Neglect – Praying Pint

51.m. Wilderness – 15.s. “But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son”

Deu 18:15-22  “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ And the LORD said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the LORD has not spoken?’— when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.

Hebrews 1:1-2    Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,  but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

Hebrews 2:1-3    Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.  For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution,  how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,

Matthew 17:5     He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

It is here promised concerning Christ, that there should come a Prophet, great above all the prophets; by whom God would make known himself and his will to the children of men, more fully and clearly than he had ever done before. He is the Light of the world, Joh 8:12. He is the World by whom God speaks to us, Joh 1:1; Heb 1:2. In his birth he should be one of their nation. In his resurrection he should be raised up at Jerusalem, and from thence his doctrine should go forth to all the world. Thus God, having raised up his Son Christ Jesus, sent him to bless us. He should be like unto Moses, only above him. This prophet is come, even JESUS; and is He that should come, and we are to look for no other. The view of God which he gives, will not terrify or overwhelm, but encourages us. He speaks with fatherly affection and Divine authority united. Whoever refuses to listen to Jesus Christ, shall find it is at his peril; the same that is the Prophet is to be his Judge, Joh 12:48. Woe then to those who refuse to hearken to His voice, to accept His salvation, or yield obedience to His sway! But happy they who trust in Him, and obey Him. He will lead them in the paths of safety and peace, until He brings them to the land of perfect light, purity, and happiness. Here is a caution against false prophets. It highly concerns us to have a right touchstone wherewith to try the word we hear, that we may know what that word is which the Lord has not spoken. Whatever is against the plain sense of the written word, or which gives countenance or encouragement to sin, we may be sure is not that which the Lord has spoken. (Henry)

From the time of the last Prophet until the coming of Jesus Christ was over 400 years. Can you imagine a time like this? God’s Prophet was among you and proclaiming and declaring what God had to say, and then there was none raised up. It is as if they were left alone to their own whims and establishing some form of godliness after what they thought was right. After one generation there would be little for the common person to know about life with a prophet among them. Every generation after that would just assume the closest they could get to hearing from God would be through the priests. The books of the Law would give these priests hope of God sending a prophet and they looked for it. However after 400 years, it was hard for them to accept it was NOW, when Jesus was born.

No other prophets are to come. Why?? Because when Jesus died and rose again and ascended into heaven He sent the Holy Spirit to indwell each of us who believe, trust, obey, follow, cling to, and rely upon Him for forgiveness, redemption, and salvation. The Holy Spirit dwells in the heart, mind, and soul of every believer to guide, direct, lead, convict, teach, comfort, and encourage. No other prophet is needed nor will come. And yet, there seems to be a famine in a desire to seek the leading of the Holy Spirit in the lives of far too many Christians. Why??

God has given us His Word for us to grow in our knowledge and understanding of His grace, mercy, love, promises, power, might, creation, warnings, blessings, heaven, hell, and judgment. God’s Word is ever-powerful to grow us in the knowledge and understanding. If we were to memorize it all the knowledge and understanding of it would continue to expand in us even if we lived to be one million years old. There will never be a second wasted in the study of it. It is good for the hearts, minds, and souls of all who read, study, and apply it.

49.o. Wilderness – 13.u. “Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things”

Deu 4:9  “Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children— how on the day that you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, the LORD said to me, ‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.’ And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom. Then the LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice. And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments, and he wrote them on two tablets of stone. And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and rules, that you might do them in the land that you are going over to possess.

Proverbs 3:1    My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments,

Proverbs 3:3   Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.

Proverbs 7:1   My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you;

Proverbs 4:20-23  My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.  Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart.  For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh.  Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Hebrews 2:3    how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,

Psalms 119:11    I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

Their only danger was, lest they should grow careless and unmindful of all the wonderful things that God had done for them and thereby not teach them to their children. The possession of the oracles of God by Israel was a benefit to them only as these were kept in mind and reverently obeyed. Therefore they were to take heed and diligently beware of forgetting the circumstances under which the Law had been received at Horeb. God had then commanded the people to be gathered together, so that they stood before the Lord, were in his manifested presence, and were made to hear his voice speaking to them from amidst the fire and the clouds that covered the mount. They had thus actual evidence and guarantee that the Law they had received was Divine; and this they were to keep in mind as long as they lived, and to communicate to their children in all coming time, that so they might fear the Lord; for on this rested that covenant which God had made with Israel, and which they were to keep as the condition of their continuing to enjoy privilege and life. (Unkown)

When we are passive towards God’s Word and the things of God we will become complacent and neglectful. The quiet whispers of the Holy Spirit’s leading will be drowned out by the busyness of whatever we have turned to or allowed to consume our desire to honor and glorify Jesus Christ. The Bible was inspired and authored by and through the Holy Spirit. His Word was given to us so that we might know God and His plans, purposes, and promises. How many days go by when we are just going through the motions of being a faithful servant? How many times do we leave our house and give no thought to how we might continually honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all of our thoughts, words, and actions? How many trials and problems do we seek to rely on self-reliance rather than reliance on God our heavenly Father?

