Tag: reigned

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.

3.i. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD,  would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof,

2 Chronicles 36:11  Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the Lord. 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. All the officers of the priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations. And they polluted the house of the Lord that he had made holy in Jerusalem.

The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no remedy.

Isaiah 28:22    Now therefore do not scoff, lest your bonds be made strong; for I have heard a decree of destruction from the Lord GOD of hosts against the whole land.

Jeremiah 5:12-13     They have spoken falsely of the LORD and have said, ‘He will do nothing; no disaster will come upon us, nor shall we see sword or famine.  The prophets will become wind; the word is not in them. Thus shall it be done to them!’”

Proverbs 1:24-30    Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,  because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof,  I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you,  when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.  Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me.  Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD,  would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof,

1 Thessalonian  therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.

Proverbs 29:1     He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken beyond healing.

When I read these verses I wonder why it was that people chose not to hear the word of God and follow Him.  What had hardened their heart like a stone?  What filled the void in their life so full that was able to keep them from trusting, following, and obeying God?  It is not as though they did not know what they were doing was wrong.  It appears that they chose not to believe, not to trust, not to obey, not to serve, and not to humble themselves before God.

Then I looked back at my life and remembered how I lived apart from God, choosing to live like He did not exist.  I can not understand the softening of my heart and the grace and mercy God showed toward me in this process of bringing me to a place where I was able to see my lost and sinful soul and His forgiveness and redemption through Jesus Christ.  He opened the eyes of my heart, mind, and soul to fully see my need of redemption.  He opened my mind to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  He placed people into my life and led me to a place where I had to choose to believe or reject His grace, mercy, and love in and through Jesus Christ.  Rejecting Him was not even a thought.  Wanting and needing Him was the only choice.  He was knocking at the door of my heart, mind, and soul.

I would like to say that I remained always obedient, always listening, always obeying, always honoring, always serving, always trusting, but this was not what happened.  I bounced along life following and not following, obeying and not obeying, listening and not listening, honoring and not honoring, trusting and not trusting.  Then something happened.  I started to be in and read His word almost everyday.  in His word the Holy Spirit began to expose the raw nerves of self-centered, self-interest, self-seeking, self-serving of my being.  Everyday I am made aware of the great price that was paid for me, a sinner.  I am made aware of God’s great power, might, strength, and the love, joy, peace, strength, power, and courage that He gives to those who choose to humbly serve, honor, follow, trust, and obey Him.

Eternity in hell comes to those who choose to disregard Jesus Christ.  Eternity in heaven comes to those who choose to believe and obey Him.  Now is the time of awareness.  Now is the time of redemption.  Not tomorrow, not next week, not next month or year.  Delaying this choice is very foolish in light of the punishment / reward.  I wonder how many people die unexpectedly thinking they had more time to get right with God and end up in eternity apart from God and in torment forever.

Right now is the time to be conscious of the choice to believe, trust, follow and obey Jesus Christ.

2.q. Because he had forsaken the Lord, the God of his fathers.

2 Chronicles 21:1  Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Jehoram his son reigned in his place. He had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah; all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel. Their father gave them great gifts of silver, gold, and valuable possessions, together with fortified cities in Judah, but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram, because he was the firstborn. When Jehoram had ascended the throne of his father and was established, he killed all his brothers with the sword, and also some of the princes of Israel. Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. Yet the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and since he had promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever.

In his days Edom revolted from the rule of Judah and set up a king of their own. Then Jehoram passed over with his commanders and all his chariots, and he rose by night and struck the Edomites who had surrounded him and his chariot commanders. So Edom revolted from the rule of Judah to this day. At that time Libnah also revolted from his rule, because he had forsaken the Lord, the God of his fathers.

Moreover, he made high places in the hill country of Judah and led the inhabitants of Jerusalem into whoredom and made Judah go astray. And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father, Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, or in the ways of Asa king of Judah, but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel and have enticed Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem into whoredom, as the house of Ahab led Israel into whoredom, and also you have killed your brothers, of your father’s house, who were better than you, behold, the Lord will bring a great plague on your people, your children, your wives, and all your possessions, and you yourself will have a severe sickness with a disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out because of the disease, day by day.’”

