Tag: cut off

141. The LORD is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.

1 Kings 9:1  As soon as Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord and the king’s house and all that Solomon desired to build, the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. And the Lord said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house that you have built, by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. And as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules, then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’ But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And this house will become a heap of ruins. Everyone passing by it will be astonished and will hiss, and they will say, Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore the Lord has brought all this disaster on them.’”

1 Chronicles 28:9     “And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.

2 Chronicles 7:19-22    “But if you turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them,  then I will pluck you up from my land that I have given you, and this house that I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.  And at this house, which was exalted, everyone passing by will be astonished and say, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?’  Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore he has brought all this disaster on them.’”

2 Chronicles 15:2     and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The LORD is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.

Joshua 23:15-16     But just as all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the LORD will bring upon you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land that the LORD your God has given you,  if you transgress the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them. Then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land that he has given to you.”

Eric Watkins; “Following God demands not only external obedience but also obedience of the heart. God alone is worthy of their love and worship. No other god had saved them; no other god could uphold them; and with no other god would the Shepherd of Israel share their affection and loyalty.”

“Sadly, simply stating and restating His expectations did not elicit the love and faithfulness God desired from Israel. In time, Israel’s heart, mirroring our own, longed for other gods and wandered from the commands of the covenant. God would have to do something radical, something invasive, something His people could not do for themselves in order to free them and us from the infidelity of our hearts.”

“As the Lord went before Israel, so Jesus went ahead of us, all the way to the cross. He showed us what it meant to have “no other god” before His Father in heaven, for Jesus not only obeyed the law of the Lord, He also loved the Lord His God with all His heart, soul, and might. His love and loyalty toward His heavenly Father were as unmistakable as His love and loyalty toward us. His love for His Father in heaven was displayed in the way He loved those whom His Father loved and in the way He gave Himself as the sacrifice for our sins.”

“As the old hymn says, our hearts are “prone to wander … prone to leave the God [we] love.” Day after day, we need to be reminded of God’s unfailing love for us in Christ. We also need to walk in newness of life in loving obedience toward God, by keeping Him first in our hearts. We are Christ’s church, and in Him we have been washed, redeemed, and loved. We love and obey His commands because, to paraphrase another hymn, “From heaven He came and sought us to be His holy bride; with His own blood He bought us and for our life He died.”

We don’t commit to and serve God out of fear but rather because of who God is and the mercy, grace, and love extended to us through Jesus Christ.  When our eye’s lose sight for just a second of the sacrifice for Jesus made for our salvation and redemption the world is quick to fill our heart and mind with other gods and things to offer satisfaction of the flesh.  We expose our soul to unlimited paths away from the comforting arms of Jesus when our eyes are focused elsewhere.

94. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.

1 Samuel 2:9   “He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, for not by might shall a man prevail.

Psalms 37:23    The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way;  though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand.

Proverbs 16:9     The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.

Psalms 91:11-12     For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.  On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.

Psalms 33:16-17     The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.  The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue.

Psalms 37:28     For the LORD loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.

We can see God’s hand moving in our lives when we stay in His word and the Spirit of God opens our hearts and minds to the truth of His Word. We can see God’s hand in His blessings, including that of sorrow and fiery trials. Ultimately, we can see God’s hand moving most clearly when we see His Son, Jesus Christ, who has been revealed to those who love God.

It is never by our strength that we overcome but by God’s hand in our life.  We can choose to yield to, trust in, cling to and rely on Jesus.  In Him, we will find refuge, peace, and rest in whatever trials and troubles come our way.  In Him, we have hope and faith in His awesome grace, mercy, and love.  In Him alone will we find purpose.  In Him alone, we are able to face each day no matter what comes our way.

Here are a couple of verses from the hymn, How Firm a Foundation, Ye Saints of the Lord;

Fear not, I am with you, O be not dismayed, for I am your God, and will still give you aid; I’ll strengthen you, help you, and cause you to stand, upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand. When through the deep waters I call you to go, the rivers of sorrow shall not overflow, for I will be with you in trouble to bless, and sanctify to you your deepest distress. When through fiery trials your pathway shall lie, my grace all-sufficient shall be your supply; the flame shall not hurt you; I only design your dross to consume and your gold to refine. The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose I will not, I will not desert to its foes; that soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, I’ll never, no, never, no never forsake!”

