Prayer: Father, rebellion is a young man’s character and reflective of an older man’s hardness of heart. May rebellion never characterize my heart ever again. In Yeshua’s name. Amen.
Reading: Job 34 key: vs. 37
37 For he adds rebellion to his sin;
in our midst he claps his hands
and multiplies his words against God.”
Attention: Have you ever been rebellious toward God? Did you know that rebelliousness toward God is sin? Here is an internet definition of the word rebellion: the action or process of resisting authority, control, or convention.
The Bible gives us this definition of rebellion: “For rebellion is like the sin of divination and stubbornness is like iniquity and idolatry (1 Samuel 15:23).” Divination is witchcraft and stubbornness is sin and idolatry. What is idolatry? Idolatry replaces God with an image which is worshipped or given priority over God or in addition to God. God told Moses in giving him the Ten Commandments, “Do not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or on the earth below or in the water under the earth. Do not bow down to them, do not let anyone make you serve them.”
Rebellion is serious business with God because it is indicative of a heart condition toward God. The prophet Samuel records the account of King Saul who defied God’s command to him regarding a battle. He did not do as God had commanded him (1 Samuel 15) and it cost him his throne and later his life. Not only did he not learn from his rebellion, but God also withdrew his anointing on Saul and would not answer Saul’s prayer. Samuel had died and in Saul’s haste, he was willing to consult a witch. What an affront to God. Interestingly, the medium conjures up Samuel from the grave (1 Samuel 28:6-20). The rebuke and death sentence he shares with Saul, leaves him terrified and weak.
If rebellion is an issue between you and God, if your heart is hardened and resistant to His authority over your life, I encourage you to resolve your attitude towards God. In my generation the message was “I did it my way!” or “Imagine there’s no heaven,” or “Cocaine.” Rebellion is characterized by defiance and an attitude of deference towards God. Is this the attitude you have towards God? What are the messages of today which reveal the inmost heart towards God? I understand how the world can embrace a message of “My body, My choice,” because they do not recognize God’s authority, but can someone who has given themselves to God, embrace that message? Paul states this best in 1 Corinthians 6: 19-20, “Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Ruach ha-Kodesh who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.”
Remember, the new commandment which Jesus gave us in Matthew 22:37, “You shall love Adonai your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is about attitude! What is your attitude towards God?
Action: I acknowledge my attitude of rebellion towards God, and I repent. I am not my own. I belong to God and give myself to Him today!
Yield: I give up ownership of my life. I belong to God.
Engage: I am daily, actively, intentionally engaged in life with the Holy Spirit.
Relationship: God is my master. I am his bondslave and servant.
Prayer: Father, I give myself, my life, my heart, anew to You. I am Yours. Completely Yours. Amen.
Memory Verse: 1 Corinthians 6: 19-20
19 Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Ruach ha-Kodesh who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.
Music Video: Casting Crowns—I am Yours
Remember, “Abide in Yeshua, today!”