Tag: Unbelieving Heart

50.v. Wilderness – 15.a. ” Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside”

 

 

Deu 11:16-21  Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the good land that the LORD is giving you. “You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth.

 Luke 21:8    And he said, “See that you are not led astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them.

 Luke 21:36   But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

 Hebrews 2:1    Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

 Hebrews 3:12    Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.

 Hebrews 4:1    Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.

 Hebrews 12:15     See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;

 James 1:26    If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.

 Deuteronomy 30:17    But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them,

God had to warn Israel against the deceptions of prosperity. The person who turns from God in prosperity is simply deceived. They believe they are somehow responsible for the blessings received and become proud and self-reliant. The constant need for rain kept Israel in constant dependence on the LORD. It is good for us to have things that keep us in constant dependence on the LORD. We should never despise those things and long for the day when we will no longer need to depend on God as much.

 God called Israel to not only read the Word of God and to know the Word of God, but to treasure it. In the same way, we should love God’s word and miss it when we are separated from the Word of God. We should call it to mind with longing, having laid it up in our heart and soul. God’s Word was to be the topic of their conversation. We can fairly measure our love for God’s word by how much we will talk about it with others. God doesn’t want us to have a secret love relationship with His word. (Guzik)

But if, on the other hand, their heart was foolish to turn away from the Lord and serve other gods, the wrath of the Lord would burn against them, and God would shut up the heaven, that no rain should fall and the earth should yield no produce, and they would speedily perish. Let them therefore impress the words now set before them very deeply upon themselves and their children. “The promise to give the land to Israel for ever was not made unconditionally.” (Keil)

There are many things that can draw us away from God, doing things for God, studying God’s Word, trusting and relying upon God, and seeking and following after God. Nothing more so than that which pulled Sodom away. (Ezekiel 16:49) “Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.”   In prosperity and ease of life, they abandoned God and followed after the lusts of the flesh. They no longer saw the need for God or a reason to worship Him. They had a good life. Their land prospered, they had plenty of food, and they had money. In this they became arrogant, greedy, and lovers of the lusts of the flesh. 

We live in such a time as this and must study God’s Word, examine our hearts and minds, and seek wisdom from God to discern right from wrong and good from bad to ensure that we are not pulled into it. Pornography is called and defended as “Adult entertainment” and this world calls it the right of an individual to gaze upon it. Abortion is called and defended as “Women’s Right to Choose” and this world calls it an inherent right of all women. LGBQT is called and defended as an “Alternative lifestyle” and proclaims it “hate speech” to address it as sin. Divorce is deemed a fact of life for at least 25% of marriages. Sex outside of marriage is deemed a natural occurrence and accepted. What Celebrities from sports and movies say and do are given more credence than the Word of God. The “Rich” are deemed a “self-made” man/woman. They are sought after to find their secrets to success. Elected officials are followed after and every word is trusted or rejected depending on the party affiliation. Social and News Media outlets are followed and trusted as truth on any given subject. YouTube influencers make a living off of trying to influence you to do or buy something or think some way. Sports are supported and followed more than the Word of God and things of God.  People know team and player stats, and what politicians say and promise more than they know the Word of God. Physicians treat symptoms rather than finding the source of the problem. Obesity is rampant. Drug use is a problem. Assault crimes are common. Confusion, anxiousness, fear, anger, pride, arrogance, boastfulness, greed, etc…… are common.  

We are to live in this world and all it has to offer without being influenced by it or joining in it. How long will God’s wrath against such depravity be withheld? Far too many Christians, I fear, have already chosen to live as close to this world as they can. They talk sports, news, politics, and weather more than they speak the Word of God. What would happen to their thinking if they shut off the TV, Sports, and Social Media in their homes? 

Think about it. What life change or decision today is made from spending time in these areas of worldly influence? Where do you think confusion, anxiousness, fear, anger, pride, arrogance, boastfulness, greed, etc…… come from? Can you even discern they’re the source of these in your lives? Do you care? Is your heart sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading? Can you even discern the Holy Spirit’s conviction, encouragement, or teaching?  It is never too late to repent and turn away from the influences of this world in your lives.

The hymn “Turn your eyes upon Jesus”

O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
O’er us sin no more hath dominion—
For more than conqu’rors we are!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

His Word shall not fail you—He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

34.p. ” In spite of all this, they still sinned; despite his wonders, they did not believe”

 

Hebrews 11:6    And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

 Hebrews 3:12     Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.