God is ever-present and worthy of all praise, honor, glory, and worship. Becoming careless and unmindful of God’s purpose for each of us is to believe, trust, follow, obey, and rely upon Him, and grow in our understanding of His great power, might, grace, mercy, and love, and be in a continual desire to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all of our thoughts, words, and actions, we drift away, think unholy things, speak worldly thoughts, and seek the pleasure of fleshly and worldly desires.

How is it possible to know what honors and glorifies Jesus Christ if the Word of God is neglected?

How is it possible to grow in our understanding of God’s grace, mercy, and love if there is no desire to do so?

How is it possible to determine what is holy and what is worldly when all that fills your mind is what comes from that which is worldly?

How is it possible to be a light shining in the darkness when the light of God’s Word is dim in your life?

How is it possible to know God’s will when there is no desire to know it?

How many years have we been walking in the wilderness because we allow worldly values and culture to consume us and we walk on paths away from God?

When there is no heart, mind, and soul desire to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all of our thoughts, words, and actions – all of the time – then there will be no fueled desire to read His Word and know God.

See what David said; 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

18.e. “How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God,”

John 12:44 And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”

1 John 4:14   And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.

Luke 9:26     For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

Hebrews 2:3    how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,

Hebrews 10:29-31    How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?  For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.”  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Hebrews 12:25    See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven.

“for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world” – In the first advent, coming of Jesus, Jesus came as redeemer, savior, sacrificial lamb. He came to bring light to the world – God with us. He came to proclaim the day of salvation, redemption, forgiveness, eternal life. He came to give hope and display God’s grace, mercy, and love. He came to shine light into and onto the darkness – the void and separation from God created because of sin. He came to redeem each person from this void and separation. This void has bright lights as it were. This void and separation have bright lights and worldly lures that entice the soul to reject the Light of Jesus Christ. The light of this world shines bright on self and offers to each person what the world has to offer. It tries to entice, lure, blind us from the Love of God. Sad to say, when the choice is given, we choose to run toward this-worldly light and we grab hold of its blinding power. Pride, lust, greed, hate, anger, fear, anxiousness, self-reliance, self-worth, self-first, and self-satisfaction are all manifestations of those who are captivated by this worldly light. It offers temporary tangible things of this world with the promise that it will satisfy your soul but in the end, it leaves the soul hungry and thirsty for more. This light is a lie. This lie leads people away from the Light of Jesus Christ.

The true Light from God is displayed in Jesus 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.” Belief in the Light of Jesus Christ is more than a head nod or acknowledgment of who Jesus Christ is and what He has done. It is a life-changing new birth. When the Light and Gospel of Jesus shines into the soul and exposes sin, darkness, void, and separation from God, an understanding of the consequences of sin – eternal hell, torment – is revealed by this Light. But, at this same time there is an understanding of the grace, mercy, and love of God through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice and an urgent call to your soul to confess, repent, trust, obey and believe in Jesus Christ for the redemption of your soul. This trust and faith is a new birth for each person who believes. All things are new. Old ways of thinking and living are cast aside because their worth has become meaningless in the Light of Jesus Christ and the hope of eternal life.

Staying in God’s word will keep the lights of this world recognizable and enable each believer to reject and expose them for what they are, lies and distractions from living to give honor, glory, obedience, and praise to Jesus Christ.

12.k. “Choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom”

Acts 6:1 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

We see the chapter starting off with some complaining. Obviously this would be something that should just be handled but it is evident that is not the case. They have witnessed great wonders and signs by the Holy Spirit through some of the apostles, and they also witnessed a great work of the Holy Spirit in people were living in unity and sharing what they had with the whole. Cant you hear it, “I didn’t get my share today” “They forgot me again” “This isn’t fair” “Are they better than us” etc…. Does any of this sound a bit familiar? Some things never change. The apostles give a kind rebuke, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the Word of God in order to wait on tables” So they told them to pick 7 who were spirit-filled and demonstrated wisdom. Amazingly the whole group was happy at this and they chose men to fill these roles. “The word of God spread and the number of disciples increased very fast” a loser number of priests became obedient to the faith. God’s Word has a way of opening up to hearts and minds that are open. I would have to say God’s word even opens hearts and minds and this is somewhat of a mystery. Have you ever wondered how it is that you came to the knowledge and understanding of the need for forgiveness? It is not as though you gave this a great deal of in-depth thought and concluded that you were a sinner in need of salvation. Somehow God opened your heart and mind to His Word and an intentional choice was made to confess, repent, and receive forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ. PRAISE GOD!!!! We would never have come to this understanding without His grace, mercy, and love opening it up to us. May we never think that any part of this knowledge and understanding was from us.

65. How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?

Deuteronomy 32:46 he said to them, “Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.”

1 Chronicles 22:19    Now set your mind and heart to seek the LORD your God.

Proverbs 3:1-4     My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments,  for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you.  Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.  So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man.

Ezekiel 40:4     And the man said to me, “Son of man, look with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart upon all that I shall show you, for you were brought here in order that I might show it to you. Declare all that you see to the house of Israel.”

Hebrews 2:1     Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

Proverbs 4:20-22     My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.  Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart.  For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh.

