They Refused To Pay Attention

Reading:  Zechariah 5, 6, 7
My Verse:  "But they refused to pay attention and turned
                       a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears
                       that they might not hear.
  
                    They made their hearts diamond-hard 
                       lest they should hear the law
                       and the words that the LORD of hosts
                       had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets.

                    Therefore great anger came from the LORD of hosts"
                                                                        (Zechariah 7:11-12).

This is so very clear, LORD God.  We do make that decision to refuse to pay attention to the things that You teach us through Your Word -  the Bible. You attempt to reach us through our own experiences, through other people and through events occurring around us.  You do so many things to get our attention but if we do not like what You are saying we simply stop up our ears and turn away. We refuse to pay attention.

What a vivid image - "turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears."  It is what we see children doing all the time.  And yet this is exactly what we as adults do, too.

 Then we harden our hearts, allowing our very ability to see and understand truth to become blurred. This is sad because it is progressive - the more we harden our heart the harder it becomes until it is"diamond-hard."  We use blame and rationalization to justify ourselves when we know we are in the wrong.  We lie to ourselves until we believe our very lies and become unable to see the reality of what we are doing.  We become unable to see the consequences of our behavior.  It is an awful downward spiral - like when Pharaoh kept refusing to listen to You, LORD God.

But we do not need to let ourselves go there!  Many often say  "Well, that is just the way I am."  "That is just where I am right now."  You tell us to cry out to You, LORD God!  We cannot get there ourselves - we need you to bring us along.

"When the righteous cry for help,
     the LORD hears and delivers
     them out of all their troubles" (Psalm 35:17).

"And Jesus said to him. 'If you can!  
   All things are possible for one who believes.

 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said,
   I believe; help my unbelief!  (Mark 9:24).

"Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer;
     you shall cry, and he will say, 'Here I am.' (Isaiah 58:9).

Thank You, LORD God for drawing me to You  (John 6:44).  Thank you for enabling me to see You and Your truth.  Help me to pay attention when You need to correct me, when you need to keep me on the right path.  Help me to not turn a stubborn shoulder or stop up my ears to You!

Help Me God - Kathy Broccoli

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

Not By Might Nor By Power

Reading:  Zechariah 3, 4
My Verse:  "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel:
                          Not by might,
                          Nor by power,
                          But by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts" (Zechariah 4:6)

Zerubbabel, the then governor, and Joshua, the High Priest of Jerusalem were charged with the immense task of rebuilding the temple.  It has been 20 plus years since their return from exile in Babylonia and they have made little progress.  The obstacles appear immense both practically, politically and spiritually.  The people have become discouraged and decided it best to focus on their own personal needs as they struggle to reconstruct their lives.  They have taken their eyes off You, LORD God, and only see the "mountain" of problems they face.

Here,You, LORD God tell Zerubbabel that he is not to despair.  He is not to look to human capabilities of strength and power to get the job done.  He is to rely on You only, on Your Spiritual power.

You tell Zerubbabel that no matter how insignificant or "a little thing" each task appears  each will lead to the completing of the huge job before them.  They must persevere.

Many things happen to us that appear random and senseless to our way of thinking.  And yet, nothing is random with You is it LORD God?

Such as when You spoke to Mary through an angel. Mary was a small, seemingly insignificant Israeli girl and yet You told her that she, a virgin, was to bring forth Your son, Jesus Christ.  This was not a random thing.  You spoke of this from the very beginning in Your word. (Genesis 3:15)  And this event did come to pass!

"And Mary said, "Behold, I am the servant of the LORD;
                              let it be to me according to your word."
                             And the angel departed from her" (Luke 1:38).

You spoke the very world into existence!   What You speak will indeed come to be!
   
"For I am the LORD'
 I will speak the word that I will speak,
 and it will be performed" (Ezekiel 12:25).

"The LORD of hosts has sworn:
     'As I have planned,
       so shall it be,
     and as I have purposed,
       so shall it stand" (Isaiah 14:24).

I love how you care for us and reassure us in so many small ways.  Zerubbabel is discouraged.  He did start the reconstruction but it lags.  And so you encourage him by telling him that he will get to finish it and his finishing it will be additional proof of how You keep your word, of how what You speak does come to be!

"Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
     The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house;
     his hands shall also complete it. 
  Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you"  (Zachariah 4:9).

Thank you for this reminder that human might and human power are nothing in comparison to You and the working of Your spirit in our lives.

Oh How He Loves Us - Crowder Band

Ditat Deus - God enriches!

Angels Patrolling the Earth!

Reading:  Zachariah 1,2
My Verse:  "Then I said, 'What are these my lord?'
                     The angel who talked with me said to me,
                          I will show you what they are.

