Category: <span>thoughts by Dr. Guy Safford</span>

Sunset, lonely tree

Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them. Deuteronomy 11:16

Our God is so amazing. Majestic. Gracious. Loving. We may think, “I would never serve another.” But tragically, it happens all the time. People who have known and loved God — sometimes for many years — turn aside and begin to worship other gods. It seems impossible. How does it happen?

The problem, Scripture warns, is that our hearts can be deceived. The Hebrew word implies being “lured” or “enticed.” It’s the word used for how Samson’s wife enticed him into revealing the secret of his power.

The world is full of bright, shining, incredibly desirable enticements. Look into your own heart. You know what tugs at it there. Those enticements seem so desirable, but they have a fatal capacity to deceive. Over time their place in our heart expands. God’s place shrinks. Imperceptibly, spiritual deception grows. Almost without knowing it, we can end up worshiping these enticements more than the real God.

The deception is thinking that it won’t matter, that God will be OK with divided loyalties, satisfied with a small corner of our life. He is not. “Worship only the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt with great strength and a powerful arm. Bow down to him alone, and offer sacrifices only to him” (2 Kings 17:36).

Even King David, a man after God’s own heart, fell victim to this deception. “Oh, guard my soul,” he  writes (Psalm 25:20). It’s a good prayer for all of us!

Lord, I am so easily enticed. I want to worship you alone. Guard my soul. Build in me a true heart for you above all other things. Amen.

By Dr. Guy Safford

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Majestic Glorious Sunset sunrise

When you offer animals that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor?” says the Lord of hosts.”  Malachi 1:8

It seemed perfectly reasonable. He needed the good lambs for his flock, but this lamb was already sick. It had a broken leg. Much better – he thought – for the lamb to die as a sacrifice to the Lord than in the jaws of a wolf. The Lord would understand. Yes?

No!

Would you take a gift like that to the governor? You wouldn’t? Well, then what makes you think you can bring it to God? “I have no pleasure in you,” the Lord says, “for I am a great king, and my name will be feared among the nations” (Malachi 1:14). Over the centuries customs have changed, but there has always been and always will be an unchanging and very simple supreme test for worshiping God in truth.

Worship with anything less than our best is not worship at all.

True worship requires our best. Our best intention. Our best devotion. Our best offerings. And it’s not just a Sunday thing but an everyday thing. Our best everything, every day.

“What is this best that we must bring?” you ask. Remember the Little Drummer Boy?

“I am a poor boy too. / I have no gift to bring / That’s fit to give our King. / Shall I play for you? / I played my drum for Him. / I played my best for Him.”

Offer your best to the Lord. Never come with less. Then you will worship him truly, and He will be pleased with you.

Lord, you are not only my great king but my great Savior. I promise to serve you always with the best of all I have and am. Amen.

Thought — Discover the joy of giving to God the very best. Think and pray about what the best is that you have to offer. The Holy Spirit will help you understand what that means.

By Dr. Guy Safford
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Other related reads:

How to be Filled with the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is like oxygen to the Christian

The Power of Forgiveness 

Thoughts by All thoughts by Dr. Guy Safford Thoughts by Men

Crossing the River of Fear - Devotional

In three days, you will cross the Jordan River.
This is my command—be strong and courageous!
For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9-11

The river was dark with fear: hesitations, doubts, timidity, paralysis. On this side stood the people of Israel, on the other, the land of God’s promise. Just step in. Walk across. Easy! Right?

Wrong! There were two problems. The first was physical, the second spiritual. The Jordan was at flood stage: wide, deep, fast, and dangerous. God worked a miracle. The waters stopped. The river dried up.

Problem one solved.

The people had to solve the problem two. God was going to carry them across. They had to wade through it. The river of fear had to be crossed on foot. The only solution was courage.

Life sometimes takes us to the banks of fearful rivers. God is not going to carry us across. “Step in and walk,” He says. “Time to get going.” That first step can be terrifying! How do you take it?

God gave Joshua a command: “Be strong and courageous.” Courage? It’s hard but not an option. “Lift up your drooping hands,” Hebrews says, “and strengthen your weak knees” (Hebrews 1:12).

God also gave a promise. “I will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).  Sounds like Jesus, “I am with you even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

Are you standing before a river of fear? God has brought you to it. Your task is to gather courage. God will supply His presence.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you… and they will not overwhelm you” (Isaiah 43:2).

Father, I’m scared of the next step. Help me to gather my courage and find strength in you. Amen.

Dr. Guy Safford

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