Love – Page 7 – Praying Pint

151. And his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God,

1 Kings 15:1 Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah. He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. And he walked in all the sins that his father did before him, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father.

2 Chronicles 25:2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, yet not with a whole heart.

2 Chronicles 31:20-21 Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, and he did what was good and right and faithful before the LORD his God. And every work that he undertook in the service of the house of God and in accordance with the law and the commandments, seeking his God, he did with all his heart, and prospered.

When walking down the paths of; 1. And he walked in all the sins that his father did before him, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God. 2. he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, yet not with a whole heart. 3. seeking his God, he did with all his heart and prospered.

There are dangers we face that are self-induced and none so dangerous as not giving God our whole heart. When God does not get our whole heart then we get influenced and driven by our own sinful desires or those of others. When we separate our heart to serve other things more wholly than God we jump on a very wide deceiving path of influence, illusions, deception, false hopes, and fleeting satisfaction. Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” This is true in more than just money. If we try to manage our time with God in an attempt to satisfy both our self and God we most certainly will side with self. When that happens the word of God becomes less and less, serving Him becomes a burden, honoring Him becomes counterfeit, following Him becomes more of performing art than the desired walk, and obeying Him becomes at best a guess of what society deems ok. See what Peter says about slipping away from God and it’s the outcome: 2 Peter 1:3-10 “ His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble,”

Serving God half-hearted will lead to acceptance and tolerance of sin in our lives. It will rob us or true joy, peace, rest, hope, and faith.

135. For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;

1 Kings 3:3 Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father, only he sacrificed and made offerings at the high places. And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.” And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day. And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”

1 Chronicles 22:12    Only, may the LORD grant you discretion and understanding, that when he gives you charge over Israel you may keep the law of the LORD your God.

Proverbs 16:16     How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.

Proverbs 3:13-18    Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding,  for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold.  She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her.  Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.  Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.  She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called blessed.

Proverbs 2:3-9     yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding,  if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures,  then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.  For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;

If I was to ask where do you find understanding, knowledge, and wisdom what would the first answer come to your mind? Would it be “Alexia” or “Google it?” For sure you might find information enough to give you knowledge (facts) and you might read more about how you might understand these facts (meaning), but how to use this wisely (application) is somewhat evading.

Charles Spurgeon wrote; “Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom.”

Those with wisdom know what actions to take next. They do the right thing in the given situation. In contrast, there are many who have great knowledge and understanding but who consistently do the wrong thing.

There is Godly and worldly knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. Sadly, with the internet, worldly knowledge and understanding seem to overshadow the need to have Godly knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. Worldly knowledge and understanding do have a place in our lives but not at the expense of not having Godly knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. To make sense of the world around us requires more than what it can offer in knowledge and understanding. It requires knowing the Creator with a desire to seek understanding and wisdom that only He can give and enlighten our souls with.

If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free (John 8:31–32).

R.C. Sproul; Our Lord calls for a continued application of the mind to His Word. A disciple does not dabble in learning. He makes the pursuit of an understanding of God’s Word a chief business of his life.

58. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth,

Deuteronomy 29:4   But to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear.

Proverbs 20:12    The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the LORD has made them both.

Isaiah 6:9-10    And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’  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 with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

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

Matthew 13:11-15     And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.  For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.  This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.  Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “‘“You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.”

  For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’

John 8:43    Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word.

2 Corinthians 3:15    Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts.

Ephesians 4:18    They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.

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.

James 1:13-17     Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.  But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.  Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.  Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.

2 Timothy 2:25    correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth,

Ezekiel 36:26   And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

There is quite a bit said in these verses that show the heart of man. God knows the heart, mind, and soul of each person. He knows those who do/will and do not/will not desire and seek Him. He knows those who will believe and those who will not. He knows. It appears to say that God will send a delusion and a hardening of the heart, ears, and eyes to those whose heart and mind and soul are dull to things of God. It also says that God will give a new heart and new spirit to those who truly seek and desire Him.

