Tag: Steadfast Love

He is faithful

“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”

 

Joe 2:12
“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD your God?

Deuteronomy 4:29-30
But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the LORD your God and obey his voice.

1 Samuel 7:3
And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.”

Acts 26:20
but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.

Hosea 14:1
Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.

Zechariah 1:3-4
Therefore say to them, Thus declares the LORD of hosts: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the LORD.

“Do not be like your fathers – even when I cried out to them they continued in what they were doing and rejected my pleas”  How would you feel if this is what God is telling your wife, your children, your husband about you? I am confident it is impossible to hear His cry and pleas to return when we spend no time in His word.  We will not seek Him for guidance for our day, we will forget what purpose there is in this life, we will be influenced more and more by what seems right in our own eyes or is socially accepted, we will become deaf and blind to His leading.  God knows all of this and proclaims in His word over and over again “Return to me and I will return to you,” “I will deliver you,” “You will find me,” “Search for me with your whole heart,” “Repent,” “I know your heart, thoughts, and intent,” “I love you so much that I will sacrifice my son for you,” “I will give you peace,” “I will give your strength,” “I will be your rock,” “I will guide your path,” and so many more words of warning and blessing.  Be the father, mother, son, daughter that is spoken of by God as one who did right in His eyes.  Be the one who is a light in the darkness.  Be the one who is able to rightly proclaim God’s word.  Spend time in His word today.

Discern, Know, Understand

“Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them;” 

Hos 14:9  Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the LORD are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.

Psalms 107:43  Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the LORD.

Proverbs 1:5-6   Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance,

Proverbs 4:18  But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.

John 18:37   Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

John 8:47   Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”
Job 34:10-12 “Therefore, hear me, you men of understanding: far be it from God that he should do wickedness, and from the Almighty that he should do wrong.  For according to the work of a man he will repay him, and according to his ways he will make it befall him.

Hosea has been a very good book to study.  I am amazed at how many times knowing and understanding God was mentioned.  The moral condition of the people was corrupt and God was ignored. Even with all of these warnings many did not return to God.  What does it take to get us to return to God?  Do we not take them serious?  Do we expect our lives to be any different than those  before us who chose to ignore God?  Do we expect understanding and knowledge of Him and His purpose in our lives if we neglect His word?  We are encouraged to draw onto Him so that our eyes, hears, and mind are opened to His holiness, love, mercy, grace,  atonement, righteousness, gentleness, wrath and judgement.  Ignorance and neglect have a price on our soul.  Do not neglect Him in your life.  Choose to commit each day to Him and study His word to become a workman who is not ashamed of the life led this side of eternity.

Who is Like you, oh God

“They are both stupid and foolish;”

“Behold, they are all a delusion; their works are nothing”

Hosea 12:9
He destroys you, O Israel,
for you are against me, against your helper.
Where now is your king, to save you in all your cities?
Where are all your rulers—
those of whom you said,
“Give me a king and princes”?
I gave you a king in my anger,
and I took him away in my wrath.

Deuteronomy 33:26
There is none like God, O Jeshurun,
who rides through the heavens to your help,
through the skies in his majesty.
The eternal God is your dwelling place,
and underneath are the everlasting arms.
And he thrust out the enemy before you

Exodus 15:11
“Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?
Who is like you, majestic in holiness,
awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?

1 Kings 8:23
“O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart;

Jeremiah 10:7
There is none like you, O Lord;
you are great, and your name is great in might.
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;

Isaiah 41:28
But when I look, there is no one;
among these there is no counselor
who, when I ask, gives an answer.
Behold, they are all a delusion;
their works are nothing;

