Speak – Page 4 – Praying Pint

10.s. Hear this, all peoples! Give ear, all inhabitants of the world both low and high, rich and poor together!

Micah 1:1 The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. Hear, you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, and let the Lord God be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple. For behold, the Lord is coming out of his place, and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth. And the mountains will melt under him, and the valleys will split open, like wax before the fire, like waters poured down a steep place.

Deuteronomy 32:1    “Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak, and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.

Psalms 49:1-2    Hear this, all peoples! Give ear, all inhabitants of the world both low and high, rich and poor together!

Jeremiah 22:29     O land, land, land, hear the word of the LORD!

Revelation 3:6    He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Isaiah 1:2    Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the LORD has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me.

Mark 7:14-16     And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand:

Malachi 3:5   “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts.

I am amazed at all of the news, fake news, drama news, political noise new, posturing news, lying news, false news, biased news, partial truth news, unfair news, news on news, opinion news, news for ratings, news for fear, etc……… How can you believe any of it? For everything that is reported it seems people are willing to believe it is true. They drink the kool-aid and don’t mind being led down paths that only a few short weeks ago they would have been up in arms over it. If they read it in the news or hear it on the TV news it must be true and at the same time they are choosing this they read scripture or hear scripture and doubt it’s application of truth for today.

Hear the words of the Lord. It is hard to hear when you are not listening. It is hard to hear when you are listening to something else. We listen to what we want to listen too. We choose to listen and give our attention to it. If the Lord is speaking to you and you choose not to listen it will be to your detriment. Scripture tells us we should b slow to speak and quick to listen. Scripture will speak to our hearts, minds, and souls if we would choose to listen to what the Holy Spirit is confirming deep within our soul. “Hear, you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, and let the Lord God be a witness against you”

7.q. It deceives those who dwell on earth,

Revelation 13:11 Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.

We get to some very interesting passages now. Satan was cast down from heaven, he gave certain powers to the antichrist, and now we have the false prophet introduced. He also has the same powers that were given to the antichrist but goes one step further in that he is able to get people to actually worship the antichrist. He sets up a one-world economy and everyone must either take the mark of the beast or be persecuted and likely put to death. The shadow of this prophecy certainly will be seen in part by those alive just prior to the rapture and the beginning of the Tribulation period. It will be very hard to imagine what the world will be like and what chaos will arise when the rapture occurs. Certainly, there will be much confusion, anger, fear, uncertainty, and turmoil for all who remain. Imagine in the 7 years of the tribulation period, Satan is cast out of heaven down to earth, the antichrist comes into power, the antichrist sustains a mortal wound, the false prophet comes into power, the antichrist is given life, an image is erected of the antichrist is erected, this image is able to speak, people are swayed into following and worshipping the image, and a one-world economy is set up with the requirement of taking a mark on either your forehead or right hand. Wow, this is quite a bit to happen in a short time but make no mistake it will happen and those who come to Christ during this period of time will face trials and death for their belief in Christ. This false prophet will do things that many will think him a god. He will lead them astray and on a path directly into hell. He who has an ear let him hear. All of this will happen and as the day approaches more and more people are rejecting any need for Christ. They seem to be willing to take the chance they are good enough or that they will have more time. We don’t have to read many obituaries to know that death comes without warning many times. We do not get to pick the day or time, it just happens. Now is the day of repentance, redemption, and salvation. Open your heart to Jesus Christ and humbly honor, follow, worship, trust, and obey Him.

2.e. “Inquire first for the word of the Lord.”

2 Chronicles 18:1 Now Jehoshaphat had great riches and honor, and he made a marriage alliance with Ahab. After some years he went down to Ahab in Samaria. And Ahab killed an abundance of sheep and oxen for him and for the people who were with him, and induced him to go up against Ramoth-gilead. Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, “Will you go with me to Ramoth-gilead?” He answered him, “I am as you are, my people as your people. We will be with you in the war.” And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Inquire first for the word of the Lord.”

1 Samuel 23:2     Therefore David inquired of the LORD,

Psalms 27:4    One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.

1 Samuel 23:9-12  David knew that Saul was plotting harm against him. And he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.”  Then David said, “O LORD, the God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city on my account.  Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? O LORD, the God of Israel, please tell your servant.” And the LORD said, “He will come down.”  Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the LORD said, “They will surrender you.”

