OUR FATHER WHO HAS PREPARED INCONCEIVABLE THINGS FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM

1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 11 says this;

For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

The thoughts of a person are generated deep within their mind and are only accessible by the spirit of the person. These thoughts are inaccessible to everyone unless the thoughts are expressed through speaking them aloud or writing them down.

Likewise, the thoughts of God are inaccessible to everyone except to the Spirit of God. As 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verses 9 - 10 says;

—However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”  —the things God has prepared for those who love him—these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 

So the Spirit of God, having access to the deep thoughts of God, reveals to us the things that no eye has seen and no ear has heard and no human mind conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO EMPATHIZES WITH US

Isaiah chapter 63 verse 9 says this;

In all their distress He was distressed, And the angel of His presence saved them, In His love and in His compassion He redeemed them; And He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

Isaiah the prophet, in this passage, revealed 0isome truths about the nature of the Lord.

First, we see the description of a reciprocal response that the Lord has to the distress of His people. When they were distressed, God experienced distress.

Next, we see that His compassion for His people caused Him to personally intervene and save them by the Angel of His Presence. He redeemed His people and He bore them up and carried them.

Such is the love of God for us. He empathizes with us and our distress is mirrored in Him and He moves by His great power to save us.

Amen.

References: openbible.com

OUR FATHER FILLS THE HOUSE OF THE BARREN WOMAN WITH DESCENDANTS

Isaiah chapter 54 verses 2 - 3 says this; 

“Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.

For you will spread out to the right and to the left;  your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.

This passage captures the words of the Lord to His bride promising her that she will be fruitful.

The Lord advises her to prepare her house to be filled up with people by stretching the tent curtains and lengthening the tent cords  and strengthening the tent pegs.

She must make room for the multitudes who will be her descendants.

The influx of people into her house will overrun the nations and dispossess them and  repopulate  their desolate cities.

Bless the Lord who fills the house of the barren woman and makes her rejoice.

Amen.

 ALL CREATION AWAITS ( Romans 8) 

THOSE LED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD

THEY ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD

AND BY HIM WE CRY ABBA FATHER 

ALL OF  CREATION

AWAITS THE REVELATION

OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD GOD OUR FATHER

AND WE KNOW 

THAT GOD WORKS FOR GOOD ALL THINGS

FOR THOSE WHO LOVE AND ARE CALLED BY HIM

OUR FATHER WHO BRINGS DOWN OUR OPPRESSORS

Isaiah chapter 19 verses 3 - 4 says this;

The Egyptians will lose heart,  and I will bring their plans to nothing; they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead,  the mediums and the spiritists.

I will hand the Egyptians over to the power of a cruel master and a fierce king will rule over them,” declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.

The Egyptians, in this verse, are standing in for the world systems that oppress God's people and they, having undertaken to place God's people into bondage,  will be undermined by the Lord and all their plans will be brought to nothing.

When the tide turns against them, they will lose heart and they will try make sense of what is happening to them by consulting mediums and spiritists in order to get supernatural explanations and strategies to overcome what is befalling them

While in this state of despondence, a fierce and cruel leader will be installed as king over the Egyptians to bring order and momentum to their evil plans but it will not work.

The Egyptians, however,  will get a taste of the cruel treatment they meted out to Lord's people when they are ill-treated by their own evil ruler.

This will be part of the dissolution of the power that Egypt will have over God's people and in the end, Egypt will brought down and many will turn to the Lord.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO JUSTLY GOVERNS HIS KINGDOM

James chapter 2 verse 9 says this;

But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.

In this verse, the Apostle James, adjures the reader with a warning about showing favoritism.

James emphasises that believers who give special treatment and favour to the rich while demeaning the poor by, for example, instructing them to sit on the floor, are judging others with evil thoughts  and would be numbered among the lawbreakers.

The poor, James reminds us, have been chosen by God to be rich in faith and are entrusted with spiritual riches that abound to those who move strongly in faith and will inherit the promised Kingdom.

To dishonor the poor is to wrongly invert the order that the Lord has ordained for the church which, as the body of Christ, should be guided by spiritual realities and not by what is seen in the flesh. Such conduct will invite judgement.

