Habakkuk 1:5 Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told. -LORD God
Psalm 66:18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
God says that one’s attitude towards sin matters. He is talking about the space between the ears. The verse above is conditional, If…
If I had cherished… This is the Hebrew word raah. Strong’s Concordance defines the word as “to see”.
This is the word that is used repeatedly in the creation account in Genesis.
Genesis 1:31a And God saw (raah) all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.
Iniquity or aven in the Hebrew can be defined as trouble, sorrow, or wickedness.
…in my heart… The heart or leb in the Hebrew is known asinner man, mind, will, or heart.
…the Lord would not have listened. This is the Hebrew word shama. Plainly stated, it means to hear.
Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear (shama), O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
We are talking about the fundamental senses of seeing and hearing. God sees what is going on in your heart and mind. There is no tricking God.
Personally, if an individual knows a mental attitude is wrong, if you are sinning (mentally or physically committing) and you know it. God’s not listening to you.
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Job 35:13 Surely God does not hear an empty cry, nor does the Almighty regard it.
Surely God does not hear an empty cry… This is the Hebrew word shav. It is defined as: emptiness, vanity, or nothingness.
This is the same word utilized in the Third Commandment.
Exodus 20:7 You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
If one does not take God seriously, He does not take you seriously. If one is not listening to God and what He has to say, He’s not listening to you either.
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Isaiah 59:2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.
…but your iniquities… These are not just sins. These are avon or punished sins (Strong’s). The result is a barrier between the sinner and God. Because of our sin we committed, He does not want to see us or hear from us.
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John 9:31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, God listens to him.
John understands this is an established fact. We know that God does not listen to sinners…
As sinners, we are not stuck in an eternal state of God closing us out. There are two things we can do to be heard again, worship and obey.
…worshiper of God… In the original Greek, this is the word θεοσεβής/theosebés. The definition is be God-fearing. Worship and respect God.
…does His will…ποιέω/poieó: to make or do.
John 14:15 If you love me, you will keep my commandments. said Jesus.
Do what God says. And we always have a solution in Jesus Christ. He removed the barrier between the Father and us with His death on the cross.
Mark 15:37-38 And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.
Leviticus 14:52 “And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, and with the living bird, and with the cedar wood, and with the hyssop, and with the scarlet.”
Hyssop is a protected plant in Israel. It is a small, hardy shrub from the basil family. It is said to have cleansing properties. The hyssop plant in the Bible symbolizes spiritual purification.
Certain rituals were performed to cleanse any house leprosy was found in the Old Testament. First, the house is shut up for seven days. After this period, the house is checked. If the house had signs of leprosy spreading, the entire house had to be pulled down. But if the disease did not spread, then the house was healed. The priest then performed a ceremony for cleansing the house which involved two live birds, cedar, hyssop, scarlet and running water from a river. One of the birds was killed over the basin of water and the cedar, hyssop and the living bird was dipped into the water and the house was sprinkled with it, after which the living bird was set free.
Leprosy represents sin because it has the capacity to spread from the heart into every part of the body. The heart represents the house where the leprosy originates; for from the heart proceeds all evil thoughts which the entire body is compelled to act upon. The product of this process can be found in people’s harsh speeches, immoral actions, violent behaviors, wickedness and the likes.
Cleansing has to begin from the heart. Nothing so far has been found effective in achieving total cleansing for the sinful heart of man. Religious ceremonies and rituals, together with human efforts have unfortunately yielded no results. The only solution to the ‘leprosy’ of sin lies in the precious blood of our sinless Christ who died on the cross to save humanity.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: The blood of Jesus is the all-time antidote to all forms of uncleanness.
Key verse: “And Moses said, Behold, I go out from thee, and I will intreat the LORD that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, to morrow: but let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the LORD.” (Exodus 8:29)
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The Scripture says, “The heart is deceitful above all things…” The assassination of Julius Caesar was the result of a conspiracy by many Roman senators led by Gaius Cassius Longinus. They were said to have stabbed Caesar 23 times. But the stab that pained and surprised the dying Caesar the most was the one made by his trusted ally, Brutus.
Man, by nature, is not to be trusted. Pharaoh had proven on several occasions that he was not to be trusted as he reneged on his agreement with Moses. In the passage under consideration, Moses thought it wise to tell him his fears and tried to obtain Pharaoh’s authentic assurance. But like every sinner who operates on the dictates of Satan, he could not keep his words.
