Tag: acceptable

20.v. “I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called”

 

 

Romans 12:1   I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 

 1 Corinthians 1:10    I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.

 Hebrews 13:22   I appeal to you, brothers, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly.

 2 Corinthians 5:20    Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

 1 Thessalonians 4:10    for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more,

 2 Corinthians 6:1    Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.

 Ephesians 4:1    I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,

Paul’s plea was an urgent and earnest request, a cry from the heart.  He saw firsthand how people could be easily swayed by temptations of the flesh and this world.  Between his journey back to revisit the churches he planted, he would hear of issues within the church, problem people, neglect and complacency of following after God, and hearing of this or witnessing it first hand, he would urge them to get back on track with a life that humbly honors, glorifies, follows, rely on, clings to, trusts in, and obeys Jesus Christ. There were times when Paul would call people out for their selfish and devious acts but mostly he gave repeated urgent requests to turn away from foolishness, bitterness, division, fear, hatred, lusts of the flesh, and love for the worldly.  

I wonder what it must have been like living in a time where there was no electricity, iPhone, iPad, computer, TV, podcasts, radio, internet, movies, video games, televised sports, talk shows, social media, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, email, ebooks, news media outlets, ESPN, CNN, refrigeration, Amazon, FedEx, UPS, education system, hospitals, transportation, cars, trains, planes, industrialization, technology, etc….  Without any of this interference in their lives, they were still able to be swayed away from living for Christ.  There is some appeal from the fleshly and worldly that entices us to seek, desire, and chase after that which promises satisfaction to our soul but is never able to live up to the promises no matter how many times or how long we pursue them.  If they were enticed away without all of the mind-consuming technology we have now, how much more so can we be? What would Pauls’s appeal to us be?  I think it can be found in Philippians 4:8 Finally, believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things [center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart].  

12.w. “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts.”

Psalms 19:7  The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;  the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;  the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.  Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.  Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.  Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

Proverbs 8:10-11    Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold,  for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.

Job 28:12  “But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?  Man does not know its worth, and it is not found in the land of the living. The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’ and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’  It cannot be bought for gold, and silver cannot be weighed as its price.  It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire.  Gold and glass cannot equal it, nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.

Proverbs 3:13-15    Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding,  for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold.  She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her.

Proverbs 16:16     How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.

Jeremiah 15:16  Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts.

If God’s Word was removed from you would you miss it? Would your soul feel hunger pangs? Whenever you sit down and open your Bible, you’re feasting on something that is “more… desired… than gold… sweeter… than honey”, When people lose their appetites, we worry about them. As Christians, we should have a hearty appetite for God’s Word and for the kind of righteous living it produces. Hungering for spiritual food is a good indication of our walk with God.  We lose our appetite for God’s Word there is a health decline in our hearts, minds, and souls.  Our understanding of the spiritual things of God is lost.  Our knowledge of His great and precious promises is lost. Our ability to see spiritual battles and lies of Satan is lost.  Our ability to honor, worship, glorify, follow, obey, trust, and rely on God is lost.  If you have no hunger and appetite for God’s Word there is a good chance you are nearsighted, blind, and have forgotten the great price that was paid through grace, mercy, and love for you.  Your walk will have the appearance of godliness and your words will have the sound of godliness but in your spirit, you are dying or dead.  God’s word is not to be taken lightly.  How are you to claim promises you never know? How are you to fight spiritual battles you never see? How are you to recognize sin in your life?  How are you going to be able to walk by faith?  How are you going to encourage, build-up, and strengthen yourself, your family, your church, and the lost?  Without an appetite for God’s Word, you are becoming nothing more than walking dead.

Peter said: “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of a reminder since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.”

12.l. “He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”

Zachariah 7:1  In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Kislev. The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melek, together with their men, to entreat the Lord by asking the priests of the house of the Lord Almighty and the prophets, “Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?” Then the word of the Lord Almighty came to me: “Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted? And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves? Are these not the words the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were at rest and prosperous, and the Negev and the western foothills were settled?’”

Isaiah 58:1  “Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins.Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God.‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’ Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the LORD?“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

Romans 14:17-18   For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 10:31   So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

2 Corinthians 5:15    and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

Colossians 3:23    Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,

The Law of Moses only commanded one fast day, on the Day of Atonement. In addition to this day, during the exile, the Jewish people instituted four more fasts to remember key dates in the tragic defeat of their nation.  These additional fasts were not commanded by God, but instituted by man. Yet because they were traditionally practiced for so long (at least 70 years), they developed an authority of their own.  God’s word through Zechariah rebuked the people of God for what their fasting had become – indulgent pity-parties instead of a time to genuinely seek God. Their lives were not right when they did eat and drink – that they did for themselves, not for the LORD. A few days of fasting every year could not make up for the rest of the year lived for self.   Because their hearts were not right with God, their rituals were not right before God. Everyday obedience would make their times of fasting meaningful, but their neglect of everyday obedience made their fasting hypocritical.  Instead of actively performing and pretending, God wants us to focus on active obedience and an active walk with Him. Think about this; these additional fasts were established by man to remember what had happened to them when they were disobedient to God and they became a man-made way of getting right before God.  They established special days where they would piously observe fasting and yet the rest of the time they lived for self.  This is not obedience but rather ritual.  A heart for God will be a heart for God every day, every moment, and in every fiber of the fabric of their soul, not just on special days.

