The word that came to Jeremiah in our text is relevant to us today. Judah was on the verge of spiritual and moral collapse. God sent a man to give them a message of instruction and direction to a people adrift and in great danger. Immorality was rife, and the word of God was scorned. The nation felt that Egypt would be their salvation rather than God. They were a people who were active in reformation but that were looking in the wrong places for direction. Because they were morally and spiritually blind, they were gullible to follow questionable advice. Once their morality was compromised, they were unable to determine right from wrong. They were still going to church, but they were not listening to the warnings that were broadcast to them. They went through the motions and did all the things, but they did not do it from the right motivation. There was a show, but there was no shekinah. As in Jerimiah’s time, some are going through the motions. Like Israel, we are at a crossroads. Crossroads are dangerous. Most accidents happen at crossroads because merging and conflicting traffic patterns confuse. How do we navigate troubled times and crossroads? The bible tells us that when we get to a crossroads, stop and look around for the right path. The bible says to ask for help and to seek the old way. The word old here means eternal. We are dealing with eternal concepts, not the trends of the day. We are seeking the blessed path, the one that is anointed.

Our world is at a crossroads. What we need is guidance and direction. More than that, we need to heed that advice and walk down the right path. The decisions we make at the crossroads are critical to our destiny.

The lure is a temptation, a distraction. Hunters use various lures to trick their prey to walk into a trap. Lures are traps that will lead to death. The lure is a diversion that is there to fool the animal. The ducks fly by and see the decoys sitting out on the lake and mistake it for a safe place to land. Their perceptions tell them that it is safe until it is not.

The danger of the lure is real in the church. The world presents many distractions, and the enemy will use any trick he can to lure us away from what we know is the truth. We have to be careful to be led by God. If we are not careful, we can too quickly focus on things that look good, but that is a trap that will separate us from God and lead to death. Are we being lured, or are we being led?

The lure is a temptation, a distraction. Hunters use various lures to trick their prey to walk into a trap. Lures are traps that will lead to death. The lure is a diversion that is there to fool the animal. The ducks fly by and see the decoys sitting out on the lake and mistake it for a safe place to land. Their perceptions tell them that it is safe until it is not.

The danger of the lure is real in the church. The world presents many distractions, and the enemy will use any trick he can to lure us away from what we know is the truth. We have to be careful to be led by God. If we are not careful, we can too quickly focus on things that look good, but that is a trap that will separate us from God and lead to death. Are we being lured, or are we being led?

The lure is a temptation, a distraction. Hunters use various lures to trick their prey to walk into a trap. Lures are traps that will lead to death. The lure is a diversion that is there to fool the animal. The ducks fly by and see the decoys sitting out on the lake and mistake it for a safe place to land. Their perceptions tell them that it is safe until it is not.

The danger of the lure is real in the church. The world presents many distractions, and the enemy will use any trick he can to lure us away from what we know is the truth. We have to be careful to be led by God. If we are not careful, we can too quickly focus on things that look good, but that is a trap that will separate us from God and lead to death. Are we being lured, or are we being led?

We’ve all heard the saying that if it isn't broken, don’t fix it. Spiritually, if things are going well, then do not change anything. The converse to this is that if things are NOT going well, we have to fix it. It is sobering to realize that our relationship with God had changed. Often it is not a physical change. We are coming to church, paying tithes, and singing songs, but something is different.

Our natural reaction is to ask, “is it me?” Perhaps we have made some decisions that we will put distance between God and us. The bible tells us that NOTHING will come between us and the love of God. In adverse times, we fall into self-preservation mode. This can cause us to put up walls and distance to protect ourselves. We become untouchable. Where we once had an altar where we would commune with God, that alter has become broken. As long as our altar remains broken, we continue to stay away from God. If our altar is broken, our life will continue to be broken. If our altar is broken, we have to fix it.

We’ve all heard the saying that if it isn't broken, don’t fix it. Spiritually, if things are going well, then do not change anything. The converse to this is that if things are NOT going well, we have to fix it. It is sobering to realize that our relationship with God had changed. Often it is not a physical change. We are coming to church, paying tithes, and singing songs, but something is different.

Our natural reaction is to ask, “is it me?” Perhaps we have made some decisions that we will put distance between God and us. The bible tells us that NOTHING will come between us and the love of God. In adverse times, we fall into self-preservation mode. This can cause us to put up walls and distance to protect ourselves. We become untouchable. Where we once had an altar where we would commune with God, that alter has become broken. As long as our altar remains broken, we continue to stay away from God. If our altar is broken, our life will continue to be broken. If our altar is broken, we have to fix it.

