Tag: remain

12.a. “They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment,”

Habakkuk 1:12  Are you not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O Lord, you have ordained them as a judgment, and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof. You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?

Psalms 90  Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

Revelation 1:8   “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Lamentations 5:19   But you, O LORD, reign forever; your throne endures to all generations.

Isaiah 40:28     Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.

1 Timothy 1:17    To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Hebrews 1:10-12     And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands;  they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment,

Isaiah 57:15    For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

Almighty, Everlasting, Holy One, Rock, Righteous, Alpha and Omega, Creator, Unsearchable, Immortal, Invisible, and Unchangeable, is our God!!!!!!!!!  It is hard to touch the edge of understanding of how great God is.  The Mighty One who reigns in eternity is the same one who dwells with those who are repentant. “The One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.” Our God reached out to His creation in love through Jesus Christ, to redeem those who come to Him in a contrite spirit.  It was not as though He needed to do this.  He is God and could have destroyed His creation and started over but He chose to send a redeemer into this world to rescue those who would respond to His offer of redemption through Jesus Christ.  Adam and Eve chose to defy God’s warning.  They chose to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. I do not know how this all worked but at this point sin and our sinful nature took birth.  Every birth from this moment forward has a sinful nature.  This same sinful nature that drove Adam and Eve out of the garden of Eden is the same sinful nature that drives us to willingly continue to separate ourselves from God.  This sinful nature wants us and entices us to look at what this world has to offer more than the Word of God and His promises.  This sinful nature wants us to water down the Good News of Jesus Christ to the point where it has no effect on the way we live.  It wants us to water down the Good News of Jesus Christ so that the need for forgiveness, repentance, reliance, obedience, and humbly serving the King of Kings is not required. This should not be.  Things of this world will never fully satisfy, but will surely disappoint.  Things of this world will never give us lasting peace, but will surely rob us of rest for our souls.  Things of this world will never give us lasting hope but will fill us with confusion and fear.  Things of this world will not save our souls from eternal punishment and torment in hell but will fill us with a worldly wisdom that there is no punishment, torment, or hell.  The grace, mercy, and love of God reached out to save us from our sinful nature.  The Creator demonstrated this grace, mercy, and love by sending His only Son and placed our sins on Him as the only perfect, once and for all sacrifice.  This perfect redemption came at a very high cost and yet, Jesus Christ paid the price willing for our redemption and forgiveness of sin.  Our daily lives ought to be lived out in humble thankfulness and gratitude, full of worship, obedience, and reliance.  Be mindful of your sinful nature and what this world is offering, they both lie.  Turn your hearts, minds, and souls to the Almighty, Everlasting, Holy One, Rock, Righteous, Alpha and Omega, Creator, Unsearchable, Immortal, Invisible, and Unchangeable, God!!  In this turning to God and away from self you will find purpose, meaning, peace, and rest.  Eternity awaits us all.  To some it will be eternity Heaven and others it will be an eternity in Hell.  The choice is all yours and be assured that this choice has eternal consequences.

5.w. But you are the same, and your years have no end.

Revelation 1:4  John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come,

Exodus 3:14    God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

Psalms 90:2    Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

Psalms 102:25-27     Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.  They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,  but you are the same, and your years have no end.

Isaiah 41:4     Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he.

Hebrews 1:10-13     And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands;  they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment,  like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.”  And to which of the angels has he ever said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?

Hebrews 13:8    Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

James 1:17     Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

We all change in some way or another.  We make up our minds and then learn something new and we change it.  We have a great love for someone and then something happens and we change how we feel about them.  We have friends who come into our lives and then for some reason or another, our connection to them changes.  We make decisions and say we will stand firm on them and change our stance.  We design a home or some other project only to find that we would make changes because of what something we missed.  The fact of the matter is that we change and there is variation in what we think and do.  Our stance changes, our firmness changes, our commitments change, and our love changes.  Do we ever wonder if God is like this?  Do we even have a concept of a never-changing God, who was, is, and is to come.  The “I AM”.  The same yesterday, today, and forever? The One who there is no variation. The first and the last.

