The Unbelievers…
When they knew God…
…they glorified him not as God
…neither were they thankful.
But became vain…
in their imaginations…
…and their foolish heart
was darkened.
But they obeyed not…
…neither inclined their ear,
but made their neck stiff…
that they might not hear
nor receive instruction.
Yet they did not obey or incline their ear…
but walked,
each one,
in the stubbornness of his evil
For the heart of this people is waxed gross
and their ears are dull of hearing
and their eyes have they closed
lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
and should be converted
and I should heal them.
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine
but wanting to have their ears tickled
they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires
and will turn away their ears from the truth
and will turn aside to myths.
Because they regard not the works of the LORD
nor the operation of his hands
he shall destroy them
and not build them up.
Rom_1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
*******
Vain Imaginations.
Men became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Gibbon says of the speculations of the ancient philosophers that "their reason had often been guided by their imagination, and their imagination had been prompted by their vanity."
The course of their fall was the same as that of the angel who became Satan. "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High." Isa. 14:12-14.
What was the cause of this self-exaltation and fall? "Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness." Eze. 27:17.
Dependent entirely upon God for all the wisdom and glory that he had, he did not glorify God, but assumed that all his talents sprang from himself; and so, as he disconnected himself in his pride from the Source of light, he became the prince of darkness. Even thus it was with man.
*******
Self-focus, introspection, self-evaluation, self-worth, self-love, self-exaltation, self-absorption…. Self….self…self… it's all about us.
Last night at Bible study my sister and I talked about our deceased mother's selflessness. We've never known another person as selfless as she was during her lifetime. Never. We marveled at her selflessness and lamented our lack of being able to imitate such a lifelong example we had as we grew up into the adults we are.
She was there for all of us in so many ways. Was she perfect? No, no one is, but the majority of her life was spent in serving others in one way or another- and she did so without any overt hesitance, grumbling, or sign of being put out by having to constantly tend to others needs.
She was NOT self-focused.
Sure some may want to delve into her psyche further and say she derived self-worth through martyring herself, etc, but in truth I didn't see her play that martyr card. If she served selfishly she did so secretly.
Becoming vain in our imaginations. Knowing God yet choosing self over God, choosing to glorify self-worth while denying any worth to God. Giving credit to self, and none to God. Is it any wonder our hearts are allowed to grow dark to the truth when we choose self-exaltation over God?
My mother was not vain in her imagination, she was other centered and yes, God centered.
The two commandments that sum up the whole of the ten commandments tell us this-
Mat 22:36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Love the Lord our God with ALL our heart, soul and mind.
Love our neighbors as we would be loved.
There is NO commandment to concentrate on loving ourselves, on putting ourselves before all others.
God first, others second.
May we strive towards this end for our way of living our lives. May we shun our vain imaginations, our self-focus and seek to God for our daily example of love. When God is our example- we love others- when we love God with all of ourselves, we love others. God is not commanding our love in order to exalt Himself, God commands our love so that we know love is selfless and self-sacrificing.
Unlike gods of this world (figuratively and literally) who demand worship to inflate their egos and pump up their pride of self-exaltation, our God's love is selfless.
Mat 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Mat 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
Mat 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Mat 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Mat 25:35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Mat 25:36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Mat 25:37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
Mat 25:38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Mat 25:39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
Mat 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Mat 25:42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
Mat 25:43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Mat 25:44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Mat 25:45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
Mat 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
God would have us serve others, in this we serve Him.
God help us to be selfless, to put HIM first and by His power be able to love others as we should.
All glory to GOD, always!
When they knew God…
…they glorified him not as God
…neither were they thankful.
But became vain…
in their imaginations…
…and their foolish heart
was darkened.
But they obeyed not…
…neither inclined their ear,
but made their neck stiff…
that they might not hear
nor receive instruction.
Yet they did not obey or incline their ear…
but walked,
each one,
in the stubbornness of his evil
For the heart of this people is waxed gross
and their ears are dull of hearing
and their eyes have they closed
lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
and should be converted
and I should heal them.
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine
but wanting to have their ears tickled
they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires
and will turn away their ears from the truth
and will turn aside to myths.
Because they regard not the works of the LORD
nor the operation of his hands
he shall destroy them
and not build them up.
Rom_1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
*******
Vain Imaginations.
Men became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Gibbon says of the speculations of the ancient philosophers that "their reason had often been guided by their imagination, and their imagination had been prompted by their vanity."
The course of their fall was the same as that of the angel who became Satan. "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High." Isa. 14:12-14.
What was the cause of this self-exaltation and fall? "Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness." Eze. 27:17.
Dependent entirely upon God for all the wisdom and glory that he had, he did not glorify God, but assumed that all his talents sprang from himself; and so, as he disconnected himself in his pride from the Source of light, he became the prince of darkness. Even thus it was with man.
*******
Self-focus, introspection, self-evaluation, self-worth, self-love, self-exaltation, self-absorption…. Self….self…self… it's all about us.
Last night at Bible study my sister and I talked about our deceased mother's selflessness. We've never known another person as selfless as she was during her lifetime. Never. We marveled at her selflessness and lamented our lack of being able to imitate such a lifelong example we had as we grew up into the adults we are.
She was there for all of us in so many ways. Was she perfect? No, no one is, but the majority of her life was spent in serving others in one way or another- and she did so without any overt hesitance, grumbling, or sign of being put out by having to constantly tend to others needs.
She was NOT self-focused.
Sure some may want to delve into her psyche further and say she derived self-worth through martyring herself, etc, but in truth I didn't see her play that martyr card. If she served selfishly she did so secretly.
Becoming vain in our imaginations. Knowing God yet choosing self over God, choosing to glorify self-worth while denying any worth to God. Giving credit to self, and none to God. Is it any wonder our hearts are allowed to grow dark to the truth when we choose self-exaltation over God?
My mother was not vain in her imagination, she was other centered and yes, God centered.
The two commandments that sum up the whole of the ten commandments tell us this-
Mat 22:36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Love the Lord our God with ALL our heart, soul and mind.
Love our neighbors as we would be loved.
There is NO commandment to concentrate on loving ourselves, on putting ourselves before all others.
God first, others second.
May we strive towards this end for our way of living our lives. May we shun our vain imaginations, our self-focus and seek to God for our daily example of love. When God is our example- we love others- when we love God with all of ourselves, we love others. God is not commanding our love in order to exalt Himself, God commands our love so that we know love is selfless and self-sacrificing.
Unlike gods of this world (figuratively and literally) who demand worship to inflate their egos and pump up their pride of self-exaltation, our God's love is selfless.
Mat 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Mat 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
Mat 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Mat 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Mat 25:35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Mat 25:36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Mat 25:37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
Mat 25:38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Mat 25:39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
Mat 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Mat 25:42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
Mat 25:43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Mat 25:44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Mat 25:45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
Mat 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
God would have us serve others, in this we serve Him.
God help us to be selfless, to put HIM first and by His power be able to love others as we should.
All glory to GOD, always!