We’ve all heard the saying that if it isn't broken, don’t fix it. Spiritually, if things are going well, then do not change anything. The converse to this is that if things are NOT going well, we have to fix it. It is sobering to realize that our relationship with God had changed. Often it is not a physical change. We are coming to church, paying tithes, and singing songs, but something is different.

Our natural reaction is to ask, “is it me?” Perhaps we have made some decisions that we will put distance between God and us. The bible tells us that NOTHING will come between us and the love of God. In adverse times, we fall into self-preservation mode. This can cause us to put up walls and distance to protect ourselves. We become untouchable. Where we once had an altar where we would commune with God, that alter has become broken. As long as our altar remains broken, we continue to stay away from God. If our altar is broken, our life will continue to be broken. If our altar is broken, we have to fix it.

We’ve all heard the phrase “Monkey see; Monkey do.” It speaks to a process of learning. One learns how to do something, and another sees that and then tries to do the same thing. Monkey see; monkey do works when the behavior is beneficial, but what about when the behavior is dangerous or destructive.?

The children of Israel crossed the Red Sea and were delivered from Egyptian bondage. They celebrated and praised the power of God, but just three short days later, they realize that they do not have food or water, and they begin to grumble against Moses. God provides for their needs, but soon after, they find themselves without water again. And again, they began to complain and wished that they were back in Egypt. We would think after the great demonstrations of power that there would be worship like never before. However, what we see is that this is not the case. The children of Israel had left Egypt, but they had brought with them the seeds of bitterness and defiance that had been in Egypt. A lesson to be learned from this is that Israel never learned the lesson. And by living their lives like that, they passed that lack of faith and that murmuring nature on to their children. Our children, co-workers, and even people we don’t know, learn about living for God by watching us. How do we deal with adversity? How do we react when the times get tough. Do we demonstrate the love of God as we go about living our life? Like those monkeys, our children learn by watching us. Our words say things, but it is our actions that demonstrate our true faith. We have to be careful that the monkeys that are watching us are learning the right lessons.

We’ve all heard the phrase “Monkey see; Monkey do.” It speaks to a process of learning. One learns how to do something, and another sees that and then tries to do the same thing. Monkey see; monkey do works when the behavior is beneficial, but what about when the behavior is dangerous or destructive.?

The children of Israel crossed the Red Sea and were delivered from Egyptian bondage. They celebrated and praised the power of God, but just three short days later, they realize that they do not have food or water, and they begin to grumble against Moses. God provides for their needs, but soon after, they find themselves without water again. And again, they began to complain and wished that they were back in Egypt. We would think after the great demonstrations of power that there would be worship like never before. However, what we see is that this is not the case. The children of Israel had left Egypt, but they had brought with them the seeds of bitterness and defiance that had been in Egypt. A lesson to be learned from this is that Israel never learned the lesson. And by living their lives like that, they passed that lack of faith and that murmuring nature on to their children. Our children, co-workers, and even people we don’t know, learn about living for God by watching us. How do we deal with adversity? How do we react when the times get tough. Do we demonstrate the love of God as we go about living our life? Like those monkeys, our children learn by watching us. Our words say things, but it is our actions that demonstrate our true faith. We have to be careful that the monkeys that are watching us are learning the right lessons.

We’ve all heard the phrase “Monkey see; Monkey do.” It speaks to a process of learning. One learns how to do something, and another sees that and then tries to do the same thing. Monkey see; monkey do works when the behavior is beneficial, but what about when the behavior is dangerous or destructive.?

The children of Israel crossed the Red Sea and were delivered from Egyptian bondage. They celebrated and praised the power of God, but just three short days later, they realize that they do not have food or water, and they begin to grumble against Moses. God provides for their needs, but soon after, they find themselves without water again. And again, they began to complain and wished that they were back in Egypt. We would think after the great demonstrations of power that there would be worship like never before. However, what we see is that this is not the case. The children of Israel had left Egypt, but they had brought with them the seeds of bitterness and defiance that had been in Egypt. A lesson to be learned from this is that Israel never learned the lesson. And by living their lives like that, they passed that lack of faith and that murmuring nature on to their children. Our children, co-workers, and even people we don’t know, learn about living for God by watching us. How do we deal with adversity? How do we react when the times get tough. Do we demonstrate the love of God as we go about living our life? Like those monkeys, our children learn by watching us. Our words say things, but it is our actions that demonstrate our true faith. We have to be careful that the monkeys that are watching us are learning the right lessons.