“Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth:
for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed.”
1 Samuel 2:3
Intimacy with God brings a consciousness of His presence, an awareness of His watchful care. To abide in His shadow will bring us into greater compliance with His Spirit.
The Balances of God
In the seven letters addressed to the church in the Book of Revelation, God addresses each with the powerful phrase:
“I know thy works…”
May we, in honesty of heart, consider the eternal consequences of our “actions” and our “works” in the light of His judgments.
Charles Spurgeon
“Thou art weighed in the balances
and art found wanting.”
Dan 5:27
“It is well frequently to weigh ourselves in the scale of God’s Word. You will find it a holy exercise to read some psalm of David, and, as you meditate upon each verse, to ask yourself, “Can I say this? Have I felt as David felt? Has my heart ever been broken on account of sin, as his was when he penned his penitential psalms? Has my soul been full of true confidence in the hour of difficulty as his was when he sang of God’s mercies in the cave of Adullam, or in the holds of Engedi? Do I take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord?” Then turn to the life of Christ, and as you read, ask yourselves how far you are conformed to his likeness. Endeavour to discover whether you have the meekness, the humility, the lovely spirit which he constantly inculcated and displayed. Take, then, the epistles, and see whether you can go with the apostle in what he said of his experience. Have you ever cried out as he did-“O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Have you ever felt his self-abasement? Have you seemed to yourself the chief of sinners, and less than the least of all saints? Have you known anything of his devotion? Could you join with him and say, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain”? If we thus read God’s Word as a test of our spiritual condition, we shall have good reason to stop many a time and say, “Lord, I feel I have never yet been here, O bring me here! give me true penitence, such as this I read of. Give me real faith; give me warmer zeal; inflame me with more fervent love; grant me the grace of meekness; make me more like Jesus. Let me no longer be ‘found wanting,’ when weighed in the balances of the sanctuary, lest I be found wanting in the scales of judgment.”
“Judge yourselves that ye be not judged.”
– Charles Spurgeon
Brian Troxel
The question is asked: Have you ever cried out as he did, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”
I find it more than a little interesting that earlier in that same chapter 7 of Romans, Paul burdened down, bound tight, badly bedraggled, bummed out, and burned out by the dire demands of the Letter of the Law, telling us at vv., 19-20 “For the good that I want to do, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not want to do, I am no longer the one doing it [that is, it is not me that acts], but the sin [nature] which lives in me.”, then looks away from the legalistic Law of the Letter to the the graciously emancipating Spirit of life in Christ.
Sin ought not to unduly be our focus, and thus further our folly. The subsequence of such is that which we focus on is what we become similar to and are subjected to. Sin is not the solution; surrender of stubbornness and submission of self to our Savior and Sanctifier is the Solution.
2 Corinthians 3:17-18 AMP
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty [emancipation from bondage, true freedom]. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed into His image from [one degree of] glory to [even more] glory, which comes from the Lord, [who is] the Spirit.
The Conflict of Two Natures
Roman 7:14-25 AMP
14 We know that the Law is spiritual, but I am a creature of the flesh [worldly, self-reliant—carnal and unspiritual], sold into slavery to sin [and serving under its control]. 15 For I do not understand my own actions [I am baffled and bewildered by them]. I do not practice what I want to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate [and yielding to my human nature, my worldliness—my sinful capacity]. 16 Now if I habitually do what I do not want to do, [that means] I agree with the Law, confessing that it is good (morally excellent). 17 So now [if that is the case, then] it is no longer I who do it [the disobedient thing which I despise], but the sin [nature] which lives in me. 18 For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh [my human nature, my worldliness—my sinful capacity]. For the willingness [to do good] is present in me, but the doing of good is not. 19 For the good that I want to do, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not want to do, I am no longer the one doing it [that is, it is not me that acts], but the sin [nature] which lives in me.
21 So I find it to be the law [of my inner self], that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully delight in the law of God in my inner self [with my new nature], 23 but I see a different law and rule of action in the members of my body [in its appetites and desires], waging war against the law of my mind and subduing me and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is within my members. 24 Wretched and miserable man that I am! Who will [rescue me and] set me free from this body of death [this corrupt, mortal existence]? 25 Thanks be to God [for my deliverance] through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind serve the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh [my human nature, my worldliness, my sinful capacity—I serve] the law of sin.
