Tag: elders

3.m. Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love

Ezra 5:1  Now the prophets, Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel who was over them. Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and the prophets of God were with them, supporting them.

At the same time Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and their associates came to them and spoke to them thus: “Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?” They also asked them this: “What are the names of the men who are building this building?” But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until the report should reach Darius and then an answer be returned by letter concerning it.

2 Chronicles 16:9   For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.

Psalms 32:8    I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.

Psalms 33:18    Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love,

1 Peter 3:12   For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

Psalms 34:15  The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry.

There are always going to be those in opposition to the work, plans, and purposes of God.  They cry foul, make accusations, and try hard to stop this work.  God’s word is full of examples of men in opposition.  They only succeed when it is in God’s plan and for His purpose.  Sometimes it is for our testing so that we know what is in our heart.  Other times it is in God’s wrath to the fallen and deliberate hardened heart of those who choose to be neglectful and complacent in their walk with Him.

When we are faced with opposition let our eyes, ears, heart, mind, and soul be focused and trusting in God.  Praise and trust in His promises of steadfast love, power, strength, refuge, peace, and rest.  Philippians 4:12-13  I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.  I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

We are never alone.  God’s eyes are always on us.

1.i. Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.

1 Chronicles 21:9  And Jehovah spake unto Gad, David’s seer, saying, Go and speak unto David, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, I offer thee three things: choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee. So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, Take which thou wilt: either three years of famine; or three months to be consumed before thy foes, while the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of Jehovah, even pestilence in the land, and the angel of Jehovah destroying throughout all the borders of Israel. Now therefore consider what answer I shall return to him that sent me. And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall, I pray, into the hand of Jehovah; for very great are his mercies: and let me not fall into the hand of man. So Jehovah sent a pestilence upon Israel; and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men. And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was about to destroy, Jehovah beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the destroying angel, It is enough; now stay thy hand. And the angel of Jehovah was standing by the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of Jehovah standing between earth and heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces. And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done very wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? let thy hand, I pray thee, O Jehovah my God, be against me, and against my father’s house; but not against thy people, that they should be plagued.

Then the angel of Jehovah commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and rear an altar unto Jehovah in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. And David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spake in the name of Jehovah. And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons that were with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat. And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshing-floor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground. Then David said to Ornan, Give me the place of this threshing-floor, that I may build thereon an altar unto Jehovah: for the full price shalt thou give it me, that the plague may be stayed from the people. And Ornan said unto David, Take it to thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen for burnt-offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meal-offering; I give it all. And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for Jehovah, nor offer a burnt-offering without cost. So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight. And David built there an altar unto Jehovah, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, and called upon Jehovah; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt-offering. And Jehovah commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof.

At that time, when David saw that Jehovah had answered him in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there. For the tabernacle of Jehovah, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt-offering, were at that time in the high place at Gibeon. But David could not go before it to inquire of God; for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of Jehovah.

Proverbs 1:29-31    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.

Numbers 20:12     And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”

Joshua 24:15   And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

We read of Moses, David, and Aaron who lost sight of following God for a brief moment and were disciplined by God for their unbelief and pride which led them to dishonor God.  It is important for us to understand when God says I want your whole heart, mind, and soul, He wants them all of the time.  He wants our first thought in the morning when we wake and the last thought before we sleep and everything in-between to be God-honoring humble submission, God-seeking, God-glorifying, God praising, God following, God trusting, and God Obeying.  When we lose sight for just a fraction of our day we are swept away with thoughts and actions that do not honor God.  When we do these things of this world will rob us of service to God and our ability to reflect the light of Jesus Christ to a dark and lost world.

God disciplines His children in love and mercy.  We see where He withheld from Aaron and Moses, put to death people under David’s kingdom, and others He let them eat of the fruit of their way and be filled with their own devices.  This I would think would be the worst discipline from God – to be let go and allowed to continue in sinful ways.

Bright sparkling things of this world will distract us if we are not able to recognize they are of this world and not God-honoring.  They will disguise themselves in what seems appropriate and allowable but they are not.  The only way we can know of these worldly illusions and deceptions is to have the word of God in our heart, mind, and soul with an intentional choice to have it there every moment of every day.

