While He is yet found.
Posted by appolus on September 1, 2022
Isa 55:6 Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near:
There is a time that is called “while He may be found.” It is a mysterious thing, perhaps, “while it is yet day.” No matter, there is no doubt there is a time to seek the Lord while He may yet be found. In the broadest sense and for the most part it is life itself. Almost always while there is yet breath in our lungs, He may be found. Yet in the the very next sentence we are told “let the wicked forsake his way (note the singular nature of the word, it does not say his ways) The wicked are on a wrong path altogether and in order to turn to God they must reverse their course and go in the exact opposite direction. Yet it’s not just his way that has to change, it’s his thoughts too. It is not so much what we are saved out of, for the Lord can deliver us from the gates of hell, it is what we are saved into. The thoughts of a man make up the core of who he is. The true measure of the new man in the new birth is that his very mind has been transformed. And from the depths of who he is, God changes him from the inside out. And now we shall see, glory to God, that out of the abundance of a mans heart the mouth speaks. And it speaks of Jesus.
Now it is certainly true that God will not always strive with a man. A mans heart can be so hardened and his conscience so seared that his time has come and gone, this is a truly terrifying position. If you find yourself coming close to that place, turn and run to God with everything that is in you. He shall still be found. For He will have mercy upon that man and He will abundantly pardon. We as saints may be tempted to think we are living in a world that is beyond redemption, I have thought that thought many times. Yet here is the humility, God says, My thoughts are not your thoughts nor are your ways My ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.(Isa 55:8-9) And so just as the rain and the snow falls from the heavens and waters the earth and it brings forth seed for the sower and therefore bread for the hungry, so also does the Word of the God fall down upon the earth. It comes forth from His heart and it always accomplishes what He desires. To the thirsty, behold, water. To the hungry, behold, bread.
And so to those who are watered by the Lord, those who have sought Him out, their thirst is quenched to overflowing. And to those who have been fed by the Lord, they are filled to abundance. They shall stretch out the curtains of their spiritual dwellings for it shall be enlarged. They shall go forth with joy and be led out by peace and the mountains and the hills shall burst into singing before them. And the trees of the field shall clap their hands in delight to see such things. It can clearly be seen that goodness and mercy are following them all the days of their lives. And the thorns and the cares of life are replaced by fruitful trees and evergreens. And they shall always bring forth His fruit in season and they shall never wither for they are as the ones planted by the river, the river of God, the river of life and this river runs with them wherever they go.
A Call To The Remnant 
Anonymous said
Amen..
Lisa said
What a beautiful exhortation. You truly have a gift of beauty in your writing style, it’s insightfully poetic. You know it’s interesting you talk about “hardness of hearts” and “the wicked”. I have been listening to more of Pastor Tim Conway lately from I’ll Be Honest (as he’s been on fire), and he put out a short the other day about “the wicked”. That “the wicked forget God. The wicked do not call upon God. The wicked don’t seek God.” I found it profoundly powerful. “The wicked shall return to Sheol, all the nations that forget God.” We tend to think of the wicked in a different light. But God’s definition of wickedness is a bit different from ours. From there, I listened to a study he put out a few years ago entitled, “A Theology on Hardness of Heart”. It was very good. Very thorough. I learned some things. That’s always a good thing.
The reason I sought out to study is because of things going on in my own personal life. Extremely difficult and stressful things. I was aware and could see that I was in a fight, a battle if you will, against bitterness and resentment. I took it to the Lord in prayer, of course, and pleaded with him to help me with this. As I am well aware that this is spiritually a very dangerous place to be. I could not beat it. So I took my prayer a step further, and I added fasting. Today is day 5. And I can testify with confidence to you all that the Lord delivered me from these things. I am no longer bitter or resentful. Still struggling with emotions of anger and sorrow. Which I may be for while some time, understandably, as it is finally official that my marriage is over. It’s my own decision. I cannot continue to live with an unrepentant, hard-hearted spiritually dead man who chooses his committment to pornography over his committment God, his wife, and his family. It was a difficult decision to make. One I’ve wrestled with for years. But now with help from the Lord of mercy and all comforts, I have finally come to peace with it.
I’ve spent years on my knees in prayer, in warfare. Holding onto any shred of hope that the Lord might be able to get ahold of him and change him and he follow and serve the Lord and be a faithful devoted husband. Until one day two years ago, while I was in fervent prayer, I unmistakeably, very matter of factly, heard the Lord speak to me loud inside my head while I was in mid-sentence say to me, “I have rejected him from being a priest unto me.” Like in Hosea 4:6. I was in utter shock. I could not hardly believe what I just heard. The Lord really just spoke to me and said that to me.
