JOURNAL-2-1-15=THESE HARD HEARTS

JOURNAL=2-1-15=HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS




“Oh-that today you would HEAR GOD'S VOICE: 'HARDEN not your hearts as at Meribah-as in the day of Massah in the desert........'” Psalm 95:7-8




Meribah and Massah received their names DURING EXODUS---Meribah means”quarreling” and Massah meant “testing”


The ISRAELITES-like us in today's world-seemed to be ALWAYS GRUMBLING-THEN Moses got mad at the people for TESTING GOD-as we often today-sometimes-NO matter what we have-it seems like we are STILL NOT HAPPY


I HAVE to tell you that I am mostly HAPPY and CONTENT-but when I do become UNHAPPY about someone or something-I WRITE it in my journal-and KEEP it to myself-or by PRAYING for that person WHO I KNOW needs HELP


SOMETIMES we just NEED to LET IT GO-and OPEN ourselves up to the PRESENCE OF GOD-the HOLY ONE in OUR LIVES-and live MORE PEACEFULLY


it is A GREAT DAY to be ALIVE in GOD'S LOVE for us-and a great day to STOP the grumbling and complaining-and OPEN OURSELVES up to the HOLY PRESENCE OF GOD








WITNESS




2-17-13




THESE HARD HEARTS










Have you ever run up
Against a hard heart
A heart that no matter what you say or do
You just can’t penetrate


I have
Too many times to count and enumerate


That is the nature of this world
The nature of people
Probably always has been---always will be


Moses ran up against
The hardest of hearts
When he ran up against Pharaoh


In Exodus
God calls Moses
From within a burning bush
And tells Moses
To go to Pharaoh
On behalf of his people---the Israelites
And tell him to let them go


Moses questions God---“Who-who-who am I……..” ( Moses stuttered )
To go on behalf of my people


And Moses runs into perhaps
The most hardened heart
That ever lived---PHARAOH


Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding
And the Lord
Turns the waters into blood


But pharaoh still refuses---
He has a hard heart


“If today you hear his voice
Harden not your heart” Hebrews 3:8


The Lord sends a second---a third
And even a fourth plague


Plagues of frogs
Plagues of Gnats
And plagues of flies


But he-Pharaoh is UNYIELDING


HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS


Still further plagues come
The death of livestock---
Boils-hail-and even locusts


But Pharaoh continues to be unyielding


The Lord continued to make Pharaoh’s heart hard
Because he wanted
The Israelite people to believe in him


He wanted them to KNOW
That his name is I AM---THE GOD OF MIRACLES


Harden NOT your hearts


“Therefore God has mercy
On whom he wants to have mercy
And he hardens
Whom he wants to harden” Romans 9:18


Finally Pharaoh says,
“Go worship the Lord
Even your woman and children may go with you……..” Exodus 10:24


But Pharaoh changed his mind yet again


Finally the Lord
Sent the last plagues


And God struck down
Every first born male of Egypt
But protected
The Israelite first-born males


And the Israelites fled
Finally got away---through GOD’S MIRACLE
The parting of THE RED SEA


And so today---out in the world
When we seemingly
Run into hard heart after hard heart
LET US REMEMBER
How the Lord
AIDED Moses and the Israelite people


And let us know
That if we ourselves are PENETRATED
WITH DEVOTION TO THE LORD’S DIVINE HEART
We too can labor with marvelous success


Like the commercial says---
“Keep your heart open and love will find a way”


“You yourselves
Are our letter
Written on our hearts
Known and read by everyone


You show
That you are a letter from Christ
The result of our ministry
Written NOT with ink
But with the SPIRIT
OF THE LIVING GOD
NOT on tablets of stone
But on tablets of HUMAN HEARTS” Romans 3:2&3


Because GOD IS LOVE
Like Pharaoh---these hard hearts


ARE GOING TO FALL


Robert P. Wallman
1-20-12


Ps WITNESS 2-17-13




2-01-15