image – Praying Pint

27. “And I thought you would call me, My Father”

Ephesians 1:5 In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

Daniel 4:35  all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”

Romans 8:29-30   For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.  And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Jeremiah 3:19   “‘I said, How I would set you among my sons, and give you a pleasant land, a heritage most beautiful of all nations. And I thought you would call me, My Father, and would not turn from following me.

John 1:12   But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

Philippians 2:13     for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

He predestined, According to His will, He called, He justified, He glorified, He works in you, He gave, He foreknew, and He has blessed us. If you were asked why God created? Why did He create all there is? Why did God do this if He foreknew the outcome? There are a host of other questions but that certainly is being asked by souls every day. God is God and for us to think we have the mental capacity to understand more than a thimble worth of knowledge about Him in an ocean of who He is we are more than foolish. We know He is holy, righteous, loving, full of grace, mercy, and love. We know that He sent His only son to bear our sin burdens on the cross and redeem us from eternal hell at the proper time. How can we even grasp the laws that govern time, space, earthly, heavenly, eternity, etc….We can’t. We try as hard as we might but at the end of the day, we aren’t really any closer to having this understanding. I have heard people reject the offer of salvation through Jesus Christ because they don’t believe there is a living God because Their god would act differently. There would be no sickness, death, wars, or famine. Their god would not dream of creating sinful man., sickness, death, pain, suffering……

Here we read of God foreknew, God, predestined, according to His will. My God, and hopefully yours too is awesome in power, strength, wisdom, knowledge, grace, mercy, and love. His plans are perfect. His ways are Holy. His creation points toward Himself as the author. His will can never be questioned because His purposes are right and true and holy.

How should we act when we know the creator of all there is and ever will be has called us to Himself so that through belief in His Son, Jesus Christ, we are set free from the judgment and penalty of sin. I can think of nothing worse than a person who has been given a glimpse of God and an elementary understanding of the need for salvation, and knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and then reject God and Jesus without a second thought. I guess I can think of something else that is worse. Those who have tasted of the love of Jesus Christ and choose to neglect God’s Word and deafen their ears to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Blessed are those who hear His calling and believe in Jesus Christ for they are sons of the Most High. In all you say, think, and do make sure that it honors and glorifies Jesus Christ. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.

20.w. “Make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!”

Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

J.B. Phillips translates this vs, Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the Plan of God for you is good, meets all His demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.

Leviticus 18:30    So keep my charge never to practice any of these abominable customs that were practiced before you, and never to make yourselves unclean by them: I am the LORD your God.”

1 John 5:19     We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

1 John 4:4-5   Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.  They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them.

1 Corinthians 3:19    For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,”

1 John 2:15-17    Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.  And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Ezekiel 18:31    Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!

Ephesians 4:22-24   to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,  and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,  and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Colossians 3:10   and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

Psalms 34:8   Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

God’s word warns us that the “world system” – the popular culture and manner of thinking that is in rebellion against God – will try to conform us to its ungodly pattern, and that process must be resisted. The battleground between conforming to the world and being transformed is within the mind of the believer. Christians must think differently. “I don’t want to be conformed to this world. I want to be transformed. How do I do it?” By the renewing of your mind. The problem with many Christians is they live life based on feelings, worthy are only concerned about doing. The life based on feeling says, “How do I feel today? How do I feel about my job? How do I feel about my wife? How do I feel about worship? How do I feel about the preacher?” This life by feeling will never know the transforming power of God, because it ignores the renewing of the mind. The life based on doing says, “Don’t give me your theology. Just tell me what to do. Give me the four points for this and the seven keys for that.” This life of doing will never know the transforming power of God, because it ignores the renewing of the mind. God is never against the principles of feeling and doing. He is a God of powerful and passionate feeling and He commands us to be doers. Yet feelings and doing are completely insufficient foundations for the Christian life. The first questions cannot be “How do I feel?” or “What do I do?” Rather, they must be “What is true here? What does God’s Word say?” “How do I apply this or how does it apply to my life.” “What is in my heart and mind?” “How do I discern the intents and purposes of my actions?” “What things in this world are contrary to things of God?”

