Wicked – Page 10 – Praying Pint

Clean hands and pure heart

“For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.”

Psalms 85:9 Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land. Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other.

Psalms 24:4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

Psalms 50:23 The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!”

Psalms 119:155 Salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek your statutes.

Mark 12:32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

Acts 11:13 And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter; he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’

Zechariah 2:5 And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory in her midst.’”

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Exodus 34:6 The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ

Romans 3:25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Guilty, iniquity, wicked, transgression, sin, do not seek, false, deceit, and unclean heart are all words used to describe the heart and condition of man without Christ. Now look at what scripture says of God and what is found through Christ to those who believe; good, steadfast love, salvation, faithfulness, righteousness, peace, clean hands, pure heart, thanksgiving, understanding, strength, saved, grace, truth, forgiven, and justified. Open your heart and mind to His word and seek Him in times of peace and trials. There is no other place to find truth, happiness, and hope for eternity.

Out of Darkness

“And I said: Hear, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know justice?”

Psalms 82:4 Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

Psalms 53:3 They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. Have those who work evil no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon God?

Romans 1:28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done

Proverbs 1:29 Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD, would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof, therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.

Proverbs 4:19 The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.

Ecclesiastes 2:14 The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them.

1 John 2:11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Proverbs 2:5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints. Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path; for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you, delivering you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech, who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness,

How sad would it be for God to leave a person to their own devices. Imagine God offering a place of refuge, peace, hope, and strength with eternal life upon death. He communicated resurrection to a place that He has created for those who are called by Him. The fact is, all have been called but few listen and take the offer of His gift of life. A void in their heart that at one time was open to know God but over time it became hard and a choice was made to have nothing to do with Him. Choosing to believe the liar of this world rather than the Creator. We never know when a person’s heart, mind and soul have fully hardened to God so our responsibility is to continually speak hope of Christ into their life. Bring a reflection of His light into the darkness that surrounds us. All of us were once lost and without hope, living as though there was no eternal consequences. Someone, being led by God, spoke Christ to us and God softened our heart and opened our ears to hear the need and forgiveness of our sin. Stay in His word, look and listen for opportunities to be used by Him to bring hope to the lost.

Walk in My ways

“Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the LORD, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

““As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you.”

Psalms 81:11 “But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels. Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways! I would soon subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes. Those who hate the LORD would cringe toward him, and their fate would last forever. But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

Zechariah 7:11 But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear.

Jeremiah 7:23 But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’ But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.

Psalms 106:12 Then they believed his words; they sang his praise. But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel.

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. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false,

Isaiah 30:1 “Ah, stubborn children,” declares the LORD, “who carry out a plan, but not mine, and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin;

Note the choices being made in these scriptures and they all have eternal consequences: “they have forsaken me,” – “we will not listen to you.” – “my people did not listen to my voice” – “would not submit to me” – “follow their own counsels.” -“they refused to pay attention” -“turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears ” -“they did not obey or incline their ear” – “went backward and not forward.” – “they soon forgot his works” – “they did not wait for his counsel” – “they refused to love the truth ” – “who carry out a plan, but not mine”. We need to be mindful of our sinful nature and it’s inherent desire to be all about self and self accomplishments. Walking down the path of life we make choices. If we choose to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey God the path we follow is God directed. If we choose to be complacent and neglect His word we are soon finding ourselves unable to discern His leading and are blind to the path of destruction we are on. Spend time in His word. Learn to hear His whispers of leading. Choose to follow and obey Him.

Judgement is for God

“You judge according to the flesh;”

“Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.”

John 7:24 Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

Psalms 82:2 “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked?

Proverbs 17:15 He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the LORD.

Proverbs 24:23 These also are sayings of the wise. Partiality in judging is not good.

Isaiah 11:3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

James 2:1 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.

James 2:9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin

Habakkuk 1:4 So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted.

John 3:17 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.

