Fasting – Praying Pint

30.h. “And the tempter came”

Matthew 4:2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

When the tempter (Satan) came and the circumstances that preceded the temptation of Jesus is something we should make a special note of. Jesus had just engaged in an act of obedience to His Father, He had been shown to be the Son of God, He was filled with the Holy Spirit, He was separated from crowds or people. Scripture does not tell us the happenings during these forty days when Jesus separated Himself, went into the wilderness, and fasted forty days and nights. It was at the end of the special time with God, He was tempted. This is very important. When we have determined and committed to serving God when we have separated ourselves from earthly passions when we seek and desire leading by the Holy Spirit when we have set our heart, mind, and soul on things above when we are intentionally choosing to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all we say, think, and do, it is in this deep-rooted and holy committed humble surrender that the tempter will come at us hard. We will be tempted with pride, lust, greed, anger, fear, power, self-reliance, self-worth, self-importance, etc……. Paul tells us that Satan is like a roaring lion seeking to destroy our communion, commitment, worship, and our witness to Jesus Christ. I fear that satan does not have to tempt far too many Christians today. They are already following after the lusts and passions of this world and need no tempting because they so easily give in to their sinful nature due to their complacent commitment to humbly surrendering, following, obeying, studying, trusting, and relying on and to Jesus Christ. This is so sad. It is sad and disappointing that far too many can’t even discern temptation from either self or satan.

We honor and glorify Jesus Christ when we are daily deeply grounded and rooted in His Word and are able to discern and fight against temptation.

30.g. ” But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”

Matthew 4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.

John 14:30   I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me,

Hebrews 2:18   For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Hebrews 4:15-16   For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.  Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Psalms 143:10   Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!

Isaiah 48:16-17    Draw near to me, hear this: from the beginning I have not spoken in secret, from the time it came to be I have been there.” And now the Lord GOD has sent me, and his Spirit.  Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go.

Galatians 5:16    But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

There is no way anyone can fulfill the lust of the flesh as they walk in the Spirit. The two simply don’t go together. The Holy Spirit doesn’t move in us to gratify our fallen desires and passions, but to teach us about Jesus and to guide us in the path of Jesus. This is the key to righteous living – walking in the Spirit, not trying to live with desires for the fleshly and Spirit. We try to do this, don’t we? We have certain areas of fleshly and worldly desires that we secretly tuck away into corners of our minds. We seek to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in what we deem appropriate and do not expose these secret passions, vises, addictions, pleasures, or wants and we can also hide, greed, hate, envy, fear, anger, or pride. We don’t allow the Holy Spirit’s quiet whispers to penetrate our minds in these areas. For some reason, we hang on to them but deny that we are. And then, there is Satan ready to tempt us with the very things we think we have control over. We may say that is just who I am or how I was raised or some other way to justify allowing them space in our lives. There is no middle ground where we can stand firm. There is no possible way to be open to being led by the Holy Spirit and try to keep areas of our lives unyielded to the very leading that will draw us closer to a life that honors and glorifies Jesus Christ in all we say think and do.

20.j. “You humbled yourself before the LORD”

Joel 2:12  “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.

2 Kings 22:19    because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the LORD, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the LORD.

Isaiah 66:2   All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.

Those of us who love God are also prone to wander away from God. A. W. Tozer used an analogy to explain why that is. He said, “Every farmer knows the hunger of the wilderness, that hunger which no modern farm machinery, no improved agricultural methods, can ever quite destroy. No matter how well prepared the soil, how well kept the fences, how carefully painted the buildings, let the owner neglect for a while his prized and valued acres and they will revert again to the wild and be swallowed by the jungle or the wasteland. The bias of nature is toward the wilderness, never toward the fruitful field.” The same can be said about our relationship with God. No matter how sincere our intentions, the bias of life causes us to wander away from God. We do not mean for it happen. But the very real concerns we have about our families, about our jobs, about our finances cause us to focus on the temporal instead of the eternal. Pretty soon, we find ourselves in a place we never thought we would be. And we wonder, “Is it ever possible to regain our relationship with God? Is it ever possible to restore that intimacy with a God who we have lost our passion for?” (Jeffress)

12.k. “Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.”

