carried away – Praying Pint

31.s. “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit”

Matthew 7:15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

Colossians 2:8  See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.

2 Peter 3:17    You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.

Isaiah 56:10-11   His watchmen are blind; they are all without knowledge; they are all silent dogs; they cannot bark, dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.  The dogs have a mighty appetite; they never have enough. But they are shepherds who have no understanding; they have all turned to their own way, each to his own gain, one and all.

Acts 20:29-31   I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;  and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.  Therefore be alert

There are many who would try to guide us along the broad path that leads to destruction. Being aware of those who would lead people down paths that are filled with human thoughts and ideas is important to each one of us. “The basic fault of false teachers is self-interest.” (Barclay) It can be expressed by a desire for gain or an easy life, a desire for prestige, or the desire to advance one’s own ideas and not God’s. We should pay attention to the content of their teaching. Is it true fruit from God’s Word, or is it man-centered, appealing to ears that want to be tickled? We should pay attention to the effect of their teaching. Are people growing in Jesus or merely being entertained, and eventually falling away?

I have heard several radio and TV personalities speak, preach, and proclaim. Some teach God’s Word with God’s Word and others teach with God’s Word, some humor, and life examples. Almost all of them limit how much they speak about sin and eternal hell. I am not saying they should speak on it at all times but how is a person to come to a place in their heart, soul, and mind where conviction of sin and the need of saving from eternal hell if it is not proclaimed. Why should I repent, what are the consequences of not repenting, where will I spend eternity, how bad is eternal hell, who is hell reserved for, I’m not that bad so how could God cast me into hell, etc….. Is it possible to come to the saving grace knowledge of Jesus Christ and not be aware of sin and eternal hell?

We must be on our guard and know God’s Word so that we can be led by the Holy Spirit to rightly discern between God’s truth and man’s folly. There are many who preach and teach truth but also market and sell what God has led them to preach about. This should not be. Be mindful of these pleas for money under the guise of helping do God’s work. I think it is more appropriate to be said like this; “This is our work and our mission and if God leads to you to give we thank Him for your support”.

There is much to be said about being able to discern the difference between the Holy Spirit’s leading and being led by cunning crafty marketing techniques of man.

9.v. “Because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God,”

Amos 4:4 “Come to Bethel, and transgress; to Gilgal, and multiply transgression; bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three days; offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened, and proclaim freewill offerings, publish them; for so you love to do, O people of Israel!” declares the Lord God. “I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in all your places, yet you did not return to me,” declares the Lord. “I also withheld the rain from you when there were yet three months to the harvest; I would send rain on one city, and send no rain on another city; one field would have rain, and the field on which it did not rain would wither; so two or three cities would wander to another city to drink water, and would not be satisfied; yet you did not return to me,” declares the Lord. “I struck you with blight and mildew; your many gardens and your vineyards, your fig trees and your olive trees the locust devoured; yet you did not return to me,” declares the Lord. “I sent among you a pestilence after the manner of Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword, and carried away your horses, and I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils; yet you did not return to me,” declares the Lord. “I overthrew some of you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were as a brand plucked out of the burning; yet you did not return to me,” declares the Lord. “Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel; because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel!” For behold, he who forms the mountains and creates the wind, and declares to man what is his thought, who makes the morning darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth— the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!

This is very breathtaking news that Amos was prophesying. God spoke to His people through Amos and proclaimed their sin and His actions that were intended to bring them back to Him. What does it say they did? “yet you did not return to Me”. Five times He reminded them that He was the one that was the author of the trial they were going through. Five separate times He caused trials to bring them back to Himself but they chose to remain oblivious to these trials coming from His hand. How many years did all of this transpire over and how many people allowed themselves to be led astray by the words of others who stood fast in their belief that God was not behind the calamities that they were experiencing? What need is there to come to God if He is not seen as the author of their trials? What need is there to acknowledge their sinful ways, repent and turn back to God? Belief, or the lack thereof, has a way of defining the way we see what is happening and how we live each day. Let it not be said of us “yet you did not return to me”

2.r. I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things.

2 Chronicles 21:16 And the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the anger of the Philistines and of the Arabians who are near the Ethiopians. And they came up against Judah and invaded it and carried away all the possessions they found that belonged to the king’s house, and also his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except Jehoahaz, his youngest son.

