Compassion – Page 2 – Praying Pint

19.o. “So as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.”

Romans 6:13 Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.

Colossians 3:5    Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

James 4:1   What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?

Romans 7:5 When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death.

Isaiah 55:7   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.

2 Peter 2:13-15   suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you.  They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children!  Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing,

2 Chronicles 30:8    Do not now be stiff-necked as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the LORD and come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever, and serve the LORD your God, that his fierce anger may turn away from you.

1 Corinthians 6:20     for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

1 Peter 4:2     so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.

A person can be “officially” set free, yet still imprisoned. If a person lives in prison for years, and then is set free, they often still think and act like a prisoner. The habits of freedom aren’t ingrained in their life yet. In the fourteenth century two brothers fought for the right to rule over a dukedom in what is now Belgium. The elder brother’s name was Raynald, but he was commonly called “Crassus,” a Latin nickname meaning “fat,” for he was horribly obese. After a heated battle, Raynald’s younger brother Edward led a successful revolt against him and assumed the title of Duke over his lands. But instead of killing Raynald, Edward devised a curious imprisonment. He had a room in the castle built around “Crassus,” a room with only one door. The door was not locked, the windows were not barred, and Edward promised Raynald that he could regain his land and his title any time that he wanted to. All he would have to do is leave the room. The obstacle to freedom was not in the doors or the windows, but with Raynald himself. Being grossly overweight, he could not fit through the door, even though it was of near-normal size. All Raynald needed to do was diet down to a smaller size, then walk out a free man, with all he had before his fall. However, his younger brother kept sending him an assortment of tasty foods, and Raynald’s desire to be free never won out over his desire to eat. Some would accuse Duke Edward of being cruel to his older brother, but he would simply reply, “My brother is not a prisoner. He may leave when he so wills.” But Raynald stayed in that room for ten years.

This accurately illustrates the experience of many Christians. Jesus set them forever free legally, and they may walk in that freedom from sin whenever they choose. But since they keep yielding their bodily appetites to the service of sin, they live a life of defeat, discouragement, and imprisonment. This accurately illustrates the experience of many Christians. Jesus set them forever free legally, and they may walk in that freedom from sin whenever they choose. But since they keep yielding their bodily appetites to the service of sin, they live a life of defeat, discouragement, and imprisonment. Your members are the parts of your body – your ears, lips, eyes, hands, mind, and so forth. The idea is very practical: “You have eyes. Do not put them in the service of sin. You have ears. Do not put them in the service of sin.” The parts of our body are weapons in the battle for right living. When the parts of our body are given over to righteousness, they are weapons for good. When they are given over to sin, they are weapons for evil. (Guzik)

It is a test of our claim to be Christians. Does anger have dominion over you? Does murmuring and complaining? Does covetousness have dominion over you? Does pride? Does laziness have dominion over you? If sin has dominion over us, we should seriously ask if we are really converted. It is a promise of victory. It doesn’t say that “sin will not be present in us,” because that will only be fulfilled when we are resurrected in glory. But it does promise that sin will not have dominion over us because of the great work Jesus did in us when we were born again. It is an encouragement for hope and strength in the battle against sin. God has set you free in Jesus. This is encouragement for the Christian struggling against sin, for the new Christian, and for the backslider. (Spurgeon)

18.o. “But I chose you and appointed you”

John 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit.

Acts 22:14     And he said, ‘The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth;

Romans 9:11-16     though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—  she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”  As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”  What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means!  For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”  So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.

Ephesians 2:10    For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

“We are in Christ, not because we hold Him, but because He holds us.” (Meyer)

