Day 12/25 – God or Mammon

“When you sin the defilement of your deed touches many; it does not stop with you. God says to His people that the effects of pollution are greater than the effects of sanctification. Remember this when you are tempted to think that your sin will only affect you. Your sin will spread its tentacles in every direction and by it “many are defiled.” Hebrews 12:15” Walter A. Henrichsen (“Walt H”)

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Thoughts from the Diary of a Desperate Man by Walter Henrichsen
God or Mammon
Day Three Hundred Fifty-nine

“No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” Matthew 6:24

Most people living in the business and professional world do not believe these words of Jesus. No follower of Christ wants to be heard taking exception with Jesus, but if they were so bold they would say, “Jesus, in this matter you are mistaken. I know this because I am serving both You and mammon, and doing a reasonable job at it.”

Mammon is material wealth. In the section following this verse, Jesus says that you can know if you are serving God or mammon by asking whether you are anxious over the affairs of this life and your standard of living. A little child cries his heart out because he breaks his crayon. As a parent you know that the crayon is nothing. When you grieve over the loss of your temporal possessions, remember that your heavenly Father sees them as crayons.

Don’t allow your affections to wrap themselves around your possessions. When you strive for the wealth of the world you compete with God for your affections.457 Jesus says that in such a competition there can only be one winner. In truth, God is always the loser. Therefore don’t try to serve mammon. You can serve God and have mammon, but you cannot serve mammon and have God.

457 cf. I John 2:15-16

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Zephaniah 1-3 Revelation 16 (New King James Version)

