today's meditation (Micah 1) Seeking out the Lord's Will

(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...)

(Micah 1:1-16) The word of the Lord which came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and which he saw regarding Samaria and Jerusalem.

2   Hear, you peoples, all of you;
     Listen carefully, earth and all it contains,
     And may the Lord God be a witness against you,
     The Lord from His holy temple.
3   For behold, the Lord is coming forth from His place.
     He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.
4   The mountains will melt under Him 
     And the valleys will be split,
     Like wax before the fire,
     Like water poured down a steep place.
5   All this is due to the wrongdoing of Jacob 
     And the sins of the house of Israel.
     What is the wrongdoing of Jacob?
     Is it not Samaria?
     What is the high place of Judah?
     Is it not Jerusalem?
6   For I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the open country,
     Planting places for a vineyard.
     I will hurl her stones down into the valley,
     And lay bare her foundations.
7   All of her idols will be crushed,
     All of her earnings will be burned with fire,
     And all of her images I will make desolate;
     For she collected them from a prostitute’s earnings,
     And to the earnings of a prostitute they will return.

8   Because of this I must mourn and wail,
     I must go barefoot and naked;
     I must do mourning like the jackals,
     And a mourning like the ostriches.
9   For her wound is incurable,
     For it has come to Judah;
     It has reached the gate of my people,
     Even to Jerusalem.
10 Do not tell it in Gath,
     Do not weep at all.
     At Beth-le-aphrah roll yourself in the dust in mourning.
11 Go on your way, inhabitant of Shaphir, in shameful nakedness.
     The inhabitant of Zaanan does not escape.
     The mourning of Beth-ezel: “He will take from you its support.”
12 For the inhabitant of Maroth 
     Waits for something good,
     Because a disaster has come down from the Lord 
     To the gate of Jerusalem.
13 Harness the chariot to the team of horses,
     You inhabitant of Lachish—
     She was the beginning of sin 
     To the daughter of Zion—
     Because in you were found 
     The rebellious acts of Israel.
14 Therefore you will give parting gifts 
     In behalf of Moresheth-gath;
     The houses of Achzib will become a deception 
     To the kings of Israel.
15 Moreover, I will bring on you 
     The one who takes possession,
     You inhabitant of Mareshah.
     The glory of Israel will enter Adullam.
16 Shave yourself bald, yes, cut off your hair,
     Because of the children of your delight;
     Extend your baldness like the eagle,
     For they will go from you into exile.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

Shaving one's head in order to mourn is just one way the world will react when things go terribly wrong.  Over-the-top mourning and wailing really is all about the person.  "Look at me!  Look how sad and distressed I am."  But these cries are futile, and often manipulate.  Some people will show huge "remorse" - but only for getting caught.  While others who feel actual remorse for what they've done, only want to continue doing things their own way.  So, God tells these people to just go ahead and wail.  The "emotional release" is all they have, since they refuse to look to the Lord for His salvation and certain hope.

For believers, there is a healthy amount of mourning and remorse that is acceptable!  But instead of excessive, hopeless groveling, remember to keep seeking out the Lord and His will.  Do not just seek out the Lord for His help or you will be disappointed.  Part of knowing God's will shows us where we have gone wrong so that we can get back on track.  Remember, sin impedes prayer!

Now, just because we struggle through something, doesn't mean that we have sinned.  But it is always beneficial to do a heart check.  Is there something we need to confess?  Truly, the Lord is faithful to deliver us from that and bring us to a better place.  Jesus accomplished His work on the cross so that we would not have to wallow in guilt, sadness, self-pity, despair or remorse.  He forgives our sins so that we can experience freedom and security in His grace which leads to His peace, joy and contentment.  

today's meditation (Jer.31) Finding Rest

(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...)

(Jeremiah 31:1-40) “At that time,” declares the Lord, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.”

2   This is what the Lord says:
     “The people who survived the sword 
     Found grace in the wilderness—
     Israel, when it went to find its rest.”
3   The Lord appeared to him long ago, saying,
     “I have loved you with an everlasting love;
     Therefore I have drawn you out with kindness.
4   I will build you again and you will be rebuilt,
     Virgin of Israel!
     You will take up your tambourines again,
     And go out to the dances of the revelers.
5   Again you will plant vineyards 
     On the hills of Samaria;
     The planters will plant 
     And will enjoy the fruit.
6   For there will be a day when watchmen 
     On the hills of Ephraim call out,
     ‘Arise, and let’s go up to Zion,
     To the Lord our God.’”