What replaces God in our lives to the point where we no longer see Him as ALIVE and AWESOME and OUR HOPE and OUR SHELTER and OUR REFUGE and OUR ROCK and OUR KING.  I imagine something gets lost in our culture where we can easily criticize our President without fear.  We can choose to not stand if he should come into a room. We can choose turn our back on him without any fear of retribution.  Speaking with a friend from Asia yesterday, he was telling me about the King in Thailand who passed away.  If you did not stand upon his entry into a room you would be thrown in jail.  For the next week it is mandatory to wear black and if you don’t you would be thrown in jail. In many countries the office of the King is regarded much higher than the President in our culture.  Is it possible this view of our President dilutes our perception on how we look at God, or how we think we should serve Him?  It would do us well to think deeply about God and our commitment to Him in line with His word and expectations for each of our lives.  How does the excuse “I’m sorry God, I was just to busy for years on end to give you more than a passing thought” sound?  Our heavenly King has asked us to desire to humbly serve Him with all our heart, mind and soul.  How does this happen unless we choose to know and understand Him?  How does this happen if we spend little or no time in His word?  How do we praise and worship Him without continually expanding our knowledge of Him?

Steadfast vs Meaningless

“I desire to do your will, my God;
your law is within my heart.”

Hosea 6:6
For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

1 Samuel 15:22
But Samuel replied:
“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the Lord?
To obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is like the sin of divination,
and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
he has rejected you as king.”

Isaiah 1:11
“The multitude of your sacrifices—
what are they to me?” says the Lord.
“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
of rams and the fat of fattened animals;
I have no pleasure
in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
When you come to appear before me,
who has asked this of you,
this trampling of my courts?
Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—
I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals
I hate with all my being.
They have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.
When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I hide my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
I am not listening.
Your hands are full of blood!
Wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds out of my sight;
stop doing wrong.
Learn to do right; seek justice.
Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow.
“Come now, let us settle the matter,”
says the Lord.

Jeremiah 4:22
“My people are fools;
they do not know me.
They are senseless children;
they have no understanding.

Mica 6:8
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

Matt 12:32
Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

I recently spent time in Roatan, Honduras and met some fine young men.  The one thing I was so encouraged about was their heart for God and how open they were to talk about it.  There was no desire on their part to impress or judge it was a pure heart to talk about God and their walk and struggles with this walk.  Their heart desire was to seek knowledge and understanding of His word and being able to apply it in their lives.  These young men have struggles that we can’t even comprehend.  Little or no father figure in their lives, cultural pressure from their friends, lack of consistent water, food, shelter, clothes, and yet they have chosen to serve, honor and glorify God.  They spoke openly about sometimes not walking close to  Him and I was so humbled by this openness.  When we talk about how we are doing in our walk with God we don’t seem to open up and speak about all that sets us back.  Even worse is sometimes we don’t even see how lacking we are.  We pretend or perform trying to make ourselves right before God and man in our own eyes.  The truth escapes us in this matter because we lack knowledge and understanding which comes from His word in our hearts and minds.  I wonder if our submission to Christ is nothing more than an insurance policy against eternity in hell.  How sad is this?  Rather than being open and honest about our time in God’s word and application of it in our thoughts and actions we shrug it off because we don’t  see immediate need or find time.   I am not sure if I will see these young men again – I certainly plan on it – their names are written on my heart “Bebe, Jorvick, Pablo, Menfy, Hubert, Richard, Jonny, Jason, Christopher, Bryan, Carry, Oral”.  Please keep them in your prayers of protection, guidance, and blessing from God.

No Faithfulness

“There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,
and no knowledge of God in the land;”

Hosea 4:1
Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel,
for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.
There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,
and no knowledge of God in the land;
there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;
they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
Therefore the land mourns,
and all who dwell in it languish,
and also the beasts of the field
and the birds of the heavens,
and even the fish of the sea are taken away.
Yet let no one contend,
and let none accuse,
for with you is my contention, O priest.
You shall stumble by day;
the prophet also shall stumble with you by night;
and I will destroy your mother.

Isaiah 3:13
The Lord has taken his place to contend;
he stands to judge peoples.

Jeremiah 25:31
The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth,
for the Lord has an indictment against the nations;
he is entering into judgment with all flesh,
and the wicked he will put to the sword,
declares the Lord.’

