Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his ; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
This verse, as part of exhorting the people of God to joyously worship our God, reminds us who the Lord is. He is truly God and is the one who made us and we are voluntarily in His custody. We belong to Him and we are a flock of sheep under His care.
He is worthy of our worship because, as verse 5 says;
For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Amen.
4
Friday, October 27, 2023
OUR FATHER WHO VINDICATES US
From Psalm 26;
Vindicate me, Lord
Look at my heart and mind
For I always remember
That you are unfailingly kind
Because I put my trust in You
My feet are on a level place
I love where Your glory dwells
I gladly proclaim Your praise
3
Thursday, October 26, 2023
OUR FATHER WHO GAVE US FREEDOM (2)
Continuing with Genesis chapter 2 verse 9, let us summarize that there were many trees in the garden that were suitable for the man whom God had formed and then there were two trees singled out from the rest that were in the centre of the garden.
It is important to consider that trees are often used in scriptures as metaphors for modes of civilization.
Ezekiel chapter 31 most clearly illustrates this but in other examples as well.
Ezekiel chapter 31 verses 3 - 4 says this;
Consider Assyria, once a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches overshadowing the forest; it towered on high, its top above the thick foliage.
The waters nourished it, deep springs made it grow tall;
Ezekiel chapter 31 verse 18 says this;
“‘Which of the trees of Eden can be compared with you in splendor and majesty? Yet you, too, will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the earth below; you will lie among the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword.
“‘This is Pharaoh and all his hordes, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
This verse explicitly mentions the trees of Eden in comparing the civilization of the various kingdoms and empires on earth.
In Mathew chapter 13 verse 13 - 32, the Lord Jesus described the civilization of the kingdom of God as a mustard seed that grew in the garden and became a great tree. The verse reads this way;
He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”
With this pattern in mind, we can look at the trees in the garden of Eden as representing the modes of civilization that were available to the human race at the onset of our endeavor that were good options for the continuance for our race but at the center of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which brought complexity to the array of choices we had.
3
Wednesday, October 25, 2023
OUR FATHER WHO GAVE US FREEDOM (1)
The book of Genesis chapter 2 verse 9 says this;
The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
This verse, speaking of the garden of Eden in which the Lord God had placed man upon creating him, describes a large variety of trees that grew out of the ground. These trees were beautiful and had excellent fruit to eat.
In the center of the garden were two trees that were named the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Amen.
5
Tuesday, October 24, 2023
OUR FATHER WHO USED THE INJUSTICE OF MEN TO BRING ABOUT HIS GREAT SALVATION
In the book of Isaiah chapter 59 verse 4, we read this;
No one calls for justice; no one pleads a case with integrity.
They rely on empty arguments, they utter lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.
This verse speaks of some of the practices that separate a people from God and that cause His face to be hidden from us so that He will not hear us.
Among other things listed in the chapter, this verse speaks the failure to insist on justice and the use of fallacious and bad- faith arguments to press cases. Injustice is perpetrated by hollow arguments buttressed with deceptions.
As well, trouble is sown and the resulting evil is yielded as a harvest.
These conditions were in place during the time that the Lord Jesus was conducting His ministry in the promised land. The religious leaders of the time, plotting to kill Him, used deception and invalid arguments to press charges against Him so that He was sentenced to death.
In any society, when the legal and cultural discourse deteriorates to this level, it is an indicator that darkness has gained an upper hand as it had during the time of Jesus.
However, the forces of darkness did not comprehend that their corrupt activities against Jesus were going to result in their humiliation and defeat when Jesus rose from the dead.
When the Spirit of God then occupied the hearts of the people who believed the good news of the salvation through Jesus, the antidote to the corrupt nature of men could go into all the world and go from one generation to the next generation forever.
As Isaiah chapter 59 verses 20 - 21 says;
“The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,” declares the Lord.
“As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the Lord.
Amen.
4
Monday, October 23, 2023
OUR FATHER WHOSE LAW YIELDS FRUIT IN THE LIVES OF THOSE WHO FOLLOW IT
Psalm 1 verses 3 - 4 says this;
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.
Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
This passage, speaking of those who delight in the law of the Lord, describes how they are like a tree near streams of water that are perpetually green and complete their cycles of fruitfulness season after season.
On the other had, those who do not delight in the law of the Lord and sit in the company of mocker, are not roooted and so they wither and dry up and blow away in the wind like empty husks.
Following the Lord's ways supports life and fruitfulness while pursuing wickedness uproots life and yields destruction.