Bless the Lord whose manifold wisdom justly governs the affairs of His Kingdom.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO FORGIVES AND CORRECTS

1 John chapter 1 verse 9 says this;

 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

This scripture contains a wonderful promise to God's people.

We are assured that our Lord will readily forgive us if we confess our sins and that he will do a work in us to purify us from all unrighteousness.

Once our sins are forgiven and covered, the Lord  places us in circumstances and frames of mind to encourage us to eschew our sinful  proclivities and pursue His righteousness.

He willingly forgives us and then gladly helps us get untangled from sin so that we can move from living in the flesh to walking by the Spirit.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHOSE SALVATION IS EVERLASTING

Isaiah chapter 51 verses 10 - 12 says this;

Was it not you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made a road in the depths of the sea so that the redeemed might cross over?

Those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

“I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mere mortals, human beings who are but grass,..."

This passage gives the reason for the exultant and joyful hope  that will fill the people of God.

He is the mighty God who had the power to dry up the sea and make a highway in its depths so that those the Lord was saving could cross over to freedom.

Such a display of power should give comfort to the people of God and should persuade them not to live in fear of 'mere mortals' because in comparison to the Lord, they are but grass.

The Lord's salvation is everlasting and those He chooses to be His people are annointed and protected. As Isaiah chapter 51 verse 16 says;

I have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand— I who set the heavens in place, who laid the foundations of the earth, and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO KNOWS THE END FROM THE BEGINNING

Daniel the prophet wrote of a vision that highlighted an enigmatic figure called "the man clothed in linen". 

In the book of Daniel chapter 10 verses 5 - 6, this man is described as follows;

I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. His body was like topaz, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude.

Later, Daniel  chapter  (14 x ) 12 verse 7, says this about Him;

The man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, lifted his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by him who lives forever, saying, “It will be for a time, times and half a time. When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed.”

In this passage, the man was suspended above the waters of the great river Tigris and angelic figures who looked like men appeared on either side of the river. One of these figures asked the man in linen when the astonishing events in the vision would occur.

The sworn response was that they would occur for a period of a time, times and half a time which is interpreted as three and a half years.

The man in linen then said, "When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed.”

This sombre statement suggests that the kingdom of darkness will unrelentingly press against God's holy people until a point is reached where their power will break and they will be brought down but when this happens, God's plan will be completed.

The period called "the end of the days" will have arrived as well as the time when God's people will be allotted their inheritance. This is detailed in words spoken to Daniel as recorded in Daniel chapter 13 verse 13;

 “As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance.”

Amen.

OUR FATHER MAKES A WAY FOR US EVEN THROUGH GREAT PERIL 

Genesis chapter 39 verses 10 - 12, describe the hazard that Joseph was in when he was serving in his master's house. 

His master's wife had been putting pressure on Joseph to begin a relationship with her but Joseph resisted her approaches. On this particular day, she finally got a hold of his cloak and decided to use it as evidence to falsely accuse Joseph of assaulting her as an act of spite against him. The passage reads this way;

And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.

One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. She caught him by his cloak and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.

This incident reveals the dangerous situation that Joseph was in. He knew he could not acquiesce to his master's wife but to escape her, he had to leave his cloak behind and in doing so, was then subjected to false accusations.

Joseph had shown his faith in God by saying that to agree to her demands would be a sin against God as recorded in verse 9;

My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” 

Thus his obedience to God put him in great peril that could have cost him his life but ultimately, his obedience to God made a way for him to go from being a household slave to being the prime minister of Egypt.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHOSE CALLINGS DEMAND RIGOROUS PURSUIT TO FULFILL

1 Corinthians chapter 9 verse 3 says this;

This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me.

Paul's apostleship was being judged by others and he made a defence of himself in this chapter.

To start, Paul laid out the credentials that qualified him to be accepted as an Apostle. He was free, he had seen the Lord Jesus and he had people who had grown in faith through him who were the seal of his apostleship.

Paul asserted that further to that, he and his preaching companion, Barnabas, had not only conducted themselves as apostles in every way but had  in fact, surpassed the standards of apostleship by relinquishing their rights for the sake of the gospel. 

They had forfeited food and drink that was rightly due them for the sake of the gospel. They had also lived and traveled as bachelors to simplify their outreach.