There are people who enter into agreements they know they cannot keep. Their heart is deceitful. Believers should not be deceitful. Our ‘Yes’ must be ‘yes’ and our ‘No’, must be ‘no’, regardless of the consequence. We must not honour agreements only when it favours us. We must be honest enough to follow through to our promise, whether written or verbal. Some people slip into a lying mode when they discover that things are not working in their favour. In his dealings with Pharaoh, Moses offered no compromise with the evil intent of the king. Thus, he demanded that he let his people go so that they would offer their sacrifices to the Lord. Moses knew that if they accepted to do the sacrifices in Egypt, the Egyptians would stone them for sacrificing sacred things in their land.
As believers, we must not behave cowardly in standing for the truth and in defending the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is no room for compromise. Our motives must be pure as we relate with God and fellow men.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Integrity is not something you show others; it is how you behave in their absence.
So my mom and I are walking in the park and we see a puddle in the shape of a heart. Jesus always sends us messages if we just open our eyes! Betty Epley
If we just look around we can see the fingerprint of God everywhere, even on a nature walk. Here on the sidewalk 5 years ago I saw the love of our Father in heaven outlined in glory! He said a big, “I love you!” in that moment. Notice all the little flower pedals that fell into the water and surrounded the heart. With the sun shining on it, the heart that He put there for anyone with eyes to see, radiated with His glory! His glory is the Protector our hearts.
“Guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” (Proverbs 4:23)
Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15:13)
“This hope (of glory) we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence (of glory) behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever.” (Hebrews 6:19-20)
“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” (Ephesians 2:4-6)
Yes and Amen! Have a blessed day everyone! Jesus and our Father both love you immensely and intensely! Don’t be afraid to come near Him. God is love. There is no need to be afraid of true love.
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love drives out fear,” (1 John 4:18)
His glory is designed to protect our hearts where we can safely trust in Him without any fear at all.
We all get conflicted about what’s in our heart at times. Pray about it, & then don’t be afraid to follow your heart. God will guide you to His fulfillment. Be confident in where it leads you. If it is truly what God has put in your heart, you will be rewarded greatly. Do what is in your heart. The Lord has put it there. Nobody ever got their reward by standing still. Have hope & move forward. Go for it, because God’s got your back.
Proverbs 16:9 The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.
Luke 12:34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
The context of this series of posts is the course of the Jewish people for the initial 49 years of the 483 year period communicated from the angel Gabriel to the prophet Daniel. The city of Jerusalem has been rebuilt post exile. These events are covered in Nehemiah 8-13. Israel is getting back to God’s ways.
Nehemiah 10:1a On the seals are the names of Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacaliah…
It is from this verse we learn of Nehemiah’s position and title. We have the term “governor” in English. The original Hebrew text has the word tirshatha which is a Persian word for “governor”. This term is used five times in the Bible and only by Nehemiah and Ezra.
Nehemiah 10:1-27 is a list of people who were willing to seal their name as a commitment to keep God’s laws and commandments. Others willing to commit to God’s law included a pretty comprehensive list. These folks were required to swear allegiance to God with their obedience (Nehemiah 10:29).
Nehemiah 10:28 The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all who have separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the Law of God, their wives, their sons, their daughters, all who have knowledge and understanding…
The first item on the agenda with Nehemiah is marriage. The first item on God’s agenda in the garden was marriage.
Nehemiah 10:30 We will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons.
This is a reminder from the Mosaic Law. The law is mentioned in Exodus and Deuteronomy.
Exodus 34:16 …and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods. See also Deuteronomy 7:3-4.
The issue is ultimately worshipping the God of Israel. If a man marries a pagan worshipping woman, he will follow her spiritually. He will turn his back from God and go another way. The result will be a violation of the First Commandment.
Exodus 20:3 You shall have no other gods before Me.
Solomon for all of his wisdom did not follow this command. He intermarried many times over and the result was pagan shrines, temples, and idols being built all over Israel. His heart was with pleasing his wives instead of worshipping and focusing on God.
Granted, we are not under the Mosaic Law today in Jesus Christ. For Christians, the issue is not marrying within our tribe or country. We are called to seek the like-minded in Christ in marriage.
2 Corinthians 6:14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
Christians should present themselves differently. Because of Christ’s work on the cross, we are free from the bondage of sin. He fulfilled the law for us. Jesus imputed righteousness to believers. An unbeliever remains stained with the guilt of sin.
Jesus calls believers to be salt and light for the world. 1 John 1-2 proclaims believers should walk in the light of Christ and keep His commandments. How can an unbeliever illuminate if they are not in the source of light?
In all cases whether it is the Old Testament or the New Testament, this is ultimately about having one’s heart set towards God. Place God first in your lives. Stay focused on God. He knows and wants what is best for us.