Jeremiah 21:2    “Inquire of the LORD for us, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is making war against us.

Ezekiel 20:3    “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD, Is it to inquire of me that you come? As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of by you.

How many days go by that we are not inquiring of Jesus Christ? How many issues, trials, troubles, and mixed up days do we seek to handle on our own, define our own plan, and take our own path? Why is it we choose to go through these days alone? Why is it we think we can handle the decision making on our own? Why do we pretend our decision is correct and the outcome will be good for us?

The main reason we go it alone is that we choose to be alone. We intentionally choose to face each moment of each day on our own. We choose NOT to have Jesus and the Holy Spirit in our presence. We choose NOT to seek Him, NOT to listen to Him, NOT to trust Him, NOT to follow Him, NOT to honor Him, NOT to obey Him, and NOT to rely on Him. We seek blessings but do not want to be constantly near and clinging to the One who blesses us. We seek to find satisfaction and purpose in our lives apart from Him.

Don’t receive this the wrong way. We definitely finally run to Him in times of trials but it is the daily moments, the minutes and hours we choose to keep Him away at arm’s length. We choose to be in His presence. We choose to do that which honors, glorifies, and obeys Him. Staying in His word is not a burden but adds a renewing to our heart soul and mind. We choose to stay in His word and hear it speak into our life. We choose to stay in His word to know Him more and more so that our life is not lived for self but for the purpose, He has given to us and how He is leading us. We choose to stay in His word and His presence for it brings life and purpose to our heart and soul that nothing on earth can match or fulfill. We choose Him because He first chose us, and He loved us so much that He gave is life up to redeem us. He died for our sin so that we might have life and have it more abundantly. He died so that we might live victoriously. He died so that we would find forgiveness, and know mercy and grace. He died so that we might know true peace, joy, hope, strength, power, and love.

Why is it we go hours on end without even wanting Him in our presence and thoughts? Why is it we do not desire and seek His leading? We can go boldly to the throne of grace, into His presence at all times, and we seem to choose to hide safely behind the curtain until the flames of our issues have all but consumed us before we step into His presence. Choose to come into His presence with thanksgiving, rejoicing, and praise.

185. Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.

2 Kings 18:26 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah, and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” But the Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and to drink their own urine?”

Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you out of my hand. Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord by saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’ Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make your peace with me and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern, until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey, that you may live, and not die. And do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’”

But the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king’s command was, “Do not answer him.” Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.

Psalms 11:1   In the LORD I take refuge; how can you say to my soul, “Flee like a bird to your mountain,

Psalms 125:1-2    Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.  As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people, from this time forth and forevermore.

Matthew 27:43    He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

Luke 23:35   And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!”

When we face trials and troubles, chaos and confusion, and anxiousness and worries where do we turn for peace within the storm. We see the flashes of lightning and the roar of thunder within our problem and want to run into the saving arms of Jesus. As we take steps toward Him and as we are putting more and more of our faith, trust and reliance on Him, there are those who mock this thinking. They may or may not come right out and say that this problem is bigger than what faith needs and then give you all of the worldly ways to find help apart from Jesus. They have no basis in their heart, mind, and soul for faith. It makes no sense to them. They see leaning on and in the arms of Jesus as a weakness.

But to those who trust in Jesus, they will never be forsaken, never be left alone, never be powerless, and will never be afraid. “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.” They will close their eyes, ears, and mind to what the world is offering a solution. They will seek the Lord their God and trust in Him alone, “for He is able to do more than they ask and much more than they can imagine.”

How does faith like this come about? It is in and through the word of God. The more we desire it, seek it, listen to it, and want it speaking into our lives each and every day, we will grow in our understanding and knowledge of the Grace, Mercy, and Love of our Heavenly Father. It is intentionally daily choosing to desire, seek, and want to be led by Jesus Christ and live in such a way that we serve, honor, glorify, listen to, follow, obey, rely on, and trust in Him alone.

You do not want to wait until the storm clouds are upon you to decide to find wisdom, knowledge, and understanding of God through His word. The time to build and grow your faith is now. Choose to be in His word each day and be led by Him. Choose to listen to His guiding. Choose to follow and obey His leading. Choose to rely on and trust in Him. Choose the narrow path that leads to Jesus Christ, relies on Jesus Christ, waits on Jesus Christ, trusts in Jesus Christ, and lives to honor Jesus Christ.

