The High Cost of Low Level Complaining (Part 3) It Brings Chastisement

31 Friday Aug 2012

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another brick in the wall, challenged the throne of God, check your mouth, complaining, confess your sin, defection of the heart, discipline, gormandize yourself, graves of lust, jealousy and disbelief, manna, meat, Numbers 11:18-33, plague, quail, roots, satan, sick, Thomas Fuller quote

I am wrapping-up this three-part series on complaining with a somber note. I don’t believe God ever wants to discipline His children. As every parent knows, sometimes godly discipline is the best course of action. While we might not think complaining is a serious issue, God does. Why? Because low-level complaining is a heart issue. Complaining is an activity Satan participated in when he challenged the throne of God. When we revel in venting our displeasure, we mimic the demonic world. Thus a wall begins to grow between us and the Lord. Every time we choose to complain, gripe, and grumble, we lay another brick in that wall. Since complaining is a heart-issue… it develops into other sins. Complaining leads to rebellion, passing judgment on others, greed, jealousy, and disbelief. What we do not realize is a complaining spirit has roots which grow quickly into the fabric of our hearts. This wicked spirit eventually takes over and permeates our life. God knows the only way to correct the issue is by discipline and chastisement.

God Takes Action…The People Became Sick

18 Say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the ears of the Lord, saying, “Oh that someone would give us meat to eat! For we were well-off in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat and you shall eat. 19 You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, 20 but a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you; because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before Him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”’” Numbers 11:18-20

How did God know the people would get sick eating meat? It wasn’t tainted. It was good meat. The Lord knew they would treat the quail like they treated the manna. They would run, snatch, and grab. Each quickly grabbed up 10 homers…that is 10 donkey loads. As one commentator noted, a homer is an “ass load.” What a description. They spread their loot around camp and commenced eating.

Have you ever fasted for any length of time? I have. It is always a delicate issue coming off a lengthy fast. My stomach always needs a transition period. If I stuff my belly full after fasting… I will be one sick puppy on the backside. God knew his children would sicken themselves. God didn’t have to do anything… He simply didn’t warn them about the dangers of eating too much… too fast. They had a steady diet of manna for a while. He knew they would gormandize themselves with the new-found meat. They did! Moses and the nation buried these folks where they died. Listen to the description….

33 While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very severe plague. 34 So the name of that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had been greedy. Numbers 11:33-34

For the record, not everyone was struck with this plague. Only the greedy were touched by it. They named this burial site, “the graves of lust” or “graves of those which lusted.” How would you like this epitaph on your marker? As noted before, complaining doesn’t evaporate into thin air. Complaining leads to “bigger and badder” sins. It causes a defection of the heart. God knows it must be dealt with immediately or our sin will eventually affect our family, church, friends, and world.

The good news is you can do something about a complaining spirit right now. You can confess your sin and ask God to help you check your mouth and heart. He will. The Holy Spirit will remind you early and often when that ugly spirit begins to rise up with in you. Take action do today… while it still is today.

Blessings,

Pastor

The High Cost of Low Level Complaining (Part 1) Ingratitude

28 Tuesday Aug 2012

Posted by eisakouo in Dying to Self

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accusation against God, anan, attitude of ingratitude, be thankful in everything, bondage, complained about what they actually did have, complained about what they didn't have, complained about what they used to have, complaints, displeased the Lord, God takes complaining seriously, I Thessalonians 5:18, ingrates, malfeasance, manna, no longer grateful, Numbers 11:1-6, our ingratitude for God's care, pity party, royal court, slavery, spiritual imaturity, the kings banquet, to mourn, tramp, whine

I am sure if you are like me, you have done your fair share of complaining. For many of us voicing complaints is our first response when events go awry. Listen to reality tv or the evening news at the barrage of displeasure coming from people’s mouths. I don’t know about you, but I am always glad to hear a piece of good news when it is provided.

The Bible has much to say about the practice of complaining. The Scriptures tell us not only what people complain about, but also how it affects others and how God responds to it. We may not take our complaining seriously, but God does. When it is all boiled down, complaining is an accusation against God. Complaining accuses God of malfeasance.

It is impossible to fulfill the command to be “thankful in everything” (I Thessalonians 5:18) when you are a chronic complainer. The only way to break this curse of complaining is to become more sensitive to the Holy Spirit and learn how to be thankful for all of God’s movements in our life.
Complaining reveals much about us. The first issue the high cost of low-level complaining uncovers is our ingratitude for God’s care. Listen to the story from the Children of Israel’s journey to the Promised Land.

And when the people complained, it displeased the Lord: and the Lord heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the Lord burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp.” Numbers 11:1

We might want to side with these people except they have done nothing except complain since they were freed from the bondage of Egypt. The word here for complain is the word “anan“. It means to mourn. They were literally mourning, whining, and weeping because they pitied themselves. Was life so bad for them now that they just decided to sit down and throw a pity-party for themselves? Have you learned who shows up when you throw a pity party for yourself? … Only you. Who else would want to attend?

All this complaining “displeased the Lord.” The Father was exceedingly grieved and hurt by the complaints of the people. It also stirred up His righteous indignation and fire broke out in the camp. Was all this displeasure with God truly vindicated? What were the people actually complaining about in this occasion?

