Understand – Page 3 – Praying Pint

19.g. “O LORD my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;”

John 21:25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

John 20:30-31    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 71:15   My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge.

Job 26:14   Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?”

Psalms 40:5    You have multiplied, O LORD my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.

Ephesians 3:20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us

If it were possible to write volumes of books that contained the works of Jesus, the world could not contain them. The righteous acts of God and His deeds of salvation exceed our knowledge. Though we have been given God’s Word, it appears to be a vast writing with unlimited knowledge of God. We could spend a lifetime reading it and our understanding of God would still be but a whisper of who and what God is, let alone His power, might, strength, grace, mercy, wisdom, knowledge, ……….. Understanding of God can not be something that is read and understood, it must be revealed to us by the Holy Spirit. “To whom will he teach knowledge,

and to whom will he explain the message? For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.”

God has given deep in our hearts a beginning knowledge of Himself. He has revealed Himself to us through creation. He has revealed Himself through His Word. He has revealed Himself through Jesus Christ. He has revealed Himself through mighty and wondrous works of His power. He has revealed His grace, mercy, and love through Jesus. When we think of the limitlessness of God, then His Word and what we can see of His Creation speak but a whisper to our minds. What He has revealed should not be considered a whisper though. It should be considered a SHOUT, a thunderous SHOUT to each and every soul. It is a SHOUT of love and of warning. It is a SHOUT of eternal life and eternal torment and hell. It is a Shout of the Heavenly and worldly. It is a SHOUT of righteousness and wickedness, good and bad, faithful and unfaithful, truth and lies. It is a SHOUT of hope, refuge, power, strength, and courage, and of fear, anger, hate, and confusion. It is a SHOUT of redemption, salvation, and forgiveness, and of judgment, condemnation, and rejection.

It is a loud thunderous SHOUT to every soul. On judgment day no one will be able to say I didn’t know or I never heard for it will be clear to them than just how many times in their lives they rejected and denied the thunderous SHOUTS of God’s warnings and love.

18.a. “In the end time there will be scoffers living according to their own ungodly desires.”

Jude 1:3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. 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. And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—

Jude 17 But you, dear friends, remember what was predicted by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They told you, “in the end time there will be scoffers living according to their own ungodly desires.” These people create divisions and are worldly, not having the Spirit.

Psalms 14:1-2   The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good.  The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.

1 Corinthians 2:14   The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

James 3:15    This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.

Romans 8:9    You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

John 3:5-6    Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

The lure of sin was able to drag angels away from God. Certainly, it is possible for a man to be drawn away too. What is in this “lure” that is so appealing? Is it self-worth, self-control, self-reliance, power, greed, anger, lust…..? Some of these attributes we can see in the actions people take but many times they are hidden from observation and only known by God. They very well may be known by the person but more than likely they are denied or embraced. Jude speaks of these people who seem to disguise themselves as fellow believers. He calls them dangerous reefs, wild waves, fruitless trees, waterless clouds, wandering stars, and twice dead. There is a place called hell reserved for them, where utter darkness, torment, and anguish is eternal.

An individual Christian may not know it, understand it, or benefit by it, but to be a Christian is to be a part of a community. To be a Christian means you stand shoulder to shoulder with millions of Christians who have gone before. We stand with strong Christians and weak Christians, brave Christians and cowardly Christians, old Christians and young Christians. We are part of an invisible, mighty army that spans back through the generations.

“Upon other matters, there are distinctions among believers, but yet there is a common salvation enjoyed by the Arminian as well as by the Calvinist, possessed by the Presbyterian as well as by the Episcopalian, prized by the Quaker as well as by the Baptist. Those who are in Christ are more near of kin than they know of, and their intense unity in deep essential truth is a greater force than most of them imagine: only give it scope and it will work wonders.” (Spurgeon)

More people believe in “the faith that is in my heart” than the faith once for all delivered to the saints. In the book Habits of the Heart, Robert Bellah and his colleagues wrote about an interview with a young nurse named Sheila Larson, whom they described as representing many American’s experience and views on religion. Speaking about her own faith and how it operated in her life, she said: “I believe in God. I’m not a religious fanatic. I can’t remember the last time I went to church. My faith has carried me a long way. It is ‘Sheilaism.’ Just my own little voice.” We might say that this highly individualistic faith is the most popular religion in the world, but the idea that we can or should put together our own faith is wrong. Christianity is based on one faith, which was once for all delivered to the saints.