Ye have not chosen me – The word here translated “chosen” is that from which is derived the word “elect,” and means the same thing. It is frequently thus translated, Mark 13:20; Matthew 24:22, Matthew 24:24, Matthew 24:31; Colossians 3:12. It refers here, doubtless, to his choosing or electing them to be apostles. He says that it was not because they had chosen him to be their teacher and guide, but because he had designated them to be his apostles. See John 6:70; also Matthew 4:18-22. He thus shows them that his love for them was pure and disinterested; that it commenced when they had no affection for him; that it was not a matter of obligation on his part, and that therefore it placed them under more tender and sacred obligations to be entirely devoted to his service. The same may be said of all who are endowed with talents of any kind, or raised to any office in the church or the state. It is not that they have originated these talents, or laid God under obligation. What they have they owe to his sovereign goodness, and they are bound to devote all to his service. Equally true is this of all Christians. It was not that by nature they were more inclined than others to seek God, or that they had any native goodness to recommend them to him, but it was because he graciously inclined them by his Holy Spirit to seek him; because, “The grace of Christ moved and directed them;” that is, went before them, commenced the work of their personal salvation, and thus God in sovereign mercy chose them as His own. Whatever Christians, then, possess, they owe to God, and by the most tender and sacred ties they are bound to be his followers. (Barnes)

13.n. “Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me.”

Zachariah 7:8 And the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah: “This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’ “But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and covered their ears. They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the Lord Almighty was very angry. “‘When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations, where they were strangers. The land they left behind them was so desolate that no one traveled through it. This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.’”

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.  They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the LORD had commanded them that they should not do like them.

2 Chronicles 33:10   The LORD spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention.

Nehemiah 9:29     And you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet they acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your rules, which if a person does them, he shall live by them, and they turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not obey.

Proverbs 1:24-32     Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,  because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof,  I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you,  when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.  Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me.  Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD,  would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof,  therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.  For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them;

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

Hebrews 12:25     See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven.

They refused to listen; they resisted the warners; they exhibited open contempt for them. They willfully were ignorant and would not consider nor want to understand. What level of contempt is it when a person sets their heart hard as stone so that their ears are deaf to the Word of God? Do you ever wonder if people consider the Word of God a burden? Is this why they harden their heart to God? Think about this. The Word of God proclaims a righteous, pure, and holy Creator God. It proclaims the fall of mankind. It exposes the sinful nature of man. It proclaims the separation between God and man due to this fallen sinful state. It proclaims God’s wrath, anger, and judgment. It proclaims God’s grace, mercy, and love toward mankind with promises of restoration, redemption, and salvation. It proclaims blessings. It is a guide and restraint to the sinful nature of our hearts. It proclaims the wonders and mystery of God. It proclaims the promises of God. It proclaims warnings. It yields hope, joy, peace, refuge, courage, power, kindness, forgiveness, and rest for those who have open hearts, minds, souls, and ears to hear, believe, obey, and trust in what God proclaims. It also yields hardened hearts, minds, souls, and ears to those who defy, deny, and resist what God proclaims. It promises eternity in heaven for those who believe. It promises eternity in hell for those who do not believe.

Is it a burden to live for God? Is it a burden to live holy, righteous, and pleasing to the God of all there is? Is it a burden to live to honor, glorify, worship, magnify, and praise to God? Is it a burden to live in loving kindness? Is it a burden to live showing mercy and grace to others? It is not a burden but a blessing to be loved by God and in a restored relationship with Him. What is the alternative to our lives should we choose to deny and defy God? Isn’t the true burden of life trying to live as though God does not exist? Every day Creation screams out the existence of God and every day the heart of the deniers must harden more and try to make sense and purpose of this life. Every day the burden of denial becomes heavier and heavier. The denying soul will find that the burden of life brings no pleasure or satisfaction even though they search diligently for it in the things this world has to offer. The Word of God is not a burden. It is a wondrous blessing from God to His creation.

11.j. “People are like fuel for the fire”

Nahum 1:1 An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.

Zechariah 9:1 For the LORD has an eye on mankind and on all the tribes of Israel,

Isaiah 9:16 for those who guide this people have been leading them astray, and those who are guided by them are swallowed up. Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men, and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows; for everyone is godless and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still. For wickedness burns like a fire; it consumes briers and thorns; it kindles the thickets of the forest, and they roll upward in a column of smoke. Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts the land is scorched, and the people are like fuel for the fire; no one spares another.

When Jonah preached repentance on the streets of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, the people responded and were spared. A century later, sometime between 663 and 612 b.c., Nahum preached in a time when Nineveh would not repent. Nineveh, which had destroyed Israel’s northern kingdom in 722, itself fell to Babylon in 612—just a few years after Nahum’s warning. The Assyrians were notorious for the brutality of their treatment of other nations. Nahum declared, however, that God is sovereign: he punishes whom he will, and they are powerless to stop him. Much of Nahum’s prophecy was directed to the people of Judah, who could rejoice at the good news (1:15) of Nineveh’s impending fall.

