"Broken Promises"

"They break in pieces thy people, O LORD, and afflict thine heritage." (Psalms 94:5)
Yes, this is the part where we discover how weak we really are; and it's not because we make the wrong choices, at least not on the surface; it's because we have not yet learned how to say no to the wrong choices. You know that old slogan from the 80's, Just Say No; well, that's pretty much the issue of our heart, saying no means not doing something that we still want to do! It really only comes down to that one simple choice, not a big long list of choices. We can make it out to be something that it's really not meant to be, because the only real choice that we have been given, is to just obey. That's all that Adam had been given, one simple choice, "Don't eat from that one tree!" Every other tree in the garden was okay to eat, just don't eat from the one God said not to eat from. That is simple enough, Right? Okay, so maybe it's really harder than we think; after all, we are pretty much like sheep when it comes to making the right choices, we go astray and like to wonder off into greener pastures. Joshua made a promise, it happened to be in his farewell address, but it was still just one simple promise: "As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." He did not really get into the details of how he was going to make that work; but he didn't really need to, because soon after that, he died. There really is no secret formula for success to following the Lord, except to purpose in our heart not to follow anything else! But it really is not that easy, because there are going to be days when we forget about the purpose; days when we purpose to be a fool; days when we forget God is watching every intention of our heart. When it comes right down to it, we seldom just fall by mistake. No, it's more like we sit ourselves up to fall by not sticking to the simple command to follow Jesus. Whether it's by sitting this one out, or it's by turning aside, if not just for a moment; a moment is all that it takes to get a taste of disobedience, and it's all downhill from there. This verse screams the devil, because this is what the devil is all about. He loves to break in pieces the Body of Christ; and he does so by causing division and strife; division caused by compromise and strife brought on by unforgiveness and hardened hearts. Here is what James was talking about in chapter 4 of his message to the church; and he summed up the cure with this simple solution: "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." Unfortunately, he keeps coming back, so we need to keep ourselves on guard; but it all starts with our submitting to God...
""Look, O mighty mountain, destroyer of the earth! I am your enemy," says the LORD. "I will raise my fist against you, to knock you down from the heights. When I am finished, you will be nothing but a heap of burnt rubble. You will be desolate forever. Even your stones will never again be used for building. You will be completely wiped out," says the LORD." (Jeremiah 51:25-26) NLT