Tag: hardened their heart

32.n. “The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers”

 

Matthew 11:25  At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children;

 Isaiah 5:21    Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!

 2 Corinthians 4:3-6     And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.  In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

 Isaiah 29:10-14    For the LORD has poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes (the prophets), and covered your heads (the seers).  And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.”  And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read.”  And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,  therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”

 Romans 11:8-10    as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.”

 John 12:38-40     so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”  Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,  “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.”

“You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes:” This reminds us that if we do respond to Jesus, it is because the Father has revealed these things to babes like us. God revealed Jesus to us and Jesus revealed God to us. This revealing has been rejected by most and believed by those who, by this revelation, were awakened in their heart, mind, and soul to the Holiness of God, the need for repentance and forgiveness, and the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.

“I thank you Father” ought to be our immediate response to any revelation and awaking and understanding of Scripture as we read through God’s Word.  It is God who opens our hearts and mind to understanding. As God’s Word says; “line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little there a little”, is how, from the foundation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we grow and continually mature. 

Just before you read God’s Word ask Him to keep distractions and temptations away and to,

  1. Reveal to your heart and mind more and more about His grace, mercy, and love. 
  2. Allow you to see areas in your life that do not bring honor and glory to Jesus Christ
  3. Give you wisdom and understanding to His Word
  4. Allow you to discern right vs wrong, truths false, and Godly vs worldly
  5. Allow you to see opportunities to share and show the Love of Jesus Christ in you

How long will you Limp

“And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.”

“how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,”

John 10:24  So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me,  but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

Acts 2:22     “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—

2 Corinthians 4:3     And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.  In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

John 12:37     Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him,  so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”  Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,  “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.”

In the scriptures today we see those who have set their heart and mind not to believe no matter what, those who go between whatever is popular at the time, and those who believe and are fully committed.  Do you wonder what keeps people grouped like this?  What is it that blinds the non-believers to Christ? What is it that keeps the wafflers from committing to fully?  What is it that keeps the believers committed?  Are the non-believers that way because of pride and condition of a hardened heart/closed mind?  Are the wafflers that way because they want to have what seems like the best of both worlds or are they afraid of what others might think?  Are the believers that way because God opened their heart and mind and drew them to Himself?  Hardened hearts and minds, waffling are always possible even to those who believe.  If we are complacent and neglect His word and lose desire to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey we can harden and we can waffle.  Paul said we should guard ourselves.  We need to take every thought captive.  We cannot prevent the first thought that comes to mind but we can certainly get a proper thought put into place.  Paul said to put on the full amour of God.  There is so much more to being a follower than salvation.  It would seem like this – we want a warm bed to sleep in but want nothing to do with the household or maintaining the house.  Our walk to to be so much more than believing and salvation.  We are to reflect the light of Christ, proclaim the good news, be able to give reason for why we believe, able to encourage, able to disciple, able to correct,  and have a daily walk that is filled with joy, peace, hope, kindness, gentleness, and love.  Spend time in His word and grow in knowledge and understanding of Him.  Hear His whispers of guidance and humbly obey Him.