Judging is an easy trap to fall into. Sometimes we judge by appearance and other times by what we hear. We make assumptions when we do this. If we see a person dressed very nicely we may think they are successful and just the opposite for someone not dressed so well. In fact we may even treat them both differently. The bible has examples of this in the new testament. Jesus was talking about the man who pleaded with God for forgiveness, simple stating forgive me a sinner. Another stood before God and said I am thankful I am not like that person. Another example was with the man who gave money and made sure those around knew how much he gave. This was compared to the old poor woman who gave 2 pennies. In the first example the man asking for forgiveness did so with humble (fear) respect and reliance on God and the other man did so with pride in self. In the second example the old poor woman gave all she had where the rich person gave out of his abundance. It is so easy to judge by appearance and yet it is so wrong. Another example would be of the two who were being crucified along either side of Jesus. Standing back in the crowd one might judge them all as worthless sinners deserving this punishment. Yet one would join Jesus in paradise and the other condemned to hell. When it comes to a mans heart only God truly knows. We do well to treat all mankind with grace, mercy and love proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ, salvation and eternal life.

Seek and Save

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

“And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.”

“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.”

Joh 3:16 “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. 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. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

God gave a gift of eternal life to all who would believe. Eternal life with out pain, suffering, darkness and yet people will still choose to reject this gift. Judgement and condemnation awaits them. How true these words ring true still today-“people loved the darkness rather than the light” Share the gift of God and light of Christ each day. We never know when God will open a heart and mind to understand this gift. It is up to us to proclaim it and the promises of God for eternal life.

Light shinning in the darkness

“How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?”

John 1:5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 3:19 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. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

John 12:36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.”

Job 24:13 “There are those who rebel against the light, who are not acquainted with its ways, and do not stay in its paths. The murderer rises before it is light, that he may kill the poor and needy, and in the night he is like a thief. The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight, saying, ‘No eye will see me’; and he veils his face. In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves up; they do not know the light. For deep darkness is morning to all of them; for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.

Proverbs 1:29 Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD, would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof,

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.

God’s word is a light unto our soul and a path for our feet. In our homes we have lights and as it approaches night we turn them on so we can over come the darkness. We choose to turn the light on because we see benefit from being able to function as though the darkness is not there. There is much darkness in our world. Some of this darkness is right there in our face and some of it is hidden and just below the surface. The light of God’s word pulls us out of this darkness, lighting up the path for our feet to walk on daily. It lights up hope, joy, love, grace, mercy, courage, strength, peace, within our soul. The light of God’s word – The light of God’s word – The light of God’s word….. Reading God’s word turns on this light and the more this word is read and remembered and thought about the brighter it gets. Can you imagine a person who would turn the lights on at night only on Sunday and then trying to remember what that light illuminated the rest of the week. They would be walking in darkness fooling them selves with this false hope of remembrance of the light. We need the light of God’s word in our lives each day if we are to commit to humbly serving, honoring, following, and obeying God.

Glorious reunion

Zechariah 14:1 Behold, a day is coming for the LORD, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst.

Isaiah 2:12 For the LORD of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low;

Ezekiel 30:3 For the day is near, the day of the LORD is near; it will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations.

Isaiah 13:6 Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will come! Therefore all hands will be feeble, and every human heart will melt. 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. Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it. For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light. I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant, and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless.

Zephaniah 1:7 Be silent before the Lord GOD! For the day of the LORD is near;

Zephaniah 2:2 before the decree takes effect —before the day passes away like chaff— before there comes upon you the burning anger of the LORD, before there comes upon you the day of the anger of the LORD. Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the LORD.

1 Thessalonians 5:2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

Malachi 4:5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.

There is quite a difference between grace and mercy and anger and wrath. From a human view we can understand just a small portion of what it means to have your grace and mercy rejected. How much more so from God the Creator. He not only showed His love by reaching out but also in redeeming us through His son Jesus Christ, cancelling all our sin, giving us the Holy Spirit to live in side of us to direct and lead us, giving us precious promises of joy, power, strength, courage, hope, love, peace, happiness, His ever steadfast love and protection, and eternity with Him. All of these promises come with a qualification – trust in the Lord with all your heart, mind, and soul. Believe in Jesus Christ and repent, turning away from that old self. There is no wrath, anger, or destruction in your future. There will be a reunion with your Heavenly Father in eternity. I imagine at the time we enter eternity we will see His Holiness in it’s fullest and seeing it we will humbly bow saying Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty. Remember the time of choice is this side of eternity. Choosing to live for self will end in destruction. Choosing now to believe and live humbly serving, honoring, following, and obeying God will not end but will grow into a glorious reunion with God forevermore.