I get a bit lost in how these two outcomes are applied to people. If I were to look at my conversion and what it took to bring me to my knees before Jesus Christ, it was only by the grace and mercy of God that my eyes, heart, ears, and mind were opened to understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the need for forgiveness and repentance. I would easily have been one who’s heart was like that of stone, whose eyes and ears were shut to things of God. Yet God opened them and gave me a new heart. He gave me understanding and pulled the veil from my eyes. He opened my deaf ears. He softened my heart of stone. He put a new spirit within me.

I know I deserved to be alienated and left in my ignorance for I was living in the pleasure of my sin giving no thought about God. “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

It is the time to recognize neglect of His word and that complacency that has filled our hearts. Confess, repent, seek, desire, and run to Him for the time is short for us to serve, honor, glorify, follow, and obey Jesus, the author, creator, awesome, mighty, powerful, loving, and steadfast redeemer of our soul.

54. “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

Deuteronomy 28:1 “And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 11:13    “And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul

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.”

Psalms 111:10    The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding.

Isaiah 1:19     If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;

Isaiah 55:2-3    Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.  Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant

Luke 11:28     But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

Listen diligently to Me, willing and obedient, do what is right in His eyes, give ear to His commandments, serve Him with all your heart and soul. How can these words from scripture be taken any other way than how they are presented.

Listen diligently – is a choice to want to hear God speak into your heart, soul, mind, life.

Be willing and obedient – is a choice to act on what God is speaking into your life.

Doing what is right in His eyes – is a choice that actively searches God’s word with a desire to grow in understanding and knowledge so that your life honors and glorifies God.

Serve Him – is a choice that recognizes worldly stuff and self and chooses to serve Jesus Christ for His honor and glory.

It is all a choice of the heart, mind, and soul. Don’t be neglectful or complacent with choices of serving and honoring God.

47. What does the LORD require of you

Deuteronomy 10:12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good? Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. Yet the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God,

Jeremiah 7:22-23  But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’

Micah 6:8  He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Matthew 11:29-30  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

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

Obey my voice! Serve God with all your heart and soul. Keep His commandments. Be no longer stubborn. Walk in the way that I command you. Walk humbly with God.

What does it mean to serve Him with all your heart and soul, to keep His commandments, to be no longer stubborn, and to walk humbly? I am certain it will require emptying oneself of what is more precious and consuming time in their heart, mind, and soul. During Christmas, we hear of how there was no room in the inn for Mary to give birth. It seems to ring true today with no room in our busyness for Jesus to reign fully. Making room would indicate that something has to be purposely moved out. What is consuming your heart and soul leaving no room for Jesus?

We can say we are doing all we can with the busyness of our life, family, job, etc…. By saying we are doing all we can means we have intentionally chosen to give our time (heart, soul, mind) to something else. We choose to believe we are doing what God wants for us to do. How can that be true if Jesus is not #1 in our heart? How can that be true if we give His word nothing more than a glance every once in a while?

In Joshua 22:5 It says, “Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.” In Psalms 81:13 it says, “Oh, that my people would listen to me”. In Titus 2:11-12 it says, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age”

There has been no other time in history where God’s word has been so readily available. There has never in history been so much neglect of His word than what is presently being done. Never in history has there been this much complacent behavior by those supposedly called by His name. Our lives should not and do not have to be like this. We aren’t forced into it. We choose it to be this way.

We can choose to not be this way. We can choose to repent, confess, return and commit to humbly serving, honoring, following, and obeying God. We can start by intentionally committing to reading His word each day. We can intentionally seek and desire for Him to lead us closer to Him through more understanding and knowledge of Him and what it means to give Him all our heart, mind, and soul.

42. Artificial Christianity

Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

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. You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.

Deuteronomy 11:13 “And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,

Mark 12:30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

Tozer said; “Artificial Christianity is a deeply human and spiritual loss to the heart and soul.” It is a disease of the heart and soul that is satisfying a false belief that they are secure in this artificial state. This artificiality actually becomes a means to feel good about self and gives no thought to the fact their heart and soul is far from God.

There is no urgency in the gospel, no urgency for the lost, no urgency of sin, no urgency of honoring, serving, following, and obeying God. The artificialness of their life blinds them but not to the lost. The lost see no difference in these pretenders and their artificial life. Neglect and complacency are the norms for these artificial lives.

