Tag: Your hand

1.t. For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy

2 Chronicles 6:12  Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the court, and he stood on it. Then he knelt on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven, and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart, who have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day. Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me.’ Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David.

“But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built! Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O Lord my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you, that your eyes may be open day and night toward this house, the place where you have promised to set your name, that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. And listen to the pleas of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen from heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.

Exodus 29:45-46     I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God.  And they shall know that I am the LORD their God,

Isaiah 57:15    For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

Acts 17:24    The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man,

Psalms 139:7-10    Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?  If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!  If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,  even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.

Jeremiah 23:24    Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD.

Will God indeed dwell with man on earth?  Can heaven and the highest heaven contain God?  Do I not fill heaven and earth? Solomon prayed with wisdom and knowledge of who God is.  He knew God was above all and that even heaven and the highest heaven could not contain Him.  How many times in the bible does God remind us of who He is?  Why does He do this?

Have God’s people had lost sight of God? His holiness, His majesty, His glory – has it all become very clouded. Have we lost sight of the majesty and holiness of God? Do we walk in reverential fear of God or has He become more like our buddy when troubles come our way and we need help?  Have we diluted who God is to something so far away that we don’t even try to live for Him in such a way the glorifies and honors Him more than one day a week at best?  If our thoughts of God and who He is is clouded and watered down, how will we actively seek and desire to listen for and to Him?  How will we follow, trust, and obey Him?

God is “the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy.”  We do well to intentionally choose to place Him first in our thoughts, actions, and words.  We do well to seek and desire to know Him more and more so that we can live in such a way that we honor and glorify Him more and more each moment of every day.

136. But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

1 Kings 3:23  Then the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son that is alive, and your son is dead’; and the other says, ‘No; but your son is dead, and my son is the living one.’” And the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So a sword was brought before the king. And the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.” Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because her heart yearned for her son, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means put him to death.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him.” Then the king answered and said, “Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means put him to death; she is his mother.” And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.

Exodus 14:31    Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.

Joshua 4:14    On that day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they stood in awe of him just as they had stood in awe of Moses, all the days of his life.

1 Samuel 12:18    So Samuel called upon the LORD, and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.

Proverbs 24:21     My son, fear the LORD and the king, and do not join with those who do otherwise,

Ecclesiastes 7:19    Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.

Ezra 7:25    “And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people in the province Beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God. And those who do not know them, you shall teach.

1 Corinthians 1:24    but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

1 Corinthians 1:30    And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,

Colossians 2:2   to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

I am always amazed at the power of God in the lives of men of God who have humbled themselves before Him and live to honor and glorify Him.  God does amazing things in the lives of those who are called to His purpose.  I wonder if we look at these examples and say this is not going to happen in my life, I am not like one of these great men.  Are we limiting God in our life?  Are we saying God has changed and will not be active like this in our life?  Is it possible we are just coasting along and happy with a lukewarm walk this God?

God does not change, He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  What are we to do to see the hand of God in our life?  We have been given all things (wisdom and Knowledge) in Christ.  We have been given many great and precious promises in His word.  I will never leave you or forsake you.  I seek to prosper you, not to harm you. Cast your burdens on Me and I will give you rest. I gave my only Son to redeem you.  I will be your rock, fortress, refuge, strength, courage, hope, joy, peace, and rest.  I am God and there is no other.  I created you.  I created all there is in heaven and earth.  I know the cattle on a thousand hills and the hairs on your head.  A sparrow does not fall to the ground without Me knowing.  I am the Alpha and Omega, beginning and the end. I love you with steadfast love. I will create a new heaven and earth.  I create a home for you. I can do more than you ask and much more than you can imagine. I am just. I chose you before creation to be with Me.  I am retiring to my Father so that where I am you may be also.  I stand at the door and knock and everyone who opens that door will be with me.  I will lead and guide you.  I am the bread of life.  I am the living water.

If we would just have faith the size of a muster seed we would see great and powerful things of God in our life.  We would not walk with lukewarm hearts and minds but with seeing hot desire to humbly serve, honor, worship, glorify, follow, and obey Him.  Maybe then we would see the wisdom and knowledge of God permeate our lives.

God, please forgive my lack of faith in your power, strength, and love for me.

I will harden his heart

Exodus 4:21  And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.

Deuteronomy 2:30-33     But Sihon the king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for the LORD your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might give him into your hand, as he is this day.

Joshua 11:20     For it was the LORD’s doing to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, in order that they should be devoted to destruction and should receive no mercy but be destroyed, just as the LORD commanded Moses.

Psalms 105:25    He turned their hearts to hate his people, to deal craftily with his servants.

Isaiah 6:10     Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand wit

Isaiah 63:17     O LORD, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your heritage.

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.

Romans 9:18    So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

Romans 11:8-10     as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.”

2 Thessalonians 2:10-12     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,  in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

1 Peter 2:8    and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

Ezekiel 3:6-11     not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, if I sent you to such, they would listen to you  But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads.  Like emery harder than flint have I made your forehead. Fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.”  Moreover, he said to me, “Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears.  And go to the exiles, to your people, and speak to them and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,’ whether they hear or refuse to hear.”

One of the more difficult biblical concepts to understand is that of God hardening the hearts and minds of certain people. What are we to make of texts like these, which explicitly or implicitly speak of God hardening the hearts of people? These questions involve very deep mysteries, mysteries about God’s sovereignty and how it interacts with our freedom.

There was a time when people thought that God was at the center of all things and they instinctively saw the hand of God in everything—even terrible things. Job said, The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised … if we have received good things at the hand of God, why should we not receive evil? (Job 1:21; 2:10) Thus the ancients would commonly attribute everything as coming from the hand of God, for He was the “first cause” of everything that happened.

The ancients were thus much more comfortable attributing things to God than we are. In speaking like this, they were not being superstitious or primitive in their thinking; rather, they were emphasizing that God was sovereign, omnipotent, and omnipresent, and that nothing happened apart from His sovereign will. They believed that God was the primary cause of all that existed.

We need to understand that the ancient biblical texts, while often speaking of God as hardening the hearts of sinners, do not mean to say that man had no role, no responsibility. Neither do they mean to say that God acts in a merely arbitrary way. Rather, the emphasis is on God’s sovereign power as the first cause of all that is. Hence He is often called the cause of all things and His hand is seen in everything.

 In man’s enlightened, superior, highly educated, and self-reliance, man moved himself to the center and God was gradually “escorted” to the periphery. Man’s manner of thinking and speaking began to shift to focusing on secondary causes (those related to man and nature). If something happens we look to natural causes, or in human situations, to the humans who caused it.

We are dealing with the mysterious interrelationship between God and Man, between God’s sovereignty and our freedom – Mysteries.   In the face of such mysteries we have to be very humble. We ought not to think more about the details than is proper for us, because, frankly, they are largely hidden from us.

Therefore, God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?” But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’”

None of us can demand an absolute account from God for what He does. Even if He were to tell us, could our small, worldly minds ever really comprehend it? My thoughts are not your thoughts, and my ways are not your ways, says the Lord. Yet we try to put God in a box we can humanly understand.

We should be careful to admit the limits of our knowledge when it comes to interpreting “hardening texts,” in which God hardens the hearts of certain people. These must be approached carefully, humbly, and with proper distinctions as to God’s sovereignty, our freedom, His mercy, His justice, His plans, and His purposes. (Charles Pope)

We do well to put God in the center of all things and man’s existence totally subjective to His sovereignty.

According to Your word

Psalms 119:169   Let my cry come before you, O LORD; give me understanding according to your word!  Let my plea come before you; deliver me according to your word.  My lips will pour forth praise, for you teach me your statutes.  My tongue will sing of your word, for all your commandments are right.   Let your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts.  I long for your salvation, O LORD, and your law is my delight.  Let my soul live and praise you, and let your rules help me.  I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments.

The Psalmist wanted his understanding of life and the world shaped – transformed – by the word of God.  He wanted his thoughts to be transformed according to the word of God.  He wanted deliverance, but wanted it only as it was consistent with God’s revealed word and will. This is very much the same kind of thought the Apostle Paul expressed in Romans 12:-2: And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Our lips can praise God when our taught His word; and taught by God Himself.  We do not not praise God by nature; we have to be taught God’s truth, and taught from God Himself.

Knowing the pure truth and inerrancy of God’s word will encourage and inspire us to want to speak of it to others. Our confidence will make us want to share it with others.

“Then should we break through our sinful silence; we should no more be cowardly and halfhearted, but should be true witnesses for Jesus. It is not only of God’s works that we are to speak, but of his word.” (Spurgeon)

Not only in this age but also in the one to come

Psalms 113:7  He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap,

Psalms 22:15    my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.

Psalms 69:3    I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God

Psalms 32:3-4    For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.  For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.

Proverbs 17:22    A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Isaiah 26:19     Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.

Daniel 12:2-3   And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.  And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

Ephesians 1:20-21     that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,  far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

There are two points that are absolute. 1. The dead shall rise and awake   2. some to everlasting life and/or everlasting shame.  Christ died for the sins of very single person and yet there is a forgiveness to some and not to others.

John 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.”

Those who cling to, trust in, rely on Jesus Christ will show humble service, a heart deep deep desire to honor, follow and obey Him.  At the time of awakening from death these will sing for joy and everlasting life.  Others will awake to shame and everlasting destruction and torment.  They have chosen to reject the gift of salvation, forgiveness, redemption, grace, mercy and love through Christ.  They choose to life for self, never yielding to the call from God to repent.

For when I kept silent, my bones wasted

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.  Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!  For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.”

“O LORD my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.”

Psalms 103:3  who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,

Psalms 32:1-5    Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.  Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.  For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.  For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah  I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

Isaiah 43:25     “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.

Luke 7:47-48     Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”  And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

Ephesians 1:7     In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,

Psalms 38:1-7   O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath!  For your arrows have sunk into me, and your hand has come down on me.  There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin.  For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.  My wounds stink and fester because of my foolishness, I am utterly bowed down and prostrate; all the day I go about mourning. For my sides are filled with burning, and there is no soundness in my flesh.

Numbers 21:7-9     And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you.

Exodus 15:26     saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer.”

Isaiah 53:5     But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

Jeremiah 17:14     Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise.

If our sin was exposed so all could see, what would people see?  If our sin were heavy weights and tied to our backs would we even be able to walk? If our sin was a brick tied to our feet and we were cast into water over our head would we ever be able to reach the surface for a breath?  If our sin was a sickness would we need life support?  The answer to these metaphoric questions depends on our ability to see our sin.  Many times I think we use a comparison approach to sin.  We look for someone else who, in our eyes, has worse sin than us.  We use this to look away instead of looking inward.  This is a lie fed to us in heaping measure by satan.  We easily latch on to this instead of seeking to know what is in our heart, mind, and soul that is offensive to God.  David wrote it this way: “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!  And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” He asked God to reveal His sin to him so that he could live in such a way that honored and glorified God.  Start your day today asking God to reveal that which is not right in your life.  Then run with arms wide open confessing them to Jesus Christ and seeking to honor, glorify, worship, and praise Him for salvation and forgiveness of sin.