July 2019 – Praying Pint

2.a. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Chronicles 14:9 Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and 300 chariots, and came as far as Mareshah. And Asa went out to meet him, and they drew up their lines of battle in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. And Asa cried to the Lord his God, “O Lord, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.” So the Lord defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as Gerar, and the Ethiopians fell until none remained alive, for they were broken before the Lord and his army. The men of Judah carried away very much spoil. And they attacked all the cities around Gerar, for the fear of the Lord was upon them. They plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them. And they struck down the tents of those who had livestock and carried away sheep in abundance and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

Isaiah 8:9-10    Be broken, you peoples, and be shattered; give ear, all you far countries; strap on your armor and be shattered; strap on your armor and be shattered.  Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing; speak a word, but it will not stand, for God is with us.

Deuteronomy 32:39    “‘See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.

Psalms 60:12   With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes.

1 Corinthians 15:57     But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Facing more than a million warriors from Ethiopia, Asa went out to do battle. It appears the first act was to call on the Lord God but in reality, their first act was “in Your name we have come against this multitude” and the second act was trust and reliance and the third act was crying out to God. But we really can’t put them in an order like this, can we? Without trust, there is no reliance. Without trust and reliance and an active seeking and desiring the presence of God and a willingness to act there would be no crying out to God.

Asa led the people in active and intentional worship and God-honoring living. This active and intentional want to be in the presence of God with all their thoughts toward humbly serving, following, trusting, obeying, and honoring Him.

Big battles are won before they begin when all of our heart, mind, and soul is seeking, desiring, and focused on God.

There is a big problem right now within the church, within our Christian culture, maybe even within us. We seem to live our daily lives apart from God until there is a battle line in front of us. Then, we cry out but our cry is not made with trust and reliance but rather with a last-ditch effort. We cry out because we have no hope in ourselves any and in this very surrender to God you would think we would learn this is the very place every waking moment our heart and soul and mind should anchor its self too.

In our full surrender, we find peace, joy, strength, power, might, and hope. You would think we would want to stay in this place and bask in the glory and holiness of God. You would think in this place is where we are satisfied and made whole and no other place would we find this satisfaction and filling of our heart, mind, and soul. But sadly we come into God’s presence and leave and come and go, come and go, rather than staying in His presence. We find Him all in all and then we leave. We find Him all-powerful and then we leave. We find Him steadfast in His love for us and we leave. We find Him sending Jesus Christ to redeem us and we come and taste the holiness of salvation and forgiveness but we so easily leave like a leave being carried away by a soft breeze.

Choose this day whom you will serve and be active and intentional about every moment of that day. Be sure every moment of that day reflects an active and internal choice to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in every word, thought, and action.

1.z.

2 Chronicles 14:1 Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land had rest for ten years. And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. He took away the foreign altars and the high places and broke down the pillars and cut down the Asherim and commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment. He also took out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the incense altars. And the kingdom had rest under him. He built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest. He had no war in those years, for the Lord gave him peace. And he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God. We have sought him, and he has given us peace on every side.” So they built and prospered. And Asa had an army of 300,000 from Judah, armed with large shields and spears, and 280,000 men from Benjamin that carried shields and drew bows. All these were mighty men of valor.

Acts 9:31     So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

Psalms 105:3-4     Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!  Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!

Jeremiah 29:12-14    Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.  You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

1 Peter 3:12     For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

Matthew 11:28-29   Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Asa the son of Abijah followed in his father’s footsteps and stayed close to God. He set an example for the people and held to it. He was the King and people looked to him, followed him, and learned from him what it meant to follow after God. We can look at this and say if we are a King or leader the expectations are different for us in the eyes of the Lord. At the same time, we say this we then think because we are not a King or a leader the expectations on our life is not as great. In fact, we generally think and set the expectation on our lives much much lower when it comes to visible actions, when it comes to thoughts we mull over in our head, and when it comes to what we say. We seem to allow ourselves to land our God-honoring humble service and obedience at the lowest expectation possible and still feel “good” about our lives.

