Prayer – Lord God, I trust You, because You are all powerful and don’t need anyone to tell You what to do. You have enemies, but You are more powerful than they are and You will win any battle against anyone—even against the common, pesky tumbleweeds.
O God, do not be silent! Do not be deaf. Do not be
quiet, O God. Don't you hear the uproar of your enemies? Don't you see that
your arrogant enemies are rising up? They devise crafty schemes against your
people; they conspire against your precious ones. "Come," they say,
"let us wipe out Israel as a nation. We will destroy the very memory of
its existence." Yes, this was their unanimous decision. They signed a
treaty as allies against you—these Edomites and Ishmaelites; Moabites and
Hagrites; Gebalites, Ammonites, and Amalekites; and people from Philistia and
Tyre. Assyria has joined them, too, and is allied with the descendants of Lot. Do
to them as you did to the Midianites and as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the
Kishon River. They were destroyed at Endor, and their decaying corpses
fertilized the soil. Let their mighty nobles die as Oreb and Zeeb did. Let all
their princes die like Zebah and Zalmunna, for they said, "Let us seize
for our own use these pasturelands of God!" O my God, scatter them like
tumbleweed, like chaff before the wind! As a fire burns a forest and as a flame
sets mountains ablaze, chase them with your fierce storm; terrify them with
your tempest. Utterly disgrace them until they submit to your name, O LORD. Let
them be ashamed and terrified forever. Let them die in disgrace. Then they will
learn that you alone are called the LORD, that you alone are the Most High,
supreme over all the earth. Psalm 83:1-18
Meditate. Consider God’s power and supremacy.
This Psalmist is advising Almighty God Himself not to be
quiet, silent, or deaf. Who tells God what to do…or not do? God knows and sees
everything. I think of it as…God knows the good, the bad and the ugly—and loves
us all in spite of your standing. We can’t work to get into heaven…to receive Salvation.
That is a gift—pure and simple—but He does offer us the opportunity to serve
Him. What a privilege to serve God Almighty!
For God watches how people
live; he sees everything they do. Job 34:21
Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything. 1 John 3:18-20.
I live in a
region where the tumbleweeds, known as Russian Thistles, grow in any area they
can…in any area where the ground is broken, and the soil is exposed. They even
grow alongside the wheat…just like in the story of the wheat and the tares. Do
you see yourself in this parable?
Here is another
story Jesus told: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good
seed in his field. But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and
planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away. When the crop began to grow
and produce grain, the weeds also grew. "The farmer's workers went to him
and said, 'Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds!
Where did they come from?' "'An enemy has done this!' the farmer
exclaimed. "'Should we pull out the weeds?' they asked. "'No,' he
replied, 'you'll uproot the wheat if you do. Let both grow together until the
harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into
bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.'" Matthew
13:24-30
Watch out for the tares growing in with the good crops, or
for those who claim to be allies, but want to destroy Israel. Beware. But trust
in the Lord God who sees and knows everything.
Verses of Salvation ~ (Jesus wept over Jerusalem.)
But as he came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city
ahead, he began to weep. "How I wish today that you of all people would
understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from
your eyes. Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and
encircle you and close in on you from every side. They will crush you into the
ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone
in place, because you did not accept your opportunity for salvation."
Luke 19:41-44
The City of Jerusalem
Would Jesus weep over it today?
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
Did you memorize this verse?
© 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
Available as e-books or paperbacks at Amazon.com
Parenting Day By Day - Daily Devotional for Building Character
Coins in the Bible: New Testament Stories
No comments:
Post a Comment