Times Far Off

Reading:  Ezekiel 12
My Verse:  "And the Word of the LORD came to me:
                       "Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say,
                            The vision that he sees is for many days from now,
                             and he prophesies of times far off.'

                  Therefore say to them, 
                        Thus says the LORD God:  
                           None of my words will be delayed any longer,
                           but the word that I speak will be performed,
                              declares the LORD GOD"  (Ezekiel 12:26-28).

There is this mantra that goes about and occasionally becomes popular.

  "Live each day as if it were your last."

But to live in such a way is far too exhausting and one soon gives it up.

And yet, here is a warning you give to the people of Israel and to us, and in the giving of it is the implication that we do need to be aware - there is coming a time when we have to answer for how we live.   The people scoffed at Ezekiel saying, "The vision he sees is for many days from now, and he prophesies of times far off."  They, like us, did not want to do the exhausting work of living an intentional life (Philippians 4:8), giving ourselves totally to You (Deuteronomy 6:5), and keeping ourselves apart from the ways of this world (Philippians 2:14-15, Romans 12:2).

It is just not easy.  And yet, LORD God, it is so much more satisfying.  Sadly many give up their walk with You - to live for themselves, thinking this will be easier.

My son and I were speaking of this very thing.  He is reading Jean-Paul Sarte and was speaking of what Sarte termed "bad Faith."  This is basically when one gives up what they believe to be truth and then tries to live as if they never believed that truth.  These individuals end up beating against an unmovable wall, which they cannot get past.  It is not a good place to be.

I like how John Piper points out that Christmas actually cuts history in half.

“What we need to remember is that with the coming of Jesus Christ into the world, the days of fulfillment, proclaimed by all the prophets, began. And ever since the first Christmas we have been living in those days. The “last days” foretold by the prophets are not the twenty-first century. The last days began in AD 1.  -Excerpt From: John Piper. “The Dawning of Indestructible Joy.” 

We live in the "last days."  The Coming of You LORD God draws nearer every day.  But, many would say it is so exhausting to live with that thought "live each day as if it were your last."  I really like this poem of an ancient man, Saint Nicephorus the Hesychast (c.1250-1280).  He clearly points out the only way one can do this.

New Knowledge

"Thereafter, you must see to it
that so long as your spirit bides
-that is, at home within the heart-
you must not stay silent nor idle,
you must not take this treasure lightly.

Have no other occupation, no other
meditation than the cry of

"LORD Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me!"

Under no condition acquiesce
to rest, but fix your heart solely
on this elevating work.

This practice will protect your spirit
from wandering, and will make it impregnable, wholly inaccessible
to the deceptions of the enemy.

the prayer will draw you every day 
more deeply into love, more fully
into love with and in desire for your God".   -from "Love's Immensity"
                                                                        Adaptations/translation by Scott Cairns.


That kind of sums it up.  We cannot stay the course on our own.  Your coming is really not so very far off and we must keep that at the foremost of our thoughts and our daily decisions, but we can do so only with Your constant help and mercy.  Thank You, LORD God, for Your mercy.

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!



  

God's Enabling & Our Free Will

Reading:  Ezekiel 11
My Verse:  "And I will give them one heart,
                         and a new spirit I will put within them.

                    I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh
                         and give them a heart of flesh,
                         that they may walk in my statutes
                         and keep my rules
                         and obey them" (Ezekiel 11:19).

This amazing statement is repeated in Ezekiel 36:28.  It articulates the tension between Your enabling, LORD God and our free will.  How and when do the two meet and mesh?

You tell us we, ourselves, must turn to You.

Ezekiel 18:31 "Cast away all your transgressions that you have committed, 
                            and make yourselves a new heart
                            and a new spirit!"

And You tell us that we cannot come to You unless You draw us.  As Jesus said in John 6:44.

"No one can come to me unless the Father draws him . . ."

In Philippians 2:12 Paul tells us we are responsible to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."

This is a complex concept but vastly important - vital to our salvation.  There is so much I do not understand and yet You, LORD God gave me a brain and free will.  You draw me to you, and I am responsible to respond correctly to that drawing.

John Piper has a wonderful sermon on this.  It helps me to understand a bit better this whole tension between my free will and Your enabling, LORD God.

"If we come to Jesus, it is because the Father drew us — which none of us deserves. And if we don’t come to Jesus, it is because the Father left us in our rebellion — which all of us deserve. And there is no fatalism in the Bible. We are responsible to come to Jesus. He is calling you to come right now." -Piper

As I read and think on this I begin to see how this is really the way it has to be.  If we are able to come to You, LORD God completely on our own, then we would have something to boast of wouldn't we?  Pride would destroy us.  Thank You, for Your ultimate and complete wisdom!

"The drawing is the decisive impulse. We will see it again and again in this Gospel that this drawing is not at all in conflict with our choosing to come and our freely coming because we want to come. But his drawing is decisive. And without it no one would come." -Piper

Thank You, LORD God for Your mercy and grace.

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

Deeds We Commit In the Dark!

Reading Ezekiel 8 - 10
My Verse:  "So I went in and saw.
                    And there, engraved on the wall all around,
                       was every form of creeping things
                       and loathsome beasts,
                       and all the idols of the house of Israel.

                      . . . 

                      Then he said to me,
                         "Son of man, have you seen 
                               what the elders of the house of Israel 
                               are doing in the dark,
                          each in his room of pictures?

                      For they say, "The LORD does not see us. . ."
                                                                             (Ezekiel 8:10 - 12).

It is so very sad and dreadful the things we do in the dark when we have convinced ourselves that You do not see us LORD God!

Some time ago I read this very interesting scientific article that premised that all inanimate physical objects actually record both the audio and visual of what occurs in their presence.  For example walls record the actions they see and hear!  What a thought!  To think that our every action and word is recorded in perpetuity - permanent records! The article stated that all that remained was to figure out how to retrieve the information!

And yet, with the internet, texting and email, Facebook, twitter, etc - all those things are out there.  People are so quick to put down things on their devices that they would be less likely to voice and yet all is recorded and it is actually possible to retrieve that stuff.  Wouldn't it be so different if everyone acted as though they knew that whatever they put on them would be read by You?

