Have you ever tried to objectively referee an argument, and after you offer some advice or council somebody asks, "who's side are you on?" Well, would you believe that unlike that situation, where you could be neutral, Jesus said there's no such thing as neutral.
Matthew 12:30 - He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.
That's pretty intense!!! This is literally telling us that if we're not seeking after God and putting our shoulder to the plow for the kingdom, that Jesus considers you against Him...
I don't know about you, but I want to be with Jesus, not against Him. A closer look at the Word of God confirms that this has been God's position all along. He's never really seen a "neutral" position.
Moses: Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD's side? let him come unto me. (Exodus 32:26)
Joshua: ...choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD. (Joshua 24:15)
Paul: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. (Ephesians 2:3)
So strictly speaking, "God just don't play." You're either on His team or you're working against Him. If you say, "well, I'm just gonna do my own thing" and think you're not affecting or hurting anyone else, THINK AGAIN. The Bible says if you're not with Jesus, you're against Him.
And don't forget, even though the Bible speaks of multitudes in the valley of decision (Joel 3:14) remember that if we've not made the choice to be with Jesus, we're against Him...
Stop waiting!!! Get on the winning team (because we know the church is triumphant), dig in, plug in, go deep, and set this world on fire for the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ!!!
Have you ever wondered what went through Lot's thick skull? What was his problem? He sat in the middle of the worst circumstances imaginable, dawdled and dilly-dallied until it took a literal act of God to get him moving, and because of his inaction, his family ended up wrecked beyond repair. Why? What exactly was he waiting for?
You see, Lot didn't have to end up that way. He walked with Abraham according to Genesis 12:4-5, but when it came time to make a choice for himself, he leaned toward Sodom and Gomorrah because it was like the land of Egypt (Gen 13:10). Without getting too abstruse or abstract, just remember that Egypt is a type of the world all throughout the Bible. So it's safe to say that Lot decided to lean toward the world and worldliness rather than stay in the presence of God and his people. He made a decision to take his family away from the things of God.
One thing that's perplexing about Lot is found in 2 Peter 2:8: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)
Honestly, this scripture lets us know that Lot KNEW the issues and problems of the choice he'd made and hated what was going on around him, yet he DID NOTHING ABOUT IT. What was he waiting for?
You probably know the story; in the end, his wife ended up dead (turned into a pillar of salt), his daughters had incestuous relations with him, his family was completed destroyed, and Moab and Benammi (the boys born of the incidents with his daughters) ended up being a thorn in the side of the people of God.
All this came about because Lot made a terrible decision to live in Sodom and Gomorrah, and then waited until it was too late to get out. What would have happened if he'd not made the choice to follow after the things of the world, or even still, while his daughters were still toddlers, what if he would have prayed through and got his family out before the mindset of the world had taken hold? Who knows. All we know is what did happen.
So let's ask ourselves today, "what are we waiting for?"
Saint of God, you want more of Him, you want to be used, you want to impact your world. What are you waiting for?
Backslider, you know Jesus is there, arms opened wide, ready to take you back into the fold. You know the church is praying and fasting and waiting for your return. What are you waiting for?
You who don't know God, or you don't know Him in fullness of truth, but you feel that tug at your soul, you feel that there's more to life than what you have right now. There's an inexplicable emptiness deep down inside that gnaws at you in the night. What are you waiting for?
Let's learn from the account of Lot and his family. Let's act before it's too late. Let's stop waiting and turn wholeheartedly to God. Forget about the unknown, forget about how comfortable it may be in your familiar surroundings, forget about the things of this world that pull at you. Let's stop waiting and plug into God. Let's launch into the deep and see how far He'll take us!!!
Job, during his time of trial and hardship, sought for a mediator that could bring God and him together to reconcile what was happening (see Job 9:33 & 16:21). As it turns out, no such mediator came to deliver Job out of his plight.
But we read in 1 Timothy 2:5: For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
Jesus Christ stepped into the gap to fill the role as mediator for us. God robed himself in human flesh (1 Tim 3:16) just so He could become the middle man, taking upon Himself the sin of the entire world (Jn 1:29).
Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not:" (Luke 22:32).
Jesus Christ is ALWAYS there to step onto the scene and deliver us...
When the Devil accuses us, Jesus is there - Rev 12:10
When the enemy rushes in, Jesus is there - Isa 59:19
When the world has had its way in us, Jesus is there - 1 Cor 6:11
When our own heart condemns us, Jesus is there - 1 Jn 3:20
Finally, we read in Ephesians 2:1-7 that though we were dead in trespasses and sins, following the world and our souls' enemy to destruction, Jesus stepped on the scene yet again. By His rich and endless love He wedged Himself between us and the looming judgment set before us, bringing us to life again through grace and by His great salvation...
Thanks you JESUS for being our mediator, thank you for being the Miraculous Middle Man!!!
