And the LORD said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”

Jonah 4 

And the LORD said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?” Jonah 4:10-11

I continue my study in Jonah to supplement my church's current sermon series in this book.  In the text today, Jonah is angry about the grace God gives Nineveh and God scolds him. Here are my observations using the Sword Bible Study Method.  

• What do we learn from the text about God?: V2: Jonah describes God is "a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster."  God is sovereign over all creation as He appointed a plant to provide Jonah shade - v6; He appointed a worm to attack the plant - v7; and He appointed a scorching east wind - v8.  In v10-11, God scolds Jonah for using His grace, mercy, patience and love according to His plan.  God's designs and plans are perfect and for good - Romans 8:28
• What do we learn from the text about people?: While Jonah accurately describes God in v2, at the same time, he is angry with God about how his grace, mercy, patience, and love are used to relent from punishing Nineveh.  It is not for us to judge how others deserve or not deserve grace, mercy, love, patience, etc. God alone decides how He want to display these attributes - He alone is judge.  We certainly don't deserve mercy or grace - no one does because all sin and are deserving of death (Ecclesiastes 7:20, Romans 3:23, 1 John 1:8, Romans 6:23).  We must understand that God is always at work, that His work is perfect and good, and that He seeks to save as many as He can. When God give us a mission our job is to do the mission, not to question it. 
• Is there anything from the text God wants us to obey (SPEC: Sins to avoid, Promises to claim, Examples to follow, Commands to obey?): Avoid questioning God's commands or the mission He gives us.  Claim the promise that God is gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love in ALL things!  Follow the example of those who do according to His Word - and not question Him.  Love God and love others - do as He says and see that obedience is not burdensome as we seek to please Him.   

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My Prayer: Father God, You are an awesome God who alone is sovereign and judge over all creation and all matters.  You hold my life in Your hand and You are so full of grace and mercy, withholding the punishment I deserve but giving the salvation I don't deserve.  Thank You for my salvation and for the blessings You pour out every day for me.  I am not deserving of how You love and save.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others. Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands,forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

Exodus 32-34

The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands,forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” Exodus 34:6-7

I have completed my study of Numbers, but before I move on to my next study (TBD), I pause for today to review text covered today in church - Exodus 32-34 - including for our small group time.  Here are my observations using the Sword Bible Study Method.  

• What do we learn from the text about God?: God is a jealous God as He is jealous for Himself when the people of Israel do not follow His commandments, particularly those commandments to love Him and not to put other gods before Him. God burns with anger (32:7-10) when Israel creates a golden calf (32:1-6) as they await Moses to come down from the top of Mount Sinai.  In Exodus 33, God shares (33:3) that He will not be with the people as they continue in their journey to the Promised Land and the people mourn.  God is "merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness (34:6), and He renews the covenant He made with Israel (34:10-27) - an act of incredible grace and mercy as Israel does not get what they deserve and they do get what they don't deserve. 
• What do we learn from the text about people?: Moses intercedes (32:11-13, 32:31-32) on behalf of the people - and God relents (v14). In 32:15-35, Moses punishes the people and God follows with a plague. After God shares that He will not be with the people as they continue in their journey to the Promised Land, Moses once again intercedes on behalf of Israel - 33:12. Moses also asks the Lord to show Himself and His glory, and to see Him face to face but God will not allow Moses to see His face - 33:23.  Moses goes back up to the top of Mount Sinai in Exodus 34, recreates the tablets with the Ten Commandments and intercedes once more on behalf of the people - 34:9. After Moses came down from Mount Sinai it was clear that He spoke with God because his face was radiant and shone from His glory (34:29-35). 
• Is there anything from the text God wants us to obey (SPEC: Sins to avoid, Promises to claim, Examples to follow, Commands to obey?): Avoid taking matters into Your own hands when you believe that God is not hearing you or not responding - He is always at work.  Claim the promise that God is faithful, but that if you seek Him with all of your heart, you will find Him (Jeremiah 29:13).  Follow the example of Moses who served God faithfully and drew near to Him. Trust God that He is faithful (2 Corinthians 1:20).

Comment and discuss this post

My Prayer: Father God, You are an awesome God who loves and saves!  You are slow to anger, abounding in love, and rich in mercies - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You save and bless.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, ‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’

Numbers 14:13-19

And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, ‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ Numbers 14:17-18

I continue my study of Numbers, and in the text today - Numbers 14:13-19 - Moses intercedes on behalf of the people who continue to grumble, complain and fear that they will not be overtake those who inhabit the promised land.  Here are my observations using the Sword Bible Study Method.

• What do we learn from the text about God?: The Lord listens to Moses intercede on behalf of the people - He responds to prayer - reinforcing how prayer is a critical part of relationship with God. Moses' prayer also tells us that God "is slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression" (v18). We see again that although God forgives, this by no means that there are no consequences.  
• What do we learn from the text about people?: Moses prays to God and the most important prayer here is that he cares about God's name - Moses seeks for God's name to be great.  This is consistent with how Jesus seeks for all believers to pray - see Matthew 6:5-15 Jesus seeks for the Father's Name to be hallowed.  This is why we exist - to bring glory to Him in all that we do (1 Corinthians 10:31). 
• Is there anything from the text God wants us to obey (SPEC: Sins to avoid, Promises to claim, Examples to follow, Commands to obey?): Avoid grumbling and complaining but instead be thankful for what God has done and go to Him with your cares and concerns.  Claim the promise that He will not only hear your cries but He will respond and help you carry the burden of your cares (1 Peter 5:7).  Follow the example of Moses who sought God's glory. In all that we do, bring glory to God.   

