Tag: away

59. Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside

Deuteronomy 29:18  Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart is turning away today from the Lord our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Beware lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit, one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.’ This will lead to the sweeping away of moist and dry alike. The Lord will not be willing to forgive him, but rather the anger of the Lord and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and the curses written in this book will settle upon him, and the Lord will blot out his name from under heaven.

Ecclesiastes 11:9    Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

Romans 1:21    For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Jeremiah 7:24     But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.

Psalms 10:11    He says in his heart, “God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it.

Deuteronomy 11:16-17     Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside

With all these warnings it is good to have reasons to stay in His word every day.

It helps to know and do God’s will

It leads you away from sin

It will guard you against false teaching

Gives you time alone with Jesus

It will convict you or sin

You will see how great of love was demonstrated and given for your salvation

You will find encouragement

You will find reason to praise Jesus

Your faith will grow

You will find rest and peace for today and hope for tomorrow

You will be building a defense against Satan’s attacks

His word must be active in our lives or something else will surely fill that void.

Until there was no remedy

“Will you not receive instruction and listen to my words? declares the LORD.”

“But they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the LORD.”

Hosea 11:2   The more they were called, the more they went away;

Acts 7:51    “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.

Deuteronomy 29:2-4      And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: “You have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land,  the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders.  But to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear.

2 Kings 17:13-15     Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.”  But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the LORD their God.

2 Chronicles 36:15-16     The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place.  But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD rose against his people, until there was no remedy.

Nehemiah 9:30    Many years you bore with them and warned them by your Spirit through your prophets. Yet they would not give ear.

Isaiah 30:9-11     For they are a rebellious people, lying children, children unwilling to hear the instruction of the LORD

Jeremiah 44:16-17     “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you.

Zechariah 7:11     But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear.

John 3:19     And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light

It might be easy to think these verses refer to the lost sinners who do not know God, but these speak to those who did know God and rejected His leading.  When we neglect His word and the need for it to meet each day we become complacent coma  and our ears become deaf to His instruction and leading.  Soon the path we are on is one that looks good in our own eyes.  We are void of God’s word.  Our mind is being led by what we think is right and not by the word of God.

It is a dangerous slope to neglect His word and think for a moment we can find light, refuge, hope, rest, refuge, peace, or strength to fight our internal sinful nature and attacks from satan.  Neglect is a choice.  Neglect, whether we want to admit it or not, is a choice saying I don’t need His direction or His word in my life today, “I’ll be ok today”.   This slippery slope is hard to climb back up because first it must be recognized as a self centered and self trusting sin.  If this is recognized, repentance (turning away) is a choice.

Note the words of warning given in these scriptures – how sad to be in a place where the daily need of God in our life is not even a thought, unless things are going bad.  How sad to be there so long that it would be said “there was no remedy”.

Be assured, neglect of His word does not end well.  It leaves open to be influenced by culture or what seems right in our own eyes.  Reflect on this.  If you are finding this is the place where you are at – recognize, repent and choose to start fresh.  Choose to keep His word active in your day.  Seek and desire to hear God’s leading and direction.  Above all humbly serve, honor, glorify, follow and obey Him in all that you say and do.