7   For this is what the Lord says:
     “Sing aloud with joy for Jacob,
     And be joyful with the chief of the nations;
     Proclaim, give praise, and say,
     ‘Lord, save Your people,
     The remnant of Israel!’
8   Behold, I am bringing them from the north country,
     And I will gather them from the remote parts of the earth,
     Among them those who are blind and those who limp,
     The pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together;
     They will return here as a great assembly.
9   They will come with weeping,
     And by pleading I will bring them;
     I will lead them by streams of waters,
     On a straight path on which they will not stumble;
     For I am a father to Israel,
     And Ephraim is My firstborn.”

10 Hear the word of the Lord, you nations,
     And declare it in the coastlands far away,
     And say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him,
     And He will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.”
11 For the Lord has ransomed Jacob 
     And redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he.
12 “They will come and shout for joy on the height of Zion,
     And they will be radiant over the bounty of the Lord—
     Over the grain, the new wine, the oil,
     And over the young of the flock and the herd.
     And their life will be like a watered garden,
     And they will never languish again.
13 Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance,
     And the young men and the old together;
     For I will turn their mourning into joy 
     And comfort them, and give them joy for their sorrow.
14 I will refresh the soul of the priests with abundance,
     And My people will be satisfied with My goodness,” declares the Lord.

15 This is what the Lord says:
     “A voice is heard in Ramah,
     Lamenting and bitter weeping.
     Rachel is weeping for her children;
     She refuses to be comforted for her children,
     Because they are no more.”

16 This is what the Lord says:

     “Restrain your voice from weeping 
     And your eyes from tears;
     For your work will be rewarded,” declares the Lord,
     “And they will return from the land of the enemy.
17 There is hope for your future,” declares the Lord,
     “And your children will return to their own territory.
18 I have certainly heard Ephraim grieving,
     ‘You have disciplined me, and I was corrected,
     Like an untrained calf;
     Bring me back that I may be restored,
     For You are the Lord my God.
19 For after I turned back, I repented;
     And after I was instructed, I slapped my thigh;
     I was ashamed and also humiliated 
     Because I bore the shame of my youth.’
20 Is Ephraim My dear son?
     Is he a delightful child?
     Indeed, as often as I have spoken against him,
     I certainly still remember him;
     Therefore My heart yearns for him;
     I will certainly have mercy on him,” declares the Lord.

21 “Set up roadmarks for yourself,
     Place guideposts for yourself;
     Direct your mind to the highway,
     The way by which you went.
     Return, O virgin of Israel,
     Return to these your cities.
22 How long will you waver,
     You rebellious daughter?
     For the Lord has created a new thing on the earth:
     A woman will shelter a man.”

23 This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Once again they will speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities when I restore their fortunes,

     ‘The Lord bless you, O place of righteousness,
     O holy hill!’

24 Judah and all its cities will live together in it, the farmers and those who travel with flocks. 25 For I give plenty of water to the weary ones, and refresh everyone who languishes.” 26 At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep had been pleasant to me.

27 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of mankind and the seed of animals. 28 And just as I have watched over them to uproot them, tear them down, ruin, destroy, and bring disaster on them, so I will watch over them to build and to plant them,” declares the Lord.

29 “In those days they will no longer say,
     ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
     But it is the children’s teeth that have become blunt.’

30 But everyone will die for his own wrongdoing; each person who eats the sour grapes, his own teeth will become blunt.

31 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. 33 “For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord: “I will put My law within them and write it on their heart; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 They will not teach again, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their wrongdoing, and their sin I will no longer remember.”

35 This is what the Lord says,
     He who gives the sun for light by day 
     And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
     Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
     The Lord of armies is His name:
36 “If this fixed order departs 
     From Me,” declares the Lord,
     “Then the descendants of Israel also will cease 
     To be a nation before Me forever.”
37 This is what the Lord says:
     “If the heavens above can be measured 
     And the foundations of the earth searched out below,
     Then I will also reject all the descendants of Israel 
     For everything that they have done,” declares the Lord.

38 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when the city will be rebuilt for the Lord from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39 The measuring line will go out farther straight ahead, to the hill Gareb; then it will turn to Goah. 40 And the entire valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be holy to the Lord; it will not be uprooted or overthrown ever again.”