Darkness to Light

Psalms 82:5 They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

Proverbs 1:29 Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD,

Romans 1:28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

Proverbs 4:19 The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.

Ecclesiastes 2:14 The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness

John 3:19 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.

John 12:35 So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.

1 John 2:11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Proverbs 2:6 For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints. Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path; for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you, delivering you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech, who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil, men whose paths are crooked, and who are devious in their ways.

Ecclesiastes 3:16 Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness.

2 Timothy 2:19 But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

There is one thing that keeps coming to mind from these scriptures. People without Christ walk in darkness and they have no clue they are. In fact they do not even know what the light is or how it will help or where to find it. We are to be a reflection of this light, able to tell them of the light, and where it can be found. Being a reflection means our way of light ought to be easily recognized as different from the world we live in. The way we talk, react, think, and respond. Our lives should reflect joy, peace, wisdom, understanding, hope, love, generosity, strength, courage, and concern all in the help and name of Jesus Christ. Is it possible, as christians, that we too choose to live in darkness or with the light set to very dim. Are we drifting away to a life of complacency, neglecting our calling to be light unto a lost generation. Do we set our expectations so low for being a follower of Christ that there is no visible differences between us and those lost other than going to church on Sunday? I think we have fallen into and follow a lie. That lie is “it is up to the pastor, preacher to tell the gospel and up to me to go hear him teach and preach” rather than being a reflection of Christ and telling others of His great love, hope, joy, peace ……. Out of the abundance of our heart the mouth will speak. If nothing is coming out and nothing can be seen differently in our lives then we certainly need to look at what is filling our heart. Living to be a humble servant, honoring, following, and obeying God requires us to choose to be in His word with the desire and intent to know Him and how to serve Him and be able to discern His leading each day. Our reflection of the light of Christ will grow brighter and brighter as we choose to be in His word and be used by Him.

Present yourself

“And as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules,”

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”

Psalms 78:72 With upright heart he shepherded them and guided them with his skillful hand.

Psalms 101:1 I will sing of steadfast love and justice; to you, O LORD, I will make music. I will ponder the way that is blameless. Oh when will you come to me? I will walk with integrity of heart within my house; I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me. A perverse heart shall be far from me; I will know nothing of evil. Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly I will destroy. Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart I will not endure. I will look with favor on the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in the way that is blameless shall minister to me. No one who practices deceit shall dwell in my house; no one who utters lies shall continue before my eyes. Morning by morning I will destroy all the wicked in the land, cutting off all the evildoers from the city of the LORD.

Isaiah 11:2 And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

In Psalm 101 David says he will ponder the way that is blameless, he will not set his eyes on anything worthless, and he will hate the work of those who fall away. Why does he want to choose to live this way? Because of the place God has in His heart, mind, and soul. If we choose to live this way we will need to have God’s wisdom, knowledge, discernment, and understanding. To walk with God each day and desire and purpose to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey is not something that comes easy to us. Placing God first in all we do and think takes discipline and commitment. Fighting the sinful nature of self purpose and choosing to replace it with God’s purpose will give meaning, hope, peace, love, joy, strength, power….. this side of eternity.

In the Hand of God

Psa 75:1 We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks, for your name is near. We recount your wondrous deeds. “At the set time that I appoint I will judge with equity. When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants, it is I who keep steady its pillars. I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’ and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your honor and power; do not lift up your honor and power on high, or speak with haughty neck.’” For not from the east or from the west and not from the wilderness comes lifting up, but it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another. For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs. But I will declare it forever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. All the honor and power of the wicked I will cut off, but the honor and power of the righteous shall be lifted up.

God is the supreme Ruler of men. Our position or promotion in life is His arrangement, to be held as a sacred trust for humbly serving, honoring, following and obeying Him. There are high moments in life when we realize how real and near God is. The ground on which we stand is holy. We know that we are safe in the Father’s care. We are to be mindful of the sovereignty of God and trust in Him alone. We are to live in His presence with heart desire to know and serve Him and His purpose for our life. Be an encouragement to your brothers and sisters in Christ, and a light to the lost courageously living in and proclaiming the grace, mercy, love and power of God.