How different we are when in the presence of others, especially others that we respect and want to think well of us.  We temper our speech and behavior.  Would that we would do so always because we are ever in Your Presence, LORD God.

As a counselor at a teen camp we used this little booklet for a devotional, called My Heart Christ's Home.  It would go through all the rooms of the heart - and how we hide things(or think we are hiding things!) in these various rooms.  It spoke of and guided one to clean out all the rooms of one's heart.  I really liked it, it so simply and yet clearly spoke truth - spoke to our need to be free of dark things, things that needed to be hidden.

I just read  a review of a book entitled Talk to Your Wife About Lust by Jackie Hill Perry who posted a  "bold yet insightful" clip on twitter on the book.  John Piper, who wrote the review, stated that she brings a fresh look at a very old problem in marriages.  He went on to say that the basic problem is "unconfessed sin," dark secrets, darkness eats away at our souls.  He said Jackie Hill is on to something here by saying men should talk to their wives about those dark thoughts.  Piper used  James 5:16 to support this.

"Confess your sins to one another . . .
     that you may be healed"

Only Your healing bright pure light, LORD God, can clean away the darkest of deeds committed in secret.  And only Your pure light can heal the wounds caused by those dark deeds.

"This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you,
   that God is Light, 
   and in Him is no darkness at all"  (1 John 1:5).

"The Light shines in the darkness,
   and the darkness did not comprehend it"  (John 1:5).

"For everyone who does evil deeds hates the light
But he who practices truth comes to the light . . ." (John 3:20, 21).

"While I am in the world, I AM the Light of the world" (John 9:5).

"I have come as a light into the world, 
   so that whoever believes in me should not abide in darkness"  (John 12:46).

Thank You, LORD God, that I do not need to scurry about in the dark, like a roach, afraid of the light, afraid of being "found out."
Thank You for coming and shining Your beautiful healing light on me, LORD God!
Thank You for Your unending mercy.

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

". . . And They Shall Know That I Am the LORD"

Reading:  Ezekiel 4 - 7
My Verse:  ""The king mourns, the prince is wrapped in despair,
                      and the hands of the people of the land
                           are paralyzed by terror.

                      According to their way I will do to them,
                         and according to their judgements I will judge them,

                         and they shall know that I am the LORD" (Ezekiel 7:27).

These words are repeated 7 times just in these chapters, "and they shall know that I am the LORD."

In this particular passage all that You do has to do with punishment, punishment that would cause not only those being punished but also those that observe the punishment to "know" that YOU are LORD!  It is so sad that it has to come to that - but all too often we need to be punished before we realize we are in the wrong and that You, LORD God are very real and very present in our world. (Psalm 46:1)

But, that is not the only way that you try to get our attention, try to get us to "know" that You are LORD.  You also bring good things to us - like the wonderful miracles that You did while You were here on earth - the feeding of the multitudes with two fish and a loaf of bread, the healing of the man born blind, the healing of the Syrian general from leprosy, so many wondrous miracles, allowing Peter to walk on the water.

You also do wondrous things in our natural world - the very creation cries out how truly wonderful You are, LORD God.  As I am typing here, my hands are amazing at what they are able to do; my mind - how it thinks; a flower blooming; the vast variety of birds, fishes and animals that populate this wondrous place You created; the moon and stars; the northern lights.

"For what can be known about God is plain to them,
   because God has shown it to them.

For His invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature,
     have been clearly perceived,
     ever since the creation of the world,
     in the things that have been made.

So they are without excuse"  (Romans 1:19 - 20).

Even Your word the Bible was written that we may "know" that You are LORD.

"Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples,
   which are not written in this book;
   but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ,
   the Son of God,
   and that by believing you may have life in His name" (John 20:30, 31).

"I write these things to you who believe 
     in the name of the Son of God
     that you may know that you have eternal life"  (1 John 5:13).

And throughout this amazing book that You have preserved for us through the ages You call out to us telling us Who You are and asking us to believe You.

"Be still, and know that I am God;
     I will be exalted among the nations,
     I will be exalted in the earth"  (Psalm 46:10).

"And God said to Moses, I AM That I AM,
     and he said, Thus shall you say to the children of Israel,
     I AM has sent me to you"   (Exodus 3:14).

You cry this out through Your every act, through every part of creation - clear and true!
". . . and they shall know that I AM the LORD."

Didat Deus - God Enriches!

God Does Enable Us!

Reading:  Ezekiel 1 - 3
My Verse:  "Behold, I have made your face strong and hard against their faces
                         and your forehead strong and hard
                            against their foreheads.

                    Like an adamant harder than flint or a diamond point 
                        have I made your forehead;
                        fear them not,
                        neither be dismayed at their looks,
                        for they are a rebellious house" (Ezekiel 3:8,9 AMPLIFIED).

This is an amazing thing!  Often I have wondered how the prophets did what they did, how martyrs were able to stand before their tormentors and killers - it is You that enabled them, LORD God!  I guess I just thought they were a very special people and they were but they were also people like me - people that You made special by enabling them  to endure what they did.  They were able to stand because You picked them up and held them up as you did with Ezekiel here.  He kept fainting away but You would pick him up.

"I fell upon my face . . . "
"And the Spirit entered into me  . . .
     and set me upon my feet . . ."  (Ezekiel 1:28 - 2:2).

Isaiah spoke of this very thing, of how You, LORD God enabled him.

"For the LORD God helps me;
   therefore have I not been ashamed or confounded.
   Therefore have I set my face like a flint,
   and I know that I shall not be put to shame"  (Isaiah 50:7 AMPLIFIED).

Jeremiah, too, spoke of how You, LORD God made it possible for him to do Your works.  It was You and You only that enabled Jeremiah to pit himself against his own people, against the popular culture of his day, to stand alone against the rebelliousness of all those around him.

"And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city,
     an iron pillar, and bronze walls,
     against the whole land,
     against the kings of Judah,
     its officials, its priests, and the people of the land.

They will fight against you 
     but they will not prevail against you,
     for I am with you,
     declares the LORD, to deliver you"  (Jeremiah 1:18,19).

Micah spoke of this as well.