67. “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

Joshua 3:11   Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan. Now therefore take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, from each tribe a man. And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.”

So when the people set out from their tents to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest), the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho. Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.

Exodus 15:8     At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up; the floods stood up in a heap; the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.

Psalms 33:7     He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap;

Psalms 78:13    He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap.

Psalms 114:3-5    The sea looked and fled; Jordan turned back.  The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs.  What ails you, O sea, that you flee? O Jordan, that you turn back?

  Matthew 8:26-27    And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.  And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

We doubt we wonder, we both believe and believe not.  Do you believe the Red Sea was split in two or that the Jordan river was stopped flowing or that Jesus calmed the sea?  These are all recorded so that we might believe in the awesome power and might of God.  It also shows His love for those called by His name and wrath for those who reject Him.  There was the destruction of Egyptians and of those in Jericho.   All things are possible for God the creator of all things both seen and unseen.

Think about the trial or trouble you are going through and need God’s intervention.  Certainly, since our God can stop a river, split the Red Sea, calm the storm, all by the way seem impossible to do, He is more than able to do more than we ask and much more than we can imagine.

Do you want to grow your faith?  Read His word.  Study it.  Meditate on it.  Seek to understand it.  Believe it.  Desire it.  Time spent in His word every day is never wasted, honors Jesus, gives hope, and encourages us in the sovereignty and awesome power and might of God our creator and father.

12.  And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.

Exodus 32:30   The next day Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Alas, this people has sinned a great sin. They have made for themselves gods of gold. But now, if you will forgive their sin—but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written.” But the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book. But now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you; behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them.”

Then the Lord sent a plague on the people, because they made the calf, the one that Aaron made.

Ezekiel 18:4    Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die.

Psalms 109:13-14     May his posterity be cut off; may his name be blotted out in the second generation!  May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out!

Revelation 13:8     and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.

Revelation 20:12     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.

Psalms 69:28    Let them be blotted out of the book of the living; let them not be enrolled among the righteous.

These are some serious words of judgment for those who disregard God.  I was speaking with a seminary student recently and they made a comment that got me to thinking.  They said “Christianity today spells out our walk with God in the big moment choices, being born again and baptism, but our walk is more than a big moment choice.  It is a life of sacrifice of self for unity, for showing love, for being generous, for being kind, to allow ourselves to be wronged and forgive the act against us.

I wonder if preaching today speaks to the big moments and does not talk of the daily walk that humbly serves, honors, glorifies, follows, and obeys God over self and society pressures. You don’t have to look far to see the lives of those who claim the big moment choices but you see no fruit in their lives.  In fact, there is very little difference in their life from those who do not believe in God.  Fruit of the Spirit is cultivated over a lifetime of daily walking with God, daily spending time in His word, daily seeking to hear Him, daily desiring to be led by Him, daily wanting to honor and glorify Him, daily wanting sin in their life exposed so they can confess it and be forgiven, daily wanting to be used by Him, daily surrendering self-wants and desires, daily seeking to show the light of Jesus Christ into a dark world, daily looking for God moments with the lost, daily seeking to make disciples.

Every day is a choice of self or God. One leads to being blotted out and the other to eternal life.

Is it not as nothing in your eyes?

Exodus 17:14  Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.

Exodus 34:27     And the LORD said to Moses, “Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”

Deuteronomy 31:9    Then Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel.

Joshua 4:7    then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.”

Haggai 2:2-3     “Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say,  ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes?

Write it as a memorial.  recite it the ears of Joshua.  Write it down so that it will not be forgotten.  Speak it so that it will be passed on.  When it comes to God’s word being active in our life, we should have memorials/testimonies that are recited in the ears of our family and friends.  We should write them down so they are not forgotten.  They should be spoken to give God honor and the hearer encouragement in what God is doing.

Note, in Haggai where the house of God was nothing in the eyes of the people.  They forgot it’s former glory of God.  They forgot God.  They went their own way, down their own path away from God.

When God’s word is neglected or we take to being complacent toward it, His word is becomes no longer active in our heart, soul, and mind and then it is not active in our everyday life.

Be very careful in your walk with God.  Keep His word close to your heart.  Write down and recite what He is doing in your life frequently to your family and friends.  Honor God with your life – keep His word active in what you think, say, and do.

