Prayer – Lord,
Please listen, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead
Joseph's descendants like a flock. O God, enthroned above the cherubim, display
your radiant glory to Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh. Show us your mighty
power. Come to rescue us! Turn us again to yourself, O God. Make your face
shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved. O LORD God of Heaven's
Armies, how long will you be angry with our prayers? You have fed us with
sorrow and made us drink tears by the bucketful. You have made us the scorn of
neighboring nations. Our enemies treat us as a joke. Turn us again to yourself,
O God of Heaven's Armies. Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will
we be saved. You brought us from Egypt like a grapevine; you drove away the
pagan nations and transplanted us into your land. You cleared the ground for
us, and we took root and filled the land. Our shade covered the mountains; our
branches covered the mighty cedars. We spread our branches west to the
Mediterranean Sea; our shoots spread east to the Euphrates River. But now, why
have you broken down our walls so that all who pass by may steal our fruit? The
wild boar from the forest devours it, and the wild animals feed on it. Come
back, we beg you, O God of Heaven's Armies. Look down from heaven and see our
plight. Take care of this grapevine that you yourself have planted, this son
you have raised for yourself. For we are chopped up and burned by our enemies.
May they perish at the sight of your frown. Strengthen the man
you love, the son of your choice. Then we will never abandon you again. Revive
us so we can call on your name once more. Turn us again to yourself, O LORD God
of Heaven's Armies. Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be
saved. Psalm 80:1-19
Light shining down from the face of God.
South Carolina beach
Meditate. Consider God’s light from His Son, our Lord and
Savior.
When God repeats something, you know He is trying to
impress something special upon us.
Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will
we be saved. Consider how good it feels to have the sunshining on
us—especially on a cool day, like today. The sun shine is always important and
welcome to me. Gray days tend to be a bit depressing and can even trigger
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) that occurs for some people, sapping their
energy and making them moody. It starts occurring as soon as gray skies begin
in the fall and then winter days. For me, I have to look to the Lord—who gives
me strength to face the gray days. He makes His face to shine down on me. He is
the light in the darkness. Sometimes last winter I even used a full spectrum
light by my chair as I was reading—its like a little ray of sunshine.
God provides His light in different ways, spiritually enlightening us.
For God, who said,
"Let there be light in the darkness," has made this light shine in
our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus
Christ. We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like
fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our
great power is from God, not from ourselves. We are pressed on every side by
troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 2
Corinthians 4:6-8
Fragile old clay jars as seen in Israel.
I like that analogy that Paul used in Corinthians. We ourselves
are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. We can be so
fragile—delicate, unstable, weak—but Jesus can give us strength. Jesus is the treasure
within each of us when we repent and accept Him as our Savior. Salvation comes
to each of us from the Lord, just as Jonah noted while he was in the belly of
that great fish.
But I will offer
sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation
comes from the LORD alone. Jonah 2:9
As these gray skies try to overpower the sunshine, think on
God’s light from His Son. Then we can ask God to…make your face shine down
upon us. Only then will we be saved.
Verse of Salvation ~ For you have rescued me from death;
you have kept my feet from slipping. So now I can walk in your presence, O God,
in your life-giving light. Psalm 56:13
Rescued as in saved, provided salvation.
Memory Verse of the Week ~ I am leaving you with a gift—peace
of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So
don't be troubled or afraid. John 14:27
© 2022 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All
rights reserved.
All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless
otherwise noted.
New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale
House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream,
Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm.
Books by Mickey M.
Hunacek
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