If there is no visible difference in the life of a Christian how are they to be a reflecting light of the gospel of Jesus Christ? I heard a radio preacher say; “ too often Jesus is proclaimed as the Gospel of saving you from your problems. This is a lie. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Jesus came to save us from our Sin. He dies on the cross to take our sin upon Himself and redeem those who would believe in His sacrifice for their sin. Trusting Him for salvation is the means and message of the Gospel.

Artificial and worldly messages proclaiming Jesus came to save us from our problems is not proclaiming the gospel that leads to repentance, forgiveness, and eternal life.

God said to serve, honor, follow and obey with all our heart, mind, and soul. This will only happen when we see our eternal state in light of our sin and sinful nature and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Do not be an artificial believer. Run to Him and repent for not giving any thought to sin and His sacrifice. Run to Him as one who is on the cliff of hell with no hope of escape but for the love, He demonstrated on the Cross. Oh, that our heart, mind, and soul would grasp the love and sacrifice given for our sin and sinfulness. Nowhere in the bible does it say If we confess our problems He is faithful and just to take away our problem. No, it says “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness..”

39. Guide me in your truth and teach me

1 John 1:8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

1 John 3:18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

1 Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

John 8:32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 17:17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

Psalms 25:5 Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.

Psalms 119:160 All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.

Psalms 145:18 The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.

John 18:37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

1 Corintians 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

I heard Charles Swindoll speaking on truth and it got me to thinking about what is the truth. It is hard to tell what is truth or lies. Truth for us is surrounded by perception. What we declare as absolute truth someone else can see it as false. We listen to media outlets speak of their truth and it is hard to tell because of how they spin the article. The same can be said about those who are called out by the media. When caught in an outright lie they respond with “I’m sorry for the confusion” or “that is not true” and we are left to determine what is true by our perception of what we have heard or read. It has been said “how do you know if a politician is lying? When they open their mouth”

We can see pictures that accompany an article and are convinced of the truth, only to find out that the pictures were staged. We don’t have to look far into social media to see how people will tell us “all is well” they support this with pictures of smiling faces and no troubles in their relationships, finances, employment. The fact is that we have no way to determine truth from lies in this world.

There is one truth that we can believe “God” and “His word”. It is impossible for God to lie. It is impossible for God to judge improperly. His plans are never wrong. His purposes are never wrong.

We choose to believe the truth of Him through His word, or we choose to believe some of it and lie to ourselves that the rest does not apply to us. We choose to believe the truth of His love, Jesus Christ, salvation, heaven, eternity and then somehow choose to believe wrath, judgment, anger, sin, complacency, neglect, discipline, rebuke, and testing are not true enough to even give a second thought about. If we spend time in His word we see that this way of thinking is believing in lies that our culture influences our heart, mind, and soul with. We believe the lie we are “ok enough” or “not bad as others” or that there is some kind of grading scale by which we will be approved” or “I’m saved by grace and therefore I have no need of works” or “I will get serious about God in my life when I am not so busy” or “God won’t know or doesn’t see” or “God is a God of love and will not display anger or wrath against me” or “I have done enough good to stand before God on the day of judgment”….

In our unholiness, it is hard for us to understand the Holiness of God. It is hard to understand that “He is withholding His wrath and anger” in light of this time of “His Steadfast Love, Grace, and Mercy”

Being luke-warm, neglectful, complacent, stiff-necked, with a hardened heart, dull ears, closed eyes, and not seeing a need of forgiveness, disobedience, double-minded, prideful, lustful, greedy, causing and living in confusion, anxiousness, and grumbling, these are results of chasing after and believing lies.

Peace, joy, love, gentleness, kindness, hope, forgiven, strength, power, courage, humbleness, rest, order, purpose, meaning, eyes and ears open, and heart, mind, and soul desiring and seeking to serve, honor, glorify, follow and obey God are results of believing God’s truth.

Make it an intentional daily plan to spend time in His word of TRUTH.