How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me?

Exodus 7:7 Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Exodus 7:10   So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded.

Exodus 7:20  Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded.

Exodus 8:17 And they did so.

Exodus 9:14  so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.

Exodus 9:27  Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them, “This time I have sinned; the Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong.

Exodus 10:3  So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me?

Exodus 10:16  Then Pharaoh hastily called Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you. Now therefore, forgive my sin, please, only this once, and plead with the Lord your God only to remove this death from me.”

Exodus 12:28  Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

Exodus 12:50  All the people of Israel did just as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron. And on that very day the Lord brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt

Exodus 13:3 Then Moses said to the people, “Remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery, for by a strong hand the Lord brought you out from this place.

Exodus 13:17  When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea.

Can you see the committed following of Moses and Aaron, and as well the hardening of the hearts of the Egyptians.  Though they saw first hand the might wonders, signs and works of God they denied them and the power of God.

Before doing what the Lord God asks of us we need to be willing to hear and willing to act.  There will be those who oppose God.  There will be those who will join God.  There will be those who will follow God.

It is apparent who is opposing.  They will say and do things that expose their heart of stone.  They will try to explain away God.   God is not hindered or blocked.  His plans and purposes will come to pass.

Joining and following God is more than words.  It is a change of heart, mind, and soul.  It is permanent. It is life changing. It is life long. True commitment will be seen by their actions “so they did as God spoke“.  They want to hear God’s whispers and will hear them speak into their heart.  They will act on His leading.  They will trust in His promises. They will grow in their humbleness toward Him.  They will cling to Him, rely on Him, and trust in Him.  They seek and desire to honor and glorify Him.

However, it does not take much hardening to deafen our ears to be able to hear God speak to our heart.  The quickest way to hardening our heart is through busyness. We seem to find this excuse permissible and justified in our commitment and walk with Him.   We need to be intentional in our walk with Him and be able to discern when busyness over takes us.  We need to know what is non-value added into our lives and say “no more”.  We may need to say no to some good things to be in control of our intentional walk with Him.

I don’t know how many lives of people I have seen where God intervened in their busyness by some trial or troubling event.  God did not take them through and easy path – He led them straight to the Red Sea where there was no way back and no way forward but by the Hand of God.  These people were changed because there was a new “God induced”, “God priority” set in their lives.  If this is what it takes to renew, refresh, recommit, and establish a new level of commitment to humbly serve, honor, glorify, follow, and obey, I wish it on all people, rather than watch them spend another day without God being their joy, peace, love, hope, courage, strength, power, refuge, and guiding light.

I will instruct you

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.”

Psalms 119:133  Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me.

Psalms 121:3   He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.

Psalms 17:5     My steps have held fast to your paths; my feet have not slipped.

1 Samuel 2:9    “He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, for not by might shall a man prevail.

Psalms 19:13    Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.

Romans 6:12-14     Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.  Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.

Romans 7:23-24     but I see within me another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.

Sin, unchecked, will attempt to gain and hold dominion in our life. First it may be in a small or seemingly insignificant area, but that dominion will grow in size and strength until our spiritual life is in serious compromise. Many today want to direct their steps by something else, anything else other than the word of God.

· “Direct my steps by my feelings.”

· “Direct my steps by my lusts.”

· “Direct my steps by my friends.”

· “Direct my steps by my parents.”

· “Direct my steps by circumstances.”

· “Direct my steps by fate.”

· “Direct my steps by my comfort.”

The word of God is our light, path, knowledge and understanding, living water, and spiritual food.  Through His word we hear whispers of His voice leading, reproving, convicting, confirming, teaching, instructing, encouraging, and giving us hope, building our faith, peace, joy, love, and changing our passions and love for this world to a  Love of Him, and a heart desire to honor, glorify, worship, serve, follow and obey.   This is fueled by time in His word. Great and precious promises are given to us in His word.  These are given to us so that through them we will grow more in our faith and live more abundantly for His plan and purpose, not ours.  We do well to spend time in His word and not so much time in our own pursuit of satisfaction apart from it.

Followed me fully

“ See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”

Psalms 99:8  O LORD our God, you answered them; you were a forgiving God to them, but an avenger of their wrongdoings

Psalms 89:33    but I will not remove from him my steadfast love or be false to my faithfulness.

