Rebellious – Page 2 – Praying Pint

11.u. “There is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.”

Nahum 3:1 Woe to the bloody city, all full of lies and plunder— no end to the prey! The crack of the whip, and rumble of the wheel, galloping horse and bounding chariot! Horsemen charging, flashing sword and glittering spear, hosts of slain, heaps of corpses, dead bodies without end— they stumble over the bodies! And all for the countless whorings of the prostitute, graceful and of deadly charms, who betrays nations with her whorings, and peoples with her charms.

Ezekiel 22:2-3   “And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then declare to her all her abominations.  You shall say, Thus says the Lord GOD: A city that sheds blood in her midst, so that her time may come, and that makes idols to defile herself!

Ezekiel 24:6-9    “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose corrosion is in it, and whose corrosion has not gone out of it! Take out of it piece after piece, without making any choice.  For the blood she has shed is in her midst; she put it on the bare rock; she did not pour it out on the ground to cover it with dust.  To rouse my wrath, to take vengeance, I have set on the bare rock the blood she has shed, that it may not be covered.  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the bloody city! I also will make the pile great.

Habakkuk 2:12    “Woe to him who builds a town with blood and founds a city on iniquity!

Zephaniah 3:1-3     Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled, the oppressing city!  She listens to no voice; she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the LORD; she does not draw near to her God.  Her officials within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves that leave nothing till the morning.

Isaiah 42:24     Who gave up Jacob to the looter, and Israel to the plunderers? Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned, in whose ways they would not walk, and whose law they would not obey?

Hosea 4:2     there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

Nahum, proclaiming God’s Word against Nineveh, reveals the heart and soul of that city and the people who lead it. Lies and plunder and killing are used to charm their people into thinking what they are doing are good, right, and without consequences. Nineveh is not alone in these acts of defiance as recorded over and over again in scripture. When God is removed from the hearts and minds of young and old children and adults their hearts will turn to what seems right in their own eyes. When God is removed who is to say what they are doing is wrong when the masses are charmed into joining in and believing the enticements of their lies. Their satisfaction and sense of well being come from blindly following their leaders. When the fear of God and worship of Him is willfully abandoned false hopes and self-assurance/reliance will take firm root. No warnings seem to have been listened too. No plead to repent and turn away from their sinful actions will be listened too. No urgent need will be seen. God is just and His justice is always right and true. His anger, wrath, and judgment will not be withheld. Our responsibility as children of God is to be proclaimers of the Good News of Jesus Christ. God’s Word will never return void. Sometimes it will be used by the Holy Spirit to convict a person into repentance and the love and worship of God, and sadly it will also harden a heart into hate and defiance of God. The point is we are called to be disciples of Jesus Christ and proclaim the Love of Jesus Christ. We may never see the fruit of our discipleship but fruit there will be. Currently, we can see some of the moral character of our nation crumbling before our very eyes. When more and more people demand God be removed from school, work, and government what can we expect? Likewise, when more and more Christians proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ there is hope and we can expect God to do mighty work in our country.

5.g. The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;

Job 11:4 For you say, ‘My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in God’s eyes.’ But oh, that God would speak and open his lips to you, and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom! For he is manifold in understanding. Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves.

Ezra 9:13     And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, seeing that you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved

Psalms 103:10     He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.

Psalms 106:43-46     Many times he delivered them, but they were rebellious in their purposes and were brought low through their iniquity.  Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress, when he heard their cry.  For their sake he remembered his covenant, and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love.

Lamentations 3:22    The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;

The word of God contains truths of God. From early on in our journey of being drawn in by God, His Holiness and our sinfulness and need for forgiveness unfold. Our heart is softened and with our mind starting to be opened to the understanding of the mystery of His unfailing and steadfast love for us, we intentionally choose to confess, repent, and fully trust in and rely on, and cling to Jesus Christ. We believe in His sacrifice for our sin and God the Father washing our sin stains away, forever gone. As we read more and more of God’s Word with a heart, mind, and soul-deep desire and seeking, we see our sinful nature and wonder how it is that God does not repay us according to our sins. We see the battle that wages within our soul between sinful self and the new creation, rebirth, being born again self that occurs when we confess, repent, believe, and trust in Jesus Christ. We understand more and more each day how self wants to put self ahead of humbly serving, honoring, glorifying, trusting, following, obeying, and relying on Jesus Christ. We become aware of those things we know we ought to do but don’t and those things we ought not to do but do. In this understanding of our sinful nature, we can only wonder and be awed by the grace, mercy, and love given to us through Jesus Christ. When we commit, (intentionally choose) to seek and desire wisdom and understanding from and through time in His Word, we will continue to mature and grow in our understanding of God’s mercy, grace, and love. Our heart, mind, and soul will continually be moved by this and we will become more and more humble, honoring, serving, and obeying, in our life walk with Jesus Christ.

