today's meditation (Ez.29) Relying on the Lord

(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 29:1-21)  In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. 3 Speak and say, ‘This is what the Lord God says:

     “Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt,
     The great monster that lies in the midst of his canals,
     That has said, ‘My Nile is mine, and I myself have made it.’
4   I will put hooks in your jaws 
     And make the fish of your canals cling to your scales.
     And I will bring you up out of the midst of your canals,
     And all the fish of your canals will cling to your scales.
5   I will abandon you to the wilderness, you and all the fish of your canals;
     You will fall on the open field; you will not be brought together or gathered.
     I have given you for food to the animals of the earth and to the birds of the sky.
6   Then all the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am the Lord,
     Because they have been only a staff made of reed to the house of Israel.
7   When they took hold of you with the hand,
     You broke and tore all their hands;
     And when they leaned on you,
     You broke and made all their hips shake.”

8 ‘Therefore the Lord God says this: “Behold, I am going to bring upon you a sword, and I will cut off from you human and animal life. 9 The land of Egypt will become a desolation and place of ruins. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

“Because you said, ‘The Nile is mine, and I have made it,’ 10 therefore, behold, I am against you and against your canals, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from Migdol to Syene and as far as the border of Cush. 11 A human foot will not pass through it, nor will the foot of an animal pass through it, and it will not be inhabited for forty years. 12 So I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of deserted lands. And her cities, in the midst of cities that are laid waste, will be desolate for forty years; and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the lands.”

13 ‘For this is what the Lord God says: “At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered. 14 And I will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to the land of Pathros, to the land of their origin, and there they will be a lowly kingdom. 15 It will be the lowest of the kingdoms, and it will not raise itself above the nations again. And I will make them small so that they will not rule over the nations. 16 And it will no longer be a kingdom on which the house of Israel relies, bringing to mind the guilt of their having turned to Egypt. Then they will know that I am the Lord God.”’”

17 Now in the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 18 “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre; every head had a bald spot and every shoulder was rubbed raw. But he and his army acquired no wages from Tyre for the labor that he had performed against it.” 19 Therefore this is what the Lord God says: “Behold, I am going to give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And he will carry off her wealth and capture her spoils and seize her plunder; and it will be wages for his army. 20 I have given him the land of Egypt for his labor which he performed, because they acted for Me,” declares the Lord God.

21 “On that day I will make a horn sprout for the house of Israel, and I will open your mouth among them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

Even when we are not being obedient, God looks out for His children.  And even when we are being obedient, there are times when things might not feel safe or comfortable, but we can and should still rely on the Lord.  Because He is sovereign, fair, and all-knowing, He is working things out in ways we might not understand.  

Consider how the Lord protected Israel from Egypt - and from themselves - because He knew that Israel would go right back to Egypt for help, instead of going to the Lord for help.  This is the thing to keep in mind at all times, in bad times as well as in good times!  We should not rely on our own strength, or on someone else's strength;  we can and should rely on the Lord and His wisdom, peace and all-powerful strength, always!

today's meditation (Lam.2) Believing the 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...)

