2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.
Well Friends, it seems like real summer has at last arrived in my neck of the woods, with several days of thirty degree weather and high humidity behind us and a few more in the offing. I actually felt the heat of the sun on my skin today. Wow! And did it ever feel good! Praise the Lord for such small mercies! (smile) Anyway, as promised, we’ll continue talking about our God’s see all and know all abilities. And isn’t it peculiar how several of God’s faithful servants found cause to point it out their people, and sometimes more than once? We have the seer Hanani pointing it out to Asa in our Bit, and yesterday heard Job and Bruh David’s take on the topic. Today we’ll quote a couple more, just to give us some further insight into the workings of the minds of these faithful men; how they thought about and imagined our God. Let’s start with Job again. He had a simple but intriguing question for his friends as he gave forth on his integrity. ‘Doth he not see all my ways, and count all my steps?’ (Job 31:4) And the answer to that my Friends is a resounding YES! The Lord does know all that we see, think and do, even what’s buried in the deepest, most hidden parts of our souls. And yuh know what’s strange mih people, though it’s such a simple, straightforward principle, we seem to need constant reminding of it. Why? I don’t know if it’s because of that same simplicity and straightforwardness, but we tend to easily forget it and do stuff that goes against its very grain. Look at Asa. When the mighty armies of the Ethiopians and Lubim came against him, whom did he call on for help? Almighty God! But when his Jewish brother sought conflict, he ignored God and turned to mortal man. You’d think that he would turn to the Lord God of his fathers in such a weighty matter too? But don’t judge Asa too harshly Friends, because we also do the same nonsense today, although we have more learning, teaching and experience in the ways of our God. I’m sure if we all sat down and reviewed our lives, we’d find several occasions where we’d just have to shake our heads in wonder, sigh and ask; ‘Now why did I do such and such and ignored the Lord, when all I had to do was talk to Him, and no doubt He would have provided a better outcome?’ Some of it might relate to pride and our innate rebellious nature; thinking that we could do it all ourselves and not wanting any external forces involved in our affairs, or even not wanting to bother God with such small and simple matters. But Friends, please understand that there’s no matter too small or simple for God’s attention. We recently said that the Lord wants us to bring ANY and EVERY problem, regardless of their size or complexity, to Him FIRST, NOT LAST! And not doing so is looked upon as sin, rebellion, disobedience and pride. Another of the Lord’s faithful servants who spoke of his God’s extraordinary perception and knowledge was Jeremiah. When he warned Israel with signs of upcoming captivity, he solemnly declared: ‘For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes.’ (Jer.16:17) And Jerry is at it again in Chapter 32: ‘Great in counsel, and mighty in work (deed): for thine eyes are upon all the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.’ (Jer.32:19) Yes my people, it means we have to be very careful of what we do since the Lord sees and knows all, and rewards all for their doings, good or bad. And yuh see what happened to Asa when he forsook the Lord and turned to men for help? Hanani told him: ‘Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.’ That brings to mind another king of Israel; in fact their first ever king, Saul. When he did not follow the Lord’s directive, he lost his kingdom. Hear Samuel break the sad news to him. ‘Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the Lord commanded thee.’ (1 Sam.13:13-14) Yes mih breddren, whenever we deal foolishly with the Lord, we often end up paying much more than the gains we achieved from our foolishness. And the Good Book tells us that Hanani’s promise of constant war to Asa was indeed fulfilled. ‘And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. In the third year of Asa king of Judah began Baasha the son of Ahijah to reign over all Israel in Tirzah, twenty and four years.’ (1 Kin.15:32-33) Yes people, when Asa worked with the Lord, his reign was filled with peace. But once he fled from under the Lord’s protective umbrella, his days were darkened with war and strife, and not with strangers, but his Jewish brethren. Now Friends, please let that be a lesson to us. And it won’t hurt to take stock of our lives, just to see if our slighting of the Lord in favour of other things or people is causing any of our current problems. And if so, let’s speedily make amends with Him for our transgression. It’s never too late, and He’s always willing to listen and also to forgive. But we first have to come to Him with a sincere and repentant heart. Much LOVE!…you can’t run…and you can’t hide…and you’ll certainly pay for excessive pride…