During a bible study last Friday with a small group of men we discussed what life might look like if we actually took seriously the ever and always presence of God. Would we set our expectations low? Would we think, act, and speak differently. Would we seek His word more diligently and desire His presence more deeply so that our humble service would continual in greater honoring, glorifying, following, trusting, and obeying Jesus Christ. Would we actively seek and desire and expect to hear His quiet whispers of leading? Would we take every thought captive and lay it out against His word so that we would never allow a non-God honoring thought to dwell in our mind. Would we examine those actions we are planning on doing and compare them against the word of God so that every action was honoring Him? Would we examine what we are going to say against His word so that we ensure it was honoring Him?

Setting low expectations leads us to allow ourselves to be neglectful in His word and complacent in its application into our very lives. You are a child of the King, a child of God, and priests to God, and a Holy temple to the indwelling Holy Spirit. Your expectations need to be set very high and in line with God’s Word, for the honoring of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.

1.y. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

2 Chronicles 13:1 In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah began to reign over Judah. He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.

Now there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. Abijah went out to battle, having an army of valiant men of war, 400,000 chosen men. And Jeroboam drew up his line of battle against him with 800,000 chosen mighty warriors. Then Abijah stood up on Mount Zemaraim that is in the hill country of Ephraim and said, “Hear me, O Jeroboam and all Israel! Ought you not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingship over Israel forever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt? Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his lord, and certain worthless scoundrels gathered about him and defied Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and irresolute and could not withstand them.

“And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David, because you are a great multitude and have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made you for gods. Have you not driven out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes for ordination with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of what are not gods. But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him. We have priests ministering to the Lord who are sons of Aaron, and Levites for their service. They offer to the Lord every morning and every evening burnt offerings and incense of sweet spices, set out the showbread on the table of pure gold, and care for the golden lampstand that its lamps may burn every evening. For we keep the charge of the Lord our God, but you have forsaken him. Behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests with their battle trumpets to sound the call to battle against you. O sons of Israel, do not fight against the Lord, the God of your fathers, for you cannot succeed.”

Jeroboam had sent an ambush around to come upon them from behind. Thus his troops were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. And when Judah looked, behold, the battle was in front of and behind them. And they cried to the Lord, and the priests blew the trumpets. Then the men of Judah raised the battle shout. And when the men of Judah shouted, God defeated Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. The men of Israel fled before Judah, and God gave them into their hand. Abijah and his people struck them with great force, so there fell slain of Israel 500,000 chosen men. Thus the men of Israel were subdued at that time, and the men of Judah prevailed, because they relied on the Lord, the God of their fathers. And Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took cities from him, Bethel with its villages and Jeshanah with its villages and Ephron with its villages. Jeroboam did not recover his power in the days of Abijah. And the Lord struck him down, and he died.

Psalms 22:4-5   In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.  To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

Daniel 3:28    Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God.

Nahum 1:7     The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.

Psalms 146:5    Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God,

Ephesians 1:12   so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.

To hope in God in a time of trouble is a wise decision/choice. In life, we more than likely will come up against a trial or some trouble that is very real and much bigger than we can handle either physically or mentally. We see Abijah faced with almost certain defeat being outnumbered 2 to 1. To get this in perspective, Abijah had 400,000 valiant men that went to defend against Jeroboam’s 800,000 chosen mighty warriors. What thoughts would be going through your head if you were faced with this?

Abijah called out Jeroboam’s sin and disregard for God, warning him that God was on their side and to fight them was to fight against God. But Jeroboam did not listen and such it is with those who disregard God and serving Him. Abijah and those 400,000 men called on the Lord and were given success over Jeroboam and the 800,000 warriors. 500,000 men lost their lives that day following after false gods and idols.

Power, financial stability, and worldly wisdom do not give us success. In fact what is more than likely going to happen is a harden heart, deaf ears, stiff neck, and blind eyes to the things of God. These all come at a cost to your soul if you have not chosen in your heart and mind to humbly serve, honor, follow, trust, and obey Jesus Christ. It seems as though we give a nod toward Jesus on Sunday but then lose sight of living for Him soon after. Neglect of His word and complacency are certain to happen when serving and honoring Jesus is not our intentional heart and mind choice. We pretend we are ok and we try to perform good things to act as though we honor and serve Him but His word and the want of His word is not first in our heart and mind. Shallow thoughts will never lead us to honoring Jesus Christ. Partial obedience will never honor Jesus Christ. Sporadic time in His word will never grow us into mature Jesus honoring followers.