Micah 6:2
Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the Lord,
and you enduring foundations of the earth,
for the Lord has an indictment against his people,

Have you ever thought about what you would say in the presence of God?  Or what you would say if you knew you were coming before God and He was judging you?  Before coming up with what you would say remember that God is all knowing.  Scripture says He knows the intent of the heart, that His judgements are true, that He knows our thoughts and sees all of our actions.  Do we understand the depth of this?  Scripture says that we are to love our God with all our heart, mind and soul – Do we?  This would tell us that God should be ever present in our heart, mind and soul – Is it every minute of the day?  Do we find meaning for every day by staying in His word?  Do we meditate on it day and night?  Do we write it on our heart?  Do we post it on our doors?  Do we actively choose to hear Him speak into our heart and mind through His word?  I fear that our time with Him is more of a “checked box of I did it today” and not out of desire and love and truly wanting to serve Him.   I think about what David wrote in Psalms 139:23 “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” This is a heart cry of what it means to desire Him with all your heart with the single purpose of each day living to honor and glorify Him.

Out of Darkness

“Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man”

Judges 3:8
But when the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. The Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord gave Cushan- rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan- rishathaim. So the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

1 Samuel 12:10
And they cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. But now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, that we may serve you.

Psalms 106:44
Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress,
when he heard their cry.
For their sake he remembered his covenant,
and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love

Psalms 107:13
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

 

These scriptures tell of His abundant steadfast love. Does God’s love change? Definitely not. We find ourselves in times of trouble and wonder how did we get there.  It seems we have a desire to serve things that please us.  If our heart desire is to find satisfaction outside of God and His purpose for our life, this path will lead us to false hope and illusions.  It is sad to see how easy it is to drift away from God into places of unrest for our soul. We can easily follow our sinful nature and the culture we live in but the fact remains that we were created by the one true triune God.  Doesn’t it seem strange that we choose to live apart from His love and purpose for our lives.  We are not immune to this.  I think this is why He has created a body of believers who help each other when trials and trouble comes our way.  We are to encourage each other with our faith, worship, and love.  We demonstrate this through our actions which point to God the purpose of our being.  Be an encouragement to someone today. Speak God into their life.

Over and Over

“Make them known to your children and your children’s children”

Judges 3:7
And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth

Deuteronomy 4:9
“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children—

Deuteronomy 32:18
You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you,
and you forgot the God who gave you birth

Psalms 78:11
They forgot his works
and the wonders that he had shown them

Psalms 106:7
Our fathers, when they were in Egypt,
did not consider your wondrous works;
they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love,
but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea

It seems like the theme this week has been the same over and over again – Unmindful – Forgetting God – Not Remembering – Following what they deemed best in their own eyes – Rebelling – Doing evil in the sight of God.      I keep thinking that it does not have to be this way.  We do have a choice in the matter of serving God.  However we seem to like to choose self over God.  Me, myself, I are always wanting to put self first.  Do I assume I know best?  Do I think I am able to find satisfaction away from God?  I have no idea why self keeps pushing to the forefront but I do know that I find life more fulfilling with God leading.  A  good start for every day would be for us to chose to  humbly serve God every day. Keep in mind that self wants to be first and we need to die to self every day.

Be Reminded

Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct

Joshua 22:1
“You have kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you and have obeyed my voice in all that I have commanded you. You have not forsaken your brothers these many days, down to this day, but have been careful to keep the charge of the Lord your God. And now the Lord your God has given rest to your brothers, as he promised them
Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

Exodus 33:14
And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.
Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth.

