Lily Livered Lover

"You no good lily livered low down snake!" I can see him now. I can't remember his name but I can see him. He's a filthy old cowboy with a five day shadow of graying stubble hugging his haggard jaw. Crow's feet frame his squinting eyes. Wretched and crooked teeth, those he has, line his gaping lips. And a Texas drawl spews from his mouth with every word. He looks as if he hasn't had a bath in months if ever. And there he is slamming his rival with degrading and brutal language.

Imagine being cut to the quick by this cowpoke. How low can one get? It is extreme humiliation.

Yet in Ezekiel 16 Sovereign LORD calls Israel to task with these words, "How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord GOD, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman." Whoa, talk about brutal language! However, Israel deserves every word. God goes on to say in the following verses that Israel is unlike all other prostitutes in that her "lovers" don't pay her she pays and runs after them! She bribes them into her bed. She is insatiable in her lewd vigor.

Israel, God's treasure and joy, Israel, His lovely bride, Israel His jewel has prostituted herself. She is a no good lily livered snake; a filthy scum of a harlot. How preposterous is that? How embarrassing? How absurd? It is unreserved humiliation.

It is a passage like this that makes me wonder, "Why did God choose me?" How's that? Yeah, why did God choose me?

I believe that the Bible was written for me. I believe that God has principles for my good in every chapter. I don't believe that anything was put there by chance. So, as I read I look for two things. I look for God and I look for me. I cannot say, "What a bunch of JERKS Israel was! What a complete bunch of IDIOTS! They have the Sovereign LORD wanting to love and care for them and what do they do but look for other lovers. Incredible!" I cannot say that because I so often do the very same thing. Don't you? I hope that you don't!

Human nature, the sin nature, has me as God's enemy. My sin separates me from my LORD. My sin reveals my hatred for the One who loves me dearly. My sin says, "I couldn't care less about your love, sacrifice and desire for me. I want out of this relationship. And NOW!"

I used to read passages like Ezekiel and think, "Israel is unbelievable! How could they do such things to God?" However, the more I've matured over the years the more I see myself in Israel's sandals. I see myself complaining about the lack of food or water in the wilderness of my walk. I see myself blaming God for my lack of direction when all along His pillar of cloud and fire is right there before me in His Word. I blame Him for my lack of desire to pray, read His word or serve Him. "I want OUT!"

The incredible part of this story is that God's love for me never changes! His love is constant, perfect and sweet. He cares for me. He wants to help me. He is always there for me. Amazing isn't it? He has never left me, He will never leave me and He wants a relationship with me. Unbelievable. At times He allows trouble to come my way so that I remember Him. But He is there to pick me up when I fall. How can I not love Him? How can I not give my all to Him? My Father help me to conquer myself and my wayward desires. Help me to love you with Christ-like love. Help me to renew our relationship today. Amen.

God Made Clothes

And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. Gen 3:21 I have always heard the following explanation of this verse. Because Adam and Eve had sinned, they died spiritually. They also lost the right to be in the Garden of Eden and were cursed in other ways. For example, they had made clothes out of fig leaves, but God sacrificed a lamb; thus, God shed blood and made clothes. This sacrifice of an innocent lamb symbolized what Jesus Christ would do in the distant future. Is this what you have heard? I don't know; it seems like this interpretation is stretching what Moses wrote in the above text. The text says that God made clothes for Adam and his wife from skins. We see no blood, we don't know what kind of skins, nor can I imagine God making an animal sacrifice. Did God have to skin animals to make these clothes? Or could he have just made them like he had everything else in the universe just a little while earlier? To th...

What Are You Worth?

What are you Worth? Have you ever thought about what you are worth? In investing circles there is a term used to gauge this exact question, it's called Net Worth. You take all of your assets, like property owned, funds in your bank account, clothes, jewelry, car, etc.. You total all of these things. You then take everything you owe, like mortgage, car loan, and credit card debt, and you subtract these items from the first total. This gives you your net worth. That number represents where you are financially. Most people never stop to think about this number because they don't understand anything about it. They never have two nickels to rub together. They live from hand to mouth and know (or at least believe) nothing will ever change so, they fall into the "daily grind" mentality. Psalm 49 should be a great encouragement to such as these. The sons of Korah write about them. These sons write about all of us. They call all people everywhere to listen to their wisdom. Bo...

Who did What?

We see Abraham lying at times. He twice told people that his wife was his sister. He was worried that someone might kill him because his old wife was so beautiful. In the text that I read today, he comes into territory ruled by Abimelek and tells the great fib. Not too long afterward, the king takes Sarah into his harem. Lately, I have become interested in real estate investing and have learned quite a bit in the last few years. One crucial lesson acquired was that I need to treat investing as a business and not have too many sentimental attachments. Years ago, I would rent with a "charitable" mindset. I kept the rent low on my only rental because I was "helping people (friends) out." I kept that rent low for 20 years. For those years, that rent never moved from $650 a month. Granted, we could keep the property and barely pay the maintenance and taxes, but the rent was low. It wasn't until I turned that property over to a property manager that I realized what ...

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