Comment and discuss this post

My Prayer: Father God, You are an awesome God who is slow to anger and abounding in love, forgiving sin, saving, and giving life now to the full and for eternity.  Thank You Jesus!  Incredible - the greatest gift of all time.  I am not deserving of my salvation, nor the blessings You pour out daily for me.  Please forgive me and help me turn from and overcome such sin and turn towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their and savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

[H]e looked around at them with anger[.]

Mark 3:5 

[H]e looked around at them with anger[.] Mark 3:5a

I continue my study of The Character of Jesus.  For this morning, I focus on chapter 23: The Indignation of Jesus where I highlighted in my Kindle version the following excerpts:

• "It has not escaped us that when men and women are angry they usually make fools of themselves. This fact has made a deep impression on us. Most of the indignation which we have known has been so childish or so brutish, so full of fury and of bitterness, that we find it hard to give it place in the experience of a strong and holy man."
• "It was thus that the Stoics taught, contending that ever to be moved by anger is a sign of weakness and unworthy of a full-grown man. The philosophy of the Stoics is not consciously accepted by us, but the considerations which led them to their estimate of anger are still operative in us all."
• "It is not easy to free one's self from the feeling that anger has something sinful in it, or that if anger is not actually sinful, it is at any rate unlovely, a defect or flaw in conduct, a deformity in character from which the lovers of the beautiful and good may wisely pray to be delivered. It is because of this assumption that anger is in its essence sinful that many persons find it impossible to think of Jesus in an angry mood."
•  ..."[I]t was inhumanity and insincerity which always kindled [Jesus'] heart to furnace heat. When he saw men — ordained religious leaders of the people — more interested in their petty regulations than in the welfare of their fellow-men, his eyes burned with holy fire. Those who were present never forgot the flash of his eye 'as he slowly looked round upon the pedants whose hardness of heart he held in abhorrence."
• "He was angered by the desecration of the Temple. The sordid wretches who cared nothing for anthems and prayers and everything for money, kindled a fire in him which well-nigh consumed him. The miscreants who fled before him had never seen such a flame as darted from his eyes. That a building erected for the purpose of adorning the name of God should be converted into a market was so abhorrent to his great soul that he was swept onward into action which astounded his disciples and which has been to many a scandal ever since."
• "One of the purposes of the New Testament is to give us a new revelation of anger. Take away Jesus' capacity for indignation and you destroy the Jesus of the Gospels. His anger was one of the powers by which he did his work. His blazing wrath is one of the most glorious features of his character."
• "Had he been less emotional, he would not have stirred men as he did. Had his passion been less intense, the world would never have called him " Master." Here, then, we have in Jesus what seems to some a contradiction. He is a Lamb and at the same time he is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. He caresses like a mother and he also strikes like a thunderbolt. He is tender but he is also terrible; he is loving but he also smites with a blow which crushes."
• "How can we reconcile the indignation of Jesus with his love? Nothing is easier. His indignation is the creation of his love. His wrath proceeds from his holiness. His mercy would have no meaning were it not for his immeasurable capacity for anger. Take away his indignation and you destroy the basis of his holiness, his righteousness, his mercy, and his love. Love and indignation are not antagonists or rivals. They ever go together, each one unable to live without the other."
• "In Jesus, then, we see what a normal man is and feels. He is full-orbed, complete. He gives sweep to every passion of the soul. He will not admit that in the garden of the heart there are any plants which the Heavenly Father has planted which ought to be rooted up. All the impulses, desires, and passions with which the Almighty has endowed us have a mission to perform, and life's task is not to strangle them but to train them for their work."
• "Jesus was angry but he did not sin. Anger because of its heat readily passes beyond its appointed limits. Like all kinds of fire, it is dangerous and difficult to control. But Jesus controlled it."
• "Our anger is frequently a manifestation of our selfishness. We become indignant over trifles. The street-car does not stop, or somebody carelessly knocks off our hat, or a servant disappoints us, and we are all aflame. Our comfort has been molested, our rights have been entrenched upon, our dignity has been affronted, and we are downright mad."
• "Our indignation then is quite different from that of Jesus. His anger never had its roots in selfishness. When men abused him, he was unruffled. When they lied about him, his pulse beat was not quickened. When they nailed his hands to the cross, no trace of anger darkened his face. His calm lips kept on praying, "Forgive them, for they know not what they do." It was when he saw his brother men abused that his great soul rose in wrath. The more helpless the person who was mistreated, the hotter was the fire of his indignation."
• "It was when he saw cruelty perpetrated on the defenseless that his indignation rose to the fury of a tempest. The thought of bad men leading innocent souls to sin, converted him into a furnace of fire." 
• "If hearts do not burn with holy fire against wicked men and their wicked deeds, it is because the heart is too undeveloped to feel what manly hearts were meant to feel, or because the core of the heart has been eaten out by the base practices of a godless life. It is one of the lamentable signs of our times — our incapacity for anger. Many of us are lukewarm in the presence of evils which are colossal. Some of us are indifferent. Indifference to wrong-doing is always a sign of moral deterioration."
• "Society would be cleansed of much of its pollution if we had more men and women capable of becoming genuinely angry. Let us pray then every day that a new indignation may sweep through the world."
• "The New Testament is a glorious book. Its lines are straight, its discrimination is fine, it rings true. It is absolutely free from sentimentalism. It has no sickly fondness for bad people. It does not deal in excuses and in extenuations. It has no abnormal tenderness. The world is full of sentimentalists, — men and women who gush of love, and who do not know what love is.  After listening to their flimsy talk it is refreshing to get into a book where every bad deed is held up to scorn and every bad man, if unrepentant, is overwhelmed with shame. Nowhere in the Gospels is there a soft or flabby thought, a doughy or mushy feeling. All is high and straight and fine and firm and true."
• "One feels sure that God is in His heaven, and that though wickedness may flourish for a season, God's heart bums with quenchless fire against it, and that at the end of the days every impure man, and every cruel man, and every man who loves and makes a lie, will find himself outside the city whose streets are gold and whose gates are pearl." 