Zephaniah 1-3
The Great Day of the Lord
1 The word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.
The Great Day of the Lord
2
“I will [a]utterly consume everything
From the face of the land,”
Says the Lord;
3
“I will consume man and beast;
I will consume the birds of the heavens,
The fish of the sea,
And the [b]stumbling blocks along with the wicked.
I will cut off man from the face of the [c]land,”
Says the Lord.
4
“I will stretch out My hand against Judah,
And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
[d]I will cut off every trace of Baal from this place,
The names of the idolatrous[e] priests with the pagan priests—
5
Those who worship the host of heaven on the housetops;
Those who worship and swear oaths by the Lord,
But who also swear by [f]Milcom;
6
Those who have turned back from following the Lord,
And have not sought the Lord, nor inquired of Him.”
7
Be silent in the presence of the Lord God;
For the day of the Lord is at hand,
For the Lord has prepared a sacrifice;
He has [g]invited His guests.
8
“And it shall be,
In the day of the Lord’s sacrifice,
That I will punish the princes and the king’s children,
And all such as are clothed with foreign apparel.
9
In the same day I will punish
All those who leap over the threshold,
Who fill their masters’ houses with violence and deceit.
10
“And there shall be on that day,” says the Lord,
“The sound of a mournful cry from the Fish Gate,
A wailing from the Second Quarter,
And a loud crashing from the hills.
11
Wail, you inhabitants of [h]Maktesh!
For all the merchant people are cut down;
All those who handle money are cut off.
12
“And it shall come to pass at that time
That I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
And punish the men
Who are settled[i] in complacency,
Who say in their heart,
‘The Lord will not do good,
Nor will He do evil.’
13
Therefore their goods shall become booty,
And their houses a desolation;
They shall build houses, but not inhabit them;
They shall plant vineyards, but not drink their wine.”
14
The great day of the Lord is near;
It is near and hastens quickly.
The noise of the day of the Lord is bitter;
There the mighty men shall cry out.
15
That day is a day of wrath,
A day of trouble and distress,
A day of devastation and desolation,
A day of darkness and gloominess,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
16
A day of trumpet and alarm
Against the fortified cities
And against the high towers.
17
“I will bring distress upon men,
And they shall walk like blind men,
Because they have sinned against the Lord;
Their blood shall be poured out like dust,
And their flesh like refuse.”
18
Neither their silver nor their gold
Shall be able to deliver them
In the day of the Lord’s wrath;
But the whole land shall be devoured
By the fire of His jealousy,
For He will make speedy riddance
Of all those who dwell in the land.
A Call to Repentance
2
Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together,
O [j]undesirable nation,
2
Before the decree is issued,
Or the day passes like chaff,
Before the Lord’s fierce anger comes upon you,
Before the day of the Lord’s anger comes upon you!
3
Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth,
Who have upheld His justice.
Seek righteousness, seek humility.
It may be that you will be hidden
In the day of the Lord’s anger.
Judgment on Nations
4
For Gaza shall be forsaken,
And Ashkelon desolate;
They shall drive out Ashdod at noonday,
And Ekron shall be uprooted.
5
Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast,
The nation of the Cherethites!
The word of the Lord is against you,
O Canaan, land of the Philistines:
“I will destroy you;
So there shall be no inhabitant.”
6
The seacoast shall be pastures,
With [k]shelters for shepherds and folds for flocks.
7
The coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah;
They shall feed their flocks there;
In the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down at evening.
For the Lord their God will intervene[l] for them,
And return their captives.
8
“I have heard the reproach of Moab,
And the insults of the people of Ammon,
With which they have reproached My people,
And made arrogant threats against their borders.
9
Therefore, as I live,”
Says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,
“Surely Moab shall be like Sodom,
And the people of Ammon like Gomorrah—
Overrun[m] with weeds and saltpits,
And a [n]perpetual desolation.
The residue of My people shall plunder them,
And the remnant of My people shall possess them.”
10
This they shall have for their pride,
Because they have reproached and made arrogant threats
Against the people of the Lord of hosts.
11
The Lord will be awesome to them,
For He will reduce to nothing all the gods of the earth;
People shall worship Him,
Each one from his place,
Indeed all the shores of the nations.
12
“You Ethiopians also,
You shall be slain by My sword.”
13
And He will stretch out His hand against the north,
Destroy Assyria,
And make Nineveh a desolation,
As dry as the wilderness.
14
The herds shall lie down in her midst,
Every beast of the nation.
Both the pelican and the bittern
Shall lodge on the capitals of her pillars;
Their voice shall sing in the windows;
Desolation shall be at the threshold;
For He will lay bare the cedar work.
15
This is the rejoicing city
That dwelt securely,
That said in her heart,
“I am it, and there is none besides me.”
How has she become a desolation,
A place for beasts to lie down!
Everyone who passes by her
Shall hiss and shake his fist.
The Wickedness of Jerusalem
3
Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted,
To the oppressing city!
2
She has not obeyed His voice,
She has not received correction;
She has not trusted in the Lord,
She has not drawn near to her God.
3
Her princes in her midst are roaring lions;
Her judges are evening wolves
That leave not a bone till morning.
4
Her prophets are insolent, treacherous people;
Her priests have [o]polluted the sanctuary,
They have done violence to the law.
5
The Lord is righteous in her midst,
He will do no unrighteousness.
[p]Every morning He brings His justice to light;
He never fails,
But the unjust knows no shame.
6
“I have cut off nations,
Their fortresses are devastated;
I have made their streets desolate,
With none passing by.
Their cities are destroyed;
There is no one, no inhabitant.
7
I said, ‘Surely you will fear Me,
You will receive instruction’—
So that her dwelling would not be cut off,
Despite everything for which I punished her.
But [q]they rose early and corrupted all their deeds.
A Faithful Remnant
8
“Therefore wait for Me,” says the Lord,
“Until the day I rise up [r]for plunder;
My determination is to gather the nations
To My assembly of kingdoms,
To pour on them My indignation,
All My fierce anger;
All the earth shall be devoured
With the fire of My jealousy.
9
“For then I will restore to the peoples a pure [s]language,
That they all may call on the name of the Lord,
To serve Him with one accord.
10
From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia
My worshipers,
The daughter of My dispersed ones,
Shall bring My offering.
11
In that day you shall not be shamed for any of your deeds
In which you transgress against Me;
For then I will take away from your midst
Those who rejoice in your pride,
And you shall no longer be haughty
In My holy mountain.
12
I will leave in your midst
A meek and humble people,
And they shall trust in the name of the Lord.
13
The remnant of Israel shall do no unrighteousness
And speak no lies,
Nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth;
For they shall feed their flocks and lie down,
And no one shall make them afraid.”
Joy in God’s Faithfulness
14
Sing, O daughter of Zion!
Shout, O Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
15
The Lord has taken away your judgments,
He has cast out your enemy.
The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
You shall [t]see disaster no more.
16
In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Do not fear;
Zion, let not your hands be weak.
17
The Lord your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”
18
“I will gather those who sorrow over the appointed assembly,
Who are among you,
To whom its reproach is a burden.
19
Behold, at that time
I will deal with all who afflict you;
I will save the lame,
And gather those who were driven out;
I will appoint them for praise and fame
In every land where they were put to shame.
20
At that time I will bring you back,
Even at the time I gather you;
For I will give you [u]fame and praise
Among all the peoples of the earth,
When I return your captives before your eyes,”
Says the Lord.
Footnotes:
• Zephaniah 1:2 Lit. make a complete end of, Jer. 8:13
• Zephaniah 1:3 Idols
• Zephaniah 1:3 ground
• Zephaniah 1:4 Fulfilled in 2 Kin. 23:4, 5
• Zephaniah 1:4 Heb. chemarim
• Zephaniah 1:5 Or Malcam, an Ammonite god, 1 Kin. 11:5; Jer. 49:1; Molech, Lev. 18:21
• Zephaniah 1:7 Lit. set apart, consecrated
• Zephaniah 1:11 A market district of Jerusalem, lit. Mortar
• Zephaniah 1:12 Lit. on their lees; like the dregs of wine
• Zephaniah 2:1 Or shameless
• Zephaniah 2:6 Underground huts or cisterns, lit. excavations
• Zephaniah 2:7 Lit. visit them
• Zephaniah 2:9 Lit. Possessed by nettles
• Zephaniah 2:9 Or permanent ruin
• Zephaniah 3:4 Or profaned
• Zephaniah 3:5 Lit. Morning by morning
• Zephaniah 3:7 They were eager
• Zephaniah 3:8 LXX, Syr. for witness; Tg. for the day of My revelation for judgment; Vg. for the day of My resurrection that is to come
• Zephaniah 3:9 Lit. lip
• Zephaniah 3:15 So with Heb. mss., LXX, Bg.; MT, Vg. fear
• Zephaniah 3:20 Lit. a name

