Joni and Friends Daily Devotional
A Grumbling Mood
"'... See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.' These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage." Jude 14b-16
Lately, I've been putting up my spiritual antennae, and I'm hearing some things that alarm me. I'm hearing grumbling, complaining, and murmuring. Everybody seems to have a gripe or complaint or feels victimized -- it's awful! We come out of church Sunday morning and pick apart the sermon, complain against the Sunday school teachers, gripe about the music, and grumble about the elders and the way they are handling a church problem. Many Christians feel it's their duty to voice complaints.
That's the way the Israelites felt when they complained about Moses. It didn't matter that God was sovereign and in control of all their problems. It wasn't important that Moses had a good track record. The Israelites were disgruntled, and they were going to voice their gripes.
Scary stuff, this faultfinding. How scary? Well, the book of Jude has some pretty serious things to say in the verses for today. The word "ungodly" is used four -- count them -- four times to describe not murderers and adulterers but grumblers and faultfinders.
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Now, your gripe might be justified. Wrongdoing might be going on that needs to be exposed. But make sure your concerns are legitimate, and you're not indulging in a complaining spirit. Examine your heart. Are you voicing your complaints to the right people, in the right way, for the right reasons? Now let God take a peek at your motives, just to make sure all is well.
Lord, teach me to guard my heart from a complaining spirit. Enable me to place a lock on my mouth rather than utter that which would needlessly stir discontent. Above all, help me to be discerning about when and how to speak.
Blessings,
Joni and Friends
www.joniandfriends.org
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