Zephaniah 3
The Future of Jerusalem
1 Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled! 2 She obeys no one, she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the LORD, she does not draw near to her God.
3 Her officials are roaring lions, her rulers are evening wolves, who leave nothing for the morning.
4 Her prophets are arrogant; they are treacherous men. Her priests profane the sanctuary and do violence to the law.
5 The LORD within her is righteous; he does no wrong. Morning by morning he dispenses his justice, and every new day he does not fail, yet the unrighteous know no shame.
6 "I have cut off nations; their strongholds are demolished. I have left their streets deserted, with no one passing through. Their cities are destroyed; no one will be left—no one at all.
7 I said to the city, 'Surely you will fear me and accept correction!' Then her dwelling would not be cut off, nor all my punishments come upon her. But they were still eager to act corruptly in all they did.
8 Therefore wait for me," declares the LORD, "for the day I will stand up to testify. [a] I have decided to assemble the nations, to gather the kingdoms and to pour out my wrath on them— all my fierce anger. The whole world will be consumed by the fire of my jealous anger.
9 "Then will I purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the LORD and serve him shoulder to shoulder.
10 From beyond the rivers of Cush [b] my worshipers, my scattered people, will bring me offerings.
11 On that day you will not be put to shame for all the wrongs you have done to me, because I will remove from this city those who rejoice in their pride. Never again will you be haughty on my holy hill.
12 But I will leave within you the meek and humble, who trust in the name of the LORD.
13 The remnant of Israel will do no wrong; they will speak no lies, nor will deceit be found in their mouths. They will eat and lie down and no one will make them afraid."
14 Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem!
15 The LORD has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The LORD, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm.
16 On that day they will say to Jerusalem, "Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands hang limp.
17 The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."
18 "The sorrows for the appointed feasts I will remove from you; they are a burden and a reproach to you. [c]
19 At that time I will deal with all who oppressed you; I will rescue the lame and gather those who have been scattered. I will give them praise and honor in every land where they were put to shame.
20 At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home. I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes [d] before your very eyes," says the LORD.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotional
Psalm 3
1For the director of music. A psalm of David. 1 In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. 2 Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me.
3 Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me.
4 Free me from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge.
5 Into your hands I commit my spirit; redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth.
6 I hate those who cling to worthless idols; I trust in the LORD.
7 I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul.
8 You have not handed me over to the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place.
January 21, 2008
Our Best Defense
ODB RADIO: Listen Now Download
READ: Psalm 31:1-8
Be my rock of refuge, a fortress of defense to save me. —Psalm 31:2 About this cover In late January 1956, during the tense days of the Montgomery Boycott, civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. could not sleep. A threatening phone call had terrified him. So he prayed, “I am here taking a stand for what I believe is right. But Lord, I must confess that I’m weak now, I’m faltering. I’m losing my courage. Now, I am afraid. . . . The people are looking to me for leadership, and if I stand before them without strength and courage, they too will falter. I am at the end of my powers. . . . I can’t face it alone.”
Dr. King later wrote, “At that moment I experienced the presence of the Divine as I never experienced Him before. It seemed as though I could hear the quiet assurance of an inner voice saying, ‘Stand up for righteousness, stand up for truth; and God will be at your side forever.’ Almost at once my fears began to go. My uncertainty disappeared. I was ready to face anything.”
The rest is history. Dr. King wanted to see people of all colors free of the damage done by racism and prejudice.
If we face opposition when we’re trying to do what’s right, we too must cry out to the Lord. He alone is our “rock of refuge, a fortress of defense” (Ps. 31:2). He is our reliable source of strength and protection. —David C. Egner
Lord, help me stand upon Your rock of TruthAnd never trust myself to sinking sand;Whenever I am faced with evil powers,I’ll call upon Your strong and mighty hand. —Hess
When we trust the power of God, we experience peace, not panic.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
January 21, 2008
Recall What God RemembersLISTEN: READ:
Thus says the Lord: ’I remember . . . the kindness of your youth . . .’ —Jeremiah 2:2 About this cover Am I as spontaneously kind to God as I used to be, or am I only expecting God to be kind to me? Does everything in my life fill His heart with gladness, or do I constantly complain because things don’t seem to be going my way? A person who has forgotten what God treasures will not be filled with joy. It is wonderful to remember that Jesus Christ has needs which we can meet— "Give Me a drink" (John 4:7). How much kindness have I shown Him in the past week? Has my life been a good reflection on His reputation?
