{"id":93426,"date":"2020-07-11T04:02:35","date_gmt":"2020-07-11T09:02:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/?p=93426"},"modified":"2020-07-09T07:15:29","modified_gmt":"2020-07-09T12:15:29","slug":"12-v","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/2020\/07\/11\/12-v\/","title":{"rendered":"12.v.  &#8221;\u00a0I have paid attention and listened, but they have not spoken rightly; no man relents&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote>\n<p class=\"p2\">Zephaniah 3:6<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI have destroyed nations; their strongholds are demolished. I have left their streets deserted, with no one passing through. Their cities are laid waste; they are deserted and empty. Of Jerusalem I thought, \u2018Surely you will fear me and accept correction!\u2019 Then her place of refuge would not be destroyed, nor all my punishments come upon her. But they were still eager to act corruptly in all they did. Therefore wait for me,\u201d declares the Lord, \u201cfor the day I will stand up to testify. I have decided to assemble the nations, to gather the kingdoms and to pour out my wrath on them\u2014 all my fierce anger. The whole world will be consumed by the fire of my jealous anger.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><a href=\"verseid:23.5.4\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Isaiah 5:4<\/b><\/span><\/a><b>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><a href=\"verseid:24.8.6\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Jeremiah 8:6<\/b><\/span><\/a><b>\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0I have paid attention and listened, but they have not spoken rightly; no man relents of his evil, saying, \u2018What have I done?\u2019 Everyone turns to his own course,<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><a href=\"verseid:24.36.3\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Jeremiah 36:3<\/b><\/span><\/a><b>\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the disaster that I intend to do to them, so that every one may turn from his evil way, and that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><a href=\"verseid:42.19.42\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Luke 19:42-44<\/b><\/span><\/a><b>\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0saying, \u201cWould that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.\u00a0\u00a0For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side\u00a0\u00a0and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><a href=\"verseid:61.3.9\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>2 Peter 3:9<\/b><\/span><\/a><b>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p2\">God brought His justice to the nations around Judah, and it should have warned Judah what would happen if they rejected God. Instead of learning from the surrounding nations, they dedicated themselves to ungodliness all the more.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Being blind to things of God comes as a consequence of an intentional choice to neglect Him and His Word.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Hearts are somehow easily turned away from God.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Some blatantly, some casually, but they both defy and deny God.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>One says surely there is no God and because of this I can do what I want without consequences.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>The other says I am a good enough person and does not give any more thought to the consequences.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>God shows His hand over nations, toppling them down and people are blind to the fact that it was at His hand they fell.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Rulers, Dictators, and Presidents have been removed from their lofty positions of wealth and power and yet people are still blind to the hand of God directing the course of nations and the paths of man.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>When eyes are blinded to things of God, both the promises of blessings and judgments are lost from their vision.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>When God is denied and defied eyes and ears are blind and deaf to Him, and yet there is still hope.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Perhaps their heart will soften and their eyes will open and their ears will hear of the Good News of Jesus Christ.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>It happened for each of us who were once lost but now are found.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>It is not as though we can claim any part of this as our effort other than to say somehow the Word of God pierced my heart and I fell on my knees and surrendered to Jesus Christ.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>The scales were taken off the eyes to my heart and mind and I saw a glimpse of the Holiness of Jesus Christ and my sinfulness.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>There was no personal effort in this as it was all of Jesus Christ and our believing, yielding, surrendering, repenting, turning away, and trusting. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Somehow there is given to man the free will choice to choose to surrender\/yield to God or to defy and deny Him and His grace, mercy, and love.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>We get to intentionally choose whom we serve, honor, glorify, follow, obey, and trust.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Sad to say but millions upon millions choose to serve self, honor self, glorify self, obey self, and trust in self.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>This is an intentional choice.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Every single moment of every day we are given this choice to make &#8211; honor Jesus Christ or self,<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>glorify Jesus Christ or self, follow Jesus Christ or self, obey Jesus Christ or self, trust Jesus Christ or self, or rely on Jesus Christ or self.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>We do well to ask God to show us each day to whom we have surrendered our lives, actions, and thoughts to, Jesus Christ or themself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Zephaniah 3:6\u00a0 \u201cI have destroyed nations; their strongholds are demolished. I have left their streets deserted, with no one passing through. Their cities are laid waste; they are deserted and empty. Of Jerusalem I thought, \u2018Surely you will fear me and accept correction!\u2019 Then her place of refuge would not be destroyed, nor all my &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/2020\/07\/11\/12-v\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;12.v.  &#8221;\u00a0I have paid attention and listened, but they have not spoken rightly; no man relents&#8221;&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5431,3492,2282,13970,3161,13979,14000,806,167,4893,4092,502,2908,4718,782,343,180,191,587,14003,6202,8233,2702,14005,14004,1098,75,1040,14002,3053,14001,33,1237,6941,120,14007,2668,13698,8001,4183,5386,10263,14006,3353,8115],"class_list":["post-93426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-prayers","tag-come-upon-you","tag-consumed","tag-correction","tag-corruptly","tag-declares","tag-demolished","tag-deserted","tag-destroyed","tag-disaster","tag-empty","tag-evil-way","tag-eyes","tag-fear-me","tag-fierce-anger","tag-fire","tag-forgive","tag-hear","tag-hidden","tag-iniquity","tag-jealous-anger","tag-jerusalem","tag-judah","tag-laid-waste","tag-own-course","tag-paid-attention-and-listened","tag-patient","tag-peace","tag-perish","tag-pour-out-my-wrath","tag-promise","tag-punishments","tag-refuge","tag-repentance","tag-rightly","tag-sin","tag-slowness","tag-stone","tag-strongholds","tag-tear-you-down","tag-testify","tag-turn","tag-vineyard","tag-visitation","tag-whole-world","tag-yield"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93426"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93426\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93532,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93426\/revisions\/93532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}