Many who don't (and perhaps some who do) believe in God cannot fathom why anyone would worship a God who wiped out all of humanity except Noah and his family (see Genesis 6-9) or who condemns people to eternal damnation.  Such actions are indeed harsh.  But we must remember that all of humanity is God's creation and humanity exists for His glory and not for its own glory.  As such God's anger is righteous - not a selfish anger.  When people reject God, intentionally mock or blaspheme His name, or willfully continue in sin without repentance, God had cause for anger.  But God is just, as all will be held accountable for all of their deeds and those whose name is written in the Book of Life (believers) will be saved - while everyone else who has not repented of their sin and accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior will suffer eternal damnation.  At the same time, God is also merciful and patient as He seeks for all to repent and be saved.  For example, the thief next to Jesus upon the cross who is saved.  For us, in this life, We must remember that just because God has righteous anger, that we as believers do not have free license to be angry.  God calls us to be slow to anger and quick to listen - see James 1:19.  Our ability is be slow to anger is driven by the sanctification process as we become more like Him - see scripture for how God is slow to anger. 

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Father God, You an awesome God who is just, patient and merciful - full of love to see all people saved. You are slow to anger, abounding in love - and it is this love with animates anger towards those who are not loving like You are.  Thank You for the love, patience, and mercy You show for me - I am not deserving.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day. 

The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness[.]

Exodus 34:6

The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness[.] Exodus 34:6

I continue my study of The Character of Jesus.  For this morning, I focus on chapter 10: The Breadth of Jesus where I highlighted in my Kindle version the following excerpts:

• While the last chapter discussed The Narrowness of Jesus, "there was a purpose in this narrowness, and a reason for it. His narrowness was a product of his breadth. He walked the narrow path because he carried in his heart the dream of an empire which was vast."
• "By persistently treading a single path, he made that path so luminous that every eye can see it; by dis- carding false ideas and by opposing wicked men, he has made it easier for truth seekers and the soldiers of God in each succeeding generation to fight a good fight and to win the crown. By being faithful in a few things, he won the place of Lordship over many cities; and by limiting himself, and by making himself of no reputation, he founded a kingdom broad as humanity and of which there shall be no end. If you study the New Testament, you will see that this man from the beginning carried the world in his eye and the race on his heart. What strange paradoxes one finds in the realm of the soul. If you would be broad, then be narrow. Jesus was narrow because his breadth was immeasurable."
• "The amplitude of Jesus' ideas is evidenced by their perennial freshness and applicability to all kinds of men and conditions. How wonderful it is that Jesus' ideas are broad enough to cover all the nations and all the centuries. Many ideas shrivel and dry up with the lapse of time...the ideas of Jesus have such breadth that they can cover the world and the ages, and although nineteen centuries have swept away almost everything which was believed and taught in Jesus' day, his ideas are still alive and the very words in which they are expressed seem destined to outlive the stars."
• "And his heart was as far-reaching as his brain. The social sympathies of Jesus were to his country- men a surprise and a scandal. He felt with everybody. He seemed to be ignorant of the proprieties and the etiquette of well-bred people. His heart went out to all sorts and conditions of men in a way which was reckless and shocking."
• "The land was crossed in all directions by dividing walls and estranging barriers, constructed by narrow-hearted teachers, and after Jesus had walked through the land, lo, the barriers and walls were a mass of ruins. His great, loving heart burst asunder all the regulations and restrictions. There was room in his soul for everybody. It is in the width of his love that men have found most to wonder at. His love was unbounded."
• "He was not willing that his followers should set boundaries to their love, because all such barriers were contrary to his habit and foreign to his spirit. When Peter asked him how often a man ought to forgive another who has trespassed against him, and suggested seven as a number almost grotesquely large, being more than twice the number suggested by the most liberal of the rabbis, Jesus said: 'Do not set any limits at all. There are no boundaries in the realm of love. You cannot calculate in the empire of the heart. Mathematics is foreign to affection.'"
• "It is this abounding love which accounts for the immeasurable reaches of his hope. He was the most hopeful of all teachers. No matter how dull the pupil, he still believed that he would learn. Men had grown cynical and pessimistic in Palestine nineteen centuries ago. They had lost confidence in humanity, and had settled down in the conviction that for many mortals we can expect nothing but perdition. To the religious teachers of Palestine certain classes were beyond redemption. They were lost and were labeled "Lost." It was known throughout the city that to certain sinners no exhortation could be directed, no promise could be offered. The Jewish church turned its back upon all such, and confined itself to men who could be saved. But Jesus, because he loved, also hoped. His hope was as immeasurable as his love. He did not reject the refuse of society."
• "You cannot tell what is in a man by what he says or even by what he does. There is more in him than comes out in his words and his deeds. And so Jesus proceeded to show that the so-called lost men were not lost, and that even in blasted Samaria the fields were white to the harvest. He did not hesitate to direct his most earnest exhortations to men who were supposed to have no heart, and even when the world's cruelty was cutting into him like steel, he said, "I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me." So boundless was his confidence in man, that he set no limits to his expectations. He could not accomplish the redemption of the world in the few years of his earthly career, but he would form a society, baptize it with his spirit, and through this society God from His throne in heaven would redeem the race. The formation of this Christian society is one of the great events of the New Testament. The character of the men built into it has a wealth of suggestion."
• "Mark the method of Jesus. He chooses men of all grades and from all classes. No man in the group is like any of his comrades, and no one of them is like Jesus."
• "In doing a wide work you must have a broad instrument, and the Christian church as it left the hands of Jesus embraced in its membership the types of men which would be able to open all the doors. Never does the breadth of the mind of Jesus come out with more startling clearness than in the manner of his choices in the formation of the society which was to bear his name and carry on his work. It was a great work, the vastest which has ever entered into the heart of man."
• "In Jesus of Nazareth we get a revelation of the breadth of the heart of the Eternal. How did it happen that Jesus was so spacious in his ideas and so broad in his sympathies and so far-reaching in his plannings? It was because God was in him revealing Himself to men. That is what God always is — broad in His sympathies, wonderful in His expectations, boundless in His love."
• "No matter who you are, you have a sure place in the mind and heart of God. No matter how you have sinned, you are inside the boundaries of His sympathy. No matter what you have said or felt or thought or done, you are still the object of His love. No matter how often you have disappointed Him, He is still expecting of you better things. Whoever you are, and wherever you are, and whatever you are, you are included in His plans. When He laid down the lines of His vast scheme for humanity, you were not overlooked or forgotten. When He framed His church, a place inside of it was assigned to you. That place will remain vacant until you fill it. You cannot escape Him. His arms are all-embracing. The width of His heart is infinite." 
  

