limits. Over the years, these magnets have worked. An inoffensive way to help promote the Gospel in traffic and parking lots. Unlike decals, magnets can be removed easily.

Tabernacle 101 Once-a-week-email study

Automatic Signature: If you include www.heaven4sure.com in your automatic email signature, you will increase the number of visitors to the Gospel site. This is particularly relevant if you are in contact with those who do not yet know Christ.

FACEBOOK or social media link to heaven4sure? Links really do work! People are finding the site through such links.

Facebook        Twitter: pdr_heaven4sure

Translate