Something happened this morning that hadn’t happened in many months. When I woke up and gathered the thoughts of my mind enough to decide to stay awake I looked at the digital clock beside my bed, 3:33am. If you have read many of my posts you’ll know that for a season God woke me up very often at 3:33 am or pm depending on if I was working the day or night shift. This morning, seeing 3:33 brought a sincere “thank you LORD for all the times you woke me at 3:33 and for the new heart and renewed Spirit you’ve given me.”
If you have ever read my testimony found in the sidebar links, for a season my willful sin took me down the road to a reprobate mind. It’s a mind that justifies sin by calling it a “thorn in the flesh.” That mindset is only the beginning of the path to a reprobate mind which will eventually understand good as evil and evil as good. It’s a mind without a Godly moral conscience, a “hardened heart” towards sin and shame for it. It’s a heart that has “forgotten how to blush.”
After my thankfulness to Father God was expressed from my grateful heart a thought entered my mind, “they have forgotten how to blush.” I got up and Googled that phrase and it lead me to the Book of Jeremiah,
Jeremiah 6:15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination?
No! They were not at all ashamed;
Nor did they know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
At the time I punish them,
They shall be cast down,” says the Lord.
Jeremiah 8:12 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination?
No! They were not at all ashamed,
Nor did they know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
In the time of their punishment
They shall be cast down,” says the Lord.
Jeremiah was an outcast in the eyes of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah where he prophesied the coming judgment of God upon a sin driven, rebellious and unrepentant nation. Jeremiah was soundly outnumbered by the prophets professing God’s blessings, protection and pleasure even with the conditions in the nation of Judah. He was almost a lone voice crying out in a wilderness that didn’t even realize it was a wilderness.
I don’t remember where this phrase comes from but it says, “God gives people the leaders they deserve.” A sinful, selfish, prideful, arrogant and unrepentant people will inherit that gift from God. Jeremiah says this of “the people who have forgotten how to blush.”
Jeremiah 8:8-11 “How can you say, ‘We are wise,
And the law of the Lord is with us’?
Look, the false pen of the scribe certainly works falsehood.
9 The wise men are ashamed,
They are dismayed and taken.
Behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord;
So what wisdom do they have?
10 Therefore I will give their wives to others,
And their fields to those who will inherit them;
Because from the least even to the greatest
Everyone is given to covetousness;
From the prophet even to the priest
Everyone deals falsely.
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of My people (b) slightly,
(b. Jeremiah 8:11 Superficially)
Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’
When there is no peace.
Many many living and recently passed away so called prophets have tried to say that God is “so pleased with America that He even gave it Donald Trump.” The NAR prophets have been touting their “7 Mountain Mandate” because God was using Trump as the door to accomplish their goal. New forms of wealth and energy are supposed to abolish the established ones and their 7 Mountain Mandate will someday hand over a pristine world to Jesus their king. Only problem is I don’t read that in scripture, especially the Book of Revelation. In it Jesus comes back to wage war against a sinful earth and slays the wicked with His saints following Him. It’s a bloody mess according to what I read.
Oddly enough, the Torah Portions I have been reading and listening to many times this week include Isaiah chapter 66 and it’s in today’s devotional reading from MyDailyBible app does as well.
https://www.119ministries.com/resources/torah-portion/t39-chukat/
DailyPlan : one-year-tract : 2020-07-04 #Bible https://www.mydailybible.org/dp/esv/one-year-tract/2020-07-04.htm
In it Isaiah says this,
Isaiah 66:7-10 “Before she was in labor she gave birth; before her pain came upon her she delivered a son. 8 Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment? For as soon as Zion was in labor she brought forth her children. 9 Shall I bring to the point of birth and not cause to bring forth?” says the Lord; “shall I, who cause to bring forth, shut the womb?” says your God. 10 “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her;
I have heard many sermons and those who study endtime events say that the rebirth of Israel as a nation in 1948 is what Isaiah is prophesying here. After almost 2,000 years of being in the timeout God had put them in for their rebellion they sprout back up in their homeland like a dead stump resprouting. Jesus too spoke of the “generation” that would see the figtree revive as being the one that would see the fulfillment of all things. We are at that time. It’s 72 years, a generation since Israel was rebirthed into a nation again. Isaiah didn’t end chapter 66 with that thought. God reveals that abominations will once again occur in Israel and continue in the earth, he continues,
Isaiah 66:15-19 “For behold, YHWH will come in fire, and his chariots like the whirlwind, to render his anger in fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. 16 For by fire will YHWH enter into judgment, and by his sword, with all flesh; and those slain by YHWH shall be many.
