Tag: Heavens

5.w. But you are the same, and your years have no end.

Revelation 1:4  John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come,

Exodus 3:14    God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

Psalms 90:2    Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

Psalms 102:25-27     Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.  They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,  but you are the same, and your years have no end.

Isaiah 41:4     Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he.

Hebrews 1:10-13     And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands;  they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment,  like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.”  And to which of the angels has he ever said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?

Hebrews 13:8    Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

James 1:17     Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

We all change in some way or another.  We make up our minds and then learn something new and we change it.  We have a great love for someone and then something happens and we change how we feel about them.  We have friends who come into our lives and then for some reason or another, our connection to them changes.  We make decisions and say we will stand firm on them and change our stance.  We design a home or some other project only to find that we would make changes because of what something we missed.  The fact of the matter is that we change and there is variation in what we think and do.  Our stance changes, our firmness changes, our commitments change, and our love changes.  Do we ever wonder if God is like this?  Do we even have a concept of a never-changing God, who was, is, and is to come.  The “I AM”.  The same yesterday, today, and forever? The One who there is no variation. The first and the last.

We do well to remember our unchanging God and walk worthy of who He is.  Our God is never changing.  Always loving with outstretched arms.  Always offering grace, mercy, and Love.  Always wanting us to open the door to our heart to Him.  All things are in and of Him alone.

5.j. In him we live and move and have our being’

 

Job 12:7  “But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you: or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.

Jeremiah 8:7     Even the stork in the heavens knows her times, and the turtledove, swallow, and crane keep the time of their coming, but my people know not the rules of the LORD.  Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’  You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

1 Samuel 2:7    The LORD makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts.

Jeremiah 27:5-6    “It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me.

Romans 11:36    For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Acts 17:28   for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’

God is in control of all things at all times.  We would do well to plant this firmly in our mind and water it frequently with our heart seeking to honor Jesus Christ.  I like how Job says to his friends; “who among these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?” He said this to say to his friends that he knows this is at the hand of God.  His point is that God, creator of all there is and the one who is in control of all things can do as He plans and purposes. He is the creator!  It is through Jesus Christ that we live, move, and have our being.  We and all of creation.  Yet, we seem to go days on end without giving thought to the Creator or giving thanks to the Creator or honoring the Creator, or clinging to, relying on, and trusting in the Creator.  Why is this?  Why is it we live day after day, and week after week with shallow commitments to Him?  Are we too busy?  Are we occupied by other things more important than the Creator?  Is He not worthy of all of our time?  Can we go about our day and have him first on our minds?  Jesus Christ is our living water and bread of life.  He is the one who will fill the void we have from shallow complacent commitment.  Jesus Christ is so much more than worthy of our honor, glory, worship, and praise.  It is time to start living each moment of every day intentionally for Him.

4.x. O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.

Job 5:27  Behold, this we have searched out; it is true. Hear, and know it for your good.”

Job 8:8-10    “For inquire, please, of bygone ages, and consider what the fathers have searched out.

Psalms 111:2    Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them.

Proverbs 2:3-5    yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding,  if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures,  then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.

Psalms 104:24    O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.

Jeremiah 32:17-19    ‘Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.  You show steadfast love to thousands, but you repay the guilt of fathers to their children after them, O great and mighty God, whose name is the LORD of hosts,  great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of man, rewarding each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds.

Psalms 111:7  The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy;

This song seems to search out things of God in a way that should move our heart, mind, and soul to humbly bow with raised hands and worship, honor, and glorify Him.

God of creation, There at the start, Before the beginning of time, With no point of reference, You spoke to the dark, And fleshed out the wonder of light

And as You speak A hundred billion galaxies are born In the vapor of Your breath the planets form.  If the stars were made to worship so will I

I can see Your heart in everything You’ve made, Every burning star, A signal fire of grace, If creation sings Your praises so will I. God of Your promise, You don’t speak in vain, No syllable empty or void, For once You have spoken, All nature and science Follow the sound of Your voice.

And as You speak A hundred billion creatures catch Your breath. Evolving in pursuit of what You said. If it all reveals Your nature so will I.

I can see Your heart in everything You say, Every painted sky. A canvas of Your grace. If creation still obeys You so will I. So will I.  So will I.

If the stars were made to worship so will I. If the mountains bow in reverence so will I. If the oceans roar Your greatness so will I. For if everything exists to lift You high so will I. If the wind goes where You send it so will I. If the rocks cry out in silence so will I. If the sum of all our praises still falls shy, Then we’ll sing again a hundred billion times.

God of salvation You chased down my heart Through all of my failure and pride. On a hill You created The light of the world Abandoned in darkness to die.