9. For he is rightly instructed; his God teaches him.

Exodus 28:3  You shall speak to all the skillful, whom I have filled with a spirit of skill,

Exodus 31:3-6     and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship,  to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze,  in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft.

Exodus 35:35    He has filled them with skill to do every sort of work done by an engraver or by a designer or by an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, or by a weaver—by any sort of workman or skilled designer.

Exodus 36:1-2    “Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whom the LORD has put skill and intelligence to know how to do any work in the construction of the sanctuary shall work in accordance with all that the LORD has commanded.”

Proverbs 2:6     For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;

Isaiah 28:24-26    Does he who plows for sowing plow continually? Does he continually open and harrow his ground?  When he has leveled its surface, does he not scatter dill, sow cumin, and put in wheat in rows and barley in its proper place, and emmer as the border?  For he is rightly instructed; his God teaches him.

1 Corinthians 12:7-11    To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.  For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit  to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,  to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.  All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

Ephesians 1:17    that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,

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.

In the light of our culture and the endless withdrawal of God from having any place in social norms, it is no wonder people see their individual gifts as a product of their own making. They rely on self and give credit to self for their accomplishments. Without God, who is there to give credit. Our abilities are God-given and can be used for the honor and glory of God or in the absence of believing in God they can be used to drive us further and further into the pride of self. It is very hard to deny pride and self-accomplishment when denying God.

As believers, we are not immune to being tempted by pride and self-accomplishment. These both can happen when we neglect His word or become complacent in our walk with Him. Being a humble servant comes from our understanding and knowledge of God. Our understanding and knowledge come when we desire and seek it Him and time in His word. There is no shortcut to this knowledge and understanding – it is either growing or becoming stagnate and forgotten. Being a humble servant comes from reverence to God through what we learn and understand His holiness and love for us. We all can improve our humbleness and service to God. Cast out pride. Seek and desire to be rightly instructed. Seek that which honors and glorifies God.

8. Whoever is of a generous heart

Exodus 25:1 The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the people of Israel, that they take for me a contribution. From every man whose heart moves him you shall receive the contribution for me

Exodus 35:5-29    Take from among you a contribution to the LORD. Whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the LORD’s contribution: gold, silver, and bronze;

Deuteronomy 16:16 They shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed.  Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God that he has given you.

1 Chronicles 29:1-30 Moreover, in addition to all that I have provided for the holy house, I have a treasure of my own of gold and silver, and because of my devotion to the house of my God I give it to the house of my God:

Exodus 35:21    And they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and brought the LORD’s contribution

1 Chronicles 29:9    Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly, for with a whole heart they had offered freely to the LORD.

2 Corinthians 8:12    For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.

2 Corinthians 9:7    Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Mark 10:19 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

A generous heart is a choice to give of what has been given to you by God. Do we sometimes think we have worked for what we have and it is ours, all ours, with no thought of it being a gift from God? Our brains, our job, our physical ability, our place in life is all from God, apart from those consequences of choices we have made outside of honoring, serving, following and obeying God. What we have are blessings and gifts from God.

I was thinking about Job and how he was blessed and then it was all taken away. Some may look at this and say that it is not fair. But if we were able to speak to Job I think he would tell us even when it was taken away he was blessed by a deeper understanding and knowledge of God. In the end all and more was given back to Job.

We look at what we have and think it is not enough. We strive to get more and more to buy more, travel more, experience more and more stuff that will never satisfy our soul. We keep, we hoard, we want.

What would happen if we chose to be generous with what we have been blessed with? What would our lives be like free from want and filled with giving? A heart choice to be generous with our time, talent, and money are never bad. However, a choice to not be generous leads us down paths that could end up not honoring or serving God.

26. They believe for a while

Psalms 106:12-13 Then they believed his words; they sang his praise. But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel.

Luke 8:13 And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.