 Hebrews 4:2    For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.

 Hebrews 4:6   Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience,

 Revelation 21:8   But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur

 Numbers 14:11    And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them?

 John 3:18-19   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.

 Psalms 78:22   because they did not believe in God and did not trust his saving power.

 Psalms 78:32    In spite of all this, they still sinned; despite his wonders, they did not believe.

 Proverbs 11:18     The wicked earns deceptive wages, but one who sows righteousness gets a sure reward.

 Jeremiah 29:13-14   You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you, declares the LORD,

Brethren, we call ourselves Christians; let us be honest with ourselves, and rigid in the investigation of the thoughts of our own hearts. Is there a wish for God there? Is there an aching void in His absence, or do we shovel cartloads of earthly rubbish into our hearts, and thus dull desires that can be satisfied only with Him? These are not questions to which any one has a right to expect an answer from another; they are not questions that any Christian man can safely shirk answering to himself and to God. The measure of our seeking is actually settled by the measure of our desire. (MacLaren)

Having one eye of our hearts and minds tuned into and seeking and desiring what the world has to offer, and having the other eye turned toward heaven will not find a place for things of God. The things of earth will eat away any desire and seeking that our hearts and minds would have for things of God. Whatever this world may shout loud and strong into the ears of any who would listen will influence their path in life and hinder any things of God from being heard or seen. The heart of man must want to see and hear things of God above what this world has to offer or they will blindly and deafly follow after what seems right in their own eyes and social norms. 

Seek to have God open His Word and give you understanding, knowledge, and wisdom of His grace, mercy and love.

20.r. “Let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.”

 

Romans 11:20   They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness.

 James 2:19     You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

 Hebrews 3:12     Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.

 Revelation 3:17     For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

 Hebrews 3:19   So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

 Hebrews 4:6     Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience,

 Hebrews 4:11   Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.

 Isaiah 66:2    All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.

 Hebrews 4:1     Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.

Paul said, “note the severity and kindness of God”.  We have a natural thought that clings to God’s kindness but sidelines and thoughts to His severity of judgment, wrath, and anger.  We cling to “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” but we give little thought of His wrath and anger against unbelief, trust, faith, and obedience in/on Jesus Christ.  Paul saw how easy it was for believers to fall into disobedience.  He saw how they became complacent and neglectful of things of God.  They became lukewarm towards seeking and desiring to honor and glorify Him.  Over and over again Paul urged people to remain steadfast and to not forget the grace, mercy, kindness, and love of God.  Paul had to be dismayed when he would return to towns he had once been and had seen great numbers of people believe in Jesus Christ, only to find they had become neglectful and complacent in their devotion to God.  Paul so how easy it was for the heart of man to fall away from being fully committed and living for God every moment of every day.  God’s kindness and severity remain true and steadfast.  We do well to our hearts, minds, soul, and our daily lives in line with the Word of God at all times lest we become disobedient through neglect and complacency.

19.e. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

John 20:14   Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Psalms 78:11-22     They forgot his works and the wonders that he had shown them.  In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.  He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap.  In the daytime he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a fiery light.  He split rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.  He made streams come out of the rock and caused waters to flow down like rivers.  Yet they sinned still more against him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert.  They tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved.  They spoke against God, saying, “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?  He struck the rock so that water gushed out and streams overflowed. Can he also give bread or provide meat for his people?”  Therefore, when the LORD heard, he was full of wrath; a fire was kindled against Jacob; his anger rose against Israel,  because they did not believe in God and did not trust his saving power.

Hebrews 3:12     Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.

Hebrews 10:38-39   but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”  But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

Thomas had doubts about what the other disciples to him about seeing Jesus.  Thomas would have seen Jesus hung on the cross and watched His death and being stabbed with a sword to make sure.  He was absolute in the fact that Jesus died.  Now to have his fellow disciples tell him Jesus was alive made no sense what so ever.  Thomas says I don’t care what you say, I saw Jesus die and there is no way you can get me to believe He is alive now unless I put my fingers in His side. Surely he would have heard from Peter and John that the grave was empty.  He also would have heard Mary saying she saw Jesus.  Thomas can not discount what he saw and override what he knows as truth, that once you are physically dead you do not come to life unless Jesus calls you to life.  How can Jesus, who is dead, raise Himself from the dead?  He did not care about the disciple’s witness or testimony.  He can not believe it true without physical confirmation.  