Humbly honoring, serving, following, glorifying, trusting, and obeying Jesus Christ is a heart and mind choice that is so more than a one-time commitment at the time of seeking forgiveness and repenting of your sin to Jesus Christ. It is so much more than a one-time event. It is a conversion of the heart and mind and then a daily surrender of self for the single purpose of Humbly honoring, serving, following, glorifying, trusting, and obeying Jesus Christ. Why this daily surrender? If we don’t we certainly will not find the heart, mind, and soul-deep satisfaction that comes through intentionally and purposely surrendering each moment of each day for the purpose of honoring Jesus Christ. Without this intentional choice, our heart and mind will be led by self and all of its meaningless follies in search of satisfaction.

1.x.

2 Chronicles 12:1 When the rule of Rehoboam was established and he was strong, he abandoned the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him. In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, because they had been unfaithful to the Lord, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen. And the people were without number who came with him from Egypt—Libyans, Sukkiim, and Ethiopians. And he took the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and to the princes of Judah, who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Thus says the Lord, You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak.’” Then the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The Lord is righteous.” When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah: “They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. Nevertheless, they shall be servants to him, that they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.”

So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. He took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house. He took away everything. He also took away the shields of gold that Solomon had made, and King Rehoboam made in their place shields of bronze and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard, who kept the door of the king’s house. And as often as the king went into the house of the Lord, the guard came and carried them and brought them back to the guardroom. And when he humbled himself the wrath of the Lord turned from him, so as not to make a complete destruction. Moreover, conditions were good in Judah.

So King Rehoboam grew strong in Jerusalem and reigned. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. And he did evil, for he did not set his heart to seek the Lord.

Deuteronomy 8:10-14    And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.  “Take care lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today,  lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them,  and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied,  then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery,

Deuteronomy 32:18    You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you, and you forgot the God who gave you birth.

1 Kings 9:9     Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the LORD their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore the LORD has brought all this disaster on them.’”

Jeremiah 2:31   And you, O generation, behold the word of the LORD. Have I been a wilderness to Israel, or a land of thick darkness? Why then do my people say, ‘We are free, we will come no more to you’?

Hosea 13:6-8    but when they had grazed, they became full, they were filled, and their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot me.  So I am to them like a lion; like a leopard I will lurk beside the way.  I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs; I will tear open their breast, and there I will devour them like a lion, as a wild beast would rip them open.

After 5 years of prosperity and blessings, Rehoboam abandons God. Remember for three years the Levites, priests, and others who fled the idol worship brought on by Jeroboam gave security to Rehoboam. He received and the influx of God-honoring, God following, and God obeying fellow Israelites. What has happened that drew Rehoboam away from following God and all of the blessings that had come during Solomons time?

We never know how slippery the slope is away from God. We never know what it is that fills the first void of the heart that no longer seeks and desires God. What we do know is that we need to be on guard of our heart and mind. We must take inventory of what is actively trying to pull us away. It would be nice if this pulling came like a roaring lion and gave plenty of notice of how it will attack our seeking and desiring God. We would have reason to fear and run to the arms of Jesus Christ. We would know of our pending destruction and see a reason to stay close to God.

However, it is never like this. The pull comes like the sweet taste of honey and what can be wrong with a bit of honey? It slips into our inner being disguised and satisfies some natural desire or lust. It plants a seek and we don’t even know it and before long the seed has taken root in our heart and mind. The leaves blind our eyes and plug our ears so that we no longer see things of God or hear His call to us. We have been over grown by what appeared to be sweet honey because we chose that first step away from God. Had we stayed close to Him we would have tasted and known the bitterness temping us. It would have been clear as the sun at noon.

