“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 4:11 ESV
What a strange story to highlight our selfishness in contrast to God loving even my enemies. Lord, help me to be compassionate to everyone You put in my path…
“As a result, ten tracts fell to Manasseh, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which are beyond the Jordan, because Manasseh’s daughters received an inheritance among his sons. The land of Gilead belonged to the rest of Manasseh’s sons.”
Joshua 17:5-6 CSB
Gods care for the weak (Manasseh’s daughters, at least in that culture) has always stood out to me. He is not shaped by culture or man’s expectations but His character always points to love. Lord, give me eyes to see the weak and help me to work toward justice for their good!
“No one of illegitimate birth may enter the Lord’s assembly; none of his descendants, even to the tenth generation, may enter the Lord’s assembly.”
Deuteronomy 23:2 CSB
The law that is given through these instructions was designed to keep Israel holy. I am so grateful that holiness no longer depends solely on me, rather on the finished work of Jesus. That doesn’t give me reason to live in sin, but Jesus does cover even the things that I have no control over.
Lord, thank you for sending Jesus to fix the problem of sin. Help me to pursue holiness in every thought, action or word. I am so grateful that You made a way for me to come into Your presence!
“Any male among Aaron’s descendants may eat it. It is a permanent portion , throughout your generations from the food offerings to the Lord. Anything that touches the offerings will become holy.”
Leviticus 6:18 CSB
It’s very interesting that most of the laws about touching things will bring the touches down to the level of the “unclean” thing…this seems logical. Contamination of germs and illnesses work like this. But the sacrifices are the opposite, anything that touches them, becomes holy like they are! This is a pointer to Jesus who had the same impact on people who were sick, they could touch Him and be healed…He would ultimately become the sacrifice for my sin.
““Now if any of the common people sins unintentionally by violating one of the Lord’s commands, does what is prohibited, and incurs guilt, or if someone informs him about the sin he has committed, then he is to bring an unblemished female goat as his offering for the sin that he has committed. He is to lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it at the place of the burnt offering.”
Leviticus 4:27-29 CSB
Interesting that there is a whole chapter dedicated to sacrificing for people who unintentionally sin, but someone tells them about it. Obviously when it domes to sin, ignorance is not absolution…you are still guilty of sin if it had been committed! This is an example where Gods standards are so much higher than ours.
I am so thankful that God points this out, because I think it is easy to slip into shrinking God down to our size, or making Him like us, only a little better…but there really is no comparison! He is incomparable to us, just so much higher and more holy.
Lord, thank You for caring enough about me to make a way for relationship with You. And thank You that because of Jesus, the process is so much simpler. Lord, help me to trust You at every moment of life!
“And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which, if every one of them were written down, I suppose not even the world itself could contain the books that would be written. ”
John 21:25 CSB
John was selective about what he wrote because he was telling a story about the greatest man to ever live…a story that would be compelling and force the reader to deal with the truth about God. The undeniable truth is that Jesus was a real person, He performed miracles that are not possible even today, He loved people as if they were His family even when they were against Him, and He spoke with authority, clarity and conviction like nobody in history. Then, He died, punished as a criminal for you and me, and miraculously came back to life.
All of these things were undeniable. The people who witnessed them could have torn down these as lies when they were written if that was the case…but they didn’t because it is all true.
So, the question is: will you believe? Or will you reject Jesus love for you? That is the only question that matters…
“Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” After he said this, he shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out bound hand and foot with linen strips and with his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him and let him go.””
John 11:38, 40, 43-44 CSB
Lord, I want to see Gods glory…give me eyes to see the work You are doing. I know You are actively working all around me, and I believe that You are actively doing the impossible…but I am often blind to it.
“Honor belongs to the person who ends a dispute, but any fool can get himself into a quarrel.
Counsel in a person’s heart is deep water; but a person of understanding draws it out.
Finalize plans with counsel, and wage war with sound guidance.”
Proverbs 20:3, 5, 18 CSB
Lord, you have called me to counsel and help with disputes. I need Your wisdom to be effective, Your Word to impact peoples hearts. For the sake of those whom I minister, remind me that my words are flawed and only Your Word and Spirit can bring transformation!
