A Great Harvest of Approval

Greetings in the Lord!

Today's word is Psalm 67, taken from the Amplified Bible:

"God be merciful and gracious to us and bless us and cause His face to shine upon us and among us. Selah. That Your way may be known upon earth, Your saving power (Your deliverances and Your salvation) among all nations.
Let the peoples praise You (turn away from their idols) and give thanks to You, O God; let all the peoples praise and give thanks to You.
O let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You will judge the peoples fairly and guide, lead, or drive the nations upon earth. Selah.
Let the peoples praise You (turn away from their idols) and give thanks to You, O God; let all the peoples praise and give thanks to You!
The earth has yielded its harvest (in evidence of God's approval); God, even our own God, will bless us. God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall reverently fear Him."

~This version of Psalm 67 is a little different than other translations because it emphasizes the idea of repentance ('turn away from your idols') leading to God's approval as evidenced by a bountiful harvest (verse 6). Some Christians struggle with this concept because they don't want to consider the converse situation: poor harvest indicating God's disapproval. No, that's too threatening, but only because the American church has not understood the true nature of the Lord's discipline for us--He wants what is best for us.

Also, some people are more apt to just reason away a 'poor harvest' and try harder next time (instead of being sensitive to what the Spirit may be teaching in the middle of negative circumstances) because they stubbornly want to follow the desires of their flesh more than the Spirit. In our day it seems that many Christians are quick to ignore warnings the Spirit gives to guide our way in life and will jump out ahead of God by doing their own thing. They might even enjoy a good immediate harvest, ie, have financial and other rewards, but the Lord knows His hands were not in it. Following in these paths will lead us astray and into all sorts of problems over time.
"But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always." (Hosea 12:6)

So, for those who arrogantly do not heed warnings from the Spirit and have attained a certain amount of success and wealth (including a "wealth" of knowledge of the Bible and/or church 'achievements') believe, "I must be doing something right" as evidenced by their status, popularity, church growth or riches. Not so. In fact, this is an overly common pitfall of many Christians/churches. Financial security and worldly popularity is not the litmus test the Lord uses to gauge and search men's hearts.

"Ephraim boasts, 'I am very rich; I have become wealthy. With all my wealth they will not find in me any iniquity or sin.' I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt; I will make you live in tents again, as in the days of your appointed feasts." (Hosea 12:8-9). Yes, this passage and the psalm above teaches us that God can demonstrate His disapproval through a change of events, all in the hopes of us humbly returning to follow His will for us again. The Lord always wants what is best for us.

So, what if we are new in the faith, or even a seasoned churchgoer and we feel like we can't hear the Spirit clearly for guidance or warnings? Don't worry--the Lord will send wise counsel to you when you ask, or even a prophet with specific messages. No, the problem isn't not hearing from the Lord; the problem is not heeding to His leading.

"I spoke to the prophets, gave them many visions and told parables through them....The Lord used a prophet to bring Israel up from Egypt, by a prophet he cared for him. But Ephraim has bitterly provoked him to anger; his Lord will leave upon him the guilt of his bloodshed and will repay him for his contempt." (Hosea 12:10,13-14). If we won't heed the Spirit for ourselves and reject those sent to us to give us wise counsel, the Lord will get our attention some how and some way. My friend likes to say that, "God will take away your toys," just like he does with his own child when he wants to get his attention.

"Oh let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You will judge the peoples fairly and guide, lead, or drive the nations upon the earth. Selah." Psalm 67:4

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