Turn

[Fred]

I wonder what others think about the act of God turning a person towards Him and away from Him.

Ezra 6:22
And kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy: for the Lord had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

Psalm 105:25
He turned their heart to hate His people, to deal subtilly with His slaves.

Proverbs 21:1
The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever He will.


Jeremiah 31:18
I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke:
turn Thou me, and I shall be turned; for Thou are the Lord my God.

Lamentations 5:21 (cf. Lamentations 3:40)
Turn Thou us unto Thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.

 

[Papa Smurf]

I wonder what others think about the act of God turning a person towards Him and away from Him.

Hello @Fred, what I think about our loving, heavenly Abba acting in accord with both who He is and what He told us that He would do, is perhaps best summed up by this,

Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. ~Revelation 19:6b​

God bless you!!

--Papa Smurf

 

[Arial]

I wonder what others think about the act of God turning a person towards Him and away from Him.

Ezra 6:22
And kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy: for the Lord had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

Psalm 105:25
He turned their heart to hate His people, to deal subtilly with His slaves.

Proverbs 21:1
The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever He will.


Jeremiah 31:18
I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke:
turn Thou me, and I shall be turned; for Thou are the Lord my God.

Lamentations 5:21 (cf. Lamentations 3:40)
Turn Thou us unto Thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.

Those are good scriptures. Sovereign God! Our glorious hope is in his turning our heart.

 

[fastfredy0]

I wonder what others think about the act of God turning a person towards Him and away from Him.

God both directs men's counsels, and excites their wills, and regulates their efforts as he pleases. Stephen Charnock

• Exodus 10:1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants [making them determined and unresponsive], so that I may exhibit My signs [of divine power] among them
• Exodus 34:23 Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. 24 For I will drive out and dispossess nations before you and enlarge your borders; nor shall any man covet (actively seek for himself) your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times a year.
• Numbers 24:13 I could not do anything contrary to the command of the Lord either good or bad of my own heart. What the Lord speaks that I will speak
• Joshua 11:20 For it was the Lord’s intention to harden their hearts, so that they would engage Israel in battle, be completely destroyed without mercy, and be annihilated, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
• Samuel 2:25 If a man sins against another man, God can intercede for him, but if a man sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to their father, since the Lord intended to kill them.
• 1 Kings 22:23 “You see, the Lord has put a lying spirit into the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and the Lord has pronounced disaster against you.”
• Deuteronomy 2:30 "But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the LORD thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into thy hand"
• Deuteronomy 28:63 Just as the Lord was glad to cause you to prosper and to multiply you, so He will also be glad to cause you to perish and to destroy you. You will be deported from the land you are entering to possess.
• Deuteronomy 29:2 Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his servants, and to all his land; 3 the great trials [of Pharaoh] which your eyes have seen, the signs and those great wonders. 4 Yet to this day the Lord has not given you a heart and mind to understand, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear.

I could list another 20 verses with a similar thesis

 

[Carbon]

I wonder what others think about the act of God turning a person towards Him and away from Him.

Ezra 6:22
And kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy: for the Lord had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

Psalm 105:25
He turned their heart to hate His people, to deal subtilly with His slaves.

Proverbs 21:1
The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever He will.


Jeremiah 31:18
I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke:
turn Thou me, and I shall be turned; for Thou are the Lord my God.

Lamentations 5:21 (cf. Lamentations 3:40)
Turn Thou us unto Thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.

I think being a believer we can see how dreadful and meaningless life would be without the Lord. And amazing even that we did nothing for salvation, unconditional election is an awesome truth.
If it were up to me, I would have given up many moons ago.

 

[Carbon]

I think being a believer we can see how dreadful and meaningless life is without the Lord. And amazing even that we did nothing for salvation, unconditional election is an awesome truth.
If it were up to me, I would have given up many moons ago.

At one time, 20-something years ago, I did give up, and I think that was the time my life changed.

 

[makesends]

I wonder what others think about the act of God turning a person towards Him and away from Him.

I'm a monergist, even, in a sense, the monergism in the life in Christ subsequent to regeneration and conversion. In me there dwells no good thing, except what is God in me. It is GOD who works in us both to will and to do according to his good purposes. So the notion that God turning one toward him is valid, yet even that doesn't mean that is all God does, but, it seems to me, no matter how much effort and will I put into obedience and faith, it is GOD who does the work.

Ezra 6:22
And kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy: for the Lord had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

Actually, that one says the Lord turned the heart of the king of Assyria to THEM, not to God. But maybe the principle is still there...

Psalm 105:25
He turned their heart to hate His people, to deal subtilly with His slaves.

Same as the Ezra text.

Proverbs 21:1
The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever He will.

One of my favorites.

Jeremiah 31:18
I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke:
turn Thou me, and I shall be turned; for Thou are the Lord my God.

Almost has the ring of "I believe —help my unbelief."

Lamentations 5:21 (cf. Lamentations 3:40)
Turn Thou us unto Thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.

Yep. They miss Him, and miss feeling the fellowship that comes with obedience.

 

[Fred]

At one time, 20-something years ago, I did give up, and I think that was the time my life changed.

Job 37:5
Great things doeth He, which we cannot comprehend.

 

[Carbon]

Job 37:5
Great things doeth He, which we cannot comprehend.

Amen, brother!

 

[makesends]

At one time, 20-something years ago, I did give up, and I think that was the time my life changed.

I've lost count how many times I tried. God knows what is real because he is who makes what is real.

 

[Carbon]

I've lost count how many times I tried. God knows what is real because he is who makes what is real.

Truth!