And as You speak A hundred billion failures disappear. Where You lost Your life so I could find it here. If You left the grave behind You so will I. I can see Your heart in everything You’ve done. Every part designed in a work of art called love. If You gladly chose surrender so will I.

I can see Your heart Eight billion different ways. Every precious one A child You died to save. If You gave Your life to love them so will I. Like You would again a hundred billion times. But what measure could amount to Your desire. You’re the One who never leaves the one behind

2.w. But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done?

2 Chronicles 25:14  After Amaziah came from striking down the Edomites, he brought the gods of the men of Seir and set them up as his gods and worshiped them, making offerings to them. Therefore the Lord was angry with Amaziah and sent to him a prophet, who said to him, “Why have you sought the gods of a people who did not deliver their own people from your hand?” But as he was speaking, the king said to him, “Have we made you a royal counselor? Stop! Why should you be struck down?” So the prophet stopped, but said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.”

2 Chronicles 16:9     For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. You have done foolishly in this, for from now on you will have wars.”

2 Chronicles 19:2    But Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD? Because of this, wrath has gone out against you from the LORD.

Judges 2:2    and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done?

Psalms 96:5    For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens.

Jeremiah 2:5    Thus says the LORD: “What wrong did your fathers find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthlessness, and became worthless?

We can read these verses and say to ourself that clearly, we would not have done as these people did, where they abandoned God and did things and followed after things that were foolish and apart from God.  We don’t have to look very far into our thoughts and actions to know we too have the same tendencies, foolish ideas, lack of understanding, lack of wholehearted commitment.  We get pulled and pushed aside by the tidal waves of self-interest, self-satisfaction, and self-serving busyness into the ocean of neglect and complacent service to God.   

What changed in these people’s heart and mind that they so easily were drawn away?  Have you ever cleaned and organized your garage and made a commitment to keep it that way, only to have the same type of mess 4-6 months later?  You wonder how did it go from organized to mess?  It is not as though you didn’t know what cleaned and organized looked like. It is not as though you intended it to happen or planned to have it happen.  You did not set a commitment in your heart to make it happen, but yet it did. So what happened?

The commitment faded. The desire changed. The ability to see the change was lost.  Something else replaced that commitment.  It is not that we intentionally chose to make the garage a mess again but rather we chose not to keep it in order.  The same is true for humbly serving, honoring, following, trusting, and obeying God.  It is not that we intentionally chose to keep our heart from Him but rather we chose to give our heart and mind to ourself.  Keeping God first closes the door to self.  Being mindful of the internal tidal wave of “Self” wants, desires, plans, and thoughts is a good place to start to keep the garage of our heart, mind, and soul clean.  Being mindful of this requires us then to take appropriate measures to ensure they stay clean.  For the example; you could commit to truly looking at your garage every night before calling it a day.  You could commit to not allow yourself to go back inside until it was put back in order.  You could commit to never leave your garage when something was out of place.  You could take a picture of what organized looked like and then compare each area of organization against that picture to ensure you were not allowing yourself to drift.

You see the same is true with our commitment to humbly serving, honoring, following, trusting, and obeying Jesus Christ.  We don’t choose to make our lives a mess.  We choose not to keep them in line with God’s word.  Herein lies the problem.  This intentional choice to “Not” is going to yield every bit as bad results as if we have intentionally chosen to make our lives a mess.  The commitment must be firm.  Paul said “Stand Firm”. He also said to “take every thought captive.” And, to “put on the full armor of God”.

The picture we can compare our heart, mind, and soul garage too is the word of God.  If we commit to comparing every thought, word, and action against this then we will have eyes and ears sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit.  Do not allow drift in your life because you have been neglectful and complacent.  We have brothers and sisters in Christ that can help us see drift in our lives when we have no longer found time to spend in His word.  Each of us should commit to helping others in this struggle with self and point them always to the worthiness of Jesus Christ and the word of God.

1.u. Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the LORD!  

2 Chronicles 7:11  Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king’s house. All that Solomon had planned to do in the house of the Lord and in his own house he successfully accomplished. Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. 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. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. And as for you, if you will walk before me as David your father walked, doing according to all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and my rules, then I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, You shall not lack a man to rule Israel.’

“But if you turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will pluck you up from my land that I have given you, and this house that I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And at this house, which was exalted, everyone passing by will be astonished and say, Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore he has brought all this disaster on them.’”

Leviticus 26:40-41    “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,  so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity,

Ezekiel 33:11     Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live;

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.

Lamentations 3:40-41    Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the LORD!  Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven:

Isaiah 45:19    I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I the LORD speak the truth; I declare what is right.