Herein lies one of the great paradoxes of Jesus - that He is both narrow and broad.  His narrowness of purpose was so singular and focused - to "seek and save the lost" - while at the same time carried out by a Savior with limitless power, resulted in broad and timeless implications for all of humanity throughout all of redemptive history, including past, present, and future. He cannot be fully comprehended nor contained by any human faculty, nor by creation itself as He is the Creator.  While AI may be all of the current rage, it does not and cannot compare to God as AI is sourced from God - see this message from DesiringGod.com.  See also Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3:14-18 where Paul prays for the Holy Spirit to help believers to understand the "fullness" of God. Believe and experience God as His love knows no bounds!

Comment and discuss this post. 

My Prayer: Father God, Your love knows no bounds and You give me power through the Holy Spirit to grasp - as much as I can on this side of Heaven - to experience Your love and fullness.  Thank You for saving me and for these blessings - which of course are not the only blessings You pour out for me!  I am not deserving.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day. 

Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts.

 Zechariah 1:1-6

Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. Zechariah 1:3

I resume my study of the last four books of the OT (complete: Zephaniah, Haggai; to complete: Zechariah, Malachi) - using the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary volume for this book.  For this morning, my focus is a commentary-assisted review of Zechariah 1:1-3, which the commentary outlines as the first of three divisions for the text vv1-6 (1:1-3, 1:4-6a, 6b).  The introduction to this chapter of the commentary shares "[t]he hope of the gospel is that lost people can be found and that distant and wandering believers can come back to the Lord....Jesus calls us to return when we wander far from Him."  The commentary then shares how believers are not immune to straying from God and it points out how believers still struggle with divorce, pornography, racism, lack of tithing, etc.  Zechariah and his family are described in v1 - Berechiah - his father, and Iddo - his grandfather.  These names in Hebrew are defined with Zechariah's name meaning "the Lord Remembers," Berechiah's as "the Lord blesses," and Iddo's as "in time" with the combination of these names describing how the Lord remembers and blesses as His set time.  God gave Zechariah a message to encourage His people who had returned from Babylonian captivity and exile to continue in their efforts to rebuild the temple - yet due to various factors work stopped.  Haggai delivered a similar message. The commentary describes God's people as being complacent and discouraged in their fellowship with God - and God became very angry.  Zechariah exhorts God's people to a "renewed closeness of the Lord," and the commentary outlines three divisions, each of which provide a motivation to return to the Lord.  The first division or motivation provided by the commentary is God’s Righteous Wrath Calls Us to Return to Him.  In v2 Zechariah share how angry God was the people's ancestors and their lack of faithfulness and resulting sin.  We are referred to Psalm 78:10-11 that describes God's people and their spiritual state prior to Babylonian captivity and exile. Zechariah implores God's people to see the God they are spurning - the Lord of hosts - He who reigns over all, creator of Heaven and Earth and all of its inhabitants.  We are reminded that yes God is love, compassion, mercy, etc. but he is just, we are commanded to love Him (most important commandment), and scripture is clear that the "wages of sin are death" (Romans 6:23).  As such, when we sin and especially when we spurn God we should be clear that God has every right to be angry.  He may be slow to anger (Nahum 1:3) but a righteous and just God does get angry with us when when we sin. The commentary shares: "[w]hen people deliberately take the path of sin and rebellion, when we determine to distance ourselves from Him, we experience God’s anger, His righteous wrath, just as the Jewish people did in their history. God is angry at sin in my life and in your life. And when we rebel against Him, we place ourselves into His anger zone."  We should be very careful straying from God and a reverent fear of God should drive us into His arms - John Piper refers to "fear as a preservative," helping us understand that God may love us but at the same time He is just and all powerful and can mete out His wrath and judgement just as easily as He can love. 