It is never too late to make this heart, mind, and soul commitment of living each moment of every day in service to our savior Jesus Christ. It is never too late to confess and repent of neglect and complacency.

It is, however, always to late to waste another minute being self-centered, self-serving, self-helping, self-satisfying, and self-seeking. Choosing to live and walk apart from God.

3.l. They went in haste to the Jews at Jerusalem and by force and power made them cease.

Ezra 4:7 In the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam and Mithredath and Tabeel and the rest of their associates wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia. The letter was written in Aramaic and translated. Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows: Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates, the judges, the governors, the officials, the Persians, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the Elamites, and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnappar deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River. (This is a copy of the letter that they sent.) “To Artaxerxes the king: Your servants, the men of the province Beyond the River, send greeting. And now be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are finishing the walls and repairing the foundations. Now be it known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue will be impaired. Now because we eat the salt of the palace and it is not fitting for us to witness the king’s dishonor, therefore we send and inform the king, in order that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. You will find in the book of the records and learn that this city is a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and that sedition was stirred up in it from of old. That was why this city was laid waste. We make known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls finished, you will then have no possession in the province Beyond the River.”

The king sent an answer: “To Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe and the rest of their associates who live in Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River, greeting. And now the letter that you sent to us has been plainly read before me. And I made a decree, and search has been made, and it has been found that this city from of old has risen against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it. And mighty kings have been over Jerusalem, who ruled over the whole province Beyond the River, to whom tribute, custom, and toll were paid. Therefore make a decree that these men be made to cease, and that this city be not rebuilt, until a decree is made by me. And take care not to be slack in this matter. Why should damage grow to the hurt of the king?”

Then, when the copy of King Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their associates, they went in haste to the Jews at Jerusalem and by force and power made them cease. Then the work on the house of God that is in Jerusalem stopped, and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Sometimes things just don’t go as planned, do they? Everything seems on track and according to how God is leading you and then BAM ought of nowhere we get punched in the gut. How are we to look and react to these sidetracks? Are we to lose faith in God? Are we to become afraid? Are we to doubt God’s control? Are we to give in to fear, confusion, and being powerless? How can we stand firm when the ground under us is being dug away?

No matter what is going on around us. No matter how bleak our circumstances seem. No matter what the setback is. No matter what we see and hear. GOD IS IN CONTROL! God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and able to do much more than we can imagine. He created galaxies, universes, light and dark, water, every creature, and mankind. He did this by the word of His mouth. He spoke all there is into being. He controls it all with His perfect plans and purposes. He can not be stopped. There is no power that can overcome His might. There is no knowledge that can overcome His wisdom. There is no hatred that can overcome His love for those who are called by Him. There is no darkness that can overcome His light. There is nothing in earth or above that is great than our God.

Remain strong, faithful, trusting, obeying and honoring God in the tasks He is leading you in. He alone is our refuge and hope. Stand firm and rejoice in what God can and will do.

2.f. That I may know what more the LORD will say to me.

2 Chronicles 18:5 Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall we go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or shall I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for God will give it into the hand of the king.” But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not here another prophet of the Lord of whom we may inquire?” And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, Micaiah the son of Imlah; but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say so.” Then the king of Israel summoned an officer and said, “Bring quickly Micaiah the son of Imlah.” Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting on their thrones, arrayed in their robes. And they were sitting at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying before them. And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made for himself horns of iron and said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘With these you shall push the Syrians until they are destroyed.’” And all the prophets prophesied so and said, “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and triumph. The Lord will give it into the hand of the king.”

And the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, “Behold, the words of the prophets with one accord are favorable to the king. Let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably.” But Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, what my God says, that I will speak.”

Numbers 22:18-20   But Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the LORD my God to do less or more.  So you, too, please stay here tonight, that I may know what more the LORD will say to me.”  And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; but only do what I tell you.”

Jeremiah 23:28    Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully.

Ezekiel 2:7    And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house.

Galatians 1:10    For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

1 Thessalonians 2:4    but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.

Micaiah spoke what he heard God speak into his heart and mind. Balaam spoke what he heard God speak into his heart and mind. Ezekiel spoke what he heard God speak into his heart and mind. Paul spoke what the Holy Spirit spoke into his heart and mind. Jeremiah spoke what he heard God speak into his heart and mind.

We must want to be in the presence of God and have a deep desire to hear the leading of the Holy Spirit. “Seek Me and I will be found,” “Desire Me and I will give you the desires of your heart,” “Come to Me and I will give you rest,” “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman who needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth,” “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and eat with him, and he with me.”

All of these words from God invite us to come to Him, seek Him, run to Him, desire Him, love Him, and believe, trust, rely upon and cling to Him. They are words inviting us to surrender ourselves into His arms. They are words inviting us to want Him more that things of this world. They are words inviting us to open wide our heart and let Him flood us with knowledge and understanding of grace, mercy, and love for those who are called by His name and thereby love, seek, and desire Him with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength.

We only get to this place of surrender by intentionally choosing to surrender our self-centered, self-satisfying, self-honoring, self-pleasing, self-reliant, self-trusting, self-honoring lives. It is almost impossible to fathom how this change could happen because we have lived so long with this way of living. How is it we could change from listening to self to that of actively listening to the Holy Spirit? The good thing is it is not up to our strength and power. It is only by when we surrender our heart, mind, and soul to the full control, full purpose, and full authority to Jesus Christ will we be able to. In this humble servant attitude, we find our ears hearing clearly and our mind understanding and our soul rejoicing in and how the Holy Spirit of God is indwelling and leading every moment of our lives. His word takes on a new refreshing place in our heart. Every day we seem to see something more profound, more clear, and more applicable from Him. We grow and mature in our walk with Him. We learn to hear His whispers of leading. We rely on Him more. We cling to Him more. We trust in Him more. And though it sounds backward, the weaker we are to self the stronger we become in and through this yielding to the indwelling Holy Spirit. Our goal is to live every moment in humble service, honoring, glorifying, worshiping, following, obeying, and trusting Him and saying “As the Lord speaks so shall I do and speak”

181. Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear

2 Kings 17:7 And this occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods and walked in the customs of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel, and in the customs that the kings of Israel had practiced. And the people of Israel did secretly against the Lord their God things that were not right. They built for themselves high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city. They set up for themselves pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, and there they made offerings on all the high places, as the nations did whom the Lord carried away before them. And they did wicked things, provoking the Lord to anger, and they served idols, of which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this.” Yet the Lord warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.”

But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God. They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the Lord had commanded them that they should not do like them. And they abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God

Deuteronomy 31:27   For I know how rebellious and stubborn you are. Behold, even today while I am yet alive with you, you have been rebellious against the LORD. How much more after my death!

2 Chronicles 36:13     He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD, the God of Israel.

Jeremiah 7:26    Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers.

Romans 2:4-5   Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?  But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

Hebrews 3:7-8     Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice,  do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness,

The starting point for avoiding a hardened heart is to recognize and submit to God’s authority through His inspired Word. To learn from God, we must submit to His inspired Word. As Paul says, these things “were written for our instruction”. We disobey or ignore them to our own peril (harden our heart). The starting point is that we hear His voice with a heart soft to the voice of God, the word of God. Thus, to avoid hardness of heart, we must submit to the authority of God’s Word and we must do business with God on the heart level. The only way that we can know God’s ways are as He has revealed them to us in the Scriptures. We can’t plead ignorance. We can’t protest, “But, God, I didn’t know”. When we have time but choose to neglect His word in our life, in our thoughts, in our heart, we have chosen to harden our heart and stiffen our neck against God. We follow the crowd and what is approved by society/culture rather than being led by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God. Your heart is either hardening against God because you are resisting His sovereign ways with you, or it is growing softer toward God because you are submitting to His Word and His ways. For God’s word to be active in your life, it must be actively desired in your heart and in your daily life. If it is only an occasional reading there is no softening of your heart to His word. Choose to be led, encouraged, strengthened, empowered, and softened by His word each day

153. Have you not brought this upon yourself by forsaking the LORD your God, when he led you in the way?

1Kings 15:33 In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah began to reign over all Israel at Tirzah, and he reigned twenty-four years. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin which he made Israel to sin.

