Tag: burned with fire

49.o. Wilderness – 13.u. “Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things”

 

Deu 4:9  “Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children— how on the day that you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, the LORD said to me, ‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.’ And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom. Then the LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice. And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments, and he wrote them on two tablets of stone. And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and rules, that you might do them in the land that you are going over to possess.

 Proverbs 3:1    My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments,

 Proverbs 3:3   Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.

 Proverbs 7:1   My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you;

 Proverbs 4:20-23  My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.  Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart.  For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh.  Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

 Hebrews 2:3    how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,

 Psalms 119:11    I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

Their only danger was, lest they should grow careless and unmindful of all the wonderful things that God had done for them and thereby not teach them to their children.  The possession of the oracles of God by Israel was a benefit to them only as these were kept in mind and reverently obeyed. Therefore they were to take heed and diligently beware of forgetting the circumstances under which the Law had been received at Horeb. God had then commanded the people to be gathered together, so that they stood before the Lord, were in his manifested presence, and were made to hear his voice speaking to them from amidst the fire and the clouds that covered the mount. They had thus actual evidence and guarantee that the Law they had received was Divine; and this they were to keep in mind as long as they lived, and to communicate to their children in all coming time, that so they might fear the Lord; for on this rested that covenant which God had made with Israel, and which they were to keep as the condition of their continuing to enjoy privilege and life. (Unkown)

When we are passive towards God’s Word and the things of God we will become complacent and neglectful. The quiet whispers of the Holy Spirit’s leading will be drowned out by the busyness of whatever we have turned to or allowed to consume our desire to honor and glorify Jesus Christ. The Bible was inspired and authored by and through the Holy Spirit. His Word was given to us so that we might know God and His plans, purposes, and promises. How many days go by when we are just going through the motions of being a faithful servant? How many times do we leave our house and give no thought to how we might continually honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all of our thoughts, words, and actions? How many trials and problems do we seek to rely on self-reliance rather than reliance on God our heavenly Father? 

God is ever-present and worthy of all praise, honor, glory, and worship. Becoming careless and unmindful of God’s purpose for each of us is to believe, trust, follow, obey, and rely upon Him, and grow in our understanding of His great power, might, grace, mercy, and love, and be in a continual desire to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all of our thoughts, words, and actions, we drift away, think unholy things, speak worldly thoughts, and seek the pleasure of fleshly and worldly desires. 

How is it possible to know what honors and glorifies Jesus Christ if the Word of God is neglected?

How is it possible to grow in our understanding of God’s grace, mercy, and love if there is no desire to do so?

How is it possible to determine what is holy and what is worldly when all that fills your mind is what comes from that which is worldly?

How is it possible to be a light shining in the darkness when the light of God’s Word is dim in your life?

How is it possible to know God’s will when there is no desire to know it?

How many years have we been walking in the wilderness because we allow worldly values and culture to consume us and we walk on paths away from God?

When there is no heart, mind, and soul desire to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all of our thoughts, words, and actions – all of the time – then there will be no fueled desire to read His Word and know God.

See what David said; Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting 

48.p. “Wilderness” – 12.v. “They warred against Midian, as the LORD commanded Moses”

Num 31:7  They warred against Midian, as the LORD commanded Moses, and killed every male.

Num 31:8  They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. And they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword.

Num 31:9  And the people of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones, and they took as plunder all their cattle, their flocks, and all their goods.

Num 31:10  All their cities in the places where they lived, and all their encampments, they burned with fire,

Num 31:11  and took all the spoil and all the plunder, both of man and of beast.

Num 31:12  Then they brought the captives and the plunder and the spoil to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the people of Israel, at the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

There was this material difference between the wars of other nations and those of the Jews, that the former followed the bent of their own passions; whereas the Jews were only the ministers or executioners of divine justice, most evidently appointed to this work by God himself, as he manifested by a train of miracles wrought among and for them, such as had never been known on the earth before. So that no consequence can be deduced from their conduct in their wars, to warrant the like conduct in other people. (Benson)

It is a terrible thing to fall under the vengeance of God. Can you imagine the wrath God has stored up in this time of grace and mercy towards those who have not only rejected God but have also rejected and denied the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for their redemption? Through God’s grace, mercy, and love He has reached out to His creation with an offer of restitution, forgiveness, and salvation – to reject or deny His Son, Jesus Christ, is to say to God; “I don’t need you, I don’t believe in you, I will do as I please, I willfully reject and deny any need of your grace, mercy, and love”. And yet, God in all of His holiness, grace, mercy, and love, and not wanting any to perish and spend eternity in Hell, sent His Son to redeem all mankind if they would but, believe, trust, cling to, rely on, obey, and follow Jesus Christ for their salvation, redemption, forgiveness, and eternal life. 

Judgment, wrath, and anger are reserved but a time is coming when these will be unleashed on mankind. No one will be able to stand against the power and might of God.

117. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God

1 Samuel 30:1   Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid against the Negeb and against Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire and taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off and went their way. And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. David’s two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. And David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue.” So David set out, and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed. But David pursued, he and four hundred men. Two hundred stayed behind, who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor.

Job 13:15   Though he slay me, I will hope in him;

Psalms 18:6   In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.

Psalms 26:1-2    Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.

Isaiah 25:4     For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat; for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall,

Proverbs 18:10     The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.

Jeremiah 16:19   O LORD, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge in the day of trouble, to you shall the nations come from the ends of the earth and say: “Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, worthless things in which there is no profit.

Habakkuk 3:17-18    Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls,  yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

Romans 8:31    What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

2 Corinthians 1:9-10    Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.  He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.

Hebrews 13:6   So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

In the Bible, strength is often linked to God’s power. Believers are to “be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power”. The unlimited power of Christ is the source of strength for those who belong to Him. According to the Bible, what strength we have is not our own. It ultimately comes from God. “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength . . . but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord”.

Tony Dungy and Nathan Whitaker – No matter how strong we think we are, “the flesh is weak”. Left to our own devices, we will fall into temptation and fail in any worthy endeavor. The weakness inherent in human nature is why the Bible commends us to the strength of the Lord. Christ’s “power is made perfect in weakness”. As we learn to rely on God’s strength instead of our own, we gain new heights: “The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights”.  Our strength is found in Christ—in our having a vibrant, dynamic relationship with Him. It is Christ who empowers us to do whatever is necessary to accomplish God’s will: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. There is no other source that gives man the strength to overcome the world with its trials and temptations.

The Bible says that our strength is, paradoxically, related to surrender: “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you”. We align ourselves with the strength of God through our total submission to Him; then we are able to withstand the wiles of the evil one. “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes”

Those who rely on God’s strength from day to day will find in Him a never-ending spring of energy: “Blessed are those whose strength is in you. . . . They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God.  Many around us may grow weary and faint, but “those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint”