His anger is not turned away.
Isaiah {9:13} For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth
them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts. {9:14}
Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail,
branch and rush, in one day. {9:15} The ancient and
honourable, he [is] the head; and the prophet that teacheth
lies, he [is] the tail. {9:16} For the leaders of this people
cause [them] to err; and [they that are] led of them [are]
destroyed. {9:17} Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in
their young men, neither shall have mercy on their
fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an
evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his
anger is not turned away, but his hand [is] stretched out still.
Hypocrite and evildoer, mouths speaking folly.
We want God to overlook our hypocrisy.
We want God to overlook our evil doing.
We want God to overlook the folly we speak with our mouths.
It doesn't matter who we are.
Young.
Old.
Leader.
Follower.
Fatherless, motherless, childless, widows, widowers.
Executive.
Laborer.
None of it matters, not one little tiny bit.
It doesn't matter if you are a church leader, a choir singer, a visitor, a patron, it doesn't matter.
What matters if you're alive.
If you're alive you are accountable for your actions.
Every single action you make you are accountable for and have no one but yourself to answer for that action. You can claim outside influence just as Eve claimed beguiling by the Devil. Did Eve's claim to beguiling and Adam's claiming Eve giving him the fruit change their guilt any? Was it then pronounced by God that everything was fine the blame was passed on to the beguiler? No.
No. Everything wasn't fine, the sin remained. The beguiler reaped a punishment for beguiling but ultimately Eve and Adam both were to pay for their own sins.
Today we can blame everything for our actions- circumstance, trickery, beguiling- we can blame all sorts of things for our actions but ultimately we choose every action we make. Even in the most tense situations where we feel our hands are being forced by circumstances, we make the choice that we have to be responsible for. Some say it was a life or death situation, so compromising principles and such should be understood, surely we're not expected to die. But maybe we are.
I hear the shout of a cruel, unloving God that would ask that of us. Well, it's simply not true. God's love goes beyond our comprehension and we are only given small glimpses of that love in our lives such as a father or mother for a child- raising a child- you don't ask nothing of that child you expect obedience and you discipline the child to get the obedience.
God's ways are so far beyond our own but faith and trust are so important.
He is our creator, period.
He is our creator and as such we- His creation are not meant to function fully without Him guiding our lives.
We want to think that God will overlook our short comings but He won't.
He overlooks NOTHING.
How can He overlook sin, when He allowed His only Son to die for sin?
Jesus died for us to pay the price of our forgiven sins, sins we repent of and do no more. Jesus died and God would be very remiss to make the death of His only Son so meaningless that He can simply overlook the sins we commit as being unimportant.
A price was paid for sin.
Sin cannot be overlooked.
Sin can be forgiven.
Isaiah {9:17} Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in
their young men, neither shall have mercy on their
fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an
evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his
anger is not turned away, but his hand [is] stretched out still.
No joy. No mercy. His anger is not turned away.
We can't expect sin to be overlooked.
Sin must be confessed.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to
forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.
We can't expect our sins no matter how tiny or how huge to be overlooked. We can't excuse them away because of this reason or that. We must confess our sins.
May our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ hear our prayer as we seek to confess our sins and repent of them. May His faithfulness and His being just forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness.
By His mercy and grace now and forever!
Amen.
3/2/10
Rom 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Do we believe this? Surely our unique suffering is worse than people imagine. Suffering is unique isn't it? Seriously. Not all pain is the same for everyone. A woman who gives birth and travails in that most horrible of pains doesn't do so the same as the next woman. Some tolerate pain more so than others. Pain is unique to us. we can sympathize with others in pain because we know what it is to have our own pain. Even the pain of a head ache gives us the experience of pain we need to understand. 'The suffering of this present time....are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.' I ask again, do we believe this? The pain some feel is so great, the suffering so intense and yet they can't compare with the glory to come. What does that mean exactly? When you compare something you are weighing them against each other aren't you? The suffering and the glory. Does this statement indicate that the glory will far outweigh the suffering? Perhaps like it is for a lot of women who give birth the pain is horrific and then it's over and there is a new life to account for all the pain. Many women forget the pain easily enough as they adore the child in their arms. Many would say that it was all worth it and they go through it again, and again, and again.
'The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.'
The glory revealed in us. There will be glory, the glory of Christ revealed in us. We will suffer though. We will suffer through the pains of this life here on earth living in a world that is no longer meant for God's children. We can't fool ourselves into believing things are right on this world. We can't be lulled into believing life is what you make it because here on this earth corrupted by Satan, ruled by Satan- the Prince of this World, we only have so much control. We have the control to choose to live in Christ yet doing that won't take us out of the world.
Jesus even prayed that specifically- remember this...
Joh 17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
We have to live in the world, this world that isn't right for us.
Joh 17:14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
The world hates us. Does the world hate you? I don't feel like it hates me, is this because I'm too much like the world and not enough like Christ? Satan has many devices he uses to snare us. I don't live in a country where believing in Jesus Christ means I risk my very life. I don't live among people who hate me because I believe in Jesus. There are a lot of people who do, more people than we realize. We can read about it now just by going to an internet search engine and putting in there Christian persecution. We can read about it in newspapers, magazines, it's out there for us to know about yet even knowing it doesn't seem really, real. Does the world hate you? Perhaps the hate comes in other ways. Perhaps your being hated isn't outright hatred for Christ but rather life giving you one hardship after another to deal with, wearing you down as dripping water can wear away a stone. One drop is okay but sometimes a torrent of water hits us threatening to drown us. The world hates us, the world hates us because we are not of the world and we need to remember that when the hatred comes at us in ways we wouldn't suspect. Even the hatred within. Satan will use outside influence and he will also try to whisper into our thoughts to discourage us as only he knows how.
We have hope though, Jesus has prayed to the Father for us. 'Keep them from evil.'
Rom 8:24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
Rom 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Rom 8:27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
We must pray and trust the Holy Spirit to help our infirmities. We must hope. We are living in this world that is not ours and yet we are Christ's and we will be kept by Him. Some how all that happens, all the suffering, all the hatred, will work together for our good if we love God. God's purpose is that we love Jesus Christ whom He sent. Love and believe on the Lord our Savior.
By the grace and mercy of Jesus, through His righteousness and His righteousness alone, in His almighty love.
Amen.
3/2/11