And the word of the Lord came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying, “Since I exalted you out of the dust and made you leader over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have made my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sins, behold, I will utterly sweep away Baasha and his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

Isaiah 1:4     Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the LORD, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged.

Isaiah 30:9    For they are a rebellious people, lying children, children unwilling to hear the instruction of the LORD;

Acts 7:51-52     “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you

Jeremiah 2:17    Have you not brought this upon yourself by forsaking the LORD your God, when he led you in the way?

Do you ever wonder what would be said about our country, our leaders, or our individual lives in comparison to what is said in these verses? Are we a country that is led astray by our leaders? Is our leadership leading us toward sinning against God? Are we rebellious individuals and easily swayed by those who do not follow after God? Are we able to discern what is acceptable and right in the eyes of God or are we confusing what is culturally accepted as being right?

Leaders who tiptoe through and around Christianity are way more damaging than one who blatantly disregards God. Leaders who tiptoe seem to be able to smoothly talk through their lukewarm positions as though they are commandments from God. They easily lead others to these same thoughts and soon a nation thinks it is not wrong to abort babies, or it is wrong to speak of God publicly. Their moral compass is directed on paths that are culturally accepted. Nations are made of people who may blindly follow leaders. If these leaders are stiff-necked and always resisting God then soon the people will follow thinking this is normal and has to be right because everyone is doing it.

As Christians, we are not called to blindly follow leaders who try to water down Christianity. We are told to follow God with our whole heart, mind, and soul with our eyes and ears wide open to the word of God and leading of the Holy Spirit. This only happens when we are intentionally desiring and seeking to live in humble service and in and through God’s word we seek His leading in our lives so that we honor and glorify and follow and obey Him. The problem is when people lose their daily desire and no longer hunger and thirst for His word and leading. Their lives of obedience, reliance, and trust become a watered down soup of, at best, meaningless attempts at being good enough and at worst never even giving God a passing thought on most days.

Life is not to be lived in a void or daily vacuum apart from God. Intentionally choose to live each day serving and honoring God.

68. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off

Joshua 4:6 that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.”

Exodus 12:26-27     And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’  you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.

Exodus 13:14     And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery.

Deuteronomy 6:20-21    “When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the LORD our God has commanded you?’  then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

Deuteronomy 11:19     You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Psalms 44:1    O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old:

Psalms 71:18     So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.

Psalms 78:3-8     things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us.  We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.  He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children,  that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children,  so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments;  and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.

Acts 2:39     For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

When you children ask in time, you have heard and know,, teach to their children, fathers have told us, asks you, and when your children say to you…. all indicate that your children will see something in your life, something you do, something say, something you set aside, something you don’t do, something you don’t say, something you give away and they will ask you about it. Obviously they as well as others should see something different in our lives. They might even ask us why. We might be given chance to tell them the reason for the hope that we have, the reason for the way we act, speak and think, the reason we give, the reason we forgive, the reason we study His word, the reason we pray, the reason we have belief, trust and faith. Spending time in God’s word will give you reason, purpose, and meaning.

45. For I know how rebellious and stubborn you are.

Deuteronomy 9:6 “Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people. Remember and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord.

Deuteronomy 31:27     For I know how rebellious and stubborn you are. Behold, even today while I am yet alive with you, you have been rebellious against the LORD. How much more after my death!

Exodus 32:9    And the LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people.

2 Chronicles 30:8    Do not now be stiff-necked as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the LORD and come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever, and serve the LORD your God, that his fierce anger may turn away from you.

Psalms 78:8    and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.

Zechariah 7:11-12     But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear.  They made their hearts diamond-hard lest they should hear the law and the words that the LORD of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great anger came from the LORD of hosts.

Acts 7:51    “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.

Moses called the people to remember. He wanted them to remember their rebellion, stubbornness, folly, and how they provoked the Lord. He called them out time and time again about their lack of reverence, love, trust, faith, and hope in the Lord. They so easily forgot the great things God did with His mighty hand and chose to mock Him with their disbelief, even though they saw with their own eyes all that He did and said.