After Solomon completed the temple and offered prayer and dedication of it to God, they sacrificed offerings to the Lord for 7 days and the people went back to their homes joyful and glad of heart because of their prosperity. Can you remember times of overwhelming joy and gladness?  Can you remember the times of when you were so aware of God’s provision and you were moved to a sincere deep thankfulness?

In times of prosperity don’t we tend to lose sight of God and walk more closely with the world?  The weird thing about this is that we come to a time and place in our life when we surrender to God because of circumstances/troubles/ trials and our faith is turned fully to God and our belief and only hope is placed into His hands.  We wait expectantly and then by the grace and mercy of God we see His deliverance, either through giving us strength and courage to get through it or by a work of His hand blessing us.  We come out the other side closer to God, joyful, thankful, and gladness filling our heart.   But…… Then…..

It seems we are enticed away from the very presence of God that brought this joy, thankfulness, and gladness.  In our blessing and prosperity, our eyes turn toward the worldly and shinny things, everything but God. Do we think His presence is no longer needed?  Do we think we can last, walking life paths without Him?  Do we think we can stand against the attacks, temptations, and deceptions of Satan and our sinful nature?  Do we think God is not worthy of all of our heart, mind, and soul, all of the time?

If we give thought to these questions we certainly will arrive at the answer “NO”.  The problem is we don’t think about these questions.  We allow ourselves to skip a day where He is not our first thought, praise, hope, and strength.  This day so easily turns into weeks, months, years, and then we find ourselves lost and not knowing how to find our way back into His presence.  “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”

1.r. What is the Glory of God?

2 Chronicles 5:13  and it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord), and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the Lord, “For he is good,

for his steadfast love endures forever,” the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.

Exodus 40:35  And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

Isaiah 6:1-4    In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.  Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.  And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

Ezekiel 10:4  And the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub to the threshold of the house, and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the LORD.

Revelation 15:8    and the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power,

Psalms 19:1   The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.  Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.  There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.  Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.  Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

How do you define “The Glory of God”?

Thesaurus – praise, worship, adoration, veneration, honor, reverence, exaltation, homage, thanksgiving, thanks.

Dictionary – high renown or honor won by notable achievements, magnificence or great beauty, wonder, beauty, delight, marvel, phenomenon; sight, spectacle

John Piper – Defining the glory of God is impossible, I say because it is more like the word beauty than the word basketball. So if somebody says they have never heard of a basketball, they don’t know what a basketball is and they say: Define a basketball. That would not be hard for you to do.

You can’t do that with the word beauty. There are some words in our vocabulary which we can communicate with not because we can say them, but because we see them. We can point. If we point at enough things and see enough things together and say, “That’s it, that’s it, that’s it,” we might be able to have a common sense of beauty. But you try to put the word beauty into words, it would be very, very difficult

The same thing with the word glory. So how shall I do it? You have got to try because we can’t just leave it for people to fill up on their own. So here is the way I am going to try to do it. I am going to take it and contrast it biblically with the word holy and ask, “What is the difference between the holiness of God and the glory of God.” In doing that, I think we get a little handle on the nature of this term, the glory of God. So that is the way I am going to try to do it.

The holiness of God is, I think, his being in a class by himself in his perfection and greatness and worth. His perfection and his greatness and his worth are of such a distinct and separate category—we have been taught that holy means separate—that he is in a class by himself. He has infinite perfections, infinite greatness, and infinite worth.

His holiness is what he is as God that nobody else is. It is his quality of perfection that can’t be improved upon, that can’t be imitated, that is incomparable, that determines all that he is and is determined by nothing from outside him. It signifies his infinite worth, his intrinsic, infinite worth, his intrinsic, infinite value.

Now when Isaiah 6:3 says that angels are crying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty” — the next thing they say is this — “The whole earth is full of his” — and you might have expected him to say holiness. And he doesn’t say holiness. He says glory.

Intrinsically holy, intrinsically holy, and the whole earth is full of his glory from which I stab at a definition by saying the glory of God is the manifest beauty of His holiness. It is the going public of his holiness. It is the way he puts his holiness on display for people to apprehend. So the glory of God is the holiness of God made manifest.

Paul Trip – For any human being to think that they could capture the glory of God in a single artistic statement is delusional at best and vain at worst. To squeeze what is infinite into what is finite is vastly more impossible than trying to cram the entire body of the fully-developed elephant into a thimble. No matter how gifted you are or how hard you try, it just won’t happen!

