Tag: honey

30.a. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

 

 

Matthew 3:1  In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’” Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

 Matthew 4:17   From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

 Matthew 11:20    Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent.

 Matthew 12:41  The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

 Matthew 21:31-32    Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.  For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.

We can’t come to the kingdom of heaven unless we leave our sin – turn away from it – believe in Jesus Christ and have faith, trust, and reliance in His sacrifice on the cross for our sin.  We are born with a basic understanding of God. Rom 1:19  For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

We have free will to choose to repent, believe, surrender, serve, follow, and obey Jesus Christ. Every single person is born into sin. We have a sinful nature. Try as hard as we might we will never be able to cleanse ourselves of this sin stain.  We can try to be good and do right, but all of our efforts apart from Jesus Christ fall short and do nothing to make us right before God.  The Judgment for sin is eternal torment in Hell. Without repentance from sin and faith in and obedience to Jesus Christ our destination is eternal hell. 

The light of the Gospel is life to the lost.  It gives them hope and faith in eternal heaven. Those, who’s have seen and securely taken hold of the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (believed in, trusted, rely on, cling to and repent). I am at a loss for words that can explain how the conversion, new birth, takes place upon repenting and believing in Jesus Christ.  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. We are born again and the eyes to our hearts and minds are opened and we see right and wrong, good and bad, love and hate, peace and fear, mercy and anger ……. We see it through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Heaven and Hell await the free will choice that each and every person makes this side of eternity. 

12.w. “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts.”

Psalms 19:7  The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;  the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;  the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.  Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.  Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.  Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

Proverbs 8:10-11    Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold,  for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.

Job 28:12  “But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?  Man does not know its worth, and it is not found in the land of the living. The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’ and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’  It cannot be bought for gold, and silver cannot be weighed as its price.  It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire.  Gold and glass cannot equal it, nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.

Proverbs 3:13-15    Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding,  for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold.  She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her.

Proverbs 16:16     How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.

Jeremiah 15:16  Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts.

If God’s Word was removed from you would you miss it? Would your soul feel hunger pangs? Whenever you sit down and open your Bible, you’re feasting on something that is “more… desired… than gold… sweeter… than honey”, When people lose their appetites, we worry about them. As Christians, we should have a hearty appetite for God’s Word and for the kind of righteous living it produces. Hungering for spiritual food is a good indication of our walk with God.  We lose our appetite for God’s Word there is a health decline in our hearts, minds, and souls.  Our understanding of the spiritual things of God is lost.  Our knowledge of His great and precious promises is lost. Our ability to see spiritual battles and lies of Satan is lost.  Our ability to honor, worship, glorify, follow, obey, trust, and rely on God is lost.  If you have no hunger and appetite for God’s Word there is a good chance you are nearsighted, blind, and have forgotten the great price that was paid through grace, mercy, and love for you.  Your walk will have the appearance of godliness and your words will have the sound of godliness but in your spirit, you are dying or dead.  God’s word is not to be taken lightly.  How are you to claim promises you never know? How are you to fight spiritual battles you never see? How are you to recognize sin in your life?  How are you going to be able to walk by faith?  How are you going to encourage, build-up, and strengthen yourself, your family, your church, and the lost?  Without an appetite for God’s Word, you are becoming nothing more than walking dead.

Peter said: “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of a reminder since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.”

12.f. “He cannot save himself by his treasure and his prosperity will not endure.”

Habakkuk 2:6  “Will not all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn, saying, “‘Woe to him who piles up stolen goods and makes himself wealthy by extortion! How long must this go on?’ Will not your creditors suddenly arise? Will they not wake up and make you tremble? Then you will become their prey. Because you have plundered many nations, the peoples who are left will plunder you. For you have shed human blood; you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.

Job 20:15-23  He will spit out the riches he swallowed; God will make his stomach vomit them up. He will suck the poison of serpents; the fangs of an adder will kill him. He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream. What he toiled for he must give back uneaten; he will not enjoy the profit from his trading. For he has oppressed the poor and left them destitute; he has seized houses he did not build. “Surely he will have no respite from his craving; he cannot save himself by his treasure. Nothing is left for him to devour; his prosperity will not endure. In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him; the full force of misery will come upon him. When he has filled his belly, God will vent his burning anger against him and rain down his blows on him.