“Remember your word to your servant; you have given me hope through it. This is my comfort in my affliction: Your promise has given me life. The arrogant constantly ridicule me, but I do not turn away from your instruction. Lord, I remember your judgments from long ago and find comfort. Fury seizes me because of the wicked who reject your instruction. Your statutes are the theme of my song during my earthly life. Lord, I remember your name in the night, and I obey your instruction. This is my practice: I obey your precepts.”
Psalms 119:49-56 CSB
The author talks about remembering Gods name in the night…it stands out to me that Gods name really is His reputation (who He is, what He stands for, and His character). Then in reference to the night, he is likely referring to emotional darkness, discouragement, depression or teals…where there seems to be nothing but bad news. I can relate to this!
Some days when I feel discouraged about disappointment in life, I just remember who God is and what He has done in the past. It is a great encouragement because so many times He has done the very thing that seemed impossible, that transformed a tragedy into a blessing! That gives me hope that One day He will do that again!
“Lord, God of my salvation, I cry out before you day and night. May my prayer reach your presence; listen to my cry. You have put me in the lowest part of the Pit, in the darkest places, in the depths. Your wrath weighs heavily on me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves. Selah
You have distanced my friends from me; you have made me repulsive to them. I am shut in and cannot go out. My eyes are worn out from crying. Lord, I cry out to you all day long; I spread out my hands to you.”
Psalms 88:1-2, 6-9 CSB
What a sad and heavy psalm…I love how this is in scripture! Feeling so far from God and feeling like He is the one who is causing our pain seems like something that would be hidden, but it is not! It is right out in the open, because sometimes, this is how we feel, and God can handle it.
Thankfully, He doesn’t leave us there…He always restores us to relationship and shows Himself to be present, listening, caring and transforming. He uses even these hard time to shape us into the people He wants us to be. Most of these periods of depression help us to see ourselves more clearly and know Him more deeply.
”But I will sing of your strength and will joyfully proclaim your faithful love in the morning. For you have been a stronghold for me, a refuge in my day of trouble. To you, my strength, I sing praises, because God is my stronghold — my faithful God.“
Psalms 59:16-17 CSB
God has always been my refuge, the One I turn to when things go wrong. He is always faithful, ready to listen, remind me of truth and point out my wrong thinking. I am blessed to know Him as Savior and Stronghold…what a blessing!
”Why should I fear in times of trouble? The iniquity of my foes surrounds me. They trust in their wealth and boast of their abundant riches. Yet these cannot redeem a person or pay his ransom to God — since the price of redeeming him is too costly, one should forever stop trying — so that he may live forever and not see the Pit.
But God will redeem me from the power of Sheol, for he will take me. Selah“
Psalms 49:5-9, 15 CSB
I love that this passage was written hundreds of years before Jesus came to earth. Gods plan was clear in the minds of His people long before He enacted the work of redemption through Jesus on the cross. Even during this time the people knew that God was the only one able to redeem a person, to pay the price required by all the sin committed while they lived. The price was too great for even the wealthiest king. God was their only hope!
There is nothing different about that statement almost 3,000 years later. Nothing we can do will help pay down the debt we owe for the sin we have committed. If we attempt to do right/good things to pay that debt, we fall utterly short…even if we lived 1,000 years, and perfectly accomplished 1,000,000 good deed every day, we still haven’t scraped the surface. Elon Musk isn’t rich enough to begin to erase even one sin.
Yet shockingly, God offers forgiveness for free. He sent Jesus to live 33 years, perfectly, no sin, no failures, just perfection…then asked Jesus to sacrifice Himself by dying on the cross. Jesus takes our sin, selfishness and pride…He accepted the penalty and gave us in exchange the opportunity to freely receive the gift of salvation. Something only God Himself can do.
Rejection of this truth, brings a life dull and impotent. Only fleeting moments of joy, days or weeks of forgetting that the end of life brings judgment…judgment that we have no answer strong enough to tip the scales in our favor. We are hopeless without accepting the truth of salvation through Jesus.
Lord, thank you for saving me, help me live every moment looking for the opportunity to share what you have done in me. I pray that my life would be an attractive example to those who don’t know you!!!
”Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger; do not discipline me in your wrath. Be gracious to me, Lord, for I am weak; heal me, Lord, for my bones are shaking; my whole being is shaken with terror. And you, Lord — how long? Turn, Lord! Rescue me; save me because of your faithful love.“
Psalms 6:1-4 CSB
This is one of those really raw psalms than makes me wonder, “why did this make it into scripture?”…it is not only in scripture but it is a song that Gods people would sing…But then I experienced deep depression where I would be staring at the ceiling feeling just like this. I was desperate for God to show up, He was the only one who could change my situation, but it felt like he was far away and not listening. From my perspective, for Him to leave me in this hopeless state was against His character:
Reading this passage and others like it, brought me comfort because I saw great people from the past voicing the very thing I was experiencing…and they watched God show up! And finally so did I!!! And I t was all because of His faithful love for us. He was there all along, but the distance I felt amplified my desire to know Him and to see what it is that I was really craving, less despair or more of Him!
God, thank you for seasons of suffering that brought me closer to You! Help me to stay in a posture that desires to know and love You more! I pray that I would continue to seek You above all other comforts because You last forever and every other thing/feeling/experience is so fleeting…it is gone in a flash leaving me lonely, alone and broken. You are faithful forever and bring lasting comfort, joy and peace!
”“Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the house of David and the residents of Jerusalem, and they will look at me whom they pierced. They will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly for him as one weeps for a firstborn.“
Zechariah 12:10 CSB
More than 500 years before Jesus was born Zachariah prophesied about Jesus death. He told where He would be crucified and that they would pierce his body (hands, feed and side). This is not the only time Jesus death is portrayed before it happened…in fact there are more than 300 times! (Here is a quick article https://www.gotquestions.org/prophecies-of-Jesus.html)
Gods plan was put into effect from the beginning of time. He knew what would happen and what He would to to resolve the problem of sin. We are still in the middle of Gods plan for redemption and I am so thankful that one day, we will be with Him and He will make all things new. Nothing will be stained by sin and destruction! There will be no more pain and suffering or even death.
Lord, you have a perfect plan, help me to walk into Your plan every day. Correct my thinking when I go my own way and help me to trust You every step! I need You because my own plans are stubborn and “make sense”…but they don’t lead to life. That is where I want to live today…the life abiding with You.
”So the angel of the Lord spoke to those standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes!” Then he said to him, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with festive robes.”“
Zechariah 3:4 CSB
Zechariah continues to bring good news to Gods people telling them of how completely He transforms them. In this scene he looks into heaven and sees the High Priest (most religious person in their people) wearing clothes covered in feces…with Satan at his side accusing him of all of the sin he has ever committed! From the outside the High Priest is hopeless, and helpless…there is nothing he can do to fix this situation.
Then God steps in, removes his disgusting clothes and gives him perfect clothes fit for a celebration and a new head covering, so now he looks OK. Then the miraculous, God tells him not only is he clean on the outside, but all the sin he has ever committed is now gone forever!
This is a picture of what God does for us at salvation! I love how God chose to use the most perfect person as the example and he was still disgusting! Sometimes we look at a pastor, or someone we think has really got it all together…but they still have the same problem as us in Gods presence. Thankfully the solution is the same as well, go to Jesus for transformation!
Lord, I am so thankful that you saved me…you have done all the work to clean me inside and out. You did it all…my only part is recognizing You are the solution and that I am helpless on my own. Help me to love You and follow You every moment today, because I don’t deserve all that You have done for me!
”The righteous Lord is in her; he does no wrong. He applies his justice morning by morning; he does not fail at dawn, yet the one who does wrong knows no shame….
For I will then restore pure speech to the peoples so that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and serve him with a single purpose.“
Zephaniah 3:5, 9 CSB
Israel is described here as doing wrong things, and feeling no shame about it. They have decided that they know better than God, that their sin is actually not a big deal. That idea is put into contrast with God being just, right and near…while never failing!
That is quite the stark contrast:
- saying that truth is a lie …compared to justice
- actively participating in sin …rather than doing righteousness
- fleeing from God …as opposed to drawing near
- being characterized as a failure …vs never failing
It really doesn’t get more opposite than that! Which of course makes the next verse even more amazing: God says, even though you are the opposite of Me, I will restore you, and transform you to be like Me!