Revelation 16
The Seven Bowls
16 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the [a]bowls of the wrath of God on the earth.”
First Bowl: Loathsome Sores
2 So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a [b]foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image.
Second Bowl: The Sea Turns to Blood
3 Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living creature in the sea died.
Third Bowl: The Waters Turn to Blood
4 Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel of the waters saying:
“You are righteous, [c]O Lord,
The One who is and who [d]was and who is to be,
Because You have judged these things.
6
For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets,
And You have given them blood to drink.
[e]For it is their just due.”
7 And I heard [f]another from the altar saying, “Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.”
Fourth Bowl: Men Are Scorched
8 Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men with fire. 9 And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory.
Fifth Bowl: Darkness and Pain
10 Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain. 11 They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds.
Sixth Bowl: Euphrates Dried Up
12 Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. 13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings [g]of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
15 “Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.”
16 And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, [h]Armageddon.
Seventh Bowl: The Earth Utterly Shaken
17 Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth. 19 Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. 20 Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21 And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great.
Footnotes:
• Revelation 16:1 NU, M seven bowls
• Revelation 16:2 severe and malignant, lit. bad and evil
• Revelation 16:5 NU, M omit O Lord
• Revelation 16:5 NU, M was, the Holy One
• Revelation 16:6 NU, M omit For
• Revelation 16:7 NU, M omit another from
• Revelation 16:14 NU, M omit of the earth and
• Revelation 16:16 Lit. Mount Megiddo; M Megiddo