The Foolishness of Turning Away from God, and the Harsh Consequences of Disobedience!

04 Oct 2025 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Isaiah 30:9.        That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord:

Wow! Another sparkling, warm, beautiful summer-like day in early October. And it’s our lazy-day Saturday to boot! What bliss! (smile) We can even laze around outside at this time of year, if we so desire. And I do hope we give much thanks for this wonderful, but certainly abnormal weather, we are currently enjoying, for it’s eventually going to end. Anyhow, to aid in our lazing around, (smile) let’s offer up our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer with heartfelt sincerity and truth. 

As one strong voice: ‘Lord, I want to be with You now. Please slow my thoughts and quiet my soul. Let my muscles relax, my breath deepen. You are here with me – Your peace and LOVE are present. I marvel to think You can’t be contained, that Your LOVE both surrounds and fills me. Thank You for this tenderness, Lord. I praise You for Your unceasing nearness. Increase my awareness of You today, that I may know You all the more. Amen!’ 

Ah friends, there’s nothing like attaining greater intimacy with our LOVING God, for it not only boosts our souls and spirits, but it also warms the cockles of God’s heart, since a desire for sincere intimacy with us is one of the reasons He created us. And in these rebellious times, when so many of His human creations are turning, and have turned against Him, it just breaks His poor heart all to smithereens, because it means we have chosen to embrace His enemy, Satan’s  evil ways, rather than His righteous and godly desires. 

It’s just like how we end up with broken hearts when our children don’t follow our guidelines and end up in unwise situations totally opposite to what we desire for them. And I’m sure that when the Lord looks around and sees so many of His human creation following Beelzebub, wallowing in his evil mire, that it not only breaks His heart, but it keeps Him from sending Jesus back to earth, for He just cannot stand to lose so many of His creation to hell fire and damnation, and eternal separation from Himself. 

It’s like Peter says: ‘The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.’ (2 Pet.3:9) Yes my people, the Lord certainly doesn’t want any of His human creation to perish, but that all of them should trust in Him and thus receive salvation and eternal life in His glorious company. 

And there are several scriptures that attest to the sentiments in that verse, like these from Psalm 86 God’s Readiness to Forgive – where Bruh David writes: ‘For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest (depths of) hell (Sheol)…But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.’ (Ps. 86:13, 15) And those have been the wonderful attributes of our marvellous God from the beginning of time, and will continue unchanged right to the very end! 

Now listen to Isaiah, as he talks about God’s graciousness and mercy towards a rebellious Israel. ‘And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you, for the Lord is a God of judgement (justice): blessed are all they that wait for him.’ (Is. 30:18) And that’s no lie friends! Our God is indeed filled with patience, as so many of us know from personal experience, because He waited so long for us to wake up and turn to Him for healing, salvation and eternal life. (smile) 

Then there’s this interesting scripture from the prophet Ezekiel, as he talks to his people about turning from their evil ways. The Lord commands him: ‘Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine (waste) away in them, how should we then live? Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?’ (Ezek. 33:10-11) 

And my brethren, that’s the very question the Lord’s asking us today…why will we die, why won’t we turn from our evil ways and live? Dying in our evil ways is simply a waste of life! It’s like Moses said to the Israelites so long ago. ‘I call heaven and earth to record (witness) this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.’ (Deut. 30:19) 

It’s all so simple friends; God offers us two paths; life or death, blessings or curses. And he urges us to choose life with blessings, which entails obedience and faithfulness to God. And it was such an important moment, such a life-saving choice that Moses called both heaven and earth to witness it and the resulting consequences from that choice. Now what we have to remember is that choice did not only impact that generation, but also their descendants and those who choose to follow God, which also includes us in this twenty-first century. 

Ah my fellow believers, there’s not much more to say on the subject, except these words from the Lord to the prophet Isaiah, re the rebellious people of Israel, words that resonate very well and very loudly in these evil and ungodly times. ‘Now go, write it before them in a table (on a tablet), and note it in a book (on a scroll), that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever: That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord: Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.’ (Is. 30:8-11) 

The Lord knew why he had Isaiah write those words, as an example, a serious warning for us. But just like Israel, we’re content to ignore them and go our merry way rejoicing, living our evil and ungodly lifestyles. But just like Israel paid harsh consequences for their disobedience, so will we also pay harsh consequences for our rebellious choices. The only way to reconcile the situation is by doing as Uncle Charles (the late Dr. Charles Stanley) liked to say; ‘Obey God and leave all the consequences to Him.’ And that’s the ONLY way we will ever get out of our current, life challenging predicament. Much LOVE!