They worked with their hands to supply their own needs rather than depend on those they preached to for their livelihood to ensure that there would be no hindrance to the preaching of the gospel.

Paul eloquently defended his apostleship and in doing so, showed us the demanding rigor of accurately fulfilling the requirements of the office which was entrusted to him by the Lord.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO SHATTERED THE KINGDOM OF DARKNESS

Isaiah chapter (29x) 30 verse 31 says this;

The voice of the Lord will shatter Assyria; with his rod he will strike them down.

Assyria, a power that brought oppression to God's people, will be blown apart by the voice of the Lord. With the power of the Lord's authoritative decree, the Assyrian kingdom will be torn down and repeated blows of judgement against Assyria will be to the music of timbrels and harps as people celebrate the Lord's victory.

Isaiah 30 verse 15 says this;

“In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength,

The salvation of God's people is rooted in repentance and rest. They gain their strength in quietness and trust but some of God's people will react to oppression by trying to fight in their own strength and when they fail, they will cry to the Lord and the Lord will have compassion and restore them and bind up their wounds.

Bless the Lord who will care for His people and will, by His might and power, completely disassemble the power structures of darkness.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO GIVES WARNING THROUGH HIS PROPHETS

Ezekiel chapter 4 verse 11 says this;

Also measure out a sixth of a hin of water and drink it at set times.

Chapter 4 of the book of Ezekiel records the commands that the Lord gave to Ezekiel to enact a siege against the city of Jerusalem in symbolic gestures in the sight of the people.

Ezekiel was instructed to take a block  of clay, draw Jerusalem on it and then mount a siege against the representation of Jerusalem. He was to erect ramps, build encampments against it and deploy battering rams around it.

Ezekiel was then instructed to lie on his left side in front of the model city for 390 days to bear the sins of Israel which were for 390 years.

After that was completed, he then was to lie on his right side for 40 days to bear the sin of Judah which were for 40 years.

The Lord then instructed Ezekiel to prepare the food and drink he was to consume during the enactment of the seige of Jerusalem. He was to measure out rations of grains and lentils of 230 grams a day to represent the hunger that the people in Jerusalem would experience under siege.

For water, he was to measure out about a sixth of a liter of water for each day. This tiny ration of water per day was to represent the thirst that the people of Jerusalem would experience under the approaching siege.

The Lord commanded that Ezekiel's elaborate enactment be in full view of everyone so that everyone would have fair warning of the upcoming judgement.

Amen.

OUR FATHER PREPARES FOR THE WEDDING OF HIS SON (2)

Our study of the book of the Song of Songs continues with verses 11 - 13.

They start with the man promising to make earrings of precious metal for his beloved.  She responds by calling the object of her affection a king. She recalls how her fragrance wafted across the table to capture his attention.

The passage reads this way;

We will make you earrings of gold, studded with silver.

While the king was at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance.

My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts.

The woman, having captured the attention of her beloved with her fragrance, says that, to her, he was like a bundle of myrrh on her bosom.

Myrrh is a fragrant plant resin harvested for perfume and medicine and it was used in large quantities to wrap Jesus' body for burial after His crucifixion.

As such, this reference to myrrh by the bride, associates the king, who is her beloved,  with Jesus.

The Lord Jesus is the king in chapter 1 of the Song of songs.

He loves His bride and will make precious jewelry to adorn her and she adores her bridegroom and her sacrificial life in His honor is the perfume that reaches His table and gains her His attention.

Amen.

OUR FATHER PREPARES FOR THE WEDDING OF HIS SON

The book of the Song of Songs chapter 1 verses 9 - 10 says this;

I liken you, my darling, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariot horses.

Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings,  your neck with strings of jewels.

The first chapter of the book of Song of Songs is a conversation between a man and a woman with some interjections from friends who are listening in.

The two conversants are attracted to each other and describe each other in glowing terms of beauty, fragrances, adoration, precious articles and love.

Among these exchanges is the passage found in verses 9 and 10 which is spoken by the man to the woman telling her how attractive she is to him.

With the term of endearment, 'darling', he compares her to a mare among the chariot horses of Pharaoh.

