today's meditation (Mal.3) Growing Our Faith

(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...)

(Malachi 3:1-18) “Behold, I am sending My messenger, and he will clear a way before Me. And the Lord, whom you are seeking, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of armies. 2 “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire, and like launderer’s soap. 3 And He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness. 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old, and as in former years.

5 “Then I will come near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, those who oppress the wage earner in his wages or the widow or the orphan, and those who turn away the stranger from justice and do not fear Me,” says the Lord of armies. 6 “For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, the sons of Jacob, have not come to an end.

7 “From the days of your fathers you have turned away from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of armies. “But you say, ‘How shall we return?’

8 “Would anyone rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the entire nation of you! 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and put Me to the test now in this,” says the Lord of armies, “if I do not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows. 11 Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruit of your ground; nor will the vine in the field prove fruitless to you,” says the Lord of armies. 12 “All the nations will call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land,” says the Lord of armies.

13 “Your words have been arrogant against Me,” says the Lord. “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’ 14 You have said, ‘It is pointless to serve God; and what benefit is it for us that we have done what He required, and that we have walked in mourning before the Lord of armies? 15 So now we call the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up, but they also put God to the test and escape punishment.’”

16 Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened attentively and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and esteem His name. 17 “And they will be Mine,” says the Lord of armies, “on the day that I prepare My own possession, and I will have compassion for them just as a man has compassion for his own son who serves him.” 18 So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

The answer to the question, "Who can stand before the Lord?" is - no one.  We are all born with a sinful nature.  But when a person choses salvation in Jesus, it is Jesus who refines us, and cleanses us from our sins, and covers us with His righteousness, and only in His strength are believers able to stand before Him.  

Everything we have is from the Lord.  And so, with a grateful heart, and a trusting heart, why would we not trust the Lord to take care of all that we have and all that we are going through and all that we are to do?  As believers, we will have the desire to give to God with our time, money and energy.  We are not saved by works, and we do not keep our salvation because of works, but in our works - our faith is evident. 

The awesome thing is that everything we give and do in God's strength and wisdom brings glory to Him.  To trust in the Lord fully will be evident in how we stand in God's promises with obedience.  This is when we will see our own faith grow - in the love, strength and faithfulness of God.

today's meditation (Zech.14) Seeing and Knowing

(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...)

(Zechariah 14:1-21) Behold, a day is coming for the Lord when the spoils taken from you will be divided among you. 2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be taken, the houses plundered, the women raped, and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be eliminated from the city. 3 Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. 4 On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west forming a very large valley. Half of the mountain will move toward the north, and the other half toward the south. 5 And you will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him!

6 On that day there will be no light; the luminaries will die out. 7 For it will be a unique day which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at the time of evening there will be light.

8 And on that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter.

9 And the Lord will be King over all the earth; on that day the Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one.

10 All the land will change into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site from Benjamin’s Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses. 11 People will live in it, and there will no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will live in security.

12 Now this will be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth. 13 And it will come about on that day that a great panic from the Lord will fall on them; and they will seize one another’s hand, and the hand of one will be raised against the hand of another. 14 Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered, gold, silver, and garments in great abundance. 15 And just like this plague, there will be a plague on the horse, the mule, the camel, the donkey, and all the cattle that will be in those camps.

16 Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of armies, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 17 And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of armies, there will be no rain on them. 18 And if the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 19 This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.

20 On that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “Holy to the Lord.” And the cooking pots in the Lord’s house will be like the bowls before the altar. 21 Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord of armies; and all who sacrifice will come and take of them and boil in them. And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of armies on that day.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

Only unbelievers will go into the Tribulation, but there will be those becoming believers during the seven years, along with Israel as a nation.  They will see the judgements, the signs of Jesus' second coming and believe.  Some of the judgements include the sun and stars losing their light, wars, plagues, and earthquakes.

Near the end of the Tribulation, like the parting of the Red Sea, the Lord will cause an earthquake which will create a valley for all believers to use to escape the enemies.  Then the Lord will come again with His holy ones to have victory at the battle of Armageddon and remove all sinners from the earth.

Only believers will enter the Millennium, but there will be people born into that time period and they will have to make their choice - to make Jesus their Lord and Savior or not.  Jesus will be right there on earth, governing it with immediate and righteous justice.  Jesus will also be right there in person to answer and guide people.  And Jesus will fulfill all of Israel's covenants.