Well Friends, it seems like real summer has at last arrived in my neck of the woods, with several days of thirty degree weather and high humidity behind us and a few more in the offing. I actually felt the heat of the sun on my skin today. Wow! And did it ever feel good! Praise the Lord for such small mercies! (smile) Anyway, as promised, we’ll continue talking about our God’s see all and know all abilities. And isn’t it peculiar how several of God’s faithful servants found cause to point it out their people, and sometimes more than once? We have the seer Hanani pointing it out to Asa in our Bit, and yesterday heard Job and Bruh David’s take on the topic. Today we’ll quote a couple more, just to give us some further insight into the workings of the minds of these faithful men; how they thought about and imagined our God. Let’s start with Job again. He had a simple but intriguing question for his friends as he gave forth on his integrity. ‘Doth he not see all my ways, and count all my steps?’ (Job 31:4) And the answer to that my Friends is a resounding YES! The Lord does know all that we see, think and do, even what’s buried in the deepest, most hidden parts of our souls. And yuh know what’s strange mih people, though it’s such a simple, straightforward principle, we seem to need constant reminding of it. Why? I don’t know if it’s because of that same simplicity and straightforwardness, but we tend to easily forget it and do stuff that goes against its very grain. Look at Asa. When the mighty armies of the Ethiopians and Lubim came against him, whom did he call on for help? Almighty God! But when his Jewish brother sought conflict, he ignored God and turned to mortal man. You’d think that he would turn to the Lord God of his fathers in such a weighty matter too? But don’t judge Asa too harshly Friends, because we also do the same nonsense today, although we have more learning, teaching and experience in the ways of our God. I’m sure if we all sat down and reviewed our lives, we’d find several occasions where we’d just have to shake our heads in wonder, sigh and ask; ‘Now why did I do such and such and ignored the Lord, when all I had to do was talk to Him, and no doubt He would have provided a better outcome?’ Some of it might relate to pride and our innate rebellious nature; thinking that we could do it all ourselves and not wanting any external forces involved in our affairs, or even not wanting to bother God with such small and simple matters. But Friends, please understand that there’s no matter too small or simple for God’s attention. We recently said that the Lord wants us to bring ANY and EVERY problem, regardless of their size or complexity, to Him FIRST, NOT LAST! And not doing so is looked upon as sin, rebellion, disobedience and pride. Another of the Lord’s faithful servants who spoke of his God’s extraordinary perception and knowledge was Jeremiah. When he warned Israel with signs of upcoming captivity, he solemnly declared: ‘For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes.’ (Jer.16:17) And Jerry is at it again in Chapter 32: ‘Great in counsel, and mighty in work (deed): for thine eyes are upon all the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.’ (Jer.32:19) Yes my people, it means we have to be very careful of what we do since the Lord sees and knows all, and rewards all for their doings, good or bad. And yuh see what happened to Asa when he forsook the Lord and turned to men for help? Hanani told him: ‘Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.’ That brings to mind another king of Israel; in fact their first ever king, Saul. When he did not follow the Lord’s directive, he lost his kingdom. Hear Samuel break the sad news to him. ‘Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the Lord commanded thee.’ (1 Sam.13:13-14) Yes mih breddren, whenever we deal foolishly with the Lord, we often end up paying much more than the gains we achieved from our foolishness. And the Good Book tells us that Hanani’s promise of constant war to Asa was indeed fulfilled. ‘And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. In the third year of Asa king of Judah began Baasha the son of Ahijah to reign over all Israel in Tirzah, twenty and four years.’ (1 Kin.15:32-33) Yes people, when Asa worked with the Lord, his reign was filled with peace. But once he fled from under the Lord’s protective umbrella, his days were darkened with war and strife, and not with strangers, but his Jewish brethren. Now Friends, please let that be a lesson to us. And it won’t hurt to take stock of our lives, just to see if our slighting of the Lord in favour of other things or people is causing any of our current problems. And if so, let’s speedily make amends with Him for our transgression. It’s never too late, and He’s always willing to listen and also to forgive. But we first have to come to Him with a sincere and repentant heart. Much LOVE!…you can’t run…and you can’t hide…and you’ll certainly pay for excessive pride…
SCRIP-BITS 