Psalm 66:18
Psalm 66:18 (NASB)
18
If I [1] or had regarded [a] Job 36:21; John 9:31 regard wickedness in my heart, The [b] Job 27:9; Ps 18:41; Prov 1:28***; Isa 1:15; James 4:3*** Lord [2] Or would will not [3] Or have heard hear;
You have reported and mentioned to many family and friends; even strangers that God, is good, He's awesome, He's almighty; and that you have been the recipient of many blessings from The Loving God. With all
of the blessings you have received in past times, you now notice you have been calling Him and there has been no response, it seems as if God closed shop and went on vacation. You are now at your wit's end and everything thing is crumbling
in your life, from the inner circle to the outer court, your life has become one big plethora of seemingly unending chaos; but some how you are guided to look into the mirror of your life and by some chosen means of the Holy Spirit, its revealed there is a
BLOCK (S) that has caused you to stumble, and the irony of the stumbling block, you were the one who was unwilling to let go; but you held on to it! THE BLOCK!!
So
now you are at the cross roads and you are looking into your mirror of life and saying to yourself, there is a decision to be made. Some decisions we make are relatively easy, but for the one who is in need of a Word or response from the Lord, making
the right decision can seemingly become a monumental task, why is that you might ask: well you see there is this warring in our members: reference Romans 7:14-25. I would like
to focus on the fact that even when I knew it was wrong to hold on to my stumbling block there was something going on inside of my flesh linking me into bondage to sin, so it is not even me that is doing or engaging in acts that are against God, but it is
the spirit of sin living in me. The sin that is living in my flesh is at war with my mind and making me a prisoner of sin. Therefore, I must allow the Holy Spirit to move me to ask the question, being the wretched man that I am, who will remove
the stumbling block and set me free from death, for sin brings forth death.
The Holy Spirit however allows me to see myself in the mirror of God’s Law through Jesus
Christ, that repentance must be the order of the day in conjunction with a contrite spirit and heart.
Not everybody’s prayers are bouncing off of the walls of heaven,
for there are some whom the Lord wants to take to the next level in their spiritual walk with God, but if you do not fit into that category the stumbling block (Sin / Iniquity) is going to have to be removed in order for God to hear: ref. Proverbs 1:28 (NASB)
28 "Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently but they will not find me, and we must also ask ourselves this question: do I want to be heard by God
when I’m in trouble, and if the answer is yes; note scripture puts the question to us this way in Job 27:9 (NASB) 9 "Will God hear his [my] cry When distress comes upon him [me]?
In closing I will allow the Word to express my sentiments:
Hebrews 12:1-5 (MSG)
1 Do you see what
this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, (get rid of the stumbling block/sin) start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins.
2 Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame,
whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. 3 When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!
4 In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say nothing of what Jesus went through—all that bloodshed! 5 So don't feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards
you as his children? My dear child, don't shrug off God's discipline, but don't be crushed by it either.
Just a little something from the Bishop to help someone get their
prayers answered, just in case they are bouncing back without a response from God.