186, Things Men Can Do

(14 to 19 out of 186)

14)

Go astray

Proverbs 28:10  

He who leads the upright along an evil path will fall into his own trap, but the blameless will receive a good inheritance.

Ezekiel 14:11  

Then the people of Israel will no longer stray from me, nor will they defile themselves anymore with all their sins. They will be my people, and I will be their God, declares the Sovereign LORD.’”

1 Peter 2:25

For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

15)

Leave first love and be removed from Christ

Revelation 2:5-6  

5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

16)

Wax cold in love to God and man

Matthew 24:12  

Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,

17)

Forget ever being purged from sin by the blood of Christ

2 Peter 1:9  

But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

18)

Err from the faith

1 Timothy 1:19  

Holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith.

19)

Perish if cease to hear and follow

Deuteronomy 8:19-20  

19 If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed.

20 Like the nations the LORD destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the LORD your God.

Matthew 18:14  

In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.

1 Corinthians 8:11  

So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge.

Against the storm

By John Fischer

When my children were younger, we lived in a small Massachusetts town where we developed an unusual family tradition around the Christmas Eve service at our church. Since the church was only two blocks away, we would always walk to and from this service, regardless of the weather. The cold night air and the Christmas lights all added to the festivity of the evening. Of course if snow was on the ground or in the air, that just made it even more special.

The service always ended with a candle-lighting ceremony accompanied by the singing of “Silent Night.” For this, each person received a small, hand-held candle as he or she came in, and at the appropriate time, the church was darkened and the pastor would light one candle on the front row, from which the whole room would soon be glowing as the flame was passed on from person to person.

What made it especially unique was the fact that the pastor’s candle was lit from the advent candelabra – whose flame had also passed from candle to candle representing the weeks of advent, culminating in the large Christmas Eve candle in the middle that was lit at the beginning of this service. So you could trace this flame back from the beginning of advent.

This is where our own family tradition took over. We wouldn’t blow out our candles at the end of the service as everyone else did. We figured that if the light had lasted that long, it deserved better treatment. So we would keep our candles going after the service and all the way home to light our own Yule log that was waiting in the fireplace. It became very symbolic. From advent candle to living room fire – from spiritual fire to home fire burning – this light always started our Christmas hope.

I remember the year the wind was so cold and strong that we all had to huddle tightly to keep our candles from going out – slowly inching our way against the storm, lighting and relighting from whoever had their flame still burning, our backs to the wind, and our faces barely glowing in the flickering wick. We had a couple close calls that year and it was our 7-year-old Anne who for some reason kept her candle going for the rest of us.

I’ve always cherished this memory as a picture of faith and fellowship – how we pass the light of faith on to each other and how when we stick together, everyone is important. Sometimes the smallest and weakest keep the light burning.

Miracles in the Book of Jonah

A great wind and tempest

John 1:4  

In him was life, and that life was the light of men.

The lot falling on Jonah

Jonah 1:7  

Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.

The great calm in the sea

Jonah 1:15  

Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.

Jonah in the belly of the fish 3 days and 3 nights, and coming out alive

Jonah 1:17  

But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.

Jonah’s resurrection from the dead

Jonah 2:10  

And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Matthew 12:40  

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

A miracle of grace

Jonah 3:5-10  

5 The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.

6 When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust.

7 Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink.

8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence.

9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”

10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.

Jonah 4:11  

But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?”

Preparation of the gourd-making it a great vine to cover a man in one night

Jonah 4:6  

Then the LORD God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine.

Jonah 4:10  

But the LORD said, “You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight.

Preparation of the worm

Jonah 4:7  

But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered.

The vehement east wind

Jonah 4:8  

When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah's head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”

Know what God’s words mean

Know what God’s words mean

True Words.