Key verse: “LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.” Isaiah 26:16
Joshua of Ghana @beholy404 on Twitter
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Charles Swindoll once said, “The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace from that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string that we have and the string is attitude.”
In this prophetic song in our text about the latter days, Isaiah prophesied what the attitude of Judah will be in reaction to the judgment of God in scattering them among the nations. Judah had lived in sin and God had visited them with judgment, allowing their enemies to take them into captivity. However, in this song, Isaiah was hopeful that Judah would eventually demonstrate the right attitude by turning to the Lord in repentance. For this reason, they will be saved from the onslaught of the antichrist who will torment the world.
It is clear from the submission of Isaiah that what is needed while in trouble and perplexity is the right attitude. Unfortunately, however, many people portray an adamant attitude when faced with God’s chastisement. Rather than return to God, they choose to go farther away from Him. Conversely, the attitudes of some others are even more alarming when God shows undeserved acts of mercy and kindness to them. Rather than being grateful, they choose to be contemptuous.
It is important for everyone to know, as Swindoll has noted, that we all have a choice concerning the attitude and course of action we adopt each day. A positive attitude goes a long way to determining an eventful end. It is futile for anyone to fight his Maker. How we need to humble ourselves and wholly submit to God’s counsel even while passing through divine chastisement!
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: The heart focused on God will never cease to beat.
Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God’s love encompasses us completely….He loves every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken. —Dieter F. Uchtdorf
C.S. Lewis once wrote, “Love is something more stern and splendid than mere kindness.” Oftentimes as Christians we try expressing the love of Christ through kindness alone, but as Lewis stresses, kindness is but one attribute of love; it is not actually love itself. When we consider how we love others, what is our motive? Are we satisfied if we are just the seed planter? Are we satisfied if we are simply serving?
In the book of Luke we read, “But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” (Luke 6:35)
Love your enemies…
If this is how we are to treat our enemies, how should we treat those for whom we have compassion and want to see brought into His Kingdom?
Loving others is an act of obedience, but we cannot trick God. He alone sees our hearts. He knows if we are giving food to the hungry out of love, or if we are merely baiting the hungry so we can guilt them to repentance with our message—our message. God’s message is not one of trickery or condemnation, nor does it demand that broken people turn from their vices before crying out to Him. God alone can fill our empty spaces, cleanse us of our sins, and buff our rough places. He alone can draw us in.
The Lover of Our Souls draws us through compassion. He alone meets us where we are, wipes away our tears, and saves us. When we give to those who are in need, it should be the overflow of what we have been given, and it should be truly free. When we put a price or a demand on these actions, we are cheating the very ones who move His heart.
“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’” (Matthew 25:40, NLT)
The question is: How, then, are we treating Christ?
“Love your neighbor, all of ’em.” -Christine Clarity McDonald
According to the Bible, the God-breathed Scriptures, practicing homosexuality is a sin. Let’s not stop there. Before we start judging others, let’s ask Holy Spirit to search our hearts. The list of sins that keep people out of the kingdom of God isn’t limited to homosexuality. Not even close. We are wrong to single out just one sin. Many of us are guilty of one or more of the following sins, and many have yet to repent (turn away) from their sin, justifying their behavior in one way or another. Before we start pointing out the specks in the eyes of others, we need to deal with the planks in our own eyes. We ALL need to repent, “since all have sinned and continually fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate [by perversion], nor those who participate in homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers [whose words are used as weapons to abuse, insult, humiliate, intimidate, or slander], nor swindlers will inherit or have ANY share in the kingdom of God. And such were some of you [before you believed]. But you were washed [by the atoning sacrifice of Christ], you were sanctified [set apart for God, and made holy], you were justified [declared free of guilt] in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the [Holy] Spirit of our God [the source of the believer’s new life and changed behavior].” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)
The words ring in my ears sometimes. “You need to write!” I cannot even begin to count how many times I’ve heard that over the past twenty five years. I probably even heard it a lot before that, but those years are so much of a blur that I wouldn’t recall.
From time to time I’ve actually tried to write, then lost focus and just quit. I’ve done it on paper in a spiral notebook, on our laptop while on the road in Kenya, and again in Kansas City, and again in Charlotte, and again in Orlando. I even copy and pasted what I wrote while in Orlando on an online message board. Every single time that I’ve tried to start writing, I’ve also abruptly quit writing. Now I’m inspired to try it here on the God In A Nutshell Project. We’ll see if I can be disciplined enough to follow through this time and actually write whatever else Divine inspiration brings to mind.
