revealed – Page 5 – Praying Pint

Uttered Judgement

“He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.”

“For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.”

“ But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King. At his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure his indignation.”

“Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken into pieces by him.”

Psalms 76:7 But you, you are to be feared! Who can stand before you when once your anger is rouse? From the heavens you uttered judgment; the earth feared and was still, when God arose to establish judgment, to save all the humble of the earth.

Psalms 89:7 a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all who are around him?

Jeremiah 10:7 Who would not fear you, O King of the nations? For this is your due; for among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is none like you. They are both stupid and foolish; the instruction of idols is but wood! Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz. They are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith; their clothing is violet and purple; they are all the work of skilled men.

Matthew 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Revelation 14:7 And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

Revelation 15:4 Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

Zephaniah 2:3 Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the LORD.

Living in the this time of grace and mercy of God does not mean He is not storing up His anger and wrath. We need to be mindful of what it means to our soul to neglect His word and be complacent in humbly serving, honoring, following, and obeying Him. He is a living God who sees all of our actions and knows all of our thoughts. Walk worthy of “Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell”.

Hidden for Ages

“ A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”

“ the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Malachi 4:5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”

Matthew 11:13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.

Matthew 17:10 And the disciples asked him, “Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” He answered, “Elijah does come, and he will restore all things. But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.

Luke 1:17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

Luke 7:26 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, “‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’ I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

1 Peter 1:10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

“The mystery hidden from ages now revealed.” God chose to reveal this mystery to us. He chose to make known that which had previously been vague. I wonder if we, on the knowing side of the mystery, fully understand the magnitude of this great gift. Do we treat it as though it is something special or just a bit more information. It would appear as though we have been brought out from designed ignorance into God given wisdom in things so wonderful and blessed that our voices should ring with praise and thanksgiving to God. But reality is we don’t truly understand the ignorance others lived in so this comparison can only be a mental exercise. We live in a time where there is so much information at our finger tips. World troubles are seconds away from us knowing they happened. World accomplishments the same. It would appear we are living in a time of testing our resolve to remain true to God even though all of this bombardment of information is happening. We have been given access to God through His son. We have been given His word to better understand Him and what it means to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey Him. Do not let the speed and influx of this world’s information take one second away from spending time with God and His word. Do not underestimate satan’s attempt at deceiving us into believing we are too busy or this other stuff is more important. We leave this world with nothing and enter into eternity with true hope, faith, and assurance of salvation through Christ and promise of life with God. Or, we spend this life totally cold or lukewarm to living for, trusting in, relying on, or clinging to Him ending in a life lived for self and no true hope. The only thing that awaits is utter torment for eternity.

I must decrease

“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.”

“A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Malachi 3:1 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.

Mark 1:2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’

John 3:28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Acts 13:24-25 Before his coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

There was a 400 year gap between the last prophet and the coming of Christ. God sent a messenger to prepare the way and His name was John. John preached repentance in line with humbly serving, honoring, following and obeying God. This was the single purpose in John’s life. Honoring God through complete submission to His will. Notice how John new his place – “I must decrease” and again when he says “I am not worthy to untie His sandals.” John committed to God. He served Him with his whole heart, mind and soul. It would be good for each of us to remember to be humble and allow God in our lives to increase and our fleshly desire to decrease. Think about and seek God in what areas of your life He should increase.

Awesome Power and Might

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

Psalms 65:5 By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas; the one who by his strength established the mountains, being girded with might; who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples, so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs. You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.

Psalms 45:4 In your majesty ride out victoriously for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness; let your right hand teach you awesome deeds!

Psalms 47:2 For the LORD, the Most High, is to be feared, a great king over all the earth. He subdued peoples under us, and nations under our feet.

Psalms 66:3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you.

