honor me – Praying Pint

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,

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

They soon forgot

“then he forsook God who made him and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation.”

“They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt,”

“Then they believed his words; they sang his praise. But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel.”

“They did not remember his power or the day when he redeemed them from the foe,”

“they have eaten and are full and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise me and break my covenant.

Psalms 78:35 They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their redeemer. But they flattered him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues. Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not faithful to his covenant.

Deuteronomy 32:4 “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.

Deuteronomy 32:30 How could one have chased a thousand, and two have put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had given them up? For their rock is not as our Rock; our enemies are by themselves.

Isaiah 29:13 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,

Ezekiel 33:31 And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain.

Reading these scriptures should challenge our heart and mind to faithfully serve God with our whole heart mind and soul. Just as those from years gone by have done, we too need to be certain our mouth is not saying one thing and our heart is serving another – more than likely (Me, Myself, and I). His word tells us that people easily forget God and what it means to cling to, rely on, and trust in Him. It is hard to tell who these people are because many times all we hear is what comes from their mouth. “they honor me with their mouth but their heart is far from Me”. I wonder if it is our lack of spending time in knowing and understanding His word. I wonder if we judge our walk by how others walk and in doing so we end up at a place where our faith is nothing more than words spoken. This is a place where there is no heart deep desire to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey God but rather just words stating it. God sees our heart and knows our thoughts and intents. Many will enter eternity and when standing before God will hear depart from Me for I never knew you. Be mindful of what it means to be redeemed and to follow and obey Him with all your heart, mind and soul.

The heart of man

” Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.”

Isaiah 6:5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”

Judges 13:22 And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, for we have seen God.”

Job 42:5-6 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”

Luke 5:8-9 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

Matthew 12:34-37 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Isaiah 29:13 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,

Jeremiah 9:3-8 They bend their tongue like a bow; falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know me, declares the LORD.

Ezekiel 33:31 And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain.

James 3:6-10 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. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.

I read this comment today: “When men refuse God’s offered grace, every refusal hardens.” Having the right understanding and reverence of and for God has an affect. We see those who say; “woe to me”, “we shall surely die”, “I despise myself”, “I am lost and a man of unclean lips” and “depart from me for I am a sinful man, O Lord”. We also see the opposite affect on people who choose not to humbly serve, honor and glorify God. “they hear what you say but will not do it”, “their heart is set on their gain”, “they do not know me”, “they honor me with their lips”, “their hearts are far from me”, “how can you speak good when you are evil”, and “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”. There is no middle ground, no grey area. It is either either seeking, following, and obeying God or rejecting Him. A great love was shown mankind and a great price was paid to redeem them. The choice of every heart will be judged. Believing it is not so does not mean it is not. Nor does believing there will not be judgement mean it will not happen. No one leaves this world alive. All will die and all will enter eternity and all will be judged. Those who choose to seek, follow and obey God will be welcomed into heaven and those who do not will be cast into hell. Repent, believe in the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ, and live a life that reveres, seeks, follows and obeys God. Eternity, Judgement and either heaven or hell awaits everyone.