Scripture
“I praise and glorify and honor the King of heaven. All His acts are just and true, and He is able to humble the proud.”
~Daniel 4:37, NLT
Quote
Two men look out of the same prison bars but one sees mud and the other sees stars.
~Frederick Langbridge
The quote is out of context with this blog but I liked it so much that I shared it with you. Nebuchadnezzar was a pagan through and through. He was very impressed with Daniel and said some really nice things about God such as
“All His acts are just and true, and He is able to humble the proud.” However, I do not think Neb experienced true conversion. He did acknowledge that Daniel’s God bailed him out of a bad situation but I personally don’t think Neb had a change of heart. I do not believe he truly repented. He may have turned over a new leaf or added one more god to his repertoire of gods but I do not think he stopped being a pagan.
True repentance is a change of mind that leads to a change of attitude and behavior. The Prodigal Son is a great example: he had a change of mind. He changed his mind about his Father, about home, about work and about sin. This lead to immediate action–he returned to his father with a full confession and a contrite heart. He was ready to serve the Father instead of having the Father serve him. His father knew immediately that the boy had changed.
There are millions living in the far country. They are in rebellion against the Father. They have put the Father out of mind and they are pursuing their lust. They are feeding on slop and like the hogs that love slop, they keep returning to the trough. As much as we want to intervene and help them, we cannot. They have to come to their senses, and they have to get tired of the slop. Until that happens, there is nothing you can do. The Father did not pursue the son for this very reason. Yes, you can use force and remove them physically from the sty they are in, but the moment you turn your head, they are going back to the trough. Why? Because they have not had a change of mind. No one, not even Jesus, can help a person who refuses to repent. We must repent: it is essential.
We got more rain at the farm {Lawrence County} than we did hear. I thought sure there would be mud in the garden but that was not the case. There was mud in the pumpkin patch PTL.
I am really looking forward to Sunday: Mark Byrd and the LIVING FAITH quartet will be with us at the POINT. They will be doing an outdoor concert from 8:15-9:00. They have done outdoor concerts before but I don’t think they’ve ever done one at 8:15 in the morning.