The High Places

In the Old Testament, the kings of Israel and Judah let there be high places. The high places were where the people would perform pagan sacrifices. One of those pagan gods was Molech. They would sacrifice their children to it. That’s an example of how evil the sacrifices were in the high places. All the evil kings let these high places flourish. Even the kings who were said to follow God and cleaned out the idols in the temple, still left the high places. Only a few of the kings got rid of the high places and thoroughly rid the nation of all pagan idols and sacred places.

Besides those few kings who got rid of the high places, why did the other ones who followed God leave them? Maybe the people stopped using them and they didn’t think it was any big deal. Maybe they had to make political compromises. Maybe they just didn’t think about it. Maybe they thought cleaning up everything else was good enough.

I don’t know why they left them but it was apparently a big deal to God because the Bible mentions it whenever they left the high places intact. It also made a big deal out of when a king actually destroyed them. What does that mean for us?

I think it means that God is very much interested in every aspect of redemption. He didn’t have Jesus come down here and die for us just to do a three-quarter redemption. A seven-eighths redemption. A fifteen-sixteenths redemption. He means to redeem it all. Including the places we think don’t matter.

He wants all of it removed because even one little, tiny, insignificant detail can mean the difference between hitting the mark and falling short. Romans 6:23 says we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. He wants all our sin, all our high places obliterated so we won’t fall short. So we can hit the mark.

Those seemingly minor things are very important to Him. When we hold on to those places, we’re saying we’re holding back and not letting Him have all of us. Not letting Him have everything. He gave us everything. He gave us His all. He held nothing back.

What are the high places in your life? Is it a habit you don’t want to get rid of, or you think it isn’t a big deal? A t.v. show you really shouldn’t watch? A person you won’t forgive? Whatever it is, it’s holding you back. It’s like fetters and sometimes they trip you up.

Jesus wants to be the high place in your life. When you leave high places intact, it keeps Him from taking preeminence in your life. He hates the high places because they cause people to exalt things above Him.

We should examine our lives and ask God to show us where we have high places. Show us where we’ve put certain things above Him. Let Him have His way with us completely.

Every Angle

Sometimes, all we can see in our life’s picture is one tiny pixel. Sometimes it’s in HD but sometimes it’s not even standard definition. But God can see the whole picture. Even the parts that have yet to be filled in. He doesn’t see in 4k or 8k. He sees in infinite k because He’s infinite. He has wide color gamut and He can thoroughly saturate our life with the richest, deepest and most vivid details.

When Elijah fled from Jezebel, he thought he was the only one of God’s servants left but God had seven thousand other people faithful to Him. All Elijah could see was his little corner of the picture. Sometimes we can feel that way. Like we’re the only one going through this. But God has things going on in other places we’re not aware of and we just need to trust Him.

All we can see is our little pixel. We can feel so alone but God always has a remnant- a reserve. Many people set aside for Him to use at strategic moments. And really, the parts that have yet to be filled in, I think He’s already filled them in we just don’t have the right angle to see it. Like those pictures that if you look at them straight on show one thing but if you move to the side they show something else. We only see our life from one angle but He sees it from every angle. He’s got it all filled in and He’s leading us so we can be positioned to see it from another angle and realize that was there all the time. We have to trust that we’re not alone. Just because we feel alone doesn’t mean we are.  

Part of seeing that big picture is knowing that He can use other people to minister to my children. I have an older daughter. Her mom and I are divorced. I knew that eventually my ex-wife would get married again. So, I started praying that she would marry a good, Godly man who would be good for her and our daughter. Six years later she did get married again and the guy she married is a good, Godly man. He’s been a good for her and our daughter.

They live in another state and so when my daughter was visiting her mom, there would be times when she was having difficulties and her step-dad was able to help her in that situation. At first, I wasn’t happy about that but I came to realize that my daughter is ultimately God’s child. He can use whoever He pleases to help my daughter. Instead of getting upset about another man helping my daughter through some teen-age problems and things, I should be thankful that God was looking out for her and putting a Godly step-dad in her life to help. 

So, the big picture is that God can use whoever He wants to help your children because they’re ultimately His children and we should thankful that He is looking out for them. We must remember that we only see things from one angle or perspective. God sees it from every perspective and we’re never alone or forgotten.

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When Kings go to War

When I joined the Army, my recruiter told me I would be fine if I was where I was supposed to be when I was supposed to be there and in the proper uniform. If I did those three things, I would do ok in the Army.

Be where you’re supposed to be when you’re supposed to be there and in the proper uniform. That holds true for life in general. Just showing up is a good way to start being successful and keep yourself out of trouble.

What about when you don’t show up spiritually? When you don’t spend time with God in prayer, devotions, or reading your Bible. When you don’t do that thing you know God is telling you to do.

 You open the door to temptation. You open the door to compromise. You start going down a slippery slope and by the time you hit rock bottom, you look up and wonder how you could’ve fallen so far. You started going down a road that has no guardrails. It hasn’t been built to code.

You weren’t where you were supposed to be when you were supposed to be there and you were out of uniform. You took a wrong turn and lost your way.

King David took a wrong turn when he wasn’t where he was supposed to be when he was supposed to be there and in the proper uniform. II Samuel 11:1 says, “It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel: and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.”

David was a king and he was supposed to be in the field with his army. You know the story. He took another man’s wife and had that man killed.

How much pain, grief, anguish and regret could have been avoided had he been where he was supposed to be? How much pain, grief, anguish and regret could have been avoided in your life if you had been where you were supposed to be when you were supposed to be there and in the proper uniform?

I know in my life I’ve had times where I’ve not been where I was supposed to be spiritually. I grew lax in reading my Bible, praying and seeking God. Those times have opened the door to temptation. It takes quite a bit of time and effort to get that door closed again. But God is there helping you and it will get closed if you start being where you’re supposed to be when you’re supposed to be there and in the proper uniform.

Ephesians 6:10-18 tells us what the proper uniform is. When we are where we’re supposed to be when we’re supposed to be there and in the proper uniform, He will teach us how to use the uniform. The proper way to wear it. We just have to show up like He did at Calvary.