We do well to remember our unchanging God and walk worthy of who He is.  Our God is never changing.  Always loving with outstretched arms.  Always offering grace, mercy, and Love.  Always wanting us to open the door to our heart to Him.  All things are in and of Him alone.

35. Sin is crouching at your door

Numbers 33:55   But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell.

Exodus 23:33     They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

Deuteronomy 7:4     for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods.

Joshua 23:12-13     For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you and make marriages with them, so that you associate with them and they with you,  know for certain that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the LORD your God has given you.

Psalms 106:34-36    They did not destroy the peoples, as the LORD commanded them,  but they mixed with the nations and learned to do as they did.  They served their idols, which became a snare to them.

Genesis 4:7   If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you refuse to do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; you are its object of desire, but you must master it.”

Romans 6:11  So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.

Psalms 119:133    Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me.

Romans 8:13     For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Romans 13:14    But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

I have taken most of this from an author on the internet but could not find his name to the article.

It helps to illustrate the force of sin and to suggest that, among other things, that we have to answer for every deed, however quickly it fades, however long forgotten. Its guilt is on our heads. Its consequences have to be experienced by us. We drink as we have brewed. As we make our beds, so we lie on them. There is no escape from the law of consequences.

Think how you would like it, if all your deeds from your childhood, all your follies, your vices, your evil thoughts, your evil impulses, and your evil actions, were all made visible and embodied there before you. They are there, though you do not see them yet. All around your door they sit, ready to meet you and to bay out condemnation as you go forth. They are there, and one day you will find out that they are. For this is the law, certain as the revolution of the stars and fixed as the pillars of the firmament: ‘Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap.’ There is no seed which does not sprout, in the harvest of the moral life. Every deed germinates according to its kind. For all that a man does he has to carry the consequences, and every one shall bear his own burden. ‘If thou doest not well,’ it is not, as we fondly conceive it sometimes to be, a mere passing deflection from the rule of right, which is done and done with, but we have created, as out of our very own substance, a witness against ourselves whose voice can never be stifled. ‘If thou doest not well,’ thy sin takes permanent form and is fastened to thy door.

The records of memory are like those pages on which you write with sympathetic ink, which disappears when dry, and seems to leave the page blank.  ‘Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.’ Beware of the first step, for as sure as you are living, the first step taken will make the second seem to become necessary. The first drop will be followed by a bigger second, and the second, at a shorter interval, by a more copious third, until the drops become a shower, and the shower becomes a deluge. The river of evil is ever wider and deeper, and more tumultuous. The little sins get in at the window and open the front door for the full-grown housebreakers.

Can a man cast out sin from his nature by his own resolve?  Can a man cleanse himself from every deed and thought he has had or done throughout his life?  Does forgetting sins of the past remove the consequences for eternity? Can a man keep all the sin that is crouching at his door at bay?  NO, he can’t.

Your sin is mightier than you. The old word of the Psalm is true about every one of us, ‘Our iniquities are stronger than we.’ And, blessed be His name! the hope of the Psalmist is the experience of the Christian: ‘As for my transgressions, Thou wilt purge them away.’ Christ will strengthen you to conquer; Christ will take away your guilt; Christ will bear, has borne your burden; Christ will cleanse your memory; Christ will purge your conscience. Trusting to Him, and by His power and life within us, we may conquer our evil. Trusting to Him, and for the sake of His blood shed for us all upon the cross, we are delivered from the burden, guilt, and power of our sins and of our sin. With your belief in Him, your hand in His, your trust in Him, your reliance in Him, and your will submitted to Him, sin can be removed as far as the east is from the west.

Why do you doubt?

Genesis 18:14  Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.”

Numbers 11:23     And the LORD said to Moses, “Is the LORD’s hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.”

Deuteronomy 7:21     You shall not be in dread of them, for the LORD your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God, nothing can hinder the LORD

1 Samuel 14:6   Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the LORD will work for us, for nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few.”

Job 42:2     “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

Psalms 93:1    The LORD reigns; he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed; he has put on strength as his belt. Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.

Jeremiah 32:17     ‘Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.