"But as for me, I am filled with power,
     with the Spirit of the LORD,
     and with justice and might,
   to declare to Jacob his transgression 
     and to Israel his sin"  (Micah 3:8 ESV).

There can be  no better example of Your enabling, LORD God, than the amazing story of Stephen's  martyrdom in Acts 6:8 - 7:60.

"And Stephen, full of grace and power, 
   was doing great wonders and signs among the people. . ."

Many were against him and tried to refute what he was saying but,

"But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking . . ."

Stephen was finally brought before his accusers in the Council,

"And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel . . ."

Even while they stoned him in rage, Stephen cried out that You, LORD God "not hold this sin against them."

I am so very grateful for Your Word, LORD God.  You know how often I need reminding of Your love for me, of Your compassion and mercy and vast power to intervene on my behalf when I am in need.

Oh, LORD God, we are Your created beings - and how far we stray from You and Your truths!

"Create in me a pure heart, O God,
     and renew a steadfast spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10).

Thank You for drawing me to You and enabling me to understand and believe Who You are!

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!







                         

Turn Us To Yourself, O LORD!

Read:  Lamentations 4, 5
My Verse:  "Turn us to Yourself, O LORD.
                        and we shall be turned and restored!"
                                                       (Lamentations 5:21 AMP Bible)

This truth we find so very hard to accept.  Even as a child I remember wondering why I had to ask You, LORD God for forgiveness.  I am sure You remember my impertinence with a smile!  I had this favorite hill I would go to.  I'd settle myself on a big rock and  look up into the sky and cry out to You, "WHY"?

Of course, I did ask You "why"  about many things and still do!  But, LORD God, I can only thank You for being persistent with me, not giving up on me and continuing to draw me to You despite my rebellious attitude!   For now I do understand, that without You drawing me to You I would never have come to know You.  You alone enable us to see You for Who You are!  You alone can restore us to right relationship with You!

"No one can come to me 
     unless the Father who sent me draws them to me,
     and I will raise them up at the last day" (John 6:44).

"The LORD appeared from of old to me [Israel], saying, 
     Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; 
     therefore, with loving kindness have I drawn you 
     and continued My faithfulness to you" (Jeremiah 31:3).

"Know, recognize and understand therefore that the LORD your God,
     He is God,
     the faithful God,
     Who keeps covenant and steadfast love and mercy
     with those who love Him and keep his commandments,
     to a thousand generations" (Deuteronomy 7:9).

We do need to want to be drawn to You.  We do need to want to repent of our waywardness.  We do need to turn our eyes toward You.  We do need to let You draw us to You but still, it is You that enables us to do all that!

This is one of those most vital truths that I do not understand.  I simply need to trust You on this one LORD God!  You did this so that we would not be proud of our own turning, our own salvation.

"For it is by grace you have been saved,
   through faith - and this is not from yourselves,
   it is the gift of God"  (Ephesians 2:8)

You, LORD God are all wise.  Thank You for Your persistent pursuing of us - of me!

"Delight thyself also in the LORD;
   and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

Commit thy way unto the LORD;
   trust also in Him;
   and He shall bring it to pass

And He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light;
   and they judgement as the noonday"  (Psalm 37:4-6).

That is simply beautiful.  Thank You, LORD God for turning me to You!

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

New Every Morning!

Reading:  Lamentations   1 -3
My Verse:  "But this I call to mind,
                         and therefore I have hope;
                    The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
                         his mercies never come to an end;
                         they are new every morning;
                         great is your faithfulness.

                     "The LORD is my portion," says my soul,
                          "therefore I will hope in Him"  (Lamentations 3:21-24)

LORD God, You have done such a wonderful thing in how You have arranged our days.

Mornings!  Mornings are always new.  Each morning we can look upon with a renewed sense of hope and anticipation in what You have for us that new day.  Even when we are in difficult or dire circumstances we can have renewed hope on a new morning.  Thank You for that!

When teaching I had a student, well several students through the years who forced me to cling to this "new every morning" theme.  They would drain me, by the end of the day with them I was so glad to see them leave.  And yet each new day I would resolve to not let the previous days problems keep me from giving my best for that child.  I would greet that student with, "Good morning.  It is a new day." It was such a challenge but I was always so thankful for the new day and new opportunity to help that child.  I knew, LORD God, that this was of You - it was Your enabling that helped me to have that hope.

Your patience, LORD God, is beyond our understanding.  Just looking around today one can't help but wonder that You allow us to go on.  Had a discussion on this with my son just the other day.  I so often wonder how it is that You allow so many evil individuals to continue to exist, to carry out their cruelty.  And yet, I am so limited in my ability to see the big picture.  I know LORD God that You have Your purposes.  There is a reason behind all that You allow.  Much of it is due to our rebellious hearts.

The verse before my chosen passage says;

"My soul continually remembers it
     and is bowed down within me."  (Lamentation 3:20)

This is speaking of what it is that You, LORD God, are punishing Jerusalem for - their dreadful sin.  You are a holy god and cannot allow us to go on in our dreadful sin.  You will punish in whatever way needed to bring us back to You.  That is always the hope - that we turn back to You!

You could very easily just wipe us out but that is not who You are.  You are a merciful God.  I love Malachi 3:6 - the promise and assurance of it.

"For I am the LORD,
     I do not change'
     that is why you, O sons of Jacob,
    are not consumed."   (Amplified Bible)

That is the amazing wonder of You.  As long as we have breath, there is hope for change, for forgiveness of our sins.

"The LORD is good to those who wait for him,
     to the soul who seeks him.

It is good that one should wait quietly
     for the salvation of the LORD"  (Lamentations 3:25-26).

This encourages me as I navigate through this life.
I am encouraged as I pray for loved ones that do not know You.
I am thankful that I can look to You, LORD God, with renewed hope on every new morning!

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

Living in Delusion!

Reading:  Jeremiah 49 - 52
My Verse:   "Every man is stupid and without knowledge;
                         every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,
                         for his images are false,
                         and there is no breath in them.

                     They are worthless, a work of delusion;
                          at the time of their punishment they shall perish" (Jeremiah 51:17-18).

What an indictment on all of mankind who choose to deny You, LORD God!  Denying You leads to stupidity, ignorance and punishment.  We become victims of our own denial - living delusional lives.

