Food for living

“And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!”

“And he answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?”

“And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them?”

“And he said, ‘I will hide my face from them; I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.”

John 13:36  Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.”

John 14:4   And you know the way to where I am going.”  Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

John 16:17     So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?”

John 20:25     So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”  Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”  Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

Hebrews 5:11     About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.  For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food,

Having a store house of food and starving to death doesn’t make much sense.   All a person would have to do is go to the store house and eat to live.  How long can the body go without food?  Having the food in our possession does us no good if we do not use it for sustaining our life.  We can tell ourselves that we are fine not eating but slowly we are dying.  God’s word is food for our soul that gives us hope, faith, love, purpose, strength, courage, and peace.  God has given us this store house of spiritual food to know Him, to grow in this understanding, and to have a light to our path this side of eternity.  Read His word, meditate on it, and obey His leading for your life.

Connecting the Dots

“But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.”

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

“So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Malachi 2:13  And this second thing you do. You cover the LORD’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the LORD was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. “For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the LORD, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the LORD of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”

2 Corinthians 6:18  and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”

Deuteronomy 7:4     for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly.

Jeremiah 2:21   Yet I planted you a choice vine, wholly of pure seed. How then have you turned degenerate and become a wild vine?

1 Corinthians 7:14    For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.

Ephesians 6:4   Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Proverbs 4:23   Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Malachi was speaking to men about connecting the dots between their lack of not being blessed and their actions.  You come weeping and groaning to God and ask why are you not blessing us.  It is because your offerings are not acceptable because actions in your life are not acceptable.  In this scripture it speaks of men who divorces his wife for no other reason than to follow the lust of his flesh for someone new.  The connection between our thoughts and actions and God’s blessings should be understood.  If we choose to neglect His word and if we choose to desire more the things of this world than to serve Him we soon are on a path quickly away from Him.  This path leads us in a direction to where God’s blessings do not flow. Keep your heart desire pure for God and His word and the application of it in your life.  Our purpose this side of eternity is to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey God. Blessings of peace, comfort, joy, love, grace, mercy, healing, strength, power and patience come to those who keep their heart with vigilance for Him alone.

For Whom we exist

“ yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.”

“ one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

““Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.”

Malachi 2:10  Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers?

Isaiah 63:16   For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O LORD, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name.

Matthew 3:9    And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.

Luke 3:8    Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.

John 8:39     They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did,

Job 31:15     Did not he who made me in the womb make him? And did not one fashion us in the womb?

Psalms 100:3    Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Acts 17:25   nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.

It is good to be reminded and know life, breath, and everything is from God and we are His!  He made us and we are His people.  He has redeemed us.  We exist for Him through Jesus Christ.  Because of this we are to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey.  This will have different meaning to each of us.  Yet I have to wonder if we truly believe that He has given us everything and we exist for Him alone.  Our culture lends itself to leading us down paths without God.  We trust in forgiveness but walk in sin with no thought of whom we exist to serve.  We rely on our conscious to direct us but feed it very little with His word.  We shut our ears to His leading and expect Him to bless, protect, guide, love, and answer our weak prayers.  The thing is we are no different than those of which history speaks.  We, like them, get easily distracted by things of this world, lusts of our flesh, and covet what we see with our eyes.  These paths of the world should not be those we walk.  Our path is the path for whom we exist.  To know this path, to walk this path, and to stay on this path we need to continually grow our desire to know and serve Him.  Stay in His word each day – serve, follow and obey His leading.

The Great Contrast

“For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,”

“ For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the LORD.”

“His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression; under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.”

“The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

“ But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

“Therefore wait for me,” declares the LORD, “for the day when I rise up to seize the prey. For my decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them my indignation, all my burning anger; for in the fire of my jealousy all the earth shall be consumed.”

Psalms 52:1  Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The steadfast love of God endures all the day.  Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit.  You love evil more than good, and lying more than speaking what is right.  You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue.   But God will break you down forever; he will snatch and tear you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living.  The righteous shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him, saying,   “See the man who would not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his riches and sought refuge in his own destruction!”  But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever. I will thank you forever, because you have done it. I will wait for your name, for it is good, in the presence of the godly.

Psalms 103:17    But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children,

Psalms 107:1  Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!

Proverbs 18:10   The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.

Psalms 130:5  I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;  my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.

Lamentations 3:25  The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.  It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

Psalms 27:14     Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!

James 5:7   Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.

The contrast of those who deny God and only seek self satisfaction and those who patiently wait for the Lord is very evident in scripture.  Those who take for themselves, who oppress the weak, who are greedy for more, who are sexually immoral, who lie, cheat, and rob, and who hardens their heart against God have no peace or place of rest for their soul.  I imagine, at times, we look at those who live like this with disgust.  That is so wrong for us to do.  We too were like this but for the grace of God our heart was opened to His grace, mercy, and love.  Think about how long suffering God is.  If we, who believe and have a glimpse of His holiness, look at the wicked with disgust think about God and in His Holiness withholds His wrath and anger, offering grace and mercy.  The contrast is seen in the book of John;  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”  God’s anger and wrath are Holy and are reserved for those who neglect this offer of salvation.  In this time of reservation there is hope for the lost just as it was for us who once was lost but now are found safe and secure in His grace, mercy and love.    To humbly serve, honor, follow and obey God is to be an example and light to all those who are lost.  God is long suffering not wanting any to perish and we too need to have our heart and mind filled with compassion for the lost.  

Blameless walk

“he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints.”

“He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; “

 

Psalms 15:1
O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill?  He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart;  who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend;  in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the LORD; who swears to his own hurt and does not change;  who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.

Proverbs 2:7-8
he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints.

Proverbs 28:18
Whoever walks in integrity will be delivered, but he who is crooked in his ways will suddenly fall.

Isaiah 33:15
He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking on evil,

1 John 2:6
whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

Revelation 21:8
But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

Psalms 34:12-13
What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit

.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.

Revelation 22:14-15
Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.

How would you define what God expects from our life walk with Him?  Now then, how does your life mirror that definition?  If we stay in His word we will find that our definition is continuing to evolve.  Remember “precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little, there a little” this is how we will grow.  Time spent in His word will always lead us to a better understanding of Him which in turns opens our heart and mind to how we should live.  The more we read, study,  understand, and apply the more we will see room for us to grow in our love, praise, worship, hope, peace, joy……

 

Faithless and Twisted Generation

There are many times I read scripture like this and wonder what Jesus would say about our generation and culture.  If anything we are more faithless and twisted.  If we just look to the discoveries in science and see the complexity of the human body – this should point us, in awe, toward God.  Yet, rather than acknowledging God and His omnipotence we entertain the idea of a big bang creating all there is.  Even if we allow ourselves to go down this path how can we logically say that something came from or started from nothing.  Science should point us toward God in awe and wonder.  In Romans it says: 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.  Start today with open eyes to see the handiwork of God.

Matthew 17:17
And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?

Philippians 2:14
Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life

John 20:27
Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed

Deuteronomy 32:5
they are no longer his children because they are blemished;
they are a crooked and twisted generation.
Do you thus repay the Lord,
you foolish and senseless people?
Is not he your father, who created you,
who made you and established you