Zechariah 10:5-8

God is full of mercy and grace and He wants everyone to have the choice of eternal life with Him so.....He provided the sacrifice once and for ALL in Jesus. He will strengthen us and we will rejoice. Ask the Lord for His blessing so that you can be a blessing. What we cannot do He does with just a word! Lord, rain down on me.

The promise I will bring them back is a promise of restoration. The dispersed remnant of Israel would return to the Promised Land.

As a shepherd signals his sheep, so the Lord will whistle for His people to return to the land. God will deliver them from sin and from the bondage of captivity.

Zechariah 10:6-8

⁶ “I will strengthen the house of Judah, 

And I will save the house of Joseph. 

I will bring them back, 

Because I have mercy on them. 

They shall be as though I had not cast them aside; 

For I am the Lord their God, 

And I will hear them. 

⁷ Those of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, 

And their heart shall rejoice as if with wine. 

Yes, their children shall see it and be glad; 

Their heart shall rejoice in the Lord. 

⁸ I will whistle for them and gather them, 

For I will redeem them; 

And they shall increase as they once increased. 

Jonah 2:1-10

Outside of God’s will for our life is a dangerous place to be. He will do whatever it takes to show us the stupidity of our choices and to bring us back to the center of the cross where God met man in Jesus Christ. I have been there and I am filled with gratitude that our Father is full of mercy and grace and never leaves nor forsakes those prodical children who place their trust in Him alone.

The phrase the Lord his God shows that Jonah, even though he was disobedient, was a true believer in God. Jonah was terrified. When the sailors threw Jonah into the sea, he seemed to be “as good as dead.” Thus for Jonah, the sea became like Sheol, the place of death. The man who had run from God’s presence was alone, yet he clung to the hope that God would not abandon him. Jonah reaffirms his faith in the Lord and renews his commitment to Him.

The focus in the story of Jonah is on the Lord’s sovereign control over creation to bring about His purpose.

Mercy (loyal love), the term that so often describes God’s faithfulness to His covenant and to His people is used as a name for the Lord. Jonah declares that he will keep his promise, a pledge both to sacrifice and to acknowledge God’s help. It is the Lord who delivers His people. God acts on behalf of His creation and the redeemed community to insure a relationship with them.

November 14th, 2011

Jonah 2:1-10

Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly. ² And he said: 

“I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, 

And He answered me. 

“Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, 

And You heard my voice. 

³ For You cast me into the deep, 

Into the heart of the seas, 

And the floods surrounded me; 

All Your billows and Your waves passed over me. 

⁴ Then I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight; 

Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.’ 

⁵ The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; 

The deep closed around me; 

Weeds were wrapped around my head. 

⁶ I went down to the moorings of the mountains; 

The earth with its bars closed behind me forever; 

Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, 

O Lord, my God. 

⁷ “When my soul fainted within me, 

I remembered the Lord; 

And my prayer went up to You, 

Into Your holy temple. 

⁸ “Those who regard worthless idols 

Forsake their own Mercy. 

⁹ But I will sacrifice to You 

With the voice of thanksgiving; 

I will pay what I have vowed. 

Salvation is of the Lord.” 

¹⁰ So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. 

Isaiah 12:1-2

Humbled beyond measure, filled to the brim with gratitude and full of His mercy and grace in Christ Jesus...this is how I feel after His cleansing in my life. I praise you Father, Son and Holy Spirit!

The first you is singular, representing the remnant as an individual. The anger of God had caused the people to be dispersed among the nations; His grace would lead to their regathering.

ah, the Lord, by its repetition, emphasizes that Israel’s covenant-keeping God—and not the nations—brings salvation 

Isaiah 12:1-2

12 And in that day you will say: 

“O Lord, I will praise You; 

Though You were angry with me, 

Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me. 

² Behold, God is my salvation, 

I will trust and not be afraid; 

‘For Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song; 

He also has become my salvation.’ ” 

Ezekiel 34:20-24

God cares about all of His creation but He especially watches over and protects those that have no power and no one who cares for their needs. Today I am thankful that through our votes we have shown that Ohio cares for God’s children, all of them! 

The leaders of Israel had failed to lead properly. They had used their positions of power to their own advantage and to the disadvantage of the people.

The change from the pronoun I to he in this verse indicates that God would continue operating as the Chief Shepherd through this chosen future ruler from the Davidic line. He is the Messiah—God’s only Son and His servant.