Habakkuk 3:2 Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.

Psalms 119:120 My flesh trembles for fear of you, and I am afraid of your judgments.

Jeremiah 36:1 In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD: “Take a scroll and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and Judah and all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until today. It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the disaster that I intend to do to them, so that every one may turn from his evil way, and that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.” Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD that he had spoken to him. And Jeremiah ordered Baruch, saying, “I am banned from going to the house of the LORD,so you are to go, and on a day of fasting in the hearing of all the people in the LORD’s house you shall read the words of the LORD from the scroll that you have written at my dictation. You shall read them also in the hearing of all the men of Judah who come out of their cities. It may be that their plea for mercy will come before the LORD, and that every one will turn from his evil way, for great is the anger and wrath that the LORD has pronounced against this people.” And Baruch the son of Neriah did all that Jeremiah the prophet ordered him about reading from the scroll the words of the LORD in the LORD’s house. In the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem proclaimed a fast before the LORD. Then, in the hearing of all the people, Baruch read the words of Jeremiah from the scroll, in the house of the LORD, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the secretary, which was in the upper court, at the entry of the New Gate of the LORD’s house. When Micaiah the son of Gemariah, son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the LORD from the scroll, he went down to the king’s house, into the secretary’s chamber, and all the officials were sitting there: Elishama the secretary, Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, Elnathan the son of Achbor, Gemariah the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the officials.And Micaiah told them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the scroll in the hearing of the people. Then all the officials sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, son of Shelemiah, son of Cushi, to say to Baruch, “Take in your hand the scroll that you read in the hearing of the people, and come.” So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and came to them. And they said to him, “Sit down and read it.” So Baruch read it to them. When they heard all the words, they turned one to another in fear. And they said to Baruch, “We must report all these words to the king.” Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us, please, how did you write all these words? Was it at his dictation?” Baruch answered them, “He dictated all these words to me, while I wrote them with ink on the scroll.” Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go and hide, you and Jeremiah, and let no one know where you are.” So they went into the court to the king, having put the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the secretary, and they reported all the words to the king. Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the secretary. And Jehudi read it to the king and all the officials who stood beside the king. It was the ninth month, and the king was sitting in the winter house, and there was a fire burning in the fire pot before him. As Jehudi read three or four columns, the king would cut them off with a knife and throw them into the fire in the fire pot, until the entire scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the fire pot. Yet neither the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words was afraid, nor did they tear their garments. Even when Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them.

And so it is with man. Intentional choices are made to acknowledge or defy God and His awesome wonders, powers, warnings, and promises. We can respond; “His word speaks to me and shows me His glory. His creation reveals His majesty. His grace, mercy, and love give me the reason for faith, hope, and steadfast obedience. His Son gives me redemption, forgiveness, and salvation. His Holy Spirit gives me strength. His promises give me hope, joy, and refuge.” Or, we can respond with pride, self-reliance, self-assurance, defiance, rejection, and no fear/respect for God and what His Holy Word proclaims. Every individual makes an intentional choice in regard to God. Some to eternal life and most to eternal damnation. Habakkuk and David and Jehoiakim, in the scriptures above, reveal their hearts and intentional choice. What choice are you making today?

9.h. “But they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the LORD.”

Joel 2:10 Return to the Lord “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God?

Deuteronomy 4:29-30     But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.  When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the LORD your God and obey his voice.

Jeremiah 4:1    “If you return, O Israel, declares the LORD, to me you should return. If you remove your detestable things from my presence, and do not waver,

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

2 Chronicles 7:13-14    When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people,  if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Zechariah 1:3-4    Therefore say to them, Thus declares the LORD of hosts: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts.  Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the LORD.

Acts 26:20     but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.

