receive me – Praying Pint

25.c. “My soul longs for your salvation; I hope in your word.”

2 Corinthians 4:16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Psalms 73:26    My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Isaiah 40:29    He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.

Psalms 119:81   My soul longs for your salvation; I hope in your word.

Psalms 27:13    I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living!

Job 19:26-27   And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God,  whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!

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.

Psalms 119:71    It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.

Psalms 119:67    Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.

Psalms 73:24    You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory.

Having hope and faith in God, and trusting in, relying on, and clinging to Jesus Christ, opens our heart, mind, and soul to eternity. It is not as though we understand it but we are certain of it. We know without a shadow of a doubt that we will be raised from death to life and forever be with Him in His glory. In this understanding, we can rejoice through our flesh is fading away. Can you imagine what it will be like to be in the presence of God and see Him face to face? Standing in the presence of the creator of all there is, the One who knows all of your past and future thoughts and intents, the One who sent His Son to die for you and to redeem you, the one who forgave you of all your sins and has separated them as far as the east is from the west, the One who has taken your blood-red sin-stained soul and washed it white as snow, the One who loved you and made know the mystery of salvation, the One who will raise you up and forevermore you will be with Him in eternity.

We ought to live in light of this and humbly and obediently doing that which honors and glorifies Him alone.

14.x. “But all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

John 2:23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

John 1:48 Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

John 5:42 But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me.

John 6:61 But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this,

Matthew 9:4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?

Matthew 9:25 Knowing their thoughts, he said to them

Psalms 44:21    would not God discover this? For he knows the secrets of the heart.

Psalms 33:13-15    The LORD looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man;  from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth,  he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds.

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Proverbs 15:3     The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.

Jeremiah 17:10    “I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”

1 Chronicles 28:9   for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.

If we truly believed what these verses are proclaiming would our thoughts, words, and actions be different? How would people treat you if they knew some of the thoughts that you harbored in your mind about them? How would people look at you and judge you if they knew the thoughts you allowed to anchor in your mind? Greed, lust, pride, hate, worry, fear, etc…. If these were exposed for all to see would you even want to leave your house? We know what these private thoughts are and we hide them. We may not let others know of them because we would be greatly embarrassed were they exposed for all to see. The thing that we don’t think about is the fact that when these thoughts are in our minds, God knows. He knows the root of the thought and the purpose and intent your heart is taking thinking about it. He sees it clearly as if your thought was spoken or written out or the action taken. He Knows!!! Nothing is hidden from Him. What we think is hidden within the dark privacy of our mind is fully and clearly seen by Him.

Because of our sinful nature, we cannot stop wicked and evil thoughts from popping up in our head but we certainly can recognize them, take them captive, and discard them as fast as they came in.

The problem is we don’t recognize them or we choose to recognize but we explain them away. We just grab a hold of a thought and allow it to run its course over and over again in our minds. It can soon become an endless loop and at some point what we think has been just a thought becomes action. Words spill out of our mouth or we take action. This will happen when we do not believe Jesus sees and knows all of our thoughts and what we allow to take root. Scripture, God’s Word, will expose thoughts, intents, and actions that are not honoring to Jesus Christ. His Word will expose the areas in our thought life that need to be confessed and turned away from. His Word is a light into our hearts, mind, and soul. We will do well by spending more and more time in His Word so that we can recognize and take captive those thoughts that are not honoring or in obedience to Jesus Christ.

A passing shadows

“Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.”

Psalms 89:47 Remember how short my time is! For what vanity you have created all the children of man! What man can live and never see death? Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah

Job 7:7 “Remember that my life is a breath; my eye will never again see good.

Job 9:25-26 “My days are swifter than a runner; they flee away; they see no good. They go by like skiffs of reed, like an eagle swooping on the prey.

Job 10:9 Remember that you have made me like clay; and will you return me to the dust?

Psalms 39:5 Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah Surely a man goes about as a shadow! Surely for nothing they are in turmoil; man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!

Job 14:1 “Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble.

James 4:14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

Ecclesiastes 3:19 For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity. All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return.

Ecclesiastes 8:8 No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it.

Hebrews 9:27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,

John 8:51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”

Psalms 49:15 But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me.

2 Corinthians 4:14 knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.

Sometimes I wonder if we live without thinking about our end. There is an end to life as we know it. What then? Eternal life or eternal death (a death without being dead – a death of total separation from anything good – a death without the presence of God). We hear of people saying things like -“well most of my friends will be in Hell so it won’t be lonely for me”, – Or “I’ll see you in Hell”, – Or “All the fun people will be in Hell so it won’t be all that bad”. Lies!! Separation for God while we are alive might be a sliver of what it will be like – no peace, no hope, always striving for something more but never getting that which satisfies the soul. This is what a life this side of death without Jesus Christ is. It is made up of things that have no eternal value. Scripture says this life is like a passing shadow or a vapor, here one day and gone the next. It says no one has power over the day of death. Yet man listens to lies as if this day will never come and that there is no eternal judgement after death. If you live to be 100 years old, life is short in comparison to eternity. If there is lies, no satisfaction, always needing and looking for more stuff to satisfy in this short life, imagine what it will be like for eternity – Scripture says those who reject Jesus will be cast into the “lake of Fire” that burns forever and there is weeping and gnashing of teeth forever. Separation from God now is the choice people take in the presence of God, while He is near. After judgement God separates Himself from those who rejected Jesus. Come to Jesus, seek Him while He may be found, and find peace for your soul this side of eternity and forever.

I have found a ransom

“What man can live and never see death? Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol?”

“His soul draws near the pit, and his life to those who bring death. If there be for him an angel, a mediator, one of the thousand, to declare to man what is right for him, and he is merciful to him, and says, ‘Deliver him from going down into the pit; I have found a ransom;”

“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 if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

Psalms 49:15 But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me.

Psalms 31:5 Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God.

Psalms 56:13 For you have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.

Hosea 13:14 I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol; I shall redeem them from Death.

Revelation 14:13 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!”

Psalms 16:10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.

Psalms 86:13 For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

It is clear that those who are redeemed by his might, mercy, and grace will not see the death reserved for all mankind – Sheol(Hell). The question is asked – “What man can live and never see death? Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol?” No man can live and not see death. This is our end. But the question more important is who can deliver us from hell? What are the requirements for this deliverance? That too is clear. Believe in the redemption in and through Christ. Too many stop at this and say I believe but there is no deliverance in the way they live other than going to church once per week. They are consumed by the things this world has to offer and so easily lose sight of humbly serving, honoring, glorifying, following, and obeying God each day. Little time is spent in His word, meditating on it, or listening to Him speak through His word into their heart, mind, and soul. Ask yourself how much do you want God into your daily life. if the answer is more – then commit to spend more time in His word and living each day as He directs.