Pleasing God

But I have a few complaints against you. You tolerate some among you whose teaching is like that of Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel. He taught them to sin by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin.” ‭‭Revelation‬ ‭2:14‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Balaam was a prostitute prophet. What I mean is that he could be bought for a price. He was an evil prophet that was hired by king Balak of Moab to curse Israel. Three times he tried. Three times he failed. You can read the whole story of Balaam in Numbers 22-25. When his false powers could not curse Israel he resorted to another scheme. This time he earned his money by conniving a plot that would cause Israel to fall from within. His idea was to take some of the Moabite women (pagans) and plant them in the camp of Israel where they would seduce Israeli men into fornication and acceptance of pagan rituals. Once they intermarried (pagan with Jew) they would lead the Jewish men into the practice of sexual perversions and idolatrous feasts. This would contaminate them and remove the blessing of God from upon them, this bringing their defeat.  The devil is still using the same tactics in many churches of our time. Just like Pergamum, we tolerate the sins of our society and we have intermarried with the world rather than coming out from it. I'm not speaking of the color of a person's skin here. I'm speaking of the color of their heart. God isn't concerned about a skin issue, He is concerned about the sin issue. We cannot adopt the wicked practices of the world and intermarry them with the church. Listen to God's word to us.  “Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever? And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said: “I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you. And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. ” ‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭6:14-18‬ ‭NLT “Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.” ‭‭1 John‬ ‭2:15-17‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Just like Pergamum, we need to hear what Jesus is saying to the church today. What is He saying to us? Do we have time to listen? Are we so caught up in our own religious satisfaction that we are deaf and blind spiritually?  Think about that today