A stone's throw from the Israelites of Moses' day???

The Israelites had been freed from Egyptian slavery and were wandering in the wilderness. While there God provided them with guidance ( a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night) , yet they complained about wandering, and that things had been better in Egypt.
God also provided them with food and not just any food, this was food that rained down from heaven, and was enough for each individual person, they we not starving. This food they called Manna: a bread like substance. But then we see that they also complained about this food as well, they claimed that they wanted something better, they wanted meat!!

So God gave them meat... and lots of it!!! He gave them live quail, in fact so much that it was 3 ft. deep!!! Now if that is not alot of meat.. I don't know what is!! This would be heaven for me just hand me a BB gun and I would go to town with killing them!!! That would be the perfect hunting day!!

Anyways where was I??? OH yes the quail!! So they complained about that later on! God also provided them with water when they needed it and also guidance through Moses, through His commands and also pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night!

Also let's not forget the very fact that He gave them freedom from Egypt, got them across the red sea and cured them from a terrible sickness that came from snakes ( lifting up the snake in the wilderness).
And He also restrained from punishing them time and again and they were in fact on their way to the promised land. They were SO SO blessed in many ways, and yet we find them in the book of Exodus complaining time and again.

And I as an American in the 21st century look at that and click my tongue as if to say "Shame, shame you Israelites!! Can't you see what God has and is doing for you?? Why are you complaining??" And in fact I am tempted to think that I am better then them, when in fact I am way worse then them!

For I have it far greater than they. After all I live in a nice dorm ( when at school) and a nice House ( when I am home) versus a tent. I really don't have to travel everyday like they did and when I do it most often is not on foot ( minus my walk to work which is prolly not even half a mile I am pretty certain that they walked MILES) I can just hop into a car and get where I am going.
I have plenty of food whenever I need it, and it is never just bread or quail I have way more variety than that. And though I have not been freed from egyptian slavery I have been freed in an even greater sense from the slavery of my sin!!!! Because of Christ the son of God's death on the cross I have been freed from the guilt and shame and punishment of my sin and am now a child of God's!!

And I too am headed to a promised land just as they were but my promised land is way better as well! For heaven you see is even greater than their promised land for this promised land is free of sin and it is the most perfect place.

So as you can see I have it even better than they did, and yet I complain just as much as they did if not more than they did! And when I really began to think about this I thought to myself "How could this be? How could I look down on the Israelites for complaining when I myself have it better off then they did and complain even more than they did!"

All this was brought to mind in my quiet time with God the past few days. My Bible reading has been in Psalm 78 and in versus 18- 21 it talks about the Israelites and how they complained against God. First it states what God had given them and then it states that they complained. And it just got me to thinking about the seriousness of complaining.

Psalm 78:18-21

18 They willfully put God to the test
by demanding the food they craved.

This verse shows me what complaining it. It states
that complaining is willfull in that they willfully complained. It is never mindless like sometimes I like to think it is.
I would sometimes like to dismiss my complaining as "out of my control" in that I say that "well If things were not this way, or if I only had this_____, then I would not complain" But that is never true for I would find something to complain about even if I had all the riches in the world!! But what is complaining?
Complaining is speaking against God when you think about it honestly!! WE would like to think that we complain because of our circumstances, because of not having what we think we need. Or complaing about the fact that there are things we want but do not have. Take the Israelites for instance, in this verse at the end it says that they were demanding that God give them the food they craved. Notice how it does not say by demanding for the food they needed, no it does not say that because they already had food, the problem was they did not have the food they really wanted.

Complaining is speaking against God because what I am saying to God when I complain is that "I deserve better than what He has provided" When in reality I DO NOT deserve even what He has given me!! You see complaing when taken honestly is a serious sin! It is speaking against God! This means that anytime I complain no matter what I am complaining about I am telling God that I deserve better, I am telling Him that who HE is and what He has done matters nothing to me and is not sufficent.
It is as if I am looking at Jesus on the cross suffering and dying for my sin and all I have to say is "I want more... give me more!"

I am but a stones throw from Israel... in fact I am worse because I have it better than they!

19 They spoke against God, saying,
"Can God spread a table in the desert?

We see here that complainig is as I stated before speaking against God, the creator of the universe and me and the savior of the world! It also shows that He is fully capable of providing for my needs ( food in particular) and it matters not where I am for He can and will provide for me no matter where I am!

20 When he struck the rock, water gushed out,
and streams flowed abundantly.
But can he also give us food?
Can he supply meat for his people?"

As stated earlier and as seen in this verse God provided them with water ( He does this for me as well for there is an endless supply of it with just a turn of a knob and any faucet nearest me, and I am never far from one. And to think I do not even have to strike a rock!!)
He aslo provided them with meat because they were tireing of the manna, and to think that I have more variety than that and yet I too still complain!! Just a stones throw folks... just a stones throw!!!