Deuteronomy 9:19     For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure that the LORD bore against you, so that he was ready to destroy you. But the LORD listened to me that time also.

Jeremiah 46:28     Fear not, O Jacob my servant, declares the LORD, for I am with you. I will make a full end of all the nations to which I have driven you, but of you I will not make a full end. I will discipline you in just measure, and I will by no means leave you unpunished.”

Zephaniah 3:7     I said, ‘Surely you will fear me; you will accept correction. Then your dwelling would not be cut off according to all that I have appointed against you.’ But all the more they were eager to make all their deeds corrupt.

Exodus 32:34-35     But now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you; behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them.”

Numbers 14:20-34    Then the LORD said, “I have pardoned, according to your word.  But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD,  none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice,  shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it.  But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.

Romans 1:21     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.

Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them.”, ” I will discipline you in just measure, and I will by no means leave you unpunished”, “all that I have appointed against you.”, ” none of those who despised me shall see it.”  What comes to mind when you read these?  When I read these from scriptures above I see a people who chose to either follow fully or those who chose to be complacent or those who willfully chose to disobey.  None were above being disciplined by God.  None seeking forgiveness from God were left wanting.  None disregarding God were pardoned.  Sin has always been in  our heart.  Sin has a way of taking over if we are not actively at battle with it.  If I think there is no God, or that there is a God and He is not going to hold me accountable – sin has darkened my heart to scripture truth.  If I think I can live on the fence  living for self sometimes and neglect obedience to God  – sin has darkened my heart.  If I think I can keep ledger of my good and bad, and this will in anyway have influence on God – sin has darkened my heart.  If I trust in, cling to, rely on the promises of God through Jesus Christ – the light of the gospel has exposed my heart, mind and soul to the grace, mercy, and love of God.  “and though your sin be as scarlet it will be washed white as snow”

God’s purpose

“this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.”

“Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.”

Joh 19:6  When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.”  The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.”  When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid.  He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.  So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”  From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.”

Genesis 45:7     And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.  So it was not you who sent me here, but God.

Exodus 9:14     For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth.  For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth.  But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.

Psalms 39:9     I am mute; I do not open my mouth, for it is you who have done it.

Psalms 62:11     Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God,

Jeremiah 27:5     “It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me.

Lamentations 3:37     Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it?

Daniel 4:17    The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, the decision by the word of the holy ones, to the end that the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will and sets over it the lowliest of men.’

Romans 13:1     Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

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

All the plans of man fall into two categories – in line with God’s plans humbly serving, honoring, following, and obeying – or – not.  All of the scripture today speaks of God’s plan and purpose.  He is sovereign, all knowing,  and all powerful. Our sinful nature does not want to in part or fully believe this.  Life has a way of taking us down paths of making plans and have our own purposes, giving God nothing more than a second thought most days.  Think about how far our culture has moved away from God.  Science is hell bent on denying He exists.  Schools are afraid to teach creation.  Research is looking for the “God Particle” – the origin of life – the beginning.  This folly is easy to grab on to because it throws questions into and onto what we believe.  I fear many walk lukewarm christian lives and do not want to fully commit.  Read theses scriptures;


The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a wise man is he who listens to counsel.

 There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death. 

What fruit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? The outcome of those things is death. 

Apart from God and void of His word in our lives we soon find our christian walk diluted to a point where we no longer hear His whispers of guidance or know His word, His power, or  what it means to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey Him.  Just because it is approved by our culture and within our laws or seems right to us, does not make it right with God.  .

“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.“

Do not lose sight of God, His plan, His purpose.  Apart from it we find no joy, hope, peace, power, courage, love, or place of refuge.

Abide in His word

“Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.”

“But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.”

“being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing”

“Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.”

“Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me.”

John 8:31  So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”  Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.  The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Acts 14:22     strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.

Colossians 1:23    if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven,

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.

How do you translate this verse “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”???  How do you continue in faith and God’s leading???  How do you remain steadfast and stable???  How do you survive tribulations and trials of this world????  How do you strengthen your soul????  How are you set free????  How are you made blameless??? How are your steps remained steady???  What keeps you from shrinking back????  How do you know of God’s kindness???  How are you encouraged to keep on the path of God???  ABIDE IN HIS WORD