Are you Discouraged by Dishonest People ?

Are you Discouraged by Dishonest People ?

Eli's sons (Hophni and Phinehas )were priests, but they were dishonest and refused to obey the LORD. So, while people were boiling the meat from their sacrifices, these priests would send over a servant who  would stick a fork into the cooking pot, and took whatever meat came out. That is how these two priests treated every Israelite who came to offer sacrifices in Shiloh. Sometimes, when people were offering sacrifices, the servant would come over, even before the fat had been cut off and sacrificed to the LORD. Then the servant would tell them, "The priest doesn't want his meat boiled! Give him some raw meat that he can roast!" Usually the people answered, "Take what you want. But first, let us sacrifice the fat to the LORD." "No," the servant would reply. "If you don't give it to me now, I'll take it by force." Eli's sons did not show any respect for the sacrifices that the people offered. This was a terrible sin, and it made the LORD very angry. Eli was now very old, and he heard what his sons were doing to the people of Israel. "Why are you doing these awful things?" he asked them. "I've been hearing nothing but complaints about you from all of the LORD's people. If you harm another person, God can help make things right between the two of you. But if you commit a crime against the LORD, no one can help you!" But they never listened. One day a prophet came to Eli and gave him this message from the LORD: Out of all the tribes of Israel, I chose your family to be my priests. I wanted them to offer sacrifices to me and to find out from me what I want my people to do. I commanded everyone to bring their sacrifices here where I live, and I allowed you and your family to keep those that were not offered to me on the altar. But you honor your sons instead of me! You've all gotten fat from eating the best parts. I am the LORD, the God of Israel. I promised to always let your family serve me as priests, but now I tell you that I cannot do this any longer! I honor anyone who honors me, but I put a curse on anyone who hates me. The time will come when I will kill you and everyone else in your family. Not one of you will live to an old age. To prove to you that I will do these things, your two sons, will die on the same day. I have chosen someone else to be my priest, someone who will be faithful and obey me. I will always let his family serve as priests and help my chosen king. "

Lesson to be Learnt:

            These days we see some important members of the church mishandle the money that the people give as an offering to the Lord. I have even heard people say this way “ Look at these people, because of their behavior I don’t want to go to the church or offer anything to the Lord. ” Eli and his sons were Priests in Lord’s Temple. Eli was a man of God but not his sons. They troubled the women who came to sacrifice to the Lord. They stole the best part of what the people gave to be a sacrifice to the Lord. So the people hated to make offerings to the Lord. But you know what happened to them, yes the Lord put a curse on the whole generation of Eli. This is what happens when someone is not honest with the work that the Lord gives them. Dishonest means? Example

1.       If you are a child of God and you make a very bad witness to other people in your church by your ways(gambling, smoking, drinking and other unwanted habits) then you are dishonest.

2.      If you are a minister for the Lord and you  mishandle the things given to you as an offering to the Lord for His work, then you are dishonest.

3.      If you are minister of God and you dishonor the women who come to your congregation then you are dishonest.

4.      If you are doing a ministry and you don’t put the proper effort in it but do things to please the people around you and not God, you are dishonest.

5.      If you are a family person and don’t do your household work properly, then you are dishonest.

6.      If you are given a job and if you don’t work for the pay, you are dishonest.

7.       If you are student and you are not studying properly , you are dishonest.

Remember even if nobody  sees the mistakes you are committing, God sees and He will judge every act of yours. The Lord honors those who honor Him

And for people who are discouraged by such dishonest members of the church, I would suggest you return to your church and pray for it daily. Pray that your church fall into the hands of the good.  If you look at the sea of troubles you will fall like Peter but if you look at the face of the Lord alone doing what He asks you to do, you will know  to press forward towards the Lord forgetting the past. (Peter story refer http://sundayschoolsources.com/lessons/water.htm)

Php 3:13

 (Hindi) हे भाइयों, मेरी भावना यह नहीं कि मैं पकड़ चुका हूं: परन्‍तु केवल यह एक काम करता हूं, कि जो बातें पीछे रह गई हैं उन को भूल कर, आगे की बातोंकी ओर बढ़ता हुआ।

 (Kan) ಸಹೋದರರೇ, ನಾನಂತೂ ಹಿಡಿದುಕೊಂಡವ ನೆಂದು ನನ್ನನ್ನು ಎಣಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವದಿಲ್ಲ; ಆದರೆ ಇದೊಂ ದನ್ನು ಮಾಡುತ್ತೇನೆ, ನಾನು ಹಿಂದಿನ ವಿಷಯಗಳನ್ನು ಮರೆತುಬಿಟ್ಟು ಮುಂದಿನವುಗಳನ್ನು ಹಿಡಿಯುವದಕ್ಕಾಗಿ

 (Mal) സഹോദരന്മാരേ, ഞാന്‍ പിടിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു എന്നു നിരൂപിക്കുന്നില്ല.

(MKJV)  My brothers, I do not count myself to have taken possession, but one thing I do, forgetting the things behind and reaching forward to the things before,

(Tamil OV)  சகோதரரே, அதைப் பிடித்துக்கொண்டேனென்று நான் எண்ணுகிறதில்லை; ஒன்று செய்கிறேன், பின்னானவைகளை மறந்து, முன்னானவைகளை நாடி,

(Telugu)  సహోదరులారా, నేనిదివరకే పట్టుకొనియున్నానని తలంచుకొనను. అయితే ఒకటి (చేయుచున్నాను), వెనుక ఉన్నవి లక్ష్యపెట్టకముందట ఉన్నవాటికొరకై వేగిరపడుచు