Day 229 of My Second Bible Study Journey - 17 August reflections
Day 229, 17 August 2022
1) Ezekiel 14-16
Ezekiel 14
Idolatrous Elders Condemned
1 (Eze 8:1; 20:1) Then some of the elders of Israel came to me
and sat before me.
2 The word of the Lord came to me, saying:
3 (Eze 7:19; Isa 1:15) Son of man, these men have set up their idols
in their heart and put the stumbling block of their iniquity
before their face. Should I be inquired of by them at all?
4 (2Ki 1:16; Isa 66:4) Therefore speak to them and say to them, Thus says
the Lord God: Every man of the house of Israel who sets up his idols
in his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face,
and comes to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him who comes according
to the multitude of his idols,
5 (Isa 1:4; Zec 11:8) in order to seize the heart of the house of Israel
who are estranged from Me through all their idols.
6 (Isa 2:20; 30:22) Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says
the Lord God: Repent and turn away from your idols and turn away your
faces from all your abominations.
7 (Ex 12:48; 20:10) For every one of the house of Israel or of the stranger
who sojourns in Israel who separates himself from Me, and sets up his idols
in his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face,
and comes to the prophet to inquire of Me for himself,
I the Lord will answer him by Myself.
8 (Eze 5:15; 15:7) And I will set My face against that man and will make him
a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of My people.
And you shall know that I am the Lord.
9 (Jer 4:10) And if the prophet is deceived when he has spoken a word,
I the Lord have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand
against him and will destroy him from the midst of My people Israel.
10 They shall bear the punishment of their iniquity. The punishment
of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him who seeks him
11 (Eze 37:23; 48:11) in order that the house of Israel may no more
go astray from Me or be polluted anymore with all their transgressions.
Thus they shall be My people, and I shall be their God, says the Lord God.
Jerusalem's Imminent Judgment
12 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying:
13 (Lev 26:26; Eze 4:16) Son of man, when the land sins against Me
by trespassing grievously, then I will stretch out My hand against it,
and break the staff of the bread, and send famine against it,
and cut off man and beast from it.
14 (Jer 15:1; Eze 14:20) Even though these three men, Noah, Daniel,
and Job, were in it, they could deliver but their own souls
by their righteousness, says the Lord God.
15 (Eze 5:17; Lev 26:22) If I cause wild beasts to pass through the land,
and they destroy it so that it becomes desolate, that no man may pass
through because of the beasts,
16 (Ge 19:29) though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord God,
they could deliver neither their sons nor their daughters.
They alone would be delivered, but the land would be desolate.
17 (Lev 26:25; Eze 21:3-4) Or if I bring a sword on that land, and say,
"Let the sword go through the land and cut off man and beast from it,"
18 though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord God,
they would deliver neither their sons nor their daughters,
but they alone would deliver themselves.
19 (Eze 38:22; 2Sa 24:15) Or if I send a pestilence into that land
and pour out My fury on it in blood to cut off from it man and beast,
20 (Eze 14:14) though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live,
says the Lord God, they would deliver neither their sons nor their
daughters. They would deliver only their own souls by their righteousness.
21 (Eze 5:17; 33:27) For thus says the Lord God: How much more when I send
My four sore judgments on Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine,
and the wild beasts, and the pestilence, to cut off man and beast from it.
22 (Eze 20:43; 12:16) Yet a remnant shall be left in it who shall
be brought out, both sons and daughters. They shall come out to you,
and you shall see their way and their deeds. Then you shall be comforted
concerning the disaster that I have brought against Jerusalem,
even concerning all that I have brought upon it.
23 (Jer 22:8-9) Then they shall comfort you when you see their ways
and their deeds. And you shall know that I have not done without cause all
that I have done in it, says the Lord God.
Ezekiel 14
[1] Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.
[2] And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
[3] Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put
the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be
inquired of at all by them?
[4] Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD;
Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and
putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to
the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the
multitude of his idols;
[5] That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are
all estranged from me through their idols.
[6] Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent,
and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your
abominations.
[7] For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth
in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his
heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and
cometh to a prophet to inquire of him concerning me; I the LORD will answer
him by myself:
[8] And I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a
proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall
know that I am the LORD.
[9] And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD
have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and
will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
[10] And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of
the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him;
[11] That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither be
polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my
people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord GOD.
[12] The word of the LORD came again to me, saying,
[13] Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously,
then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the
bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast
from it:
[14] Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should
deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD.
