today's meditation (Joel 1) Finding Hope and Joy

(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)

(Joel 1:1-20)  The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:
2   Hear this, you elders,
     And listen, all inhabitants of the land.
     Has anything like this happened in your days,
     Or in your fathers’ days?
3   Tell your sons about it,
     And have your sons tell their sons,
     And their sons the next generation.

4   What the gnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten;
     And what the swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten;
     And what the creeping locust has left, the stripping locust has eaten.
5   Awake, you heavy drinkers, and weep;
     And wail, all you wine drinkers,
     Because of the sweet wine,
     For it has been eliminated from your mouth.
6   For a nation has invaded my land,
     Mighty and without number;
     Its teeth are the teeth of a lion,
     And it has the jaws of a lioness.
7   It has made my vine a waste 
     And my fig tree a stump.
     It has stripped them bare and hurled them away;
     Their branches have become white.

8   Wail like a virgin clothed with sackcloth 
     For the groom of her youth.
9   The grain offering and the drink offering have been cut off
     From the house of the Lord.
     The priests mourn,
     The ministers of the Lord.
10 The field is ruined,
     The land mourns;
     For the grain is ruined,
     The new wine has dried up,
     Fresh oil has failed.
11 Be ashamed, you farm workers,
     Wail, you vinedressers,
     For the wheat and the barley;
     Because the harvest of the field is destroyed.
12 The vine has dried up 
     And the fig tree has withered;
     The pomegranate, the palm also, and the apple tree,
     All the trees of the field have dried up.
     Indeed, joy has dried up 
     From the sons of mankind.

13 Put on sackcloth 
     And mourn, you priests;
     Wail, you ministers of the altar!
     Come, spend the night in sackcloth,
     You ministers of my God,
     For the grain offering and the drink offering 
     Have been withheld from the house of your God.

14 Consecrate a fast,
     Proclaim a solemn assembly;
     Gather the elders 
     And all the inhabitants of the land 
     To the house of the Lord your God,
     And cry out to the Lord.
15 Woe for the day!
     For the day of the Lord is near,
     And it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
16 Has food not been cut off before our eyes, and 
     Joy and rejoicing from the house of our God?
17 The seeds have dried up under their shovels;
     The storehouses have become desolate,
     The grain silos are ruined,
     Because the grain has dried up.
18 How the animals have groaned!
     The herds of cattle have wandered aimlessly 
     Because there is no pasture for them;
     Even the flocks of sheep have suffered.
19 To You, Lord, I cry out;
     For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness,
     And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.
20 Even the animals of the field pant for You;
     For the stream beds of water are dried up,
     And fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

As verse 15 says, destruction will come about "as destruction from the Almighty".  The important word in that phrase is "as".  It will not actually be God who destroys, but God will allow it.  Really, these are the consequences of sin and rejecting the Lord's salvation.  Therefore, when anyone puts their faith and trust in their own strength and in humanity, be prepared for mourning and wailing for there is no hope in these futile and empty efforts.

Now, as the Lord is able to allow things to happen, we have to know that the Lord is able to prevent things from happening.  Therefore, it is to the Lord we should cry out.  There is certain hope in the Lord because He is all-knowing, all-powerful and righteous!  He already has the victory over death.  So, there is joy and rejoicing in the house of the Lord when we have put our faith and trust in Him.

today's meditation (Ez.28) Trusting in Truth

 (Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)

(Ezekiel 28:1-26) The word of the Lord came again to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, say to the leader of Tyre, ‘The Lord God says this:

     “Because your heart is haughty 
     And you have said, ‘I am a god,
     I sit in the seat of gods 
     In the heart of the seas’;
     Yet you are a mortal and not God,
     Although you make your heart like the heart of God—
3   Behold, you are wiser than Daniel;
     There is no secret that is a match for you!
4   By your wisdom and understanding 
     You have acquired riches for yourself 
     And have acquired gold and silver for your treasuries.
5   By your great wisdom, by your trade 
     You have increased your riches,
     And your heart is haughty because of your riches—