First, the people were vocally venting about what they didn’t have. Most of these complaints revolved around food.

…and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? Numbers 11:4b

The foodies wanted more, especially in the meat department. This craving for “flesh” led them to whine and vent about their lack.

Next, the people complained about they used to have.

We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic: Numbers 11:5

Remember these Israelites were just freed from Egyptian slavery. Now they were complaining how their old life was better than what they were experiencing now as freed people of God. What a testimony! Sadly, believers do the same thing. When they find themselves under pressure you hear the same types of statements, “I never had this many problems before I got saved!” It is true. You don’t have many problems when you are in bondage.

Did they really eat freely in Egypt? How many meals can you make out of “leeks, onions and garlic?” I agree these items were on the menu before, but these were about all they had. They had conveniently forgotten about the fact they were in bondage just a few months prior. Sometimes freedom means self-denial. Fantasizing about the “good old days” of bondage will only assure we stay in bondage.

The people complained about what they didn’t have, what they used to have, and also they vented about what they actually did have. Now we come to the heart of the issue.

But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes. Numbers 11:6

Someone doesn’t like the taste of manna. Why not? This stuff only comes from heaven itself. It is only a miracle food. It only comes from the hand of God. Isn’t it amazing how quickly a miracle becomes so “normal” we are no longer grateful for its provision in our life. How quickly the children of God wanted something new, something better, and something more. Again, many believers operate in the same fashion. The church is no longer exciting enough. The Bible is no longer “feeding” us like it used to in the beginning. We treat the things of God like the Children of Israel regarded the miracle of manna. They wanted something new and better and so does the church of the twenty-first century. Here is the point. When the things of God are no longer exciting and appealing to us, we are in deep trouble. What terrible ingrates we must appear to God when we complain about all that we do not have rather than thanking Him for what He has graciously provided. Just like Israel, we too possess an attitude of ingratitude.

Many years ago, as the story is told, a devout king was disturbed by the ingratitude of his royal court. He prepared a large banquet for them. When the king and his royal guests were seated, by prior arrangement, a beggar shuffled into the hall, sat down at the king’s table, and gorged himself with food. Without saying a word, he then left the room.
The guests were furious and asked permission to seize the tramp and tear him limb from limb for his ingratitude. The king replied, “That beggar has done only once to an earthly king what each of you does three times each day to God. You sit there at the table and eat until you are satisfied. Then you walk away without recognizing God, or expressing one word of thanks to Him.”

Ingratitude denotes spiritual immaturity. Infants do not always appreciate what parents do for them. They have short memories. Their concern is not what you did for me yesterday, but what are you doing for me today. The past is meaningless and so is the future. If we continue to operate as toddlers, we will never grow. Those who are mature are deeply appreciative of all God’s provisions both past and present. Choose to be a mature and grateful believer. Appreciate all God has done and is doing in your life and cultivate an attitude of gratitude.

Blessings,

Pastor

Moving From Bondage (Slaves) to Freedom (Sons) – Part 4 – Tests Prove the Faithfulness of God!

02 Thursday Feb 2012

Posted by eisakouo in Our Journey Into The Promised Land

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2 Timothy 2:13, Authur Pink, everlasting love, gnerous, God proves His faithfulness in testing, manna, Matthew 6:26, million tons annually, unfaithfulness

There is another reason God calls us to the desert for times of testing. In the desert God proves His faithfulness over and over again.

The story of the journey reveals that as unfaithful as the Hebrew people were, God remained faithful.

The Bible reminds us, “If we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown Himself.” (2 Timothy 2:13)

In spite of the people’s failure,
in spite of their rebellion and rejection of his covenant of love,
in spite of their unfaithfulness…

God remained faithful to his people. He provided them with food and water in the desert. He sheltered them and protected them. He loved them with an everlasting love.

Put your math hat on for just a moment. Someone calculated the amount of manna the Lord had to provide on a daily and yearly basis to feed the Israelites on their journey from Egypt.

“Now a Conservative estimate of the total number of Israelites who came out of Egypt would be two million. They had six hundred thousand men able to go forth to war. (Numbers 1:45-46).

An ‘omer’ was to be gathered for every one of these two million souls and an ‘omer’ is the equivalent of six pints. There would be twelve million pints, or nine thousand pounds gathered daily, which was four thousand five hundred tons. It would take ten trains, each having thirty cars and each car having fifteen tons would be needed for a single day’s supply. Over a million tons of manna were gathered annually by Israel.” [Arthur Pink. Gleanings in Exodus. (Chicago, Moody, 1981.) pp. 124-125.]

Was God not generous to them?

The Lord did this for forty years, “And the children of Israel ate manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.”

Will we go through difficult times? Yes, most certainly. But will God be faithful in seeing us through those times? Yes, most definitely.

God will ALWAYS be there to guide, comfort, and provide. As we lose control, He will be enabled to take control and work out His marvelous will.

Jesus said, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” (Matthew 6:26).

What he was saying was, “If God can feed all the birds in the world, can’t He take care of you? If he can feed all the plants, insects, fish, and animals, surely he can meet your needs.”

The desert testings will not last forever, but God’s faithfulness will.

Blessings,

Pastor