Deuteronomy 10:16 (NLT)
Therefore, change your hearts and stop being stubborn.
stub·born
1. unreasonably obstinate; obstinately unmoving: a stubborn child.
2. fixed or set in purpose or opinion; resolute: a stubborn opponent of foreign aid.
3. obstinately maintained, as a course of action: a stubborn resistance.
4. difficult to manage or suppress: a stubborn horse; a stubborn pain.
5. hard, tough, or stiff, as stone or wood; difficult to shape or
1. unreasonably obstinate; obstinately unmoving: a stubborn child.
2. fixed or set in purpose or opinion; resolute: a stubborn opponent of foreign aid.
3. obstinately maintained, as a course of action: a stubborn resistance.
4. difficult to manage or suppress: a stubborn horse; a stubborn pain.
5. hard, tough, or stiff, as stone or wood; difficult to shape or
For those of you that know me, you know I am very stubborn! I was reading this morning this Scripture and felt a tug to study it. God really doesn't like us to be stubborn. He wants to be able to teach us His ways and then He wants us to DO IT! Easier said then done, right? I have always been an opinionated and outspoken person. I can be very set in my ways and very hard to deal with at times. I believe God is with me and leading me to this. So sit back and enjoy the ride as we see how serious God is about this subject.
Deuteronomy 9:6You must recognize that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land because you are good, for you are not—you are a stubborn people.
Deuteronomy 9:13-14
“The Lord also said to me, ‘I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are.14 Leave me alone so I may destroy them and erase their name from under heaven. Then I will make a mighty nation of your descendants, a nation larger and more powerful than they are.’
He wanted to destroy them? That's what I am reading...God help us not to be stubborn!
1.) God was mad because the children of Israel made an idol and worshipped it.
You might not think you have idols....human nature is to worship something and if you haven't completely surrendered to God then you probably have one. It can creep up on you if you aren't careful. It is a daily surrender, not a one time deal.
money
cars
friends
husband
keeping house clean
losing weight
exercise
career
education
family
video games
food
parties
drinking
weed
kids
getting a husband
having a baby
Anything that consumes your thoughts or anything you put first....is an idol. It could be something good for you, like exercise...however, if it consumes you and that's all you think about or if you put it first in your life...guess what? Its your idol. If God has commanded you to do something or to stop doing something, and you don't....its your idol.
I am sure their are some of you out there ... I didn't list your idol but check this Scripture out:
1 Samuel 15:23 (NLT)
Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft,
and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols.
Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft,
and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols.
Stubbornness is as bad as idolatry!
Is 48:4-5 For I know how stubborn and obstinate you are.
Your necks are as unbending as iron.
Your heads are as hard as bronze.
5 That is why I told you what would happen;
I told you beforehand what I was going to do. Then you could never say, ‘My idols did it.
My wooden image and metal god commanded it to happen!’
Jeremiah 11:8 (New Living Translation) but your ancestors did not listen or even pay attention. Instead, they stubbornly followed their own evil desires. And because they refused to obey, I brought upon them all the curses described in this covenant.’”
CURSED? BECAUSE OF STUBBORNNESS? That's correct!
People say things like, its hard, I don't think I can do it....but God has never commanded us to do something that is impossible. We refuse to obey....that is the bottom line.
We need obey God and when we step out to obey, His grace will sustain us. His strength will enable us to be able to do the impossible. We must take the first step!
God has warned us on so many occasions...we need to slow down and think about what He is asking from us. Our stubbornness can make us go through SUFFERINGS! We could have been refined differently but because we wont let things go; He refines us with suffering. It isn't the devils fault! Its our fault.....because of stubbornness!
Is 48:10 I have refined you, but not as silver is refined.
Rather, I have refined you in the furnace of suffering.
We must return our hearts back to God....not just our words but our actions.
Jeremiah 4 (the message)
1-2 "If you want to come back, O Israel, you must really come back to me.
You must get rid of your stinking sin paraphernalia
and not wander away from me anymore.
Then you can say words like, 'As God lives...'
and have them mean something true and just and right.
And the godless nations will get caught up in the blessing
and find something in Israel to write home about."
to the people of Judah and Jerusalem:
"Plow your unplowed fields,
but then don't plant weeds in the soil!
Yes, circumcise your lives for God's sake.
Plow your unplowed hearts,
all you people of Judah and Jerusalem.
Prevent fire—the fire of my anger—
for once it starts it can't be put out.
Your wicked ways are fuel for the fire.
Zechariah 7:11-12 (New Living Translation)
11 “Your ancestors refused to listen to this message. They stubbornly turned away and put their fingers in their ears to keep from hearing. 12 They made their hearts as hard as stone, so they could not hear the instructions or the messages that the Lord of Heaven’s Armies had sent them by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. That is why the Lord of Heaven’s Armies was so angry with them.
If People Can't See What God Is Doing, they run the risk of being destroyed.
Proverbs 29:1 (The Message)
For people who hate discipline and only get more stubborn,
There'll come a day when life tumbles in and they break,
but by then it'll be too late to help them.
Psalm 32:9 (Amplified Bible)
Be not like the horse or the mule, which lack understanding, which must have their mouths held firm with bit and bridle, or else they will not come with you.
No one can force us to stop being stubborn...we need to submit to the Spirit. We can bring much destruction and suffering to our lives if we don't. We can curse ourselves and our kids.
How many people do you know that are stubborn and as a result their kids are stubborn?
Stubbornness.....is it really worth it?