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Lord God You are an awesome God who loves and save - thank You Jesus for Your amazing grace.  I am not deserving of such incredible love.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

 Psalm 51

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Psalm 51:1

For my daily study, I continue to lean on DesiringGod.com's Solid Joys daily devotional, which today looks at the mystery of mercy, first by looking at David's cry for mercy in Psalm 51:1, which John shares that David reaches back to recall Exodus 34:6-7 as he writes Psalm 51. The text in Exodus emphasizes God's mercy and Piper describes how David did not understand the mystery of God's mercy in how some received it and some did not: 

“The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty[.] Exodus 34:6-7

Piper shares: "David knew that there were guilty who would not be forgiven. And there were guilty who by some mysterious work of redemption would not be counted as guilty, but would be forgiven. Psalm 51 is his way of laying hold on that mystery of mercy."  Piper wraps the devotion by sharing that believers better understand the mystery of mercy because faith in Christ unlocks this mercy.  Believers hold onto this mercy and be thankful!

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are SO good and Your mercies are new every morning - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of Your mercy - my sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

For the Lord will again take delight in prospering you[.]

Deuteronomy 30

For the Lord will again take delight in prospering you[.] Deuteronomy 30:9b

I continue to lean on DesiringGod.com's Solid Joys daily devotion, which today looks at the extent to which God delights in blessing us.  John Piper starts the devotion with a bold word of encouragement: "God does not bless us begrudgingly. There is a kind of eagerness about the beneficence of God. He does not wait for us to come to him. He seeks us out, because it is his pleasure to do us good. God is not waiting for us; he is pursuing us."  Piper points us to Psalm 23:6 where the text (NLT) describes God pursuing us. Additional scripture from Exodus 34:6 is offered to show the contrast between God's anger and His mercy. God describes Himself as "a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness[.]"  Piper continues to press on his point by sharing that "God loves to show mercy. Let me say it again. God loves to show mercy. He is not hesitant or indecisive or tentative in his desires to do good to his people. His anger must be released by a stiff safety lock, but his mercy has a hair trigger." Jeremiah 9:24 is yet another example from scripture that highlights how God ceaselessly seeks to bless us. As he moves to close the devotion, Piper wants us to understand that God is unlike people - whose "emotions go up and down," and who let us down.  God is constant and He never lets us down - His goodness is described as akin to Niagara Falls which flows at a rate of 186,000 tons of water every minute - God continues to bless us!  What an uplifting word this morning!

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who I know pursues me without fail and never stops seeking to bless me - thank You Jesus! I am not deserving of how You pursue and bless me.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners, creating the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,” says the Lord, “and I will heal him.

Isaiah 54-57

I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners, creating the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,” says the Lord, “and I will heal him. Isaiah 57:18-19

I continue my deep dive of Isaiah, based on the Precept Upon Precept study series.  My study of Isaiah moves on to day 5 (of 5) of week 20, which looks at Isaiah 54-57.  Day 5 focuses on Isaiah 57, which contrasts the futility of idolatry with God's compassion that is as described a couple of days ago from Exodus 34:6 where it states "God [is] merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness[.]"  See also commentary from Charles Spurgeon. What an incredible God we have that as Spurgeon describes "God has two temples. The one is the high and holy place: the other is the lowly and the humble place. May we have him in our hearts, and then shall we be in his heaven ere long." Amen!

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an amazing God who offers salvation to those who repent and believe in Him.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such a God.  My sin is great and it continues....daily.  Help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

["]The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness[."]

Exodus 34

["]The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness[."] Exodus 34:6

I pause my study of Isaiah for today, and listen to DesiringGod.com's Solid Joys daily devotional - which today focuses on God's infinite love for us as believers. John Piper states that "[God] wants us to understand and feel that the resources of his love are not limited. You can drink at this mountain spring all day, year after year, generation after generation, and it never runs dry....[H]e does not need us to fill up any deficiency in himself. Instead his infinite self-sufficiency spills over in love to us — to sinners — who need him, and the gift of himself in Jesus." Indeed!  Believers, be encouraged by God's limitless love and make use of this invaluable resource!

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an incredible God who loves me and whose love is limitless - thank You Jesus for making this love available to me, for saving me, and for never leaving or forsaking me.  I am not deserving of such love.  My sin is great and it continues daily....seeking comfort and joy in the world vs God - please forgive me Jesus!  Help me overcome and turn from this sin and turn towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

For lack of wood the fire goes out,and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases. As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife. The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body.