God is saying to His people, "You are not in love with Me now, but I remember a time when you were." He says, "I remember . . . the love of your betrothal . . ." (Jeremiah 2:2). Am I as filled to overflowing with love for Jesus Christ as I was in the beginning, when I went out of my way to prove my devotion to Him? Does He ever find me pondering the time when I cared only for Him? Is that where I am now, or have I chosen man’s wisdom over true love for Him? Am I so in love with Him that I take no thought for where He might lead me? Or am I watching to see how much respect I get as I measure how much service I should give Him?
As I recall what God remembers about me, I may also begin to realize that He is not what He used to be to me. When this happens, I should allow the shame and humiliation it creates in my life, because it will bring godly sorrow, and "godly sorrow produces repentance . . ." (2 Corinthians 7:10).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Where You Were Created to Be - #5486 Monday, January 21, 2008
I was speaking at a Bible conference, set right near the shore of a beautiful lake. I was responsible for speaking about 18 times in six days, so I was a pretty busy boy. But I did something that would make my wife Karen proud, even in spite of how busy I was. I took time to smell the flowers; well, at least to admire the flowers. I'm partially colorblind, but even I was struck by these rich purple flowers blooming all over this sprawling vine in the garden outside my window. The flowers seemed to be everywhere in this garden. I asked someone from the conference what I was looking at, and he told me it's a Vinca vine. He said they had transplanted that vine from a pot to the soil of this garden. And I was told a Vinca vine doesn't produce any flowers when it's in a pot - only when you plant it in the ground.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Where You Were Created to Be."
In the words of the man who had transplanted that vine, "It thrives only when it was where it was created to be." So do we.
And sadly, so many of us spend our whole life looking for, but missing, where we were created to be. And it is only the One who created you who can ultimately tell you where you were created to be. And He has in our word for today from the Word of God. In six little words, our Creator spells out for us the reason for our existence, the answer to life's most ultimate question, "Why am I here?" In Colossians 1:16, speaking of Jesus, God says, "All things were," and here are the six words, "created by Him and for Him."
So you were created by Jesus, you were created for Jesus, and you're going to have hole in your heart until you have Jesus. It could be you've been trying to fill that hole in your heart for a long time. But no relationship you've ever had has done it, no accomplishment, no experience, no religion. They can't. The hole in your heart is so big it can only be filled by the person who created you.
And the reason we can't find the meaning we've been looking for, and the peace, the lasting love, the reason is that we're away from the One we were made for. We're away from Him, not by His choice, but by ours. We were created for Him, but we've lived for ourselves. That's what "sin" is all about. Notice, the middle letter of sin, it's "I." And nothing is really working, nothing is really fulfilling because your sin - your running of your own life - has cut you off from the love you were created for.
That's why Jesus came. In Colossians 2:13-14, the Bible says, "God forgave us all our sins, having canceled ... what was against us; He took it away, nailing it to the cross." When you come in your heart to the cross where Jesus died for every wrong thing you've ever done; when you give yourself to the One who gave Himself for you, the sin-wall comes down and you begin for the first time in your life to be "where you were created to be."
If you've never yet experienced your own personal relationship with Jesus Christ, would you tell Him today, "Jesus, I turn from the running of my own life. I want to give my life to the One who gave His life for me. Jesus, beginning right here and right now, I am Yours." If that's what you want, then what I've put on our website, yoursforlife.net, may be is exactly what you need to help you understand this new commitment to Jesus Christ and to be sure that you belong to Him. A lot of people have found that kind of encouragement there, and I think you would too. It's yoursforlife.net. I'd encourage you to go there this very day - yoursforlife.net. Or I can send you the little booklet I have written called Yours For Life with that same information. Call us toll free and ask for it. It's 877-741-1200.
Your life really begins when you finally are where you were created to be: in the relationship you were made for, with the Person you were made by. And that relationship can begin for you today. You don't have to be outside His love one more day.
To find out how you can begin a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, please visit: yoursforlife.net or call 1-888-966-7325.