Micah 7:18     Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love.

Matthew 3:9     And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.

Matthew 14:31    Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Matthew 19:26     But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Philippians 4:13     I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Ephesians 3:20     Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,

Luke 1:37     For nothing will be impossible with God.”

When you read words like;  “Nothing is impossible with God,” “He is able to do far more than all that we ask and think,” “God is able,”  “God, nothing is too hard for You”, ” why do you doubt,” do you feel a bit like your faith is not living up to what God can do?  In some ways this is to be expected for we do not understand the “limitless power of God”.  When we come to a situation in our life where all of our being clings to, relies on, and trusts in God, we still are limited by our finite understanding and knowledge of God.  This does not limit what God can do.

Even if we try to think of all the possible things God can do, we would not barely scratch the surface of what He is able to do.

Why to we fret?  Why do we worry? Why are we anxious? Why do we doubt? Why do we put limits on what we think God can and will do? Why do we fear?  Why do we get upset?  Are these indicators of our thinking of what we think God can do in our lives and situations?    

Is it possible we have limited thinking on what God can do because we spend limited time with Him.  We may give him the courtesy Sunday morning nod and maybe even a christian radio station on in the car but is there more substance to our walk than this?  Are these turning into a performance “check the box” kind of things and not really living and experiencing a faith filled daily walking together relationship with God.

Having a mind set on being in the presence of God throughout the day is much different than a “touch base with God” on and off during the week.  Walking with Him throughout the day is a choice.  This is similar to the choice to learn more of Him and from Him.  It is a choice to hear Him whisper into your life.  It is a choice to call on Him, to thank Him, to worship Him, to rely on Him, to wait for His leading, to follow Him, to obey Him, and to serve Him.

We will never approach seeing His mighty hand at work or doing the impossible unless we are in the presence of God, with faith leading our heart, mind, and soul closer and closer to Him.   

Light of the world

“The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.”

“ As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

“I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.”

“for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light”

Psalms 107:10  Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons,  for they had rebelled against the words of God, and spurned the counsel of the Most High.  So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor; they fell down, with none to help.  Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.  He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and burst their bonds apart.  Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!   For he shatters the doors of bronze and cuts in two the bars of iron.

 Luke 1:79     to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

 Isaiah 42:7     to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.

 Isaiah 60:1-3    Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.  For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.  And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.

Exodus 2:23-24     During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God.  And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

 Job 36:8-9     And if they are bound in chains and caught in the cords of affliction,  then he declares to them their work and their transgressions, that they are behaving arrogantly.

 Romans 6:20-21     For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.  But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.

 Acts 26:18  to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

 1 Thessalonians 5:4-5     But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.  For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.

I wonder if we get confused with what is light and what is darkness.  For sure we know the physical difference between night and day, light and dark. However when it comes to sin darkness, do we see it? do we own it? do we understand it? do we know the author of darkness?  When it comes to sin darkness, sometimes, it binds us in chains, blinds our eyes, and makes our senses unable to see or feel the love and light of Christ.  We grope around trying to find a path forward.  Sometimes we end up in darkness be cause we neglect the light.  Other times we just plan fail to run to the light, choosing rather to remain in the darkness.  What are we to do when we see someone in darkness?  Show them the light.  Encourage them with the light.  Proclaim the light.  And at other times allow the light of Christ flow through you.  We all have found ourselves in darkness.  Allow God to use you as a light to others and always pointing to Him alone.

A new heaven and earth

“The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”

Psalms 104:30  When you send forth your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.

Job 12:6-10    The tents of robbers are at peace, and those who provoke God are secure, who bring their god in their hand.  “But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you,  or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you.  Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?  In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.

Ephesians 2:1     And you were dead in the trespasses and sins

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,  even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved

Titus 3:5     he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit

Isaiah 65:17     “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.

Isaiah 66:22     “For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me, says the LORD, so shall your offspring and your name remain.