Proverbs 25-29

For lack of wood the fire goes out,and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases. As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife. The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body. Proverbs 26:20-22

I continue my study of Proverbs week 9 from my study workbook, which focuses on Proverbs 25-29.  My focus for today is questions 9-12 from my workbook, which covers (1) the destructive effects of a sinful tongue, particularly gossip and lying (Proverbs 26:20,22, 24, 28, 18:8); (2) how boasting is folly (Proverbs 27:1-2, James 4:13-14); (3) how believers should flee from danger, particularly sexual immorality and idolatry (Proverbs 27:12, 22:3, 1 Corinthians 6:12-18, 10:1-14); and (4) how love of money leads to idolatry and takes one away from God towards destruction (Proverbs Proverbs 28:19-27, 1 Timothy 6:6-10).  For today, as we get closer to elections here in our country, I reflect on how gossip and lies tear communities apart - we definitely need more of Jesus!  I vote not for the donkey or elephant, but for the lamb! Believers should actually take this to heart because of more believers actually acted more like Jesus (including myself), we would definitely see God's kingdom grow and we would experience more love and unity.

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an incredible God and You are love - You are slow to anger and abounding in love - this is despite my sin.  You love me and saved me while I was still sinning and an enemy/hostile to You...thank You Jesus!  What grace!  I am not deserving of such grace and love...nor my salvation.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Please provide wisdom and energy to Lisa and myself.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger...A king's wrath is a messenger of death, and a wise man will appease it....Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city....but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.

Proverbs 25-29

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger...A king's wrath is a messenger of death, and a wise man will appease it....Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city....but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. Proverbs 15:1, 16:14,32, 1 Peter 3:15-16 

I continue my study of Proverbs week 9 from my study workbook, which focuses on Proverbs 25-29.  My focus for today is question 2-4 from my workbook.  These questions examine how (1) Proverbs offers guidance about how to resolve relational conflict and how Jesus builds on this teaching by offering more prescriptive guidance for those in the church, including an escalation model (Proverbs 25:9-10, Matthew 18:15-17); (2) Proverbs offers teaching on how to respond during times of disagreement (Proverbs 25:15, 15:1, 16:14, 32, 1 Peter 3:15-16); and (3) Proverbs teaches us that there is no "one size fits all" set of words for how to share the gospel in our daily lives - we are to tailor the words to the circumstances (Proverbs 25:20, Romans 12:15). In particular, I can use the teaching from (2) - to offer soft responses without harshness, anger or tension, and to be gentle and respectful in response.  God please help in this area of my life.

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who is full of gentleness and respect, and who is slow to anger - thank You Jesus for the softness with which You respond to me - even though I am deserving of Your wrath and anger...we all are due to our sin.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me turn from and overcome my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

[We] take every thought captive to obey Christ[.]

Proverbs 10-16

[We] take every thought captive to obey Christ[.] 2 Corinthians 10:5b

As I continue with my study of Proverbs, remaining in chapters 10-16, the next five questions for this week (week 6) from my study workbook focus on God's providence over poverty (injustice, sloth, punishment, mystery - see also Proverbs 13:23, 6:9-11, 28:19, 10:2-3, 13:25, and 22:2), how God works in our mind with sanctification (see also Proverbs 14:15-16, Romans 12:2, and 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, Hebrews 4:12), how we should be slow to anger (see also Proverbs 14:17, 29, 15:18, 16:32, and 19:11), how God's providential rule should be seen as comforting (vs frustrating) (see also Proverbs 16:1, 3, and 33), and how the New Testament more fully describes wisdom vs what we see in Proverbs (see also Proverbs 10:11, 13:14, 14:27, 16:22, and John 4:1-14, 7:37-39).  I worry quite a bit about Zach and Dustin so the examination today how God's providential rule should be seen as comforting DOES give me comfort - thank You Jesus!

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who reigns over all details of my life - I see the good in Your reign.  Thank You Jesus for how You reign and for the sanctification process and renewing of my mind that allows me to see You at work.  I am not deserving of this or any other blessing You pour out for me.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength. Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior. Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day. 

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

Romans 1:18-32

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. Romans 1:24-25

This morning, I continued my study of Romans.  Using my commentary - Exalting Jesus in Romans (eBook) - I moved on with a review of Romans 1:18-32.  Here, Paul pivots from righteousness to the fate that awaits the unrighteous, and he describes how the unrighteous got there, including how they knew God but did not honor or thank Him (v19-21), and how the exchanged the glory of God for idol worship (v22-23).  We also see how God hardened hearts (v24-28) as he did with Pharaoh (Exodus 8-9).  Finally, we see descriptions of unrighteousness (v29-32). 

My commentary is much more pointed in its view of these verses pointing out to the depth of human depravity, with the implication that no one is righteous (Romans 3:10, 23, 1 John 1:8) and we all need a savior. It describes with 1:18:32, Paul has "mainly the Gentiles in mind" and how with 2:1-3:8, Paul "has the Jews primarily in mind." We are shown how Paul ultimately wants to get to the "good news" starting in Romans 3:21, but we must first get through the bad news in 1:18-3:20. The section for today in my commentary (1:18-32) is entitled Judgement and the Gentile.

In looking at the bad news we are encouraged to appreciate how "God's wrath is not a wild, emotional outburst.  God is 'slow to anger,' but he does not wink at sin."  His anger is both righteous and holy - we are to tremble at God's wrath and be thankful for our Savior. God's deliverance is described as having its roots in the Old Testament and how it cuts two ways, on some occasions Israel was delivered from the hands of its enemies, on other occasions it was the opposite, and how yet other times there is an awakening such as the prodigal son. We are also reminded that, sadly, "some never turn to God in repentance".  My reading from John Piper's book Providence makes it clear (as does the Bible) that faith is a gift from God. 

