The Downfall of the Church Today is the Blessings of the Lord

Scripture: Exodus 33:2-3

"I will send an angel before you and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. "Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, because you are an obstinate people, and I might destroy you on the way."

Insights: For the faithful few that made it through yesterday’s Thoughts by Scott, let me throw you into a tail spin.  The downfall of the church today, in my opinion, is the blessings of the Lord.  Now, before you stop reading my blog and cast me out as a heretic, let me explain.  In today’s verses we see that God has offered His blessing to be on the children of Israel.  He was going to send an angel before them into the Promised Land and drive out all the “ites” of the land.  God was going to give them the land of milk and honey.  In other words, God was going to bless them with all of His blessings, BUT He Himself was not going to go with the people.  I fear that most churches in America have gotten to the place where they want the blessings of God more than they want GOD!  In the verses we discussed yesterday, however, Moses cries out and says (in Scott’s vernacular), “No way God, if You don’t come with us, then don’t send us.”  There has been a “joke,” which is more like a bad commentary on Baptist life that goes back as far as I can remember that goes something like this, “The Holy Spirit could leave the average Baptist church for 50 years and no one would notice.”  In other words, our dependence on the Holy Spirit has become an after-thought and not a necessity.  We want His blessing and approval, but we don’t want Him meddling into our affairs.  Beloved, these statements are a horrific personal assessment of the church.  It is my prayer that FBCBG does not fall into that kind of category.  Rather I hope and pray we are like Moses and the verses we read yesterday.  If God does not go with us, then don’t let us move one inch further.  Let me encourage you to seek the Lord with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength.  Let Him be first and foremost in your life and do not settle for His blessings without His presence being manifest.

Questions:

1. Are you more desirous of the blessings you can receive from the Lord rather than the Lord Himself?
2. Do you even recognize when the manifold presence of God is absent from Your life?

Prayer: Father, forgive me when I forsake You for the blessings You provide for me.  Let me experience Your grace and let me be wholly aware of Your presence and activity in my life.  Amen.