Day 10/22 – Regret

——://///

Thoughts from the Diary of a Desperate Man by Walter A Henrichsen (“Walt”)
Regret
Day Two Hundred Ninety-five

“And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.” Psalm 106:15

The line between hope and greed is real but invisible. Sometimes you cannot tell when you have crossed it. The Bible encourages you to hope for temporal things. You take your risks in the direction of your hope. You hope that your beloved will marry you, or that you will get the job you desire, and you take the risk of asking. If the risk you take provides what you hoped, you tend to consider it to be the will of God. If you fail in your quest for the temporal, you can easily conclude that you were guilty of greed. For example, if you invest in a stock and it multiplies ten-fold, you can easily conclude that God led you. Conversely if you lost your investment you can easily conclude that you shouldn’t have been so greedy. But is this conclusion biblical?

When you conclude that you didn’t get what you wanted because “you asked amiss,”377 it doesn’t mean that your conscience condemned you, of if it did, that it was legitimate. You may have merely experienced regret over the loss. For this reason greed is more easily identified when you get what you want than when you fail in your expectations. For example, both you and your sister have desired your mother’s china since childhood. If your sister inherits it, you will have difficulty distinguishing between regret and covetousness. But if you inherit the china, and the Holy Spirit convicts you of greed, you have a clearer indication that you have sinned.

You probably will never completely be able to distinguish between hope and greed as you walk by faith. But be careful that you don’t allow regret to confuse you. You will always regret losing the object of your hope. During such moments, avoid condemning yourself for being greedy unless the Holy Spirit specifically convicts you of it.

377 James 4:3

———/://///

Isaiah 65-66 1 Timothy 2 (New King James Version)

