When Emotions Trump God's Word

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word.

 

Job 15:12 Why does your heart carry you away, And what do your eyes wink at,

Job’s friend (Eliphaz) asks what I consider to be a couple of challenging questions for professing Christians!

 

Question #1: Why does your heart carry you away? In other words, “Why do you let your emotions trump God’s Word.

 

Question # 2: “What do your eyes wink at? In other words,  what sins do you take lightly?” For that matter, “what sins are winked at by the church?”

 

Let’s start with the first question, “why does your heart carry you away? Easy answer Jer 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?

Don’t trust your heart for anything in life! Always run it through the Word of God!

 

The young business man was on a flight and found himself sitting next to a pretty young woman. They struck up a conversation and both hit it off!  They clicked. And even before the plane landed the young man already knew he would start divorce proceedings and leave his wife and kids behind. He said, “It Feels so right.”

 

Oh that he would understand that the grass that appears to be greener on the other side of the fence is really nothing but the silage of the devil! And it sours everyone and every thing.  God HATES DIVORCE!

 

As I was preparing this message, I went on the internet to find the old Barbara Mandel song, “If Loving You Is Wrong, I Don’t Wanna Be Right.” This song (just as the title suggests) served as an invitation to promiscuity.

 

What I found extremely interesting, is that it was written for a group called, (Are you ready for this?)…The Emotions.

 

You just can’t make this stuff up.

 

You can’t make this up either! According to 1 Cor 6:9 adulterers will not inherit the kingdom of God!

So is there any hope for this young business man?

 

Of course there is, . Just like there is hope for you and me. Jesus paid for all our sins. He wants us to repent and believe the Gospel.

 

Emotions are a gift from God, express them! Welcome godly sorrow over your sin! It’s a gift that will push you toward saving Faith in Jesus.

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word.

The Goodness of God

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word.

 

Ps 16: 6 The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Yes, I have a good inheritance.

 

I can’t say this enough. The older I get, the more I see it. I have had a blessed life, and I owe it all to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That not just idle talk from the Psalmist, look at verse 2.

Ps 16:2 O my soul, you have said to the LORD, "You are my Lord, My goodness is nothing apart from You."

It’s not my goodness, apart from Christ, it is all garbage! But because of Jesus It’s all good! Because It’s all Him!

 

37 of my years I was employed in Christian radio. What a privilege to be able to talk of the goodness of God! Much of the music we’d play has stuck in my heart, and I still shed holy tears when I hear songs like “His Strength is Perfect” by Steven Curtis Chapman, or Steve Green singing” People Need the Lord.”  

 

I may have retired, but the Holy Spirit hasn’t and one of my favorite songs right now is CEE CEE Winans singing  the “Goodness of God.”

The chorus goes like this: All my life You have been faithful
All my life You have been so, so good
With every breath that I am able
I will sing of the goodness of God

Do yourself a favor, Google “The Goodness of God” and let it speak to you. And turn on Christian radio, and leave it on!  Someday you too may need the right song at the right time!

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

 

 

 

I Own You

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word.

 

 

Remember Aaron Rogers when he played for the Packers? It was October 17^th, 2021 when Rogers first made the claim, “ I own you, against the Bears.” His lifetime record against the arch enemy of the Bears is 21-5! Impressive right? But not in the same league as God who owns his arch enemy, the devil and all his henchmen!

 

Job 12:16, “The deceived and the deceiver are His.

 

The fool that says in his heart , “There is no God,” has been deceived and in the end, are God’s to do with them as He pleases!

 

The day is coming when the devil, his demons, and those who have been deceived by him, will be tossed into the lake of fire….hell, for eternity.

 

When your world starts crashing down around you, and your faith starts to waiver, I want you to think of Jesus record against the demons he encountered while He walked on the earth? Did even one demon respond to Jesus’ command to come out of the afflicted one, with “You can’t tell me what to do?” His record against demons is perfect.

 

So beware of deceptive words, Eph 5:6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

 

Because of what things? Eph 5:5 For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

 

To ignore illicit sexual behavior, (fornication) has become most dominant and evident in our sex-crazed culture today. There is no way to sugar coat this, Unless repented of the fornicators will not have any place in the kingdom of God.

 

Do not be deceived by the standards of the world rather do what the Bible tells you to do: Flee fornication!  

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

 

 

Like Giant Green Pom Poms

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word.

