Tag: clearly

32. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come;

Numbers 23:19   God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

Habakkuk 2:3     For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.

Malachi 3:6     For I the LORD do not change

Luke 21:33     Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

Titus 1:2    in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began

Hebrews 6:18    so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.

James 1:17     Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

God does not lie, He does not change, and what He promises will take place.  Think about what He has promised: Savior Jesus Christ, Steadfast love, Purpose, Justice, Power, Refuge, Courage, Hope, Love, Peace, Joy, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Forgiveness, Salvation, Rebirth – Born Again, Eternal Life, Resurrection, Heaven

He has also promised: Judgement, anger, wrath, Hell, torment, agony, separation, foolishness, disaster, chaos, turmoil, unrest, justice, eternal damnation

What separates these two paths of all of mankind?  Choice!!!  Choice in what we believe.  Choice in who we believe.  Nothing is more clear than what is stated:

John 3:16-21  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

Romans 1:18-21  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 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.

Revelation 20:11-15  Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence, earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

22. Do not punish us because we have done foolishly and have sinned.

Numbers 12:1  Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman. And they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” And the Lord heard it. Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth. And suddenly the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.” And the three of them came out. And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward. And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and he departed.

When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. And Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, do not punish us because we have done foolishly and have sinned. Let her not be as one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother’s womb.” And Moses cried to the Lord, “O God, please heal her—please.” But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut outside the camp seven days, and after that she may be brought in again.” So Miriam was shut outside the camp seven days, and the people did not set out on the march till Miriam was brought in again.

We all can have temptation to see things and question the hand of God in them.  We all can have the temptation of seeing ourselves much higher and better than we are.  Here we see Aaron and his wife wanting to be recognized for being ones whom God used for speaking His message to the people.  They spoke badly of Moses to lift themselves up.  Do you ever wonder why God would include these aspects of history in His word?  Could it be to give us insight into human nature and how easy it is for us to get sideways in our thinking?

We get thoughts that come into our head and if they are not recognized for what they are there is a good chance for them to take root.  Once they have taken root they seem to grow and produce fruit that is not God-honoring.  In fact, they produce works of sinful desire, greed, pride, lust, hate, prejudice, and love of self.

We can recognize these thoughts for what they are when we spend time in His word each day seeking God to speak to your heart and mind on how we might honor, serve, glorify and obey Him.  It is not rocket science to know that what we spend feeding our mind will eventually come out “whatever a man sows so shall he reap”  Good or bad.

Remember it only takes one conscious decision to commit to reading His word, and likewise, it only takes one to neglect it.