I had a dream sometime after that where the Lord showed me my past, present, and future. I cry as I write this. Where he heard every prayer I ever prayed for my husband and my marriage. He showed me where he tried to call my husband on his phone, but he refused to answer. He showed me how there was literally more than 300 missed calls. But everyone else who called him on his phone, he answered. But not the calls from the Lord. Not one. All of those calls, more than 300 in total, were all rejected.
The Lord showed me that my future was going to be one where I was going to have my bags packed, everything burned up, and that I was going to be completely alone. In the dream I cried out to heaven for him to help me. And in the dream, I knew that he heard my prayer and that he accepted my prayer, and I knew that was going to help me. Which comforted me.
I don’t share my story here to try to gain sympathy or be sensational. I share because what has been said here in this blog, in God’s word, is the truth. The Lord is nobody to take lightly. He says what he means and he means what he says. He warns us about the dangers of unbelief, and of whoredom, and of turning away. All of these things harden our hearts towards him. And with every sin commited, consciences become more and more dull, until it’s finally been seared as with a hot iron, and the Lord does away with the sinner and casts him off completely. People think they have their whole lives to get right with God, that they can live right now however they want to until they feel like they might be ready someday. People who live their lives recklessly like that are bound to never come to the cross and be lost in their sins forever and end up in hell. Don’t play games with God.
In my case, with what I’ve shared here today, I’ve seen it. Up close. When the Lord is done with a man or with a woman, he’s done. Can’t come back.
People need to start taking the Lord seriously. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. If anybody is falling away, or is tempted to turn away and think you want to enjoy sin for a season, I beg you…think again. Think long and hard. You might not come back.
Love to all the saints who remain faithful, who fight the good fight and who persevere to the end! 💗✝️
Matthew said
Brother Frank and Lisa, thank you for this message regarding hardness of hearts, a time where the God of Israel, and His son, may be found. I have been one who has wrestled with loneliness my whole life, I always will, perhaps I been in the remnant longer than I have known.
But things have changed for me with my relationship with Him the past 10 months. I have been in the lowest places of my spirit and heart in no other time than these passed months, struggling with His perfection and His demands upon me in ways I cannot even express here (nor would I, it would bore you). I have struggled with my inadequacies, my own shortcomings, my own failures. But after 30-plus years of being saved by His son, I finally gave up to Him *everything*, and I mean, everything. It feels like diving into a pool – but in reverse. I have been through a rush of water and now remain suspended in the air. It has been singlehandedly the best decision of my entire life – releasing myself to Him.
God had pushed me to witness several months ago to a woman that I know, while bringing her words that He commanded me to say to her. I was reluctant. I did not obey immediately…was it really Him, does He really want me to say that, does He really speak to us as in old? I denied, I bucked, I kicked for months, I never found the right time. I began living a life of confusion and depression, I became a stranger to myself. It finally brought me to the absolute lowest spot in my life a few weeks ago – estranged from Him, completely alone, almost as if He truly left me. I felt imprisoned in this world of flesh. Perhaps it was hell that I experienced; I don’t know. I felt a world without Him. The demons descended and feasted on my mind (yes, demons are truly real). I didn’t last long…it was unbearable, the silence, the estrangement. So I crawled to Him and offered myself to Him, in a way I never even conceived I would. And this was all due to a very small matter in most people’s eyes, of striking out on my own, without consulting Him, and going in the strength of my own (fleshy) spirit – I learned my lesson never to do that again – what an absolute devastation did this one action bring upon me.
So, I decided finally speak to this woman, the only person I actually know other than my wife. (As I said, I have no friends.) When I gave her my story and told her what God wanted me to say to her, she sat there like a statue of stone. No words. No response. I left her, triumphant that I had obeyed the Creator. I had stepped out in faith. But I received no response from her, none. Then a few days later, He spoke to me while I was in prayer and told me she had rejected Him, so He was turning from her and lifting up His protective hedge from around her. It brought me to a place of intense sadness for Him, at His loss, and brought on an almost indignant, Phineas-like anger. How can someone reject the Anointed? His outstretched hand? His divine protection and love, if only one TURNS from their sin and evil deeds? The answer is simple: a hardness of heart. I, too, have been on that road, we all have if we are honest. It is so sad. And this woman I spoke to, she claimed to be saved, but her heart is truly far from Him (we know people by their actions, their fruit)…the world grows cold to His majesty, His sacrifice, His love. I truly hope she turns to Him but, as you (Lisa) have so honestly shared, sometimes that door closes and is never reopened.
