Tag: Bow down

6.w. Surely there is a God who judges on earth.

Revelation 6:9   When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

Deuteronomy 32:43    “Rejoice with him, O heavens; bow down to him, all gods, for he avenges the blood of his children and takes vengeance on his adversaries. He repays those who hate him and cleanses his people’s land.”

Psalms 58:11   Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.”

When the 5th seal is opened John sees these martyrs and hears their cry “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”  These have been martyred for witnessing and living for Jesus Christ. These are those who believed in and proclaimed the gospel after the removal (rapture) of believers prior to the opening of the seals.  Standing firm to the end is not a way to be saved but the evidence that a person is really committed to Jesus. Persistence is not a means to earn salvation; it is the by-product of a truly devoted life. Times and trials serve to sift true Christians from false or fair-weather Christians. When you are pressured to give up and turn your back on Christ, don’t do it. Remember the benefits of standing firm, and continue to live for Christ.

Remember these martyrs have been told to wait until the full number of those who will be killed for their belief in Jesus Christ is complete.  When I give just a small amount of thought to this I am ashamed for what I think is a trial in my life.  I am ashamed of the times I think the trials I face are “BIG” for the trials I have faced surely have not ended in death for believing in Jesus Christ – the ultimate test of faith.

77. They do not know me, declares the LORD.

Joshua 23:6   “Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left. Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear by them. You must not serve them or bow down to them. But you are to hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have until now.

Proverbs 4:26-27     Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure.  Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.

Deuteronomy 5:32    You shall be careful therefore to do as the LORD your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

1 Corinthians 16:13     Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.

Ephesians 6:10-19     Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.  Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

Jeremiah 9:3     They bend their tongue like a bow; falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know me, declares the LORD.

Be strong, stand firm, ponder your path, do not swerve left or right, put on the whole armor of God, do not turn aside, hold fast, and be watchful – these are all words of warning and encouragement. We would not have words encouraging us to be strong, stand firm, hold fast, and our on the whole armor of God if there was not going to be something to fight against.  We are to stand firm against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.  They are very real and you do not have to look very hard to find their cunning and deceptive work in the lives of people.

We are not to allow ourselves to be drawn in, influenced, and enticed by our culture and the dark forces that lead it.  We are to be watchful and stand firm in faith to God.  Just because our culture tolerates (in the name of being progressive) pornography is called adult entertainment, abortion is called women’s right to choose, LBGTQ is alternative lifestyles,  does not make it right or progressive or in line with serving God.  Be watchful.  If God’s word is not ever present in our daily lives how are we to see these dark forces at work in our world.  If God’s word is not daily present in our lives how are we to know right from wrong when our culture has adopted and called right that which is wrong.  If God’s word is not daily present how are we to know false from the truth? I saw this quote yesterday and thought it appropriate for today.  “And gradually though, no one remembers exactly how it happened, the unthinkable becomes tolerable, and then acceptable, and then legal, and then applaudable.” 

We will not be able to stand before God and plead we did not know.  The very fact that we choose to neglect and become complacent with His word condemns us because we chose to ignore.  Do not spend another day blindly following a world heading straight to hell.  Pick up His word and intentionally choose to spend time in it with all your heart, mind, and soul with the purpose of humbly serving, honoring, trusting, following, and obeying God.

4. His commandments are not burdensome

Exodus 20:1   And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Deuteronomy 5:29     Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever!

Jeremiah 32:39-40     I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them.

Acts 2:39     For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

John 14:21    Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

1 John 5:3     For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.

God spoke and said that we should have no gods before Him, a command for us to follow.  He spoke of more commands for a righteous and moral living.  We know these first commands as the 10 commandments.  Some call them the “do’s and don’ts”.  Prior to giving these commandments, He told Moses to get the people ready for He wanted the people to hear Him speak to Moses.  He set limits for how close the people could come.  The Israelites had just been told that God had chosen them for a treasured possession and they were to listen and obey Him.  The Israelites answered together saying “All the Lord has spoken we will do.”

God is now allowing the people to hear Him speak to Moses.  They had prepared themselves for three days and were to come to hear God speak to Moses.  When God came down to the mountain and it was covered in smoke, fire, and the whole mountain trembled.  He called Moses up to Him and spoke.  The Israelites were set at a distance away from the mountain but could certainly hear God speak.

And what do you think the people said when they heard God speak?  They trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.”

I wonder how many times we want others to speak to us rather than God.  Is it because we think we can distance ourselves from Him?  Do we think we are going to be less accountable?  Do we think it will be easier to discount this person rather than neglecting God?  Do we think serving, following, obeying is burdensome?

We should desire to be close to God, seek Him, listen to Him, trust Him, and obey Him.  Being close to Him is a choice just as being distant from Him.  Staying close requires faith, reliance, hope, and trust.  Being distant requires nothing and in return sees and hears nothing, leading us down a path of disruptive living.

Choose to be close.  Choose to hear.  Choose to listen. Choose to obey.

Joyful Noise

Psalms 95:1  Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!  Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!  For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.  In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also.  The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.  Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!  For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice,  do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,  when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.  For forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways.”  Therefore I swore in my wrath, “They shall not enter my rest.”

Singing and making a joyful noise seems to be an outpouring of knowing your salvation is anchored, you live in the presence of God, you see the magnitude of His creation, you have experienced the Shepherd’s guiding hand, and you have heard His voice and followed and obeyed Him.  Stay close to Him, honor Him, praise Him, give thanks to Him, kneel to Him, and worship Him.