21 When the LORD heard them, he was very angry;
his fire broke out against Jacob,
and his wrath rose against Israel

And finally were learn here that complaining angers God, and RIGHTLY SO!!!
Imagine, you make a good dinner for someone. Then after the dinner all that person did was to tell you how bad it tasted and what all you did wrong and then they proceeded to say what would have been better. And how angry you would be?? And don't say that you would not be because you would, we all hate it when we go to great lengths to do something nice for someone and all that person has to say is complaints about the thing we did.

Or imagine that you are in the hot desert, with a friend. And the friend gets thirsty and you are the only one with water left, so you let your friend have the rest, choosing to go thirsty just so your friend will have some water. And then after drinking it alll your friend has to say is to complain about the water and how much better the water at home was, the friend does not even thank you in fact he just keeps on complaing. All that sacrifice for him and all he has to say is complaints!!!

And yet we do the very same thing to God!! He provides me with far greater than what the Israelits had and yet I complain just as much if not more than they!
I am no better, in fact I am worse!!

And not only that but God has sent His son to die for me, I am permanately free from sin and will one day be with my Father in heaven FOREVER! What could be greater than that?? Even if I had nothing left but salvation at least I would have salvation!!!

You see the bottom line here is I must never think that I deserve better for I do not even deserve what I do have!! I have been redeemed, that is the greatest thing, the sin of complaining is serious and deadly and contagious ( it affected the entire tribe of Israel, and we see it happen everyday. A family is all fine and good until someone starts complaining and then it is like a stone has been thrown into a pond, the ripples go everywhere stirring up the once calm water.)

May I remember the seriousness of my complaining and never make excuses for it never let it consume mny thoughts and words. May I rememeber that I do not even deserve what I do have. May I be content with what I have, and may I live a life of thankfulness and gratitude toward the GREAT GOD,the sustainer, the provider of ALL needs, the lover and redeemer of this wretched prodigal (me).
May I repent of the sin of complaining and rely on God to rid me of that and to become a more true and thankful follower of Him!

Have we become sophisticated in our blameshifting?

It is true, we have been blame shifting ever since sin first entered the world. As we know Adam shifted the blame of his sin on Eve when God confronted him on eating of the forbidden fruit. Adam said that "the woman that you gave to me, she gave me the forbidden fruit."

So we see that men blameshift. Then we also see that women blameshift as well for Eve when God turned His attention to her blamed it on Satan. And Satan was never given the chance to shift any blame but one has to wonder if he would have tried.
( The account of the fall is found in Genesis 3).
So we can see from the history of man and sin that blameshifting has been around for since the beginning of sin.

So you are all probably wondering how we have gotten "sophisticated" in our blameshifting?
Well we learn from the account of the Fall that Adam and Eve shifted their blame on other people ( or in Eve's case on a fallen angel...Satan.)
And it is true we still do that today, we often say after we have sinned "Well if you had not done___" or "Well you did____ and that is why I ___" and you fill in the blank. This form of blameshifiting is all too common place. In fact believe it or not but I have actually caught myself not only giving this excuse to people but I have caught myself telling God this as well. After I have sinned it has been my practice to pray and confess it to God and ask His forgiveness ( either after or before confessing and asking forgiveness from the humans I have wronged).

And I must be totally honest because there have been times where I have actually begun to say to God "Forgive me Father for doing such and such, or for saying such and such, but if they had not done such and such..." and that is when the Holy spirit works in me and tugs at my heart letting me know that blameshifiting is a sin, and then I have to not only confess the first sin I commited but also the second sin of blameshifting. I am no better than Adam and Eve, for this is exactly what they did, they blameshifted right in front of the face of God. No we can't talk to God face to face as Adam and Eve did, but we do pray and sometimes in my praying I find myself shifting the blame of my sin on other people.
I have forgotten

 

 Ecclesiasties 5:2
" Do not be quick with your mouth,
do not be hasty in your heart
to utter anything before God.
God is in heaven
and you are on earth,
so let your words be few." I have too easily forgotten to whom I am speaking with!!


So you are probably thinking by now "okay Bethany so you so far have showed us nothing more sophisticated in the area of blameshifting" but may I say "just hold your horses I am getting there."

So we know that blameshifting has been here since the fall and that we have even been using blameshifting with God.
But the way we have become more sophisticated in our blameshifting is in the fact that we not only shift the blame of our sin on other people around us but now we also shift the blame of our sin onto our circumstances!

We do not see Adam nor Eve blaming their sin on circumstances, but only on other people.
But shifting the blame on circumstances is all too common place today! It is seen in times when we get angry. Take me for instance, when I get angry and fly off the handle I say "Well I am just stressed." And what is stress?? It is caused by circumstances. Or better yet I say "I got angry because I had a bad day at work... or I am working on very little sleep right now."
And again sometimes I even try to use these when I confess my sin to God.

You see as time has gone on the curse and really sin has only gotten worse and worse. As time has gone on we have become more sophisticated and more deeply entrenched in sin, to where often times we have become numb to it. This is why praying for a heart like David, who in the Psalms when speaking of his sin said that the thoughts of it made his bones dry up. We must pray for a sensitivity to sin, to see it, and to have the courage to not blameshift but to rather call and see sin as what God calls and sees it as.

