Praying Pint

 

 

Revelation 3:19     Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.

 

What does genuine repentance look like? First, true repentance should never be confused with grief. You can be grieved about your sin without turning away from your sin. Second, true repentance never leaves a residue of regret. When you turn around, you’ll feel relief, not regret.

Third, true repentance is a gift from God. In 2 Timothy 2:25, Paul said, “[Correct] those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth.” Your ability to come back to God is a gift from Him. Think about the prodigal son. After months or even years in the far country, Luke 15:17 says the son finally came to his senses, which implies that he had been out of his mind. It made no sense for the son of a wealthy landowner to be in the far country feeding pigs. In the same way, it makes no sense for us to be estranged from the One who created us, loves us the most, and wants nothing but good for us. The only way we will ever come to our senses is by an act of grace that allows us to see things as they really are. Repentance is a gift from God.

Finally, true repentance results in definitive action. After the prodigal came to his senses, he made a plan: “I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men’” (vv. 18–19). Think about what his plan entailed: he had to quit his job, make travel arrangements, write a speech, and prepare for his family to be anything but friendly. But he was willing to do those things because he was sick and tired of living in the far country.

Do you have a sense that all is not right between you and God? Can you see how God has sent crises into your life to get your attention? Are you ready to come home? For you, the first step might be breaking off an immoral relationship. It might be quitting a job that has become an idol in your life. It might be saying no to an addiction. It might be spending five minutes reading the Bible even though you have no desire to do so.

If you’re willing to learn from the reproofs God has sent into your life, if you’re willing to make a U-turn and starting heading toward God then, like the prodigal son, you’re going to find a surprise awaiting you at the end of the journey. (Jeffress)

 

 

Romans 8:5-8   Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.  The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.  The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.  Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

Rom 1:28-32  And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.  Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

 Ecclesiastes 7:29    See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.

 1 John 2:15-16    Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.

 John 15:23-24     Whoever hates me hates my Father also.  If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.

 Ephesians 4:18-19   They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.  They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

 2 Peter 2:14     They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children!

 Hebrews 8:10      For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

 Galatians 5:22-23    But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

 

Now Jacob heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, “Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s he has acquired all this wealth.” And Jacob saw the countenance of Laban, and indeed it was not favorable toward him as before. (Genesis 31:1-2)

The last verse of Genesis 30 explains that under God’s blessing, Jacob became a prosperous, wealthy man. Sometimes when people become prosperous, other people become envious of them. This what happened in Jacob’s case. When he grew wealthy, the sons of his father-in-law Laban became jealous.

Under the influence of envy, the sons of Laban lied about Jacob and the reason for his prosperity. They said, Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s. In truth, Jacob had not taken anything that belonged to Laban. Rather, it was that Jacob’s wealth was increasing faster than Laban’s wealth. The problem wasn’t that Jacob stole; it was that Laban’s sons were filled with envy.

Envy is a deep and dangerous sin, and it will distort the truth. Jacob had not taken anything of Laban’s, but envy will make people lie. Therefore, Laban’s sons said, Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s.

Worse, the envy of Laban’s sons began to poison the heart of Laban against his son-in-law Jacob. Over time, the countenance of Laban…was not favorable toward Jacob anymore. Previously, Laban was pleased with his agreement with Jacob (Genesis 30:34). Now, because of the poison of envy, Laban was no longer happy with their arrangement.

Envy is bad not only on its own, but also for the company it keeps. According to 1 Corinthians 3:3, envy is often accompanied by strive, divisions, and unspiritual living. Self-seeking, confusion, and evil things go envy (James 3:16). In contrast, love does not envy (1 Corinthians 13:4), and God wants to deliver His people from envy, considering it part of the believer’s past, not their present (Titus 3:3).

Envy is no small sin. In a sense, envy sent Jesus to the cross. When the religious leaders brought Jesus to Pontius Pilate for the death penalty, Pilate knew that they had handed Him over because of envy (Matthew 27:18).