In looking at the causes of sin, my commentary indicates that "the whole array of sins that characterizes humanity has its roots in the soil of idolatry... [and] [s]in problems are worship problems."  It also states that "everyone has suppressed the truth (v18)", that the "whole world has natural revelation of God (v19)", and that "apart from divine grace, they do not respond rightly to it."  While creation reveals a "sense" of God but that believers are to preach the good news to provide a "specific revelation" or explanation of the gospel.

My commentary looks closely at idolatry and writes that Paul describes a "movement, madness, and misery of idolatry."  Believers enjoy the joy and satisfaction that only God provides.    

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an amazing God who loves me and who rescued me from my sin - thank You Jesus!  Yet I am undeserving because of my and because my sin continues - please forgive me Jesus for my worry and other sins.  Help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness"[.]

 Old Testament (OT): Genesis 1 - Malachi 4

Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness"[.] Exodus 34:5-6

Day 286 of my chronological study of the Bible with The Daily Bible® - In Chronological Order (NIV®) (available by purchase through Amazon - author F. LaGard Smith) continues as my commentary* pauses to reflect on the entirety of the Old Testament from the beginning through the teachings of Ezra and Nehemiah.  This pause coincides with what my commentary* refers to as the historical interlude (425 B.C. to 5 B.C.) between the Old Testament and the New Testament - which of course starts withe coming of the promised Messiah Jesus Christ. 

 *Smith, F. LaGard. The Daily Bible® - In Chronological Order (NIV®). Harvest House Publishers. Kindle Edition. 

With the OT, we see a God who is rich in mercy and compassion, patient, slow to anger and abounding in love, and faithful. 

John Piper offers this great brief explanation for what he believes is the value of the Old Testament for believers. At the end of this explanation, he offers up two benefits of the OT for believers:

"First, meeting God for who he really is so that we can know him and worship him since his character was revealed as truly in the Old Testament as in the New Testament."

"Second, letting the hundreds of promises in the Old Testament wash over you as your blood-bought birthright in Christ Jesus so that every day, you set yourself free from sin by the superior pleasures of the promises of God."

Of the many attributes of God, one of my favorite is how God is slow to anger and abounding in love.  These words are described many times (not with these exact words) and with these exact words 7 times, including one occasion when God spoke to Moses in Exodus 34 as He instructed Moses to carve out new stone tablets for the Ten Commandments.  

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are all knowing, all powerful, perfect, and I know personally how You are slow to anger and abounding in love.  I am not deserving of how You have poured out Your love for me.  My sin continues...worry, etc.  Please forgive me and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Nehemiah 7:73-10

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

Day 283 of my chronological study of the Bible with The Daily Bible® - In Chronological Order (NIV®) (available by purchase through Amazon - author F. LaGard Smith) continues with the book of Nehemiah where my commentary* describes how "Ezra, Nehemiah, and the Levites spend long hours reading and interpreting the law. When the people mourn for all the sins they have committed under the law, they are reminded that it is a festival day to be celebrated. And the people soon join in the re-institution of the Festival of Tabernacles, which commemorates the Israelites’ living in tents during the wilderness wanderings. Some three weeks later the law is read again, and the people respond with a great national confession and a written covenant with God."

*Smith, F. LaGard. The Daily Bible® - In Chronological Order (NIV®). Harvest House Publishers. Kindle Edition. 

The scripture reading for today also includes how the Levites led the people in confession and worship by describing how from Abram through the current day, God led the people, the people turned from God, and how God heard the people's cries of suffering and rescued them...despite their sin.

But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them, even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your god, who brought you up out of Egypt,’ or when they committed awful blasphemies. “Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the wilderness. Nehemiah 9:17-19

From heaven you heard them, and in your great compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies. Nehemiah 9:27

And when they cried out to you again, you heard from heaven, and in your compassion you delivered them time after time. Nehemiah 9:28

This story of repeated sin, and God's forgiveness, mercy, and compassion - is the story for all believers.

Ultimately, Jesus paid the price for all sin, for all humanity, for all of time. 

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are compassionate and merciful and You love me so much that You sent Your Son - Jesus - to die on the cross for me.  Thank You Jesus - the greatest gift of all time.  I am not deserving of such a gift.  I worry and I have other sins.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo. Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day. 

“So I will put an end to lewdness in the land, that all women may take warning and not imitate you. You will suffer the penalty for your lewdness and bear the consequences of your sins of idolatry. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.”

Ezekiel 23, 2 Kings 24-25, 2 Chronicles 36, Jeremiah 39 and 52 

“So I will put an end to lewdness in the land, that all women may take warning and not imitate you. You will suffer the penalty for your lewdness and bear the consequences of your sins of idolatry. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.” Ezekiel 23:48-49

Day 230 of my chronological study of the Bible with The Daily Bible® - In Chronological Order (NIV®) (available by purchase through Amazon - author F. LaGard Smith) continues with my study of Ezekiel. My commentary* this morning describes what has long been prophesied by Ezekiel and many other prophets regarding the sin of both Judah and Israel.  God gives Ezekiel a message to deliver to both Judah and Israel that my commentary* describes as "probably no more graphic an indictment...in all of Scripture.  Modern readers are almost offended by the candid exposure of two promiscuous sisters, representing Israel and Judah. One gets at least some idea of the degree to which God himself is offended by his people’s infidelity."  My commentary* goes on to describe how "God feels deeply the shame and disgrace that his “bride” has brought him. Her disrespect for his spiritual leadership, her chasing after material satisfaction, and her many adulteries with lesser gods have left him no choice. Israel must be put away until she repents. The time has come. Even now it [siege of Jerusalem] begins."

