Friday, March 31

TOPIC: SALVATIONDOUBLE-MINDED OR DEVOTED?By Pastor Chad McDonald

“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

James 1:5-8 (NASB)

If there is a picture of a double-minded man in the OT, it would have to be King Rehoboam (2 Chronicles 10-12). He was double-minded in his counsel. He received counsel from a group of older, wiser and more mature men who told him to bless the people. He also received counsel from a group of younger friends who told him to use the people for his purposes. In his double-mindedness he chose to use instead of bless, and it divided the kingdom.

Not only was he double-minded in his counsel, he was double-minded in his devotion and commitment to God. For the first three years of his reign he was faithful to the Lord. Yet when he gained firm control of the kingdom, he drifted from the Lord. Then when faced with the prospect of certain defeat at the hands of King Shishak of Egypt, he humbled himself before the Lord. In his humility, God was gracious and did not allow the Egyptians to completely destroy them and gave them some relief. The damage, however, had been done. In his double-mindedness Rehoboam had missed out on some of God’s greatest blessings and put him and the

people in a very precarious position.

Are you double-minded in your devotion towards God? Let me give you some symptoms of a double-minded Chris-tian from the life of Rehoboam.

• Your words and actions promote division instead of peace.

• You rely on your own strength instead of God’s strength.

• You worship God only when it is expedient for you.

• You distort God’s plan and purpose for the family.

• You acknowledge God only when you find yourself in a helpless situation.

If you have been double-minded in your commitment to God, I challenge you to confess your sin and renew your devotion to Christ today. Don’t wait until you find yourself in a helpless and precarious position to get back in step with God. If you do, you may discover that you have missed out on so much more that God wanted to do in your life.

Prayer Points:

1. Pray for our church family that we would have a spirit of unity.

2. Pray that we would rely upon God’s strength and not our own.

3. Pray that we would worship God wholeheartedly.

4. Pray that we would protect the home and remain committed to God’s guidelines for the family.

5. Pray that times of blessing would not cause us to drift away from God but to draw nearer to Him.

DAY

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11. 12.