Daryl Pint – Page 246

Consecrate

“For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

“It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.”

Joe 2:16
gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber.

Job 1:5
And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually.

Genesis 6:5
The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Jeremiah 4:14
O Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil, that you may be saved. How long shall your wicked thoughts lodge within you?

Acts 8:22
Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you.

Mark 7:21-23
For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

I copied some comments on consecration from a commentary which brings to light why Joel said to gather all the people from infant to bride groom. To “consecrate” yourself essentially means to wholly dedicate yourself to something of greatest important. When spoken plainly, however, “consecration” refers to the act of setting yourself aside and dedicating yourself to a deity, and that deity almost always refers to the God of Christianity. On one hand, we all need to consecrate ourselves once and for all to God. But after our initial consecration, we should live a life of consecration all our days. We can do this by actively practicing to daily give ourselves to the Lord. Each morning when we wake up, we can simply tell the Lord, “Lord, thank You for this new day. I offer myself to You today.” In this way, we maintain a fresh, daily consecration. We can also give ourselves to the Lord afresh at particular points in our lives. For instance, if we’re students, we can give ourselves to the Lord at the beginning of each new school term. Or, if we get a new job or a promotion, we can pray, “Lord, I give this new job to You. It’s not mine but Yours. I belong to You.” It is one thing to dedicate your life in all you do to God and another to spend no time getting to know and understand Him through His word. There is no stopping to this learning and growth. Spend time each day with His word seeking to know Him so that in all you think, say and do honor and glorifies Him.

He is faithful

“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”

Joe 2:12
“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD your God?

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.

1 Samuel 7:3
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, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.”

Acts 26:20
but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.

Hosea 14:1
Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.

Zechariah 1:3-4
Therefore say to them, Thus declares the LORD of hosts: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the LORD.

“Do not be like your fathers – even when I cried out to them they continued in what they were doing and rejected my pleas” How would you feel if this is what God is telling your wife, your children, your husband about you? I am confident it is impossible to hear His cry and pleas to return when we spend no time in His word. We will not seek Him for guidance for our day, we will forget what purpose there is in this life, we will be influenced more and more by what seems right in our own eyes or is socially accepted, we will become deaf and blind to His leading. God knows all of this and proclaims in His word over and over again “Return to me and I will return to you,” “I will deliver you,” “You will find me,” “Search for me with your whole heart,” “Repent,” “I know your heart, thoughts, and intent,” “I love you so much that I will sacrifice my son for you,” “I will give you peace,” “I will give your strength,” “I will be your rock,” “I will guide your path,” and so many more words of warning and blessing. Be the father, mother, son, daughter that is spoken of by God as one who did right in His eyes. Be the one who is a light in the darkness. Be the one who is able to rightly proclaim God’s word. Spend time in His word today.

Message Declared

“For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?”

Joe 2:11
The LORD utters his voice before his army, for his camp is exceedingly great; he who executes his word is powerful. For the day of the LORD is great and very awesome; who can endure it?

Jeremiah 25:30
“You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them: “‘The LORD will roar from on high, and from his holy habitation utter his voice; he will roar mightily against his fold, and shout, like those who tread grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.

Revelation 18:8
For this reason her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.”

Zephaniah 1:15
A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness,

Nahum 1:6
Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken into pieces by him.

1 Thessalonians 4:15
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

Malachi
But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?

Hebrews 2:2
For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?

Numbers 24:23 And he took up his discourse and said, “Alas, who shall live when God does this?