196. “All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do.”

2 Kings 23:1  Then the king sent, and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem were gathered to him. And the king went up to the house of the Lord, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the prophets, all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord. And the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant.

Exodus 24:3     Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do.”

Joshua 24:24     And the people said to Joshua, “The LORD our God we will serve, and his voice we will obey.”

Deuteronomy 10:12    “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,

Deuteronomy 8:19    And if you forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish.

After some 70+ years, the word of God is read to all the people.  This would mean an entire generation had never heard it read.  They may have heard some speak about it but never read.  The laws, the covenant, the warnings, the power and might of God, and expectations/promises were read out loud.  King Josiah called all of the people together to hear it and upon hearing it Josiah made a public covenant before the Lord and all the people to walk after the Lord and to keep His commandments, testimonies, and statutes with all his heart and soul.

When our heart opens up to God’s word our mind and soul are moved to action.  When our heart is open, our eyes will no longer be blind to see and our ears will no longer be deaf to hear the Holy Spirit of God speaking, leading, guiding, encouraging, strengthening, empowering, and the love of God towards those who come to Him with their whole heart, mind, and soul.

81. That he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart,

Judges 2:20  Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and said, “Because this nation has violated the covenant I ordained for their ancestors and has not listened to me, I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their ancestors did.”

Exodus 24:3-8     Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do.”

Deuteronomy 29:10-13    “You are standing today, all of you, before the LORD your God: the heads of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, all the men of Israel,  your little ones, your wives, and the sojourner who is in your camp, from the one who chops your wood to the one who draws your water,  so that you may enter into the sworn covenant of the LORD your God, which the LORD your God is making with you today,  that he may establish you today as his people, and that he may be your God, as he promised you, and as he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

Deuteronomy 8:2    And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.

What is it that would test your heart, mind, and soul for God?  What is it that you keep or allow time in your heart that is not in line with honoring God?  How is a person to know if what is in their heart is pure and not just head nod words without commitment, fruit, action?  Serving God, living for Jesus, and being filled with the Holy Spirit comes from a heart and soul that has been opened to the word of God and has intentionally chosen a life of obedience and reliance.   Staying in His word each day gives our heart and mind foundational reinforcement (everlasting food) and confidence in Jesus today with hope for tomorrow.  When our heart, mind, and soul are not nourished with the word of God what is it that fills that void?  Could it be job recognition, coveted lifestyle and all that goes with it, more money, more stuff, busyness, sports, work, family, friends, and anything else that can occupy time alone with God’s word (commitment), being attentive to what it is saying to your heart (seeking/listening), and being willing to humbly act in line with His word (obedience).  Time away from His word allows our heart, mind, and soul to be filled with that which does not honor and glorify God.

Refused to obey Him and thrust Him aside

Exodus 17:1   All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Psalms 95:8     do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,

Hebrews 3:8-9     do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness,  where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years.

Exodus 34:9    And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”

Deuteronomy 31:17    Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’

Acts 7:37-39    This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’  This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. He received living oracles to give to us.  Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt,

“Is the Lord among us or not?” “Our fathers refused to obey Him, but thrust Him aside, and in their hearts, they turned to Egypt.”  The grumbling and doubting seem to be a pattern.  I don’t think it is any different now than it was back then.  Desiring, seeking, relying on, clinging to, and trusting in God is rejected at the heart, mind, and soul level.  We are not immune to this type of thinking, however, we can take these thoughts captive and cast them out as soon as they pop into our head.  We can choose not to thrust Him aside.  We can choose not to live like He does not exist.

How are we to do this?  We need to keep God’s word in our heart and mind.  We need to intentionally change our ways according to His word and how the Holy Spirit leads us.  We need to change our way of thinking about self first and desire to do whatever it is He has planned for us.  We need to change from the way we live for self and change to living for God, seeking Him, wanting to honor and obey Him.

Commit to reading His word each day.  Listen to what His word says to your heart and mind.  Talk to God often. Walk in faith, trusting Him and His precious promises.

Let him return to the LORD

Hosea 6:1     “Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.