These experiences in my own life have made me think what a sorrowful, broken bride we (His body) have become. The world is closing in on us, and the world of the flesh is canonized and exalted. It is absolutely devastating to hear from the commenter (Lisa) above that a marriage has been shattered due to the callousness, coldness, potential addiction to the flesh… Let no one break what God has joined. It is an awful instruction, it leaves no room to wiggle, but that is the point of it, isn’t it? These are serious waters we walk through, and if we are not careful, they can sweep us away. He is more tremendous and awful than most realize. He asks the impossible. But I can tell you – I have learned through my own experience, take it or leave it – He can, does, and will forgive anything if we truly give it up, meaning, stop doing the wrong. And He’s the one who changes the heart to do this – at least He did with mine, I wasn’t capable of changing but He, somehow, did mine.
Lisa, I will pray that the God of Israel Himself descends and places His hedge around you to protect you, to care for you and guide you, and bless you in this most awful of times in your, and your family’s, life. May He disclose His path for you to you, and grant His strength through the spirit to you, no matter the cost you must endure or cross you need to carry. “Come to me, all you drudges and overburdened ones, and I will give you rest: I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls, because my yoke is kindly and my load is light.”
appolus said
Thank you brother Matthew for your testimony. I am reminded of our dear brother John Bunyon. In his book “Seasonable Counsel,” he describes his cruel jailers as “ministers of God.” I’ll be honest, I found it very difficult and convicting in the extreme. Here was a man, suffering such indignities, unjustly, and yet loving the ones by whose hands the injustices came by. He saw them as the hand of God shaping him. And of course, who suffered more than our dear Lord, unjustly? And yet He loved them. Yes God oftentimes no longer strives with a man but we can never truly know who that man or woman is, nor are we supposed to know, enough to know that God knows. Justice belongs to God. Abraham interceded for Sodom and God was pleased, yet God destroyed Sodom. This is the will of God. As to your diving in brother, or in reverse, amen. In the end we shall k ow we are walking in the way, when His commands and will are not burdensome at all but become our delight and joy. When the will is surrendered to His will the path forward becomes a delight as each step brings us closer to home. The highway of Holiness is beauty of Holiness within us……..bro Frank.
Matthew said
Thank you, Frank, for bringing up John Bunyon. I was instantly reminded, by the spirit, of Richard Wurmbrand (he wrote “Tortured for Christ,” among many others) who suffered nearly unimaginable sufferings at the hands of communists and yet had love (agape, I would think) for his captors. Oh, to be counted one among that holy lot! Shalom to you, Matthew
Lisa said
Thank you, brother Matthew, for sharing your story with us all. Your testimony regarding that woman, I know I too have had instances in the past where I know the Lord wanted me to speak to somebody. Most seemed receptive. I am not sure what long term effects came from our talks, as life takes people in different directions. But there was one young gentleman, similar to your story with that woman, who wouldn’t even give me the time of day to talk. He wasn’t rude. He just politely told me he wasn’t interested in hearing what I wanted to share. My heart was sad, but I didn’t take it personal. I just shrugged it off like Jesus said. If they won’t listen, kick the dust off your feet so to speak. If they reacted that way to Jesus and to the disciples and apostles, we can count on it that there will be times that they will do it to us to.
I don’t have much interaction with people these days. It seems that whenever I do, my encounters tend to be rather unpleasant. Especially with strangers. It’s not common anymore where I live in the northeast to come across a friendly or smiling face. It is very rare. It makes a sad and lonely person like myself, or like you, only feel more sad and lonely. The love of many truly have waxed cold, no doubt about it.
Your testimony about having no friends and lonliness, I hear that from so many people online. I don’t actually interact with them much, but I hear from people whom the Lord has given a platform share about the many souls who have reached out to them. The late David Wilkerson is probably the first I heard of who would occassionally share the stories from believers who have written to him. So this is not a rare or relatively new phenomenon, but one that has been going on for decades at least, from what I am aware of. But when you go back even further you do hear stories and writings even from the puritans who also talk about such lonliness in the life and daily walk of the believer. That is, the believer who is serious about following and walking with the Lord. AW Tozer has written some stuff on this as well. Leonard Ravenhill has talked about it. Only those who want to get serious with God he says. Not many do.