Scripture is full of God’s wrath and coming judgement in equal or greater proportion to His grace, mercy and love. We talk about the later and quote scripture “For God so loved the world” “Who can separate us from the love of God” “God has steadfast love” very often about His love. We talk about the what we receive when we come to Him for forgiveness and say “cleansed, peace, joy, hope, love, rest, heaven, eternity” When I think about this aren’t we diluting how great this grace, mercy and love are when we leave out His righteous judgement? Think about what is due us “chaos, lost, darkness, without love, pain, hell, separation, alone, without hope, without peace, restless, joyless, always searching”. Do not lose sight of His coming judgment and what has been freely given to those who choose to come to Him through His son. Christ was willing to go to the cross to save us from this pending judgement and we should be ever mindful and thankful for both the saving from judgement and blessing through His sacrifice. Coming to Christ is not to receive an insurance policy from hell. If this is all that our life reflects we deserve a more severe judgement than those who flat out deny God because we have tasted His grace, love, and mercy and deny it to enter our everyday life.

Garden or Desolate wasteland

“And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.”

Joe 2:3
Fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but behind them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them.

Psalms 50:3
Our God comes; he does not keep silence; before him is a devouring fire, around him a mighty tempest.

Amos 7:4
This is what the Lord GOD showed me: behold, the Lord GOD was calling for a judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land.

Genesis 2:8
And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.

Isaiah 51:3
For the LORD comforts Zion; he comforts all her waste places and makes her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song.

Gen 1:31
And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Gen 2:8
And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.
And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers.

God created man and planted the garden of Eden. It was pleasant to the sight and good for food. In fact God saw everything He had made and behold it was very good. However we see in Joel that the land before them was like the garden of Eden and behind them desolate wilderness. It seems to me that our lives are somewhat like this. If our eyes, heart, mind and soul are desiring to humbly serve , honor, and obey Him and continuing to look to God for our strength and guidance we have blessings and hope of a place created for us in eternity. Alternatively if our eyes, heart, mind and soul are focused on what seems right in our own eyes and not focused on God the only thing that is ahead of us is desolation, waste, and judgement. Knowing this, why would we neglect our calling to serve and obey Him? I wonder how much of what we approve of is ok’d by our culture and is detestable in the eyes of God. My wife and I were talking last night about a popular face book personality who has many followers and looked upon for their understanding, knowledge and application of scripture into everyday application. This person had changed their view on essentials and was condoning something that is not right according to scripture. It confirms to me that society/culture has influence on even the best of us. We need to be absolutely sure our actions and stances are based on what God’s word speaks into our heart. For every stance of obedience there will be multiple corresponding views. We are going to be held accountable for our walk in this life before God. The excuse “I thought what so and so said was true and I followed it” or “everyone else was doing it” or “it was ok by law” will not be an excuse before God. We have at our finger tips more access to scripture than anytime in history yet we choose to neglect this blessing from God. We will be held accountable for this neglect. Today choose to find purpose, meaning, hope, joy, love, peace, etc… each day through reading His word with the single purpose of knowing Him and how to honor and glorify Him more and more.

The Day is Near

“Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will come! Therefore all hands will be feeble, and every human heart will melt.”

Joe 1:15
Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes

Joel 2:1
Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming; it is near,

Psa 37:13
but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming.

Isaiah 13:6-9
Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will come! Therefore all hands will be feeble, and every human heart will melt. They will be dismayed: pangs and agony will seize them; they will be in anguish like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at one another; their faces will be aflame. Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it.

Ezekiel 7:3
Now the end is upon you, and I will send my anger upon you; I will judge you according to your ways, and I will punish you for all your abominations.
And my eye will not spare you, nor will I have pity, but I will punish you for your ways, while your abominations are in your midst. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

James 5:9
Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.

