beforehand – Praying Pint

27.d. “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.”

Ephesians 2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Nehemiah 9:17  They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them.

Psalms 51:1   Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

Isaiah 55:6-8    “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;  let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.  For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.

Psalms 103:8-11   The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.  He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.  He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.  For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;

Romans 5:8    but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 3:24    and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

“As they were corrupt in their nature, and sinful in their practice, they could possess no merit, nor have any claim upon God; and it required much mercy to remove so much misery, and to pardon such transgressions.” (Clarke) Every reason for God’s mercy and love is found in Him. We give Him no reason to love us, yet in the greatness of His love, He loves us with that great love anyway. Therefore, we must stop trying to make ourselves lovable to God, and simply receive His great love while recognizing that we are unworthy of it. This is the grace secret of the Christian life. (Guzik) He did not wait until we were lovable. He loved us even when we were dead in trespasses, providing nothing lovable to Him. The work of God’s grace, in no way involving man’s merit. Our salvation – our rescue – from spiritual death is God’s work done for the undeserving.

Stop trying to earn God’s love and grace. You never can and never will. Stop keeping a ledger book of all your good and bad deeds in your head hoping the good will outweigh the bad, but rather confess them, repent from them, and lean on Jesus Christ alone. When we willfully choose to disobey God, (knowingly sin), there is no other way to erase it but through trusting in Him alone and resting on His forgiveness, grace, and love. One way to see the greatness of the grace of God is to see how He begs man to receive it. When we offer a gift to someone and they refuse it, we are likely to allow them to refuse and leave them alone. God does not do this with us; even when we refuse His mercy He reaches into His storehouse of grace and persists with us, begging us to receive the free gift. He pursues us. He stands at the door of our hearts and knocks asking to be let in. It is in the rejection of God’s grace and mercy whereby people will spend eternity in Hell.

The internal fight

“This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.”

John 13:21 After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”

Joh 13:27 Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”

John 13:2 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him,

John 13:18 I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me

Luke 22:21 But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!”

Acts 1:16 “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.”

1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.

James 1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

Note “the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live” and “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.” and “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” and “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” and “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.” There is a common thread to this and it is our sinful nature. It lurks deep within and wanting to manifest itself above God and His plan and purpose for our life. We need to be mindful of this and the battle that exists between our sinful nature and the leading of the Holy Spirit in our life. Knowing this ought to make us run to God and seek His word with all of our heart mind and soul. I think we become confused and falsely cling to the idea that once we have been born again all is good and our sinful nature is gone. It is not. Lust, hate, pride, coveting, rumoring, hoarding, keeping, divisiveness, self-seeking…….. all reside within and are threats to our walk with God. Putting on the full armor of God requires us to stay in His word, pray, and seek to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey. Only then will we be prepared for this internal fight for our soul.

Mind set on the flesh

“I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the LORD.”

John 7:7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.

1 John 4:5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them.

Proverbs 8:36 but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death.”

Romans 8:7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.

1 John 3:12-13 We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.

Malachi 3:5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts.

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. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.” Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him.

Galatians 4:16 Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?

There is a difference between those who choose to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey God, and of those who openly choose not to. It is very easy to see from the way they speak and act. However I think there is a grey area that has a devastating affect on people. This is where there is no clear distinction because the commitment of those claiming to be followers is complacent and those who do not claim to be followers have chosen a moral code (without God) to live by. There is no difference between the lives of the two. Neglect and complacency of God’s word will have an effect on the heart, mind, and soul. To have a victorious life time has to be spent in His word with a heart and mind deep commitment to seek, know and follow God. I wonder if we pick out the worst of humans and then look at ourselves in the mirror and say I am better than that – so I must be alright with God. However we should be reading His word and seeking to understand what we are like in the mirror of what it is showing us. If we don’t spend time in His word how will we reflect His joy, hope, strength, love, peace, kindness, generosity, power, faith……

His workmanship

“ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

John 6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.

Isaiah 44:18 They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand.

Romans 8:7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Titus 3:3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

Hosea 11:4 I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them.

We were once foolish and disobedient. We did not have a purpose more than that which would bring us pleasure. Our thoughts were far from God serving our own interests. And here is the GOOD NEWS – while we were in this condition and separated from God, He reached out to draw us to Him. I think we seem to sometimes forget this great gift of drawing us, and then, to those who believe, eternal life. Remembering this brings joy to our heart and purpose into our life. It also keeps us humble and from thinking to highly of our selves and what we accomplish. When we serve self it is in essence shutting God out and putting ourselves in front of His purpose and plan. The problem with self is it is always there and the easiest default when we are not in His word and choosing to be led by Him. Following God is a choice for eternity.