With all that is going on in the whole world today, is there any doubt that it is by the hand of God? Some may say it is just a fluke in nature and we should expect things like this to happen given the ease in which travel has become. Two views. One seeing God as the author and the other denying God is the author. The one who sees this as being at the hand of God will look inward to self and outward to culture and seek understanding, wisdom, repentance, and return to God more wholeheartedly. They know their security is in Him but more than that, they have an inner assurance that is soul deep. Belief in Jesus Christ will allow us to grab hold of the security as a means of facing trials but they lack the inner assurance that only comes when one comes out the other side of the trial. All trials should give us pause and push us to reflect on our lives. Are we keeping our focus on Jesus Christ, living for Him, seeking to follow, trust and obey Him? Not a single one of us can say there is not some area within our lives that we keep to ourselves and don’t give it over to Jesus Christ. Through trials, we can seek God’s leading and desire Him to show us what we have not yet surrendered to Him and His awesome power and control. We can return to Him more fully and find rest for our surrendered souls. It is in His hands we will find rest, assurance, hope, and purpose now and forever.

4.e. “Separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers”

Nehemiah 9:1 Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads. And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the Lord their God.

Leviticus 26:39-40    And those of you who are left shall rot away in your enemies’ lands because of their iniquity, and also because of the iniquities of their fathers they shall rot away like them.  “But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me,

Psalms 106:6-7    Both we and our fathers have sinned; we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness.  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.

Daniel 9:3-10     Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.  I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,  we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules.  We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.  To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you.  To us, O LORD, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you.  To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him  and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.

1 John 1:7-9    But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.  If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

When we come to God’s word with a desire to know Him and gain understanding and wisdom we will become aware of His Holiness and our sinfulness. We will see self-centered sin. We will see worldly sin. We will see how far we have departed from honoring and glorifying Jesus Christ. God’s word will become vital and active in our life. We will see the need for confession and change. We will no longer be blind to His handiwork or deaf to His leading. We will be changed and our lives will be changed because we will know the truth of our sinfulness and the steadfast grace, mercy, and love of Jesus Christ. It is in this truth that we confess and rely on forgiveness. It is in this truth we are being filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. It is in this truth we can come before God in confession and thanksgiving.

3.w. Let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant

Nehemiah 1:4 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’ They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” Now I was cupbearer to the king.

Leviticus 26:33     And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will unsheathe the sword after you, and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste.

Deuteronomy 4:27    And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you.

Deuteronomy 32:28     “For they are a nation void of counsel, and there is no understanding in them.

1 Kings 9:6-7    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.

Ezra was a priest. He was sent to Jerusalem by Nehemiah to start rebuilding the temple and leading the people in commitment to God. Nehemiah’s prayer. This was a very big ask by Nehemiah. He knew they had fallen away from God and this was the reason they were in exile. He also knew from God’s word that unfaithfulness is punished and returning to God is rewarded by the awesome power and steadfast love of God. He prayed confession, praise, and faith. He prayed believing in God’s word. He prayed for success in what seemed impossible.

When our heart is heavy and our burdens overwhelming we don’t have to wait and be overcome with doubt, fear, worry, and restlessness. we can take it straight to the feet our redeemer Jesus Christ. We can know and believe that He is able to do more than we ask and much more than we can imagine. Why do we not ask? Why do we not ask? Why do we wallow in our doubt? Could it be that we think we are not good enough or have not done enough? These thoughts of being and doing are lies from Satan. He wants you to believe that the only way to receive God’s grace and love is to be better, do better, live better and with this lie filling your heart deny the power that is through Jesus Christ who willingly died for the person we were. He did this for the lost sinner. He did this out of His love. He did this to show His love for us. While we were yet sinners He did this. In faith, we come to Him. In faith we can rely on Him. In faith, He is honored and glorified. In faith we are made right with Him, not by being good. We are made good through faith in Him alone and not by what we do.

Come to Him as you are, in faith, confessing, praising, and trusting in Him alone for the trials, worries, and burdens that are seemingly impossible to overcome.

3.u. I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God.

Ezra 9:1 After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations, from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this faithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost.” As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled. Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithlessness of the returned exiles, gathered around me while I sat appalled until the evening sacrifice. And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God, saying:

“O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens. From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt. And for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to utter shame, as it is today. But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant and to give us a secure hold within his holy place, that our God may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery. For we are slaves. Yet our God has not forsaken us in our slavery, but has extended to us his steadfast love before the kings of Persia, to grant us some reviving to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us protection in Judea and Jerusalem.