Revelation 6:17
for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

I wonder if our commitment to God would be different if we looked at God’s wrath rather than His love. Think about what is in store for those who have not heard, or have neglected/rejected, or who are just playing christianity. If we believe in His love because of what is told to us about it in scripture then we also have to believe in His coming wrath. If we believe in His coming wrath and what will happen to those who don’t believe wouldn’t our heart ache to reach them? How would we reach out to them? God’s word says “how can they believe unless they hear, and how can they hear unless someone tells them.” How can we reach out to someone if the word of God is not in our heart? How can we talk of God and the great things He has done, is doing, and will do if we do not spend time in His word? How can we be led by God in our conversations and be a light unto a dark world if we do not spend time in His word? How do we tell others of what God is doing in our lives if we are not spending time in His word? How do we know His promises of blessing, judgement, and wrath if we do not spend time in His word? How do we hear that quiet small voice pleading to lead us if we do not spend time in His word? Scripture says that His word is sharper than a double edged sword and can divide between our thoughts and intends. If we say our hearts desire is to live to humbly serve and honor God -How can this happen if we are not in His word? EXACTLY we can not at all expect any of this understanding, knowledge, heart directing and leading if we do not spend time in His word. Try spending just two days this week reading His word for 5 minutes and write down what God is telling your heart for 5 minutes. I pray His Holy Spirit will open our heart and mind to an ever increasing and wonderfully deep understanding of His grace, mercy and love.

Walk in my ways!

“Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!”

“if they were wise, they would understand this; they would discern their latter end!”

Joe 1:14
Consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD.
Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes.

Nehemiah 9:2-3
And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the LORD their God.

Ezekiel 18:31-32
Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!

Deuteronomy 5:29
Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever!

Luke 19:41
And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes

Deuteronomy 32:29
if they were wise, they would understand this; they would discern their latter end!

Psalms 81:13
Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!

Isaiah 48:18
Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea;

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; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?

Once again I have referred to a part of the sermon from Jonathan Edwards written in 1741: “the sun does not willingly shine upon you to give you light to serve sin and Satan; the earth does not willingly yield her increase to satisfy your lusts; nor is it willingly a stage for your wickedness to be acted upon; the air does not willingly serve you for breath to maintain the flame of life in your vitals, while you spend your life in the service of God’s enemies. God’s creatures are good, and were made for men to serve God with, and do not willingly subserve to any other purpose, and groan when they are abused to purposes so directly contrary to their nature and end. And the world would spew you out, were it not for the sovereign hand of him who hath subjected it in hope

The wrath of God is like great waters that are dammed for the present; they increase more and more, and rise higher and higher, till an outlet is given; and the longer the stream is stopped, the more rapid and mighty is its course, when once it is let loose. It is true, that judgment against your evil works has not been executed hitherto; the floods of God’s vengeance have been withheld; but your guilt in the mean time is constantly increasing, and you are every day treasuring up more wrath; the waters are constantly rising, and waxing more and more mighty; and there is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, that holds the waters back, that are unwilling to be stopped, and press hard to go forward. If God should only withdraw his hand from the flood-gate, it would immediately fly open, and the fiery floods of the fierceness and wrath of God, would rush forth with inconceivable fury, and would come upon you with omnipotent power; and if your strength were ten thousand times greater than it is, yea, ten thousand times greater than the strength of the stoutest, sturdiest devil in hell, it would be nothing to withstand or endure it.”

Tell them

“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?”

Joe 1:3
Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation.

Deuteronomy 6:7
You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Exodus 13:14
And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery.

Psalms 44:1
O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old

Psalms 71:18
So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.

Isaiah 38:19
The living, the living, he thanks you, as I do this day; the father makes known to the children your faithfulness.

Psalms 145:4
One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts

Psalms 78:3
things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.

I don’t know why but the Lord has continued to lay on my heart the need for His word. He has shown verses of what happens when it is neglected, and as well what happens when it is forsaken. Do you wonder why He says to teach your children and to their children? In Judges more than once the results were a total generation that did not know God. How close are we to seeing this happen in our own families. He tells us to write them on our door posts, meditate on them day and night, and to teach our children in from morning to night. Is it possible to teach something we spend little or no time in. Do we think one morning a week at Sunday school does the deed and we will not be held accountable for neglecting His instruction? If we don’t spend time in His word how do we hear His voice speaking to our heart? If we don’t spend time in His word how do we expect to be able to teach our children? If we don’t spend time in His word how will we be able to make disciples? We will be held accountable for what we allow to occupy our time away from Him. Choose to know and understand Him deeper and learn to hear His voice and talk to your children about all you learn .

