Category Archives: Consequences

Abiding, Advocate, Battles, Bible, Blessing, Choices, Consequences, Danger, Evil, God's Will, Obedience, Protection, Scripture

YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN

ZECHARIAH 11:10

“‘And I took my staff Favor and cut it in pieces, to break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples.’”

I have had numerous experiences dealing with youth who refused any correction, who refused any counsel. They were determined to do their own thing. When these youth would threaten to run away, I always told them that I could not stop them from doing that. But if they did, I would not be able to protect them. They would be on their own, susceptible to all the evil that was in the world just waiting to attack.

Today’s verse has God saying about the same thing to Israel. His staff of favor was being cut in pieces. He would not continue to protect and show favor to them because they were choosing to go after other gods. They were forsaking Him. How horrible that must have sounded to the people. They had crossed the line with God. They would now feel the wrath of their enemies which had been shielded by God up to now.

APPLICATION

You may have heard it explained this way. As believers, as long as we abide in Him, as long as we follow the Master, His “umbrella of protection” is over us. Nothing can touch us unless it goes past Him first. This is not to say we won’t face hard times or tragedies. But knowing He allowed it should give us faith to carry on.

Read these words of Peter in 1 Peter 4:12-13. “12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though something strange were happening to you; 13 but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that at the revelation of His glory you may also rejoice and be overjoyed.”

That is the key. We need to stay close to Him to receive His protection. We do not want that staff of Favor to be lifted. But also, when we do face hardships, remember He is there. If you have wandered from the Truth, return to Him. If you are abiding but going through a hard time, trust Him. He is there. Don’t forget that. He is there.

Lord God, I praise You for Your abundant grace and mercy. Forgive me when I wander from Your embrace.

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Accountability, Accused, Admonished, Belief, Bible, Choices, Consequences, Following, God's Will, Obedience, Restoration, Scripture

I’M DONE

ZECHARIAH 11:9

“‘Then I said, “I will not pasture you. What is to die, let it die, and what is to perish, let it perish; and let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.”’”

There have been very few times when I have given up on someone, when I finally gave them up to the Lord. It’s a hard feeling. I have a hard time giving up like that. I want to fix them. I want to bring them around. I faced that a few times working with young people. Some of them, no matter how hard we tried, refused to change their behaviors. It’s heartbreaking.

In verse 9 today, we find God finally saying He has had enough. These rebellious children of His would have to suffer what comes. As He told Moses in Deuteronomy 31:17, “‘Then My anger will be kindled against them on that day, and I will abandon them and hide My face from them, and they will be consumed, and many evils and troubles will find them; so they will say on that day, “Is it not because our God is not among us that these evils have found us?”’”

APPLICATION

Oh wow! I don’t want to ever hear those words spoken to me by The Almighty. Do you? That would be horrible. I want to stay close to Him. I want to please Him. I want to serve Him and never disappoint Him. Paul says it well in Colossians 3:10. “so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;”

God can reach a point of no return with us. In Romans 1:26, we read, “Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.” This happened due the people’s love of other gods. We have the same problem. We may not call them gods, but those things we hold so dearly (other than God) are just that.

Let me encourage you today. Focus on Him. Let Jesus be your center. Let Him be your goal each day. Strive to be more and more like Him and watch what happens. You will grow closer and closer to the God who brought you into His family through His Son. Come close. Savor the smell of His garments.

I want to be so close to You, Lord, that I can indeed smell the very robe You wear.

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Accountability, Affliction, Bible, Captivity, Compassion, Consequences, Enemies, Forgiveness, God's Will, Judgment, Punishment, Restoration, Scripture

NO COMPASSION

ZECHARIAH 11:6

“‘For I will no longer have compassion for the inhabitants of the land,’ declares the LORD; ‘but behold, I will let the people fall, each into another’s power and into the power of his king; and they will crush the land, and I will not rescue them from their power.’”

It is hard to have compassion for people who willingly make bad decisions. At least, it is for me. When people fall into hard times due to no fault of their own, I want to reach out and lend a helping hand. But someone who time and time again chooses to satisfy their own flesh at the expense of themselves and others seems to deserve whatever comes their way. Does that seem hard? Well, look at today’s verse.

The Lord is saying He was going to allow His chosen people to suffer because of their willful disobedience. When He says He will show no compassion, He is saying there is no pity for their plight. He was, in fact, going to send another nation to punish them. Babylon would rise up and defeat them and carry them off into exile, just like the Lord said.