 

Ro 8:21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

 

Can you picture it? Creation, finally set free from the curse of the sin of Adam and praising God!

 

In January of 2001, the Parachute band came out with a song called “All the Earth” Some of the lyrics went like this:

All the earth will declare That Your love is everywhere
The fields will exalt Seas resound,

Hear the trees, joyful cry Praising You and so will I,

 

What a great chorus for those who have been set free from sin!

 

Fast forward to today. This has been an extraordinary summer weather wise. The humidity has been high, with temperatures a little higher than normal, and our foliage has gone bonkers!

 

Today I was sitting on my front porch taking in one of those intense Wisconsin summer storms. I was watching the maple trees across the street from our house swing and sway in the wind  and with all the fullness of foliage they looked like giant cheerleading pom poms, and if I could hear their cheers it might be “Come Jesus Come!

 

The Bible tells us: Ps 96:12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice

 13 before the LORD.  For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with His truth.

 

God has equipped His trees to make a joyful noise, let us join in and even more as we see the day coming!

Come Jesus Come!

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

 

 

Who will Speak Up

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word.

 

Can an unborn child pray? I’ll leave that one to the theologians, maybe they can’t give voice to their prayers, but we can be a voice for them.

 

I WAS READING Psalm 9 the other day and thought that verses 13-15 would be a fitting prayer for the unborn.

 

Ps 9:13 Have mercy on me, O LORD! Consider my trouble from those who hate me, You who lift me up from the gates of death,

 14 That I may tell of all Your praise In the gates of the daughter of Zion. I will rejoice in Your salvation.

 15 The nations have sunk down in the pit which they made; In the net which they hid, their own foot is caught.

 

While panicking about over population, nations like China are now scrambling for ways to bring their numbers up to  the sustainable level of 2.1 children per family.

 

What a tangled web we weave. We decry the rise of violence in our streets, but it is inevitable. Violence begets more violence. If it’s legal for me to take you out in the womb, why can’t I take you out later down the line.

 

Phil Keaggy released a song in 1991 called “Little Ones” with a challenging chorus for all!

 

Who will speak up for the little ones?
Helpless and half-abandoned
They've got the right to choose life
They don't want to lose
I've got to speak up, won't you?

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

The Parable of the Dental Hygienist

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word.

 

Job 7:19 How long? Will You not look away from me, And let me alone till I swallow my saliva?

 

Here we have Job speaking to God. He asks Him, “How long?” He has lost his  animals, his servants, his children, all in rapid fire, and now he is battling physical health as well.

I see a dental hygienist twice a year, they have me lying on my back as they go digging around my gum line and my teeth.  Sometimes I need a break from all that digging to swallow my saliva. Remember the days of the sink that she invited you to spit into? The sinks are gone and now she has her miniature hoover that she can use to provide water and at the same time vacuum up all the gunk.

 

Nonetheless, I still need a  break in order to sit up and swallow! My saliva!

 

In essence, that is what Job is asking of God. “God give me a break from this trauma that You keep allowing to come my way!”

Are you in that season now in your life? You keep getting bad news in your life and you need a break! Think of this passage in Job and then do what Job did. He asked the Spiritual Hygienist for a break!

 

God I pray for those who right now are experiencing one bad report after another….please, in Your mercy, give them a break.

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

 

 

I Could Use A Lil Church Right Now

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word.

 

So many lessons to learn from this first chapter of Job! For instance, this meeting of God and angels that the devil attended, and God says, “Hey Satan, what you been up to?”

 

And the devil says, “Oh, you know, just going to and fro, walking back and forth on the earth.” (He didn’t say it but he was looking for someone to devour)

 

1Pe 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

 

And you know how the lion gets his prey don’t you?

He  seeks to separate his victim from the herd. When the prey is separated they pounce.

 

The herd is like a congregation there are some people that just hang around the edges, never really plugging in, and there are others who have just stopped attending.

 

You know what those people could be called? How about “sitting ducks?”  When the devil comes against, you, what are you going to do? When you’re feeling overwhelmed, Who ya gonna call?

 

Toby Mac has a great song out now called “a lil Church

The chorus
I could use a lil church right now
Love to have a lil family around
I've been feeling so overwhelmed
I could use a lil church right now”

 

Who do you know that could use a lil church right now?

J

Job 6:14 reminds us "To him who is afflicted, kindness should be shown by his friend, Even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

 

Thoughtful kindness means a lot to the afflicted, look for ways to deliver it.

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word