Pleading to listen

“Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not.”

“Give ear, O house of the king! For the judgment is for you;”

Joe 1:2
Hear this, you elders; give ear, all inhabitants of the land! Has such a thing happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers?

Hosea 5:1
Hear this, O priests! Pay attention, O house of Israel! Give ear, O house of the king! For the judgment is for you;

Psa 49:1
Hear this, all peoples! Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,

Jeremiah 5:21
“Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not.

Amos 3:1
Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:

Micah 3:1
Hear, you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, and let the Lord GOD be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.

Matthew 13:9
“He who has ears, let him hear.”

Revelation 2:7
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’

I wonder how many times we have to be told to listen to what the Lord is saying to us. God wants to give us peace, rest, hope, love, guidance, and assurance yet we choose to keep Him at arms length until something comes into our lives that upsets it. Can you imagine looking at this from outside and seeing the Creator of all there is reaching out to His creation and telling them how much He loves them and what He expects from them, and how these people reject His love and guidance – what would you think of people who have rejected and neglected their creator? Do we think for a minute we will not be held accountable for the rejection and neglect? Every day we have a choice to learn more of Him or to neglect Him. We come up with multiple reasons and excuses of why we don’t have time. The bar of what it means to humbly serve, honor and glorify God in our lives needs to be raised higher.

Discern, Know, Understand

“Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them;”

Hos 14:9 Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the LORD are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.

Psalms 107:43 Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the LORD.

Proverbs 1:5-6 Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance,

Proverbs 4:18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.

John 18:37 Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

John 8:47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”
Job 34:10-12 “Therefore, hear me, you men of understanding: far be it from God that he should do wickedness, and from the Almighty that he should do wrong. For according to the work of a man he will repay him, and according to his ways he will make it befall him.

Hosea has been a very good book to study. I am amazed at how many times knowing and understanding God was mentioned. The moral condition of the people was corrupt and God was ignored. Even with all of these warnings many did not return to God. What does it take to get us to return to God? Do we not take them serious? Do we expect our lives to be any different than those before us who chose to ignore God? Do we expect understanding and knowledge of Him and His purpose in our lives if we neglect His word? We are encouraged to draw onto Him so that our eyes, hears, and mind are opened to His holiness, love, mercy, grace, atonement, righteousness, gentleness, wrath and judgement. Ignorance and neglect have a price on our soul. Do not neglect Him in your life. Choose to commit each day to Him and study His word to become a workman who is not ashamed of the life led this side of eternity.

Teach Me

” teach me what I do not see; if I have done iniquity, I will do it no more’?

“we will say no more, ‘Our God,’ to the work of our hands”

Hos 14:2 Take with you words and return to the LORD; say to him, “Take away all iniquity; accept what is good, and we will pay with bulls the vows of our lips.
Hos 14:3 Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride on horses; and we will say no more, ‘Our God,’ to the work of our hands. In you the orphan finds mercy.”

Job 34:32 teach me what I do not see; if I have done iniquity, I will do it no more’?

Joel 2:17 Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep and say, “Spare your people, O LORD, and make not your heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”

Luke 18:13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’

Hos 14:4  I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them.
Psalms 51:2-10  Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!
3  For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
4  Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.

Being a humble servant does not mean we have reached our goal of serving God. Note the responses of people in scripture who sought to live in a way that honored and glorified God. “I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.” Against you, you only, have I sinned”, “God be merciful to me a sinner”, “Teach me what I do not see, if I have done iniquity I will do it no more”, “Cleanse me from my sin”. “For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” – These are all said in light of knowing God and His holiness and promises. How do we know if we sin against God? Does it depend on how we feel? Does it depend on what the culture around us deems right and wrong? Spend time in His word seeking it to be a light onto your soul for the purpose of honoring and glorifying God. His word is able to shine bright in darkness, give strength in weakness, hope in uncertainty, and peace in chaos. Keep it close to your heart, mind and soul.