Psalms 76:3 There he broke the flashing arrows, the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah Glorious are you, more majestic than the mountains full of prey. The stouthearted were stripped of their spoil; they sank into sleep; all the men of war were unable to use their hands. At your rebuke, O God of Jacob, both rider and horse lay stunned. But you, you are to be feared! Who can stand before you when once your anger is roused? From the heavens you uttered judgment; the earth feared and was still, when God arose to establish judgment, to save all the humble of the earth.

Deuteronomy 4:34 Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

Deuteronomy 10:21 He is your praise. He is your God, who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen.

Isaiah 37:36 And the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.

Revelation 15:3 And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

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

Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Psalms 22:27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.

God’s mighty and awesome deeds from history have been shared with us in scripture. These awesome and mighty deeds include, creation, flood, protection, victory from enemies, signs and wonders, splitting of the Red Sea, water from a rock, fire from the sky, manna and quail, judgements on people, death of enemies, dead back to life, blind were given sight, deaf were able to hear, mute were able to speak, women without child were given children, virgin birth, seas calmed, feeding of 5,000, Jesus Christ birth-death-resurrection, and promises of eternity with Him for those who believe in, rely on, cling to and trust in Him. There are hundreds of more examples recorded of His might acts. Life has a way of blinding us from seeing and believing these acts of power, might, and love. Life gets in the way and we explain away His awesome power and love with words of “I sure was lucky,” “what a coincidence,” “that was weird,” “I wish somebody could explain this to me,” “I see it but don’t believe it,” somebody was watching over them,” “such is fate,” and many more. When our heart, mind and soul are more focused on this life rather than on God we see things in a different light – through a different lens. God is not in focus and many of His acts are missed and we fail to recognize them. It is impossible to honor and praise God when we neglect to commit our life to Him, spend time with His word, and give Him all our heart, mind, and soul. Do you want to see these acts of power, might and love? Change the way you do life. Focus your heart, mind, and soul on Him. Desire to humbly serve, honor, follow, and obey Him. And as the old hymn says “the things of earth with grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.

Day of Wrath

“ 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.”

Psalms 58:11 Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.”

Psalms 92:15 to declare that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

Malachi 3:14 You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the LORD of hosts?

Isaiah 3:10 Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds. Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.

Romans 6:21 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. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.

Psalms 9:16 The LORD has made himself known; he has executed judgment; the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands.

Psalms 64:9 Then all mankind fears; they tell what God has brought about and ponder what he has done.

Psalms 33:18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love,

Psalms 96:13 before the LORD, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness.

Malachi 2:17 You have wearied the LORD with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”

2 Peter 3:4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. 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.

Do you ever wonder how you will be judged by God? It is never based on comparing ourselves with others. I see those who pretend there is nothing wrong in their life which leads to a very complacent walk with God. I see others who try to preform various acts to overshadow that which they know is contrary to being right with God. Do you think we are judged based on how bad other people are or how well we preform? We will be judged according to what is found in His word. Those who come to God and believe it is in what they do that makes them right before Him – “Trying to earn it” – His word says being made right before God is a gift of grace to all who believe and not by works less any man would boast. What in our life can stand up to His holiness? What can make us clean if we can’t earn it? Believing in the redeeming work of Jesus Christ, trusting in, clinging to, and relying on this alone to be right in God’s eyes. It is not by what we do but by believing in what He has done. If we have trust in anything else we fall short. If we try to make up for it by some act of kindness we fall short. We can not earn something that is given freely. “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 this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” It is by belief not works. However there are outward signs of those who believe. At least there should be. Joy and Praise – because of God and His grace and mercy, Hope – because of His promises, Peace & Rest – because of knowing our lives are a work of His hand, Strength & Courage – because God is our rock and sovereign over all, Love and Kindness and Sacrificial Giving – because of His demonstration in giving us His son to redeem us. Our lives should reflect humble service, honoring, following, and obeying God for the single purpose of who God is, what He has done, and what He will do. God asks for our whole heart, mind and soul. Stop pretending everything is ok. Stop preforming, thinking this makes you right before God. Start with a heart deep desire to honor, serve, follow and obey. Spend time in His word each day.