Tag: Fire

Who can Endure

“How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?”

Malachi 3:2  But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.

Zechariah 13:9    And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’”

Malachi 3:5  “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts.

Matthew 3:7  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 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.  Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Amos 5:18  Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! Why would you have the day of the LORD? It is darkness, and not light,  as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him.  Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?

We need to be very conscious of our commitment to God.  Note the words of prophets who declared the coming of the Lord.  When the Lord returns He comes with judgment.  Everyone will face Him for what they have done in their life and for the commitment, desire, and purpose they have lived it.  I wonder if we claim the love, mercy and grace of God but do not give thought to what it means to live in knowledge of this.  If we have basic understanding of His holiness and our sinfulness we see this love, mercy and grace from God with thankfulness and a desire to live our life worthy of humbly serving, honoring, following and obeying Him.  Any other response or demonstration from our life is lacking in service to God.  Keep God first and subject all in life to understanding what it means to fully live for Him.

Sinking

Psalms 69:1   Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck.  I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me.   I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God.  O God, you know my folly; the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you. Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me, O Lord GOD of hosts; let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me, O God of Israel. For it is for your sake that I have borne reproach, that dishonor has covered my face.

Lamentations 3:54     water closed over my head; I said, ‘I am lost.’

Psalms 69:14  Deliver me from sinking in the mire; let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters.  Let not the flood sweep over me, or the deep swallow me up, or the pit close its mouth over me.

Jonah 2:3  For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me.  Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’ The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God. When my life was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.

Isaiah 43:2   When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.

Can you hear the cry in David’s words.  The anguish and heart ache.  Yet in this notice his want to continually honor God.  “Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me, O Lord GOD of hosts; let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me,”  Through the trails he faced he did not want others to bare shame or dishonor because of him.  David trusted God with his whole heart, mind and soul.  It would have been easier to think only about himself.   On this side of eternity we will face many things beyond our control and at the consequence of others actions.  We will also face things as a consequence of our own actions.  Coming to God, crying out to Him, is our hope, our refuge, our fortress, our power and strength to face what is before us.  We stand on His promises and we wait for His perfect purpose and timing.  Commit to spending time in His word for the purpose of knowing Him and how to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey Him.

Far From Me

“He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD.”

“And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.“

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

Psalms 45:7  you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;

Psalms 101:3  I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me.  A perverse heart shall be far from me; I will know nothing of evil.

Psalms 101:8     Morning by morning I will destroy all the wicked in the land, cutting off all the evildoers from the city of the LORD.

Revelation 21:27    But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life

Proverbs 23:31  Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly.  In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder.  Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart utter perverse things.

Jeremiah 22:17    But you have eyes and heart only for your dishonest gain, for shedding innocent blood, and for practicing oppression and violence.”

Hosea 7:6  For with hearts like an oven they approach their intrigue; all night their anger smolders; in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.

Micah 2:2   They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them away; they oppress a man and his house, a man and his inheritance.

James 1:13  Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.  But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.  Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

Romans 12:9    Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.

Psalms 97:10   O you who love the LORD, hate evil! He preserves the lives of his saints; he delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

It is our choice what we focus our eyes and heart upon.  For sure there is plenty in this world that so easily takes our focus and attention away from humbly serving, obeying, honoring and glorifying God. Why are we so easily distracted?  What can we do to lessen or remove these distractions?  Knowing and understanding God’s word and His purpose for our lives will change our focus, wants, and desires.  Staying in his word will result in changing our heart.  Day after day we are refreshed by it.  Morning by morning it is made new and revives our soul.  The warnings are clear for those who hang on to this world and what it has to offer, and as well to those who want to stand on the fence of this world and the one to come.  These people will encounter death, destruction, and will have no part in heaven.  Their lives will forever be in hell.  Choose to keep your eyes, heart, mind, and soul focused on God, through His word each day.  Commit to humbly serving, obeying, honoring, and glorifying Him.

Guard My Mouth

“May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts, those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are with us; who is master over us?”

Psalms 39:1   I said, “I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle, so long as the wicked are in my presence.”

Psalms 119:9  How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.

1 Kings 2:4   that the LORD may establish his word that he spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’

2 Kings 10:31   But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel to sin.

Proverbs 4:26  Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure.  Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.

Hebrews 2:1   Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

Proverbs 21:23  Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.

Psalms 73:8  They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression.  They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth.

Psalms 141:3   Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!

James 1:26   If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.

James 3:2  For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.  If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well.  Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.  So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!  And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.  For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind,  but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

I am not sure about you but many of these verses speak to my heart.  Read them again and again.  May God’s quiet voice speak to our heart and mind keeping us from speaking that which does not honor or glorify Him at all times.

Garden or Desolate wasteland

“And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.”

Joe 2:3
Fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but behind them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them.

Psalms 50:3
Our God comes; he does not keep silence; before him is a devouring fire, around him a mighty tempest.

Amos 7:4
This is what the Lord GOD showed me: behold, the Lord GOD was calling for a judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land.

Genesis 2:8
And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.

Isaiah 51:3
For the LORD comforts Zion; he comforts all her waste places and makes her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song.

Gen 1:31
And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Gen 2:8
And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.
And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers.

