The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Isaiah 55:6-7,
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
"Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake their ways
and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon."
Here is a wonderful invitation from the Lord to us all. We are told to seek him "while he may be found." Following our physical death, he will no longer extend his invitation, as he withdraws it. There is no hope for anyone who does not respond to the Lord's invitation while still in this life. The concept of a "purgatory" is bogus, not found anywhere in Scripture.
There is another troubling issue that I had not considered in the past. When we hear the gospel message and if we reject it, we find ourselves on very thin ice. There just may be a point, in our rejection of him, that he hardens our hearts such that we become incapable of responding to him later, while still in this life. A time when one can find he is no longer near.
This very real possibility is seen in what John wrote in John 12:37-41, "Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: 'Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?' For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere: 'He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them.' Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him." John's point is that some would not believe in Jesus: first they would not, then they could not, because God hardened their hearts when they would not.
John's quote of Isaiah 6:10 was to point out that the Lord himself might prevent those who reject him from ever being able to accept him afterward. How many times rejecting the Lord does it take? I don't have a clue. I do know that anyone who has embraced the Lord in faith will never have their hearts hardened. Paul says to the Corinthian believers, "He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." 1 Corinthians 1:8-9.
This is the wonderful exciting part!
call on him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake their ways
and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon."
Here is a wonderful invitation from the Lord to us all. We are told to seek him "while he may be found." Following our physical death, he will no longer extend his invitation, as he withdraws it. There is no hope for anyone who does not respond to the Lord's invitation while still in this life. The concept of a "purgatory" is bogus, not found anywhere in Scripture.
There is another troubling issue that I had not considered in the past. When we hear the gospel message and if we reject it, we find ourselves on very thin ice. There just may be a point, in our rejection of him, that he hardens our hearts such that we become incapable of responding to him later, while still in this life. A time when one can find he is no longer near.
This very real possibility is seen in what John wrote in John 12:37-41, "Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: 'Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?' For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere: 'He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them.' Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him." John's point is that some would not believe in Jesus: first they would not, then they could not, because God hardened their hearts when they would not.
John's quote of Isaiah 6:10 was to point out that the Lord himself might prevent those who reject him from ever being able to accept him afterward. How many times rejecting the Lord does it take? I don't have a clue. I do know that anyone who has embraced the Lord in faith will never have their hearts hardened. Paul says to the Corinthian believers, "He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." 1 Corinthians 1:8-9.
This is the wonderful exciting part!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
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