write – Praying Pint

45.b. “Wilderness” – 9.h. “Forever, O LORD, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.”

Exodus 34:1  The LORD said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.

Deuteronomy 10:4    And he wrote on the tablets, in the same writing as before, the Ten Commandments that the LORD had spoken to you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly. And the LORD gave them to me.

Psalms 119:89  Forever, O LORD, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.

This plainly intimates, that even under the gospel (of which the intercession of Moses was typical) the moral law continues to oblige believers. For though Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, yet not from the command of it, but still we are under the law to Christ. When our Saviour, in his sermon on the mount, expounded the moral law, and vindicated it from the corrupt glosses with which the scribes and Pharisees had obliterated and broken it, he did, in effect, renew the tables, and make them like the first, that is, reduce the law to its primitive sense and intention. And by his writing it on our hearts by his Spirit, as he wrote it on the tables by his finger or power, we may be enabled to conform our lives to it. (Benson)

When God made man in his own image, the moral law was written in his heart, by the finger of God, without outward means. But since the covenant then made with man was broken, the Lord has used the ministry of men, both in writing the law in the Scriptures, and in writing it in the heart. When God was reconciled to the Israelites, he ordered the tables to be renewed, and wrote his law in them. Even under the gospel of peace by Christ, the moral law continues to bind believers. Though Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, yet not from the commands of it. The first and the best evidence of the pardon of sin, and peace with God, is the writing the law in the heart. (Henry)

We can block out the influence of God’s presence in our lives as easily as blocking out His Word in our hearts and minds. It is simple; turn away from it, stiffen your neck against it, neglect it, deafen your ears, blind your eyes, keeping your eyes on what the world has to offer and its pleasures, unconfessed sin, unrepentant hardened heart, giving lip service, giving into to social and cultural norms, buying into the lies of the world, allowing the busyness of life to drown out the work of the Holy Spirit in your life, limited view of what God can do, unbelief, self-reliance, self-worth, selfishness, pride, anger, fear, blind to sin, etc…………….. It is very easy if you have no desire to know, please, honor, glorify, follow, obey, or trust God.

Guard your hearts and minds against such as these.

Our purpose on this side of eternity is to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all our thoughts, words, and actions. Examine your life and see if just one day has been completed with this purpose fully committed to in your heart and mind. Though it may never be obtained this side of heaven, surely it will grow and mature us each day. In light of the mercy, grace, and love of God, what manner of person should I be?

7.f. No more delay

Revelation 10:1 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.” And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.

We see an interlude in here. It is not as though there is a gap in time between the judgments of God, but rather an explaining of something, kind of like how we would use parenthesis. When we read in verse 6 that there should be no more delay, we have to wonder if what is about to transpire has to do with what the martyred had said, “How long, O Lord….until You judge and avenge our blood….? At that time, the Lord’s answer was that they should wait a little while longer. But now He is saying that the wait is over. Judgment is about to be completed. There will be no more delay in the fulfillment of the seventh trumpet. John was not allowed to write down what he saw but what ever it was the mystery of God would be fulfilled. No more delay. Those in heaven and on earth will see the mystery of God will be fulfilled. I am not sure what this mystery will reveal. Will it be a fuller understanding of His grace, mercy, and love, or will it be more understanding of the righteousness of His judgment, wrath, and anger on those who have rejected His grace, mercy and love? Do you ever think about those who resist His grace, mercy and love? They resist with harden hearts of stone, deaf ears, and turned backs. I wonder what I may be resisting in my life. Am I resisting giving all my soul, heart, and mind and strength? Am I resisting by not actively listening to what the Holy Spirit is whispering into my mind through the Word of God? Am I resisting an act of kindness, a kind word, or a word of encouragement to someone God has place in my life? Am I resisting seeking His guidance? Am I resisting time in His word? Am I resisting being a humble servant? Am I resisting trusting in and cling to Him. Am I resisting obedience? We all do well to search our heart and mind for the resistance toward living fully and totally for God that is there and actively pursue eliminating it from our life.

Is it not as nothing in your eyes?

Exodus 17:14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.

Exodus 34:27     And the LORD said to Moses, “Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”

Deuteronomy 31:9    Then Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel.

Joshua 4:7    then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.”

Haggai 2:2-3     “Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say,  ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes?

Write it as a memorial. recite it the ears of Joshua. Write it down so that it will not be forgotten. Speak it so that it will be passed on. When it comes to God’s word being active in our life, we should have memorials/testimonies that are recited in the ears of our family and friends. We should write them down so they are not forgotten. They should be spoken to give God honor and the hearer encouragement in what God is doing.

Note, in Haggai where the house of God was nothing in the eyes of the people. They forgot it’s former glory of God. They forgot God. They went their own way, down their own path away from God.

When God’s word is neglected or we take to being complacent toward it, His word is becomes no longer active in our heart, soul, and mind and then it is not active in our everyday life.

Be very careful in your walk with God. Keep His word close to your heart. Write down and recite what He is doing in your life frequently to your family and friends. Honor God with your life – keep His word active in what you think, say, and do.

They did not Listen

“Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the twilight mountains, and while you look for light he turns it into gloom and makes it deep darkness.”

“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.”

Malachi 2:1 “And now, O priests, this command is for you, If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the LORD of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart. Behold, I will rebuke your offspring, and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it. So shall you know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may stand, says the LORD of hosts.

Deuteronomy 28:15 “But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.

“All these curses shall come upon you and pursue you and overtake you till you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you. They shall be a sign and a wonder against you and your offspring forever. Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things,

Your life shall hang in doubt before you. Night and day you shall be in dread and have no assurance of your life. In the morning you shall say, ‘If only it were evening!’ and at evening you shall say, ‘If only it were morning!’ because of the dread that your heart shall feel, and the sights that your eyes shall see.

Isaiah 30:8 And now, go, write it before them on a tablet and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come as a witness forever. For they are a rebellious people, lying children, children unwilling to hear the instruction of the LORD; who say to the seers, “Do not see,” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us what is right; speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions, leave the way, turn aside from the path, let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.” Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, “Because you despise this word and trust in oppression and perverseness and rely on them, therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach in a high wall, bulging out and about to collapse, whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant;

With all of the promises in God’s word for blessings I wonder if we overlook the warnings. Notice “if you do not listen”, if you do not take to heart”, and “because they did not listen” make known the warning and actions taken by God. God is not mocked – what a man sows so shall he reap. With God in our lives we have peace, hope, joy, comfort, and rest. He is our rock, refuge, strength and power. In Him we can do all things and endure all things. Desire to know Him. Commit to humbly serving Him. Honor, follow, and obey Him. Listen for the whispers of guidance as you read His word and contemplate it. Our purpose this side of eternity is to serve Him fully.