As for right now, all believers have the indwelling omniscient Holy Spirit to help guide us.  The Lord is omnipresent, so anywhere and all the time, we can talk to Him and make our requests known.  And because the Lord is omnipotent, nothing is impossible for Him.  We also have access to God's written word, the Bible, which is relevant and applicable to any situation we could ever encounter.  Because God desires that all come to know Him, He is faithful so we can see and know - BEHOLD - we can be confident and trust in Him.

today's meditation (Ez.27) Finding Success

(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 27:1-36)  Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “And you, son of man, take up a song of mourning over Tyre; 3 and say to Tyre, who sits at the entrance to the sea, merchant of the peoples to many coastlands, ‘This is what the Lord God says:

     “Tyre, you have said, ‘I am perfect in beauty.’
4   Your borders are in the heart of the seas;
     Your builders have perfected your beauty.
5   They have made all your planks of juniper trees from Senir;
     They have taken a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you.
6   Of oaks from Bashan they have made your rudders;
     With ivory they have inlaid your deck of boxwood from the coastlands of Cyprus.
7   Your sail was of colorfully embroidered linen from Egypt
     So that it became your flag;
     Your awning was violet and purple from the coastlands of Elishah.
8   The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were your rowers;
     Your wise men, Tyre, were aboard; they were your sailors.
9   The elders of Gebal and her wise men were with you repairing your leaks;
     All the ships of the sea and their sailors were with you in order to deal in your merchandise.

10 “Persia, Lud, and Put were in your army, your men of war. They hung up shield and helmet on you; they presented your splendor. 11 The sons of Arvad and your army were on your walls, all around, and the Gammadim were in your towers. They hung their shields on your walls all around; they perfected your beauty.

12 “Tarshish was your customer because of the abundance of all kinds of wealth; with silver, iron, tin, and lead they paid for your merchandise. 13 Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were your traders; with human lives and vessels of bronze they paid for your merchandise. 14 Those from Beth-togarmah gave horses, war horses, and mules for your merchandise. 15 The sons of Dedan were your traders. Many coastlands were your market; they brought ivory tusks and ebony as your payment. 16 Aram was your customer because of the abundance of your goods; they paid for your merchandise with emeralds, purple, colorfully woven cloth, fine linen, coral, and rubies. 17 Judah and the land of Israel, they were your traders; with the wheat of Minnith, cakes, honey, oil, and balsam they paid for your merchandise. 18 Damascus was your customer because of the abundance of your goods, because of the abundance of all kinds of wealth, because of the wine of Helbon and white wool. 19 Vedan and Javan paid for your merchandise from Uzal; wrought iron, cassia, and spice reed were among your merchandise. 20 Dedan traded with you in saddlecloths for riding. 21 Arabia and all the princes of Kedar, they were your customers for lambs, rams, and goats; for these they were your customers. 22 The traders of Sheba and Raamah, they traded with you; they paid for your merchandise with the best of all balsam oil, and with all kinds of precious stones, and gold. 23 Haran, Canneh, Eden, the traders of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad traded with you. 24 They traded with you in choice garments, in clothes of violet and colorfully woven cloth, and in blankets of two colors, and tightly wound cords, which were among your merchandise. 25 The ships of Tarshish were the carriers for your merchandise.

     And you were filled and were very glorious 
     In the heart of the seas.

26 “Your rowers have brought you 
     Into great waters;
     The east wind has broken you 
     In the heart of the seas.
27 Your wealth, your wares, your merchandise,
     Your seamen and your sailors,
     Your repairers of leaks, your dealers in merchandise,
     And all your men of war who are in you,
     With all your contingent that is in your midst,
     Will fall into the heart of the seas 
     On the day of your overthrow.
28 At the sound of the cry of your sailors,
     The pasture lands will shake.
29 All who handle the oar,
     The seamen and all the sailors of the sea 
     Will come down from their ships;
     They will stand on the land,
30 And they will make their voice heard over you 
     And cry out bitterly.
     They will throw dust on their heads,
     They will wallow in ashes.
31 Also they will shave themselves bald for you 
     And put on sackcloth;
     And they will weep for you in bitterness of soul 
     With bitter mourning.
32 Moreover, in their wailing they will take up a song of mourning for you 
     And sing a song of mourning over you:
     ‘Who is like Tyre,
     Like her who is silent in the midst of the sea?
33 When your merchandise went out from the seas,
     You satisfied many peoples;
     With the abundance of your wealth and your merchandise 
     You enriched the kings of the earth.
34 Now that you are broken by the seas 
     In the depths of the waters,
     Your merchandise and all your company 
     Have fallen in the midst of you.
35 All the inhabitants of the coastlands 
     Are appalled at you,
     And their kings are horribly afraid;
     They have a troubled look.
36 The merchants among the peoples hiss at you;
     You have become terrified 
     And you will cease to be forever.’”’”

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

It doesn't matter how smart, beautiful or powerful someone is believed to be, they are not invincible.  Most often, it is the thing that people count on that disappoints and destroys.  And when "those" people fall, it is very interesting how others react.  Everyone wants to be friends and allies with those who are successful, but very quickly will abandon and avoid those who fail.  And if the very beautiful, smart and powerful can fall, what does that mean for everyone else? 

Whoever or whatever is first in your life - the thing that you count on - is your god.  Anything besides God, Himself, is only temporary and will only disappoint and destroy.  When we choose to put the Lord Jesus Christ first in our hearts, He protects us for eternity, and He is faithful to fulfill and equip.  It doesn't matter if we are not seen as popular because of it;  but in His salvation, striving to live in the Lord's will, in His wisdom, love and strength, is true "success" in life.