We may occasionally meet or sit next to a person who believes like this and they go unnoticed by us, but not unnoticed by God. When we are aware we must contend for the faith that is found only in the gospel of Jesus Christ. It should never be watered down or added too. The first step in this direction is fruitless and robs Jesus Christ of His glory and honor. Contending for the faith is to proclaim the gospel and live to honor and glorify Jesus Christ through surrender, repentance, obedience, reliance, and trust.

17.w. “For this reason they could not believe”

John 12:37 Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere: “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them.”

Christ enlightens them by signs, wonders, miracles, and words. These testimonies should shine bright in the darkness so that they/we may believe and follow the way of salvation. For this reason, they who do not choose to look at the light of Jesus Christ and the grace of God extinguish, as far as lies in their power, the light of Jesus Christ which is not only with them but offered to them. One commentator said, “It is perplexing how they came to be so stupid, that the power of God, though visible, produced no effect upon them. Their choice blinded them and in this blindness, their hearts are hardened like stone. We never know what exactly led them o deny Christ. It could have been pride, selfish-ambition, greed, anger, hate, love of this world, lovers of the desires of the flesh, or a host of other reasons. The very same things that have kept millions upon millions from believing in Jesus Christ, the Gospel of Salvation.

Examine your heart. Is it open to the leading of the Holy Spirit or does it take its lead from your fleshly desires? Does it seek and desire to know and be known by Jesus Christ? Does it seek to honor and glorify Him? Does it hunger and thirst for more understanding of His grace, mercy, and love? Do not be blinded by things of this world and what it has to offer. You never know when your heart will become hardened like stone and the light of Jesus Christ will no more be able to enter in.

17.q. “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

John 12:12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!”, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”, “Blessed is the king of Israel!” Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him. Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”

Luke 19:35 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

“The donkey was not normally used by a warlike person. It was the animal of a man of peace, a priest, a merchant, or the like. It might also be used by a person of importance but in connection with peaceable purposes. The donkey speaks of peace.” (Morris) “They greeted Jesus as a king, though ignorant of the nature of His kingship. It would seem that they looked upon Him as a potential nationalist leader, with whose help they might be able to become wholly independent of foreign powers who ruled over them.”

What were the people really praising Jesus for? Was it for raising Lazarus from the dead? Was it because they anticipated Him to become their mighty King? Was it because, on the coming Passover, they thought He was their deliverer from their Roman oppressors? When we praise and worship Jesus it is because He is King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Son of God, and Savior. It should never be about what we can get from Him, but because of who He is. Granted, we are blessed beyond all measure, we are forgiven of sin, we are redeemed, we are redeemed, forgiven, and born again, we are given and filled with the Holy Spirit, we are given His written Word, we are given joy, peace, love, hope, power, refuge, and the promises of eternal life and His coming again. These blessings we can truly be thankful for, but our praise and worship should be for who He is. I guess this is a very fine line. Thankfulness can be an expression of praise and worship. However, the line can grow strangely wide when our heart speaks thankfulness for what we can get rather than for who the Giver is.

17.k. “Let no one deceive himself.”

John 11:45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.

Proverbs 26:12    Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Isaiah 5:20-23    Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!  Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!  Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink,  who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right!

1 Corinthians 1:20   Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

1 Corinthians 3:18-19    Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.  For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,”

The words and works of Jesus divide humanity between those who believe and those who reject. There were some who saw both the power and sympathy of Jesus yet responded by working against Him. Some that had seen even this miracle steeled their hearts against it, and not only so, but conspired the destruction of this glorious Savior!

The religious leaders privately admitted that Jesus performed signs that authenticated His claim to be Messiah and God. As Jesus claimed, His works did bear witness to Him. First, they opposed Jesus because they weren’t convinced He was the Messiah. Now they opposed Jesus because they were convinced that He was the Messiah. They denied and opposed Him. They were afraid of His influence over people and their loss of influence. They knew the logical response to the witness of the signs, wonders, works, and words of Jesus was to believe in Him. “If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him.” The high priest unknowingly prophesied. “You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.

The Word of God proclaims the wonders, signs, words, and works of Jesus Christ. And just like during the life of Jesus, people believe and reject and deny the truth of it. Some deny Him within their heart but do not speak of it. They float along in life never giving thought to what they have rejected. They trust in their good works rather than the Savior. At some point, they may have heard the Gospel presented in such a way that their heart was softened and their mind was given a full understanding of the offer of salvation and redemption. Yet they chose to reject that offer. Others deny Him openly and with great disregard of who it is they are rejecting. They spit on the grace, love, and mercy of Jesus Christ. In the end, all who have inwardly and outwardly rejected Jesus Christ will suffer eternally in Hell for this rejection. Now is the time of salvation. If the Gospel of Jesus Christ is offered to you, do not reject it. Surrender to it and cling to it. Your eternal life depends upon it.