6   Therefore this is what the Lord God says:

     ‘Because you have made your heart 
     Like the heart of God,
7   Therefore, behold, I am going to bring strangers against you,
     The most ruthless of the nations.
     And they will draw their swords 
     Against the beauty of your wisdom 
     And profane your splendor.
8   They will bring you down to the pit,
     And you will die the death of those who are killed 
     In the heart of the seas.
9   Will you still say, “I am a god,”
     In the presence of one who kills you,
     Though you are a mortal and not God,
     In the hands of those who wound you?
10 You will die the death of the uncircumcised 
     By the hand of strangers,
     For I have spoken!’ declares the Lord God!”’”

11 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 12 “Son of man, take up a song of mourning over the king of Tyre and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord God says:

     “You had the seal of perfection,
     Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God;
     Every precious stone was your covering:
     The ruby, the topaz and the diamond;
     The beryl, the onyx and the jasper;
     The lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald;
     And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets,
     Was in you.
     On the day that you were created 
     They were prepared.
14 You were the anointed cherub who covers,
     And I placed you there.
     You were on the holy mountain of God;
     You walked in the midst of the stones of fire.
15 You were blameless in your ways 
     From the day you were created 
     Until unrighteousness was found in you.
16 By the abundance of your trade 
     You were internally filled with violence,
     And you sinned;
     Therefore I have cast you as profane 
     From the mountain of God.
     And I have destroyed you, you covering cherub,
     From the midst of the stones of fire.
17 Your heart was haughty because of your beauty;
     You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor.
     I threw you to the ground;
     I put you before kings,
     That they may see you.
18 By the multitude of your wrongdoings,
     In the unrighteousness of your trade 
     You profaned your sanctuaries.
     Therefore I have brought fire from the midst of you;
     It has consumed you,
     And I have turned you to ashes on the earth 
     In the eyes of all who see you.
19 All who know you among the peoples 
     Are appalled at you;
     You have become terrified 
     And you will cease to be forever.”’”

20 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 21 “Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, prophesy against her  22 and say, ‘This is what the Lord God says:

     “Behold, I am against you, Sidon,
     And I will appear in My glory in your midst.
     Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I execute judgments against her,
     And I will reveal Myself as holy in her.
23 For I will send a plague to her 
     And blood to her streets,
     And the wounded will fall in her midst 
     By the sword upon her on every side;
     Then they will know that I am the Lord.

24 And there will no longer be for the house of Israel a painful thorn or a hurtful thorn bush from any surrounding them who despised them; then they will know that I am the Lord God.”

25 ‘This is what the Lord God says: “When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and show Myself holy among them in the sight of the nations, then they will live on their land which I gave to My servant Jacob. 26 They will live on it securely; and they will build houses, plant vineyards, and live securely when I execute judgments upon all around them who despise them. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.”’”

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

Like us, the angels were created with a choice.  Unlike us, their choices have already been finalized for all eternity.  Verses 11 to 19 support all other scripture portions that talk about how Satan rebelled against God, thinking that he could rival Him and BE God, also bringing down with him about one third of the angels.  Then, in the Garden of Eden, Satan was there to tempt mankind into sinning - disobeying God - and bringing sin, destruction and death into the world.  

This has been Satan's game plan all along - to bring down with him as many people as possible - using lies, pride and fear.  One approach is to lead people into believing that they are "good enough" as they are and therefore, they do not need God.  Another approach is to lead them into believing that they can worship any god or idol they want because it's all the same thing.  And yet another approach is to lead them into believing that they can be God or a god themselves.

It is very easy at times to think that we know more than God, even after becoming a Christian!  Even though we cannot lose our salvation, we must remember to continue putting God first in our lives.  It helps us to remember that God is all-powerful, all-knowing and everywhere present.  The Sovereign Lord Jesus Christ wants the very best for us, so it benefits us greatly when we live in His will, trusting fully in His truth and His word.