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.

144. But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him

1 Kings 11:42  And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. And Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.  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 still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), then Jeroboam returned from Egypt. And they sent and called him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of 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, “Go away for three days, then come again to me.” 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 a servant to this people today and serve them, and speak good words to them when you answer 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 this 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 the people harshly, and forsaking the counsel that the old men had given him, he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke. 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 the Lord that he might fulfill his word, which the Lord spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

Proverbs 10:11   The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

Proverbs 10:32    The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked, what is perverse.

Ecclesiastes 10:12   The words of a wise man’s mouth win him favor, but the lips of a fool consume him.

James 3:17    But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.

We need to be mindful of where we get our counsel.  Do we seek the Lord and His leading?  Do we spend time seeking Him?  Do we hunger and thirst for His guidance in our life?  God’s word is a deep and wide ocean of wisdom and knowledge by which we gain understanding and godly counsel.  Time and busyness take their toll on the hearts and minds of those who don’t intentionally set aside time for the single purpose of refreshing their heart, soul, and mind in God’s word.  The counsel of the world will flood your heart and mind because there is nothing else to combat this flow other than the word of God.

Un-godly counsel – give no thought to God’s word today because you are too busy and tired and pre-occupied and am good enough with where you are spiritually.

Godly counsel – desire and seek to be in His word each day wanting to be led by God for His purpose, honor, and glory

8. Whoever is of a generous heart

Exodus 25:1   The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the people of Israel, that they take for me a contribution. From every man whose heart moves him you shall receive the contribution for me

Exodus 35:5-29    Take from among you a contribution to the LORD. Whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the LORD’s contribution: gold, silver, and bronze;

Deuteronomy 16:16 They shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed.  Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God that he has given you.

1 Chronicles 29:1-30  Moreover, in addition to all that I have provided for the holy house, I have a treasure of my own of gold and silver, and because of my devotion to the house of my God I give it to the house of my God:

Exodus 35:21    And they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and brought the LORD’s contribution

1 Chronicles 29:9    Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly, for with a whole heart they had offered freely to the LORD.

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.

2 Corinthians 9:7    Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Mark 10:19  And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

A generous heart is a choice to give of what has been given to you by God.  Do we sometimes think we have worked for what we have and it is ours, all ours, with no thought of it being a gift from God?  Our brains, our job, our physical ability, our place in life is all from God, apart from those consequences of choices we have made outside of honoring, serving, following and obeying God. What we have are blessings and gifts from God.

I was thinking about Job and how he was blessed and then it was all taken away.  Some may look at this and say that it is not fair.  But if we were able to speak to Job I think he would tell us even when it was taken away he was blessed by a deeper understanding and knowledge of God.  In the end all and more was given back to Job.

We look at what we have and think it is not enough.  We strive to get more and more to buy more, travel more, experience more and more stuff that will never satisfy our soul.  We keep, we hoard, we want.

What would happen if we chose to be generous with what we have been blessed with?  What would our lives be like free from want and filled with giving?  A heart choice to be generous with our time, talent, and money are never bad.  However, a choice to not be generous leads us down paths that could end up not honoring or serving God.

You meant it for harm

Psalms 119:153  Look on my affliction and deliver me, for I do not forget your law. Plead my cause and redeem me; give me life according to your promise!  Salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek your statutes.  Great is your mercy, O LORD; give me life according to your rules.  Many are my persecutors and my adversaries, but I do not swerve from your testimonies.  I look at the faithless with disgust, because they do not keep your commands.  Consider how I love your precepts! Give me life according to your steadfast love.  The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.

1 Peter 4:12–16  Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; 13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad

Matthew 5:10–12 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward

1 Peter 1:6–7  In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory

Philippians 2:14–16  Do all things without complaining and disputing, 15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life…

Trust in the word of God is forged in the real world, a world full of trials, troubles, persecution and those who wish us harm.  “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.”