Exodus 14:31 Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

Exodus 4:31 And the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped

Exodus 19:9 And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.” When Moses told the words of the people to the LORD,

2 Chronicles 20:20 And they rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed.”

Getting to a place where we see the hand of God at work in a time of trouble or trials requires faith, trust, and reliance on Him alone. Have you ever noticed how some trials we think we can handle them on our own and they just seem to get worse the more effort we put in? Time is running out, money is running out, love is not being returned, and finally, we get to the place where we have fully turn to God – our last hope.

God should never be seen as our last hope. When He is placed as last hope, we have put some other hope in front of Him. When He is placed in last hope it is not faith that brings us to Him but rather the thought “I have tried everything else, I guess I will try God now.” Note what is recorded in Luke “But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.” And, in Psalms “But they soon forgot his works;”

God should be our first hope, our only hope. To have God first in our hope for trials and troubles, He must be made first in our life service to humbly honor, glorify, follow, and obey. We must be grounded and deeply rooted in our love and desire to know and serve Him. Our heart, mind, and soul must have an intentional commitment choice to have Him first. What intentional actions would place God first:

Seeking and desiring to honor Him, to spend time in His word, to hear His whispers through His word, to be led by the Holy Spirit, to follow Him, to obey Him, wanting to see His mighty hand of power and love, to be used by Him, to worship and praise Him, to be a reflection of the light of Christ, to tell others of the Good News of Christ.

When God is our last hope we are on rocky soil with no root, but when God is first in our heart, soul, and mind, our roots will be deep and He will be the first and only thought when any trials and troubles come our way.

21. Broken Spirit

Exodus 5:22 Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.” But the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. Say therefore to the people of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.’” Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.

We can easily see why the people would not listen to Moses. He, through Aaron, had gone before the people and proclaimed what God had told him. He had done signs in sight of the people and they believed, bowed their heads and worshiped. Then after Moses spoke to Pharaoh their slavery became immediately worse. They thought they were being delivered from their bondage but ended up worse.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for and evidence of things not seen. What is it that diminishes your hope and faith? We have all been there, where we have are close to God, He speaks to our heart through promises in His word, and we find hope, peace and rest in what He revealed to us. Then what happens? Time happens. Our anticipation, hope, peace, and rest in the promises of God got tested by time. Our expectation left no room for time to happen. Our expectation of God’s promises left no room for His purpose and plans.

Our dependence and reliance on God’s promises are not dependent of our expectation of the time when we expect our situation to change. The moment God speaks promises into our heart and soul nothing changes from the aspect of what God will do. Nothing.

Now add time to our situation and soon we think God has changed. Our faith was wasted. Our hope was wrong. Our thought of what He can and will do was abandoned. Yet, God never changed, He will never leave us or forsake us, He will guide us, He will strengthen us, He will bless us, He will lead us, and He will give us courage for each new day.

The next time doubt enters your mind say this “forgive my doubt, I TRUST YOU. If you have to say this a thousand times do it and you will find the doubts soon turn into praises of faith and hope.

I will harden his heart

Exodus 4:21 And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.

Deuteronomy 2:30-33     But Sihon the king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for the LORD your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might give him into your hand, as he is this day.

Joshua 11:20     For it was the LORD’s doing to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, in order that they should be devoted to destruction and should receive no mercy but be destroyed, just as the LORD commanded Moses.

Psalms 105:25    He turned their hearts to hate his people, to deal craftily with his servants.

Isaiah 6:10     Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand wit

Isaiah 63:17     O LORD, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your heritage.

Romans 1:28    And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

Romans 9:18    So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

Romans 11:8-10     as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.”

2 Thessalonians 2:10-12     and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.  Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false,  in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

1 Peter 2:8    and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

Ezekiel 3:6-11     not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, if I sent you to such, they would listen to you  But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads.  Like emery harder than flint have I made your forehead. Fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.”  Moreover, he said to me, “Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears.  And go to the exiles, to your people, and speak to them and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,’ whether they hear or refuse to hear.”

One of the more difficult biblical concepts to understand is that of God hardening the hearts and minds of certain people. What are we to make of texts like these, which explicitly or implicitly speak of God hardening the hearts of people? These questions involve very deep mysteries, mysteries about God’s sovereignty and how it interacts with our freedom.

There was a time when people thought that God was at the center of all things and they instinctively saw the hand of God in everything—even terrible things. Job said, The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised … if we have received good things at the hand of God, why should we not receive evil? (Job 1:21; 2:10) Thus the ancients would commonly attribute everything as coming from the hand of God, for He was the “first cause” of everything that happened.