Wow, I don’t deserve that, in fact all the evidence points to the reality that I deserve eternal separation from God. What a blessing that He allows us to be transformed, to put our trust in Him and gain the ability to obey.
Lord help me to live like this is true! Help me to see my failures and lay them at Your feet. I pray that your grace would give me confidence to bring it to you rather than try to hide it. I ask that you would help me experience your presence, so that I am less tempted to chase after the brief and fleeting moments of pleasure found in sin.
”How long, Lord, must I call for help and you do not listen or cry out to you about violence and you do not save? Why do you force me to look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Oppression and violence are right in front of me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates. This is why the law is ineffective and justice never emerges. For the wicked restrict the righteous; therefore, justice comes out perverted.“
Habakkuk 1:2-4 CSB
This book opens with the prophet in desperation…he is crying out to God frustrated that He has not already acted. He feels like God is ignoring his prayers. Honestly, the scene he is describing is accurate to describe the world we live in today! And frankly, sometimes God does feel far away and like He will never fix the problems we are facing…
The chapter goes on to tell us that God is already at work to resolve the problem, but He is working behind the scenes. God cares for His people deeply but also knows the perfect timing to heal and restore. If He acts too early they will not learn the lesson… If He waits too long, His people will be destroyed. But He never does either of the extremes, He always intervenes at just the right time!
His work behind the scenes is even more spectacular than we can imagine…weaving all the right people and circumstances together to heal and restore. That is the part that blows me away! The intricacies of how God works out His plan to perfectly accomplish His rescue of each of us is nothing short of miraculous.
God, next time I feel as if you are far away, help remind me of all the times you felt distant, but you were at work meticulously orchestrating my rescue. Lord, help me to trust that you are doing that in the lives of those around me as well. Don’t allow me to despair, but help me to see your fingerprints in all that you are doing!
”Then all who see you will recoil from you, saying, “Nineveh is devastated; who will show sympathy to her?” Where can I find anyone to comfort you? There is no remedy for your injury; your wound is severe. All who hear the news about you will clap their hands because of you, for who has not experienced your constant cruelty?“
Nahum 3:7, 19 CSB
Gods punishment of the enemy of Israel is complete and total…yet even in the midst of God delivering this punishment, He is thinking about restoration. He is looking for someone who can comfort them.
God is the same today, even when we find ourselves in devastating circumstances, God always has a path to restoration…the only time that is gone is because of death. His intention behind every punishment is to help us see our own sin clearly and our need of Him to help us!
That is the gospel after all: we try real hard to do what is right, and fail…yet He is there to remove the failure and energize us to follow Him. It just takes real surrender…which is super hard by the way!
God, help me to remain humble and see my sin clearly. Help me to wake up each day remembering how much I need you to strengthen me. Help me to draw near to you every morning, every day and every night…without You I will end up needing to be devastated like you did to Nineveh.
”In that day I will restore the fallen shelter of David: I will repair its gaps, restore its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old, I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel. They will rebuild and occupy ruined cities, plant vineyards and drink their wine, make gardens and eat their produce. I will plant them on their land, and they will never again be uprooted from the land I have given them. The Lord your God has spoken.“
Amos 9:11, 14-15 CSB
The chapter starts off with God telling His people that they cannot hide from Him…not in the forest, or under the ocean or even in a busy city. God wants us to know He is always near and that we are always on His mind. He could punish them or bless them at any time…
God see us and the wreck of our lives. He knows every detail, the good, the bad, and the hideous. None of it is a surprise to Him, yet we always want to hide our garbage from Him. The beautiful thing is that, if we trust Jesus rather than ourselves, He has already dealt with any and all of the garbage we so desire to hide from Him. How much of our lives are wasted in hiding things that don’t need to be hidden!
Then to top it all off, He actually wants to bless us! These verses tell us that the blessing of God is better than we can imagine…He not only fixes our brokenness, blesses us with joy and celebration then gives us good work to do but He also promises to protect us and keep us in that place of blessing!!!
Lord, give me clarity to remember who you actually are! Not a God who is gleefully looking for the next person to squash. But the God who desires our good…
