| Latest Thoughts of the Day |
| Ezekiel 36:29 |
| 4/20/2025 |
I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you.
These promises of blessing come on the heels of the promise of wide and deep spiritual blessing. Stony heart changed to heart of flesh, cleansing of all sin, desire and power to live for Jesus will be given to hitherto unwilling servants, caused and enabled to walk in His ways—these are the spiritual blessings. Healthy crops and security against famine are tossed in at the end. Lord, we long to see Your people, Israel experience these blessings. We are thankful that You have included us in these blessings even now, and that in Christ we have wonderful promise of eternal life. We fear no famine, since we trust in the One who did not spare His own Son, but sent us Jesus.
|
|
| Lamentations 3:50 |
| 4/19/2025 |
...until the Lord looks down from heaven ad sees.
Jeremiah is beside himself with grief concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, and he feels he will never stop weeping until He feels heard and understood by God. But that will be enough. Reassurance by the Holy Spirit that God has heard our cries and is Himself with us is enough for any of us. The old hymn said, “If Jesus goes with me, I’ll go---anywhere!”. “I’ll count it a privilege here His cross to bear. If Jesus goes with me I’ll go---anywhere!” It seems to be more than talking himself into assurance by remembering verses. And this is certainly true for us. We need His promise, but we need His presence. Lord, You promised that you would not leave us comfortless, but that you would come to us. Reassure us of Your presence with us, Lord Jesus.
|
|
| Jeremiah 39:13 |
| 4/18/2025 |
So Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard, Nebushazben, a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezar, a high official and all the other officers of the king of Babylon...
Having conquered Judah, Nebuchadnezzar was very concerned that Jeremiah, who had for years urged the people to surrender, be freed from bondage and allowed to do what he pleased. This verse records the names of the Babylonian officials who took seriously the King’s request, sought out Jeremiah, and did for him what the King decreed. What happens to Jeremiah now will be entirely the fault of Jewish leaders among those not killed by Nebuchadnezzar. More judgment is coming, but it will not be the fault of these men. They have obeyed the king. In the day of our judgment, who will be exonerated and who will stand accused? In all the turmoil we, like Jeremiah, will be safe in the arms of Jesus.
|
|
| Isaiah 50:7 |
| 4/17/2025 |
Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.
The Suffering Servant trusts that after His dreadful suffering He will be raised from the dead and enter into the joy of gathering a people that no man can number, who will bow willingly and unreservedly to the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. He will be proved to have been right in His confidence, so from the beginning He is utterly committed to follow through on the plan to suffer and die for sin. It is because the Sovereign Lord helps Him that He accomplishes this plan, laid from before the foundation of the world. As we see Your steadfast determination to do what you must to take away our sins, we worship You, Lord Jesus.
|
|
| Song of Songs 5:12 |
| 4/16/2025 |
His eyes are liie doves by the water streams, washed in milk, mounted like jewels.
How do you articulate what makes a thing beautiful in your judgment? The Hebrew poet draws from a world quite distant from ours, and it is difficult for us to see the beauty in what he sees as beautiful. Obviously he is struck by the wonderful brightness of the beloved’s eyes and the firm gaze that reflects a noble and upright character. Doves washed in milk suggest bright clarity. Firmness of their setting suggests strength and straightforwardness. What images would suggest these things for us? Whatever poetic expression we would choose would ultimately be expressed in the Person of our Lord. Whether Solomon speaks of the adoration of the maid for her beloved or the delight of the beloved in the maid, the delight finds its fullness in our Lord Jesus.
|
|
| Ecclesiastes 8:13 |
| 4/15/2025 |
Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow
In Romans God promises that all things work together for good for them that love God and are called according to His purpose. Not so for the wicked. It will not go well for them in the day of judgment; and it won’t even really go well in this life. The satisfaction the wicked seek never comes to them. There is always something missing. On a clear evening of a sunny day, one sees shadows lengthen. But the quiet evening of life will not be the experience of the wicked. A terror awaits. Lord, grant a fear of God to those we love. May life go well for them, and may they face eternity with confidence! May their hearts be surely fixed on Jesus!
|
|
| Proverbs 23:26 |
| 4/14/2025 |
My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes keep to my ways,
The writer is rejoicing in his son’s commitment to serve God, while at the same time is aware of dangers all around. He is wise enough to know that every temptation begins with the eyes looking with longing upon something that tempts a person to destruction. Job spoke of making a covenant with his eyes. A children’s chorus says, “Be careful little eyes what you see!” We need to love the Lord and to guard our eyes. Help us do that today, Lord! You who were tempted in all ways as we are, help us, like you, to turn from sin. Covetousness and lust are targets of advertising all around us. Help us to set our hearts on things that are above and to direct our gaze on what especially reflects our Lord Jesus.
|
|
| Psalm 113:7 |
| 4/13/2025 |
He raises the poor rom the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap.
The Psalm begins with a very exalted view of God as omnipotent, ruling over all, and displaying His glories in the heights of the heavens. He immediately jumps to His tender care for men who are downtrodden, and speaks of God raising up the very lowly among men. Not only the desolate, but the dirty are raised up by this God of Glory. And didn’t God see us when we were desolate and dirty, and didn’t He raise us up? Have any of the great kings of the earth trusted in Jesus? If so, we are there at their side, by the wonderful grace of God. He rescues us and cleans us up and puts us in glorious company. He grants us joys on earth and promises joys in heaven, all through Jesus!
|
|
|
|
|