The ancients were thus much more comfortable attributing things to God than we are. In speaking like this, they were not being superstitious or primitive in their thinking; rather, they were emphasizing that God was sovereign, omnipotent, and omnipresent, and that nothing happened apart from His sovereign will. They believed that God was the primary cause of all that existed.

We need to understand that the ancient biblical texts, while often speaking of God as hardening the hearts of sinners, do not mean to say that man had no role, no responsibility. Neither do they mean to say that God acts in a merely arbitrary way. Rather, the emphasis is on God’s sovereign power as the first cause of all that is. Hence He is often called the cause of all things and His hand is seen in everything.

In man’s enlightened, superior, highly educated, and self-reliance, man moved himself to the center and God was gradually “escorted” to the periphery. Man’s manner of thinking and speaking began to shift to focusing on secondary causes (those related to man and nature). If something happens we look to natural causes, or in human situations, to the humans who caused it.

We are dealing with the mysterious interrelationship between God and Man, between God’s sovereignty and our freedom – Mysteries. In the face of such mysteries we have to be very humble. We ought not to think more about the details than is proper for us, because, frankly, they are largely hidden from us.

Therefore, God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?” But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’”

None of us can demand an absolute account from God for what He does. Even if He were to tell us, could our small, worldly minds ever really comprehend it? My thoughts are not your thoughts, and my ways are not your ways, says the Lord. Yet we try to put God in a box we can humanly understand.

We should be careful to admit the limits of our knowledge when it comes to interpreting “hardening texts,” in which God hardens the hearts of certain people. These must be approached carefully, humbly, and with proper distinctions as to God’s sovereignty, our freedom, His mercy, His justice, His plans, and His purposes. (Charles Pope)

We do well to put God in the center of all things and man’s existence totally subjective to His sovereignty.

“Whom shall I send”

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost”

Exodus 3:4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “ Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”

Genesis 22:1     After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”

Genesis 22:11     But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”

Genesis 46:2     And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.”

1 Samuel 3:4    Then the LORD called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!”

1 Samuel 3:10    And the LORD came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.”

Acts 9:4    And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?

Acts 10:3    About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.”

Isaiah 6:8     And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”

Mat 4:18  While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Matthew 9:9     As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

Mark 2:14    And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

John 1:43  The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”

There was a Call from God and the reply was “here am I”. There is a call from Jesus was “come follow me” and the response was “they followed”. These calls came as these men were in their normal everyday activities. Their responses would indicate a willingness and even possibly wanting to hear from God. I am not so sure any of them were sitting around and had a conscious thought “if God calls to me I am going to say here am I”. I think they were more inclined to believe there was a living God and they had reverence in their heart for Him in such a way that their ears, eyes, heart, mind, and soul were open.

Here I am – I don’t know what you want but I want you to know I am listening.

Here I am – I know you are God or from God

Here I am – I want to hear what you say

Here I am – I am willing to do what you ask

Here I am – I am willing to go where you send me

Here I am – I want to do what you ask of me

Here I am – lead me, I want to follow you

Here I am – use me

I wonder if our ears are able to hear God calling. I wonder if we are seeking to hear God speak into our life. I wonder if we are willing to be led. I wonder if we would follow. I wonder if we want to be used by God for His glory and honor.

It is so easy to get caught up so tight in life and things of this world that we have closed our ears and are deaf to God’s calling. Is our heart so hardened that His call and love falls on a heart of stone and deaf ears?

Many, me included, had hearts hard as stone and were not giving a single conscious thought about God when His word broke through the heart of stone and brought understanding and knowledge of the need for forgiveness and salvation. What we see many times as a heart of stone no man could change, God, in a moment, softens their heart to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

When we think there is no possible way fora lost sinner’s soul to respond “here am I,, save me” God does the impossible work in their heart and mind so that they see the need. They are changed in that moment of confession and trust in Jesus Christ. Never to be the same again. At least we hope not.

It is an intentional walk with God each day to have our ears open to hear His word come alive into our life. It is an intentional heart and mind that seeks and desires to hear and be lead by God.

Be intentional in reverence, listening, following, and obeying His call into your life each day.