Why do you think these examples were given to us in God’s word? They were given to us to keep us aware of the temptations of our heart and soul if we do not intentionally choose to give all our heart, soul, and mind to God. Seek and desire Him above all else and He will give you the desire of your heart. How many lives come to disaster by the lure of the sweet taste of honey?

1.w. Now, therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways.

2 Chronicles 11:13 And the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel presented themselves to him from all places where they lived. For the Levites left their common lands and their holdings and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons cast them out from serving as priests of the Lord, and he appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat idols and for the calves that he had made. And those who had set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel came after them from all the tribes of Israel to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord, the God of their fathers. They strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they made Rehoboam the son of Solomon secure, for they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon.

Joshua 22:19    But now, if the land of your possession is unclean, pass over into the LORD’s land where the LORD’s tabernacle stands, and take for yourselves a possession among us. Only do not rebel against the LORD or make us as rebels by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the LORD our God.

1 Samuel 7:3-4     And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the LORD and serve him only,

Haggai 1:5    Now, therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways.

When Rehoboam started off his reign unwisely with unmerciful and prideful words there was a fraction that drove him out of their cities and his brother Jeroboam ruled over part of the land. Jeroboam and his sons drove out the priests and Levites, the very people God had chosen to minister and sacrifice properly unto the Lord God. He then created his own idols (gods) and appointed his own priests. There were people who followed their leader in this false worship and abandonment from God, and they did it willingly, without thought, without worry, and with an intentional choice knowing those who do so deserve the wrath of God. They turned their back on God. They yielded their heart, mind, and soul to another. Yet, I don’t want to speak about those who chose to willingly follow after false gods but rather those Levites, priests, and others who had set their hearts to seek God and they left everything and went to Jerusalem and Judah. They went there because they saw the error of what was being presented to them in place of God. They went there because they loved God. They went there because staying where they were would have been wrong in the sight of God.

What is going on in your world that is pulling, dragging, enticing, and deceiving you away from seeking and following after God? What have you accepted as perfectly ok to do because it is accepted by the people around you? If for one second can you imagine God standing at your side? Can you imagine God knowing what was being thought in your mind? Can you imagine God hearing what you say or we’re going to say? The truth is that God does know the thoughts and intents of your heart. He knows the words you speak before they are on your tongue.

If we truly seek and desire God and practice His presence in our life every moment then we will not be pulled, dragged, enticed, or deceived away. We will see it for what it is and seek direction, courage, strength, and knowledge on what to do and how to do it.

God may lead us away from it but may also direct you to stand firm and proclaim it is wrong. Either way, staying close to God and seeking Him will always bear fruit in your heart and soul and mind.

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” Dr. Allen P. Ross, “The issue then is how deceptive evil is. It might promise and deliver happiness, power, and the good life, but it cannot sustain what it gives.” An excerpt from Enduring Word, “This makes plain our need for a revelation from God. We can’t entirely trust our own examination and judgment. To really know we are on the way of life (instead of the way of death), we need to fear the LORD and receive His wisdom, especially as revealed in His word.” A word from theologian Bruce Waltke, “The way of death is rarely clearly marked. “The safety and destiny of a road are not always as they appear. The deceptive road leads as certainly to death as the plainly marked one.” The importance of trusting in God’s Word instead of what seems right to us cannot be overstated. Diligently studying the Scriptures is never an exercise in futility. The only way to find true assurance that we are not on the way to death is by knowing God’s way to life. We must pass the test as laid out in Scripture or we are deceiving ourselves.

1.v. But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him.

Image may contain: outdoor, text that says 'You are free to choose, but you are not free from the consequence of your choice.'

2 Chronicles 10:1 Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. And as soon as Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), then Jeroboam returned from Egypt. And they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all Israel came and said to Rehoboam, “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you.” He said to them, “Come to me again in three days.” So the people went away.

Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?” And they said to him, “If you will be good to this people and please them and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.” But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him. And he said to them, “What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father put on us’?” And the young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Thus shall you speak to the people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you lighten it for us’; thus shall you say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s thighs. And now, whereas my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’”

So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king said, “Come to me again the third day.” And the king answered them harshly; and forsaking the counsel of the old men, King Rehoboam spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of affairs brought about by God that the Lord might fulfill his word, which he spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, “What portion have we in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. Each of you to your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, David.” So all Israel went to their tents. But Rehoboam reigned over the people of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah. Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was taskmaster over the forced labor, and the people of Israel stoned him to death with stones. And King Rehoboam quickly mounted his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

Rehoboam had to make a choice on who to listen to for advice. He did not choose wisely. He chose to listen to those around him who had no apparent walk with God. He chose to elevate himself to greatness by force and harshness. He chose to stroke his ego and pride. The people did not follow after him nor was he blessed by God.

Every day we get to make choices. We choose to whom we will listen to. We choose what thoughts we are going to take action on. We choose if we are going to honor God in our thoughts, words, and actions. We get to choose to whether or not we seek and desire God’s word. We get to choose to believe in Jesus Christ. We get to choose to deny self and live for humbly serving, honoring, glorifying, worshiping, following, trusting, and obeying Jesus Christ. We get to choose to listen to the Holy Spirit leading us. We get to choose to love, forgive, and repent and turn away from sin. We get to choose to stay in God’s word.

Our choices will paint a picture of what we think about, who we care about, and cannot be hidden.

1.u. Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the LORD!

2 Chronicles 7:11 Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king’s house. All that Solomon had planned to do in the house of the Lord and in his own house he successfully accomplished. Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. And as for you, if you will walk before me as David your father walked, doing according to all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and my rules, then I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, You shall not lack a man to rule Israel.’

“But if you turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will pluck you up from my land that I have given you, and this house that I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And at this house, which was exalted, everyone passing by will be astonished and say, Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore he has brought all this disaster on them.’”

Leviticus 26:40-41    “But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me,  so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity,

Ezekiel 33:11     Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live;

Deuteronomy 4:29-30   But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.  When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the LORD your God and obey his voice.

Lamentations 3:40-41    Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the LORD! Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven:

Isaiah 45:19    I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I the LORD speak the truth; I declare what is right.

After Solomon completed the temple and offered prayer and dedication of it to God, they sacrificed offerings to the Lord for 7 days and the people went back to their homes joyful and glad of heart because of their prosperity. Can you remember times of overwhelming joy and gladness? Can you remember the times of when you were so aware of God’s provision and you were moved to a sincere deep thankfulness?

In times of prosperity don’t we tend to lose sight of God and walk more closely with the world? The weird thing about this is that we come to a time and place in our life when we surrender to God because of circumstances/troubles/ trials and our faith is turned fully to God and our belief and only hope is placed into His hands. We wait expectantly and then by the grace and mercy of God we see His deliverance, either through giving us strength and courage to get through it or by a work of His hand blessing us. We come out the other side closer to God, joyful, thankful, and gladness filling our heart. But…… Then…..

It seems we are enticed away from the very presence of God that brought this joy, thankfulness, and gladness. In our blessing and prosperity, our eyes turn toward the worldly and shinny things, everything but God. Do we think His presence is no longer needed? Do we think we can last, walking life paths without Him? Do we think we can stand against the attacks, temptations, and deceptions of Satan and our sinful nature? Do we think God is not worthy of all of our heart, mind, and soul, all of the time?

If we give thought to these questions we certainly will arrive at the answer “NO”. The problem is we don’t think about these questions. We allow ourselves to skip a day where He is not our first thought, praise, hope, and strength. This day so easily turns into weeks, months, years, and then we find ourselves lost and not knowing how to find our way back into His presence. “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin”

1.t. For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy

2 Chronicles 6:12 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the court, and he stood on it. Then he knelt on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven, and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart, who have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day. Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me.’ Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David.

“But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built! Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O Lord my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you, that your eyes may be open day and night toward this house, the place where you have promised to set your name, that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. And listen to the pleas of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen from heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.

Exodus 29:45-46     I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God.  And they shall know that I am the LORD their God,

Isaiah 57:15    For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

Acts 17:24    The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man,

Psalms 139:7-10    Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?  If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!  If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,  even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.

