The Provocation
Psalm 95:8
Harden not your heart as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.
The word provocation means action or speech that makes someone annoyed or angry, especially deliberately. It is an action word that means to cause a reaction in someone or from someone. Simply put it is the reaction to someones action.
Relationships are based on the reaction to someones action. All of our relationships with God have been based on the actions of God showing himself to us in certain ways. We then react to his action in the way we choose. We only have two ways to choose from, his way or our way. This is why the word says we are to study and imitate Jesus. Jesus walks in the ways of God. When we choose Jesus, we are choosing to walk in the ways of God leaving our old ways behind.
How do we know that we have given up on our old ways? The answer is simple. God proves us in such a way that it is plain to us if we are walking in his ways. His ways are not our ways so there is a clear difference between his actions and our reactions. His word is a diagnostic tool that shows us what is truly inside our soul that is not of God.
The word says that we are God's children. This means as we grow, we are becoming more like him. For now, we are a work in progress. We are still childlike in many ways, some good and a lot bad. Part of the plan of God calls for us to be matured. At certain times in our walk with God, he will allow us to be tested so that we will know were we are in the maturing process.
The bible gives us a good example of this in his training and maturing of the children of Israel when he freed them from Egypt. It is clear that the children of Israel had been apart of the Egyptian system for over four hundred years. Egypt is a type or example of the world system that is in place in the world today. It clearly does not function by the ways of God. The children of Israel was Jacob's kids. This means they were more like Jacob then they were like God when they entered into Egypt. At the time of their departure from Egypt they had a mixture of God, Jacob and Egypt in their ways. ( The same is true for us before salvation. We to had a mixture of world and self that had to be purged. )In order for them to become God's children, they had to be purged from the bad parts of Jacob and the evil of Egypt.
The key point here is that in God's eyes the nation of Israel were children who behaved like Jacob their father and the world system of Egypt. Their way was to murmur and cry out like natural children of the world. This is how they got their way. A baby will cry and cry until it gets what it wants. A child will murmur and complain when it is told to do something they don't want to do even if it is for their on good. The whole nation of Israel murmured. This means they complained about God in a very low voice that only the person who was doing the murmuring could hear. Yet God heard all the individual murmuring that no one else heard. This lead to vocal complaining of God that everyone could hear. They were using the murmuring and complaining to get their way and to get their way right away. Their spoiled natural ways had to be addressed in order to position them to be able to walk in the blessings of God that could only be obtained through faith in God.
There is no room in faith for murmuring and complaining. Just one person can cause a whole nation to miss their blessing by tempting God instead of praising God. God is the parent and we are the children. He is teaching us his ways. Our selfish childish ways must come to an end. When we provoke him with our behavior he uses it for a teaching moment. This is why he tells us not to harden our hearts in the time of our teaching. A hard heart will not receive the teaching and will have to be taught again and again until the heart receives the lesson.
When we tempt God, like the children of Israel, we are trying to use our selfish ways to entice, persuade or convince him to do something according to our will. We want him to demonstrate his existence according to our need and not his plan. God has already said that there is no good thing that he would withhold from his children. He already knows what we need before we ask and he already has set the time for the handing out of all provision we will ever need. How many times must God prove himself to his creation.
So children of God, let us not provoke our Father any longer with murmuring and complaining about the things he already knows we need. Trust and believe that he has already set the time for handing out what we need today and tomorrow. Our responsibility is to walk patiently by faith in the ways of God today. We do it not because of what he provides, but because of who he is. So let us learn, learn and learn of HIM. Holy Spirit lead and guide us into a better understanding of the Father that we may trust him more and rest in his ways in Jesus name amen.
Apostle Henry
Please use the following scriptures for bible study. Please address any comments, questions or prayer concerns to oneaccordmin@gmail.com. If you desire to follow this blog, please do so by connecting thru blogger.com. Also, if you would like to make donations to help keep this ministry moving forward, just click the web link below. Know that Jesus is Lord and he lives in you! Amen!
oneaccordministriesint.org
Psalm 95:8
Exodus 16:4, 17:2,7
Numbers 14:21-22, 20:13
Deuteronomy 6:16
No more murmuring and complaining. God is our Father and he has already made the way. So learn of him and bring rest to your soul. Open up the praise department and close the complaint department for good!