And after all this the Lord struck him in his bowels with an incurable disease. In the course of time, at the end of two years, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great agony. His people made no fire in his honor, like the fires made for his fathers. He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed with no one’s regret. They buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

1 Kings 11:11    Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, “Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant.

1 Kings 11:14    And the LORD raised up an adversary against Solomon,

1 Kings 11:23     God also raised up as an adversary to him,

Ezra 1:5    Then rose up the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the LORD that is in Jerusalem.

Isaiah 10:5-6     Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger; the staff in their hands is my fury!  Against a godless nation I send him, and against the people of my wrath I command him, to take spoil and seize plunder, and to tread them down like the mire of the street

Amos 3:6     Is a trumpet blown in a city, and the people are not afraid? Does disaster come to a city, unless the LORD has done it?

Isaiah 45:5-7     I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me,  that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the LORD, and there is no other.  I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things.

Do you ever wonder what God is not in control of? Is He in control of everything? We see “the Lord stirred up against Jehoram,” “I will tear the kingdom from you”, “the Lord raised up an adversary”, “everyone whose spirit God had stirred”, “the staff in their hands is My fury”, “Does disaster come to a city, unless the Lord has done it?”, and “I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord who does all these things.”

God uses both the godly and ungodly too manifest is plans and purposes. He is the creator of all there is so it is well understood that He can control it. Do we live our lives like God is in control? Do we pray like God is in Control? Do we trust God like He is in control? People reject God’s calling in their life. They choose to ignore Him. However, even in their rejection and the problems and troubles, they cause on others God can and does use it for good. We may not see it but we can trust it is true. One example is with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Evil and lost people did this but it was ordained by God for the salvation of all who believe.

We know how David cried out to God and stating what appeared to be an oversight by God, in that, there were evil people who seemed to prosper, denounce God, treat others with harm, and God was seemingly blind to it. He wasn’t and isn’t blind to actions, but more than that, He knows the thoughts and intents of each person’s actions.

The problem we have is that we don’t have the wisdom, understanding, and knowledge of God. We chase after answers with our limited understanding and knowledge. We convince ourselves that we no best and if we were God we would do it differently. He is God, not us. His ways are not our ways.

So why is it that we say God is in control and then do not believe or trust Him when seemingly bad things happen? He does not change. He has been the same forever and there is no changing in Him.

I think the closer we are to Him the more we learn and grow in our trusting of Him. The closer we are we have fewer questions and we have more praise. The closer we are doesn’t mean we have fewer questions but it does mean we have one answer “God is in control” and in this, we can find a peace that passes all understanding.

You have to imagine the Israelites were full of questions and afraid when they were at the banks of the Red Sea with the Pharaoh and his warriors approaching. When we face the impossible, tragic, and terrible, trials in our life, know that there is a God who is in control and will work out all things for the good of them who are called by His name.

2.a. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Chronicles 14:9 Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and 300 chariots, and came as far as Mareshah. And Asa went out to meet him, and they drew up their lines of battle in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. And Asa cried to the Lord his God, “O Lord, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.” So the Lord defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as Gerar, and the Ethiopians fell until none remained alive, for they were broken before the Lord and his army. The men of Judah carried away very much spoil. And they attacked all the cities around Gerar, for the fear of the Lord was upon them. They plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them. And they struck down the tents of those who had livestock and carried away sheep in abundance and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

Isaiah 8:9-10    Be broken, you peoples, and be shattered; give ear, all you far countries; strap on your armor and be shattered; strap on your armor and be shattered.  Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing; speak a word, but it will not stand, for God is with us.

Deuteronomy 32:39    “‘See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.

Psalms 60:12   With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes.

1 Corinthians 15:57     But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Facing more than a million warriors from Ethiopia, Asa went out to do battle. It appears the first act was to call on the Lord God but in reality, their first act was “in Your name we have come against this multitude” and the second act was trust and reliance and the third act was crying out to God. But we really can’t put them in an order like this, can we? Without trust, there is no reliance. Without trust and reliance and an active seeking and desiring the presence of God and a willingness to act there would be no crying out to God.

Asa led the people in active and intentional worship and God-honoring living. This active and intentional want to be in the presence of God with all their thoughts toward humbly serving, following, trusting, obeying, and honoring Him.

Big battles are won before they begin when all of our heart, mind, and soul is seeking, desiring, and focused on God.