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

The closer we cleave to the word of God, both as our rule and as our stay, the more assurance we have of deliverance. Christ is the Advocate of his people, their Redeemer. Those who were quickened by his Spirit and grace, when they were dead in trespasses and sins, often need to have the work of grace revived in them, according to the word of promise. The wicked not only do not God's statutes, but they do not even seek them.

They flatter themselves that they are going to heaven; but the longer they persist in sin, the further it is from them. God's mercies are tender; they are a fountain that can never be exhausted. The psalmist begs for God's reviving, quickening grace. A man, steady in the way of his duty, though he may have many enemies, needs to fear none. Those that hate sin truly, hate it as sin, as a transgression of the law of God, and a breaking of his word. Our obedience is only pleasing to God, and pleasant to us, when it comes from a principle of love. All, in every age, who receive God's word in faith and love, find every saying in it faithful.

The battle is Lord’s:

All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands.” ..  1 Samuel 17:47  

Our Lord does not except us to go warfare at our own charges. No soldier finds himself in rations or ammunition. Our King is never ungenerous: if he sends us to battle he will go with us, both to cover our head and never our arms. If we will but care for his cause, he will care for us. Queen Elizabeth requested a merchant to go abroad on her service, and when he mentioned that his own business would be ruined, she replied, “You mind my business and I will mind yours”. If it be the Lord’s battle, we may be sure that he will see us through with it.

Bible verses – that will bring comfort in times of grief and sadness.

– Part 1 --

Psalms 9:9

The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.

Psalms 18:2

The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Psalms 22:24

For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.

Psalms 23

1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not be in want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside quiet waters,

3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Psalms 27:4-5

4 One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.

5 For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock.

Psalms 30:5

For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

Fellowship with Wrong

Unbelievers

2 Corinthians 6:14 

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?

Fornicators, idolaters, drunkards and swindlers

2 Corinthians 5:9-11 

9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.

10  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.

Self-lovers, boasters, the proud, the ungrateful

1Timothy 3:2

 Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, The unforgiving, slanderous, brutal 

1 Timothy 3:3

Not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.

The Bible speaks of many with whom we are not to have fellowship:

Vain persons

Psalms 26:4 

I do not sit with deceitful men, nor do I consort with hypocrites;

Evil Workers

Psalms 26:5 

I abhor the assembly of evildoers and refuse to sit with the wicked.

Limitations of God

He cannot – Fail to answer prayer when unwavering faith is exercised.

Matthew 17:20  

He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Matthew 21:22  

If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

Matthew 11:22-24  

22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths. If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. 24 But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the Day of Judgment than for you.”

John 14:12-15  

12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. 15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command.

John 15:7  

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.

John 15:16 

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.

John 16:23-26

23 In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. 25  “Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf.

Hebrews 11:6

 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

James 1:5-8  

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;  8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

Sins committed and recorded in Scriptures

Willful blindness to truth

“Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”…John 9:41

Christ came into the world to give sight to those who were spiritually blind. Also, that those who see might be made blind; that those who have a high conceit of their own wisdom, might be sealed up in ignorance. The preaching of the cross was thought to be folly by such as by carnal wisdom knew not God. Nothing fortifies men's corrupt hearts against the convictions of the word, more than the high opinion which others have of them; as if all that gained applause with men, must obtain acceptance with God. Christ silenced them. But the sin of the self-conceited and self-confident remains; they reject the gospel of grace, therefore the guilt of their sin remains unpardoned, and the power of their sin remains unbroken.

Pride

“But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.”…2 Chronicles 26:16

As long as Uzziah sought the Lord, and minded religion, God made him to prosper. Those only prosper whom God makes to prosper; for prosperity is his gift. Many have owned, that as long as they sought the Lord, and kept close to their duty, they prospered; but when they forsook God, every thing went cross. God never continues either to bless the indolent or to withhold his blessing from the diligent. He will never suffer any to seek his face in vain. Uzziah's name was famed throughout all the neighboring countries. A name with God and good people makes truly honorable. He did not delight in war, nor addict himself to sports, but delighted in husbandry.