Foundation of earth and heaven

“Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.  They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,”

Zechariah 12:1  The oracle of the word of the LORD concerning Israel: Thus declares the LORD, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the spirit of man within him: “Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples.

Isaiah 51:22  Thus says your Lord, the LORD, your God who pleads the cause of his people: “Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering; the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more;  and I will put it into the hand of your tormentors, who have said to you, ‘Bow down, that we may pass over’; and you have made your back like the ground and like the street for them to pass over.”

Jeremiah 30:10     “Then fear not, O Jacob my servant, declares the LORD, nor be dismayed, O Israel; for behold, I will save you from far away, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease, and none shall make him afraid.

Isaiah 57:16     For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; for the spirit would grow faint before me, and the breath of life that I made.

Isaiah 44:24    Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: “I am the LORD, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself,

The power and sovereignty of God can easily be seen in  scripture.  Why is it I so easily forget the power, might, purpose, plans, and love of God?  Do I not trust the creator of all there is?  Do I not have faith in His love, purpose, and plans? Do I doubt He is in control? I wish this lack of reliance and trust were put behind me and I could walk this life in and by absolute faith.  It seems as though I have the head knowledge, but the heart, mind, and soul deep belief and trust is always on the fringe.  Forgive me Father for you alone is where my service, obedience, and reliance should continually be.

Proclaim good news

“Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.”

Psalms 72:1   Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the royal son!   May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice!   Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness!  May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor!   May they fear you while the sun endures, and as long as the moon, throughout all generations!   May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth!   In his days may the righteous flourish, and peace abound, till the moon be no more!   May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth!  May desert tribes bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust! May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands render him tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts! May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him! For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and violence he redeems their life, and precious is their blood in his sight. Long may he live; may gold of Sheba be given to him! May prayer be made for him continually, and blessings invoked for him all the day! May there be abundance of grain in the land; on the tops of the mountains may it wave; may its fruit be like Lebanon; and may people blossom in the cities like the grass of the field! May his name endure forever, his fame continue as long as the sun! May people be blessed in him, all nations call him blessed! Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and Amen!

Luke 4:18   “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

Isaiah 41:17   When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the LORD will answer them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them.

Ezekiel 34:16    I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.

Job 5:15  But he saves the needy from the sword of their mouth and from the hand of the mighty.  So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts her mouth.

Our Reason for Hope

“And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!”

 

Psalms 17:15
As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.

Psalms 5:7
But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you.

Joshua 24:15
And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

Psalms 119:111
Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.

Job 19:26-27
And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God,  whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!

2 Corinthians 3:18
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Revelation 7:16-17
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Revelation 21:3-4
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Job 14:12
so a man lies down and rises not again; till the heavens are no more he will not awake or be roused out of his sleep.

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.

Matthew 27:52-53
The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised,  and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

1 John 3:2-3
Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.  And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

Philippians 3:21
who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself

Do you ever wonder about our bodies and what happens to them after death?  I recently saw a very interesting comment in Facebook “we are not going to get out of this life alive”.   I wonder if we know this but don’t really ever think about it.   God’s word says  Genesis: “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”  And Ecclesiastes: “All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return.”  And again in Revelations: “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”  We need to be mindful of the fact that death of our our earthly body is not the end of our existence.  It is the beginning of our life apart from time and forevermore in eternity. There  is no second chance for a do over once time has ended for you’re on earth.  The decision made this side of eternity will determine if you will have life ever after with God in heaven or life forever in the lake of fire.  The “decision” to acknowledge  you are a sinner and separated from God.  “God so loved the world that He gave His only son that who so ever would believe in him would have everlasting life.”  The decision after acknowledging that your a sinner is to trust by faith in the saving redemptive work of Christ on the cross.  Everyone will give account – some to their own damnation and others into the loving arms of God.  I am saddened by how many people I know who care less about God, eternity, and eternal life.  God, open the eyes, heart, and mind of those who are neglecting You. Keep renewing our eyes, heart, and mind to Your awesome power, might, honor and glory so that we might worship you more and more.

Thankful Worship

“choose this day whom you will serve”

“But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD”

” Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

 

Psalms 5:7
But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you.

Joshua 24:15
And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

Psalms 55:16
But I call to God, and the LORD will save me.

Psalms 130:4
But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.

Acts 9:31
So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

Hebrews 12:28
Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

1 Peter 1:17
And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

Psalms 132:7
 “Let us go to his dwelling place; let us worship at his footstool!”

Hebrews 4:16
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Choose this day whom you will serve, worship, honor and glorify.  This was spoken by Joshua near the end of his life as another reminder to those he was leading.  David said I will call on the Lord who will save me. And because he knew this and believed it he said Lets go to His dwelling place and worship Him.  These are summed up by the writer of Hebrews in Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.  How hard is it to stay near God?  What is His grace and mercy like to you?  What does it mean to worship Him?  How do I know if I am worshiping Him?  We must recognize that we by nature want to be separated from God and we must choose to draw near and stay near to Him.  This is a choice all day, every day.    When we make this choice we find or see more and more blessings from the hand of God and we are able to acknowledge and thank/worship Him. It is hard to stay near to Him without being in His word.  It is hard to find someone you are not looking for.  It is hard to thank/worship one you do not acknowledge.