The chariot horses of the king of Egypt would have been splendidly arrayed and trained to move with grace and aplomb even under pressure.

The man, by invoking the sight of Pharaoh's  horses, was praising the woman for being regal and poised and striking to look at.

He comments on the beauty of her cheeks that are accented by earrings and her neck by jeweled necklaces.

This is the attraction of the beauty of the woman to the man or a bride to her bridegroom.

The church, being the bride of Christ, is to rise in beauty, poise, aplomb and the fragrance of praise and sacrifice as she prepares for the return of her Bridegroom.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO WILL LAY WASTE THE STRONGHOLDS OF DARKNESS

Isaiah chapter 34 verse 15 says this;

The owl will nest there and lay eggs,  she will hatch them, and care for her young under the shadow of her wings; there also the falcons will gather, each with its mate.

This passage describes the natural activity of wildlife taking over the ruins of the kingdoms of darkness that will have been judged by the Lord and laid waste.

When the armies of this world mount up against the Lord, He will respond in anger.

The spiritual cities controlled by the kingdom of darkness and the earthly cities that they overlay will be torn down and left as smouldering rubble in the face of the anger of the Lord.

The strongholds and citadels of darkness will be destroyed so that there is nothing left of their kingdoms and the princes thereof will vanish.

The abandoned wasteland will experience a revival of nature as jackles and hyenas and wild goats traverse the land and find homes and places of rest.

Owls build nests, lay eggs and raise their young. Falcons gather and form pair bonds in the vacated land.

The Lord establishes His order in the land and His Spirit gathers and allots to those whom he has assigned an inheritance forever.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO DEMONSTRATES THE QUALITY OF HIS SERVANTS

1 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 9 says this;

For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. 

The Roman empire had a cultural celebration that occurred when a conquering general returned to Rome with his army. 

A triumphant parade marched through the city of Rome displaying the might of her military. The treasures pillaged from the conquered lands and the people who had been captured were shown to the people of Rome as they exulted in their victories.

The Apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthians, compared the condition of himself and the other apostles with the people who were in the church at the city of  Corinth.

While the Corinthian believers were honored and strong and wise, the apostles were dishonored  and weak and foolish.

Paul felt that the Lord had consigned all  the apostles to a life of hunger, danger and humiliation as a spectacle for the whole universe  to look upon along with their misfortunes like the captured prisoners who the Romans paraded through their city.

Having been given the high responsibilities of apostleship, these servants of the Lord were brought low before the eyes of men and angels as a demonstration of the quality of men they were because to the end, they responded with grace to those who slandered them, patiently endured persecution and blessed those who cursed them.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO MOVES TO DELIVER US FROM OPPRESSION AND BONDAGE

Isaiah chapter 19 verse 3 says this;

The Egyptians will lose heart, and I will bring their plans to nothing; they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead, the mediums and the spiritists.

In the prophecy of Isaiah chapter 19, the kingdom of Egypt stands in for the oppressive powers of darkness that will move to take over the whole world and enslave God's people.

But at that time, the Lord, moving on a swift cloud, will come to the oppressive regime and bring judgements upon them that will overwhelm them and bring down their rulership.

When the Lord arrives, the Egyptians will lose heart and all their carefully laid plans will fall apart and add up to nothing.

Because they will understand that the forces working against them are supernatural, the Egyptians will turn to the spiritual advice of spiritists and mediums. They will invoke idols and spirits of the dead for counsel but these will not help them.

At every turn, the Egyptians will be thwarted.

Their unified front will collapse as they turn on each other and begin fighting amongst themselves.

To try to keep their evil ambitions viable, a harsh and cruel leader will be installed over them but he will bring even greater disunity.

Their economic support systems will fail and their supplies of provisions and materials will be disrupted.

All their wise men and advisors will utter foolishness and a spirit of dizziness will be put on them so that all their counsel will be that of drunkards.

That day approaches and now is when the Lord rides on a swift cloud to Egypt to bring their oppression and bondage of God's people to an end.

Amen.

OUR FATHER CREATES IN US A PURE HEART

Psalm 51 verses 12 - 14 records some of the words that king David wrote after Nathan the prophet confronted him with the matter of his affair with Bathsheba and the coverup attempt after that. The passage reads this way;

Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you.

Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior,  and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

King David was a man after God's own heart defined as such by the Lord himself in Acts chapter 13 verse 22;

After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’

So David, being a man after God's own heart, when brought face to face with his sins, shed his defences and humbled himself before God and acknowledged his transgressions and  asked for mercy for his actions. 

He pleaded with the Lord to cleanse him from his sins  and blot out his iniquity so that the Lord would remember them no more. 

He asked the Lord to create in him a pure heart and renew in him a steadfast spirit that would not easily fall into the traps of sin.

David then asked God to fill him with the joy of the Lord's salvation.

He promised the Lord that if the Lord did these things for him, he would teach transgressors the ways of the Lord so that sinners would return to God.

For the guilt of bloodshed regarding the death of Bathsheba's husband Uriah, David asked the Lord to deliver him as a saviour and the result would be that David would be able to sing of God's righteousness.

If we were to be people after God's own heart and we were caught in a sin, we would acknowledge our transgression, ask for mercy, ask to be cleansed, ask to be made steadfast and then we would press forward in pursuit of the things of the kingdom of God and rejoice in the righteousness of God.

Bless our God who can restore us from the despair of sin and renew in us a pure heart that  can rejoice in our salvation.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO HAS A PURPOSE FOR EACH OF US TO FULFILL.

Jeremiah chapter 13 verse 4, a record of the Lord's words to the prophet Jeremiah,  says this;

“Take the belt you bought and are wearing around your waist, and go now to Perath and hide it there in a crevice in the rocks.”

This passage captures the instruction that the Lord gave Jeremiah of what to do with the new linen belt that the Lord had told him to buy.  

Jeremiah was instructed to take the belt and hide it in a crevice in a rock.  

Many days later, the Lord told Jeremiah to go back and retrieve the belt and when he dug it up, it was badly damaged. Verse 7 puts it this way;

So I went to Perath and dug up the belt and took it from the place where I had hidden it, but now it was ruined and completely useless.

The Lord spoke to Jeremiah to explain the meaning of the object lesson.

The belt around Jeremiah's waist represented the people of Israel and Judah who were supposed to be wrapped around the Lord's waist so that they were close to Him as His honored people. Jeremiah chapter 13 verse 10 says it this way;

For as a belt is bound around the waist, so I bound all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah to me,’ declares the Lord, ‘to be my people for my renown and praise and honor. But they have not listened.’

Instead, the people rebelled and refused to listen to the voice of the Lord and stubbornly pursued other gods and thus the Lord declared them as useless as Jeremiah's ruined belt.

Let us strive to stay near to the Lord; always listening for His voice to do as He instructs so that we can be useful servants in His kingdom and He can, as He said in Mathew chapter 25 verse 21, say to us 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!

Amen. 

OUR FATHER WHO SUPPLIES HIS PEOPLE WITH WATER UNTO LIFE

1 Corinthians chapter 10 verses 3 - 4, speaking of the children of Israel in the wilderness, says this;

They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 

The apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthians, explained that the rock from which the children of Israel drank water in the wilderness was Christ who travelled with them and gave them water.  

In the new covenant, Jesus, speaking to the woman at the well in John chapter 4 verse 10, said this;

 “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

Here, Jesus, in the context of asking for drinking water out of the well, said to the woman that if she had known who it was who was asking her for water, she would have asked Him and He would have given her living water from which she would never have been thirsty again as it says in verse 14; "whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

So Paul says that the rock in the wilderness that continuously supplied water to the children of Israel was in fact Christ. 

Then, the Apostle John, in John chapter 4 verse 10 and verse 14, recorded Jesus, the Christ, the rock of ages,  saying that He could supply living water.

Bless the Lord Jesus who was the spiritual rock who supplied water to the children of Israel in the wilderness and now, is the rock that was struck and  supplies the children of God with spiritual water that wells up to eternal life.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO PROMISES A CROWN OF LIFE IF WE PERSERVERE IN THE TRIALS WE FACE

The book of James chapter 1 verse 9 says this;

Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position.

In other words, the Apostle James tells us that a believer in a lowly position in this world is elevated to a lofty position in the spiritual realm.