APPLICATION

Unlike the Israelites, we have mercy and grace through the blood of Jesus to cover our sins. That does not give us freedom to live as we want, though. We still must follow the Lord. Paul says in Romans 6:1, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?” The answer to that question is obvious, isn’t it?

I really love what the Apostle John writes in 1 John 1:9. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” That’s it. That’s the secret. Confession! We need to stay “confessed up.” Unlike the Israelites, who were taken into captivity for 70 years, we can have immediate forgiveness.

I have to confess something to you. I have to confess my sins daily, sometimes more than that. I have learned how important that is. I start my mornings doing that. It’s the first thing I do right after I have a short time of worshipping the Lord. I do my best to humble myself before His throne and ask Him to forgive me of any impure thought or unkind deed. I want His cleansing. Don’t you? It’s there, for the asking.

Cleanse me with hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me and I will be whiter than snow.

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Abiding, Bible, Consequences, Danger, Devil, Evil, Protection, Refuge, Scripture

A LION’S ROAR

ZECHARIAH 11:3

“There is a sound of the shepherds’ wail, for their splendor is ruined; there is a sound of the young lions’ roar, for the pride of the Jordan is ruined.”

There is something majestic about a lion as it struts around. Until you are close to this animal you can’t picture its true size. And when they roar, it can put cold chills up your spine. I would hate to have to live among them. You can’t trust a lion not to attack. Lions do what lions do.

You may not think about lions being a part of the Jordanian landscape. They aren’t now, but they were up until around the 12th century. When the people were taken into exile, the forest of Jordan were left uninhabited. The lions moved in this shady area to avoid the heat of the desert. Their roars would have been a common sound in the area, another reminder of God’s judgment.

APPLICATION

We all have reminders of our sins. Some of those reminders leave scars. Others are just memories of our disobedience and subsequent consequences. We may not have lions move in and roar, but we have the enemy to deal with every day. When we are not living for Jesus, we leave ourselves open to the attack of forces of darkness.

James 4:7 tells us, “Submit, therefore, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” 1 Peter 5:8-9 remind us, “8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 So resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brothers and sisters who are in the world.”

Will you heed those warnings? Or will you allow the lions to move in and roar all around you? I prefer to live without the lions, please. I only want one lion around me. That is the Lion of Judah – Jesus. His roar will be heard around the world one day when He returns with a shout! Praise the Lord! Hallelujah!

Your roar, O Lord, strikes fear into the enemy but joy into the hearts of Your children.

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Affliction, Bible, Choices, Consequences, Fire, Gospel, Praise, Rescue, Scripture

A BURNING LOG

ZECHARIAH 3:2

“And the LORD said to Satan, ‘The LORD rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a log snatched from the fire?’”

I love to go camping, even though I don’t do it a lot. I really like primitive camping when all you have is a tent, a campfire and some easy to cook food. One of the best things to me about camping is the campfire. I love the smell of wood burning. I love the flicker of the flames at night. I love the sound of the wood crackling. What happens if you pull one of the logs out of the fire? It will eventually stop burning although it will have the obvious signs of having been burned.

The LORD is rebuking Satan in today’s verse for bringing accusations against Joshua, the high priest who was mentioned in verse 1 of chapter 3. When the Lord says, “Is this not a log snatched from the fire,” He is saying to Satan, “Can’t you see the signs of suffering on him for his sins?” Remember, Israel had only recently returned from exile because of their sins. They were still wearing signs of their struggle.

APPLICATION

There are so many applications for us in this verse. I will try to stick to just one. We are all wearing the scars of our sinful flesh. Some of us made choices before salvation that caused actual physical scars. Some of our sins caused long-lasting emotional scars. We are like that log that has been snatched from the fire. God has taken us out of that fire, but we are still singed.

The beautiful thing about salvation is God can take you right where you are and cleanse you. Your sins are washed away. Eventually that singed smell will go away. Through the healing power of God, you can be “washed whiter than snow.” Listen to Isaiah in Isaiah 2:18. “‘Come now, and let us debate your case,’ Says the LORD, ‘Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall become as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool.’”

I know I have some leftover effects from my “Before Christ” days. They are a reminder of the grace of God in my life. I stand amazed every day that He would save a wretch like me. I bet you do too. But praise be to God, we are washed. We are cleansed. We have been set free.