Ezekiel 34:20-24

²⁰ ‘Therefore thus says the Lord God to them: “Behold, I Myself will judge between the fat and the lean sheep. ²¹ Because you have pushed with side and shoulder, butted all the weak ones with your horns, and scattered them abroad, ²² therefore I will save My flock, and they shall no longer be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. ²³ I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them— My servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd. ²⁴ And I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken. 

1 Corinthians 14:26-32

Do we limit the power of the Holy Spirit by not allowing or encouraging all of His gifts in our churches? We need to allow Him full reign knowing that in all things He desires order, peace and unity.

If each person brings to the meeting the special ability that God has given him or her, and if everything is done for edification, the church as a whole will benefit. 

Revealed indicates that prophesying as described here is different from what we call preaching or reading from Scripture. The prophesying that Paul referred to is similar to OT prophecy in which God gives a revelation to one of His servants who, in turn, gives that revelation to God’s people.

1 Corinthians 14:26-32

²⁶ How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. ²⁷ If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret. ²⁸ But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God. ²⁹ Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. ³⁰ But if anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent. ³¹ For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. ³² And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. ³³ For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. 

John 1:14-18

Do we truly understand this, can we fully comprehend the meaning of these passages? The Word of God became man to set us free with His truth and to save us with His grace. No greater gift can be given than eternal life with Him to all who believe!

The Son of God who was from eternity became human, with limitations in time and space. This is the doctrine of the incarnation: God became human.  All who trust Christ are born of God. In the Gospel of John, these “born ones” are called children of God, but Jesus Christ is the unique Son of God. He is the only Son who is fully God.

When God revealed Himself to Moses, He proclaimed Himself to be “abounding in goodness and truth” (see Ex. 34:6). As applied to Jesus Christ, this phrase marks Him as the author of perfect redemption and perfect revelation. 

Grace is God’s favor expressed to sinful humankind apart from any human works or worth. God became visible to human eyes in the man Jesus. It is through seeing the Son that we see God. The One who is the Father’s only begotten Son and who knows God intimately came to earth and declared Him.

John 1:14-18

¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 

¹⁵ John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ” 

¹⁶ And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. 

Matthew 26:39

Jesus understands our fears because in His human nature He feared. Through Him we have the privilege of calling on His intervention in our circumstances. We have an advocate to the divine through Him, all man AND all God. His peace He gives to us, not the peace of the world, but the peace of the Godhead to face whatever life throws at us. He was separated from His Father so that we don’t have to be.

It was not the impending physical suffering, as terrible as it would be, that caused Jesus to pray this way; it was the reality of the sinless Son of God bearing the sins of the world and facing separation from His Father. Jesus became a curse for us and took the brunt of God’s righteous wrath against sin.

Matthew 26:39

³⁹ He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” 

Matthew 1:17

God keeps His promises from generation to generation. They are not on our time but on His. We are drawing close to the Holy Season let’s all remember that Jesus is the reason behind the celebrations. We live because Jesus was born, was crucified and He rose again to conquer sin and death so that we don’t have to. God’s family is important to Him just like ours is important to us....our family can be broken in death but His family will last forever. The good news is that all of us can choose to be adopted into His family He comes to us with open arms and a forgiving heart waiting for us to ask Him for the salvation that only He can provide!

The genealogy is broken down into three groups of names with fourteen generations in each list. The name David in Hebrew has a numerical value of 14. Because the heading of the list is “Son of David”, Matthew may have been drawing attention to the Davidic emphasis in these names.

In the first group, the Davidic throne is established; in the second group, the throne is cast down and deported to Babylon; in the third group, the throne is confirmed in the coming of the Messiah. Further, a basic covenant is set forth in each of these three periods: the Abrahamic covenant in the first; the Davidic covenant in the second, and the New Covenant in the third.

Isaiah 55:3 Incline your ear, and come to Me. 

Hear, and your soul shall live; 

And I will make an everlasting covenant with you— 

The sure mercies of David. 

2 Chronicles 21:7  Yet the Lord would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that He had made with David, and since He had promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever. 

Matthew 1:17

¹⁷ So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations

Acts 13:36-41

The letter of the Law kills the grace of God given in Jesus Christ who gives eternal life to all who choose to believe.  Just believe!!

Justification is a legal term meaning “declared innocent” It is a legal declaration that a person is acquitted and absolved. It is by justification that a person is righteous and acceptable to God. The death of Christ was the payment of our sin debt, so that we might be forgiven.