[15] If I cause noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil it,
so that it be desolate, that no man may pass through because of the beasts:
[16] Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they
shall deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only shall be delivered, but
the land shall be desolate.
[17] Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the
land; so that I cut off man and beast from it:
[18] Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they
shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be delivered
themselves.
[19] Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my fury upon it
in blood, to cut off from it man and beast:
[20] Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord
GOD, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver
their own souls by their righteousness.
[21] For thus saith the Lord GOD; How much more when I send my four sore
judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast,
and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast?
[22] Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be brought
forth, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth unto you, and
ye shall see their way and their doings: and ye shall be comforted
concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all
that I have brought upon it.
[23] And they shall comfort you, when ye see their ways and their doings:
and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have
done in it, saith the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 15
Jerusalem as a Useless Vine
1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 (Isa 5:1-7; Hos 10:1) Son of man, how is the wood of the vine tree
better than any wood of a branch which is among the trees of the forest?
3 Can wood be taken from it to do any work, or can men take a peg of it
to hang any vessel on it?
4 (Jn 15:6; Isa 27:11) If it has been cast into the fire for fuel
and the fire has devoured both ends of it and the middle of it is burned,
is it useful for any work?
5 When it was whole, it was not made into anything. How much less is it
useful for any work when the fire has devoured it and it is burned!
6 Therefore thus says the Lord God: As the wood of the vine tree among
the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel,
so I will give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
7 (Eze 14:8; Ps 34:16) I will set My face against them. Though they go
out from one fire, yet the fire shall devour them. Then you shall know
that I am the Lord when I set My face against them.
8 (Eze 6:14) I will make the land desolate, because they have committed
a trespass, says the Lord God.
Ezekiel 15
[1] And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
[2] Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch
which is among the trees of the forest?
[3] Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? or will men take a pin of it
to hang any vessel thereon?
[4] Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire devoureth both the
ends of it, and the midst of it is burned. Is it meet for any work?
[5] Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less shall
it be meet yet for any work, when the fire hath devoured it, and it is burned?
[6] Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As the vine tree among the trees of
the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the
inhabitants of Jerusalem.
[7] And I will set my face against them; they shall go out from one fire,
and another fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I am the LORD,
when I set my face against them.
[8] And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a
trespass, saith the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 16
Jerusalem as an Adulterous Bride
1 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 (Eze 22:2; 20:4) Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,
3Eze 16:45; Ge 15:16and say, Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: Your birth
and your nativity are from the land of Canaan. Your father was an Amorite,
and your mother a Hittite.
4 (Hos 2:3) As for your birth, on the day you were born your navel cord
was not cut, nor were you washed in water to cleanse you. You were not rubbed
with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths.
5 No eye pitied you to do any of these to you, to have compassion on you.
But you were cast out in the open field, to the loathing of your person,
in the day that you were born.
6 When I passed by you and saw you polluted in your own blood, I said to you
when you were in your blood, "Live!" Indeed, I said to you when you were
in your blood, "Live!"
7 (Ex 1:7; Dt 1:10) I have caused you to multiply as the bud of the field,
and you have increased and become tall, and you have reached the age of fine
ornaments. Your breasts were fashioned and your hair had grown,
yet you were naked and bare.
8 (Ru 3:9; Jer 2:2-3) Now when I passed by you and looked upon you, you were
old enough for love. So I spread My garment over you
and covered your nakedness. Indeed, I swore to you, and entered into
a covenant with you, says the Lord God, and you became Mine.
9 (Ru 3:3; Ps 23:5) Then I washed you with water. Indeed, I thoroughly
washed away your blood from you, and I anointed you with oil.
10 (Eze 16:18; 16:13) I clothed you also with embroidered work,
and put sandals of porpoise skin on your feet, and girded you about
with fine linen, and covered you with silk.
11 (Ge 24:22; 24:47; 41:42) I decked you also with ornaments,
and put bracelets on your hands, and a chain on your neck.
12 I put a jewel on your forehead, and earrings in your ears,
and a beautiful crown on your head.
13 (Dt 32:13-14; 1Ki 4:21) Thus you were decked with gold and silver.
And your raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and embroidered work.
You ate fine flour, and honey, and oil. And you were exceedingly beautiful
and advanced to royalty.
14 (La 2:15; 1Ki 10:24) Then your renown went out among the nations
for your beauty. For it was perfect through My comeliness which I had put
upon you, says the Lord God.