15. So that we are distinct

Exodus 33:14 And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”

Numbers 14:14    They have heard that you, O LORD, are in the midst of this people.

Exodus 19:5-6    Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine;  and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’

Deuteronomy 4:7    For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him?

1 Kings 8:53     For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be your heritage,

2Corinthians 6:16  What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”

Proverbs 9:6     Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight.”

Acts 2:40    And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”

My presence will go with you, so that we are distinct, treasured possession, separate, speak of the difference in the lives of those who live for God.

His presence will be with them; “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”, “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love”, “By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.”

His people will be distinct; “I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.” “declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” “ that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.”

7. Run to the forest of God’s word

Exodus 23:25 You shall serve the Lord your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you.

Exodus 23:33 They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

Deuteronomy 10:12     “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,

Deuteronomy 10:20    You shall fear the LORD your God. You shall serve him and hold fast to him,

Deuteronomy 11:13-14     “And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,  he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil.

Deuteronomy 13:4    You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.

Deuteronomy 28:1-6    “And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.  And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God.  Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field.  Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock.  Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.  Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

Joshua 24:24    And the people said to Joshua, “The LORD our God we will serve, and his voice we will obey.”

1 Samuel 12:24     Only fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.

Do you ever wonder what interferes with serving God with all your heart and with all your soul? Scriptures say “obey the voice of the Lord your God” and then it says to “serve Him with all your heart and soul.” You have heard of the question “Does a tree falling over in a forest makes a sound if no one is there to hear it.” If it is not perceived by someone does not mean it did not make noise.

If we don’t spend time in the forest of God’s word there is no chance we will hear His voice, let alone, be able to follow and obey it with our whole heart and soul. Spending time in the forest of God’s word allows us to see the massiveness as well as the singularity of it. It allows us to see the beauty, promises, strength, power, might, and steadfast grace, mercy, and love of God. Paul speaking to unbeliever said it this way – “how are people to hear unless someone tells them. but Peter speaking to believers said it this way – “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.”

Believers should desire and seek the forest of God’s word. They should run to it each day to hear the voice of God speak into their lives. They want to hear Him speak so they can serve, follow and obey.

I think people stay out of the forest of God’s word because they have seen all they want to see from a distance. By staying outside of the forest there is little chance they will need to listen and because they are close enough to see it, they think they are ok enough.

Do you want to see truth and beauty – Run to the forest of God’s word with a desire seeking to hear Him speak into your life. Blessing comes to those who spend time in the forest listening and obeying Him speak.

3. Eager to maintain the unity

1Corinthians 1:10  I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.

Ephesians 4:1-7     I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,  with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,  eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Ephesians 4:31-32     Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.  Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Psalms 133:1    Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!

1 Peter 3:8-9    Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.

Romans 12:16     Live in harmony with one another.

1 Corinthians 6:7 Why, the very fact of your having lawsuits with one another at all is a defect (a defeat, an evidence of positive moral loss for you). Why not rather let yourselves suffer wrong and be deprived of what is your due? Why not rather be cheated (defrauded and robbed)?

I heard on the Back to the Bible radio “Unity is something you keep”. We are to be the light shinning in a dark world. We are to show hope, love, generosity, kindness, faith, peace, long-suffering, and patience. How is this shown when there is division amongst those who are to show the world what righteous, holy, humble, God honoring living looks like?

Division comes from an issue that is hammered out in pride not love. Division leads to gossip, rumors, and non-love actions. Division is a tool of Satan and the problem is most of the time he does not even have to use it because of a prideful spirit lodged within the person. Think about when the Israelites were in the wilderness and scripture tells us the people grumbled against God. You have to realize that there was a first person who spoke up and many who then followed. The same happens when division occurs. A person speaks up in a manner that does not reflect our calling in Christ and others follow.

Do you ever wonder why others follow? Does it have anything to do with their walk, or lack there of, with God? Does it have anything to do with there time, or lack there of, in Gods word?

Oh that we would take the path of humbleness, allowing our selves to be wronged, seeking unity in peace and love, finding a way to honor God in the circumstance, allowing the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us. As far as is it is with you be at peace with all men.