The Amplified Bible states "every man has become stupid and brutelike."    It is interesting that the first dictionary definition for "brute" is "a nonhuman creature; beast"  and then "a brutal, insensitive, or crude person."  The third and final definition is "the animal qualities, desires, etc, of humankind."    How dreadful is this!  But, it makes perfect sense!  We are created in Your own image, LORD God.  By denying You we become less like You.  To continue denying You makes us less and less like You becoming more and more like "a nonhuman creature" as we give in to our animal desires.

Our society seems to be increasingly reflecting this brutelike behavior.  It has become more and more popular to be as crude and rude as possible in all walks of life.  Swearing is more and more popular.  Profane words that were once taboo are becoming common even in the media.  Jesse Sheidlower, a linguist wrote  New York Times editorial asking the paper to "undo its awkward and century-old policy of evading profanity . . . "  He stated, "Our society's comfort level with offensive language and content has drastically shifted over the past few decades, but the stance of our news media has barely changed at all."

Most Americans recognize that our society has become more and more rude.  "Nearly 70% questioned in an Associated Press-Ipsos poll said people are ruder than they were 20 - 30 years ago. (usatoday30.usatoday.com

Denying You, LORD God causes us to slowly sink into an abysmal kind of behavior - we allow ourselves to follow the crowd, the popular mode of the day.

Yet, You tell us quite strongly how we are to live.  Your Word, the Bible leaves no question about this.

"Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth,
   but only such a word as is good for edification 
   according to the need of the moment,
   so that it will give grace to those who hear" (Ephesians 4:29).

"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain,
   for the LORD will not leave him unpunished
   who takes His name in vain"  (Exodus 20:6).

And those are just verses on speech, there is so much more on our behavior, how You, LORD God would have us to behave!

Philippians 4:8 is a verse that cannot be confused as to its meaning.  " . . . whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

I especially love Romans 12:2 which tells us not to follow the popular norms of the world.  "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

In that great book of Proverbs lies so many wonderful truths.  This particular passage (Proverbs 4) speaks to our need to keep our eyes on You, LORD God.

"But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
     which shines brighter and brighter until full day.    (how beautiful is that?!!)

The way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
     they do not know over what they stumble.

My son, be attentive to my words;
     incline your ear to my saying.

Let them not escape from your sight;
     keep them within your heart.

for they are life to those who find them.
     and healing to all their flesh.

Keep your heart with all vigilance,
     for from it flow the springs of life.

Put away from you crooked speech,
     and put devious talk far from you.

Let your eyes look directly forward,
     and your gaze be straight before you.

Ponder the path of your feet,
     then all your ways will be sure.

Do  not swerve to the right or to the left;
     turn your foot away from evil."

I do not need to live in delusion.  It is not easy but the struggle to go against the societal norms that stray so far from Your precepts, LORD God is so worth it!  And the wonder is I do not need to do it on my own - You have promised to help me if I ask.  Thank You!

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

A Very Present Help

Reading:  Jeremiah 46 - 48
My Verse:  "God is our refuge and strength,
                       a very present help in time of trouble" (Jeremiah 46:1).

This is one of my "go to" verses!  It reminds me that You, LORD God are not a far away God.  You are ever present in my time of need.

Whenever I am feeling that You are far away I need only to look up!  It is never You that goes away but me.  You remind us of this so frequently throughout scripture.

"For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous
   and His ears are attentive to their prayer . . ." (1 Peter 3:12).

"The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous.
   And His ears are open to their cry"  (Psalm 34:15).

"For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth,
   to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward Him . . . (2 Chronicles 16:9).

"Does He not see my ways and number all my steps?"  (Job 31:4).

"For My eyes are on all their ways;
   they are not hid from my face . . ." (Jeremiah 16:17).

"I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go;
   I will guide thee with mine eye"  (Psalm 32:8).

"Look at the birds of the air;
   they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns,
   and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

Are you not of more value than they?"  (Matthew 5:26).

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?
   and one of them shall not fall  to the ground apart from your Father.
   But even the  hairs of your head are all numbered.
   Fear ye not, therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows"  (Matthew 10:29-31).

I especially like these two passages from Matthew and the beautiful song that has come out of them.
"His Eye Is On the Sparrow".  I love this rendition by Laryn Hill.

Thank You, LORD God for this wonderful reminder - You know how often I need to reminded of Your very present help!

Didat Deus - God Enriches!

He Does Make Us Wait!

Reading:  Jeremiah 40 -  45
My Verse:  "At the end of ten days the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah" (Jeremiah 42:7).

This is so very interesting, LORD God, that You do not answer Jeremiah immediately.  I know that You could, because You know what we will ask even before we speak our request. (Psalm 139:4)  You know our very thoughts!  So why do you wait for "ten days" in this case?  Why do you make us wait for Your answer to our prayers?

Even Daniel was made to wait for long periods of time for a response to his prayer. (Daniel 10)
You made Abraham wait for ever so long (25 years) before he had a son as You promised. Simeon waited his entire life to a very old age to see You, his Savior before dying.  Yet, he did believe You would answer his prayer and the wonderful joy he knew when that prayer was answered!
David speaks often of having to wait and even feeling abandoned.

"O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
And by night, but I have no rest" (Psalm 22:2).

"O LORD, I call upon You;
   hasten to me!
Give ear to my voice
   when I call to you! (Psalm 141:1)

"Save me, O God,
   for the waters have come up to my neck.
I sink in the miry depths,
   where there is no foothold.
I have come into the deep waters;
   the floods engulf me.
I am worn out calling for help;
   my throat is parched.
My eyes fail,
   looking for my God" (Psalm 61:1-3).

"Do not let the floodwaters engulf me
   or the depths swallow me up
   or the pit close its mouth over me.
Answer me, O LORD, out of the goodness of your love;
   in your great mercy turn to me" (Psalm 69:15,16).

Who has not felt the kind of anguish that David speaks of here?  As I keep reading the Psalms and the prayers of others in the Bible I slowly, oh ever so slowly realize how truly wonderful You are, LORD God.  Even when I struggle in prayer - wondering where You are, I am learning that I need to turn my eyes upward away from my immediate issue.  I need to turn my eyes on You, LORD God.  That is what David does in the Psalms so wonderfully!  He battles through the anguish, the worry, the fear, the doubt until he sees You clearly.