God’s Word must be more than do’s and do not’s. This would never transform a person from the inside. Meditation on God’s Word, however, will transform us. The problem is that we too often fall into the trap of only listening to what others have meditated on. We listen to our pastors on Sunday. We listen to radio preachers throughout the week. We may form opinions based on what they have said. We may even try to remember the three or four points they tell us are important. When is the last time we spent in God’s Word, asked God to give us wisdom and understanding, and meditated upon it? I must admit, very seldom, when our pastor is preaching, am I fully listening. I read the passage from which he is preaching. I cross-reference to other verses. I think about what God is revealing to me and then I give thought to this throughout the day. Some thoughts will stay throughout the week with me while I think about it and try to make sense of it. At the end of the day we are renewed and transformed in how we think, act, and do, by our thoughts and meditation on God’s Word. It is a shallow commitment to God when we spend no time meditating on His Word.

12.j. “Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them.”

Habakkuk 2:18 “Of what value is an idol carved by a craftsman? Or an image that teaches lies? For the one who makes it trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak. Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’ Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’ Can it give guidance? It is covered with gold and silver; there is no breath in it.” The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.

Isaiah 42:17     They are turned back and utterly put to shame, who trust in carved idols, who say to metal images, “You are our gods.”

Jeremiah 10:3-5     for the customs of the peoples are vanity. A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.  They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move.  Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good.”

Jeremiah 10:14-15    Every man is stupid and without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, for his images are false, and there is no breath in them.  They are worthless, a work of delusion; at the time of their punishment they shall perish.

Romans 1:23-25     and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.  Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,  because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

Psalms 115:4-8     Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands.  They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see.  They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell.  They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat.  Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them.

Isaiah 44:14-20    He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it.  Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it.  Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!”  And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!”  They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand.  No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?”  He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”

What is in the heart of man that they should even consider the need for an idol to worship? Why is there a desire at all? What is it they hope to gain by it? Ecclesiastes 3:11 “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” Romans 1:19-20 “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.” Romans 1:28 “And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.”

Man is without excuse. God makes Himself known to man. He has shown them. He has also given man the free choice to worship, honor, and glorify Him alone. Yet, man chooses to deny God and intentionally choose to make and worship man-made idols. There is severe consequences for this choice both in this life and in eternity. No excuse can be given. No excuse will be accepted. The intentional choice to deny God and honor, glorify, and worship Him has a beginning in the heart of every man that does so. In this beginning, they make an intentional choice of self-reliance in what their hands have made or have been made by the hands of others. They become more and more blind and deaf to God and things of God’s. God is not mocked. Man will reap the rewards of their decisions. We do well to make sure things of this world do not become idols in our heart and mind. God wants all our heart, mind, soul, and strength.

8.m. Key to the bottomless pit

Revelation 20:1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.

The accuser and slanderer, the one who deceives and leads people and nations on destructive God-denying, Jesus rejecting, self-centered, self-worthy, and self-satisfying paths straight to hell is bound and cast into a pit reserved for Satan and his followers. There is no battle or prolonged fight where the victor is determined by will power and skill to overcome their opponent. No there is Almighty and All-Powerful Jesus Christ who defeated death and holds the key to the bottomless pit, who by the word of His mouth sends an angel with the key to bind Satan and cast him in. Satan has no power but what is allowed by God and at His word alone can be taken away in the blink of an eye.

So it is, Jesus is returning personally, visibly, and physically one day to set things right; He will raise the dead and judge them in righteousness; He will separate His own from those who have hung their stars on the prince of darkness; He will redeem our sinful and fallen world from the effects of the fall, resulting in new heavens and a new earth; and we will delight in His personal presence forever and ever. All believers will stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of our lives. This judgment does not determine our eternal destiny, for that is fixed on this side of death with the believer’s decision to trust in Christ. (Phillips, Rob)

There is a time fast approaching when the end times will come upon the earth. It is important to know this prophetic ending but not near as important as knowing, surrendering, relying on upon, trusting in, following, believing in, and obeying Jesus Christ while you still have breath this side of eternity. If you die without repenting of sin, trusting in and complete trust and humble service to Jesus Christ – Hell awaits you with deceitful, lying, open arms, welcoming you to eternal destruction.