… a word to the wise is sufficient…

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 25 July 2019 Isaiah 30:21.

25 Jul 2019 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Isaiah 30:21:    ​And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
 

Brother! At long last we’ve finally gotten here! Yeh friends, me and my stubborn desktop computer have been fighting for the past forty minutes to get it to boot up properly. I don’t know what’s wrong with it, but most days it boots up wonderfully, then on days like these, it just decides to freeze, as though it’s going through a winter cycle. (smile) But it doesn’t seem to realize that man was made before machines, and we’re usually the winners in any battles between the two. 

And I was just as stubborn, I refused to give up and go and use my laptop upstairs, because I much prefer to write on my old, but trusty desktop – except when it starts to act up on me. So please accept the lateness of the Bit, it’s not all my fault. And now that I’ve made all my excuses, let’s get right on with the programme this wonderful Thursday morning, the penultimate day of our workweek! 

And for your edification, I’ve had the required Bible verse for our Bit long ago. While the computer was acting up, I decided to open the Good Book and see what the Lord had to offer today. And lo and behold the Good Book opened unto this excellent verse: ‘And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.’ 

Yes my fellow believers, especially in these dangerous and distasteful times, we all need to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us, our lead and guide on Christ’s behalf. Our Bit is part of a passage in Isaiah that’s an appeal to the Lord for help. And do we ever need help in these troubled times my brethren; and not only natural help, but more so supernatural help from Almighty God. But just like the Israelites did back then, we seem to be refusing God’s help. 

When Isaiah declared to them: ‘For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest (repentance and faith) shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not. But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift. One thousand shall flee at the rebuke (threat) of one; and the rebuke (threat) of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon (pole) upon the top of a mountain, and an ensign (a banner) on a hill.’ (Is.30:15-17) 

And, unfortunately, we are doing the very same thing today; refusing the wonderful help of Almighty God, and thus our world and societies are full of anger, strife and warfare!  Listen to what the Lord told Isaiah after the Israelites refused to hear about the futility of relying on Egypt for help. ‘For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, (have called her Rahab-hem-shebeth), Their strength is to sit still (Rahab sits still). 

Now go, write it before them in a table (on a tablet), and note it in a book (on a scroll), that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever. That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord: which say to the seers, see not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.’ (Is.30:7-11) 

Ah mih people, what foolishness! Now hear these explanations of the scholars: ‘30:8-17. The prophet is commanded by God to write His message in a table (tablet) and a book (scroll). He is to write down God’s message for the time to come (or for succeeding generations to read). He is to note that the people of Judah are a rebellious people, who are telling the prophets See not…Prophesy not. 

They have refused the truth and would rather hear smooth things and deceits. Their rebellion and reprobation are so deep that they want the prophets to cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us. While the nation was busy sending out emissaries of peace they had failed to make peace with God. Returning and rest refer to repentance and faith, which are necessary to true salvation.’ 

Oh my brethren, my brethren, we have fallen into the same trap: not wanting to hear the truth of God’s Word, but more desirous than ever of removing Him completely from our society. But that will NEVER happen! For the Lord God Jehovah is the creator and ruler of the universe, and if we try, like the foolish Lucifer, to overthrow Him, we will end up the same way; cast out into hell fire and damnation. We’re looking all about for help, except where true help is to be found, in Jehovah God! 

And these prophetic words of Bruh Paul to Timothy re the coming apostasy (abandonment of religious faith and principles) describe our current world to a T. ‘This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be LOVERS of their own selves, covetous (money LOVERS), boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy. 

Without natural affection, trucebreakers (irreconcilable), false accusers (slanderers), incontinent (without self-control), fierce (brutal), despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady (reckless), high-minded (haughty), LOVERS of pleasure, more than (rather than) LOVERS of God: Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.’ (2 Tim.3:1-5) 

And that is exactly what’s happening in our world today friends! It’s a perfect description of our current society! And just like Bruh Paul commanded Timothy to stay away from these false teachers, who have ‘mere religion without power or spiritual life,’ we also have to stay away from them if we know what’s good for us. Anyhow, I know that none of us are involved in that foolishness (smile) so let’s go home declaring (right ho!) our Thursday Blessings out loud, so that the world can know what a mighty and generous God we serve and worship. 

All together now: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! 

I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and everyday! Amen!’ 

Now please remember that those heavenly blessings are not for us to hoard selfishly, but to go out and share them generously, just like the Lord shared them generously with us! Much LOVE!

…only a fool…or a madman…turns away from…or tries to overthrow… His Creator and Provider…