Jeremiah 23:24    Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD.

Will God indeed dwell with man on earth? Can heaven and the highest heaven contain God? Do I not fill heaven and earth? Solomon prayed with wisdom and knowledge of who God is. He knew God was above all and that even heaven and the highest heaven could not contain Him. How many times in the bible does God remind us of who He is? Why does He do this?

Have God’s people had lost sight of God? His holiness, His majesty, His glory – has it all become very clouded. Have we lost sight of the majesty and holiness of God? Do we walk in reverential fear of God or has He become more like our buddy when troubles come our way and we need help? Have we diluted who God is to something so far away that we don’t even try to live for Him in such a way the glorifies and honors Him more than one day a week at best? If our thoughts of God and who He is is clouded and watered down, how will we actively seek and desire to listen for and to Him? How will we follow, trust, and obey Him?

God is “the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy.” We do well to intentionally choose to place Him first in our thoughts, actions, and words. We do well to seek and desire to know Him more and more so that we can live in such a way that we honor and glorify Him more and more each moment of every day.

1.s. You did well that it was in your heart

2 Chronicles 6:7 Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. But the Lord said to David my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart. Nevertheless, it is not you who shall build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’ Now the Lord has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. And there I have set the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with the people of Israel.”

2 Corinthians 8:12 For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Matthew 15:19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.

We see David had it in his heart to build a house for God. David was embarrassed by the fact that he was living in a fine palace and God was not. So, David purposed in his heart to save and set aside money, purchase materials, and design that which he purposed in his heart to build for God.

Don’t pass over “you did well that it was in your heart”. It is in the normal heart to lead and keep us focused on self and away from God.

Jon Bloom writes – “The truth is, no one lies to us more than our own hearts. No one. If our hearts are compasses, they are misguiding compasses. They don’t tell us the truth; they just tell us what we want. If our hearts are guides, they are more than likely lying and want to convince us to above all else please self. They are not benevolent; they are pathologically selfish. In fact, if we do what our hearts tell us to do, we will pervert and impoverish every desire, every beauty, every person, every wonder, and every joy. Our hearts want to consume these things for our own self-glory and self-indulgence. No, our hearts will not naturally lead us in the direction of God. We need to be saved from our hearts natural desires.” “Therefore, don’t believe in your heart; direct your heart to believe in God. Don’t follow your heart; follow Jesus. Note that Jesus did not say to his disciples, “Let not your hearts be troubled, just believe in your hearts.” He said, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me” “So, though your heart will try to shepherd you today, do not follow it. It is not a shepherd. It is a pompous sheep that, due to remaining sin, has some wolf-like qualities. Don’t follow it, and be careful even listening to it. Remember, your heart only tells you what you want, not where you should go. So, only listen to it to note what it’s telling you about what you want, and then take your wants, both good and evil, to Jesus as requests and confessions.”

Intentionally choosing each day to be heart, soul, and mind, focused on honoring God will change the way you see each moment that passes before you, each thought that comes into your mind, and every action you are planning to take. Stay in His word and let it fill your heart and mind with more understanding and knowledge of Jesus Christ.

1.r. What is the Glory of God?

2 Chronicles 5:13 and it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord), and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the Lord, “For he is good,

for his steadfast love endures forever,” the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.

Exodus 40:35  And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

Isaiah 6:1-4    In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.  Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.  And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

Ezekiel 10:4  And the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub to the threshold of the house, and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the LORD.

Revelation 15:8    and the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power,

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. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

How do you define “The Glory of God”?

Thesaurus – praise, worship, adoration, veneration, honor, reverence, exaltation, homage, thanksgiving, thanks.

Dictionary – high renown or honor won by notable achievements, magnificence or great beauty, wonder, beauty, delight, marvel, phenomenon; sight, spectacle

John Piper – Defining the glory of God is impossible, I say because it is more like the word beauty than the word basketball. So if somebody says they have never heard of a basketball, they don’t know what a basketball is and they say: Define a basketball. That would not be hard for you to do.