17 “Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one in the midst, eating pig’s flesh and the abomination and mice, shall come to an end together, declares YHWH.
18 “For I know their works and their thoughts, and the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my glory,
The phrase in verse 17 caught my attention, “Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens,” so I looked it up to read the commentaries on it.
Ellicott accuses Israel and it’s religious system of “blending, mingling in heathen rites of worship” with that of Jehovah God. While Christians think of “consecration and purification” as being a virtue it can and has always been used to describe those who wholeheartedly serve the works of satan. forms of the word “holy” (qodesh-H6944, qadash-H6942, qadosh-H6918) in the Hebrew language usually meant as a good thing. But this form is dedicated to that end, being sold out for things against God, (qadesh-H6945 – From 6942; a (quasi) sacred {person} that {is} (technically) a (male) devotee (by prostitution) to licentious idolatry.
Ellicott also brings up Manasseh who is believed to be one of Israel’s most wicked kings. If you study the life of Manasseh oddly you will learn that he reigned as king over Judah for 55 years. Much longer than any other king in the land of Israel. No one can say that Father God isn’t “long suffering” with the hopes that someday a person would repent from their wicked ways.
God spoke to me again this morning with 333 as I looked at the life of Manasseh. Any time I study a 333 scripture I well up with tears and consider the mercy, grace and long suffering of my Loving Heavenly Father who used those numbers on my clock to wake me up to my sinful self who thought that a “thorn in the flesh sin was OK with God.”
2 Chronicles 33:3 For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; he raised up altars for the Baals, and made wooden images; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.
2 Chronicles 33 verses 3-8 lists 13 specific practises of false worship (13 = rebellion) that Manasseh instituted or reinstituted. He undid the reforms his father Hezekiah had implemented.
3 For 1. he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; 2. he raised up altars for the Baals, 3. and made wooden images; and 4. he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 5. He also built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem shall My name be forever.” 5 And 6. he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. 6 Also 7. he caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; 8. he practiced soothsaying, 9. used witchcraft and 10. sorcery, and 11. consulted mediums and 12. spiritists. 8. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. 7 13. He even set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever;
Jeremiah’s accusation against Judah was that they were so sinful and had lost their moral conscience to a point “they had forgotten how to blush.” To become red faced brought on by the embarrassment of shame and guilt is blushing. Have you ever “blushed” in embarrassment? It can happen at times of modesty, in a good kind of way. Have you ever tried “not to blush” only to realize it was not under your control as someone points out “oh how red your face is!!!” Blushing is like repentance, it’s a Gift From God. Only God’s Holy Spirit can bring the conviction of sin in the way that leads to “True Repentance.” Not repentance because you got caught but because of your sin and realizing Who you have sinned against.
Psalm 51:4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
A reprobate mind can’t blush for it’s sin no matter how hard you try. Even if you could it wouldn’t mean anything. God knows the intents of every heart. Praise God for the day His angel of repentance visited and kept visiting me at 3:33 to wake me up from the state of sin I was in. God is faithful, so faithful. His Lovingkindness (H2617- chesed) endures forever. God gave Manasseh a heart of repentance which I’m sure many of those close to him didn’t accept. They probably rathered to remember the old Manasseh and how wicked he “was.” BUT God had a different view of Manasseh,
2 Chronicles 33:10-16, 18-19 And the Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they would not listen. 11 Therefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze fetters, and carried him off to Babylon. 12 Now when he was in affliction, he implored the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, 13 and prayed to Him; and He received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.