God created man and planted the garden of Eden. It was pleasant to the sight and good for food.  In fact God saw everything He had made and behold it was very good.  However we see in Joel that the land before them was like the garden of Eden and behind them desolate wilderness.  It seems to me that our lives are somewhat like this.  If our eyes, heart, mind and soul are desiring to humbly serve , honor, and obey Him and continuing to look to God for our strength and guidance we have blessings and hope of a place created for us in eternity.  Alternatively if our eyes, heart, mind and soul are focused on what seems right in our own eyes and not focused on God the only thing that is ahead of us is desolation, waste, and judgement. Knowing this, why would we neglect our calling to serve and obey Him?  I wonder how much of what we approve of is ok’d by our culture and is detestable in the eyes of God.  My wife and I were talking last night about a popular face book personality who has many followers and looked upon for their understanding, knowledge and application of scripture into everyday application.  This person had changed their view on essentials and was condoning something that is not right according to scripture.  It confirms to me that society/culture has influence on even the best of us.  We need to be absolutely sure our actions and stances are based on what God’s word speaks into our heart.  For every stance of obedience there will be multiple corresponding views.  We are going to be held accountable for our walk in this life before God.  The excuse “I thought what so and so said was true and I followed it” or “everyone else was doing it” or “it was ok by law” will not be an excuse before God.  We have at our finger tips more access to scripture than anytime in history yet we choose to neglect this blessing from God.  We will be held accountable for this neglect.  Today choose to find purpose, meaning, hope, joy, love, peace, etc… each day through reading His word with the single purpose of knowing Him and how to honor and glorify Him more and more.

Blind, Naked, and Poor

“Ah, but I am rich;
I have found wealth for myself;
in all my labors they cannot find in me iniquity or sin.”

Hosea 12:8
Ephraim has said, “Ah, but I am rich;
I have found wealth for myself;
in all my labors they cannot find in me iniquity or sin.”

Deuteronomy 29:19
Beware lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit, one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.’ This will lead to the sweeping away of moist and dry alike. The Lord will not be willing to forgive him, but rather the anger of the Lord and his jealousy will smoke against that man,

Zachariah 11:5
‘Blessed be the Lord, I have become rich,’ and their own shepherds have no pity on them. For I will no longer have pity on the inhabitants of this land, declares the Lord.

Revelation 3:17
For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.

How do people get to the point where they determine they need nothing?  “Prosperity!” How do they get to the point where they no longer see need to humbly serve God? “Serving self!”  How are they encouraged out of it?  “The word of God!” What is the counsel of the Lord and how does it come into our everyday lives? “The word of God.”  In Hebrews it says “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” We live like there is no God or that if we believe He exists it is only for our benefit of eternity and a place to run to in times of trials and troubles.  How can we understand His grace, mercy, love, blessings, punishment, and discipline not to mention how are we to be a light that shines in a dark and lost world, or how we are to lead our families, or how we are to be an encouragement to others, or how we are to make disciples, or how we should live to be humble servants, or how can we grow in faith, love, kindness, mercy, grace, gentleness, generosity, godliness, or why we should praise Him….. The answer is simple – choose to stay in His word.  Choose to humbly serve Him.  Choose to honor and glorify Him.  Choose to listen to His leading.  Choose to desire Him.  Choose to obey Him.  Choose to have our eyes opened to see as He would have us see and understand.  Choose to have our ears opened to hear what he would have us hear.  The word of God is alive and active – choose to live and walk in it.

Keep Him First

“Why did you bring trouble on us? The Lord brings trouble on you today.”

Joshua 7:24
And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan  the son of Zerah, and the silver and the cloak and the bar of gold, and his sons and daughters and his oxen and donkeys and sheep and his tent and all that he had. And they brought them up to the Valley of Achor. And Joshua said, “Why did you bring trouble on us? The Lord brings trouble on you today.” And all Israel stoned him with stones. They burned them with fire and stoned them with stones.

Numbers 16:27
And Moses said, “Hereby you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, and that it has not been of my own accord. If these men die as all men die, or if they are visited by the fate of all mankind, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the Lord.”
And as soon as he had finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split apart. And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods. So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol, and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.

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. Therefore you gave them into the hand of their enemies

Numerous times the sins of the fathers affect their families and children.  Achan coveted material goods and all he had was destroyed.  Imagine the last thoughts he had as he watched his family being stoned and burned.  When we covet our wants and desires over God there are not only affects on us but on our family as well.  Dads, moms – take a look at your heart, mind, and soul – what time is spent on your personal desires and what time is spent on growing desires of and for God? How much time is spent searching for that next thing to satisfy our wants?  Trust me when I say this is so easy to fall into.  We are saturated with our culture telling us we work hard and that our time away from work is ours to do pleasing us.  This seems correct when we think about all that is said concerning work life balance.  I do know from past experience that nothing of this world will give lasting satisfaction it is all temporary.  The only thing that will give us lasting peace, joy, hope, love, and purpose is to seek first the kingdom of God, desiring to know Him – hear Him – obey Him more and more each day.  Our purpose this side of eternity is to live to honor and glorify Him alone.  Keep Him first!!!