"I waited patiently for the LORD;
   he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
   out of the mud and mire;
   he set my feet on a rock
   and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth,
   a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
   and put their trust in the LORD" (40:1-3)

It seems that it is in the struggle we learn, we learn how to turn to You, LORD God.  We are truly amazingly complex creatures - because we are after all created in Your very image.  You love us more than we can know and You will do whatever is needed to bring us to a place where You want us to be - a place full of love and peace.

"You have multiplied, O LORD my God,
   your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
   none can compare with you!
I will proclaim and tell of them
   yet they are more than can be told" (Psalm 40:5).

Thank You, LORD God for Your unsurpassing love!

Didat Deus - God Enriches!
                                    

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

My Life - A Prize of War

Reading:  Jeremiah 34 - 39
My Verse:  "For I shall surely save you,
                        and you shall not fall by the sword,
                        but you shall have your life as a prize of war,
                        because you have put your trust in me,
                           declares the LORD"  (Jeremiah 39:16-18).

I find this an intriguing phrase "you shall have your life as a prize of war."  What exactly does it mean, LORD God?  How is my life a prize and how do I live that out, especially at those times when I feel like anything but a "prize?"

In looking at the verses before this You speak of how You will bring punishment on the Israelites as You said You would. The words above are directed at Ebed-melech, the Ethiopian, who rescued Jeremiah from the cistern that he had been thrown into by the Israelite officials who did not like what Jeremiah was saying.  You tell Ebed-melech, the Ethiopian, that because of what he did, and because he trusted You, LORD God, as his savior You would save him from the destruction that would befall all those around him.

Clearly,  life is a prize because of a particular action here - because Ebed-melech believed You as LORD and Savior, "but you shall have your life as a prize of war, because you have put your trust in me."

This is a very specific incident and yet I know that all of scripture is written for my edification - teaching me how to live before You, LORD God.

"For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope" (Romans 15:4).

"All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16).

So often life can look  bleak, especially if one watches the news.  It seems so hopeless that people will change, that things can get better.  Often circumstances weigh us down and life feels like such a burden.

And yet, if I put my trust in You, LORD God You will give me my life as a prize.  A prize is a good thing, like a bonus, something of value.  And so my life is a good thing, it is special, it is valuable and worthy.  Because it is valuable and worthy then I must live it to the best of my ability.  I should also enjoy it because it is a good thing.

I like this piece by CS Lewis from The Weight of Glory.  It speaks to how we should view life; as a good thing, as something to be valued and enjoyed.

"If you asked twenty good men today what they thought the highest of the virtues, nineteen of them would reply, Unselfishness.  But if you had asked almost any of the great Christians of old, he would have replied, Love.

You see what has happened?  A negative term has been substituted for a positive, and this is of more than philological importance.  The negative idea of Unselfishness carries with it the suggestion not primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if our abstinence and not their happiness  was the important point.  I do not think this is the Christian virtue of Love.

The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself.  We are told to deny ourselves and to take up our crosses in order that we may follow Christ; and nearly every description of what we shall ultimately find if we do contains an appeal to desire.  If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith.

Indeed if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels it would seem that Our LORD finds our desires not too strong, but too weak.

We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.  

We are far too easily pleased."

Oh, LORD God, how we mess things up!  We get things so turned around and then we are confused and unsatisfied.  Help me to keep my eyes on You and Your promises.  Because I am Your child You give me my life as a prize, a gift to be enjoyed, to be lived with hope.

"But the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him,
   in those who hope in His steadfast love" (Psalm 147:11).

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

He Sees All That We Do

Reading: Jeremiah 32, 33
My Verse:  "Ah, LORD God! 
                    It is you who have made the heavens and the earth
                         by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm!
                    Nothing is too hard for You!

                   Great in counsel and mighty in deed,
                   Whose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of man,
                        rewarding each one according to his ways 
                          and according to the fruit of his deeds" (Jeremiah 32:17,19).




This is so important for us to grasp!  Nothing is too hard for You, LORD God!  And You are aware of our every moment.  You see all, know all and are everywhere!  If we would simply take that in as truth,  our lives would be full and rich and fulfilling!

Some would look at this verse as invasive, prying, judgmental.  Many see it as "Big Brother Is Watching You!" to catch us when we do wrong.   But that is not Your purpose is it LORD God?  You look over us as a loving parent.  You watch over me to keep me from doing things that would hurt me!  Because You are LOVE You want only what is the very best for me.

Being secretive is not good for us.  Lying, cheating and being manipulative are traits that wear away at one's very soul.  Many studies  show how prevalent lying is in our society.  One study  stated that because it is so prevalent - it is hard to imagine life without it.  And yet, another study  reported on by Allison Komet stated:  "But in a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Depaulo and Deborah A. Kashy, Ph.D., of Texas A&M University, report that frequent liars tend to be manipulative and Machiavellian, not to mention overly concerned with the impression they make on others."

In another study by Anita Kelly, a psychology professor at the University of Notre Dame reported on by health.usnews.com  called "How Lying Affects Your Health" gave some interesting results.  This was a 10-week study where two groups were followed.  One group was told to not tell any lies during the study period, while the other group was to go on as they normally do.  Each week all were subjected to reporting on how many lies they told, taking a lie-detector test, filling out questionnaires on their physical and mental health and the quality of their relationships.

The results were:  "Both groups lied less, but those instructed to tell the truth reaped more health improvements.  "We established very early that purposefully trying not to lie caused people to tell fewer lies," Kelly says.  "When they told more lies, their health went down.  And when they told the truth, it improved."

When we lie our body reacts - hence the lie detector test.  Lying produces stress and stress, especially long term stress causes all kinds of health problems.  One conclusion Kelly made was that lying "can be awfully draining - it takes a lot of negative physical and mental energy to maintain a lie."

You, LORD God created us in Your own image (Genesis 1:27).  Lying is not of You it is of Satan, the father of lies as You call him.  You, LORD God are very clear about what lying is and the source of it.  Lying is a most dreadful thing and not meant for us Your creatures.  When we lie we are doing the work of the father of lies.