*Smith, F. LaGard. The Daily Bible® - In Chronological Order (NIV®). Harvest House Publishers. Kindle Edition. 

Yes...God is slow to anger and abounding in love, but God's patience is not unlimited (see also RC Sproul on this).  That is why believers are commanded to snatch others from the fire as this "the fire" will be the destination for those who do not accept Jesus - either when they die or when Jesus returns (whichever comes first). 

Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. Jude 1:22-23

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and You have snatched me from the fire - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such a gift.  I sin...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom, energy and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

I will turn my hand against you; I will thoroughly purge away your dross and remove all your impurities. I will restore your leaders as in days of old, your rulers as at the beginning. Afterward you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City.

Isaiah 1-5

I will turn my hand against you; I will thoroughly purge away your dross and remove all your impurities. I will restore your leaders as in days of old, your rulers as at the beginning. Afterward you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City. Isaiah 1:25-26

  

Day 173 of my chronological study of the Bible with The Daily Bible® - In Chronological Order (NIV®) (available by purchase through Amazon - author F. LaGard Smith) starts my study of Isaiah, whom my commentary* refers to "the greatest evangelistic prophet ever known to God’s people begins an active ministry which will last some 40 years".  My commentary goes on the write: "Isaiah will do for Judah what Joel, Hosea, and Amos have done for Israel: he will tell the people about God’s judgment against religious formalism, idolatry, oppression, immorality, and pride, and also warn them of the captivity they are about to face. Throughout his prophecies Isaiah repeatedly refers to the final day of the Lord, when all people will face judgment like that being brought against Israel and Judah. The imagery is exciting and visionary. Isaiah also looks forward to the coming of the Messiah and Savior, who will redeem all mankind from their sins. For this reason, much of what Isaiah has to say will be as meaningful to future generations as it is to those who live in Judah at this time. Isaiah’s message begins with a condemnation of Judah’s many sins. He insists that Judah’s sins will bring severe punishment, from which neither Judah’s idols nor its leaders can save the people. He challenges the people to come to their senses before it is too late, and to look forward to the last days, when there will be a spiritual renewal and everlasting peace."

*Smith, F. LaGard. The Daily Bible® - In Chronological Order (NIV®) . Harvest House Publishers. Kindle Edition.

This morning Isaiah delivers God's message to Judah regarding God's judgment of Judah's sin, and the focus is on empty worship and faith (Isaiah 1), and the sins of injustice (Isaiah 1 and Isaiah 5), idolatry (Isaiah 2), pride (Isaiah 2), sin of its leaders who led Judah into sin (Isaiah 3), sin of its women (Isaiah 3), greed (Isaiah 5), revelry (Isaiah 5), arrogance (Isaiah 5), rationalization (Isaiah 5), and drunkenness (Isaiah). My reading this morning includes reminders of God's grace - that He disciplines those He loves, we should view discipline as training to become more like Him, and that forgiveness and restoration await should we repent.

See also this great post about the danger of rationalizing sin as this is an important reminder of how we allow sin to creep into our lives slowly and it soon takes over.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who is slow to anger, abounding in love, and full of grace and mercy for me - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such love.  My sin continues....daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.  

[Abijah] committed all the sins his father had done before him; his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his forefather had been. Nevertheless, for David’s sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising up a son to succeed him and by making Jerusalem strong. For David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord and had not failed to keep any of the Lord’s commands all the days of his life—except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.

1 Kings 13-15 and 2 Chronicles 11-14:1

[Abijah] committed all the sins his father had done before him; his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his forefather had been. Nevertheless, for David’s sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising up a son to succeed him and by making Jerusalem strong. For David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord and had not failed to keep any of the Lord’s commands all the days of his life—except in the case of Uriah the Hittite. 1 Kings 15:3-5

 
Day 152 of my chronological study of the Bible with The Daily Bible® - In Chronological Order (NIV®) (available by purchase through Amazon - author F. LaGard Smith) continues with my study of of the divided kingdoms of Judah (and Benjamin) under Rehoboam and his son Abijah, and of the remaining tribes of northern Israel under Jeroboam.

God demonstrates his patience, is slow to anger and abounding in love and He is faithful as he seeks to fulfill the promise made to the House of David regarding how someone from David's line will always reign. 

Although Judah largely failed to follow the Lord, Judah is spared destruction from an attack by Egypt:

Because Rehoboam humbled himself, the Lord’s anger turned from him, and he was not totally destroyed. Indeed, there was some good in Judah. 2 Chronicles 12:12

In 2 Chronicles 13, God also spares Judah by leading them to route Jeroboam in battle.

The Israelites were subdued on that occasion, and the people of Judah were victorious because they relied on the Lord, the God of their ancestors. 2 Chronicles 13:18

I am grateful for how God demonstrates compassion and mercy for me - I must demonstrate this for others.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who is slow to anger and abounding in love for me.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such compassion and mercy.  I sin...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.