14 After this he built a wall outside the City of David on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, as far as the entrance of the Fish Gate; and it enclosed Ophel, and he raised it to a very great height. Then he put military captains in all the fortified cities of Judah. 15 He took away the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the Lord, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the Lord and in Jerusalem; and he cast them out of the city. 16 He also repaired the altar of the Lord, sacrificed peace offerings and thank offerings on it, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel.
18 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, indeed they are written in the book of the kings of Israel. 19 Also his prayer and how God received his entreaty, and all his sin and trespass, and the sites where he built high places and set up wooden images and carved images, before he was humbled, indeed they are written among the sayings of Hozai.
NO One will ever be able to accuse Father God on not being loving, kind or longsuffering to give anyone the chance to repent. If anyone will only seek Father God honestly to know right from wrong without coming with their own personal agenda in mind, He Will answer. From today July 4,2020 MyDailyBible app devotional reading, consider how often this phrase is repeated, His Mercy (H2617-Chesed) Love Endures Forever
Psalm 136 – His “Steadfast Love” (H2617-Chesed) Endures Forever
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
4 to him who alone does great wonders,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
5 to him who by understanding made the heavens,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
6 to him who spread out the earth above the waters,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
7 to him who made the great lights,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
8 the sun to rule over the day,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
9 the moon and stars to rule over the night,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
10 to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
11 and brought Israel out from among them,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
12 with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
13 to him who divided the Red Sea in two,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
14 and made Israel pass through the midst of it,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
15 but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
16 to him who led his people through the wilderness,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
17 to him who struck down great kings,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
18 and killed mighty kings,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
19 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
20 and Og, king of Bashan,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
21 and gave their land as a heritage,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
22 a heritage to Israel his servant,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
23 It is he who remembered us in our low estate,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
24 and rescued us from our foes,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
25 he who gives food to all flesh,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
God’s offer is to anyone that will obey the leading of His Holy Spirit to draw them away from sin and towards God’s Way. Jesus said, “I Am the Way” the Only Way!!!
Romans 5:6-11 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
There is no reconciliation, redemption or justification by the Blood of Jesus without repentance from willful sin. Willful sin will grieve the Holy Spirit that seals you as a child of God. Paul warns Christians not to “trample the Blood of Jesus”
Hebrews 10:29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?
Have you gotten comfortable with a sin in your life? Do you think God’s OK with it and it doesn’t bother you anymore like it once did? Maybe you are heading down the road that leads to a reprobate mind. A warning sign along the way is “forgetting how to blush” over that sin. Each time you resist the leading of the Holy Spirit to convict you of sin, the easier it is next time to resist. God calls this “hardening of the heart.” In Exodus and in other examples in the Bible, like with Pharoah, it says, “he hardened his heart.” Then after many times of Pharaoh hardening his own heart it says, “God hardened Pharaoh’s heart.”
Romans 1:21-32
21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31 Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
Many churches won’t preach against sin but they will tell you about God’s love, how He wants to bless you with more of everything you can imagine, just send me your tithe. They will tell you God won’t judge America going against every Biblical example of how God deals with a nation that claims to be one of His and calls Him their God. Our politicians in many areas have seemed to have lost their minds. They call good evil and evil good. Yes I believe “God gives people the leaders they deserve.”
I have been considering writing a post for about a month now and the title will be “Has God Given America Over To A Reprobate Mind?” It’s the only way I can come to grips with the things I see happening in America and the response many of our elected and self appointed leaders are promoting as solutions.
In my research of the topic, “They Forgot How To Blush” I came across this article which says is a year old, long before our recent escalation of hostility towards each other. I think God showed Dr. Dan Merritt the same concept,
In The Word 