Tag: good things

25. We must not put Christ to the test

Numbers 14:20   Then the Lord said, “I have pardoned, according to your word. But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it.

Malachi 3:15    And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.’”

Matthew 4:7    Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

1 Corinthians 10:9     We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents,

Hebrews 3:17-18    And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?  And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient?

Deuteronomy 1:31-35    and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.’  Yet in spite of this word you did not believe the LORD your God,  who went before you in the way to seek you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night and in the cloud by day, to show you by what way you should go.  “And the LORD heard your words and was angered, and he swore,  ‘Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers,

I saw a quote yesterday that said: “You may think you can live fine without Christ, but you can not afford to die without Him.”  Tozer had some thoughts on how we become what we love at the expense of following God.  “We are all becoming something.  We have moved from what we were to what we are, and are now moving to what we will be.  Our character is not solid but fluid and always moving toward what we are becoming.  The perturbing thought is not that we are becoming, but what we are becoming; not that we are moving but what we are moving toward.  We are never moving horizontal, we are either moving ascending or descending.  We are either moving toward the worse or the better.  Not only are we all in the process of becoming, but we are also becoming what we love, the sum of this love changes, molds, shapes, and transforms us. This Love is prophetic of our future.  It tells us what we shall be and predicts accurately our eternal destiny.”

God’s promises mean very little if they are not believed.  God’s word will never be active in our life if it is not loved.  God’s warnings of complacency and neglect will not lead to repentance if the heart and soul are walking in a different direction away from God and headlong into the way of the world.

Be mindful of your path and direction of your love.

Faith Praise

“giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,”

Psalms 113:1  Praise the LORD! Praise, O servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD!  Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and forevermore!  From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the LORD is to be praised!  The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens!  Who is like the LORD our God, who is seated on high,  who looks far down on the heavens and the earth? He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap,  to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people.  He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the LORD!

Psalms 103:20-21   Bless the LORD, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word!

Psalms 134:1    Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD, who stand by night in the house of the LORD!

Psalms 135:1-3     Praise the LORD! Praise the name of the LORD, give praise, O servants of the LORD,  who stand in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God!  Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; sing to his name, for it is pleasant!

Psalms 145:10    All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD, and all your saints shall bless you!

Revelation 19:5     And from the throne came a voice saying, “Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great.”

Exodus 15:11     “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?

Isaiah 40:25     To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One.

Jeremiah 10:6    There is none like you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is great in might.

Luke 1:52-53     he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate;  he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.

James 2:5    Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?

Being mindful of what God has done, is doing, and will do ought to bring praise to our lips and faith to our heart, mind and soul.  God is in control and His plans and purposes for each of our lives.  He gives us free will (choice) to humbly serve, listen intently to whispers of His leading, faithfully follow and obey and to be used by Him.  Praise grows within our heart and mind as we yield more and more to Him.  It is easy to praise Him in good times.  In tougher times, when our heart is broken, relationships are stressed, and consequences of our sinful nature overbear us, praise seems to be buried deep and far way from our lips.  Many times David has stated in the Psalms how his heart was broken, situations were over bearing, and his friends had abandoned him.  In these Psalms he cried out with these burdens and yet finished with – Praise to God for who He is, for His love, for His power, for His might, for His salvation, and for His promises.  This is where overbearing burdens of this life turn into “Faith Praise”.  This is where the heart, soul and mind, in faith, fully trust, yield, and place whatever the situation is into God’s hand.  There is no other place to find peace for our soul than fully in His care.

Eternal consequences

Psalms 112:10  The wicked man sees it and is angry; he gnashes his teeth and melts away; the desire of the wicked will perish!

Isaiah 65:13-14     Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, my servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry; behold, my servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty; behold, my servants shall rejoice, but you shall be put to shame;  behold, my servants shall sing for gladness of heart, but you shall cry out for pain of heart and shall wail for breaking of spirit.

Luke 13:28     In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out.

Psalms 37:12    The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him,

Matthew 22:13     Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Revelation 16:10-11    The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish  and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds.

Proverbs 10:28    The hope of the righteous brings joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish.

Proverbs 11:7     When the wicked dies, his hope will perish, and the expectation of wealth perishes too.

Luke 16:24-26     And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’  But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.  And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’

Revelation 20:11  Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.  And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.  And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.  Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.  And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

I have heard it said “we don’t get out of this world alive”.  That is true.  What doesn’t get talked about much is the fact that there is consequences for our actions, choices, thoughts, intents.  These are eternal consequences with two totally different outcomes.