Harden not your heart as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.
The word provocation means action or speech that makes someone annoyed or angry, especially deliberately. It is an action word that means to cause a reaction in someone or from someone. Simply put it is the reaction to someones action.
Relationships are based on the reaction to someones action. All of our relationships with God have been based on the actions of God showing himself to us in certain ways. We then react to his action in the way we choose. We only have two ways to choose from, his way or our way. This is why the word says we are to study and imitate Jesus. Jesus walks in the ways of God. When we choose Jesus, we are choosing to walk in the ways of God leaving our old ways behind.
How do we know that we have given up on our old ways? The answer is simple. God proves us in such a way that it is plain to us if we are walking in his ways. His ways are not our ways so there is a clear difference between his actions and our reactions. His word is a diagnostic tool that shows us what is truly inside our soul that is not of God.
The word says that we are God's children. This means as we grow, we are becoming more like him. For now, we are a work in progress. We are still childlike in many ways, some good and a lot bad. Part of the plan of God calls for us to be matured. At certain times in our walk with God, he will allow us to be tested so that we will know were we are in the maturing process.
The bible gives us a good example of this in his training and maturing of the children of Israel when he freed them from Egypt. It is clear that the children of Israel had been apart of the Egyptian system for over four hundred years. Egypt is a type or example of the world system that is in place in the world today. It clearly does not function by the ways of God. The children of Israel was Jacob's kids. This means they were more like Jacob then they were like God when they entered into Egypt. At the time of their departure from Egypt they had a mixture of God, Jacob and Egypt in their ways. ( The same is true for us before salvation. We to had a mixture of world and self that had to be purged. )In order for them to become God's children, they had to be purged from the bad parts of Jacob and the evil of Egypt.
The key point here is that in God's eyes the nation of Israel were children who behaved like Jacob their father and the world system of Egypt. Their way was to murmur and cry out like natural children of the world. This is how they got their way. A baby will cry and cry until it gets what it wants. A child will murmur and complain when it is told to do something they don't want to do even if it is for their on good. The whole nation of Israel murmured. This means they complained about God in a very low voice that only the person who was doing the murmuring could hear. Yet God heard all the individual murmuring that no one else heard. This lead to vocal complaining of God that everyone could hear. They were using the murmuring and complaining to get their way and to get their way right away. Their spoiled natural ways had to be addressed in order to position them to be able to walk in the blessings of God that could only be obtained through faith in God.
There is no room in faith for murmuring and complaining. Just one person can cause a whole nation to miss their blessing by tempting God instead of praising God. God is the parent and we are the children. He is teaching us his ways. Our selfish childish ways must come to an end. When we provoke him with our behavior he uses it for a teaching moment. This is why he tells us not to harden our hearts in the time of our teaching. A hard heart will not receive the teaching and will have to be taught again and again until the heart receives the lesson.
When we tempt God, like the children of Israel, we are trying to use our selfish ways to entice, persuade or convince him to do something according to our will. We want him to demonstrate his existence according to our need and not his plan. God has already said that there is no good thing that he would withhold from his children. He already knows what we need before we ask and he already has set the time for the handing out of all provision we will ever need. How many times must God prove himself to his creation.
So children of God, let us not provoke our Father any longer with murmuring and complaining about the things he already knows we need. Trust and believe that he has already set the time for handing out what we need today and tomorrow. Our responsibility is to walk patiently by faith in the ways of God today. We do it not because of what he provides, but because of who he is. So let us learn, learn and learn of HIM. Holy Spirit lead and guide us into a better understanding of the Father that we may trust him more and rest in his ways in Jesus name amen.
Apostle Henry
Please use the following scriptures for bible study. Please address any comments, questions or prayer concerns to oneaccordmin@gmail.com. If you desire to follow this blog, please do so by connecting thru blogger.com. Also, if you would like to make donations to help keep this ministry moving forward, just click the web link below. Know that Jesus is Lord and he lives in you! Amen!
oneaccordministriesint.org
Psalm 95:8
Exodus 16:4, 17:2,7
Numbers 14:21-22, 20:13
Deuteronomy 6:16
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