Reading: Daniel 7 -11
My Verse: "And my eye will not spare you,
nor will I have pity,
but I will punish you for your ways,
while your abominations are in your midst.
Then you will know that I am the LORD" (Ezekiel 7:4).
These chapters speak of inevitable judgement for those who refuse to acknowledge their sin and turn to You, LORD God. So much of the Bible speaks of your great love and mercy and yet, for the many who refuse to accept the fact of Jesus's sacrifice, they will have to answer and pay for their own sins. This punishment will come.
Easter, that most wonderful of holidays has just passed. I was rather amazed at the people that proclaimed "He is risen!" in the media. What do they mean when they say that? It is nice to see anytime someone proclaims Jesus as the living God, I just wonder at it.
I ran across this most wonderful verse that never really stood out to me before.
"May the LORD direct your hearts
to the love of God
and the steadfastness of Christ" (2 Thessalonians 3:5).
I found it while reading John Piper. He pointed out how we so need this. For we cannot live the very difficult life of a follower of Christ on our own. We need divine intervention throughout our days, especially when the going gets tough - as it so often does!
We need out hearts to be directed by You, LORD God!
We need You to direct our hearts to Your massive, all embracing LOVE!
We need You to direct our hearts to that steadfastness of Jesus Christ, our LORD and Savior!
In order for You to direct my heart I need to be in Your Word - often! When things get difficult I need to be in Your word even more often! I love to take time each day to meditate on the Psalms. They are a balm to my entire being.
Your Word was written to encourage me, to give me hope.
"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).
And I need to pray. You tell us to cry out to you when we are in need.
Like the blind beggar, Bartimaeus, cried out to Jesus for physical healing.
"He called out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" (Luke 18:38).
Like King David cried out to You, LORD God, for mercy and healing of his spirit.
"Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am pining away;
Heal me, O LORD for my bones are dismayed" (Psalm 6:2).
"Have mercy upon me O God,
according to thy lovingkindness;
according to the multitude of thy tender mercies
blot out my transgressions" (Psalm 51:1).
Sin requires a payment. Either we pay for our own sins or accept that most incredible gift of the payment Jesus made for us by the shedding of his own blood.
The choice is ours. Judgement day is coming and we will be required to make an accounting of ourselves.
Oh, LORD God, thank you for this reminder. As always you do not leave us with only doom and damnation to look forward to. Always there is the hope of redemption. You tell us in chapter 11, verse 19.
"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 many walk in my statutes and
keep my rules
and obey them."
Just like You did for King Nebuchanezzar! And for all those willing to let go of pride and humbly accept Your wondrous gift of salvation. We do not need to dread judgement day.
You, LORD God, will give us a new heart!
Ditat Deus - God Enriches!
My Verse: "And my eye will not spare you,
nor will I have pity,
but I will punish you for your ways,
while your abominations are in your midst.
Then you will know that I am the LORD" (Ezekiel 7:4).
These chapters speak of inevitable judgement for those who refuse to acknowledge their sin and turn to You, LORD God. So much of the Bible speaks of your great love and mercy and yet, for the many who refuse to accept the fact of Jesus's sacrifice, they will have to answer and pay for their own sins. This punishment will come.
Easter, that most wonderful of holidays has just passed. I was rather amazed at the people that proclaimed "He is risen!" in the media. What do they mean when they say that? It is nice to see anytime someone proclaims Jesus as the living God, I just wonder at it.
I ran across this most wonderful verse that never really stood out to me before.
"May the LORD direct your hearts
to the love of God
and the steadfastness of Christ" (2 Thessalonians 3:5).
I found it while reading John Piper. He pointed out how we so need this. For we cannot live the very difficult life of a follower of Christ on our own. We need divine intervention throughout our days, especially when the going gets tough - as it so often does!
We need out hearts to be directed by You, LORD God!
We need You to direct our hearts to Your massive, all embracing LOVE!
We need You to direct our hearts to that steadfastness of Jesus Christ, our LORD and Savior!
In order for You to direct my heart I need to be in Your Word - often! When things get difficult I need to be in Your word even more often! I love to take time each day to meditate on the Psalms. They are a balm to my entire being.
Your Word was written to encourage me, to give me hope.
"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).
And I need to pray. You tell us to cry out to you when we are in need.
Like the blind beggar, Bartimaeus, cried out to Jesus for physical healing.
"He called out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" (Luke 18:38).
Like King David cried out to You, LORD God, for mercy and healing of his spirit.
"Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am pining away;
Heal me, O LORD for my bones are dismayed" (Psalm 6:2).
"Have mercy upon me O God,
according to thy lovingkindness;
according to the multitude of thy tender mercies
blot out my transgressions" (Psalm 51:1).
Sin requires a payment. Either we pay for our own sins or accept that most incredible gift of the payment Jesus made for us by the shedding of his own blood.
The choice is ours. Judgement day is coming and we will be required to make an accounting of ourselves.
Oh, LORD God, thank you for this reminder. As always you do not leave us with only doom and damnation to look forward to. Always there is the hope of redemption. You tell us in chapter 11, verse 19.
"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 many walk in my statutes and
keep my rules
and obey them."
Just like You did for King Nebuchanezzar! And for all those willing to let go of pride and humbly accept Your wondrous gift of salvation. We do not need to dread judgement day.
You, LORD God, will give us a new heart!
Ditat Deus - God Enriches!
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