Acts 13:36-41

³⁶ “For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption; ³⁷ but He whom God raised up saw no corruption. ³⁸ Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; ³⁹ and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. ⁴⁰ Beware therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you: 

⁴¹ ‘Behold, you despisers, 

Marvel and perish! 

For I work a work in your days, 

A work which you will by no means believe, 

Though one were to declare it to you.’ ” 

Jeremiah 51:56

What we do to others will return to us....good for good OR bad for bad. We need to treat others in the way that we want to be treated! 

Babylon would be destroyed for killing so many in Israel. 

Jeremiah 51:56

⁵⁶ Because the plunderer comes against her, against Babylon, 

And her mighty men are taken. 

Every one of their bows is broken; 

For the Lord is the God of recompense, 

He will surely repay. 

Don’t judge other people or you will be judged.  Matthew 7:1

Jeremiah 18:5-11

God is long suffering towards man  and wants everyone to be with Him forever but there will come an end to His patience with us. Love is the line drawn in the sand for man, we either love God above all and others as much as we love ourselves and prove it by our actions, or we will put up walls of defense to the agape love of God and shut Him out of our life. 

The Holy Spirit will do whatever it takes to teach us the destruction of following our flawed human nature and teach us the way to eternal life with God......we can learn the hard way or the easy way but we will learn our lessons. 

The potter’s remolding of the clay into an acceptable and unblemished work symbolized God’s action in reforming Israel. The people had become marred and defiled and had to be reformed into a vessel fit to be identified with the Lord.

If a nation threatened with destruction would turn from its evil, God would relent of the promised disaster. God the Potter was more than willing to forgive the iniquity and stubborn rebellion of Judah. In Gal. 4:19, Paul uses this imagery to depict the formation of the image of Christ in the obedient Christian.

A nation to whom God has promised His blessing may forfeit its preferred status through disobedience. In such a case, God would relent of the good He had promised and bring calamity upon the rebellious people. God was fashioning a disaster, a calamity, for Judah if it did not repent or return to Him and change its actions from evil to good.

Jeremiah 18:5-11

⁵ Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ⁶ “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?” says the Lord. “Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel! ⁷ The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, ⁸ if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. ⁹ And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, ¹⁰ if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it. 

¹¹ “Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you. Return now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.” ’ ” 

Ambition

By Max Lucado

The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom.  Job 28:28, NKJV

Ambition is that grit in the soul that creates disenchantment with the ordinary and puts the dare into dreams.

But left unchecked it becomes an insatiable addiction to power and prestige; a roaring hunger for achievement that devours people as a lion devours an animal, leaving behind only the skeletal remains of relationships ...

God won’t tolerate it.

Mark 2:5-12

Believe! Jesus Christ has the power and the desire to heal you physically and mentally. In the socially dominated world that we live in it is easy to get caught up in the belief system of this world. Most of us don’t even realize the impact that society has on our understanding of right and wrong, God’s way or man’s way. The stress that we are under to conform and the values that we trade in order to succeed and to be accepted cause illness both emotionally and physically. When we admit our sin and inability to make it on our own asking Jesus for forgiveness He heals us. Precept upon precept, He teaches us through the Holy Spirit God’s way of attaining abundant life! Jesus takes away the original sin of the world and is the only way to the Father and eternal life.

Not only did the four men have faith, but the paralytic himself had it too. When Jesus announced to him, your sins are forgiven, He was implicitly acknowledging the paralytic’s trust that He was the Messiah. Mark notes the opposition of the scribes, who under their breath accused Jesus of blasphemy. In Christ’s day the scribes were commonly called lawyers. 

Jesus asked the which is easier question to demonstrate the truth of His claim to forgive the man’s sins—something only God can accomplish. Anyone could assert the ability to forgive sins, since there was no earthly way of confirming the statement. But to say arise, take up your bed and walk to a paralytic could be tested immediately by whether he walked or not. By healing the paralytic, Jesus made His pronouncement of forgiveness far more credible. Son of Man is a term regularly used for the Messiah

The crowd’s reaction showed that they understood the significance of Jesus’ miracle. It is possible that some scribes and Pharisees joined in the acclamation. But permanent, life-changing faith is what Christ sought, not temporary adoration from the crowd.

Mark 2:5-12

⁵ When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic,  “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” 

⁶ And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, ⁷ “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 

⁸ But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them,  “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? ⁹ Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’? ¹⁰ But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, ¹¹  “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” ¹² Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!” 

