The Very Serious Consequences Of Rejecting Almighty God, Despite His Free and Gracious Offer Of Salvation!

22 Mar 2025 Leave a comment

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

Proverbs 8:117.       I LOVE them that LOVE me; and those that seek me early (diligently) shall find me.

And it’s another lazy-day Saturday friends, but a windy, chilly and cloudy one, until a short while ago, around mid-day, when the sun, fighting a valiant battle, finally overcame the clouds and shone forth in all its bright and manly presence. (smile) Now that’s a good omen for us believers in Christ Jesus, reassuring us that if we stand strong and fight the foes of darkness, we too can overcome and bask in the glorious light of Jesus! 

And with that reassurance under our belt, let’s offer up our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer with all 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!’ 

And there isn’t a more rewarding prayer than one seeking sincere intimacy with our heavenly Father, for that’s one of His heart’s greatest desires. It warms the cockles of His heart when we come sincerely seeking Him. That’s why there are several scriptures in God’s Word that specifically speak about seeking Him. Let’s check out a few of them nuh, like this one from Isaiah, where He writes: ‘Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.’ (Is. 55:6-7) 

Right there my people, we see the wisdom of seeking God; He’ll pardon and have mercy on all who seek Him. But there’s one important proviso, as stated in this scripture from Jeremiah that we all know, where he declares: ‘Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto (listen to) you. And ye shall seek me, and find me when ye shall search for me with your whole heart.’ (Jer. 29:12-13) Yes friends, there is a necessity to seeking God sincerely, or with all of your soul, body, mind and heart if you want to find Him. 

Meanwhile Cousin Sol who has something to say on every subject, (smile) says it thus in Proverbs: ‘I LOVE them that LOVE me; and those that seek me early (diligently) shall find me.’ (Prov. 8:17) There again, more sincere and whole hearted seeking of God is necessary to find Him. We just can’t go with any wishy-washy, double-minded attitude and find Him. No! It must be with all of our being! And Cousin Sol further intimates that we must seek God as though we’re seeking for silver or gold, for hidden treasure; that’s with total undivided attention, putting all we have into it. (Prov. 2:4) 

So, now that we have heard all about the benefits of sincerely seeking the Lord, let’s look at what happens if we don’t seek Him. And Cousin Sol puts it right out there when he talks in the beginning of Proverbs about ‘Wisdom Cries in the Streets.’ The scholars explain that He personifies her as a prophetess calling out in public places to everyone to come to her and learn.  

He writes: ‘Wisdom crieth without (calls aloud in the street); she uttereth (raises) her voice in the streets (plazas). She crieth in the chief place of concourse (concourses), in the opening of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying, How long, ye simple (naïve) ones, will ye LOVE simplicity (naivety)? And the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?’ (Prov. 1:20-22) Now those are very good questions my brethren, questions that many of us need to seriously consider today, since our world is currently so full of exactly what Cousin Sol’s talking about; naivety or lack of knowledge, the scorning of scoffers, hatred of wisdom by fools or the morally dull. 

But then we have this graceful invitation that was also turned down. ‘Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought (disdained) all my counsel, and would (have) none of my reproof:’ (Prov. 1:23-25) Yes friends, that’s exactly what too many of us have done; rejected God and His awesome help, and what our foolish and mentally disturbed world is adamantly continuing to do. 

But hear what’s in the works for such of us nuh! ‘I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear (terror) cometh; When your fear (terror) cometh as desolation (a storm), and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.’ (Prov. 1:26-27) Now is that what we truly desire? I doubt it. And the story is not yet finished. 

Listen up: ‘Then they shall call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early (diligently), but they shall not find me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear (reverence) of the Lord: They would (have) none of my counsel: they despised all of my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away (waywardness) of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity (complacency) of fools shall destroy them. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet (be secure or at ease) from fear of evil.’ (Prov. 1:28-33) 

There you have it my fellow believers, the pros and cons for seeking God diligently and with our whole being, and also being foolish and rejecting Him. Now, it’s up to each of us to choose the path we shall tread, but first, please let’s very seriously contemplate the consequences of each decision! Much LOVE!

…the time to sincerely seek God is…NOW…for as the old song says…if you wait too late…when you run to the Rock for rescue…there’ll be no rock…

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien

Today’s Scrip-Bit 6 September 2019 Proverbs 1:33.