4.d. Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors.

Nehemiah 8:13 On the second day the heads of fathers’ houses of all the people, with the priests and the Levites, came together to Ezra the scribe in order to study the words of the Law.

Proverbs 2:1-6    My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you,  making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding;  yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding.  if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures,  then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.  For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;

Proverbs 8:33-34   Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it.  Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors.

Mark 6:33-34    When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.

Blessed is the one who listens. I wonder if we truly cherish God’s word. Are we inching our hearts to understanding? Are our ears attentive? Are we calling out for understanding? Are we seeking God’s word for hidden treasures? Do we hear instruction? Are we watching and waiting to hear and be led? God’s compassion, grace, mercy, purpose, plan, and love are revealed to those who seek it. It is one thing to desire and seek God’s word and another to just be exposed to it. There is a difference. Exposure is not necessarily something that is desired but rather something that just happens. If we take this approach to God’s word there is no effort, no commitment, no longing, no searching for it like a hidden treasure.

Now is a good time to examine our heart, mind, and soul to see if we are searching God’s word for hidden treasures or are content with complacent exposure.

3.x. I have had the help that comes from God

Nehemiah 2:1 In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much afraid. I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.” And the king said to me (the queen sitting beside him), “How long will you be gone, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time. And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy.” And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me.

Proverbs 21:1    The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.

Isaiah 66:14   You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice; your bones shall flourish like the grass; and the hand of the LORD shall be known to his servants, and he shall show his indignation against his enemies.

Daniel 1:9    And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs,

Acts 7:10    and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household.

Acts 26:22  To this day I have had the help that comes from God

Never underestimate the power of God. God is able to do more than we ask and much more than we can imagine. When God moves on our heart and places a big burden He will also provide a way for He is able to do it. God is able to do the “Big Asks” that we have prayed and believed in Him, and trusted in Him to accomplish. We have many examples given to us in His word. He created from nothingness and void all material, physical, and living things. He did this by just speaking it into existence. He parted the Red Sea. He stopped the Jorden river from flowing. He brought dead back to life. He destroyed powerful armies. He made water come out of a rock. He empowered the weak to overcome giants. He is awesome and all-powerful.

Do not be timid to take your “Big Asks” to Him in faith for He alone is our hope, shelter, refuge, strength, power, and courage. In Him, we can watch the impossible be accomplished. In Him, we can be refreshed. In Him, we can rest our hope. In Him, we can have our fears turned to joy. In Him all things are possible. Never underestimate what God can and will do for and through you.

Commit your whole heart, mind, soul, and strength to Him. Stay in His word. Be a humble servant willing to be led and directed by Him.

3.i. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD, would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof,

2 Chronicles 36:11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the Lord. He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord, the God of Israel. All the officers of the priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations. And they polluted the house of the Lord that he had made holy in Jerusalem.

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.

Isaiah 28:22    Now therefore do not scoff, lest your bonds be made strong; for I have heard a decree of destruction from the Lord GOD of hosts against the whole land.

Jeremiah 5:12-13     They have spoken falsely of the LORD and have said, ‘He will do nothing; no disaster will come upon us, nor shall we see sword or famine.  The prophets will become wind; the word is not in them. Thus shall it be done to them!’”

Proverbs 1:24-30    Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,  because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof,  I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you,  when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.  Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me.  Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD,  would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof,

1 Thessalonian  therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.

Proverbs 29:1     He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken beyond healing.

When I read these verses I wonder why it was that people chose not to hear the word of God and follow Him. What had hardened their heart like a stone? What filled the void in their life so full that was able to keep them from trusting, following, and obeying God? It is not as though they did not know what they were doing was wrong. It appears that they chose not to believe, not to trust, not to obey, not to serve, and not to humble themselves before God.