This precept parallels the words that  the Lord Jesus spoke in Mathew chapter 20 verse 16;

“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Conversely, in James chapter 1 verse 10, the Apostle  James gives this advice to the believers who are rich;

But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower.

Here, humiliation is the place that the rich should take pride in for their lives are as fleeting as a vapour. The Apostle James brings out the truth that riches can easily give the illusion of permanence but we must remember that our earthly lives are temporal and we can wither as quickly as a wildflower in the sun.

For believers, if we are poor, we should glory in our high position in the spirit and  if we are rich, we should glory in our humble position in the spirit.

James advises both the rich and the poor  to persevere in whatever trials their stations in life aim at them for if they endure their trials, they shall be awarded the crown of life promised by the Lord as recorded in James chapter 1 verse 12.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHOSE TERRIBLE DAY APPROACHES

Isaiah chapter 13 verses 9 - 10 says this;

See, the day of the Lord is coming—a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger—to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it.

The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light.

The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light.

The prophet Isaiah prophecied of a day of great judgement that would be a time of destruction and desolation of the land. The stars would not shine and the sun and the moon would not give light.

In this pitch-black night of anger, the fierce wrath of the Lord would wreak havoc on the land and bring total catastrophe to the kingdom of darkness.

Joel chapter 2 verse 10 echoes the astronomical signs this way;

Before them the earth shakes, the heavens tremble, the sun and moon are darkened, and the stars no longer shine.

The prophet Joel, in Joel chapter 2 verse 3  adds more context to the darkness of the day of judgement by describing a fearsome army that has been prepared for that hour;

Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was in ancient times nor ever will be in ages to come.

This unprecedented army systemtically overruns the fortified positions of the kingdom of darkness bringing its military capabilities to an abrupt end.

The book of Revelation verses 12 - 13, also mentions this distinctive phenomena;

I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind.

The Apostle John, writing the details of  a vision of the judgement of God that he was shown, brings a broader context to the darkening of the sun, moon and stars.

These phenomena are part of the opening of the sixth seal in a series of seven seals that are opened upon the earth. These seven seals of judgement include the four judgements of the four horsemen, the martyrdom of the saints which is the fifth seal.

The seventh and final seal triggers the judgements of the seven trumpets that the angles blew to first bring hail and fire, then a catastrophic meteor strike on the oceans, then the poisoning of all fresh water, the darkening of a third of the sun, moon and stars, the plague of the scorpion locusts from the abyss, the angelic destruction of a third of mankind and finally, the seventh trumpet which heralds the revelation of Jesus in his glory.

This terrible day of the Lord where His army moves against the kingdom of darkness, is unparralled in all of history and takes its place among the sequence of events that must happen before the God of heaven and earth is revealed in His glory.

Amen. 

OUR LORD WHO GUIDES US TO RIGHTEOUSNESS FOR HIS NAMES SAKE

Psalm 19 verse 13 says this;

Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression.

Here, the psalmist asks the Lord to intervene and save him from committing willful sins so that they would not dominate him. If he is kept from willful sins, he reasons, he would avoid committing great transgressions.

Verse 13 asks for help to avoid external sins but the next verse speaks of that which is cultivated in the psalmist's mind. Psalm 19 verse 14 says this;

May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

What is in our private words and even in our secret thoughts are always before the Lord and the prayer here is that the God who knows all things would be pleased by the thoughts of our minds and the words of our mouths.

May our outward conduct and our inner lives be pleasing to the Lord our God.

Amen.

THE HEAVENS DECLARE  (Psalm 19)

THE HEAVENS DECLARE THE GLORY OF THE LORD

THE SKIES PROCLAIM THE WORK OF HIS HANDS

DAY AFTER DAY WORDS POUR FORTH QUIETLY

NIGHT AFTER NIGHT  KNOWLEDGE SHOWN SILENTLY

THE STARS THROUGHOUT THE EARTH THEY SPEAK

THEIR WORDS THE ENDS OF THE WORLD TO REACH

OUR FATHER WHO RESTORES US FOR HIS PURPOSES

Jeremiah chapter 15 verses 10 - 12 says this;

Alas, my mother, that you gave me birth, a man with whom the whole land strives and contends!

I have neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me.