16.s. “But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.”

John 10:1 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

Jeremiah 23:16-17   Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD.  They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’”

Ecclesiastes 11:9     Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

2 Peter 2:1   But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.

1 John 4:1    Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

There is but one gate, one way to eternal life and that is through Jesus Christ. All other attempts through any other means will result in Hell. Every day we face numerous gates that offer peace, satisfaction, health, wealth, etc….. There is only one gate that gives us assurance of peace of mind that passes all understanding. It is Jesus Christ alone. Trying to find a path to eternity apart from the gate of Jesus ends in missing the shepherd. There appears to be many preaching right now that try to fill the church with the promises of what this world has to offer rather than preaching what eternal life has to offer. This world is not our home. Things of this world are not our inheritance. Things in this world are not our satisfaction. Things in this world are not our hope. Things of this world do not offer eternal life. In fact, things of this world pull at us, confuse us, and try to entice us this is where we find hope, peace, eternal life, satisfaction, wealth, etc…..

There is one gate, one path, one way to eternal life – Jesus Christ

16.r. “Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.”

John 9:24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.

John 9:30 The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes.

John 9:39  Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”

2 Corinthians 4:4-6   In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.  For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 6:9   And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.

2 Thessalonians 2:9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

The man born blind showed a simple and profound wisdom in his back-and-forth with the esteemed and educated religious leaders. If they kept asking the same question, they would keep hearing the same answer. The healed man said this about their unbelief, not about the miracle of Jesus. It was if he told the religious leaders, “Your unbelief and ignorance in the face of the evidence is more of a miracle than my cure.”

For judgment I have come into this world: John recorded these words of Jesus as part of a larger theme in his Gospel – that men were divided over Jesus, with some accepting and some rejecting. This is one way Jesus brought judgment…into this world, by being a dividing line. In this sense, Jesus is like the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains; a single place where an entire path is decided. Jesus is “the pivot on which human destiny turns.” (Tenney) That those who do not see may see: Those who admit their spiritual blindness can find sight in Jesus. But those who see may be made blind – that is, those who falsely claim to have spiritual sight will be made blind. Jesus used blindness in a spiritual, metaphorical sense – of those who cannot see the light and truth of God, especially as it is revealed in Jesus Christ. One may say that this entire chapter paints a picture of how Jesus heals blind souls. There is a great difference between the one who is blind and knows it, and the one who simply shuts his eyes. “To b so self-deceived as to shut one’s eyes to the light is a desperate state to be in: the light is there, but if people refuse to avail themselves of it but rather deliberately reject it, how can they be enlightened? As Jesus said, their sin remains.” (Bruce)

13.q. “He gives showers of rain to all people”

Zachariah 10:1 Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime; it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms. He gives showers of rain to all people, and plants of the field to everyone.

Psalms 65:9    You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide their grain, for so you have prepared it.

Ezekiel 34:26     And I will make them and the places all around my hill a blessing, and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing.

Job 36:27  For he draws up the drops of water; they distill his mist in rain,  which the skies pour down and drop on mankind abundantly.  Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds, the thunderings of his pavilion?  Behold, he scatters his lightning about him and covers the roots of the sea.  For by these he judges peoples; he gives food in abundance.

How often do we take rain as a given act of nature? It is God who supplies it. It is in God’s timing for His glory and honor, but how often do we thank Him for it? This blessing of rain we take for granted is an opportunity each and every time to thank God. How many times do we acknowledge the routine things in life as being from and provided by God? How many times have you heard “boy we sure need some rain”? Shouldn’t it rather be said, “God please send us rain”? But we seem to think rain is an uncontrollable act of nature and God is not in control of it. He sends the rain, and as well, He withholds it. Both are for His plans and purposes. By faith, we trust God for forgiveness, redemption, and salvation. This mysterious act of grace, mercy, and love toward us is so far above our ability to understand that we can only believe and trust in God. Like the early and late rains that are considered by many an act of nature and deny God His glory and honor for it, so are there many who deny the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They believe God is not in control of the very “nature” He created. They believe either that God does not exist or that He is not in control of their eternal destiny. There is nothing created in heaven or earth that God is not in control of. Just as He sends showers of rain and man can deny or believe it is of God so it is when He sent His Son. We can either believe and thank, honor, and glorify Jesus Christ for His gift of salvation or deny it. The only difference is to deny God sends the rain has no eternal consequences but to deny that He sent His Son to forgive and redeem has eternal “forever” consequences. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 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.

