July 2017 – Page 3 – Praying Pint

Defend Your Cause

“Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name’s sake! Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants be known among the nations before our eyes!”

Psalms 74:18 Remember this, O LORD, how the enemy scoffs, and a foolish people reviles your name.

Psalms 74:22 Arise, O God, defend your cause; remember how the foolish scoff at you all the day!

Psalms 89:50 Remember, O Lord, how your servants are mocked, and how I bear in my heart the insults of all the many nations, with which your enemies mock, O LORD, with which they mock the footsteps of your anointed.

Psalms 41:1 Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the LORD delivers him;

Psalms 94:2 Rise up, O judge of the earth; repay to the proud what they deserve! O LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked exult? They pour out their arrogant words; all the evildoers boast. They crush your people, O LORD, and afflict your heritage. They kill the widow and the sojourner, and murder the fatherless; and they say, “The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob does not perceive.” Understand, O dullest of the people! Fools, when will you be wise?

Isaiah 37:23 “‘Whom have you mocked and reviled? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes to the heights? Against the Holy One of Israel! By your servants you have mocked the Lord, and you have said, With my many chariots I have gone up the heights of the mountains, to the far recesses of Lebanon, to cut down its tallest cedars, its choicest cypresses, to come to its remotest height, its most fruitful forest.

It takes courage to acknowledge our own weaknesses. We may not mock God but do we lead a life that He may be witnessed through our actions and words? Isn’t this, in simplest terms, a form of mocking? We claim His salvation but do not claim His power, sovereignty over all, might, and presence. Do you want to see the power, might, love, grace and mercy of God? Learn to be in His presence all the time. Train yourself to be always occupied by thoughts of Him. Ask God to open your heart, eyes and ears to His presence, love, grace, mercy, power and sovereignty. He will surely be seen by the heart of those who desire to know and humbly serve Him.

Walk among them

“as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

“ The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; “

“teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””

Zecharuag 2:10 Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the LORD. And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.

John 14:23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

Revelation 21:3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

Leviticus 26:12 And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people.

Ezekiel 37:27 My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Isaiah 40:9 Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.

Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.

God, the creator of all there is, has made His dwelling place with His people and He will walk among them. He will gently lead them who are willing to be led by Him. He will guide those who desire Him. He will give them hope and assurance. He will carry them through hard times. He will teach us how to live to honor, glorify, follow, and obey Him if we are willing to grow in this knowledge. With so much pulling at our time we must commit to this with urgency and heart deep desire.

Handiwork of God

Psalms 74:16 Yours is the day, yours also the night; you have established the heavenly lights and the sun. You have fixed all the boundaries of the earth; you have made summer and winter.

Psalms 136:7 to him who made the great lights, for his steadfast love endures forever; the sun to rule over the day, for his steadfast love endures forever; the moon and stars to rule over the night, for his steadfast love endures forever;

Genesis 1:3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

Genesis 1:14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.

Psalms 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.

Psalms 136:3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever; to him who alone does great wonders, for his steadfast love endures forever; to him who by understanding made the heavens, for his steadfast love endures forever; to him who spread out the earth above the waters, for his steadfast love endures forever; to him who made the great lights, for his steadfast love endures forever; the sun to rule over the day, for his steadfast love endures forever; the moon and stars to rule over the night, for his steadfast love endures forever;

“The heavens declare the glory of God.” There is so much we take for granted. We see the sun come up every day and as well the moon and stars, yet we forget the awesome power of God who spoke them into existence. In Romans it says that “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” We chase after so much and so easily turn a blind eye toward the handiwork of God. I recently heard a man speaking from back in 1975 on the expanse of the galaxies and how many stars are estimated. We seem to be able to see more and more with the latest technology which shows the expanse of God’s creation. This same man said it appears as though we are being allowed to come out of a designed permitted ignorance. There have been so many new discoveries in the last 25 years about the universe we live in. These discoveries, though new to us, have been there since creation. It seems as though God is allowing mankind to see more of His creation. Don’t get lost in the science and discoveries. Keep grounded in knowing God is the creator of all there is. Commit to humbly serving, honoring, following and obeying Him.

Don’t end up cut off from God

“ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”

“But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.”

“Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’”

“Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.”

Zechariah 1:6 But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? So they repented and said, ‘As the LORD of hosts purposed to deal with us for our ways and deeds, so has he dealt with us.’”

Numbers 23:19 God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

Ezekiel 12:25 For I am the LORD; I will speak the word that I will speak, and it will be performed. It will no longer be delayed, but in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it, declares the Lord GOD.” And the word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, ‘The vision that he sees is for many days from now, and he prophesies of times far off.’ Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: None of my words will be delayed any longer, but the word that I speak will be performed, declares the Lord GOD.”

Daniel 9:11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him. He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, by bringing upon us a great calamity. For under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem.

Lamentations 1:18 “The LORD is in the right, for I have rebelled against his word; but hear, all you peoples, and see my suffering; my young women and my young men have gone into captivity.

Lamentations 4:11 The LORD gave full vent to his wrath; he poured out his hot anger, and he kindled a fire in Zion that consumed its foundations. The kings of the earth did not believe, nor any of the inhabitants of the world

Deuteronomy 28:20 “The LORD will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me.

I wonder if we believe all of God’s word is truth and that what is spoken will come to pass. We tend to lean on His grace, mercy and love but do not listen to words of warning, anger, and wrath. God will not be mocked “what a man sows so shall he reap” False belief is no excuse. Neglect of His word is not excuse. Being to busy is no excuse. Romans says man is without excuse because God has made very clear to them through what He has created and what He has written on their hearts and minds. We need to take living for Him very serious with our whole heart, mind, and soul.

Don’t lose sight of Him

“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD, “when I will send a famine on the land— not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.”

Psalms 74:9 We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet, and there is none among us who knows how long. How long, O God, is the foe to scoff? Is the enemy to revile your name forever? Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand? Take it from the fold of your garment and destroy them! Yet God my King is from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.

Exodus 12:13 The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.

Judges 6:17 And he said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me.

Ezekiel 20:12 Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them.

Hebrews 2:4 while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

1 Samuel 3:1 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD in the presence of Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.

Micah 3:6 Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without divination. The sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be black over them;

Can you imagine what it would be like if there was a famine of hearing God’s word? A time where He pulled back and gave no signs, visions, or spoke with His children. It is hard to imagine in a time when His word is so readily available. I wonder if we intentionally choose to act as though His word is not there. It is available but we seem to see no need to spend time in it. We easily lose sight of our purpose this side of eternity in exchange for carefree living now. His word is a light unto our feet, a refuge for our heart and soul, and a guide to know and understand His purpose for our lives. Do not neglect the gift of His word or seeking to have no other purpose than to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey Him. Now is the day of commitment, now is the day of redemption, now is the day of turning away from that which is not pleasing to God, now is the day.