"You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.  When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44).

The results of these studies bear out this truth from the Bible.  Being created in Your own image, LORD God, means lying is like a poison to our very being.

Thank You for this.  Help me LORD God to look to You always when I am in crises, when I am tempted to not be truthful.

"Thus says the LORD who made the earth, 
     the LORD who formed it to establish it 
     - the LORD is His name.

 Call to me and I will answer you, 
     and will tell you great and hidden things 
     that you have not known" (Jeremiah 33:2,3).

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

Hope For the Future

Reading:  Jeremiah 31
My Verse:  "There is a hope for your future,
                         declares the LORD, . . . 

                    Is Ephraim my dear son?
                    Is he my darling child?
                    For as often as I speak against him,
                    I do remember him still.

                    "Therefore my heart yearns for him;
                     I will surely have mercy on him,
                         declares the LORD" (Jeremiah 31:17, 20).

How wonderful is this!?  Thank You, LORD God, for your continual assurance of how much You love me and want an intimate relationship with me.  Your mercy is beyond my human ability to fully comprehend.  And that is okay.  I simply need to believe that You, LORD God, give me hope for a future.

I love, LORD God, that You refer to us as Your children and You as our loving father.  You do what any loving parent would do when we engage in wrong behavior - You discipline us.  You do all that is needed to cause us to realize we are wrong and need to be corrected and healed.  You may even seem to turn Your back on us for a time, but that does not mean You have forgotten us!  No, You "remember him still."  Thank You for that.

Not only do You remember us still, You yearn for us!  You yearn for us to come back to You.

"Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, "He yearns jealously over the spirit that He has made to dwell in us"?  (James 4:5).

Hosea  11 is a most beautiful depiction of this yearning by You, Oh LORD God.

"When Israel was a youth I loved him,
And out of Egypt I called My son,
. . .
Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
I took them in My arms;
but they did not know that I healed them.
I led them with cords of a man, with bonds of love,
And I became to them as one who lifted the yoke from their jaws;
And I bent down and fed them.
. . . 

How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
How can I surrender you, O Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zebolim?
My heart is turned over within Me,
All my compassions are kindled.
I will not execute my fierce anger;
I will not destroy Ephraim again.
For I am God and not man, the Holy one in your midst,
And I will not come in wrath.

They will walk after the LORD,
He will roar like a lion;
Indeed he will roar

And His sons will come trembling from the west.
they will come trembling like birds from Egypt
And like doves from the land of Assyria;
And I will settle them in their houses, declares the LORD"  -Hosea 11:1-11

There are so many things in our lives that are our "Egypts."  I came across this wonderful writer, Heather David Nelson, who has dedicated herself to serving as a Godly counselor to the many hurting in this world.  She just wrote a book entitled, Unashamed.  She addresses "shame" and all the ways that it keeps us from looking forward with hope and love.  In an article she wrote for Crossway she pointed out 10 things we should know about shame.  One of them stood out as it is one I often experience.

"Shame can feel like a vague sense of unworthiness and insecurity that isn't rooted in either past or present sin. 

   -Shame can be another term for unbelief in God's love for you in Christ.  It's one thing to believe that your sin has been removed from you; it's quite another to believe that there is a divine love that can env er be removed from you.

   Shame acts like a barrier that keeps love from getting through-either God's love or anyone else's love.  It sounds like the recurring doubt, "That may be true for others, but not true for me.""

You only, LORD God, can be our HOPE!  On that I must believe - not believing forfeits hope!   Love this song by Jenny and Tyler  - "My Dear One"

"And now, O LORD, for what do I wait?  
My hope is in you"  (Psalm 39:7).

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!




                     

The LORD God Only Can Cure Us of Our Guilt!

Reading: Jeremiah 30
My Verse:  "For thus says the LORD:
                         Your hurt is incurable,
                          and your wound is grievous.

                    There is none to uphold your cause,
                          no medicine for your wound,
                          no healing for you. . .

                     Why do you cry out over your hurt?
                          Your pain is incurable.
                           Because your guilt is great,
                           because your sins are flagrant,
                           I have done these things to you" (Jeremiah 30:12-15).

Millions of dollars are spent on various counseling therapies for those that live with guilt - guilt they cannot get rid of.  Sadly,  many end up committing suicide because of guilt.  Others simply end up alcoholics or druggies to blunt the pain they live with.  You, LORD God tell us here that this "hurt" is incurable.

It is incurable because it is You that causes our pain.  You tell us "I have hurt you with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel and merciless foe, because of the greatness of your perversity and guilt, because your sins are glaring and innumerable" (Jeremiah 30:14).  Our guilt is our punishment.

Like a loving parent You will not let us go on in our sin without chastisement.  You, LORD God know how devastating "sin" is to our very being, not to mention the hurt and pain we cause others.  And so You bring upon us great guilt and/or physical ailments or catastrophes.  You do whatever it takes to bring us around, make us realize and repent of our wrong behavior.  You do this to save us from ourselves, otherwise we destroy our own selves.

 You cry out to us over and over to let go our selfish desires and selfish ways and turn to You!  All that is required of us is to ask You for forgiveness and You will forgive us and heal us!

"If we confess our sins,
He is faithful and just
   and will forgive us our sins
   and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

That is all that is required, that is all we need to do.  Ask for forgiveness and give You all of our heart.

The One Thing Necessary

One thing alone is necessary, one alone
is needful.  And of that singular treasure I bear
witness, and toward it I now encourage you--
and all of this for love of Him to Whom
you offer yourself as a holy, pleasing sacrifice.

What you now hold, may you always and forever hold.
What you do, may you forever do, and never abandon,
but with a quickened and a quickening pace, light step,
and unswerving feet, proceed--surely, full of joy,
and with great speed.

Offer your vows to the Most High in eager pursuit
of that perfection to which the Spirit of the LORD has called you

                                 -Sain Clare of Assisi (c1193-1254)
                                from Love's Immensity - Adaptations and Translations
                                                                         by Scott Cairns

Only You, LORD God, can give us sweet respite from the "hurt" we bring on ourselves.

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

A Future and a Hope!