Dear brother or sister in Christ, can you examine your life for the sin of envy? Do you resent it when others seemed blessed or prosperous? Do you often wish you had what belongs to others? Do you dread the success of other people? Do you take pleasure in the failure of others?

Envy is not a sin to take lightly, or to indulge in any way. Knowing the destructive power of envy, we must ask God’s Spirit to help us deal strictly with this sin. Living free from envy is true freedom – able to rejoice in the success and prosperity of others, and also able to deal with our own seasons of struggle.

Make it your prayer: “Lord, search my heart, and keep me free from the dangerous sin of envy.”

 

 

Exo 33:12-17  Moses said to the LORD, “See, you say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.”  And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?” And the LORD said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.”

Jehovah had commanded Moses to lead the people to Canaan, and promised him the guidance of an angel; but He had expressly distinguished this angel from His own personal presence (Exodus 33:1-3). Moreover, though it has not been mentioned before, Jehovah had said to Moses, “I have known thee by name,” – i.e., I have recognised thee as Mine, and chosen and called thee to execute My will (cf. Isaiah 43:1; Isaiah 49:1), or put thee into “a specifically personal relation to God, which was peculiar to Moses, and therefore was associated with his name” (Oehler); – “and thou hast also found grace in My eyes,” inasmuch as God had granted a hearing to his former intercession. Moses now reminded the Lord of this divine assurance with such courage as can only be produced by faith, which wrestles with God and will not let Him go without a blessing (Genesis 32:27); and upon the strength of this he presented the petition (Exodus 33:13), “Let me know Thy way (the way which Thou wilt take with me and with this people), that I may know Thee, in order that I may find grace in Thine eyes, and see that this people is Thy people.” The meaning is this: If I have found grace in Thy sight, and Thou hast recognised me as Thy servant, and called me to be the leader of this people, do not leave me in uncertainty as to Thine intentions concerning the people, or as to the angel whom Thou wilt give as a guide to me and the nation, that I may know Thee, that is to say, that my finding grace in Thine eyes may become a reality; and if Thou wilt lead the people up to Canaan, consider that it is Thine own people, to whom Thou must acknowledge Thyself as its God.

As a believer, we are given the Holy Spirit to lead, direct, comfort, teach, convict, encourage, help, etc…. us in all truth, wisdom, knowledge, and understanding of God’s grace, mercy and love, God’s Word, things of God,  discernment, Holiness and Sin, right and wrong, truth and false, blessings and judgment. We can intentionally seek and desire all of these infusions from the Holy Spirit and thereby place ourselves in the proper mindset to hear those quiet whispers and loud shouts within our souls. 

Conversely, we can reject, harden our hearts and minds, deafen our ears, and blind our eyes to what, where, and when the Holy Spirit is leading us in. We might proclaim we want the presence of the Holy Spirit but do not give it futile ground in our hearts, minds, or souls. 

David said, search me, know me, see if there is anything offensive within me, and lead me in the everlasting ing way. If we would be so bold and willing to be lead by the Holy Spirit of God. 

 

 

 

Here are some questions I recommend you ask yourself. In quiet silence ask, “Am I always truthful and honest” I claim to be a Christian, and I believe that the root of the matter is in me and the seed of God is in my heart. I believe I am the Lord”s child, but I am not satisfied with the frozen-over rut. Lord, help me to be honest while I answer. Am I always truthful on the telephone” Am I always honest with my creditors, with my employers, with my employees and in all social contracts and contacts”” Somebody may say, “What’s the difference”” Dishonesty and shading of the truth are sins that grieve the Holy Spirit and bring on the winter. The winter of your discontent may be upon you, and like the life in a leafless tree, your life is buried within. You may have grieved the Holy Spirit by untruthfulness. One of the first things Christians have to do is become perfectly honest with God and perfectly truthful in everything they say.

 

Philippians 2:13     for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

 

Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God. § A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. § No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. § I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever.

Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Lord, You will establish peace for us, for You have also done all our works in us.