“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”  Faith is the substance of things hoped for and proof/conviction of things not seen. Faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses.  By faith, we are transformed, born again, made new, realize forgiveness, and inherit eternal life.  Therein is where our hope rests by faith.  We can not add anything to faith and make ourselves better.  In fact, adding anything more to faith in the complete work (death and resurrection) of Jesus is to take away from what is rightly and solely glorified in Jesus.  Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father but through Me.”  It is by faith alone.  Faith alone. Faith.  Our sins were paid in full by Jesus Christ if we believe (have faith) in Him alone.  We can not allow thoughts of needing to be good enough to receive the gift of salvation, redemption, and forgiveness of our sins to block us from Faith (relying on, clinging to, and trusting in) in Jesus Christ alone.  Faith casts out all doubt.  Faith allows us to cast out the doubts of being good enough.  By faith, we understand that we are not and will never be good enough and we surrender all of our hope in self-goodness relying fully on the grace, mercy, and love of Jesus Christ

48. Leading you to fall away from the living God.

Deuteronomy 11:1   “You shall therefore love the Lord your God and keep his charge, his statutes, his rules, and his commandments always. And consider today (since I am not speaking to your children who have not known or seen it), consider the discipline of the Lord your God, his greatness, his mighty hand and his outstretched arm, his signs and his deeds that he did in Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to all his land, and what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and to their chariots, how he made the water of the Red Sea flow over them as they pursued after you, and how the Lord has destroyed them to this day, and what he did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place, and what he did to Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, son of Reuben, how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households, their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the midst of all Israel. For your eyes have seen all the great work of the Lord that he did.

Deuteronomy 11:13  “And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil. And he will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full. Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the good land that the Lord is giving you.

Luke 21:8    And he said, “See that you are not led astray.

Luke 21:34    “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation (self-Indulgence) and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap.

Hebrews 2:1    Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

Hebrews 3:12    Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.

Deuteronomy 8:19   And if you forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish.

I have been giving thought to what causes people to drift away from God.  What causes neglect to His word?  What leads to being complacent with reading it?  I could never quite get these ideas to form into something that makes sense.  I found these thoughts from Chris Russell.

One of Satan’s greatest weapons against our generation seems to be his ability to make good people busier than ever before. If you desire to walk closely with God, you will absolutely, necessarily have to begin by taking a close look at your calendar. It is likely that you are currently doing too much. And it is also likely that your overly hectic schedule is affecting your relationship with God. So take out your pruning shears and begin to cut out any activities you can that will allow you to focus more time on your relationship with your Creator.

Be careful not to set your heart on things that really don’t matter. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen good people lured away from church life because they have fallen in love with things or activities that have no eternal merit. For example, children’s sports can certainly be a thrilling activity for your kids to pursue.

When the trials of life cause a person to become discouraged, he often begins focusing on those problems and takes his eyes off of Christ. It reminds me of when Peter walked on the water. He did great until he took his eyes off of Jesus and began looking at the waves beneath him and the clouds above him. It is important for you to know that when life’s clouds grow dark and your trials become fierce, that is the time to run TO Jesus and not FROM Him.

We Americans are so fat with our own prosperity that we often make wealth our god and not the true King of heaven. This has also been a recurring theme throughout the entire Bible. People struggle, God blesses them, they become prosperous, and then they depart from God. Ironic, isn’t it? People of abundance often choose recreation over worship. Why go to church if you could be out golfing, boating, camping, or going to movies or sporting events? Satan wants us to be prosperous, because our prosperity and abundance often lure us away from our Creator.

Many people begin to drift away from God, because they have sins in their lives that cause them to feel guilt when they show up at church. And they feel reluctant to pray or read their Bible when they know they have these issues in their lives.

How have you done in your journey with God over the past year or the past few months? Have you drifted? Now is the time to return. Call out to God before you are so far from the shore than you lose all sense of spiritual direction.

Not ashamed

“Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”

Psalms 95:7  For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice,  do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,  when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.

Psalms 48:14     that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever.

Psalms 67:6     The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall bless us.

Psalms 115:3     Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.

Exodus 15:2    The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him

Jeremiah 31:33     For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Romans 1:19  For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.  For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Hebrews 3:7  Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice,  do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness,  where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years.  Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.’  As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’”  Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.  But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

“Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.” – When I think about God not being ashamed, it makes me think a bit about my daily actions and thoughts.  some days it seems as though I am only giving a few nods Gods way.  This is not what life of honor, service, obedience, and full commitment should be like.  Trusting in, relying on, clinging to is not only for times of immediate need.  It is a way of life.