The Lord said, “Surely I will deliver you for a good purpose; surely I will make your enemies plead with you in times of disaster and times of distress.

“Can a man break iron—iron from the north—or bronze?

This passage captures a conversation between Jeremiah the prophet and the Lord.

Jeremiah tells the Lord that he regretted being born because the whole land was against him and even though he was not financially entangled with anyone, he was cursed by everyone.

The lord responds to Jeremiah by saying that he would deliver him from his enemies for a good purpose; a time of disaster and distress would come and his enemies would be forced to plead with him.

The Lord asks Jeremiah, can a man break iron from the north? Or Bronze? The question is asking whether men can successfully contend with a person who is protected and  fortified by God.

Even though Jeremiah was among people who sinned, the word of the Lord came to him in Jeremiah chapter 15 verse 19;

Therefore this is what the Lord says: “If you repent, I will restore you  that you may serve me; if you utter worthy, not worthless, words, you will be my spokesman. Let this people turn to you, but you must not turn to them.

Bless the Lord who restores us when we repent of our sins so that he can use us for his purposes. We must reflect the Lord and not the people to whom he has sent us.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO RESTRAINS HIS ANGER FOR THE SAKE OF HIS PEOPLE

Isaiah chapter 64 verse 9 (19 X)  says this;

Do not be angry beyond measure, Lord; do not remember our sins forever.

Oh, look on us, we pray, for we are all your people.

The prophet Isaiah writes chapter 64 as a representative of God's people asking the Lord for mercy and consideration.

Isaiah, on behalf of God's people, confessed to the wrongdoing they had  participated in.

They had sinned against God and prolonged their sinful activities. They were ceremonially unclean and they got carried away in their wrongdoing and sin and did not restrain themselves.

They did not call upon the Lord nor did they stir in the night to seek fellowship with Him.

As a result, God widthdrew from them and hid His face from them and turned them over to the destructive power of their sin which caused them to wither and decay like a leaf.

After being in this miserable state for a protracted period of time, the people turned to God and ask Him not to be angry without limit and to remember that they were His people.

As they looked at the smouldering ruins of their kingom, they realised that they had neglected the One for whom all the splendor of their kingdom had been built to honor. 

Now, having squandered their favored position with the Almighty, they asked the Lord if He would be able to keep Himself from helping them and if  He would remain silent forever and continue humiliating and oppressing them.

The Lord is great and full of mercy and does not ruin all His people but He does make a distinction between those who serve Him and those who rebel against Him.

As Isaiah chapter 65 verse 14 says;

“Indeed, My servants will shout for joy from a happy heart,But you cry out with a heavy heart, And you shall wail and howl from a broken spirit.

Let us humble ourselves and pray.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO PROVIDES WARNING OF THINGS TO COME THROUGH HIS PROPHETS

Joel chapter 1 verse 9 says this;

Grain offerings and drink offerings are cut off from the house of the Lord. The priests are in mourning, those who minister before the Lord.

The grain offerings and drink offerings are no longer coming into the temple because the economy of the nation has fallen under severe judgement and every resource has been devoured and exhausted.

Joel chapter 1 verse 4 puts it this way;

What the locust swarm has left the great locusts have eaten; 

what the great locusts have left the young locusts have eaten;

what the young locusts have left other locusts have eaten.

The ministers of God lose all the offerings that came into the house of God and they are in mourning.

The land is ravaged by an invader who strips bark off trees with teeth like a lion. All the grain and vines are destroyed along with all the fruit trees. Joel chapter 1 verse 6 says it this way;

A nation has invaded my land, a mighty army without number; it has the teeth of a lion, the fangs of a lioness.

In response to this, the Lord instructs His people to gather in solemn assemblies, to fast, to pray and to cry out to the Lord.

This invader sounds like the invaders from the bottomless pit in Revelation chapter 9 verse 7 - 8 which says;

The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth.

The invasion described in Joel chapter 1 is parallel to the woe of the bottomless pit with both having locusts with lion fangs bringing destruction.

In Joel, the locusts focus on destroying the agricultural output of the nation.

In revelation, the locusts are focused on bringing direct harm to the human race by stinging them and making them languish between life and death for 5 months.