Romans 8:2-4 AMP
2 For the law of the Spirit of life [which is] in Christ Jesus [the law of our new being] has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For what the Law could not do [that is, overcome sin and remove its penalty, its power] being weakened by the flesh [man’s nature without the Holy Spirit], God did: He sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful man as an offering for sin. And He condemned sin in the flesh [subdued it and overcame it in the person of His own Son], 4 so that the [righteous and just] requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not live our lives in the ways of the flesh [guided by worldliness and our sinful nature], but [live our lives] in the ways of the Spirit [guided by His power].
Wise, we are to entrust the entirety of our believing and being ever and always to the blessing and beneficence of the Spirit of Grace and Truth intimately indwelling us, Who Is Christ, our Counsellor and Coach, our Captain, Consecration, and Completeness.
Proverbs 3:5-6 AMP
5 Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart
And do not rely on your own insight or understanding.
6 In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him,
And He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way].
As those saved by grace through faith and that not of ourselves, not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to His mercy saved, He shall never forget us, fail us nor forsake us, as He, the Supremacy and Splendor of both our salvation and our sanctification, ever lives to ceaselessly continue calling to and compassionately chasing down our hearts through all of our perversion, pride and pain, as our intimately involved Intercessor at the royally righteous hand of and ardently affectionate Advocate before His and our Selfsame Abba, the Almighty, until that Perfect Day.
Hebrews 4:14-16 AMP
14 Inasmuch then as we [believers] have a great High Priest who has [already ascended and] passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession [of faith and cling tenaciously to our absolute trust in Him as Savior]. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize and understand our weaknesses and temptations, but One who has been tempted [knowing exactly how it feels to be human] in every respect as we are, yet without [committing any] sin. 16 Therefore let us [with privilege] approach the throne of grace [that is, the throne of God’s gracious favor] with confidence and without fear, so that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find [His amazing] grace to help in time of need [an appropriate blessing, coming just at the right moment].
Romans 8:28-30 AMP
28 And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose. 29 For those whom He foreknew [and loved and chose beforehand], He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son [and ultimately share in His complete sanctification], so that He would be the firstborn [the most beloved and honored] among many believers. 30 And those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified [declared free of the guilt of sin]; and those whom He justified, He also glorified [raising them to a heavenly dignity].
Almost overly obvious it ought to be that indeed, graciously greater are the preciously prescient promises of our perfect Priest and Promisekeeper to us, than comparatively paltry, our promises or purport are or ever could be to Him.
Romans 13:15 AMP
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you will abound in hope and overflow with confidence in His promises.
Brian, well said; without Him (though it is true) we are nothing. But we are in our own eyes unfortunately something until we see Him, and that something is not anything pretty. We can even be seen as great before the World like Elon. But until we see ourselves as you so well point out here, as wretchedly thinking and acting souls without Him and desperately in need of His working in our lives; then our hope is false.
Without the Three Personed God, we would not even exist, as in Him we live, and move, and have our being. He gives us life and breath.
Even before coming to saving faith in Christ, our Creator saw His inimitable Image in each one of us, and thus our incredibly intrinsic worth, as manipulated, marred and mauled by sin as it was, of value enough for Himself to send the uniquely begotten Son of His love to so severely suffer and die that He could take to Himself ourselves, His rescued and redeemed, as His bride for marriage eternally. This perception is a prime principle for prayer for the infidel.
Until the Perfect Day, we are the One Beautiful Triune God’s work in progress, and His workmanship is altogether perfect, ignorantly impatient as we may be.
Romans 13:15 AMP
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you will abound in hope and overflow with confidence in His promises.
Amen 🙏
Judgement Delayed No Longer
I had a dream in the early morning hours of Friday October 13. In the first part of the dream I saw people shackled standing before the throne of God. I then saw black scrolls being opened and as they were opened I could see writing on the scrolls in a glowing red crimson. I also saw others whose scrolls were white and nothing was written on them. From there the dream shifted to the United States and I saw the scales of justice being held over the United States. Then I heard the words, “Judgement will be delayed no longer”.
My initial thoughts are that judgment for the individual and the nation as a whole is coming
This dream was from 2017