They have not know my ways

“So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?”

“In spite of all this, they still sinned; despite his wonders, they did not believe.”

“They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways.”

“And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!”

John 20:24  Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”  Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”  Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”  Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”  Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;  but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Psalms 78:11     They forgot his works and the wonders that he had shown them.  In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.  He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap.  In the daytime he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a fiery light.  He split rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.  He made streams come out of the rock and caused waters to flow down like rivers.  Yet they sinned still more against him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert.  They tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved.  They spoke against God, saying, “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?  He struck the rock so that water gushed out and streams overflowed. Can he also give bread or provide meat for his people?”  Therefore, when the LORD heard, he was full of wrath; a fire was kindled against Jacob; his anger rose against Israel,  because they did not believe in God and did not trust his saving power.

Hebrews 3:12     Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.

Hebrews 3:18     And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient?  So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

Hebrews 4:1     Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.  For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.

Psalms 85:8    Let me hear what God the LORD will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints; but let them not turn back to folly.

2 Peter 2:19    They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.  For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.  For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.

It is not uncommon for unbelief to enter our heart and mind.  We have a sinful nature that does not want to believe in, trust in, cling to, or rely on God.  Just look at our culture and how far it has fallen away from God.  Pornography is viewed as adult entertainment.  Child pornography is at an all time high.  Domestic minor sex trafficking is climbing.  Higher education explaining and teaching there is no God.  People never being satisfied.  That which was shameful and done in secret is now a normal way of life.  It is as though people are living without a thought that there will be a day of judgement coming.  We choose to live for God, believing in Him, or we choose to deny Him.  We choose if we commit all of our heart, mind, and soul to humbly serving, honoring, following, obeying, and loving Him and His plan and purpose for our lives.  There is no middle ground.  We serve Him fully or not at all.  Our culture seems to have us believing the lie that it is possible to live in a middle place, somewhere between full commitment to God and living as though He has no place in our daily lives.  This lie tells us that we are good enough or doing good enough to receive eternal life.  The truth of his word says it is not by works or being good enough.  It is by faith alone we are saved.  The lie has us performing for that which cannot be obtained by performance.  The lie has us pretending everything is ok when in fact our heart is far from Him.  God is real.  Jesus Christ death and resurrection is real.  Salvation by faith through Him alone is real.  God’s word is truth.  A day of judgement coming is real.  Eternity is real.  Heaven is real.  Hell is real.  Saying and believing this is false does not make it false.  Denying sin is sin does not make it right.  Everything we do ought to be done in light of His word.  Our culture and our sinful nature want us to deny God fully into our lives.  Do you want purpose in your life?  Believe in Him with all your heart, mind and soul.  Trust in Him alone.  Live for Him alone.  Stay in His word.  Study His word.  Ask Him to make His word alive in you.

Those who listened

“ Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder,”

“If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.”

Psalms 78:22  because they did not believe in God and did not trust his saving power.

Psalms 106:24    Then they despised the pleasant land, having no faith in his promise.

Hebrews 3:12   Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.

Hebrews 3:18  And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient?  So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

Hebrews 11:6    And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Jude 1:5    Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.

Hebrews 4:1    Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.  For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.

I have been thinking lately about those that are saved and those who are lost without hope in the Living God.  There are those who are lost but do not know they need saving and there are those who know they are lost and choose not to be saved.  In Romans is says “They exchanged the truth about God for a lie”  and in Thessalonians “Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false,”  We are to be light unto those who walk in darkness.

Obey the Voice of the Lord

‘They shall not enter my rest. ’

Joshua 5:6
For the people of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, the men of war who came out of Egypt, perished, because they did not obey the voice of the Lord; the Lord swore to them that he would not let them see the land that the Lord had sworn to their fathers to give to us, a land flowing with milk and honey

Numbers 14:33
And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness.

Deuteronomy 2:7
For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He knows your going through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing

Deuteronomy 8:4
Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you. So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land.

Hebrews 3:11
As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest. ’”
Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.

For 40 years the Israelites wondered in the wilderness for disobeying God. The children received the promise of God yet they still were under the discipline put on their parents for 40 years before they received the promise.  Disobeying God has consequences not only for us individually but to those we love and cherish.  The writer of Hebrews warns us “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God”.  Obey Him and purpose with  your whole heart to serve Him.  Think on what it means to serve Him with your whole heart, what it means to obey Him, what it means to trust Him.