Are you washed in the blood, in the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb.

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Accused, Advocate, Angels, Bible, Consequences, Denial, Guilt, Innocent, Judgment, Justice, Redemption, Scripture

THE ACCUSER

ZECHARIAH 3:1

“Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right to accuse him.”

I hate to be accused of something, whether I did it or not. If I did it, the accusation brings shame. If I didn’t do it, it goes against my flesh. I want to respond. As my grandma used to say, “I get plum riled up.” I have been accused by the best of them, too. Some of those accusers were right, and I was wrong. For those accusations I justly deserved my consequences. But how do you handle those wrong accusations?

As we begin chapter 3, Zechariah has another vision. This time the angel shows him Joshua, the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord. And we also find Satan, the great prosecutor, right beside him to make his accusations. Joshua was guilty of not rebuilding the temple as he should. He and Zerubbabel had given in to the people’s apathy. So, how will the angel of the Lord deal with this accusation? You will have to come back over the next few days to see that.

APPLICATION

The important question for today is how this verse applies to me. If you don’t know it already, Satan is our great accuser.

Revelation 12:10 tells us, “…the one who accuses them before our God day and night.” 1 Peter 5:8 describes him this way. “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” So, what hope do we have? How can we defend ourselves against these accusations.

Look at the first part of Revelation 12:10. “Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down,…” Praise God! Hallelujah! Satan has already been defeated. We have victory in Jesus.

I have been declared forgiven in the high court of heaven. This wasn’t because of anything I have done, however. As Paul says in Ephesians 2:8-9. “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” So, bring it on, Satan! Jesus has got this!

Victory in Jesus, my Savior forever. He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood.

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Abiding, Bible, Blessing, Confession, Consequences, Decisions, God's Will, Scripture

TAKING IT TOO FAR

ZECHARIAH 1:15

“‘But I am very angry with the nations who are carefree; for while I was only a little angry, they furthered the disaster.’”

As a parent, I had the responsibility to discipline my children. I had one rule for spanking – only for willful disobedience. You may disagree, but I believe the appropriate use of spanking can be helpful in rearing our children. My children always knew why they were receiving that discipline and were prayed over afterwards. There is the danger of going too far with this, though.

That’s exactly what the Lord was referring to in today’s verse. He had used the other nations to discipline his children. They were the tool God used to administer His judgment. But some of these nations went too far and tried to annihilate His chosen children. He says he was “very angry with the nations” that did this. They “furthered the disaster,” which was never God’s intention.

APPLICATION

We can take things too far, whether it be a good thing or a bad thing. Too much exercise can be bad for your health (at least that’s my excuse, lol). Too much sugar is definitely not good for you. But can you get too much of God? I don’t think so, but the downside of that is His light exposes our sins. Psalm 90:8 says that. “You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.”

Before you say anything, let me explain something. Getting too close to God may not feel good at the moment, but it is certainly what is best for us. Those sins that are exposed need to be exposed. Psalm 10:9 says, “One who walks in integrity walks securely, but one who perverts his ways will be found out.” So, is God taking it too far? I don’t think so.

I have to admit that I have been guilty of taking things too far at times. One example would be watching College football (American football for all my non-U.S. followers). I could watch it all day on Saturday. I had to make a decision to limit that to my favorite team’s game. We can take things too far, can’t we? Ask the Lord if you are taking Him too far. I bet He says no.

Father God, I want to be in Your presence, even though I know it will drive me to my knees in repentance.

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Abiding, Accountability, Bible, Consequences, History, Scripture

THINK BACK

HAGGAI 2:15

“But now, do consider from this day onward: before one stone was placed on another in the temple of the LORD,” 

Sometimes, before you can move forward, you have to look backwards. It has been said those who do not remember their history are bound to repeat it. I am sixty-two years old. There are more years behind than ahead of me. I realize that. I have a pool of knowledge about some things. I hope I am wise enough to learn from that and not repeat past failures (yes, I have had failures). Shouldn’t we all?

The Lord God tells the people in verses 15-19 to think back “before one stone was placed on another…” He is going to remind them how it was back then. Think back! Remember! Don’t repeat your past sins. Listen to Me. Follow Me. I will guide you. I am sure some of the people did just what the Lord said. But I am also sure others didn’t. That is just human nature, isn’t it?