Reading:  Jeremiah 26 - 29
My Verse:  "You will seek me and find me,
                    when you seek me with all your heart" ( Jeremiah 29:13).

These chapters are quite amazing in what they say to us!  The Israelites are in exile in a far away land.  They are longing to return home and many false prophets tell them that it will be soon!  Only these false prophets are exposed by Jeremiah.  No, You LORD God have your specific timing.  You have Your purposes to fulfill.  We cannot hurry that up or change circumstances to advance our own selfish desires.  We can only rest and trust in You and Your love for us - Your timing and purposes for us - for our future and our hope!

"For thus says the LORD:  "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, "I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.  For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.  Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you" (Jeremiah 29:10-12).

I often have this feeling of anxiety for what lies ahead.  It is a feeling of dread that hovers over me - doggedly dragging me down, hampering my ability to look forward.  I know this is not of You, LORD God.  And I thank You for helping me to battle this - giving me tools, showing me what to do when this happens.  Mainly I need to bring my gaze back to You, allowing all that is around me to melt away.  Sometimes I am not able to get there by myself and You, LORD God bring people into my path during those times - people that dispel  the awful sense of dread.  Thank You for that - You always know when I need cheering up!

I know, too, that I am an impatient person as my son often reminds me!  But, thank You, LORD God for Your patience with me - as you slowly teach me to lean on You, to wait on You.  It is so very hard and yet I am gradually beginning to trust You in this!  For that is what it is - trusting You, LORD God.  Trusting that You love me and have a beautiful plan for me - a plan for my welfare, a future and a hope!

Waiting and trusting are not easy things to do.  It is so much easier to go with our selfish wants now - instant gratification!  But nothing is instant, even when we go with that which is not right we do so incrementally.  We turn our eyes from You, LORD God and start casting them elsewhere and the adversary is all too glad to place before us tempting distractions that draw us further and further into a slide headed toward an egocentric abyss - a place where we allow ourselves to gorge our ego's demands.

Love Emily Dickinson's poem "Crumbling Is Not an Instant's Act"

Crumbling is not an instant's Act
A fundamental pause
Dilapidation's processes
Are organized Decays.

'Tis first a Cobweb on the soul
A Cuticle of Dust
A Borer in the Axis
An Elemental Rust --

Ruin is formal -- Devil's work
Consecutive and slow --
Fail in an instant, no man did
Slipping -- is Crash's law.

But even then we can come back to You, LORD God.  For You tell us we will find you if we "seek you with all [our] heart."  For if we call on you, pray to you - You will hear us,  You are waiting to hear us, waiting for us to come back to You because You have something wonderful for us.  You are just waiting to grace us with - a future and a hope that we cannot even imagine.

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

Provoking God to Our Own Harm

Reading:  Jeremiah 24, 25
My Verse:  "You have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear,
                        although the LORD persistently sent to you 
                          all his servants, saying,

                     "Turn now, every one of you,
                           from your evil deeds . . .

                      Do not go after other gods to serve and worship,
                           or provoke me to anger with the work of your hands.

                     Then I will do you no harm.

                     Yet you have not listened to me, declares the LORD,
                           that you might provoke me to anger
                           with the work of your hands
                           to your own harm"  (Jeremiah 25:4 - 7).

How we love the blame game!  It is always so much easier to look to someone else, some event or circumstance to point at as the cause of our own mistakes, our own failures.  While there is something to that we are still responsible for our own sin.  We each of us choose to do those things that we know are not right and we always know exactly what we are doing.   Then when we are caught in our wrong we scramble to find a "reason" for why we did that.  Yet it is  our own doing - the "work of [our own] hands" that cause our downfall.  "But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire" (James 1:14 ESV).

Placing blame elsewhere is something we do so very well.  In an article I read on this the author pointed our a reason for this behavior.

"Unfortunately, blame is like anger in that  it dulls one's sense of empathy.  It allows a person to act in a hurtful way to another human being.  It isn't the act itself, but it often clears the road.  This is a small, but important point.  Ordinary  humans have inhibitions that serve as a buffer against what we know is bad behavior.  Blame is not the act itself, but it either erodes or outright removes these inhibitions, often both.  It develops a thought patten that allows the person's emotions to override his/her self-control in order to achieve an often selfish end -- including sustaining dysfunctional patterns."

The article goes into great depth on the stages and variations of this use of blame, it basically shows how this behavior leads one slowly and steadily downhill as do all things we do that are against Your teaching and precepts, LORD God.

Another thing people do to make it easier for themselves to engage in that which they know is wrong is to rationalize.  It really is quite amazing how one can rationalize pretty much anything.  Rationalizing helps us to justify our bad behavior.  It somehow makes us feel like we are owed or entitled to do this wrong thing.  An article on this pointed out that "The people who rationalize the most have the most tedious, frustrating and unfulfilling lives."  It went on to point out how people that do this often start to lose their sense of reality, and begin to actually believe themselves and are blinded to truth and the obvious consequences of what they are doing.  Rationalizing is basically simply making excuses - and one can get pretty good at it!

You point out here, LORD God, that we "provoke [you] to anger with the work of [our] own hands to [our] own harm."

We each of us must give an accounting for the choices we make.

"For we will all stand before the judgement seat of God;
     for it is written,
     "As I live, says the LORD, every knee shall bow to me,
     and every tongue shall confess to God."

So then each of us will give an account of himself to God"  (Romans 14:10-12).

Many look to you in fear, LORD God.  And that because they know in their heart of hearts that You are righteous and holy.  You cannot abide sin.  You are love and do all that You can to bring us to you but in the end we each need to make that decision ourselves.  In the end we are responsible for our own harm when we receive your final judgement and punishment.

Thank You for Your Word, for your truth and instruction written not only in the Bible but upon every part of creation!  (Romans 1:20)

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

Not A Far Away God!

Reading: Jeremiah 19 - 23
My Verse:  "Am I a God at hand,
                         declares the LORD,
                    and not a God far away?
        
                   Can a man hide himself in secret places
                      so that I cannot see him?
                         declares the LORD.

                  Do I not fill heaven and earth?
                       declares the LORD" (Jeremiah 23:23,24).

You, LORD God are omnipresent!  And this can be either very comforting or very disconcerting to me!  You are always close by me.