No single drawing, painting, photograph, or verbal description could ever capture glory. Glory isn’t so much a thing as it is a description of a thing. Glory isn’t a part of God; it’s all that God is. Every aspect of who God is and every part of what God does is glorious. But even that’s not enough of a description.

People are glory-oriented creatures. Animals are not. People are attracted to glorious things, whether it’s an exciting drama or sports game, an enthralling piece of music or the best meal ever. Animals live by instinct and exist to survive. We live with a glory hardwiring and chase bigger and better things.

God built this glory orientation into us; it’s not sinful or against God’s will to be attracted to glorious things. Because of this glory orientation, our lives will always be shaped by the pursuit of some kind of glory. You and I will always be chasing something to satisfy the glory hunger that God designed for us to live with.

God intentionally placed us in a world jam-packed with glory. From trees to flowers to mountains; from mashed potatoes to steak to lemonade; from thunderstorms to sunsets to snowfalls – all of these things were designed by God to tingle our glory sensors. But, it’s important to understand that every created glory is meant by God to function as a spiritual GPS that points us to the only glory that will ever satisfy our hearts, the glory of God.

Imagine taking a family vacation to Disney World, and 30 miles out, you spot a sign on the side of the road with the logo and name of the resort. It would be silly to stop at the sign and have your family vacation on the side of the road! So it is with the glory of God in creation – it’s only a sign, directing you to the source. Don’t stop at the sign.

If there exists within each of us a hunger for glory, then one could argue that everything we think, desire, say and do is done out of a quest for glory. We all want what is glorious in our lives – whether that’s the fleeting glorious pleasure of a meal, the glory of recognition by peers or supervisors, or participating in the glorious work of the Kingdom of God here on earth.

Where we chase after glory can vary, but one thing is for certain: this hunger for glory will never ever be satisfied by created things. Even if you could experience the most glorious situations, locations, relationships, experiences, achievements or possessions in this life, your heart still would not be satisfied. Creation has no capacity whatsoever to bring contentment to your heart. Only God can satiate our hunger, and in satiating our hunger, give peace and rest to our hearts.

1.o. You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth,

1 Chronicles 29:10  Therefore David blessed the Lord in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: “Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.

“But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding. O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own. I know, my God, that you test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you. O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you. Grant to Solomon my son a whole heart that he may keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, performing all, and that he may build the palace for which I have made provision.”

Deuteronomy 8:18    You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

1 Samuel 2:7-8    The LORD makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts.  He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, and on them he has set the world.

Ecclesiastes 5:19    Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God.

Luke 1:51-53   He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;  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.

This world we live in and our sinful nature has a naturally hard time in thinking that all there is and all we have and all of my talents are from God.  We can stand back and say all is of God, but when we look at all of what is in my possession – it is mine.  We can stand back and look at someone and say God gave them such great talent(s) but when we look at our talents/gifts we see the education, hard knocks, and work experience we put into those talents and tend to claim them as our own.

Why does this happen?  God is not first in our life.  God is not first in our heart, mind, and soul.  God is not our breath of life, our bread of life, or our living water. God is not our intentional choice.  God is not what our heart, mind, and soul are seeking and desiring.  I fully understand the way we run to God in troubles and trials that hit us hard.  We run to Him when the wind has been knocked out of us and our feeble attempts at resolution have failed.  We finally end up at the place in our heart and soul and mind where we pick last that which should have been first.  Turning to God should be our very first thought and action.

It seems knowing more and more about God, gaining understanding and knowledge of Him, and wanting to live for the single purpose of honoring, glorifying, serving, following, trusting, and obeying Him, are not first because the intentional choice to place Him first is not in our heart, mind, and soul.

We need to repent of and turn away from the selfish lifestyles, self-satisfied, self-worth, self-honoring, self-absorbed, self- leading, self-praising, self-promoting, and self-serving ways in our heart, soul, and mind.  Turn to His word.  Intentionally choose to be in it each and every day.  Learn to have a heart, mind, and soul that knows and lives as though all things are from and belong to God our heavenly Father and Creator.

55. I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart.

Deuteronomy 28:15   “But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field. Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.

“The Lord will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me. The Lord will make the pestilence stick to you until he has consumed you off the land that you are entering to take possession of it. The Lord will strike you with wasting disease and with fever, inflammation and fiery heat, and with drought and with blight and with mildew. They shall pursue you until you perish. And the heavens over your head shall be bronze, and the earth under you shall be iron. The Lord will make the rain of your land powder. From heaven dust shall come down on you until you are destroyed.