Another example and story of a father passing the reign to his son and the son not giving a thought at all to his father’s example.  It does not tell us when Jehoram married Ahab’s daughter and if this was an arranged marriage by his father.  Either way, Ahab was one very very bad person and led the people away from God and toward idol worship.  His daughter more than likely had an influence on Jehoram but Jehoram made the choice to lead the people away from serving God.  He chose a path that did not honor or glorify God.  What kind of hardening of the heart must take place to abandon God and kill your brothers?  What kind of false life did he live prior to his father passing away?  A person just does not change overnight.  He might have given head and mouth service to God but not his heart, mind, and soul.

Choices to depart from God begin innocent enough but soon cloud the mind with ideas that replace service to God with any and everything.  The person who departs does not know the day and time but at some point in their life, they closed their ears and turned their back to God.  The drifting away is blinded from their mind because they give no thought to or about Him.  I wonder how many of us spend enough time in His word, meditate on His word, seek and desire His word, want to hear Him speak into our lives, and are able to discern what actions are honorable and pleasing in the sight of God.

If His word is not refreshing our heart, soul, and mind every day something else is.  That something else will always set us on a drifting away course in life.  We have been given examples of both Godly and ungodly men/leaders in the bible.  We do well to follow the Godly examples given to us and take heed of those that are not.  Practice the presence of God at all times.

Notice the people from Edom and Libnah.  They revolted from under his rule because he had departed from following and serving God.  These are people who took their walk with the Lord very serious and took action not to get swept up onto this path away from serving, honoring, following and obeying God.  We do well to keep God first and place all thoughts and actions in line with His word to protect ourselves from being pulled along at the influence of the culture.

1.z.

2 Chronicles 14:1  Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land had rest for ten years. And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. He took away the foreign altars and the high places and broke down the pillars and cut down the Asherim and commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment. He also took out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the incense altars. And the kingdom had rest under him. He built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest. He had no war in those years, for the Lord gave him peace. And he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God. We have sought him, and he has given us peace on every side.” So they built and prospered. And Asa had an army of 300,000 from Judah, armed with large shields and spears, and 280,000 men from Benjamin that carried shields and drew bows. All these were mighty men of valor.

Acts 9:31     So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

Psalms 105:3-4     Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!  Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!

Jeremiah 29:12-14    Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.  You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

1 Peter 3:12     For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

Matthew 11:28-29   Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Asa the son of Abijah followed in his father’s footsteps and stayed close to God.  He set an example for the people and held to it.  He was the King and people looked to him, followed him, and learned from him what it meant to follow after God.  We can look at this and say if we are a King or leader the expectations are different for us in the eyes of the Lord.  At the same time, we say this we then think because we are not a King or a leader the expectations on our life is not as great.  In fact, we generally think and set the expectation on our lives much much lower when it comes to visible actions, when it comes to thoughts we mull over in our head, and when it comes to what we say.  We seem to allow ourselves to land our God-honoring humble service and obedience at the lowest expectation possible and still feel “good” about our lives.

During a bible study last Friday with a small group of men we discussed what life might look like if we actually took seriously the ever and always presence of God.  Would we set our expectations low?  Would we think, act, and speak differently.  Would we seek His word more diligently and desire His presence more deeply so that our humble service would continual in greater honoring, glorifying, following, trusting, and obeying Jesus Christ.  Would we actively seek and desire and expect to hear His quiet whispers of leading?  Would we take every thought captive and lay it out against His word so that we would never allow a non-God honoring thought to dwell in our mind.  Would we examine those actions we are planning on doing and compare them against the word of God so that every action was honoring Him?  Would we examine what we are going to say against His word so that we ensure it was honoring Him?

Setting low expectations leads us to allow ourselves to be neglectful in His word and complacent in its application into our very lives.  You are a child of the King, a child of God, and priests to God, and a Holy temple to the indwelling Holy Spirit.  Your expectations need to be set very high and in line with God’s Word, for the honoring of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.

1.p.

1 Chronicles 29:26  Thus David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel. The time that he reigned over Israel was forty years. He reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. Then he died at a good age, full of days, riches, and honor. And Solomon his son reigned in his place. Now the acts of King David, from first to last, are written in the Chronicles of Samuel the seer, and in the Chronicles of Nathan the prophet, and in the Chronicles of Gad the seer, with accounts of all his rule and his might and of the circumstances that came upon him and upon Israel and upon all the kingdoms of the countries.

When we read this summary it would appear that David’s life was one of wealth and honor.  We might even think he cheated what happens to us normal humans.  We might even have a jealous thought.  However, David’s life was far from trouble-free.  We see Saul pursued him and wanted to put him to death because Saul was jealous of David.  For seven years David was fearful wand hiding from Saul.  David’s own son’s tried to overtake the throne.  David was tempted and committed adultery.  He ordered the death of the man of the wife he had adultery with. Two of his sons died.