James 5:11-16     Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.  But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.  Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.  Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.  And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.  Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

Hosea 14:1     Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.

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.

Isaiah 2:3     and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

Lamentations 3:40-41     Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the LORD!  Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven:

Job 5:18     For he wounds, but he binds up; he shatters, but his hands heal.

Psalms 30:7    By your favor, O LORD, you made my mountain stand strong; you hid your face; I was dismayed.

Lamentations 3:32-33    but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love;

There is always two sides to scripture.  One side is where we think we are and the other where we actually are.  Where we think we are is influenced by what feeds our understanding and knowledge of what it means to walk with God.  We may spend little time with God’s word, little time thinking about it, little time trying to understand it and applying it to our life, so little comes into our heart that it is as though we are blind to it and it has no impact in our life, so little is read that the whispers of God fall on deaf ears,  so little comes in that the worldly things we read and hear over shadow the wisdom found in His word.

It is sad isn’t it?  We have been given His word and it gets neglected and pushed to the back of our list of things to do rather than being food and water for our heart, mind, and soul.  We find we are too busy to find time.  Aren’t we the managers of our time?  Aren’t we the ones who allow what gets to occupy our time?

Of course we are.  We choose to be intentional about growing in what it means to humbly, serve, honor, worship, glorify, follow, and obey God.  We choose to make sure He has our heart, mind, and soul.  We choose to seek Him and His plans and purposes for our life.  We choose to hear Him speak into our life.  We choose to desire His searching of our heart, mind and soul.  We choose to place all of our trust in Him and His promises.  How can we trust in God when we spend so little time with Him?  How can we grown in service to Him if we neglect time with Him?  How can we run to Him when we push Him away day after day?

Run to Him

Return to Him

Lift up your hearts to Him

Confess your sins to Him

Be taught by Him

Pray to Him

Examine your ways in light of His word

Sing praise to Him

Examine your thoughts in light of His word

Remain steadfast to Him

But they understood none of these things

Exodus 4:1 Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’” The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

Acts 7:25  He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand.

Psalms 106:7  Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.

Luke 9:45  But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it.

Luke 18:34  But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.

Psalms 78:42  They did not remember his power or the day when he redeemed them from the foe,

Mar 4:11 And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables,  so that “‘they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.’”  And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?  The sower sows the word.  And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them.  And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy.  And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.  And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word,  but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.  But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

“They will not believe or listen to my voice”.  This is what Moses said to God when God told him to go speak to the elders. Note in Acts where Paul explained what happened to Moses – the people did not understand.

What keeps people from understanding, listening, remembering, perceiving, or grasping things of God?

Could it be a hardened heart? Weak heart? Lukewarm heart? Proud heart? Worldly heart? Greedy heart? Self-seeking heart?  Fearful heart?  Faithless heart? Yes these can all happen but why?

Being complacent and living in prosperity, not thinking about needing God.  It is a sad place to be, to think you do not need God everyday for every moment. It gets worse from here.  When we see little need for God there is no time spent in His word, no time in prayer, no time seeking to serve Him, no time to worship Him, no time to honor Him.

How do we think we will see any of His mighty works, or loving kindness, or grace, or mercy, or forgiveness, or power, or strength, or peace, or courage, or healing….. if neglecting God is the norm for our daily life.

The same neglect will void any understanding of His word and knowing how to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey.

The same neglect leaves us defenseless from the darts of satan in our lives.

“And though they said all is well, destruction came upon them unaware”

If his word is not breath, food and water for your soul there is little hope for honoring Him.  If humbly serving, following and obeying Him is not your first goal in life there is little hope for honoring Him.  If honoring Him is not the first thought in the morning and last thought at night, how will it ever happen. If His word is not feeding your heart, mind, and soul how will their be fruit.

My strength comes from the Lord.

My hope is in the Lord

My life is in the Lord’s hands

My peace, joy, and love comes from the Lord

My soul rejoices in His promises

My ears seek to hear His leading

My eyes desire to see His mighty hand

My heart loves the Lord

I am the Alpha and the Omega

Exodus 3:13  Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel:  ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me,

Exodus 6:3     I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.

Job 11:7     “Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?