Nahum 1:12-13

God protects those who put their total trust in Him. He will never leave you not forsake you and He placed His heart, the Holy Spirit, in you so that you will be guided by Him and never be left alone. Ask and you will receive, knock and the door will be open to you for everyone who ask receives and he who seeks finds. God so loves you and me!!

Here is an oracle of deliverance from God to His people. The present sense of safety and power that the enemy felt would not last; the past judgments of God on His nation would not continue. The Lord promised to break off the yoke that the enemy had placed on His people

Nahum 1:12-13

¹² Thus says the Lord: 

“Though they are safe, and likewise many, 

Yet in this manner they will be cut down 

When he passes through. 

Though I have afflicted you, 

I will afflict you no more; 

¹³ For now I will break off his yoke from you, 

And burst your bonds apart.” 

Luke 6:27-36

Who can understand a love like God’s? In our human way of looking at life it seems impossible....it is. Only with the help of the Holy Spirit can we aspire and attain to live life according to God’s principles. We need to keep His ways uppermost in our minds and lives praying always for His help and guidance.

The threat of religious persecution was very real when Jesus presented His command for extraordinary love. The reference to a cursing enemy suggests a context of religious persecution. 

The one who seeks to love will always remain exposed and at risk. Jesus’ instruction here is to forgive and forget. Such love as Jesus describes recognizes the preferences of others and is sensitive to them. The practice of loving one’s enemies is modeled by God Himself, who is kind to the unthankful and evil. Jesus also notes that the reward will be great for the losses suffered while practicing this type of love. This reward will be a hundredfold—that is, ten thousand percent

Luke 6:27-36

²⁷  “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. ²⁹ To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. ³⁰ Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. ³¹ And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. 

³² “But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. ³³ And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. ³⁴ And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. ³⁵ But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. ³⁶ Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. 

Mark 7:6-7

God’s ways are far above man’s and He honors those who honor Him and His ways above the ways of man. In the ‘my personal rights society’ that we live in it is hard to fathom that love, God’s agape love, rules supreme and who does He love....all of His creation.

Jesus did not directly answer the question but instead addressed two more significant issues: (1) the superiority of God’s law over man-made tradition and (2) the difference between ceremonial and true moral defilement. Jesus enters into the argument by calling His adversaries hypocrites. The term originally referred to actors who wore masks on stage as they played different characters. Thus the Pharisees were not genuinely religious; they were merely playing a part for all to see.

Mark 7:6-7

⁶ He answered and said to them,  “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: 

‘This people honors Me with their lips, 

But their heart is far from Me. 

⁷ And in vain they worship Me, 

Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ 

Isaiah 6:6

^{God in His infinite mercy and grace gave man His only begotten Son to die for our sins and to give us the chance to be with Him eternally. No greater love than this exists!}

The live coal … from the altar symbolizes both the purification of blood and the fire of the Spirit that enabled the prophet to speak. From that point on, his words would be light to his hearers and power to those who would listen. The fact that a coal from the altar was used reminds us that ultimately all sin is forgiven because of a sacrifice. The sacrifices on the temple altar point to the ultimate sacrifice of the Savior Jesus. God sovereignly and graciously forgave Isaiah’s sin.

^{Isaiah 6:6-7}

⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. ⁷ And he touched my mouth with it, and said:

“Behold, this has touched your lips; 

Your iniquity is taken away, 

And your sin purged.” 

Ezekiel 35:10-13

God watches over those who trust in Him and He remembers His promises and keeps them even when we do not.

A second reason for God’s revenge on Edom is given, in addition to that in v. 5—Edom expected to take over Judah and Israel after their destruction by the Babylonians. These two nations refers to Israel and Judah.

Ezekiel 35:10-13

¹⁰ “Because you have said, ‘These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will ^kpossess them,’ although ^lthe Lord was there, ¹¹ therefore, as I live,” says the Lord God, “I will do ^maccording to your anger and according to the envy which you showed in your hatred against them; and I will make Myself known among them when I judge you. ^{12 n}Then you shall know that I am the Lord. I have ^oheard all your ^pblasphemies which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, ‘They are desolate; they are given to us to consume.’ ¹³ Thus ^qwith your mouth you have ⁶boasted against Me and multiplied your ^rwords against Me; I have heard them.”

this day choose who you will serve

this is the second day in a row that I have been led to this passage....choose life and that in abundance