Jesus called the religious ones, hypocrites, stiff-necked, self-righteous, prideful, blind, deaf, without understanding and true knowledge of God. Note He spent little time with them but did spend much of His time with the lost who had no hope. Jesus died for sinners. He had little time for those who thought they could earn their righteousness before God by what they did.

Be mindful of your heart. How do you know if you are provoking God or if your heart has grown stone hard to Him? How do you know if you are faithful if God’s word is not leading you to a deeper faith? If God’s word is not feeding your heart, mind, and soul something else will and that something else always turns our heart, mind, and soul, away from God. Our ears soon resist hearing what God is speaking into our life. Our resolve to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey is soon lost and replaced with that which seems right in our own eyes.

31. We wait for it with patience.

Numbers 21:4 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

Psalms 106:43-45   Many times he delivered them, but they were rebellious in their purposes and were brought low through their iniquity.  Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress, when he heard their cry.  For their sake he remembered his covenant, and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love.

1 Corinthians 10:9     We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents,

John 3:14-15     And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,  that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

John 12:32     And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

Isaiah 45:22    “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.

John 6:40     For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Zechariah 12:10    “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.

“And we loathe this worthless food”, How many times have we read about the grumbling, impatient, rebellious ways of God’s chosen? God did miracles, wonders, and signs before their very eyes. His presence was before them in fire by night and smoke by day. He provided for them. He protected them. He supplied their needs. He told them of His plan and purpose for them. He gave them promises. He gave them commands to live by. He chose them. He loved them. They wanted a remedy to their problem, in their time, in their way, and did not want to believe in or wait for God’s perfect plan. They closed their heart and mind to believe. They opened their heart and mind to impatience, rebellion, unthankfulness, and grumbling.

Exodus 14:14 – “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Isaiah 30:18 – “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!”

Psalm 27:14 – “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

Romans 12:12 – “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”

Romans 8:25 – “But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”

Jesus is not honored by impatience, unbelief, neglect, complacency, unthankfulness, pride, greed, lust, hate, or unforgiveness. He is honored by obedience, hope, patience, love, reliance, trust, and faith that does not shift with circumstance but remains firm and steadfast. Nothing tests the steadfastness of our faith and belief more than trials. In these troubles, our faith and hope are demonstrated as either being refined and becoming more and more dependent upon God or to impatience, grumbling, unthankfulness, and rebellion.

Wait upon Him, trust Him, rely on Him, and cling to Him.

Isaiah 40:31 -“but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

10. They turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers

Exodus 32:7 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people.

Genesis 6:11-12  Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence.  And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.

Judges 2:19  But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways.

Hosea 9:9  They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah: he will remember their iniquity; he will punish their sins.

Isaiah 24:5  The earth lies defiled under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant.

Isaiah 31:6  Turn to him from whom people have deeply revolted

Psalms 78:8  and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.

The natural intent of our heart is rebellion, stubborn, unfaithful, corrupt, easily turned aside, stiff-necked, and not steadfast in serving God. How are we to recognize the intent of the heart when the society/culture has put its stamp of approval on the very things that oppose God? This makes it very hard to see it for what it is when there is nothing to counter their truth.

Think about it. Mainstream media is calling bi-sexual, homosexual, transgender lifestyles as being “Progressive”. They call pornography “Adult Entertainment”. They call abortion “Choice”. They call God-fearing people as “Weak and Uninformed”. They call creation “The Big Bang”. They call faith “Wishing Upon A Star”. They call God a “Myth”. They call Jesus Christ a “Good Man”. They call God, if He exists, “Unloving”. They call hell a “Stick to get followers”. They deny a “Final Judgement”. They say the Bible is “Man Made Stories”. They say, because God does not exist, “Sin is not real”. They say, if a god exists, “All Religions Point to Him”.

It is very hard to recognize our sinful behavior if we do not believe, desire, seek, serve, follow, and obey God. It is hard to obey God when there is no input of His word into our lives. It is hard to confess sin when neglect and complacency replace daily time in His word.

Do you want to please God? Commit to humbly serving Him. Be intentional in daily time in His word. Seek thoughts, words, and actions that which honors and glorifies Him.