11.e. “The prince and the judge ask for a bribe, and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul; thus they weave it together.”

Micah 7:1 Woe is me! For I have become as when the summer fruit has been gathered, as when the grapes have been gleaned: there is no cluster to eat, no first-ripe fig that my soul desires. The godly has perished from the earth, and there is no one upright among mankind; they all lie in wait for blood, and each hunts the other with a net. Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well; the prince and the judge ask for a bribe, and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul; thus they weave it together. The best of them is like a brier, the most upright of them a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen, of your punishment, has come; now their confusion is at hand. Put no trust in a neighbor; have no confidence in a friend; guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms; for the son treats the father with contempt, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house. But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.

Psalms 12:1    Save, O LORD, for the godly one is gone; for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.

Psalms 14:1-3    The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good.  The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.  They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.

Romans 3:10-18     as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;  no one understands; no one seeks for God.  All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”  “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.”  “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”  “Their feet are swift to shed blood;  in their paths are ruin and misery,  and the way of peace they have not known.”  “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

We look at the times we are in and have to wonder what it will be like in the future when those who love Jesus Christ are gone. It will be a time when the anger and wrath of God are not withheld. It will be a time of punishment and a time of confusion. It will be a time when trust is no longer a virtue. We want to trust words that people speak and write. We want to believe they are speaking the truth. Even now we find it hard to believe anything that is reported. News has become a political tool for the narratives the various media outlets determine to be important. There is little news that is not tainted with bias or lies. There is, however, a mountain of confusion from our elected officials and media outlets. There are lies and more lies. They utter evil desires of their heart and it is weaved together through their intents. The best of them is like a thorn. They have turned aside and together they have become corrupt. They are full of bitterness. The way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. Ruin and misery follow them.

This is the world we live in but is not our home. We have our eyes on our Savior, Redeemer, and Son of God, Jesus Christ. We can see the lies, bias, and half-truths. We understand the way of the world and it should draw us closer to Jesus Christ. Our hope is built on Him and not the things of this world. I wonder if the best thing we could do right now is to turn off all news and social media outlets for 10 days. I am certain our lives would not be as helpless or hopeless as they try to convince us it is.

11.

Micah 4:9 Now why do you cry aloud? Is there no king in you? Has your counselor perished, that pain seized you like a woman in labor? Writhe and groan, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in labor, for now you shall go out from the city and dwell in the open country; you shall go to Babylon. There you shall be rescued; there the Lord will redeem you from the hand of your enemies. Now many nations are assembled against you, saying, “Let her be defiled, and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.” But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord; they do not understand his plan, that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor.

Jeremiah 30:6-7     Ask now, and see, can a man bear a child? Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor? Why has every face turned pale?  Alas! That day is so great there is none like it; it is a time of distress for Jacob; yet he shall be saved out of it.

Isaiah 13:8   They will be dismayed: pangs and agony will seize them; they will be in anguish like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at one another; their faces will be aflame.

Jeremiah 22:23    O inhabitant of Lebanon, nested among the cedars, how you will be pitied when pangs come upon you, pain as of a woman in labor!”

Isaiah 21:3    Therefore my loins are filled with anguish; pangs have seized me, like the pangs of a woman in labor; I am bowed down so that I cannot hear; I am dismayed so that I cannot see.

Hosea 13:10-11     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”?

Time and time again people of God have forsaken their love and devotion to Him. He sends prophets to speak the truth, warnings, and righteousness expected. What do they do? They still choose to disobey and turn their ears deaf to His calling to them. Time and time again. It is not as though they have not heard of the anger of God being displayed against people who have forsaken Him in the past. Yet in their time of prosperity and peace, they choose to go down paths that are away from God. They first become complacent and then neglectful and then disobedient. It is not as though one day they woke up and said “Let us be disobedient to God. It is a small step up on a small step upon a small step. Our growth in Jesus Christ is word upon word, line upon line, and precept upon precept. When we allow ourselves to become neglectful and complacent we are not adding word upon word, line upon line, or precept upon precept. We are though, taking small steps away from God and it does not take many of these steps to lose your way and/or influence others to lose their way too. We do well to search God’s Word for truth for our soul We do well to search it for meaning in our lives. We do well to seek and desire it with all our hearts, minds, and souls. In it, we will find soul-deep satisfaction. In it, we will find living water that will continue to purify our sinful nature. In it, we will become aware of sin in our lives. In it, we will find hope for today and tomorrow. In it we will be more than conquerors, we will be God-honoring faithful, trustful, and obedient followers.