Now is the time of salvation. Now is the time of redemption. Now is the time to repent and turn away from self-centered, self-satisfying, and self-reliant lies and deception of Satan. Jesus awaits you, just as you are with wide open arms to welcome you into life with Him now and for eternity forever and ever.

8.l. Signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast

Revelation 19:17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.” And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.

Now, as the birds hover en masse over the battlefield at the angel’s beckoning, John sees the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and against His army (v. 19). Their resistance to Christ belies their delusional belief that they have an opportunity to win – and worse, their apparent conviction that they are in the right. What compels sinful men and women to entertain the notion that they can defeat the Almighty or change the course of human history? Joseph A. Seiss comments: We may wonder how rational men could be carried with one impulse into an attempt so daring and so absurd; but when people put the truth from them, and submit themselves to the Devil’s lead, what is there of delusion and absurdity into which they are not liable to be carried? How many among us comfort and assure themselves in their selfishness and sins with the belief that either there is no God, or that he is too good and merciful to fulfill his threatenings upon transgressors? To this there needs to be added only one step more, to defy his judgments, and with that goes pledge of battle and declaration of war with his Omnipotence.

The Psalmist writes, “Why do the nations rebel and the people plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers conspire together against the Lord and His Anointed One.” What is the Lord’s response to this human madness? “The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord ridicules them. Then He speaks to them in His anger and terrifies them in His wrath” (Ps. 2:1-2, 4-5). Seiss once again remarks, “What failure of love, what exhaustion of grace, what emptying of the sea of his infinite mercies, what decay and withdrawal of all kindly interest and affection must have occurred that there should be this laugh!”. And yet for the beast and his armies, this is no laughing matter. In self-delusional futility; in the most vile hatred of a creature toward his Creator; in utter abandonment of all decency, the beast charges straight into the blade of the Jesus Christ’s sword.

J.F. Walvoord and R.B. Zuck comment: “The same inspired Word of God which so wonderfully describes the grace of God and the salvation which is available to all who believe is equally plain about the judgment of all who reject the grace of God. The tendency of liberal interpreters of the Bible to emphasize passages dealing with the love of God and to ignore passages dealing with His righteous judgment is completely unjustified. The passages on judgment are just as inspired and accurate as those which develop the doctrines of grace and salvation. The Bible is clear that judgment awaits the wicked, and the second coming of Christ is the occasion for a worldwide judgment unparalleled in Scripture since the time of Noah’s flood”

Phillips, Rob. The Searcher’s Guide to the Apocalypse: A Verse-by-Verse Quest to Understand the Book of Revelation . Unknown. Kindle Edition.

7.u. he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath

Revelation 14:9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.” Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”

I found these comments in a commentary – Once Delivered APRIL 22, 2014: “A third angel follows the other two and pronounces woe on those who worship the beast and his image and receive a mark on their foreheads or hands. The consequences of rejecting God – who has revealed Himself in creation, conscience, Christ, and the canon of scripture – are spelled out plainly. The one who embraces the beast will experience the consequences of his or her rebellion. Secondly, the beast worshiper will be “tormented with fire and sulfur in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb, and the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever”. There is little doubt that this is a reference to the everlasting consequences of rejecting God. While those who cast their lot with the beast will lament Babylon’s fall, they also will discover that their torment is just beginning. To make it clear, God does not delight in the torment of His adversaries. Rather, He allows them to be excluded from His kingdom by their own choice. And in their everlasting destruction, they will become aware of His dominion and ultimately acknowledge it.