I like the question, "Can a man hide . . .?"  So many want to.  So many try to.  Sadly even adults do this - hiding away to do that which they know is wrong, that which needs to be hidden.  Closing and locking doors, shutting out the lights, then lying to cover up, living in pretense that all is well by lying but always with a fear they will be found out.  Yet, You LORD God cannot be locked out of a room, darkness is as nothing to You.

"Do I not fill heaven and earth?"  You are everywhere - there is no place to hide.  David says it best in Psalm 139.

"O LORD, you have searched me and known me!
   You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
   you discern my thoughts from afar.

You search out my path and my lying down
   and are acquainted with all my ways.

Even before a word is on my tongue,
   behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.

You hem me in, behind and before,
   and lay your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
   it is high; I cannot attain it.

Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?

I I ascend to heaven, your are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
   and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
   even there your hand shall lead me,
   and your right hand shall hold me.

If I say "Surely the darkness shall cover me,
   and the light about me be night,"

even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you."

Yes, LORD God, this is a most wonderful truth!  It is a truth that is beyond my ability to fully grasp.
I can only be thankful that You are a God that is never far away!  Help me today to lean in and let that truth embrace me!

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

In the Potter's Hand

Reading:  Jeremiah 18
My Verse:  "And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled
                       in the potter's hand,
                    and he reworked it into another vessel,
                    as it seemed good to the potter to do" (Jeremiah 18:4).

This passage is really quite telling.  So many think, LORD God, that You simply do as You will with us.  Too many hold the wrong idea that they have no say in how their lives play out.  And yet here You tell us this is simply not so.  The fact that You can reshape our lives is a good thing.  But more importantly this reshaping depends on us, how we respond to You.

"Oh house of Israel, can I not do with you as the potter has done? declares the LORD.
   Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, 
      so are you in my hand,
      Oh, house of Israel"  (Jeremiah 18:6).

Yes, this is a good thing.  You will actually step in when we  mess up.  You will help us to reshape our lives - heal our wounds, correct our wrong thinking and get us back on the right track.  But, it is dependent on us - how we respond to the difficulties before us and how we respond to You!

Many studies have actually been done on this concept - our response to difficulties.  Studies that show how the important thing is not that we have difficulties for we will all have them but how we respond to those problems.  One such study by George Valiant, a Harvard professor shows this.  He did this 40 year on 268 male Harvard graduates and found "the relatively broad socioeconomic differences among the subjects upon college entrance had no correlation" with how or if they succeeded in life.  The study showed that participants born to privilege fared no better than those born in poverty.  He even concluded that "family circumstances were not a major determinant of future success."  

An interesting conclusion Valiant made from his study was "sustained relationships with people, not traumatic events,  mold character."  Basically, this is saying that without love it is hard to grow, to hope, to look ahead.  And that is what You are all about LORD God!  HOPE and LOVE!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, 
     plans to prosper you and not to harm you, 
     plans to give you a hope and a future"  (Jeremiah 29:11)

"Anyone who does not love does not know God,
     because God is love"  (1 John 4:8).

Yes, You want only good for us, but we have to want that as well.  We need to open ourselves  up to You and Your guiding.  When we have done wrong we need to admit the wrong, ask You to heal and forgive us.

"If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom,
     that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it,
     and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken,
     turns from its evil,
   I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it"  (Jeremiah 18:7,8).

A most wonderful example of this is the city of Nineveh.  (Jonah 3)

"And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom 
     that I will build and plant it,
     and if it does evil in my sight,
     not listening to my voice,
     then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it"  (Jeremiah 18:9, 10).

Sadly,  there are too many examples of this, Israel being one of them in a sad, sad repetition throughout history.

Yes, it goes both ways.   You gave us free will and and a brain.  You expect us to use both.  You  created us in Your own image, with an eternal soul that has goodness, love and hope imprinted upon it so that we all long for that very goodness, love and hope.  But we must, must give up the self - the hardest thing to do!

Oh, LORD God, I want Your loving hands to softly, lovingly shape and mold me!  Help me today to not be a stubborn hard clay but a soft and pliable clay, accepting You and Your "plans to prosper"  me.  Accepting Your "plans to give [me] a future and a hope."

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

God Searches Our Hearts!

Reading:  Jeremiah 16, 17
My Verse:  "I the LORD search the heart
                       and test the mind,
                    to give every man according to his ways,
                       according to the fruit of his deeds" (Jeremiah 17:10).

It is interesting how this sense of - we all of us get what we deserve, according to how we live our lives - seems to be prevalent in all human beings, no matter the culture.  Many deny this but the concept comes out in behavior and speech, mostly in defiant behavior.  People do know when they are doing something that is against Your laws, LORD God.

Because You created us in Your own image (Genesis 1:27) we do have that sense of goodness and rightness ingrained in our hearts even if we deny You.  But the more we deny You the more reprobate we become!  Our hearts must become unrecognizable to You, LORD God.

"The heart is deceitful above all things,
     and desperately sick;
 Who can understand it?"  -Jeremiah 17:9

The ESV study bible says the "heart" is a "metaphor for the human will and emotions."  Our human will and emotions are desperately sick!  It states that "deceitful" here is to be "tortuous, uneven and crooked like a bad road."

The Amplified Bible states it this way "it is exceedingly perverse and corrupt and severely, mortally sick!"

Oh how we need healing!  We so desperately need healing.  Again the ESV study bible clarifies the second phrase of this verse "Who can understand it?"  to mean that we are incapable of curing ourselves - all the self-help books in the world will not fix us.

Only You, LORD God know the heart of each of us.  Only You, can heal and bring us into relationship with You.

"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds" (Psalm 147:3).

"You number my wanderings; 
   put my tears into Your bottle; 
   are they not in Your book?" (Psalm 56:8)

"I heard your prayer,
   I have seen your tears,
   surely I will heal you"  (Psalm 34:18).

Yes, You, LORD God can and will heal us if we but ask.  That is the one requirement - we must ask.  We must turn to You and allow You to forgive and heal us.

Thank you, LORD God for this reminder that You do "search our hearts" and "test our minds."  You want so much for us to be healed and living lives that glorify You.

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!