Then I looked back at my life and remembered how I lived apart from God, choosing to live like He did not exist. I can not understand the softening of my heart and the grace and mercy God showed toward me in this process of bringing me to a place where I was able to see my lost and sinful soul and His forgiveness and redemption through Jesus Christ. He opened the eyes of my heart, mind, and soul to fully see my need of redemption. He opened my mind to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He placed people into my life and led me to a place where I had to choose to believe or reject His grace, mercy, and love in and through Jesus Christ. Rejecting Him was not even a thought. Wanting and needing Him was the only choice. He was knocking at the door of my heart, mind, and soul.

I would like to say that I remained always obedient, always listening, always obeying, always honoring, always serving, always trusting, but this was not what happened. I bounced along life following and not following, obeying and not obeying, listening and not listening, honoring and not honoring, trusting and not trusting. Then something happened. I started to be in and read His word almost everyday. in His word the Holy Spirit began to expose the raw nerves of self-centered, self-interest, self-seeking, self-serving of my being. Everyday I am made aware of the great price that was paid for me, a sinner. I am made aware of God’s great power, might, strength, and the love, joy, peace, strength, power, and courage that He gives to those who choose to humbly serve, honor, follow, trust, and obey Him.

Eternity in hell comes to those who choose to disregard Jesus Christ. Eternity in heaven comes to those who choose to believe and obey Him. Now is the time of awareness. Now is the time of redemption. Not tomorrow, not next week, not next month or year. Delaying this choice is very foolish in light of the punishment / reward. I wonder how many people die unexpectedly thinking they had more time to get right with God and end up in eternity apart from God and in torment forever.

Right now is the time to be conscious of the choice to believe, trust, follow and obey Jesus Christ.

157. having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his willH

1 Kings 17:8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’” And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.

After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. And she said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!” And he said to her, “Give me your son.” And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed. And he cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?” Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.” And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.” And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”

Luke 4:25-26     But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land,  and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.

Isaiah 55:8    For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.

Romans 9:15     For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

Ephesians 1:11    In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,

God’s purpose, God’s plan, God’s will, will seldom make sense to us but can be trusted and relied upon. How are we to understand unless God opens our mind to things we cannot comprehend. If we were to give a lifetime to trying to discern God’s plans and purpose in just one event, we would not scratch the surface of it in our lifetime or a million other lifetimes. God spoke creation into being and breathed life into it. Who of us can fathom the awesome power and majesty in just the words from His lips? There is so much that goes on in the world and throughout each day, there is tragedy happening to man. God directed God allowed, and all His purpose. When we think of some of these tragedies it is hard to apply “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” But who are we to say God was unfair in His purpose and plan. Who are we to say what appears to be bad and tragic are not going to be blessings for thousands. That is just it, we don’t know. However, we can cling to, rely on, and trust in God, for He will never leave us or forsake us and has plans and purpose to help us, not to harm us. No matter what comes our way learn to say it is well with my soul, for I believe in Jesus Christ and I am just passing through this world into eternity with my Redeemer and Savior.

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.

103. Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near”

1 Samuel 14:6 Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few.” And his armor-bearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Do as you wish. Behold, I am with you heart and soul.”

Zephaniah 2:3    Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the LORD.

Psalms 105:4     Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!

Isaiah 55:6-7     “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.

Amos 5:4-6     For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel: “Seek me and live;

Jeremiah 29:12-13    Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.  You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

Hosea 10:12     Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.

Going through life with nods toward living each day fully for Jesus Christ is not the same as seeking His presence and continue living with a desire to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey with all your heart, mind, and soul. The battle within us to serve self-following after what the world offers or to serve Jesus Christ nothing new. Serving self places Jesus 2nd and us first. Where does self fit into to “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you”. We seem to want “all these things” that the world has to offer more than the joy, peace, rest, power, might, hope, love found in seeking first the kingdom of God.

Be intentional in your commitment to serving Jesus. Be committed to seeking and desiring Him more than things of this world. Place Him first in your heart, mind, and soul. Keep His word in your life each day with a desire to feed on it. Drink in knowledge and understanding with the purpose of living in a manner worthy of Jesus Christ sacrifice. Breath in the breath of the Holy Spirit into your mind and produce fruit that honors Jesus. Nothing honors the sacrifice of Jesus more than a heart, mind, and soul that every moment of every day is thankful, repentant, humble, serving, following, and seeking to obey the word of God and quiet whispers of the Holy Spirit.