The permanence of the unbeliever’s fate is punctuated in John’s words, “[A]nd the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever” (v. 11a). This should not be twisted to mean that only the fires of hell are eternal while the wicked are annihilated. Jesus describes hell as a place where the unbeliever’s “worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48). Further, the same Greek words used to describe eternal life are employed in the depiction of eternal damnation. Rebellion against an eternal God who offers us eternal life has eternal consequences. In Jesus’ account of Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16:19-31), the rich man, Lazarus, and Abraham all are conscious and self-aware after their deaths – in Abraham’s case, hundreds of years after his passing. On the Mount of Transfiguration, the spirits of Moses and Elijah appear. And in Rev. 20:10, we are told, “The Devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” John intends the reader to see the contrast between those in verse 11, who find no rest day or night, and those in verse 13, who rest from their labors. One final note: John offers hope. In fact, he prefers it. The door of grace is yet open, for he writes, “If anyone worships the beast …” This is a clear warning to those who choose to worship the beast, but it’s also a reminder that salvation is still within reach for those who take Christ’s nail-scarred hand into their own.”

Whoever follows me

Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Psalms 100:3 Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Ecclesiastes 7:29 See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.

2 Corinthians 4:4 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 6:10 Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

Ephesians 2:2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—

1 John 5:19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

John 14:23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

John 8:12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

We are created by God with a choice to follow Him or not. He has given us scripture to know of Him and His holiness, justice, love, grace , mercy and power.

In scripture He warns us of the god of this world, the evil one, the tempter, the liar, the prince of darkness, the devourer, the deceiver, the divider, the enticer, the author of false hope. Our sinful nature is inclined toward things not of God. We are inclined to lust, greed, pride, and self. “SIN”

“The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.“

Yet God, in His love for His creation, and knowing the corruption of the soul of man which separates them from Him sent His only Son, Jesus to redeem mankind. Our Creator has reached out to mankind with His arms wide open through Christ.

“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.”

When God speaks through trials

“Both we and our fathers have sinned; we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness.”

Psalms 106:7 Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.

Psalms 106:12 Then they believed his words; they sang his praise. But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel.

Psalms 106:20 They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt, wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.

Psalms 106:24 Then they despised the pleasant land, having no faith in his promise. They murmured in their tents, and did not obey the voice of the LORD.

Psalms 106:28 Then they yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor, and ate sacrifices offered to the dead; they provoked the LORD to anger with their deeds, and a plague broke out among them

Psalms 106:32 They angered him at the waters of Meribah,

Psalms 106:34 They did not destroy the peoples, as the LORD commanded them, but they mixed with the nations and learned to do as they did. They served their idols, which became a snare to them. They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons;

Psalms 106:39 Thus they became unclean by their acts, and played the whore in their deeds.

Psalms 106:43 Many times he delivered them, but they were rebellious in their purposes and were brought low through their iniquity.

I don’t have to look back very far to see that I, too, have done many of these same things. I have not waited, had little faith, forgot His past works in my life, and did not remember He is the all powerful, every loving, and always in control, God. In the heat of issues, problems, troubles, and when despair and doubt overwhelms, I seem to forget God loves me, He is in control, and I don’t have to be anxious or worried about what lies ahead. It seems so easy to fall into this trap. Is it a test? Is it to teach and grow my faith? Is it to show me my sinfulness? I think the answer to all is yes. Daily, I spend time in His word to proclaim the very things I am neglect in believing. I am not sure if this is common to all but God seems to be laying this heavily upon me. Fatih is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Forgive me Father for my lack of trust, reliance, and faith and for not placing them fully in your every capable and loving arms.

Draw near to God

“When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.”

“ Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.”

“ What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”

Psalms 69:10 When I wept and humbled my soul with fasting, it became my reproach. When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them. I am the talk of those who sit in the gate, and the drunkards make songs about me. But as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.

Psalms 55:16 But I call to God, and the LORD will save me. Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice.

Matthew 26:38 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”

Daniel 3:15 Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

Isaiah 26:3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever

Isaiah 12:2 “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”

Acts 20:24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

These scriptures capture the heart of man who trusts in God. Note these specifically: “At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me” – “If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden” – “nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” – ” your will be done.” Waiting for and trusting in God fully gives us courage and confidence for whatever is before us. Having a heart desire to be close and walk close to God has an effect on what we think say and do. He gave us scriptures to teach us, lead us, build us up, give us hope, reminding us of His promises, power, might and love. Desire to be near Him and from this foundation all else finds stability and we can face whatever comes our way today.