“And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments, which you commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land that you are entering, to take possession of it, is a land impure with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations that have filled it from end to end with their uncleanness. Therefore do not give your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters for your sons, and never seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever.’ And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, seeing that you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved and have given us such a remnant as this, shall we break your commandments again and intermarry with the peoples who practice these abominations? Would you not be angry with us until you consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape? O Lord, the God of Israel, you are just, for we are left a remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold, we are before you in our guilt, for none can stand before you because of this.”

These passages just punch you deep into your heart. Ezra sees what has happened to that which should have been a great new beginning and ended up in being a great embarrassment. Think about this from what Ezra knew. He saw the hand of God change the heart of the King of the nation that had subdued them and kept them prisoners for over 70 years. The Babylonians destroyed the temple in Jerusalem and made many salves. After 70 years God changed the heart of King Cyrus and he gave permission and support for the Israelites to go back to their home country and rebuild their temple. Ezra is told of a great departing from God by the people. They chose to ignore what God had said about keeping themselves separated from the influence of other nations and not to seek their peace or prosperity. They were faithless and the officials and chief men were the ones who had departed from God’s expectations.

We don’t have to look very deep into our culture to see the erosion and departure from living in a way to honor, glorify, worship, follow, trust, and obey God with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength. This lukewarm complacent act of obedience we call “being a Christian” is not what is expected of us. We so easily take paths that seem right but are not, because we are void of God’s word in our heart, soul, and mind. These paths promise us satisfaction, peace, prosperity, and purpose but in the end, always leave us still wanting and void of purpose and meaning for our life. There is no replacement for God’s word, though many try to fill in their lives with worldly lies of completeness.

It is one thing to follow blindly after worldly things and another to choose to neglect God’s word. We will be held accountable for our life on this side of eternity. We get to choose what fills our heart, mind, and soul. We get to choose how we live and in this choice, we either serve self or follow, trust and obey God. Make an intentional choice and commitment today.

Even now return to Me

“ Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the LORD”

“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;”

Zechariah 1:1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, saying, “The LORD was very angry with your fathers. Therefore say to them, Thus declares the LORD of hosts: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the LORD.

Ezra 9:6 saying: “O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens. From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt. And for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to utter shame, as it is today.

Nehemiah 9:26 “Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against you and cast your law behind their back and killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you, and they committed great blasphemies.

2 Chronicles 36:13 He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD, the God of Israel. All the officers of the priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations. And they polluted the house of the LORD that he had made holy in Jerusalem. The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD rose against his people, until there was no remedy.

James 4:8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

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.

It is a slippery slope away from God when your heart is not seeking to honor and glorify Him. Many hearts have hardened and call foolish that what God has revealed to man about himself, sin, redemption, and eternity. With great boasting they defy God, His existence, and His purpose for mankind. In this boasting many are pulled away and lack encouragement to hold the course. Our lives should be filled with words and actions that honor God, encourage others, and shine light into the darkest corners of the hearts of those lost and without hope.

Draw near to God

“When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.”

“ Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.”

“ What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”

Psalms 69:10 When I wept and humbled my soul with fasting, it became my reproach. When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them. I am the talk of those who sit in the gate, and the drunkards make songs about me. But as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.

Psalms 55:16 But I call to God, and the LORD will save me. Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice.

Matthew 26:38 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”

Daniel 3:15 Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

Isaiah 26:3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever

Isaiah 12:2 “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”

Acts 20:24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

These scriptures capture the heart of man who trusts in God. Note these specifically: “At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me” – “If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden” – “nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” – ” your will be done.” Waiting for and trusting in God fully gives us courage and confidence for whatever is before us. Having a heart desire to be close and walk close to God has an effect on what we think say and do. He gave us scriptures to teach us, lead us, build us up, give us hope, reminding us of His promises, power, might and love. Desire to be near Him and from this foundation all else finds stability and we can face whatever comes our way today.