06 Sep 2019 Leave a comment

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

Proverbs 1:33.    ​But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet (safe, secure) from fear of evil.
 

Well a good Friday morning to you my Scrip-Bit friends and family! And so it should be, because it’s as glorious a day as the Lord has ever made! This morning when He took out His brush, palette and paints to produce it, He didn’t miss a stroke! 

He got it all right; the brightly shining sun, a cool, invigorating breeze, leaves as green as ever on the trees, singing birds and insects, a myriad of flowers in a myriad of beautiful colours, and most of all, we His faithful followers and obedient believers with His Holy Spirit dwelling in us to lead and guide us along straight paths! 

Oh glory to our great God! Give Him much thanks and praise my people! And that thanks should not be only through word of mouth, but also be shown by our actions, by the way we live our lives, so that others will want to come to Him and enjoy His salvation, LOVE, forgiveness and mercy! But enough of me. (smile) 

Hear the ordinary workingman as he sings his Friday song. ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday oui! Brother! The week’s been somewhat rough after all that Labour Day partying! Good thing we didn’t have to work five days nuh, else I never would have made it nuh. And with the children bouncing around excitedly with the new school year, there wasn’t a moment’s peace in the house this week! 

But I guess now that the summer’s done, I have the whole winter to rest. Let’s hope it’s not a rough one nuh because I’m not as young as I was and thus can’t handle those harsh winters with as much enthusiasm and patience and physical strength as I used to. Might just be time to move to somewhere where it’s always summer! 

Oh, I know right now that’s just a pipe dream, but it’s surely something to think on for later days. For the time being though, I just have to put up with the slave master and his slavish work, so that I can support the family, and enjoy the two short days off on the weekends. Thank God for Fridays and weekends yes!’ 

Yes friends, even the ordinary workingman has to wake up some time to his mortality! We all need to realize that what we might have been able to do in our youth, we simply can’t do in our later years. However, with the help of our amazing God and Creator we can do infinitely more than we think or imagine. And we bring that to remembrance through our Friday Chant. 

So let’s chant up a sincere storm nuh: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through. Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen!’ 

Yeh friends, like the ordinary workingman, many of us believers extended ourselves over the Labour Day weekend, and had it somewhat rough this past week, but we know the Lord our God, know that we can go to Him for rest and recuperation at any time of the day or night, because He has promised it in His Word. 

Hear how Cousin Sol puts it nuh, when he talks about those who refuse to seek the wisdom of the Lord God Almighty. ‘For the turning away (waywardness) of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity (complacency) of fools shall destroy them.’ (Prov.1:32) And oh my people, if there’s one word that describes too many believers in this day and age it’s that utterly inappropriate word ‘complacency!’ 

Now technically that means something like a ‘feeling of smug or uncritical satisfaction with oneself or one’s achievements.’ However as it pertains to us Christians in this evil and ungodly world it’s more a case of not doing what we ought to do; that’s the work, the purpose, the plan Jesus has for us, the job of spreading His good news to those around us. It’s more like ‘self-satisfaction especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies.’ 

Yes friends, too many of us are just sitting on our laurels doing nothing to truly further God’s kingdom, just enjoying the good earthly life, totally unaware of the dangers and deficiencies of our behaviour! Merely sitting on the fence, waiting for life to produce whatever we hope it produces is totally unacceptable to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and eventually we’ll only drown in, or choke on our own vomit, as the saying goes. 

Cousin Sol though wisely informs us: ‘But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet (safe, secure) from fear of evil.’ What a wonderful promise my people, but it comes with conditions! We need to listen to the Lord, obey His Word, and do what he tells us to do, when He tells us to do it; not just sit around lazily, complacently, and call ourselves Christians. Christians are action-oriented people, not just lay-abouts! 

And Cousin Sol expands on all of that later, saying when we seek the wisdom of God and also obey it: ‘Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble. When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet. Be not afraid of sudden fear (terror), neither of the desolation of (trouble from) the wicked, when it cometh. For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken (caught).’ (Prov.3:23-26) 

Oh friends, I couldn’t put it any better or clearer! It’s up to us now to accept God’s promises or not. But please remember there are serious consequences to each option, so please be wise and choose the Lord and His way! Much LOVE!

…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)