One of the most potentially defeating aspects of being a Christian is wanting to be in control when things in and around our lives are out of control.  It seems as though we take aim at that which is troublesome with our own mind, wisdom, power, and strength, when in fact, these trials and troubles are indeed not ours to fight.  On our own and in our own strength we can do little to have lasting victory or any victory at all.  Fear of the unknown outcomes seem to drive us to thinking we need to go it on our own.

God is in control even when things seem so out of control and we fear the unknown future.  And, yet what trumps that fear and evil is knowing that, no matter what comes, God is in control. Waiting for His perfect timing and trusting in Him allows us to confidently say “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  Being able to wait on Him is a testimony to faith, trust, hope and reliance in Jesus.    He loves us.  He wants what is best for us. He will never leave us or forsake us. He has plans and purpose for our lives.

My flesh trembles

“You reject all those who stray from Your statutes, For their deceit is falsehood.”

Psalms 119:120  My flesh trembles for fear of you, and I am afraid of your judgments.

1 Samuel 6:20     Then the men of Beth-shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before the LORD, this holy God?

Hebrews 12:28-29    Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,  for our God is a consuming fire.

Philippians 2:12    Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,

Isaiah 66:2    All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.

2 Chronicles 34:27     because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants,

2 Chronicles 34:21    “Go, inquire of the LORD for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do according to all that is written in this book.”

The Psalmist considered the righteous judgments of God, he looked to his own life and understood that it was more in the hands of God than the works of man. He used God’s word as a measuring line for viewing thoughts and actions of his own life.  He realized condemning judgements come upon those who reject and stray from His word and the principles revealed in them.  He understood that without a heart, mind, and soul deep desire to seek and know God, longing to please Him, yielding to His leading and directing, humbly serving, and obeying Him – man is prone to desires that are not God honoring.  He knew God’s judgements against man for their neglect and complacent view of His word and application in their life.  He knew that just below the surface of every heart is a desire to serve self first rather than God.

How are we to know God apart from His word?  How much more patience will God have on us for being complacent and neglectful?  How are we to know what pleases God, apart from His word?  How are we to know what displeases God, apart from His word?  Neglecting the His word, that is ever available before us, gives no excuse for not knowing.

The world has a way of distorting our perception of what it means to humbly serve, honor, glorify, follow and obey God.  Through His word we find what is pleasing and acceptable in the sight of God.  We have a choice each day to seek and serve and obey His leading.  I just don’t see how we do this without the continual feeding of our heart, mind and soul with His word. We ought to tremble at the thought of how complacent our lives have become, how much time we neglect thought of Him, how many times we are even listening for that quiet small whisper of leading from Him.

“It is only as we tremble before the exalted and holy God that we will ever see the world and its distorted values to be the empty things they are. If we do not tremble before God, the world’s system will seem wonderful to us and consume us pleasantly.” (Boice)

He listens to those who listen

“We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.”

Psalms 66:18  If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!

Job 27:8  For what is the hope of the godless when God cuts him off, when God takes away his life?  Will God hear his cry when distress comes upon him?

Proverbs 15:8   The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is acceptable to him.

Proverbs 21:13    Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered.

Proverbs 28:9   If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.

Isaiah 1:15     When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen;

James 4:3    You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

Job 35:12   There they cry out, but he does not answer, because of the pride of evil men.

Jeremiah 11:11    Therefore, thus says the LORD, Behold, I am bringing disaster upon them that they cannot escape. Though they cry to me, I will not listen to them.

Micah 3:4     Then they will cry to the LORD, but he will not answer them; he will hide his face from them at that time, because they have made their deeds evil.

Zechariah 7:13   “As I called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear,” says the LORD of hosts,

James 4:1   What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?

 “As I called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear,” says the LORD of hosts.  There is so much to say about desiring, seeking, and listening to God.  Scripture is clear and full of wonderful promises to those who live for Him standing firm in Him alone.  Yet life happens and time in scripture becomes less and less important  while the world grabs more and more of our attention.  It seems to be able take our eyes off of God.  The very scripture that brought to light the the need for God is now nothing but second thought.  Time away from His word closes our heart and ears to His leading.  We make our own path in life, self seeking.  We were redeemed at a great cost by the very hand of God’s love, grace, and mercy.  God is not to be a second thought or in second place in our heart and mind.  He is to be first and first alone at all times.  I am so aware of how hard this is when we try to play both sides.  Trying to get the best of this world and the best of God’s blessings.  A christian life is not to be this way.  He want’s all of our heart, mind and soul.  Not just part of it when it is convenient or when we need something that only He can supply.  Look into your heart and mind, see how much of it is consumed by things of this world compared to how much is spent living for God.  Living for God is a commitment with purpose of humbly serving, honoring, following, and obeying Him.  Commit to Him today.  Spend more time in His word.