Isaiah 63:9
I will recount the steadfast love of the Lord,
the praises of the Lord,
according to all that the Lord has granted us,
and the great goodness to the house of Israel
that he has granted them according to his compassion,
according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
For he said, “Surely they are my people,
children who will not deal falsely.”
And he became their Savior.
In all their affliction he was afflicted,
and the angel of his presence saved them;
in his love and in his pity he redeemed them;
he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
But they rebelled
and grieved his Holy Spirit;
therefore he turned to be their enemy,
and himself fought against them

Can we ever be reminded enough times?  I love how this is recorded in Joshua.  After they had obeyed the voice of God and after their brothers had rest from their enemies they are told that God would now give them rest.  And after receiving this word they are reminded:  “to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul”.   For years they have been obeying and yet they are reminded to Love God, Walk in His Ways, and Serve Him with their whole heart.  I think the reason for this reminder is that while we are dealing with issues and battles of the heart, mind, and soul our eyes are focused on our source of strength – GOD.  Where does our heart, mind and soul go to in times of rest?  This is a good question to ask ourselves.  Do we continue to seek God, desiring to hear His quite voice into our heart? How many times have you heard people testify to the closest they were to God was when they were yielding all control over to Him because the issue was greater than they could bear?  It is good to be reminded to keep our heart mind and soul desiring God everyday.  As well, it is good to ask our brothers and sisters how they are and if they are doing this in times of REST.  I love the verse in the old hymn “Turn your eyes on Jesus, look full into His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace”.  Let this be a reminder to each of us for every season of our lives, in times of turmoil and blessing.

Remember God

They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them

Nehemiah 9:8
“You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you. You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham. You found his heart faithful before you, and made with him the covenant to give to his offspring the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite. And you have kept your promise, for you are righteous.
“And you saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea, and performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for you knew that they acted arrogantly against our fathers. And you made a name for yourself, as it is to this day. And you divided the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on dry land, and you cast their pursuers into the depths, as a stone into mighty waters. By a pillar of cloud you led them in the day, and by a pillar of fire in the night to light for them the way in which they should go. You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven and gave them right rules and true laws, good statutes and commandments, and you made known to them your holy Sabbath and commanded them commandments and statutes and a law by Moses your servant. You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger and brought water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and you told them to go in to possess the land that you had sworn to give them.
“But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments. They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them. Even when they had made for themselves a golden calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and had committed great blasphemies, you in your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud to lead them in the way did not depart from them by day, nor the pillar of fire by night to light for them the way by which they should go. You gave your good Spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst. Forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.

It is good to be reminded of who God is and what He has done.  Do we believe it?  He created the heavens, earth, and everything on it.  He split the Red Sea and the people went across on dry ground. He gave mana from the sky each day.  He gave water from a rock.  He gave them good statutes and commandments.  He led them by day and night.  He made their 40 years in the desert so that that their clothes did not wear out.  These are a few of recorded acts of God that were communicated to the people in a time of confessing, worship and understanding.  It is good to be reminded of who God is and what He has done.  Over time families and then generations forget and do not remember God and drift away.  They forget who He is, what He has done, and the purpose of living for Him.  I don’t see much difference from the time of Nehemiah to now.  We don’t spend time in His word. We don’t live each day with awe and wonder of what His hands have made.  We don’t live in His power.  We worry about things rather than give them to God.  We are closer to the culture around us than to being a light for it.   God open our eyes to how far we are from living for you and guide us in a path that brings honor and glory to You.

Worship God

And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law

Nehemiah 8:3
And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground

1 Timothy 2:8
I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling

2 Chronicles 20:18
Then Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping the Lord

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

Genesis 24:25
The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord and said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master

I wonder if we have lost sight of the reverence we should have to God.  Most of us were taught to bow our heads to pray but the reason behind it was not reinforced or explained.  God, the creator of all there is, is a Holy God far above our understanding. Yet He has reached out to His creation in steadfast love and we mediocarlly approach His holiness and this love.  Are we in a state of thankfulness, humbleness, reverence, hopefulness, willingness, faithfulness, seeking to continually worship Him or do we see Him as the great ATM machine where we stick in our wanting prayer expecting answered prayer to come out.  Our God is deserving of so much more from each one of us.  Our days should be filled with desire to worship Him with our whole mind, heart and soul for the purpose of honoring and glorifying Him.  Lift up your hands, bow your knee and head – give Praise to the Great I Am – God.