APPLICATION

If the Lord told you to do this, to think back, would you do it? I hope so. Do that right now. Think back to the person you were before Christ. Think back to the hopelessness. Think back to the longing you had in your spirit. Think back to the aimlessness in your life.

But now, think back to your moment of salvation. Think back to the joy that filled your soul. I am reminded of David’s Psalm 51.12 says, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit.” It is natural to lose some of that “zeal.” God does not expect us to stay on the mountain top. But He does want to revisit those days. He wants to encourage us.

I am back in my hometown this week. This is allowing me to think back. I am seeing old friends and family who knew me before my salvation. It reminds of where He has brought me. I am so thankful. I wish I had gone through some of the things in my past, but thinking back I can see how the Lord has used them. I pray that is the same with you.

When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died. My richest gain I count but loss and pour contempt on all my pride

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Abiding, Accountability, Bible, Blessing, Consequences, Dependence, God's Will, Obedience, Scripture, Thanksgiving

WITHHOLDINGS

HAGGAI 1:10

“‘Therefore, because of you the sky has withheld its dew, and the earth has withheld its produce.’”

It’s that time of year again in the U.S. – tax time. Every year about this time, people are preparing to file their federal income tax returns. Most people have tax withheld from their salary during the year to hopefully not have to pay any additional tax. A little at a time is not so painful, but when you have to write that big check on a quarterly basis or at the end of the year, that “withholding” hurts.

The people of Israel were experiencing a different kind of withholding. There was no dew or rain which meant there was no produce, no harvest. God was withholding this from them because of their rebellion and disobedience. It was all to get their attention, to get them to repent and return to Him. When God withholds anything from us, it is for a reason. He always has a purpose behind His actions.

APPLICATION

Have you felt like God was withholding something from you? Many of us have felt that way. Maybe you think He is withholding answered prayers. Maybe you have asked for physical healing, but it has not come. Maybe you have prayed for a husband or a wife, but you are still single. Stop right there. Ask the Lord why He is withholding that thing from you. I guarantee He has a reason.

You see, if we are living according to His will, God does not withhold His blessings to punish us. Psalm 40:11 tells us, “You, LORD, will not withhold Your compassion from me; Your mercy and Your truth will continually watch over me.” God is not in the withholding business (unlike the U.S. Treasury). God wants to give to us.

I have to admit there have been times when I was disappointed that God withheld something from me. But looking back, I realized He knew exactly what I needed. I saw it as a bad thing, but He knew what was best for me. Look back at your own life and see how He has done the same for you.

Lord, Your way is always the best way. Thank You for withholding what is not good for me.

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Apathy, Bible, Consequences, God's Will, Judgment, Rebellion, Scripture

NO ONE’S HOME

ZEPHANIAH 3:6

“‘I have eliminated nations; their corner towers are deserted. I have laid waste their streets, with no one passing by; their cities have been laid waste, without a person, without an inhabitant.’”

One of the motel chains in the U.S. used to use as their slogan “The lights are always on.” The problem with that slogan is that it does not guarantee that anyone is actually there. I know lots of people who leave a light or two on when they are away from home. Some even have timers on their lights so they go on and off to give the impression someone is home. It’s kind of depressing to arrive at someone’s home only to find them gone.

That is not what Zephaniah is describing. These places were uninhabited because of God’s judgment. Towns were deserted because people had been carried away by conquering nations. Streets were deserted. No one passed by. This would be a visual reminder of the results of their rebellion against God. They were suffering the consequences of their sins.

APPLICATION

I have known people who have lost their homes due to foreclosure, and the house was shut up and deserted. I have known other homes that were abandoned by their owners when they moved away and could not sell it. Those empty dwellings are usually (not always) a result of bad decisions which reaped consequences.

What decisions have you made that made your spiritual dwelling forsaken? Do you understand what I am asking? This passage just popped into my head. Matthew 11:28-30 says, “28 ‘Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. 30 For My yoke is comfortable, and My burden is light.’”

Jesus invites us to dwell with Him. He invites our spiritual house to be built with His living stones. When we dwell with Him, we will never be homeless. Our heavenly city will never be desolate and deserted. The streets of gold will be full of His children. This may sound too good to be true, but it is. He promises that. Don’t remain in your situation without Him. Come to Him.

I long to dwell with You in Your home, O Lord. I cannot wait to see what You have built for me.

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