 

 

In the Hebrew epistle a great deal is said about the need for persistence in the Christian life. The converts were losing heart and the man of God sought to encourage them to “hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first” (3:14). “So do not throw away your confidence,” he exhorts them, “it will be richly rewarded” (10:35).

This concept of the Christian life as a journey to be taken, a growth to be attained, is being lost to us through two widely separated modern errors.

 

The first is that of the liberal, who cheerfully advises the unrenewed sinner to continue in the Christian life, overlooking the important fact that he has no life in which to continue. Where there has been no impartation of life to the soul of the man, growth and development are impossible. To assume that a saving act of God has been done in a man’s heart when in reality no such act has been done is to set the soul of the man in mortal jeopardy and all but guarantee his final ruin.

 

 

Deu 5:6-7  “‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “‘You shall have no other gods before me.

 Matthew 4:10      Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”

 John 5:23   that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

From the perspective of the entire Bible, it can be said that the law of God has three great purposes and uses:

· It is a guardrail, keeping humanity on a moral path.

· It is a mirror, showing man his moral failure and need for a savior.

· It is a guide, showing the heart and desire of God for His people. (Guzik)

When I think about our society/culture I wonder how did it get so far away from any thought about God. Growing up back in the 60’s and 70’s there was a knowing that there was a God who created everything, the principles of the 10 commandments, moral rights and wrongs, and a clear vision of those who were living outside of them. Now it seems very hard to find those living inside of them. In less than 60 years God seems to have been pushed aside and the current generation doubts that there is even a God, morality is for the simple-minded, progressive thought prevails, right and wrong are subjective, heaven and hell are make-believe, final judgment is a scare tactic, belief in Jesus Christ is foolishness, etc…..

What would it take to bring people back to their senses? A mighty work of God’s outpouring Holy Spirit!!!! Pray for this not only in your own personal life but in your family, neighborhood, city, state, and country. 

 

But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.
Luke 2:19

How are you doing when it comes to pondering? Psalm 107:43 says, “Let the one who is wise heed these things and ponder the loving deeds of the Lord” (NIV). And Psalm 111:2 says, “Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them”

The virgin Mary teaches us something about pondering. When Gabriel appeared to Mary, he told her things she could never have imagined or expected. God surprised her with a plan for her life beyond anything she had dreamed. She quickly trusted the message and didn’t hesitate to obey the Lord’s commands. As more information came to light, she pondered it all in her heart.

God often surprises us with twists and turns we don’t expect. All of them are for our benefit and usefulness, but we have to ponder His ways and submit to them in faith and obedience. Proverbs 4:26 says, “Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established.”

Take time right now to prayerfully ponder God’s wonderful pathway for your life. (Jeremiah)

To strengthen faith we must hear God’s Word and ponder God’s doing, the marvelous works of God in our own day. (Hough)

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Ponder – give thought to, think about, reflect on, contemplate, study, meditate on.

Give thought every day to the wonders of God, things of God, and the grace, mercy, and love of God.  As David said in Psalm 139 – This wonderful knowledge is beyond me. It is lofty; I am unable to reach it.

When time is spent “pondering God” our minds and hearts will come to a place of humbleness and worship, thanksgiving, and praise will come out. Time in God’s Word is where we find great things of God to ponder. Mysteries of creation, expected obedience, reward and punishment, grace, mercy, love, Prophecy, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, heaven, hell, anger, wrath, application, mighty and wonderous deeds, prayer, faith, fear, joy, peace beyond understanding, life, death, sin, holiness, justification, sanctification, repentance, sacrifice, redemption, reliance, trust, refuge, hope, etc…..

We think about a lot of stuff. Most of it is present-day living: family, job, finances, relationships, homes, school, politics, sports, social media, TV shows, or movies, health, fitness, etc…. Where is the pondering of God and things of God? It seems as though we give time to think about everything but Our Creator. Many people ponder the words of a song more than they do the Wonders of God. There are hymns and songs that are very precious to me and speak of the greatness of God. These should not replace time in God’s Word and pondering over it.  Spend time there today and ponder.