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

When we try to behave in our own strength, we will fail.  It is impossible for any of us to ever measure up to God's standards, except through the Lord.  Going to Jesus for His salvation and forgiveness of sins is once and for all, because He chooses to no longer remember our sins.  So when we want to find rest, it is only found in His grace.  

Because of God's grace, we no longer have to worry about the afterlife, because we have eternal security.  We no longer have to worry about trying to be perfect, because God works on us from the inside out.  We no longer have to worry about trying to figure things out, because God guides us through His word and His Holy Spirit.  We no longer have to do things on our own, because we can ask God to help in every situation.  Our rest in Him is so very extensive!

today's meditation (Is.38) Becoming a Believer

(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...)

(Isaiah 38:1-22) 

1 In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Set your house in order, for you are going to die and not live.’” 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 and said, “Please, Lord, just remember how I have walked before You wholeheartedly and in truth, and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept profusely.

4 Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, 5 “Go and say to Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David says: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will add fifteen years to your life. 6 And I will save you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will protect this city.”’

7 “And this shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will perform this word that He has spoken: 8 Behold, I will make the shadow on the stairway, which has gone down with the sun on the stairway of Ahaz, go back ten steps.” So the sun’s shadow went back ten steps on the stairway on which it had gone down.

9 This is a writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:

10 I said, “In the middle of my life 
     I am to enter the gates of Sheol;
     I have been deprived of the rest of my years.”
11 I said, “I will not see the Lord,
     The Lord in the land of the living;
     I will no longer look on mankind among the inhabitants of the world.
12 Like a shepherd’s tent my dwelling is pulled up and removed from me;
     As a weaver I rolled up my life.
     He cuts me off from the loom;
     From day until night You make an end of me.
13 I composed my soul until morning.
     Like a lion—so He breaks all my bones,
     From day until night You make an end of me.
14 Like a swallow, like a crane, so I twitter;
     I moan like a dove;
     My eyes look wistfully to the heights;
     Lord, I am oppressed, be my security.

15 “What shall I say?
     For He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done it;
     I will walk quietly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul.
16 Lord, by these things people live,
     And in all these is the life of my spirit;
     Restore me to health and let me live!
17 Behold, for my own welfare I had great bitterness;
     But You have kept my soul from the pit of nothingness,
     For You have hurled all my sins behind Your back.
18 For Sheol cannot thank You,
     Death cannot praise You;
     Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.
19 It is the living who give thanks to You, as I do today;
     A father tells his sons about Your faithfulness.
20 The Lord is certain to save me;
     So we will play my songs on stringed instruments 
     All the days of our life at the house of the Lord.”

21 Now Isaiah had said, “Have them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, so that he may recover.” 22 Then Hezekiah had said, “What is the sign that I will go up to the house of the Lord?”

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

After Hezekiah's very self-centered and self-serving prayer in verse 3, God still decided to answer it and allow him to live 15 more years.  BUT Hezekiah suffered with his illness - to the point that he finally turned to God with humility and repentance.  Because Hezekiah became a believer, immediately at that point in time, he was able to stand before the Lord, clean and righteous, no matter what he had done in the past.  

From verse 17, we can see that Hezekiah understood that in order to find eternal life, God allowed him to come close to death.  God is love, and God is also all-knowing, righteous and just.  God knew that Hezekiah would become a believer!  And He knew what it would take to get Hezekiah's attention!  And because of His forgiveness and amazing grace, God chooses to no longer remember our sins.

today's meditation (Is.30) Finding Freedom and Rest

(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...)

(Isaiah 30:1-33) 

1   “Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the Lord,
     “Who execute a plan, but not Mine,
     And make an alliance, but not of My Spirit,
     In order to add sin to sin;
2   Who proceed down to Egypt 
     Without consulting Me,
     To take refuge in the safety of Pharaoh,
     And to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!
3   Therefore the safety of Pharaoh will be your shame,
     And the shelter in the shadow of Egypt, your humiliation.
4   For their officials are at Zoan 
     And their ambassadors arrive at Hanes.
5   Everyone will be ashamed because of a people who do not benefit them,
     Who are not a help or benefit, but a source of shame and also disgrace.”

