Tag: Terrible Distress

63. For the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought.

Deuteronomy 31:16  And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them. Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’

Judges 2:14-15     So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies.  Whenever they marched out, the hand of the LORD was against them for harm, as the LORD had warned, and as the LORD had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress.

Psalms 2:12     Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Psalms 90:11     Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you?

1 Chronicles 28:9    “And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.

Psalms 104:29     When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.

Isaiah 64:7     There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.

There is nothing hidden from God past, present or future.  Just look at how he spoke with Moses and told him what was going to happen.  We can read over and over again how people who were close to God and living in and under His blessings soon turned away.  It is not as though they did not know God but rather they chose to go their own way and serve self-interests.  Beware of what our culture is selling.  It will surely lead you down a path where God is nothing more than a second thought.  Keep an earnest desire for Him and learn to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey Him.

The Wrong Choice

They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them.

Judges 2:11
And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger. They abandoned the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had warned, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress

1 Kings 15:26
He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin which he made Israel to sin

2 Kings 17:14
But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God. They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the Lord had commanded them that they should not do like them. And they abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God

Why is it we would willingly choose to abandon God?  Why would we choose to to be stubborn and not list to Him?  Does it ever work to abandon what God has called us for?  History will tell us NO.  If we would be honest I am sure we would say it does not work out for the present either and if we believe the smallest truths in scripture we know it does not work out for the future. This I do know – If you believed trust in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ for your sins – If you choose to keep your heart desire with a single purpose to honor and glorify God – If you choose to continually seek Him first – If you choose to remain humble before Him – If you choose to stay in His word – If you continually choose to listen for His leading – If you choose to obey His leading – If you choose to learn to deny self – you will find, joy, peace, love, hope, grace, kindness, gentleness, patience and purpose for this life. Every day we make a chose on who we will follow.