We all desire to see positive change in the world. What do we do about it? The Holy Spirit tells me that it starts in my heart, in my mind, with me – with me allowing Him to mold me into who I was created to be. I will be changing the world – starting with me.
“If MY people who are called by MY NAME will humble themselves and pray, and seek MY Face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven, I will forgive their sins, and I will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14 (my paraphrase)
Notice that Scripture states clearly that GOD is calling HIS people to turn from their wicked ways, to humble themselves, and to pray. In this context HE’s not speaking to the lost, but to those of us who call ourselves by HIS NAME. “Christian” means “like Christ”. I don’t know about you, but I’m nowhere near like JESUS the CHRIST. I mean, I’m a man, I have a heart, a spirit, flesh and bones, and a desire to serve HIM but, like most of us, I believe, we sever more than we serve. We’re so spiritually dyslexic that we see the letters, transpose them, and cause more division than unity.
Our first and most important commandment isn’t to “Go into all the world and preach the Good News…”, as much as we’d like to think that it is. Our first objective, and the only commandment that JESUS the CHRIST gave was to love HIM with all of our hearts, our souls, our minds, and our strength, then to love one another….AND to LOVE OURSELVES!
We have this self-pleasing culture here in western civilization. I’ve even seen it in 3rd world countries, so it’s a human thing. We may see it as self-love, but it’s a poor substitute for love. It’s not love at all. It’s just selfishness. It’s pride. Pride in no way can be compared to love. The verse from 2 Chronicles that I mentioned earlier calls us to humble ourselves, not to be proud. When we are humble, we can actually receive all that the LORD has for us…INCLUDING HIS LOVE. The whole key to the world changing and turning right-side-up is for GOD’s people, people of THE WAY, “Christians”, to humble ourselves and fully receive HIS love. Only then will we truly love one another. The Bible even tells us that our love for one another is how the world will know us. Only then will we serve instead of sever.
I love how Donald Miller puts it in his book, “Blue Like Jazz”. “I AM THE PROBLEM!” We look at things in our republic, and in the world, that do not at all line up with TRUTH, and we attack those things in our self-righteous indignation. There’s no love in that. We have to deal with our own hearts first. We need to let the HOLY SPIRIT move in and clean house. We need to totally receive the LOVE that the LORD has for us. When we do that, HIS love will just naturally pour out of us, and things will change. It starts with me. The problem isn’t abortion. The problem isn’t the homosexual agenda. The problem isn’t anything but my heart. Attacking symptoms of the worldwide lack of love will not change anything. I need to start with my heart. We all do. Nothing miraculous comes from activism. Miracles come from love, and that’s an action worth taking.
“Receive, receive, receive the love of JESUS. Wrap up in HIM. Wait on HIM. Become intimate with HIM. Get to know the true love of the FATHER. Let the HOLY SPIRIT speak to you. Be still and wait.” I just keep hearing those words in my spirit. I pray that I will finally be able to pick up that simple key of love. It’s not enough to know it in my head. I need to KNOW it in my heart…to intimately know the love of the FATHER. ABBA…Daddy GOD. I need to intimately know the fear of the LORD. YHVH is as terrible as He is loving. Like C.S. Lewis put it, He is dangerous, but He is good. In JESUS’ name, FATHER, please help me receive all that You are. I’m so empty and lost without the fullness of YOU!
You know, I could read an article by someone else, and totally want to write to that person and try to help them receive GOD’s love, the whole time not knowing it myself. That’s so sad. I honestly believe that, for the most part, the Church is in the same position. We all want to help, but we’re not fully equipped, because we rely on too many other things other than JESUS in our daily lives. Our jobs, our bank accounts, our cars, our pickup trucks, our hobbies, our “stuff”. All of that crap violates “have no other gods before ME” when we allow it to consume our time, our priorities, and our lives. Most of us would say we’d surely die for JESUS, but we fight kicking and screaming if we lose any of our “stuff”. How can we die for HIM when we are so selfish that we won’t even live for HIM unless we can have our “stuff”. What a total chaotic farce.
I want to lay it all down. Whatever HE wants to give back to me is fine, or if HE gives nothing back, I want that to be fine as well. HE knows what I need. I really only know what I want. I put GOD in a box way too much! HE’s not my little “jack-in-the-box” that I can crank up when I need HIM, then shove back down and close up when I want control. Why, oh why do IDO that??!!??
OK, this is the start of the journey. I need to be in the Light. We all do. We’ll see how this goes. I truly do purpose to intercede for the world… as well as for myself. JESUS is at the right hand of the FATHER always interceding for each of us. HE sets the example. I need to follow HIS example. I believe that we all do…starting today.
