Woe To Those Who Scheme!

Reading:  Micah 1, 2
My Verse:  "Woe to those who devise wickedness
                        and work evil on their beds!
                    When the morning dawns, they perform it,
                       because it is in the power of their hand" (Micah 2:1).

This is a amazing indictment on those who "plan" their sins.  They think about a thing, decide they want to do that and then do it because they have the wherewithal to carry out their scheme.  This brings to mind Psalm 1 where the progression of sinful acts is alluded to in verse 1.  "Blessed is the man who walks not . ..nor stands . . . nor sits . . ." in the way of sinners.

Planning can be a good thing, but here Micah is speaking to that which is not good or right.

Here Micah is speaking to the powerful and wealthy who abuse their wealth and power to become even more wealthy and powerful.  Those who have acquired much wealth and power have much to answer for as to how they use what You, LORD God have allowed them to have.

This speaks to all of us.  We are all capable of doing many things.  We are all selfish and often scheme up plans to acquire things we have no business desiring and that is why we scheme and plan on our beds at night.  Some get very good at this.  And the more often we find that we are able to "perform" our selfish plans, the more we want to attempt, carrying us further and further into our selfish hedonism. We are carried further and further away from the reality of Who You LORD God are.  We are carried further and further away from the goodness and rightness that You, LORD God are.

A story came out on a senator who now works in the White House Administration.  As a senator he spoke out against corruption, against those abusing their status to overspend on themselves.  But now as a White House Administrator he is doing the very thing he was against.  As he grew in power he apparently has lost sight of that which is good and right.

"We all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).   None of us are immune to sin.  It is easy to become entangled in sinful acts.  This speaks to how very important it is to keep our eyes on You, LORD God, to stay in the light of Your goodness and rightness!

Our sinful desires -if we dwell on them overlong will blot out the cleansing light of You LORD God. They become a fog over us, blurring our vision and our conscience.

"Lead me in your truth and teach me,
   for you are the God of my salvation;
   for you I wait all the day long"  (Psalm 25:5).

"Send out your light and your truth;
   let them lead me;
   let them bring me to your holy hill 
   and to your dwelling! (Psalm 43:3)

"Teach me your way, O LORD,
   that I may walk in your truth;
   unite my heart to fear your name (Psalm 86:11).

Scheming and planning out  selfish desires takes my eyes off You, LORD God.
This activity brings a fog over my understanding and conscience.  It will drag me down into an abyss of darkness out of which it becomes harder and harder to get out of.

Oh, LORD God, help me to keep my eyes on You and Your truth.  It is cleansing, purifying, uplifting.

Marvelous Light by Ellie Holcomb

You alone can bring about  that which is truly best for me.

Didat Deus - God Enriches!

God Is Patient

Reading:  Jonah 4
My Verse:  "Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me,
                          for it is better for me to die than to live" (Jonah 4:3).

This little chapter is so very telling!  It speaks to me of how often we despair and decide we no longer want to live!  We think it would be better to just die.  Sometimes we do this lightly and other times we are truly serious.  But You, LORD God are ever so loving and patient with us.  You show this when Jonah complains because the Ninevites repented and turned to You.

"But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.
   And he prayed to the LORD and said,
   O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country?
   That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish;
   for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful,
   slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love,
   and relenting from disaster" (4:1,2).

 I am amazed here at how You deal with Jonah, LORD God.  First You try comfort by providing him some shade.  That does not change his attitude so you bring him physical misery.  This does not work with him either.  You are like a loving parent, trying to bring Jonah around.  And this is what You do with me, with all of us.  Always You want us to come to You, that is Your end goal.

Even though Jonah was so very reluctant, You used him to bring the sailors to You and then the whole city of the Nineties!  This speaks to me of how You will use us for Your purposes regardless if we participate fully or not.  Jonah could have made this a most wonderful experience for himself. But he did not and yet You used what he meant for bad and turned it into good because You wanted the sailors and the Ninevites to be saved from their lost, unhappy lives.

That is a reassuring thought - that You, LORD God, want always that which is best for me.  I do not understand everything as You do.  I am so very limited and yet I want to control things, often fighting against You in the process!  Help me, LORD God, to lean into You when I do not understand the whys of various events; when I feel at a loss as to how to handle a situation; when I want so very much for something to go a certain way and it doesn't!  I need to hang onto Proverbs 3:5-6.

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
     and do not lean on our own understanding.
 In all your ways acknowledge him,
     and he will make straight your paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6).

 I do not want to be like Jonah and wallow in self pity because things did not go as I thought they should.  Thank You for being so loving and patient with us!

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

God Relents When People Repent!

Reading:  Jonah 3,4
My Verse:   "And the people of Nineveh believed God" (Jonah 3:5).

What an amazing thing!  The people of Nineveh seemed to be waiting for someone to tell them they needed to repent of their ways, that they needed to do a one-eighty in their behavior, that they needed You, LORD God!

Reluctantly, Jonah does as You request of him, go to Nineveh.  I can't imagine that he spoke to the people with compassion or tenderness.  It seems he focused on what You, LORD God were going to do to them - destroy their city if they did not repent.  Apparently this is all the people needed to hear.

One has to wonder how You, LORD God prepared the Ninevites for this message.  Were they growing weary of their sinful lives?  Were they beginning to wonder if there was not more to life than simply fulfilling all their selfish desires?  Was life becoming pointless to them?

I like how it was not just a few that responded to Your Word, LORD God.  They all did - "from the greatest of them to the least of them."

Then the king himself responded.  "he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes."  This is so wonderful.  But I think it even more wonderful that he did not just think of himself but of his entire city and all the people in it.  He called out to everyone to repent of their sin.

"And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, "By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything.  Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God.  

Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands."  (Jonah 3:7-8)

The Nineties as well as the sailors were not steeped in Biblical truths.  But they are Your creatures, LORD God, as are we all!  You are stamped upon our hearts.  Each and everyone knows in their heart of hearts that there is more to life than what we see with our eyes, hear with our ears and touch with our hands!

You are as Jonah woefully cried, "a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting form disaster" (Jonah 4:2).  You want all peoples to come to You!

If we repent of our sin You will hear us and forgive and heal us.

How Can It Be by Daigle



Ditat Deus - God Enriches!