Today's Devotion
From Mike MacIntosh
So it was, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel again played the harlot with the Baals, and made Baal-Berith their god. Thus the children of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side; nor did they show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (Gideon) in accordance with the good he had done for Israel.
Judges 8:32-35
As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel forgot the Lord their God and fell right back into sin, idolatry, and corruption. And at times this is what our lives are like. As soon as the worship stops -- as soon as God becomes silent or "dead" in our lives -- we find ourselves in danger. We're not strong enough in ourselves to overcome the enemy; we need God. As soon as we stop reading our Bible on a regular basis, having our devotions, and being in communication with Him through prayer, boy, the flesh wins. As soon as we kill the move of the Holy Spirit, you better believe the old flesh will resurrect itself and say, "Here I am; back to the good old days."
Spiritual forgetfulness is definitely not one of the fruits of the Spirit! The Israelites didn't remember who "had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side." I believe that forgetting not only shows a lack of respect, but is also a sign of a decaying heart. As a Christian, God is not dead in your heart. You have been made alive through the wonderful gift and sacrifice ofJesus Christ. Never forget who you are or where you came from.
"For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God" (Romans 6:7-13).