Leviticus 26:14-46     “But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments,  if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant,  then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.  I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down before your enemies. Those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when none pursues you.  And if in spite of this you will not listen to me, then I will discipline you again sevenfold for your sins,  and I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze.  And your strength shall be spent in vain, for your land shall not yield its increase, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit.  “Then if you walk contrary to me and will not listen to me, I will continue striking you, sevenfold for your sins.

Lamentations 2:17     The LORD has done what he purposed; he has carried out his word, which he commanded long ago; he has thrown down without pity

Daniel 9:11-13    All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him.  He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, by bringing upon us a great calamity. For under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem.

Malachi 2:2   If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the LORD of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart.

Romans 2:8-9     but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.  There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil,

I wonder if we take these curses as something that will happen to really wicked people and does not apply to those who are for the most part “Good”.  We tend to put people (others) into one box and we place ourselves in another.  Their box is the box of God’s wrath and anger and our box is the box of God’s mercy and grace.  My sin is under a blanket of love and theirs is under a thunderstorm of curses.

Complacency and neglect of God’s word lead to drifting away from Him, becoming lukewarm to Him, unable to know what is right and pure, blind to the ways of righteousness, deaf to God’s leading, and allows the way of the world to become a driving influence into your thoughts and actions.  The problem is you don’t even see it happening.  Like a frog in a pot that is slowing being heated up, it is boiled alive because it was unaware.

I think the worst place for a “believer” to be is in a place of neglect and complacency.  Busyness and cares of this life slowly carry them away from walking with God, listening to God, honoring God.  It is truly sad to see God’s word being taken for granted and not needed but for special troubling times.

God’s word says “Depart from Me for I never knew you” and “So, because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

There is no time like today to commit to being in His word and humbly serving, honoring, loving, following, and obeying God.  God’s word is life, hope, purpose, bread to the soul, water to the thirsty, music to the heart, air to the drowning, and understanding and knowledge to the soul.

48. Leading you to fall away from the living God.

Deuteronomy 11:1   “You shall therefore love the Lord your God and keep his charge, his statutes, his rules, and his commandments always. And consider today (since I am not speaking to your children who have not known or seen it), consider the discipline of the Lord your God, his greatness, his mighty hand and his outstretched arm, his signs and his deeds that he did in Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to all his land, and what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and to their chariots, how he made the water of the Red Sea flow over them as they pursued after you, and how the Lord has destroyed them to this day, and what he did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place, and what he did to Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, son of Reuben, how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households, their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the midst of all Israel. For your eyes have seen all the great work of the Lord that he did.

Deuteronomy 11:13  “And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil. And he will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full. Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the good land that the Lord is giving you.

Luke 21:8    And he said, “See that you are not led astray.

Luke 21:34    “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation (self-Indulgence) and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap.

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

Hebrews 3:12    Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.

Deuteronomy 8:19   And if you forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish.

I have been giving thought to what causes people to drift away from God.  What causes neglect to His word?  What leads to being complacent with reading it?  I could never quite get these ideas to form into something that makes sense.  I found these thoughts from Chris Russell.

One of Satan’s greatest weapons against our generation seems to be his ability to make good people busier than ever before. If you desire to walk closely with God, you will absolutely, necessarily have to begin by taking a close look at your calendar. It is likely that you are currently doing too much. And it is also likely that your overly hectic schedule is affecting your relationship with God. So take out your pruning shears and begin to cut out any activities you can that will allow you to focus more time on your relationship with your Creator.

Be careful not to set your heart on things that really don’t matter. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen good people lured away from church life because they have fallen in love with things or activities that have no eternal merit. For example, children’s sports can certainly be a thrilling activity for your kids to pursue.

When the trials of life cause a person to become discouraged, he often begins focusing on those problems and takes his eyes off of Christ. It reminds me of when Peter walked on the water. He did great until he took his eyes off of Jesus and began looking at the waves beneath him and the clouds above him. It is important for you to know that when life’s clouds grow dark and your trials become fierce, that is the time to run TO Jesus and not FROM Him.

We Americans are so fat with our own prosperity that we often make wealth our god and not the true King of heaven. This has also been a recurring theme throughout the entire Bible. People struggle, God blesses them, they become prosperous, and then they depart from God. Ironic, isn’t it? People of abundance often choose recreation over worship. Why go to church if you could be out golfing, boating, camping, or going to movies or sporting events? Satan wants us to be prosperous, because our prosperity and abundance often lure us away from our Creator.

Many people begin to drift away from God, because they have sins in their lives that cause them to feel guilt when they show up at church. And they feel reluctant to pray or read their Bible when they know they have these issues in their lives.

How have you done in your journey with God over the past year or the past few months? Have you drifted? Now is the time to return. Call out to God before you are so far from the shore than you lose all sense of spiritual direction.