11.p. “No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel can avail against the LORD.”

Nahum 1:9   What do you plot against the Lord? He will make a complete end; trouble will not rise up a second time. For they are like entangled thorns, like drunkards as they drink; they are consumed like stubble fully dried. From you came one who plotted evil against the Lord, a worthless counselor. Thus says the Lord, “Though they are at full strength and many, they will be cut down and pass away. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more. And now I will break his yoke from off you and will burst your bonds apart.”

Psalms 2:1-4   Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying,  “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”  He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.

Ezekiel 38:10-11    “Thus says the Lord GOD: On that day, thoughts will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil scheme

Isaiah 8:9-10    Be broken, you peoples, and be shattered; give ear, all you far countries; strap on your armor and be shattered; strap on your armor and be shattered.  Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing; speak a word, but it will not stand, for God is with us.

Proverbs 21:30    No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel can avail against the LORD.

Who knows the hearts of man, but God?  Who knows the intents of actions taken by man, but God? Who speaks with worldly wisdom and knowledge to give counsel to a man that leads them astray?  Why is it that man chooses to listen to and follow these worldly leaders giving false promises?  Each person chooses to listen and follow after that which fills their heart.  The sad part of this is most choose to deny God and willfully will not follow after Him.  Proclaiming God does not exist does not free anyone from the consequences of denying to honor, follow, trust, obey and rely on Him.  Proclaiming and believing God is love and all mankind will go to heaven upon death will lead many straight into hell.  Wide is the doorway to hell and the path is lined with everything to falsely satisfy the earthly soul, totally apart and separated from God.  When there is no conviction of sin in the heart of man, there will be no need for a savior, redeemer, and forgiver.  When there is no preaching of sin and the need for repentance there will be neglect, complacency, and lukewarm following after and trusting in Jesus Christ.  There will be no humble thanksgiving for the atonement and forgiveness of sin.  When there is no hunger and thanksgiving for God’s Word and to know and understand the grace, mercy, and love of Jesus Christ more and more, people will become shallow in their belief, understanding, and application of God’s Word in their lives.  Hearts and minds that choose to walk in blind, limp, and shallow commitment to Jesus Christ will easily be taken in by those who distort the truth or deny the active power of Jesus Christ in the world today.  We do not have to look very hard at the things that are happening in the world today to know the return of Jesus Christ will come and the end is fast approaching.   Denying we are in the end times does not make it so, just like denying sin and the need for Jesus Christ does not make it so, just like denying each man will be judged by God does not make it so.  If you listen to news media for any short period of time you will seldom or never hear the need for God.  You will not hear of living to humbly serve Him.  What you will hear is worldly counsel, plots of man, fear, division, confusion, and utter lack of the fear of God.   I wonder what our lives would be like if we spent as much tie in God’s Word as we do listening to the meaningless drivel on local and national news.  Would our lives be changed?  Yes, they would.

Depart from Me, I never knew you!

“Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”

Psa 50:“Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God. Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me I will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. “If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” But to the wicked God says: “What right have you to recite my statutes or take my covenant on your lips? For you hate discipline, and you cast my words behind you. If you see a thief, you are pleased with him, and you keep company with adulterers. “You give your mouth free rein for evil, and your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother’s son. These things you have done, and I have been silent; you thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you. “Mark this, then, you who forget God, lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!

Isaiah 48:22    “There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.”

Isaiah 58:1 “Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins.  Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God.  ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’ Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers.  Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high.  Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the LORD?  “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?  Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

Matthew 7:22  On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’  And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

This is what God says: “For you hate discipline, and you cast my words behind you.”  “But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you. “Mark this, then, you who forget God, lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!” and “And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.”  Do we see these comments directed at us or someone else?  Do we look intently into our heart with God’s word and seeking for Him to expose our luke warmness toward humbly serving, honoring, following and obeying Him?  Do we choose to hear His voice through His word?  If we are not choosing to spend time in His word how will we recognize Him speaking to us?  How will we know how to humbly serve, or honor, or trust, or glorify, or follow and obey Him?  Do we think for a minute that this comes through osmosis?  No we must dedicate ourselves to it, desire it, and recognize the culture we live in is trying to (and easily does) pull us away for meaningless matters that do nothing for our soul and robs us of our purpose for God.  Choose this day to make a change.  Choose to spend time in His word and encourage others to do the same.