There is a big problem right now within the church, within our Christian culture, maybe even within us. We seem to live our daily lives apart from God until there is a battle line in front of us. Then, we cry out but our cry is not made with trust and reliance but rather with a last-ditch effort. We cry out because we have no hope in ourselves any and in this very surrender to God you would think we would learn this is the very place every waking moment our heart and soul and mind should anchor its self too.

In our full surrender, we find peace, joy, strength, power, might, and hope. You would think we would want to stay in this place and bask in the glory and holiness of God. You would think in this place is where we are satisfied and made whole and no other place would we find this satisfaction and filling of our heart, mind, and soul. But sadly we come into God’s presence and leave and come and go, come and go, rather than staying in His presence. We find Him all in all and then we leave. We find Him all-powerful and then we leave. We find Him steadfast in His love for us and we leave. We find Him sending Jesus Christ to redeem us and we come and taste the holiness of salvation and forgiveness but we so easily leave like a leave being carried away by a soft breeze.

Choose this day whom you will serve and be active and intentional about every moment of that day. Be sure every moment of that day reflects an active and internal choice to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in every word, thought, and action.

189. “Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?”

2 Kings 20:12 At that time Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. And Hezekiah welcomed them, and he showed them all his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say? And from where did they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come from a far country, from Babylon.” He said, “What have they seen in your house?” And Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”

Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord. And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?”

2 Chronicles 36:10     In the spring of the year King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon, with the precious vessels of the house of the LORD, and made his brother Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.

2 Chronicles 36:18    And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon.

Jeremiah 27:21-22     thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of the LORD, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem:  They shall be carried to Babylon and remain there until the day when I visit them, declares the LORD. Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.”

Jeremiah 52:17-19    And the pillars of bronze that were in the house of the LORD, and the stands and the bronze sea that were in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and carried all the bronze to Babylon.  And they took away the pots and the shovels and the snuffers and the basins and the dishes for incense and all the vessels of bronze used in the temple service;  also the small bowls and the fire pans and the basins and the pots and the lampstands and the dishes for incense and the bowls for drink offerings. What was of gold the captain of the guard took away as gold, and what was of silver, as silver.

Trials and trouble are on the way and this has been proclaimed by God through the prophet Isaiah. What does Hezekiah think about when he hears this news; “Why no, if there will be peace and security in my days?” Is this the proper response one should have when you hear of pending doom for your country? Would you not plead for repentance from the people and forgiveness from God? Wouldn’t your heartache at the news? Wouldn’t you do something to intercede?

Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us into all truth, to open our eyes and ears to the wisdom and knowledge of God through His word. Jesus said, “go make disciples.” Why did He say this? Because of the proclamation of the Good News of the Gospel was the answer to the proclamation of the coming judgment. Unlike Hezekiah who was not told of a redemption plan from the pending troubles at the hand of God through the Babylonians, we have. We have been entrusted with the Gospel and the call to make disciples and to humbly serve, honor, glorify, listen to, follow, obey, rely on, and trust in Jesus Christ. The reason for our whole purpose and plan this side of eternity, is to do this. We are to make Jesus first and last in all we think, say, and do.

We fail to honor Jesus if we respond like Hezekiah; “why not if there will be peace and security in my days?” How shallow would it be to know that you have been saved by grace, not of works, through the redeeming work of Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He made for you while you were yet a sinner and without hope of being cleansed from sin and being made right in the eyes of God- and then to say “let them get what they deserve, I am going to keep quiet and live my life in peace and security I have in Christ.”

We have a calling to humbly serve, honor, glorify, follow, listen to, obey, rely on, and trust in Jesus Christ and to tell those who are perishing about the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to make disciples.

Share the Love of Jesus Christ in word, thought, and deed.

183.And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may go well with you

2 Kings 18:1 In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done. He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan). He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. For he held fast to the Lord. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses. And the Lord was with him; wherever he went out, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him. He struck down the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city.

In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it, and at the end of three years he took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. The king of Assyria carried the Israelites away to Assyria and put them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, because they did not obey the voice of the Lord their God but transgressed his covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded. They neither listened nor obeyed.

Deuteronomy 6:18    And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may go well with you

Nehemiah 9:17    They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck

Daniel 9:8    To us, O LORD, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you.

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,

We can certainly see both sides of the coin in these 12 verses of 2 Kings 18. Hezekiah, King of Judah, listened, believed, followed, obeyed, and did what was right in the eyes of God. Hoshea, King of Israel, neither listened nor obeyed. The outcomes of these two countries were very different. Judah prospered during the time of Hezekiah and Israel was carried away.