(Lamentations 2:1-22)
1   How the Lord has covered the daughter of Zion 
     With a cloud in His anger!
     He has hurled 
     The glory of Israel from heaven to earth,
     And has not remembered His footstool 
     In the day of His anger.
2   The Lord has destroyed; He has not spared 
     All the settlements of Jacob.
     In His wrath He has overthrown 
     The strongholds of the daughter of Judah,
     He has hurled them down to the ground;
     He has profaned the kingdom and its leaders.
3   In fierce anger He has cut off 
     All the strength of Israel;
     He has pulled back His right hand 
     From the enemy.
     And He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire 
     Consuming on all sides.
4   He has bent His bow like an enemy;
     His right hand is positioned like an adversary,
     And He has killed everything that was pleasant to the eye.
     In the tent of the daughter of Zion 
     He has poured out His wrath like fire.
5   The Lord has become like an enemy.
     He has engulfed Israel;
     He has engulfed all its palaces,
     He has destroyed its strongholds 
     And caused great mourning and grieving in the daughter of Judah.
6   And He has treated His tabernacle violently, like a despised garden;
     He has destroyed His appointed meeting place.
     The Lord has caused 
     The appointed feast and Sabbath in Zion to be forgotten,
     And He has despised king and priest 
     In the indignation of His anger.
7   The Lord has rejected His altar,
     He has repudiated His sanctuary;
     He has handed over 
     The walls of her palaces to the enemy.
     They have made a noise in the house of the Lord 
     As on the day of an appointed feast.
8   The Lord determined to destroy 
     The wall of the daughter of Zion.
     He has stretched out a line,
     He has not restrained His hand from destroying,
     And He has caused rampart and wall to mourn;
     They have languished together.
9   Her gates have sunk into the ground,
     He has destroyed and broken her bars.
     Her king and her leaders are among the nations;
     The Law is gone.
     Her prophets, too, find 
     No vision from the Lord.
10 The elders of the daughter of Zion 
     Sit on the ground and are silent.
     They have thrown dust on their heads;
     They have put on sackcloth.
     The virgins of Jerusalem 
     Have bowed their heads to the ground.
11 My eyes fail because of tears,
     My spirit is greatly troubled;
     My heart is poured out on the earth 
     Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
     When little ones and infants languish 
     In the streets of the city.
12 They say to their mothers,
     “Where is grain and wine?”
     As they faint like a wounded person 
     In the streets of the city,
     As their lives are poured out 
     In their mothers’ arms.
13 How shall I admonish you?
     What shall I compare to you,
     Daughter of Jerusalem?
     What shall I liken to you as I comfort you,
     Virgin daughter of Zion?
     For your collapse is as vast as the sea;
     Who can heal you?
14 Your prophets have seen for you 
     Worthless and deceptive visions;
     And they have not exposed your wrongdoing 
     So as to restore you from captivity,
     But they have seen for you worthless and misleading pronouncements.
15 All who pass along the way 
     Clap their hands in ridicule at you;
     They hiss and shake their heads 
     At the daughter of Jerusalem:
     “Is this the city of which they said,
     ‘Perfect in beauty,
     A joy to all the earth’?”
16 All your enemies 
     Have opened their mouths wide against you;
     They hiss and gnash their teeth.
     They say, “We have engulfed her!
     This certainly is the day which we awaited;
     We have reached it, we have seen it!”
17 The Lord has done what He determined;
     He has accomplished His word 
     Which He commanded from days of old.
     He has torn down without sparing,
     And He has helped the enemy to rejoice over you;
     He has exalted the might of your adversaries.
18 Their heart cried out to the Lord:
     “You wall of the daughter of Zion,
     Let your tears stream down like a river day and night;
     Give yourself no relief,
     Let your eyes have no rest.
19 Arise, whimper in the night 
     At the beginning of the night watches;
     Pour out your heart like water 
     Before the presence of the Lord;
     Raise your hands to Him 
     For the life of your little ones 
     Who languish because of hunger 
     At the head of every street.
20 See, Lord, and look!
     With whom have You dealt this way?
     Should women really eat their children,
     The little ones who were born healthy?
     Should priest and prophet really be killed 
     In the sanctuary of the Lord?
21 On the ground in the streets
     Lie young and old;
     My virgins and my young men 
     Have fallen by the sword.
     You have put them to death on the day of Your anger,
     You have slaughtered, without sparing.
22 You called as on the day of an appointed feast 
     My terrors on every side;
     And there was no one who survived or escaped
     On the day of the Lord’s anger.
     As for those whom I brought forth healthy and whom I raised,
     My enemy annihilated them.”

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

I have a friend who is not a believer, who strives to be very compassionate and loving, sweet and kind, in her own strength, efforts and belief system.  She believes in a god of her own design, who is "loving" in such a way that everyone will go to "heaven".  And any time the discussion goes to the state of society, or the struggles that someone is going through - somehow the church and Christians are always at fault.  And I don't think she hears herself saying this.

When people accomplish things, they can become more prideful and self-righteous, believing that they have the power and all the answers.  Meanwhile, as it says in James 1:17, "Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow."  And if someone sins and seems to get away with it, we can see in verse 3 how God can decide to not restrain evil. 

Verse 16 shows how the enemies thought they had engulfed Israel because of their own strength.  But if Israel had been obedient, the outcome would have been different.  Instead, the Israelites deceived themselves with false and worthless visions in order to believe in a god of their own design.

God's desire is for Israel, as well as all believers, to be perfect in beauty and a joy to all the earth (verse 15).  He can and will restrain evil to protect us, although there will be times of struggle in order to test us and/or discipline us.  Whatever the reason, our response should be to search our hearts and repent when applicable, draw closer to the Lord and continue striving to abide in His will, His strength, and His truth.

(Matthew 5:43-48) “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may prove yourselves to be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors, do they not do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Even the Gentiles, do they not do the same? 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.