Psalms 90:2    Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

Isaiah 44:6     Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.

2 Corinthians 1:20     For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.

Revelation 1:8    “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Revelation 4:8    And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

Aren’t you amazed at the response “I am who I am”?  When someone asks you who you are, you might say John Smith, brother of Bill and Tom, Son of Brad and born in the city of X, county of X, country of X in the year of XXXX.   You might continue on and say you are married to Martha and work for IBM as a VP of technology.  You might say to volunteer at such and such organization(s).

God however has no beginning or end.  He has no father, mother, brother, sister, and is complete in Himself.  He is not bound by time.  He is outside of all that is created.  He is all knowledge, wisdom and understanding.  He is all love, righteous, and justice.  He can do more than we ask and much more than we can imagine.  He is all powerful, mighty, and Holy.

And though we see Him partially, like though a fog, we will see Him fully in eternity.  We will understand His holiness, love, majesty, power, wisdom, and the fullness of “I am”

We serve a living God without limit.

They forgot Me

Deuteronomy 31:20  For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise me and break my covenant.  And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as a witness (for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their offspring). For I know what they are inclined to do even today, before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give.”  So Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the people of Israel.  And the LORD commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the people of Israel into the land that I swore to give them. I will be with you.”  When Moses had finished writing the words of this law in a book to the very end,  Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD,  “Take this Book of the Law and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against you.  For I know how rebellious and stubborn you are. Behold, even today while I am yet alive with you, you have been rebellious against the LORD.  How much more after my death!   Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears and call heaven and earth to witness against them.  For I know that after my death you will surely act corruptly and turn aside from the way that I have commanded you. And in the days to come evil will befall you, because you will do what is evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger through the work of your hands.”

Hosea 13:6     but when they had grazed, they became full, they were filled, and their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot me.

Our life this side of eternity has many trials, temptations, troubles, blessings, joyous moments, and precious peace.

Hope, faith, and trust in God during times of trials, temptations, and troubles yields blessings, joyous moments, and precious peace.  No one wants trials, temptations, or troubles in their life.  It is in these times that we grow in our understanding and knowledge of the awesome love and power of God.  Yet it is deep within our sinful nature to forget God, the need for God, how worthy He is of honor, glory, and praise, and soon become complacent, neglectful, and deaf to hear His whispers of guiding, purpose, love, joy, rest, peace, courage, grace, and mercy, when “they became full, they were filled, and their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot me” .  Humble service to Him leaves our thoughts.   Seeing His creation and praising His awesome power and might is gone.

God gave us instruction on how to fight this sinful nature of complacency and neglect.   “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates,“

Even the valiant man

“Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distres”

Psalms 107:23  Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters;  they saw the deeds of the LORD, his wondrous works in the deep. For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea.  They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their evil plight; they reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at their wits’ end.  Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.  He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.  Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven.  Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!  Let them extol him in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders. 

 Psalms 95:5     The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. 

 Psalms 104:24-27     O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.  Here is the sea, great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable, living things both small and great.  There go the ships, and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it.  These all look to you, to give them their food in due season. 

 Job 38:8-11     “Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb, when I made clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band,  and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors,  and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?

 Psalms 135:7     He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth, who makes lightnings for the rain and brings forth the wind from his storehouses.

 Jonah 1:4     But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.

 Matthew 8:24     And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep.

 2 Samuel 17:10     Then even the valiant man, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will utterly melt with fear 

 Nahum 2:10    Desolate! Desolation and ruin! Hearts melt and knees tremble; anguish is in all loins; all faces grow pale! 

 Romans 1:20-21     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.

 Acts 27:23-25     For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship,  and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’  So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.

 Jonah 1:16    Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD

How many times do we need to read of God’s awesome power, divine nature, wisdom, and His control of His creation before we believe it, run to Him, trust in Him and cling to Him.  Do we need to have our world shaken to the point where we are utterly helpless and fearful of our lives before we run to Him?  It is good to spend time in His word, learn of Him, be taught of Him, be led by Him, and rest and trust in His every loving arms.  Let your day be filled with hope, joy, peace, rest and love as you yield more and more to Him.