Blameshifting is the attempt to either convice yourself or others or even God ( or all three in many cases) that the sin that you commited was somehow out of your control. In other words you are trying to get others to think and see that the sin that you commited was totally out of your power to stop.
When we shift the blame to people we want others to think that it was someone elses fault, when we shift the blame to circumstances we want people to think that it was because we did not get enough sleep, or that it was inbred into our genes or because of our culture that we are living in.

Another way that we have become sophisticated in the area of blameshifting is in the area of emotions or feelings. We often hear speakers say that love is a choice and rightly so because love truly is a choice. But have you ever thought of why we as humans would ever want to think that love is a feeling?? Because it makes things easier for us ( as all blameshifting does). When love is dismissed as a feeling suddenly the blame for not loving someone is no longer in existance because most people see emotions and feelings as out of our control.

Whenever someone says that they "don't feel like loving someone" then suddenly they are not blamed for wrong actions toward that "someone" because we have all believed the lie that emotions and feelings are out of our control. You see blameshifting is a great thing to us fallen humans because it makes things seem like they are out of our control, which seems like a good thing.

 

 But as with every good thing Satan always has a counterfeit, and the counterfeit does exactly what a counterfeit should do. It acts and looks like the same as the "real deal" but then when you go and try to use it, suddenly it does not work and does not give the same results as the "real deal" does. For every good from God
(good virtues, commands that He gives) there is a counterfeit ( sin) that Satan will try to luer us with much the same way as a fishermen leurs a fish with a fake leur.

When we dismiss love as the counterfeit, just a feeling, then it never works as love should work.
Love in the real sense of the word is a choice, and when we admit that it is a choice suddenly "loving others" becomes a little easier because it is no longer out of our control like the counterfeit of love as a feeling.

 

Suddenly we learn that we can choose to love someone whether they are worthy of it or not ( which really they are according to Romans 13:8 which states that we owe every person on the planet LOVE) or whether we think that they are worthy of it or not.
Yes it becomes harder when we do not love someone because then we see that it is totally our fault because we chose not to love that someone. But as with everything there is a hard and an easy side to love when seen as a choice!

Okay so we have seen that we blameshift in the area of love, but we also do it in the area of Joy or happiness. We have probably all heard speakers say that Joy, or happiness is a choice, and RIGHTLY so because that is exactly what joy and happiness is. It is choice, you can choose to be happy.

But again have we ever thought through why we as humans would want happiness to be a feeling??
And again we have the same answer because it makes things seem easier. If you say that you do not "feel happy" then suddenly we do not blame you at all because as I stated before we have come to see emotions as out of our control ( which sometimes they may just be).
So we don't blame you.

But that is only because we have accepted Satan's luer or counterfeit as it were. We have come to see happiness as an emotion and therefore out of anyone's control.
But when we ackowledge and see joy (happiness) as what it truly is, a choice suddenly things become easier and we find that we can have happiness no matter what is going on around us, and no matter what we are going through!

Suddenly things get brighter, and start to look up when we neglect Satan's counterfeit and embrace God's "real deal."
That must be why James said in James 1, that we can consider it a joy when we face trials, because James saw happiness not as a feeling, not as dependent upon how we feel or how our circumstances or people make us feel, but rather as a choice.

So here is a question, what do love and joy have in common ( other than the fact that we wrongly call them both a feeling.)?????

The answer is that they are both fruits of the spirit! And they are both to be seen in the life of the Christian because Christ said that everyone will know we are Christians by the fruits that we display. But how could we as Christians display love and joy ( fruits of the spirit) if they are out of our control to display? How could we display something that we have no control over?? You see things get harder and more complicated when we accept Satan's counterfeit. Oh sure at first they seem easier in that we don't have to take the blame for not being happy or loving, but then when you really work that out we suddenly realize that the displaying the fruit of the spirit is no longer in our control. This is why we must never dismiss Joy and Love as just mere feelings. We must call them what God calls them: a choice!

Funny how we only do this to two of the fruits of the spirit. You never hear" well I just did not feel like having paitence" or I just "did not feel like pursuing peace with that person"

Gal. 5:16-18

"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. "

You see we are always at war with our sinful nature. It is our sinful nature that wants to call Love and happiness a mere feeling. It is our sinful nature that wants to shift the blame of our sin onto people and to shift the blame of our choices on feelings.
But we must be led by the spirit! The sinful nature is contrary to the Spirit, as seen in the stark difference of love as a choice versus a mere feeling!

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." Gal. 5:22-23

So we have indeed become more sophisticated in our blameshifting! But let's not continue in this! Lets call sin and emotions what God calls them ( sin= wrong and emotions=choice)
Let's put on the fruit of the spirit and choose to have paitence love happiness, kindness etc.
Let us accect God's REAL DEAL versus Satan's counterfeit!