Revelation 21:5     And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

We are created and given life by God.  We are both flesh and spirit. Though the flesh may return to dust the spirit lives on forever.  Eternity is timeless.  We fill and track our days – time.  Some days seem to drag on and others seem to fly by.  But a time is coming when there will be no more time, no more death.  God, our Creator, has promised a new heavens and new earth.  This promise from Isaiah is to everyone as recorded in

John 3:16  📝  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Joh 3:17  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.

Joh 3:18  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.

However there are those who choose to reject God’s grace through Christ. Those who reject Christ are doomed to God’s wrath and will forever live in torment.  They will not see this new heaven and new earth.  They are forever cast into the lake of fire where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.  Trying to understand this forever torment is hard for us this side of eternity to comprehend.  Though not having this understanding does not leave those guiltless.  God’s grace and mercy through Christ, to those who believe, is a eternal life decision and life forever in His presence.  Do not reject His grace and mercy.  Do not neglect His calling.  Do not listen to the lies of satan that this world is all there is to your life.  The consequences of this decision is for eternity.

New heavens and new earth

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”

“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.”

Psalms 102:26  They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end. The children of your servants shall dwell secure; their offspring shall be established before you.

Isaiah 34:4     All the host of heaven shall rot away, and the skies roll up like a scroll. All their host shall fall, as leaves fall from the vine, like leaves falling from the fig tree.

Isaiah 66:22     “For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me, says the LORD, so shall your offspring and your name remain.

2 Peter 3:7-12     But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.  But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.  The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.  But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.  Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness,  waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!

Revelation 20:11    Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.

Revelation 21:1    Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

Have you ever heard someone say “Live like there is no tomorrow”?  What are they really saying?  For some this would translate into “Party Time” and give no thought of the ramifications their actions would have on them or others.  Why not?  They assume all will end and there is nothing beyond this life.  No eternity.  No judgement. No God. No Heaven. No life after death.

For others, who believe, they may see this as so important they contact all family and friends they can, knowing they have little time, and tell them of God, eternity, judgment, life after death,  Good News of Jesus Christ, and salvation, new heaven and new earth, life eternal.  By the way this is how we ought to think – like there is no tomorrow.

There was a small book I read written by Brother Lawrence.  While he was out tending his garden the question was posed to him, “what would you do if you knew the world would end tomorrow?”.  He replied, “I would keep tending my garden.”  Brother Lawrence explained why.  He said he absolutely knew that he was doing God’s will and purpose.  He lived continually in the presence of God.  He sought nothing of his day but only to that which God was leading.  He sought to hear God’s leading and then, by faith, acted upon that.  He stayed in close contact with God through His word and in prayer.  Brother Lawrence only wanted to do what God had purposed for His life.  The world did not influence his actions, God did.  The world did not give him satisfaction, God did.  We all would do well to seek to know and understand God’s purpose for our life and then, by faith, always take action accordingly as His quiet small voice of leading is directing us.

Foundation of earth and heaven

“Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.  They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,”

Zechariah 12:1  The oracle of the word of the LORD concerning Israel: Thus declares the LORD, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the spirit of man within him: “Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples.

Isaiah 51:22  Thus says your Lord, the LORD, your God who pleads the cause of his people: “Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering; the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more;  and I will put it into the hand of your tormentors, who have said to you, ‘Bow down, that we may pass over’; and you have made your back like the ground and like the street for them to pass over.”

Jeremiah 30:10     “Then fear not, O Jacob my servant, declares the LORD, nor be dismayed, O Israel; for behold, I will save you from far away, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease, and none shall make him afraid.

Isaiah 57:16     For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; for the spirit would grow faint before me, and the breath of life that I made.

Isaiah 44:24    Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: “I am the LORD, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself,

The power and sovereignty of God can easily be seen in  scripture.  Why is it I so easily forget the power, might, purpose, plans, and love of God?  Do I not trust the creator of all there is?  Do I not have faith in His love, purpose, and plans? Do I doubt He is in control? I wish this lack of reliance and trust were put behind me and I could walk this life in and by absolute faith.  It seems as though I have the head knowledge, but the heart, mind, and soul deep belief and trust is always on the fringe.  Forgive me Father for you alone is where my service, obedience, and reliance should continually be.