You can’t do that with the word beauty. There are some words in our vocabulary which we can communicate with not because we can say them, but because we see them. We can point. If we point at enough things and see enough things together and say, “That’s it, that’s it, that’s it,” we might be able to have a common sense of beauty. But you try to put the word beauty into words, it would be very, very difficult

The same thing with the word glory. So how shall I do it? You have got to try because we can’t just leave it for people to fill up on their own. So here is the way I am going to try to do it. I am going to take it and contrast it biblically with the word holy and ask, “What is the difference between the holiness of God and the glory of God.” In doing that, I think we get a little handle on the nature of this term, the glory of God. So that is the way I am going to try to do it.

The holiness of God is, I think, his being in a class by himself in his perfection and greatness and worth. His perfection and his greatness and his worth are of such a distinct and separate category—we have been taught that holy means separate—that he is in a class by himself. He has infinite perfections, infinite greatness, and infinite worth.

His holiness is what he is as God that nobody else is. It is his quality of perfection that can’t be improved upon, that can’t be imitated, that is incomparable, that determines all that he is and is determined by nothing from outside him. It signifies his infinite worth, his intrinsic, infinite worth, his intrinsic, infinite value.

Now when Isaiah 6:3 says that angels are crying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty” — the next thing they say is this — “The whole earth is full of his” — and you might have expected him to say holiness. And he doesn’t say holiness. He says glory.

Intrinsically holy, intrinsically holy, and the whole earth is full of his glory from which I stab at a definition by saying the glory of God is the manifest beauty of His holiness. It is the going public of his holiness. It is the way he puts his holiness on display for people to apprehend. So the glory of God is the holiness of God made manifest.

Paul Trip – For any human being to think that they could capture the glory of God in a single artistic statement is delusional at best and vain at worst. To squeeze what is infinite into what is finite is vastly more impossible than trying to cram the entire body of the fully-developed elephant into a thimble. No matter how gifted you are or how hard you try, it just won’t happen!

No single drawing, painting, photograph, or verbal description could ever capture glory. Glory isn’t so much a thing as it is a description of a thing. Glory isn’t a part of God; it’s all that God is. Every aspect of who God is and every part of what God does is glorious. But even that’s not enough of a description.

People are glory-oriented creatures. Animals are not. People are attracted to glorious things, whether it’s an exciting drama or sports game, an enthralling piece of music or the best meal ever. Animals live by instinct and exist to survive. We live with a glory hardwiring and chase bigger and better things.

God built this glory orientation into us; it’s not sinful or against God’s will to be attracted to glorious things. Because of this glory orientation, our lives will always be shaped by the pursuit of some kind of glory. You and I will always be chasing something to satisfy the glory hunger that God designed for us to live with.

God intentionally placed us in a world jam-packed with glory. From trees to flowers to mountains; from mashed potatoes to steak to lemonade; from thunderstorms to sunsets to snowfalls – all of these things were designed by God to tingle our glory sensors. But, it’s important to understand that every created glory is meant by God to function as a spiritual GPS that points us to the only glory that will ever satisfy our hearts, the glory of God.

Imagine taking a family vacation to Disney World, and 30 miles out, you spot a sign on the side of the road with the logo and name of the resort. It would be silly to stop at the sign and have your family vacation on the side of the road! So it is with the glory of God in creation – it’s only a sign, directing you to the source. Don’t stop at the sign.

If there exists within each of us a hunger for glory, then one could argue that everything we think, desire, say and do is done out of a quest for glory. We all want what is glorious in our lives – whether that’s the fleeting glorious pleasure of a meal, the glory of recognition by peers or supervisors, or participating in the glorious work of the Kingdom of God here on earth.

Where we chase after glory can vary, but one thing is for certain: this hunger for glory will never ever be satisfied by created things. Even if you could experience the most glorious situations, locations, relationships, experiences, achievements or possessions in this life, your heart still would not be satisfied. Creation has no capacity whatsoever to bring contentment to your heart. Only God can satiate our hunger, and in satiating our hunger, give peace and rest to our hearts.