I like to listen to Mark Murchison on youtube. He has that beautiful tender gift of mercy. He puts out a new video every week on Sundays. If you haven’t heard of him, you should take a listen to him. His messages of love and comfort are like cold water on a burn to the lonely and the hurting. He is wonderful. Such a beautiful man. When I see him in heaven someday I can’t wait to give him a big hug. I don’t know the man and he don’t know me, but he has the perfect love of the father and I can’t help but to look at him and see him as a father-type figure. So warm and kind and cheerful. Beautiful soul. I just love to listen to him. What a gift to lonely hurting souls of God’s people. And there are lots more of us scattered all abroad than probably most people are aware. God is so good. I can’t wait until this world is over and Jesus comes back.
Thank you, dear Matthew, for your prayers. I cherish them. I truly do. I pray the Lord bless you and pay you back doubly here in this life and reward you richly in heaven for your prayers and all you have shared and written here. Bless you always. Love in Christ ✝️💛
Matthew said
Thank you, Lisa, I humbly accept your prayers in return! I have and will continue to intercede with prayer for you and your (ex-)husband – there seems to be a concept in His word that God *can* change His mind (Amos 7, Exodus 32:14). That is a comforting (and nebulous) idea, indeed, and one that I will cling to. Shalom to you, Matthew
Lisa said
God bless you, Matthew 🙂🙏🏻✝️ So good to hear back from you. Thank you so much for all your prayers, they mean so much to me you have no idea. Right before I picked up this message from you he made dinner plans with me for tonight, says he wants to talk, he loves me, he don’t want it to end, he wants to work things out. I want to believe him, but I’ve heard it all before, but we’ll see what happens.
Of course I will be happy to pray for you! I do pray that the Lord richly bless you, but if you have anything more specific you want me to pray about, please don’t hesitate to ask, I would love to pray for you 🙂🙏🏻✝️ God bless you, brother Matthew, and thank you so much again for your orayers and your kind words of comfort 😊 Great is your reward in heaven for that. Much love to you and your family in Jesus.
appolus said
Hi sister. I’m sorry to hear about your years of trouble. I know something of your struggle being married to an unbeliever. We had been married for 10 years when I got saved. This year is our 40th year married. In the end, people, even people we love, make their choices. I respect the God given ability to choose. Yet with choices come consequences, and I also respect that. Our God is a God of justice, and when men and woman stand before God, it’s justice they will find. In that day I will stand on the side of justice despite the fact that it will fall upon my own lived ones. This is already settled in my mind. And so, my wife. It’s been an interesting journey, to say the least. For me, love has won out. I love my wife more today than I ever have. This is an incredible work of the Lord in my life. It’s by His hand alone. It’s settled in my heart. In all likelihood my wife will die and spend eternity in hell and on the day of judgement, like I have stated, I will gladly and with all of my heart rejoice in justice for our God is a God of judgement. I have had a few saints in my life who have separated from their spouses. For the most part the separations have been for good and they decided to live alone. In fact my own mother separated from my father when I was a teenager. She had endured untold violence and indignities for 15 years. When she left she told him they would never be together again unless he bowed the knee to Jesus. She was firmly resolved to spend tge rest of her life alone, but of course she would not be alone, she would be with Jesus. Two years after separation, my father came to Jesus. I had written him off. I believe this is why the Lord gives us the Scriptures in Isa 55:8-9 that His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are very much higher than our ways. God bless you sister in your journey along the way. In the end, everything in this world sanctifies us in one way or another. My prayers are with you Lisa……..bro Frank.
Lisa said
Thank you, brother Frank, for your prayers and your sincere words. I cherish them, truly. I praise the Lord that your own marriage is strong and good, despite the fact you are unequally yoked. Marriage itself is hard work, especially unequally yoked ones, so you are considerably blessed and I thank God for that.
Praise the Lord again, what a testimony about your mother and father. That’s incredible. The marriage being over was devastating in itself, but the good that came out of it was that your father did ultimately come to know Jesus, so that is wonderful news.
I could only hope such a thing could come for my own husband, whose name is also Frank by the way. But I won’t allow myself to be filled anymore with VAIN hopes. I don’t want to waste anymore time or tears on that. I leave him in the Lord’s hands. It’s between him and the Lord. I don’t want to look back in wishful sorrow or with regret. I only want to look forward now, towards the future hope, a SURE HOPE, a BLESSED HOPE — the coming of our great God and King. God bless you, brother Frank ✝️
appolus said
God bless you sister Lisa. The way is narrow and hard and I bless you as you make your way along it. You are in my prayers……………bro Frank