Hebrews 3:6 But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.

The coach calls a time out. The opponent has run off eight straight points and our lead has been cut in half in just three minutes. He puts in a fresh set of legs at guard and a small fast forward. “We are going to out run them by changing from zone to man to man.” A change in strategy is required. The same thing happens in football at half time. If what got you to the Super Bowl isn’t working, a new strategy is needed.

Everything is reactionary. Polls are taken, what is popular, what is not. What is working and what is weak. We shift priorities and put our resources where we think they will do the most good and little leaks become a flood. We are always on the defensive. Negative after negative after negative is thrust in our faces.

Christ did not call us to be members of His household to be on the defensive. We are called to obedience of faith to enact God’s will. This is not our plan, not our strategy and we are to carry out His will for us. His promises are true, He is God. The hope that we have lies in His promises not in what we see in the world.

Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

If you truly want to see an end to all that is wrong in the world, preach the gospel.

Exodus 3:2a And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush:

God revealed Himself to Moses in a vision of the burning bush. That is pretty spectacular. God revealed Himself to me by giving me peace when I asked. God revealed Himself to my son by comforting him at his mother’s funeral. How did God reveal Himself to you?

God reveals Himself to his creation, every one of us. What does it take for you to recognize and accept Him? Will you deny Him unless your moment is a burning bush extravaganza? Will you only accept God on your terms? Do you love your life so much that you are unwilling to see anything except that which you have claimed in your own name?

Have made a lesser god your god? Lesser gods cannot give you anything you cannot attain for yourself. The promise might sound good, but everything is up to you. The demands to worship these gods are obedience without question. No promise of return on investment is offered only blind obedience.

So how can you know if the god you serve is any god at all? All I can say is, as with Moses, as with me, as with so many of my brothers in Christ, God revealed Himself first. God takes the first step and initiates contact. You will not find Him in “cause I said so” or “we have always” and for sure “I will kill you if you don’t”. You will find Him in a personal way, not in someone else’s ideals. God’s touch is personal.

1 John 1:2 For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;

1 John 4:10-11 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

He, the true God, loved us first.