When the LORD Will Not Hear
"For any one...who separates himself from me, taking his idols into
his heart...I will set my face against that man; I will make him a sign
and a byword...and you shall know that I am the Lord" (Ezek 14:7-8 ESV).
"...I will act in wrath. My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. And though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them'"(Ezek 8:18 ESV).
FATHER, these hard words You have recorded are a sobering punctuation of how important it is to daily evaluate myself. My ruin will be estrangement from You by deciding to move my dependence from You to someone else (ref#18, [Ezek 14:1-11]). (An idol is some creature, mainly myself, who I allow to set up rule in my heart that replaces You).
"...the only life that pleases God...is His life—never our life, no matter how hard we try. But inasmuch as our self-centered life is the exact opposite of His, we can never be filled with His life unless we are prepared for God to bring our life constantly to death" (ref#97, p25).
The sin of living by my born-with nature is loathsome to GOD. I am in the way of GOD's wrath when I attempt to "satisfy a vain curiosity, to stop the mouth of a clamorous conscience, or to get or save a reputation among men, but without any desire to be acquainted with God or any design to be ruled by him" (ref#18, [Ezek 14:1-11]).
"...human nature was created by God, not by the devil; it is impaired, and enfeebled, but it is not sinful. The first creation retains the remnants of God's handiwork; re-creation is the building of a spiritual habitation, 'an habitation of God,' and all our effort is to be spent in disciplining the natural life in obedience to the new creation wrought in us through the Spirit....Any attempt to build on the natural virtues will ultimately outrange the grace of God..." (ref#157, June 5th).
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