                          So the man who was standing among the myrtle trees 
                              answered,
                             'These are they whom the LORD has sent 
                                 to patrol the earth.'

                          And they answered the angel of the LORD who was standing
                             among the myrtle trees, and said,
                             'We have patrolled the earth, 
                              and behold, all the earth remains at rest.'" 
                                                             (Zachariah 1:9-11)


                     
Wow, how fascinating is this!

I sometimes find myself questioning why I need to pray.  Sometimes I want to just say or think "What does it matter, when God already has all things in hand?"  And yet here is a passage like this speaking of how You, LORD God, use angels to actually patrol the earth.  The physicality of this is fascinating to me!  These angels are riding regular horses and they are traveling about the earth "engaged in secret observation of the world to provide up-to-date and accurate intelligence" for You, LORD God.

The angels in this passage all have different roles to play, different jobs.  There is the angel on the red horse who was speaking to Zachariah, explaining things.  There are the three angels on the "red, sorrel, and white horses" who did the actual patrolling and reporting.  Then there is the "angel of the LORD" who seemed the be the one to intercede for the people.

And then there is the angel with a measuring line in his hand measuring Jerusalem "to see what is its width and what is its length."

LORD God, You do have Your purposes.  You do have an ultimate plan.  But You have chosen to use your angels and your believers to bring that plan about.  You want us to be a part of your grand scheme for this world You created!

There is this quote which I do not remember the source of, but it says and I am paraphrasing . .

"We all will take part in God's master plan, but we decide whether our part is that of a Judas the traitor or that of a John the Baptist."

LORD God, thank You for Your word the Bible.  Thank You for all the wisdom, truth and peeks into all this wide realm that YOU have created!

Thank you for reminding me that I do play a part, an important part.  And more importantly, thank You for reminding me that You are the LORD God, creator of all and yes, You do have a master plan.  You have so very many things in play.  It is truly comforting to know, nothing is random.

"Sing and rejoice, O Daughter of Zion; for behold, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of you, says the LORD" (Zechariah 2:10).

We simply need to rest in Your truth!

"Be still, all flesh, before the LORD, for He is aroused and risen from His holy habitation." (Zachariah 2:13).

Love this quote by Corrie Ten Boom.

“There are no 'if's' in God's world. And no places that are safer than other places. The center of His will is our only safety - let us pray that we may always know it!” 
― Corrie ten Boom

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

Consider Your Ways

Reading:  Haggai
My Verse:  "Now, therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts:
                    Consider your ways.  
                    You have sown much but harvested little.
                    You eat, but you never have enough;
                       you drink, but you never have your fill.
                    You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm.
                    And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes" (Haggai 1:5,6).

In this book You, LORD God, point out how the people are busy about their own personal enrichment while totally neglecting You.  They have let Your house of worship lie in ruins.

"Consider your ways."  The ESV clarifies this phrase as - ponder your actions and the resulting experiences.

My dictionary defines "consider" in this way:  to think carefully about, especially in order to make a decision; contemplate; reflect on.

Oh, LORD God, You constantly remind us to live intentionally, to live for the purpose you created us for - to live a rich and fulfilling life.  But we squander the gift You give us.

Why was it that the people here sowed but "harvested little?"  Because they were striving for their own enrichment.  They were striving for #1 - themselves!

Why did they eat and drink but "never have enough?"  Literally, we are doing this, today!  It is said the overweight population has grown tremendously.  The National Institute of Kidney and Diabetes Association states that over 70 percent of American adults are either overweight or obese.  More that a third are extremely obese.  And it is growing with children.  How sad is this?  Do we eat to fill that void in our souls?

Why do we clothe ourselves, "but no one is warm?"

Why does one who earns wages, put those wages into a "bag with holes?"  There are many myths that speak to this.  The Greek myth "The Daughters of Danaids" is about these daughters who were forced to marry and killed their husbands, all but one did this.  Those daughters were condemned to fill a tub with jars that had holes in them.  Then there is the "Myth of Sisyphus" where a god is condemned to roll a rock up a mountain but the rock keeps rolling back down and is compelled to redo the same thing over and over.  He was condemned to this because he defied the gods by chaining up death so humans wouldn't die.

It really is so very fascinating how we as humans know in our heart of hearts how to get out of these repetitive behaviorial cycles that only spiral downwards; but we choose to continue in this awful state because we don't want to "give in."  We don't want to admit we need You, LORD God!

Thank You for this.  Thank You for reminding me of how we need to "consider our ways."  Help me, LORD God, to be constant in prayer for loved ones who continue in this kind of cycle.  Thank You for the Hope you are!

Crowder's - All My Hope

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!