David had trials and troubles at the hands of others choices and also because of choices he made.  He had times of joy and times of sorrow, times of plenty and times of not, times of honor and times of not.  The thing that sets David apart from most is his heart, mind, and soul for God.  He wanted above all else to honor God with his life.  However, we see how a man like David can get sideways and must take note that we must be aware of temptations our sinful nature wants to run after.  If a man like David can be tempted away how much more so can we.

My fear is that we are not tempted away but rather are not close enough to God or committed to living for Him.  We are living in a lukewarm, neutral, complacent, and neglectful lifestyles so that there is nothing to tempt us toward because we are already living there.  How sad is that?  Always be in His word with a true heart deep desire to continuously think, speak, and act to always bring honor and glory to Jesus Christ.  Stay in His word to know and be aware of temptations common to all mankind and the hope we have in the indwelling Holy Spirit to lead, guide, into knowledge and understanding of the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ and to light our path each day.

154. Provoking me to anger with their sins

1 Kings 16:8  In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned two years. But his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him. When he was at Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the household in Tirzah, Zimri came in and struck him down and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place.

When he began to reign, as soon as he had seated himself on his throne, he struck down all the house of Baasha. He did not leave him a single male of his relatives or his friends. Thus Zimri destroyed all the house of Baasha, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet, for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, which they sinned and which they made Israel to sin, provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols.

1 Kings 16:1-4     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

Do we take sin serious?  Do we see God as this generous, benevolent, free giving, ever wanting to do whatever it is we want, blessing us no matter what we endeavor to do, absent from judgment, and our personal good luck charm?  When we have a limited view and understanding of sin our knowledge and understanding of who God is will also be limited.  Scripture is full of history and works of God, promises of God, and the wisdom of God.  They speak of His unfailing love and jealous anger, His unlimited power, might, strength, His plan and purpose for mankind, His plan of redemption/salvation through Jesus Christ, His call to us for confession, repentance, and belief in His redemption plan through Christ alone, Heaven, hell  and eternity, Coming judgement.

We will do well to spend time in His word with intentional purpose to know Him, to serve Him, to honor Him, to follow Him, to obey Him, to trust Him.  When His anger is unleashed against those who choose to lead others astray and those who do not heed warnings blindly following with deaf ears and blind eyes. We see this time and time again in scripture.  We should learn from it and be different because of it.   What is the difference in your life compared to someone who gives little to no thought about God?  You see there ought to be a difference if God is first and Jesus is real in your life.

150. Within a very little time you were more corrupt than they in all your ways.

1 Kings 14:21   Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. And Judah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins that they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. For they also built for themselves high places and pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, and there were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations that the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.

Ezekiel 16:47-48     Not only did you walk in their ways and do according to their abominations; within a very little time you were more corrupt than they in all your ways.

Romans 1:24-27    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!

Deuteronomy 32:18-21  You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you, and you forgot the God who gave you birth.  “The LORD saw it and spurned them, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.  And he said, ‘I will hide my face from them; I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.  They have made me jealous with what is no god; they have provoked me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are no people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

Do you ever wonder how people get so far away from God that they replace serving, honoring, following, and obeying Him with something else?  It is not as though God changed who He was or His steadfast love and holiness changed.  God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  What changes in the lives of people that they no longer have a heart, mind, and soul for the one and only true God.  I have an idea it was a slow decline over time.  They allowed the very evil and wayward thinking of the people God drove out before them to find it’s wake back.   It is not as though they woke one day and said: “I am going to do this really stupid thing I know is wrong against God”.  No, it was more like a slow steady decline and turning of their heart and mind away from God and His word.  They spent less and less time thinking about Him and more and more about themselves. They spent more time listening to those who have no heart for God than time in God’s word.   

Acceptance of false teaching and sinful living is the beginning of the fall.  Some may think since it is just the beginning of the fall it is not that bad.  If you jump off of a cliff there is really no difference in the ending from the beginning.  The outcome is the same, it is just the little bit of time between.  It is not as though you can grab onto anything while you are in midair on a free fall.  Such are the lives of many who spend little to no time in God’s word and their heart and mind are listening to that which does not serve, honor, or glorify God.  It is a slow heating of the water and nothing aware of how hot it is getting before you are dead.

There is no one holding you back from serving, honoring, glorifying, following, and obeying God but you.  You choose each day.