Joh 3:16  📝  “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.”

Choosing to reject the gift of eternal life through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ is choosing to be unforgiven and your soul found wanting on the day of judgement.  There is no second chance once breath has ceased in this life.  All that is waiting for the person who rejects Christ, is eternal punishment.   We come to Christ for salvation, redemption, joy, peace, strength, hope, refuge, and love, by and through faith (believing, trusting in, relying on, and clinging to) Him alone.

You will seek me and find me

Psalms 107:4  Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to a city to dwell in;  hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them.  Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.  He led them by a straight way till they reached a city to dwell in.  Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.

 Deuteronomy 8:15    who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock,

 Deuteronomy 32:10     “He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.

 Ezekiel 34:12     As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.

 Numbers 14:33    And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness.

 Judges 15:18-19     And he was very thirsty, and he called upon the LORD and said, “You have granted this great salvation by the hand of your servant, and shall I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”  And God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi, and water came out from it. And when he drank, his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore the name of it was called En-hakkore; it is at Lehi to this day.

 Lamentations 2:19     “Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the night watches! Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord! Lift your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint for hunger at the head of every street.”

 2 Corinthians 12:8-10    Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.  But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

 Jeremiah 29:12-14     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.  I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

 2 Corinthians 1:8-10    For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.  Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.  He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.

There is no changing in God.  He remains the same, creator, mighty, awesome in power, steadfast love, grace, mercy, and long-suffering toward His creation, mankind.  Life would tell us there is little that changes for mankind as our nature would experience – pleasure, pain, purpose, satisfaction, toil, trouble, sickness, death, life, joy, anger, pride, humbleness, laughter, bitterness, praise, judgmental, forgiving, and crying.   We try to find much of our way in this life apart from God.  Apart from trusting in, relying on, clinging to, and giving thanks to Him.  Even when we think we are walking each day with Him, we limit what we think He can do.  Scripture has been given to us so that we might know Him more, understand Him more, love Him more, rely on Him more, trust in Him more, run to Him faster, listen to His quiet whispers of guidance more, seek Him more, and believe in Him more.  He never changes.  He is the same today and forever.  Spend time in His word. Seek Him and you will find Him.  Sometimes we need someone to just encourage us to run to Him.  It seems so obvious but many times it is the last thing we do.

Followed Me fully

Psalms 90:16  Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!

Psalms 44:1    O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old:

Numbers 14:22     none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice,  shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it.  But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.

Habakkuk 3:2     O LORD, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O LORD, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.

Joshua 4:22     then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’  For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over,  so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever.”

Joshua 23:14     “And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed.

Psalms 68:28     Summon your power, O God, the power, O God, by which you have worked for us.

Psalms 27:4     One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.

Psalms 110:3     Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours.

Psalms 118:25     Save us, we pray, O LORD! O LORD, we pray, give us success!

Job 22:28    You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you, and light will shine on your ways.

Proverbs 16:3    Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.

1 Corinthians 3:7     So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

Isaiah 26:12     O LORD, you will ordain peace for us, for you have indeed done for us all our works.

2 Thessalonians 2:16     Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace,  comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.

2 Thessalonians 3:1    Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you,
But only God who gives growth.  We wonder why some or all of what we do seems purposeless and without life meaning and satisfaction.  It is time to learn from Him and seek him like given in this scripture “One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,”  Everyday the choice we get to make concerning serving Him is given to us.  We get this choice and should we make the right choice we find peace, hope, love, power, courage, strength, comfort, joy and life with fulfilling purpose.  If we make the choice to follow self and the world we void all of this.  We may find these in short term bursts but they do not last and they certainly do not fulfill.  Do you want to see growth in what your purpose is this side of eternity?  Seek and desire God.  Choose to honor, serve, follow and obey Him.  How can we lose sight of what Jesus Christ freely did to redeem us from a path to eternal hell?  He allowed Himself to be beaten, whipped, nailed to the cross, mocked, spit upon and stabbed with a spear.  He could have stopped any of this happening at just a single word.  He chose to redeem.  He chose to call to Himself a people who come to Him with desire to humbly serve Him.  What manner of people ought we to be in light of the great sacrifice paid?  How should we live?  Seek and desire Jesus Christ in and through your life.  Be kind, generous, loving, giving, humble, hopeful, joyful, and never forgetting the redeeming price that was paid for your salvation.  Follow Him fully.