God addressed the greedy man, and told him that he was ripe for judgment. The greedy man did his best to protect himself (set his nest on high), yet all his best defense would come to nothing.  The greedy man thinks in terms of nothing but gain, but ends up losing his own soul.  Luke 12:16-21– 16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 “And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 “So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 ‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, [and] be merry.” ‘ 20 “But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ 21 “So [is] he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

Pride and greed are tempters of all.  they equally find home in the rich and in the poor.  Pride and greed will never object to where they reside.  They are sticky like glue and can attach to the surface of our hearts, minds, and souls with ease.

The Word of God exposes these life sucking leeches within our heart and mind.  The Word of God will set us free from the bondage of their grip in our lives.  The Word of God in a humble servant will do more good in this world than money from all the richest men combined.

56. So that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

Deuteronomy 28:47   Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things.

Nehemiah 9:35     Even in their own kingdom, and amid your great goodness that you gave them, and in the large and rich land that you set before them, they did not serve you or turn from their wicked works.

1 Timothy 6:17-19    As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.  They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,  thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

Deuteronomy 12:8    “You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes,

Deuteronomy 32:13-15     He made him ride on the high places of the land, and he ate the produce of the field, and he suckled him with honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock.  Curds from the herd, and milk from the flock, with fat of lambs, rams of Bashan and goats, with the very finest of the wheat— and you drank foaming wine made from the blood of the grape.  “But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked; you grew fat, stout, and sleek; then he forsook God who made him and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation.

When are you closest to God?  What times in your life were you seeking Him earnestly?  I would be accurate if I said it was in a very troubling, sad, confusing, frustrating time in your life.   Doesn’t it seem like we run to Him only when we need His refuge, strength, power, courage, forgiveness, and healing but we aren’t quick to run to Him to give honor, glory, praise, and to worship Him?

In times of quiet, health, comfort, prosperity, and freedom there is a high probability to neglect and be complacent with His word.  Challenge this statement if you want but it is surely true.  If His word is not actively being desired and cherished then it is being set aside because of a perceived lack of need of it.

Remember God will not be mocked – if your life is sowing seeds of self-interest above humbly serving, honoring, glorifying, following, and obeying God, God will give you the desires of your heart which will never satisfy, never fulfill, never bring joy, peace or comfort.

29. Unintentional and unknown sin

Numbers 15:22  “But if you sin unintentionally, and do not observe all these commandments that the LORD has spoken to Moses,

Leviticus 4:2    “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If anyone sins unintentionally in any of the LORD’s commandments about things not to be done, and does any one of them,

Leviticus 4:13-14    “If the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they do any one of the things that by the LORD’s commandments ought not to be done, and they realize their guilt,  when the sin which they have committed becomes known,

Leviticus 4:22    “When a leader sins, doing unintentionally any one of all the things that by the commandments of the LORD his God ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt,

Leviticus 5:15    “If anyone commits a breach of faith and sins unintentionally in any of the holy things of the LORD,

17  “If anyone sins, doing any of the things that by the LORD’s commandments ought not to be done, though he did not know it, then realizes his guilt, he shall bear his iniquity.

Psalms 19:7  The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;  the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;  the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.  More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.  Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.  Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.  Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.  Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

Job 6:24    “Teach me, and I will be silent; make me understand how I have gone astray.

Psalms 40:12    For evils have encompassed me beyond number; my iniquities have overtaken me, and I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head; my heart fails me.

One of the hardest diseases of the soul to detect is unknown, unintentional sin.  This disease eats away from the inside out.  It seems never to be seen by the one infected.  We easily see it in those we spend time with and on occasion those we first meet.  We can see it in how they act, in what they say and think, and in what they do or do not do.  This disease affects everyone.  It routinely consumes more and more of the life of the person as they become more and more neglectful and complacent with God’s word.

Being blind to the disease does not keep us from being accountable.  Imagine being on a trip to a different state or country and while in the course of your trip you get arrested for some act.  It takes you by surprise and you tell the officer you did not know of the law which you broke.  They are not going to say, “oh, that makes a big difference, you can go”.  The judge is not going to say, “Well, because you did not know of the law you broke, you are not guilty.”

The fact remains you are guilty and must bear the consequences of your action.  In the letter from Paul in Romans it states it like this; “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” In Matthew, the outcome is; “Depart from me for I never knew you.”

Being neglectful and complacent in His word allows more and more diseases to invade our heart and soul.  These diseases destroy the fruits of the Spirit and render the infected worthless in serving, honoring, glorifying, worshiping, following, and obeying God.

Stay in His word and come to God with a heart and soul deep open prayer like David. “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.