6   The pronouncement concerning the animals of the Negev:

     Through a land of distress and anguish,
     From where come lioness and lion, viper and flying serpent,
     They carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys,
     And their treasures on camels’ humps,
     To a people who will not benefit them;
7   Even Egypt, whose help is vain and empty.
     Therefore, I have called her 
     “Rahab who has been exterminated.”
8   Now go, write it on a tablet in their presence 
     And inscribe it on a scroll,
     That it may serve in the time to come 
     As a witness forever.
9   For this is a rebellious people, false sons,
     Sons who refuse to listen 
     To the instruction of the Lord;
10 Who say to the seers, “You must not see visions”;
     And to the prophets, “You must not prophesy the truth to us.
     Speak to us pleasant words,
     Prophesy illusions.
11 Get out of the way, turn aside from the path,
     Stop speaking before us about the Holy One of Israel!”

12 Therefore this is what the Holy One of Israel says:

     “Since you have rejected this word 
     And have put your trust in oppression and crookedness, and have relied on them,
13 Therefore this wrongdoing will be to you 
     Like a breach about to fall,
     A bulge in a high wall,
     Whose collapse comes suddenly in an instant,
14 Whose collapse is like the smashing of a potter’s jar,
     So ruthlessly shattered 
     That a shard will not be found among its pieces 
     To take fire from a hearth 
     Or to scoop water from a cistern.”

15 For this is what the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said:

     “In repentance and rest you will be saved,
     In quietness and trust is your strength.”
     But you were not willing,
16 And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses!”
     Therefore you shall flee!
     “And we will ride on swift horses!”
     Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift.
17 One thousand will flee at the threat of one man;
     You will flee at the threat of five,
     Until you are left like a signal post on a mountain top,
     And like a flag on a hill.

18 Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you,
     And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you.
     For the Lord is a God of justice;
     How blessed are all those who long for Him.

19 For, you people in Zion, inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. He will certainly be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you. 20 Although the Lord has given you bread of deprivation and water of oppression, He, your Teacher, will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will see your Teacher. 21 Your ears will hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left. 22 And you will desecrate your carved images plated with silver, and your cast metal images plated with gold. You will scatter them as a filthy thing, and say to them, “Be gone!”

23 Then He will give you rain for your seed which you will sow in the ground, and bread from the yield of the ground, and it will be rich and plentiful; on that day your livestock will graze in a wide pasture. 24 Also the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned feed, which has been winnowed with shovel and pitchfork. 25 And on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be streams running with water on the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. 26 And the light of the full moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, on the day the Lord binds up the fracture of His people and heals the wound He has inflicted.

27 Behold, the name of the Lord comes from a remote place;
     His anger is burning and dense with smoke;
     His lips are filled with indignation,
     And His tongue is like a consuming fire;
28 His breath is like an overflowing river,
     Which reaches to the neck,
     To shake the nations back and forth in a sieve,
     And to put in the jaws of the peoples the bridle which leads astray.
29 You will have songs as in the night when you keep the festival,
     And gladness of heart as when one marches to the sound of the flute,
     To go to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel.
30 And the Lord will cause His voice of authority to be heard,
     And the descending of His arm to be seen in fierce anger,
     And in the flame of a consuming fire 
     In cloudburst, downpour, and hailstones.
31 For at the voice of the Lord Assyria will be terrified,
     When He strikes with the rod.
32 And every blow of the rod of punishment,
     Which the Lord will lay on him,
     Will be with the music of tambourines and lyres;
     And in battles, brandishing weapons, He will fight them.
33 For Topheth has long been ready,
     Indeed, it has been prepared for the king.
     He has made it deep and large,
     A pyre of fire with plenty of wood;
     The breath of the Lord, like a torrent of brimstone, sets it afire.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

Whether making a deal with the devil, or making a deal with the wicked, or relying on others or ourselves in order to get through life - this is a life without God.  And the thing that we fear and hate is the thing we tend to create or get.  Ironically, in life, there are contracts and deals and rules and restrictions in everything.  Yet at the mention of Christianity, many people react by saying it is just a bunch of rules.  

With God and His forgiveness, we can have freedom from sin and rest in His grace, having eternal security.  And when something comes up, we can consult the Lord and His word, and be assured that what He says is truth which always benefits us.  Because God longs to be gracious to us and have compassion on us, we can be confident and know that God will guide us and help us!