7/24/16: Live By What We Testify

Have you ever heard people proclaim one thing and then watch them practice something totally different? For example, a person might proclaim that it’s utterly wrong to lie, yet at tax time, that same person’s practice is to hide income so as not to pay the government his/her fair share. A person might say she does not steal, yet she will purchase bootleg videotapes of movies, knowing full well that the actors, producers, and studio will not receive a dime of the money that is rightfully theirs from the sale of their stolen property.

How often do we proclaim something to be true about the Lord and then live out in practice that which is diametrically opposite?

In the book of Ezra, chapters seven and eight, King Artaxerxes allowed Ezra to head up a delegation to go back into Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. Ezra responded, “Blessed be the LORD God of our fathers, who has put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to beautify the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem… So I was encouraged, as the hand of the LORD my God was upon me…” Ezra 7: 27-28 (NKJ).

After Ezra gathered the men together whom he needed to do the work, he proclaimed a fast to humble themselves before God, and to seek the right way they should do things. Then Ezra must have had a thought. What if their company was ambushed along their way to Jerusalem and all the treasures were stolen that they were carrying back to the temple? I am supposing this unwritten thought, because right after discussing the fast, Ezra said, “For I was ashamed to request of the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road, because we had spoken to the king, saying, ‘The hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him…’” Ezra 8:22 (NKJ). Ezra realized he had to practice or live out that to which he had testified. How could he say God’s hand was upon him and then ask a heathen king for protection?

What do we say God can do and then renege by not allowing God to do it? Let’s be mindful today to live by what we testify.

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©2016 Sharon Norris Elliott. Feel free to forward this devotion in its entirety, including this copyright line. Leave comments, ask questions, read past devotions, or subscribe to receive these devotions daily in your e-mail at www.sanewriter.wordpress.com. Also, periodically check in at www.LifeThatMatters.net to see what’s going on in the ministry.

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Mission Trip Update! ZAMBIA AND OTHER SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONS, here I come! I started getting the necessary vaccinations for the trip and all that medication is really expensive. Our team will be purchasing our airfare soon. Then the next money due will be for our hotels, food, and visas. Finally, I want to take books for the women who attend the Power Suit Women’s Conferences. Please do not hesitate. I really need your financial donations now. Thank you in advance! Click this link: https://sanewriter.wordpress.com/2016/03/31/33116-special-request/ to go to the full request. You can give three ways:

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