Tag: enduring forever

53.j. Wilderness – 17.p. “Yhere is no rock like our God”

 

 

Deu 32:31  For their rock is not as our Rock; our enemies are by themselves.

 Numbers 23:8   How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced?

 1 Samuel 2:2    “There is none holy like the LORD: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.

  Jeremiah 40:3   The LORD has brought it about, and has done as he said. Because you sinned against the LORD and did not obey his voice, this thing has come upon you.

 Daniel 2:47   The king answered and said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries

 Daniel 3:29    Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.”

 Daniel 6:26-27    I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end.  He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.”

Firm foundation: the solid eternity of the rock on which we can build. Refuge: ‘refuge from the storm’; ‘my rock and my fortress and my high tower.’ 

Every man’s experience shows him that there is no such refuge anywhere else. We do not assert that every man consciously comes to that conclusion. All we say is that he would do so if he rightly pondered the facts. The history of every life is a history of disappointment. Take these particulars just stated and ask yourselves: What does experience say as to the possibility of our possessing such blessings apart from God? There is no need for us to exaggerate, for the naked reality is sad enough. If God is not our best Good, we have no solid good. Every other ‘rock’ crumbles into sand. 

Every man’s own nature tells him that God is his true Rock.

 Again I say that here I do not appeal to the surface of our consciousness, nor to men who have sophisticated themselves, nor to people who have sinned themselves, into hardness, but to the voice of the inner man which speaks in the depths of each man’s being. There is the cry of Want: the manifest want of the soul for God. There is the voice of Reason. There is the voice of Conscience.

Yet many of us will not take God for our Rock.

Surely it is a most extraordinary thing that men should be ‘judges,’ being convinced in their deepest consciousness that God is the only Foundation and Refuge, and yet that the conviction should have absolutely no influence on their conduct. (MacLaren)

God is certainly ever-present and a rock and refuge for those who are His children. Disobedient, complacent, neglectful, unappreciative, deaf, blind, self-reliant, self-worthy, lovers of self, proud, greedy, jealous, etc… as we may be, He has reached out to us and sent His Son to redeem us for His own purpose, pleasure, and plans. How are we to act in light of His blessings? How are we to think and speak? How are we to honor God the creator of all there is? By continually renewing our minds through His word and intentionally desiring to live to honor and glorify Him.

29. Unintentional and unknown sin

Numbers 15:22  “But if you sin unintentionally, and do not observe all these commandments that the LORD has spoken to Moses,

Leviticus 4:2    “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If anyone sins unintentionally in any of the LORD’s commandments about things not to be done, and does any one of them,

Leviticus 4:13-14    “If the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they do any one of the things that by the LORD’s commandments ought not to be done, and they realize their guilt,  when the sin which they have committed becomes known,

Leviticus 4:22    “When a leader sins, doing unintentionally any one of all the things that by the commandments of the LORD his God ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt,

Leviticus 5:15    “If anyone commits a breach of faith and sins unintentionally in any of the holy things of the LORD,

17  “If anyone sins, doing any of the things that by the LORD’s commandments ought not to be done, though he did not know it, then realizes his guilt, he shall bear his iniquity.

Psalms 19:7  The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;  the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;  the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.  More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.  Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.  Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.  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.  Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

Job 6:24    “Teach me, and I will be silent; make me understand how I have gone astray.

Psalms 40:12    For evils have encompassed me beyond number; my iniquities have overtaken me, and I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head; my heart fails me.

One of the hardest diseases of the soul to detect is unknown, unintentional sin.  This disease eats away from the inside out.  It seems never to be seen by the one infected.  We easily see it in those we spend time with and on occasion those we first meet.  We can see it in how they act, in what they say and think, and in what they do or do not do.  This disease affects everyone.  It routinely consumes more and more of the life of the person as they become more and more neglectful and complacent with God’s word.

Being blind to the disease does not keep us from being accountable.  Imagine being on a trip to a different state or country and while in the course of your trip you get arrested for some act.  It takes you by surprise and you tell the officer you did not know of the law which you broke.  They are not going to say, “oh, that makes a big difference, you can go”.  The judge is not going to say, “Well, because you did not know of the law you broke, you are not guilty.”

The fact remains you are guilty and must bear the consequences of your action.  In the letter from Paul in Romans it states it like this; “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” In Matthew, the outcome is; “Depart from me for I never knew you.”

Being neglectful and complacent in His word allows more and more diseases to invade our heart and soul.  These diseases destroy the fruits of the Spirit and render the infected worthless in serving, honoring, glorifying, worshiping, following, and obeying God.

Stay in His word and come to God with a heart and soul deep open prayer like David. “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

2017 “Year of His Word”

“How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you.”

Psalms 19:7  The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

Romans 12:2   Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

James 1:21-25 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.  But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.  For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.  But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

Colossians 3:16  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

2 Timothy 3:15-17  and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.  All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Isaiah 3:10-11  Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.  Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.

2 John 1:8  Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds. Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.

Revelation 14:13   And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”

All of these verses tell us the importance of God’s word, it dwelling in us, and following what it speaks to our heart.   Do you ever wonder why it isn’t permeating every aspect of our thoughts and actions? There is a direct correlation to time spent in His word and it having an effect in our lives.  How can we encourage others with words of hope, peace, joy, rest and His perfect love if His word is not written on our heart?  We are told to train up ourselves in the way we should go, but what is used for this training needs to be deeper than a sermon once per week or things partially remembered from years gone by.  Do not let 2017 be a year of neglect in His word.  Commit to discipline yourself to reading it each day asking God to use it to speak to your heart and use you for His purpose.