The Wantonness Of Wandering In A Trackless Waste Psalms 107:39-40 Jeremiah 7:9-11 Romans 1:21-25 Ephesians 4:17-19 Psalms 107:4-9 Jeremiah 29:11-14 Isaiah 30:21 Proverbs 3:5-6 2 Samuel 22:31 12.28.20

 

THE WANTONNESS OF WANDERING IN A TRACKLESS WASTE

BREAD

³⁹ Then their numbers decreased, and they were humbled by oppression, calamity and sorrow; ⁴⁰ he who pours contempt on nobles made them wander in a trackless waste.  Psalms 107:39-40 (NIV)

 

⁹ “‘Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, ¹⁰ and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, ‘We are safe’--safe to do all these detestable things? ¹¹ Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching!’ declares the LORD.”   Jeremiah 7:9-11 (NIV)

 

²¹ For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. ²⁴ Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. ²⁵ They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen.  Romans 1:21-25 (NIV)

 

¹⁷ So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. ¹⁹ Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.   Ephesians 4:17-19 (NIV)

 

⁴ Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle.
⁵ They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away.  ⁶ Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. ⁷ He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle. ⁸ Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, ⁹ for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.  Psalms 107:4-9 (NIV)

¹¹ “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity.” Jeremiah 29:11-14 (NIV)

 

²¹ Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”  Isaiah 30:21 (NIV)

 

 

⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.  Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)

 

³¹ “As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.”  2 Samuel 22:31 (NIV)

 

BUTTER

 

“Because I love you, I’m asking you to guard your heart from anyone or anything that can steal you away from Me. Remember, My love, this world offers a counterfeit Life that will never fulfill you. What I create for you will satisfy your soul; what the enemy offers will satisfy your flesh for a while. However, in the end the world’s way leads to destruction. If your heart wanders and you are not equipped with My Word, you will be unable to discern the difference between real faith and counterfeit religion.”   Sheri Rose Shepherd

“If you love someone, will you want to make him miserable?  Will you go out of your way to punish him if he doesn’t do exactly what you tell him to?  No, of course not – not if you really love him.  The same is true with God.  God loves you, and because He loves you, He cares what happens to you.  He loves you too much to let you wander aimlessly through life, without meaning or purpose.  The Bible says, ‘You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy’ (Psalms 16:11).  Covet God’s will for your life more than anything else.  To know God’s will – and to do it – is life’s greatest joy.”   Billy Graham

“Jesus gave all His followers – not just a few - the immense privileged duty of the ministry of reconciliation.  He sent us to proclaim the Good News – with both our actions and words - that through His blood we no longer need remain alienated from God and even each other – wallowing in the filth of our sins, lacking significance, always coming up wanting.  His desire is for all to be turned back from our miserably sad point of departure – which we were all born into excepting Adam and Eve – to walk again in the garden, so to speak, in the cool of the day; to commune with Him; to be filled with the fullness and completeness that He alone gives and to experience the life that is truly life.  God greatly desires to bring back the lost wanderer to the former state of harmony that our original parents were privy to and He confoundly uses people like me and you to accomplish this great work.  That’s actually what the word reconcile means in Scripture – ‘to bring back to a former state of harmony.’  Christ’s blood reconciled us allowing those who would believe in Him the changing back to that time of no variance.  That amazing Truth is to be shared and not hoarded and He calls all of His followers to be faithful to the task.”   BHY 

“Christians should be distinct from the world in how we live.  Yet we all have cause to sing, ‘Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love’.  But even when the Christian stumbles, as we all do this side of glory, we are not content to make peace with belittling God.  We do not settle at home in our sin.  ‘We’re all human’ is not our excuse.  We are not satisfied to wander from our Savior.  When we fall, we will roll to our knees, plead for grace’s pardon and power, get up, and continue on our way.”    Greg Morse   

 

“We judge things by their present appearance; but the Lord sees them in their consequences.  If we could do the same we would be perfectly of His mind; but since we can’t, it is an unspeakable mercy that He will manage for us, whether we are pleased with His management or not; and it is regarded as one of His heaviest judgments when He gives any person up to the way of their own hearts, and to walk according to their own wisdom.”  John Newton            

 

“Watch, therefore, over this unsteady heart of mine, O Thou Keeper of Israel; that as soon as it begins to wander from Thee, I may be alarmed to flee from sin as from a serpent.  Give me grace to look upon every hour as my last; so that being ever wisely upon my guard I may meet Thee with joy when my time is run out, whenever it shall please Thee to call me hence.”   K. H. Von Bogatzky

 

HEART SAVOR

 

• ·         Don’t waste your life in the cesspool of debauched living – it will get you nowhere fast and will always come up wanting.  Nothing but Christ fully satisfies the human soul.  Nothing.  It is much better to learn this truth in a classroom rather than on a field trip.  
• ·         God has prepared a way for each one of us and we are the losers if we do not walk in it.  His will is good and pleasing and perfect albeit often extraordinarily hard.  It is the way of abundance.  Seek it.
• ·         His way is perfect, His Word flawless and He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.  You can trust Him with your life.