Bless the Lord who provides a way of salvation.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO WAS TEMPTED YET REMAINED PERFECT

Mathew chapter 4 verse 9 says this;

“All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

This verse records the words of Satan trying to temp Jesus into doing what was wrong.

Satan had taken Jesus to a very high place and had shown Him all the kingdoms of the world.

Satan then made an offer to Jesus saying that all the kingdoms of the world were his to give to whomever he wanted and he would turn them all over to Jesus and all Jesus would have to do to get the title deed to the earth, would be to bow and worship Satan.

This option presented an easier way for Jesus to gain the kingdoms of the world without dying on a cross for them but this would be a sin against God and if Jesus had yielded to the temptation, it would have made Him a subject of sin rather than master over it and so Satan would have been the ultimate ruler over Jesus and over the whole world.

Jesus, responding to this temptation, quoted scripture in Mathew chapter 4 verse 10, saying;

“Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”

Thus the Lord Jesus rebuffed the tempter with scriptural rebuttals to the logic of sin as He did with all the other temptations brought to Him. 

When the time of testing came, Satan searched and found nothing in Jesus as it says in John chapter 13 verse 30;

I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me,

Bless the Lord Jesus who remained spotless and perfect as the Lamb of God who would lay down His life for our sins.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHOSE KINGDOM WILL THRIVE

Ezekiel chapter 17 verse 3 says this;

Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: A great eagle with powerful wings, long feathers and full plumage of varied colors came to Lebanon. Taking hold of the top of a cedar, 

Verse 4 continues with these words;

 he broke off its topmost shoot and carried it away to a land of merchants, where he planted ij.it in a city of traders.

Verse 7 introduces a second eagle this way;

 “‘But there was another great eagle with powerful wings and full plumage. The vine now sent out its roots toward him from the plot where it was planted and stretched out its branches to him for water.

The prophet Ezekiel was given this parable to give to the people of Israel.

First, there was a great eagle who came to Lebanon and plucked the topmost branch of a cedar tree. He took the sprig and planted it in a land of merchants and traders.

Then there was another great eagle to whom the planted seedling grew toward and it stretched out to him so that it would find water and grow and produce fruit.

The Lord then asked these questions in verse 9, "Will it thrive? Will it not be uprooted and stripped of its fruit so that it withers?"

The Lord explained the parable when no one was able to  understand it.

The first eagle represented the king of Babylon who invaded Israel and took away the nobles of the land back to Babylon. This group of people is  the topmost branch that the eagle plucked and took back to his kingdom where  they were planted to bolster the industry and  commerce of Babylon.

The king of Babylon then took one of the nobles and after signing a treaty, installed him as king of Israel to rule over those who remained there. This noble was the second great eagle who was left to rule over Israel to make it a profitable client kingdom for Babylon.

The second eagle rebelled against the king of Babylon with whom he had a treaty and who had put him on the throne.  He tried to make a treaty with Egypt to get horses and an army to fight off the king of Babylon and declare independence.

The Lord's question in verse 9 was in response to this state of affairs. Would such a rebellious act thrive?

The answer, given by the Lord, was an emphatic, "no". Ezekiel chapter 17 verse 18 says this;

He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Because he had given his hand in pledge and yet did all these things, he shall not escape.

This declaration by the Lord pointed out that the noble of Israel, who was installed as the King of Israel, had signed a formal treaty between himself and the King of Babylon.

For breaking the treaty, the Lord judged the noble and he was taken to Babylon where he was killed.

This uprooting of the rebellious tree in Israel  is contrasted at the end of chapter 17 in verses 22 - 23 with the tree that the Lord Himself planted.

The Lord said that He would pluck the topmost sprig of a cedar and plant it  on a lofty mountain of Israel and it would grow and thrive and bear fruit. 

This tree that the Lord Himself plants will become a splendid cedar  and birds of every kind will find shelter and nest in its branches. Verse 23 says it this way;

On the mountain heights, of Israel I will plant it; it will produce branches and bear fruit and become a splendid cedar. Birds of every kind will nest in it; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches.

This final tree planted by the Lord sounds like the one likened to the kingdom of heaven by the Lord Jesus as described in Mathew chapter 13 verse 31. With Jesus as the subject, the verse says this;

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.”

Amen.