Take heart, set your mind and heart, look with your eyes, hear with your ears, pay much closer attention, do not forget, be attentive, incline your ears, keep them within your heart, be careful to do, and seek the Lord your God, are all words to encourages us to keep our faith pure, our walk straight, and our heart, mind, and soul clinging to, relying on and trusting in God. Why?? Because of God’s steadfast love, mercy and grace, atonement, redemption, salvation, and eternity in heaven. To neglect or become complacent in our commitment and walk with Him allows us to drift away from Him and straight into the warnings rightly given. Today is the day to commit. Tomorrow is always too late.

Waiting beside My doors

Psalms 95:4 In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.

Psalms 135:6 Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.

Psalms 65:6 the one who by his strength established the mountains, being girded with might; who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples, so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs. You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy. You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide their grain, for so you have prepared it. You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth. You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with abundance. The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy, the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy.

Genesis 1:9-10 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

Proverbs 8:29 when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him, like a master workman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man. “And now, O sons, listen to me: blessed are those who keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it. Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD, but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death.”

Jeremiah 5:22 Do you not fear me? declares the LORD. Do you not tremble before me? I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass; though the waves toss, they cannot prevail; though they roar, they cannot pass over it.

Psalms 97:5 The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth.

Micah 1:4 And the mountains will melt under him, and the valleys will split open, like wax before the fire

Job 9:5 he who removes mountains, and they know it not, when he overturns them in his anger,

Nahum 1:5 The mountains quake before him; the hills melt; the earth heaves before him, the world and all who dwell in it.

We take a piece of wood and make something out of it – our creation. God made the micro cellular seed structure for every tree species, the means for nutrients, the means for respiration, photosynthesis ( and while we think of this He made the sun and the earth too). We look at what we or others have put together as something creative and maybe inspiring. Some architects even go down in history as leaders of their time. Books are written about them. And yet we only need to open our eyes to God’s creation to see the awe inspiring magnitude of Him. We are a creation of His. He has given us life and free will to choose to praise, honor, serve, follow and obey Him. Those who choose this path, He gives life (eternal). Those that choose to reject Him, He gives death and torment eternal. “And now, O sons, listen to me: blessed are those who keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it. Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD, but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death.”

We are witnesses

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

John 12:12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

Psalms 145:6 They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

Acts 5:32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

John 7:39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Proverbs 1:23 If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you.

Isaiah 12:3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

Isaiah 44:3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.

Joel 2:28 “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;

When Jesus came riding into Jerusalem and people were lining the road and waving palm branches saying Hosanna King of Israel the disciples were with Him. It says they did not understand until after He was glorified (raised from the dead), then they remembered that these things were written of Him. It is like this in our lives when the Holy Spirit calls to mind scripture and reveals something new to us. We do well to keep habit of reading scripture and studying it to continue to grow and understand. We hear these whispers of God when our eyes, ears, heart and mind are open with desire to hear and know. The Holy Spirit is a promise to all who believe and trust in Jesus Christ. Yet complacency and neglect are always standing at our door. To busy, to tire, to much other stuff to do clouds our purpose this side of eternity. Keep focus on humbly serving, honoring, following, and obeying Him. Be a witness to His saving grace, mercy, and power.

How long will you Limp

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

While He may be found

“how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?”

Hos 14:1 Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.

Isa 55:6 “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;
Isa 55:7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Psalms 14:2 The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.

Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

Hebrews 2:3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,

Psalms 145:18 The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.

I have taken a bit of the sermon from Jonathan Edwards written in 1741 that I think captures many thoughts in line with these verses; “All wicked men’s pains and contrivance which they use to escape hell, while they continue to reject Christ, and so remain wicked men, do not secure them from hell one moment. Almost every natural man that hears of hell, flatters himself that he shall escape it; he depends upon himself for his own security; he flatters himself in what he has done, in what he is now doing, or what he intends to do.

But the foolish children of men miserably delude themselves in their own schemes, and in confidence in their own strength and wisdom; they trust to nothing but a shadow. The greater part of those who heretofore have lived under the same means of grace, and are now dead, are undoubtedly gone to hell; and it was not because they were not as wise as those who are now alive: it was not because they did not lay out matters as well for themselves to secure their own escape. If we could speak with them, and inquire of them, one by one, whether they expected, when alive, and when they used to hear about hell ever to be the subjects of that misery: we doubtless, should hear one and another reply, “No, I never intended to come here: I had laid out matters otherwise in my mind; I thought I should contrive well for myself: I thought my scheme good. I intended to take effectual care; but it came upon me unexpected; I did not look for it at that time, and in that manner; it came as a thief: Death outwitted me: God’s wrath was too quick for me. Oh, my cursed foolishness! I was flattering myself, and pleasing myself with vain dreams of what I would do hereafter; and when I was saying, Peace and safety, then suddenly destruction came upon me.
So that, whatever some have imagined and pretended about promises made to natural men’s earnest seeking and knocking, it is plain and manifest, that whatever pains a natural man takes in religion, whatever prayers he makes, till he believes in Christ, God is under no manner of obligation to keep him a moment from eternal destruction.”

Amen, Amen