What I make note of is how we are so easily swayed to walk paths that are not “Doing what is right in the eyes of God”. It seems to take form when one area of life is allowed to dip its feet into what God has clearly said: “stay away from doing this”. What we don’t realize is that once our feet hit the slippery bottom of what we are dipping into we soon are falling headlong into the pool of “Not doing what is right in the eyes of God”. The pool does not look deep nor does it look like anything menacing, in fact, it looks inviting. There are numerous ones who are there ahead of us and they call out with invitation too. We might have been warned in the past to stay away from this but once we have gotten close and see others who seem to be enjoying the refreshing appearance of freedom our guard is down and our ears only hear the call of the forbidden. We are so close now that the voice of God can not be heard over the noise of those to whom we have chosen to get close to and even join.

There is truth in “Right is Right even if only one is doing it” and “Wrong is Wrong even if everyone is doing it” If we are going to do what is right we better know where to look to find out what right is. If we neglect this book of truth we will not have the ability to hear the leading of the Holy Spirit, the power of the Holy Spirit, and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to know and understand follies of man. It is easy to follow what seems right in our own eyes and it is easy to listen to ourselves. Both of these actions will make us deaf and blind to the Word of God and knowing what is right in His eyes.

139. For there is no one who does not sin

1 Kings 8:46 “If they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near, yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors, saying, We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,’ if they repent with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name, then hear in heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions that they have committed against you, and grant them compassion in the sight of those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them (for they are your people, and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace). Let your eyes be open to the plea of your servant and to the plea of your people Israel, giving ear to them whenever they call to you. For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be your heritage, as you declared through Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.”

How do we know if there is sin in our life? How do we know if we are active in our walk with God? How do we know if our walk is worthy of honoring God?

“If they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin.” “ Psalms 19:12 Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.” “Proverbs 20:9 Who can say, “I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin”? “Ecclesiastes 7:20 Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.” “Isaiah 64:6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” “1 John 1:8-10 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.”

I fear that we are thinking we are active in our walk with God and that our life is honoring Him but His word is far from our heart, mind, and soul. This is an intentional choice being made every single day to neglect His word, live for self, and give no thought about serving, honoring, glorifying, following, and obeying God on a deeper level each day. How can we say we are committed Christians and we spend little to no time in His word with the single thought of to know and understand Jesus Christ more and more so that we would honor and serve and become very aware of sin in our life.

Turning a blind eye or deaf ear to God’s word does not give us a pass on the sin in our life.

Fret Not

“He goes to bed rich, but will do so no more; he opens his eyes, and his wealth is gone.”

Psalms 37:7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.

Psalms 37:35 I have seen a wicked, ruthless man, spreading himself like a green laurel tree. But he passed away, and behold, he was no more; though I sought him, he could not be found.

Psalms 55:23 But you, O God, will cast them down into the pit of destruction; men of blood and treachery shall not live out half their days. But I will trust in you.

Job 20:27 The heavens will reveal his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him. The possessions of his house will be carried away, dragged off in the day of God’s wrath. This is the wicked man’s portion from God, the heritage decreed for him by God.”

Job 27: 19 He goes to bed rich, but will do so no more; he opens his eyes, and his wealth is gone. Terrors overtake him like a flood; in the night a whirlwind carries him off. The east wind lifts him up and he is gone; it sweeps him out of his place. It hurls at him without pity; he flees from its power in headlong flight

Isaiah 58:14 then you shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Psalms 25:13 His soul shall abide in well-being, and his offspring shall inherit the land.

Isaiah 60:21 Your people shall all be righteous; they shall possess the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I might be glorified.

Hebrews 11:16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

Revelation 5:10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”

I found this commentary and and thought it so appropriate for these verses today: This is a psalm, grappling with the problem of the inequality of human life and the apparent failure of God to reward His servants and punish His enemies as they deserve. Life and immortality, where we know that the balance will be readjusted, had not then been brought to light, and therefore the solution was far harder before the advent of our Lord than for us.

But though the psalmist’s solution is therefore not complete, his teaching of the blessedness of absolute trust in God’s providence is very delightful. Fret not thyself; that is, do not give way to passionate resentment or bitter disappointment. Live in God; find your delight in contemplating His nature and His works; roll on Him the decision of your life-choices; trust in Him to supply all your need and work in your behalf. Be silent and rest