Isaiah 65-66
The Righteousness of God’s Judgment
65
“I was sought by those who did not ask for Me;
I was found by those who did not seek Me.
I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’
To a nation that was not called by My name.
2
I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people,
Who walk in a way that is not good,
According to their own thoughts;
3
A people who provoke Me to anger continually to My face;
Who sacrifice in gardens,
And burn incense on altars of brick;
4
Who sit among the graves,
And spend the night in the tombs;
Who eat swine’s flesh,
And the broth of [a]abominable things is in their vessels;
5
Who say, ‘Keep to yourself,
Do not come near me,
For I am holier than you!’
These [b]are smoke in My nostrils,
A fire that burns all the day.
6
“Behold, it is written before Me:
I will not keep silence, but will repay—
Even repay into their bosom—
7
Your iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers together,”
Says the Lord,
“Who have burned incense on the mountains
And blasphemed Me on the hills;
Therefore I will measure their former work into their bosom.”
8 Thus says the Lord:
“As the new wine is found in the cluster,
And one says, ‘Do not destroy it,
For a blessing is in it,’
So will I do for My servants’ sake,
That I may not destroy them all.
9
I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,
And from Judah an heir of My mountains;
My elect shall inherit it,
And My servants shall dwell there.
10
Sharon shall be a fold of flocks,
And the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,
For My people who have sought Me.
11
“But you are those who forsake the Lord,
Who forget My holy mountain,
Who prepare a table for [c]Gad,
And who furnish a drink offering for [d]Meni.
12
Therefore I will number you for the sword,
And you shall all bow down to the slaughter;
Because, when I called, you did not answer;
When I spoke, you did not hear,
But did evil before My eyes,
And chose that in which I do not delight.”
13 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, My servants shall eat,
But you shall be hungry;
Behold, My servants shall drink,
But you shall be thirsty;
Behold, My servants shall rejoice,
But you shall be ashamed;
14
Behold, My servants shall sing for joy of heart,
But you shall cry for sorrow of heart,
And wail for [e]grief of spirit.
15
You shall leave your name as a curse to My chosen;
For the Lord God will slay you,
And call His servants by another name;
16
So that he who blesses himself in the earth
Shall bless himself in the God of truth;
And he who swears in the earth
Shall swear by the God of truth;
Because the former troubles are forgotten,
And because they are hidden from My eyes.
The Glorious New Creation
17
“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth;
And the former shall not be remembered or [f]come to mind.
18
But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create;
For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing,
And her people a joy.
19
I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
And joy in My people;
The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her,
Nor the voice of crying.
20
“No more shall an infant from there live but a few days,
Nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days;
For the child shall die one hundred years old,
But the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed.
21
They shall build houses and inhabit them;
They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22
They shall not build and another inhabit;
They shall not plant and another eat;
For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people,
And My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23
They shall not labor in vain,
Nor bring forth children for trouble;
For they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the Lord,
And their offspring with them.
24
“It shall come to pass
That before they call, I will answer;
And while they are still speaking, I will hear.
25
The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,
The lion shall eat straw like the ox,
And dust shall be the serpent’s food.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,”
Says the Lord.
True Worship and False
66 Thus says the Lord:
“Heaven is My throne,
And earth is My footstool.
Where is the house that you will build Me?
And where is the place of My rest?
2
For all those things My hand has made,
And all those things exist,”
Says the Lord.
“But on this one will I look:
On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit,
And who trembles at My word.
3
“He who kills a bull is as if he slays a man;
He who sacrifices a lamb, as if he breaks a dog’s neck;
He who offers a grain offering, as if he offers swine’s blood;
He who burns incense, as if he blesses an idol.
Just as they have chosen their own ways,
And their soul delights in their abominations,
4
So will I choose their delusions,
And bring their fears on them;
Because, when I called, no one answered,
When I spoke they did not hear;
But they did evil before My eyes,
And chose that in which I do not delight.”
The Lord Vindicates Zion
5
Hear the word of the Lord,
You who tremble at His word:
“Your brethren who hated you,
Who cast you out for My name’s sake, said,
‘Let the Lord be glorified,
That we may see your joy.’
But they shall be ashamed.”
6
The sound of noise from the city!
A voice from the temple!
The voice of the Lord,
Who fully repays His enemies!
7
“Before she was in labor, she gave birth;
Before her pain came,
She delivered a male child.
8
Who has heard such a thing?
Who has seen such things?
Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day?
Or shall a nation be born at once?
For as soon as Zion was in labor,
She gave birth to her children.
9
Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?” says the Lord.
“Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?” says your God.
10
“Rejoice with Jerusalem,
And be glad with her, all you who love her;
Rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn for her;
11
That you may feed and be satisfied
With the consolation of her bosom,
That you may drink deeply and be delighted
With the abundance of her glory.”
12 For thus says the Lord:
“Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river,
And the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream.
Then you shall feed;
On her sides shall you be carried,
And be dandled on her knees.
13
As one whom his mother comforts,
So I will comfort you;
And you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.”
The Reign and Indignation of God
14
When you see this, your heart shall rejoice,
And your bones shall flourish like grass;
The hand of the Lord shall be known to His servants,
And His indignation to His enemies.
15
For behold, the Lord will come with fire
And with His chariots, like a whirlwind,
To render His anger with fury,
And His rebuke with flames of fire.
16
For by fire and by His sword
The Lord will judge all flesh;
And the slain of the Lord shall be many.
17
“Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves,
To go to the gardens
[g]After an idol in the midst,
Eating swine’s flesh and the abomination and the mouse,
Shall [h]be consumed together,” says the Lord.
18 “For I know their works and their thoughts. It shall be that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see My glory. 19 I will set a sign among them; and those among them who escape I will send to the nations: to Tarshish and [i]Pul and Lud, who draw the bow, and Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands afar off who have not heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles. 20 Then they shall bring all your brethren for an offering to the Lord out of all nations, on horses and in chariots and in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord. 21 And I will also take some of them for priests and Levites,” says the Lord.
22
“For as the new heavens and the new earth
Which I will make shall remain before Me,” says the Lord,
“So shall your descendants and your name remain.
23
And it shall come to pass
That from one New Moon to another,
And from one Sabbath to another,
All flesh shall come to worship before Me,” says the Lord.
24
“And they shall go forth and look
Upon the corpses of the men
Who have transgressed against Me.
For their worm does not die,
And their fire is not quenched.
They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”
Footnotes:
• Isaiah 65:4 Unclean meats, Lev. 7:18; 19:7
• Isaiah 65:5 Cause My wrath to smoke
• Isaiah 65:11 Lit. Troop or Fortune; a pagan deity
• Isaiah 65:11 Lit. Number or Destiny; a pagan deity
• Isaiah 65:14 Or a broken spirit
• Isaiah 65:17 Lit. come upon the heart
• Isaiah 66:17 Lit. After one
• Isaiah 66:17 come to an end
• Isaiah 66:19 So with MT, Tg.; LXX Put (cf. Jer. 46:9)

1 Timothy 2
Pray for All Men
2 Therefore I [a]exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in [b]authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and [c]reverence. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, 7 for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am speaking the truth [d]in Christ and not lying—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
Men and Women in the Church
8 I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting; 9 in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and [e]moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, 10 but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works. 11 Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. 12 And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. 15 Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.
Footnotes:
• 1 Timothy 2:1 encourage
• 1 Timothy 2:2 a prominent place
• 1 Timothy 2:2 dignity
• 1 Timothy 2:7 NU omits in Christ
• 1 Timothy 2:9 discretion