15 (Isa 57:8; Jer 2:20) But you trusted in your own beauty, and played
the harlot because of your renown, and poured out your fornications
on every willing passerby.
16 (2Ki 23:7) Of your garments you took and decked your high places
with various colors and played the harlot on them,
which should never come about or happen.
17 You have also taken your fair jewels made of My gold and My silver,
which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men that
you might commit harlotry with them.
18 Then you took your embroidered garments and covered them.
And you have set My oil and My incense before them.
19 (Eze 16:13) My bread also which I gave you, fine flour, and oil,
and honey, with which I fed you, you have even set before them
for a sweet savour. And thus it was, says the Lord God.
20 (Eze 23:37; Ex 13:2) Moreover you have taken your sons
and your daughters, whom you have borne to Me,
and these you have sacrificed to them to be devoured.
Were your harlotries so small a matter?
21 (2Ki 17:17) You have slain My children and delivered them up
to idols by causing them to pass through the fire.
22 (Jer 2:2; Eze 16:43) Besides all your abominations and your harlotries
you have not remembered the days of your youth when you were naked
and bare and were polluted in your blood.
23 After all your wickedness (Woe, woe to you! says the Lord God)
24 (Ps 78:58; Isa 57:7) you also built for yourself a shrine
and have made yourself a high place in every street.
25 (Jer 3:2; Eze 16:31) You have built yourself a high place
at the head of every street, and have made your beauty to be abhorred,
and have spread your legs to every passerby to multiply your harlotries.
26 (Eze 23:19-21; 20:7-8) You have also committed fornication
with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, and increased your harlotries
to provoke Me to anger.
27 (Isa 9:12; Eze 16:57) Therefore I have stretched out My hand against
you and have diminished your ordinary food and delivered you to the will
of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines who are ashamed
of your lewd conduct.
28 (2Ki 16:7; 16:10-18) You have played the harlot also with the Assyrians
because you were insatiable. Indeed, you have played the harlot with them,
and yet could not be satisfied.
29 You have moreover multiplied your fornication with the land of merchants,
Chaldea. And yet you were not satisfied even with this.
30 (Jer 3:3; Pr 9:13) How weak is your heart, says the Lord God,
seeing you do all these things, the works of an imperious harlot.
31 (Isa 52:3; Eze 16:33-34) When you built your shrine at the head
of every street and made your high place in every square, you have not been
as a harlot in that you scorned payment.
32 You have been as a wife who commits adultery, who takes strangers
instead of her husband!
33 (Isa 57:9; Hos 8:9-10) Men give gifts to all harlots.
But you give your gifts to all your lovers, and hire them that they may come
to you on every side for your harlotry.
34 Thus you are different from other women in your harlotries
in that no one follows you to commit harlotries, because you give money,
and no money is given to you. Thus you are different.
35 Therefore, O harlot, hear the word of the Lord.
36 (Eze 23:10) Thus says the Lord God, Because your filthiness
was poured out and your nakedness discovered through your harlotries
with your lovers, and with all the idols of your abominations,
and by the blood of your children, which you gave to idols,
37 (Jer 13:22; Hos 2:10) therefore I will gather all your lovers with whom
you have taken pleasure and all those whom you have loved with all those
whom you have hated. I will even gather them from all around against you
and will reveal your nakedness to them
so that they may see all your nakedness.
38 (Lev 20:10; Ge 9:6) I will judge you as women who commit adultery
or shed blood are judged. And I will bring on you the blood of fury
and jealousy.
39 (Eze 23:26; Hos 2:3) I will also give you into their hand,
and they shall throw down your shrines, and shall break down your high places.
They shall strip you also of your clothes, and shall take your fair jewels,
and leave you naked and bare.
40 (Eze 23:47; Hab 1:6-10) They shall also bring up a company against you,
and they shall stone you with stones,
and thrust you through with their swords.
41 (Eze 23:48; 2Ki 25:9) They shall burn your houses with fire
and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women.
And I will cause you to cease from playing the harlot,
and you also shall give no hire anymore.
42 (Eze 5:13; 39:29) So I will make My fury toward you to rest,
and My jealousy shall depart from you, and I will be quiet,
and will be angry no more.
43 (Eze 16:22; Ps 78:42) Because you have not remembered the days
of your youth, but have enraged Me in all these things,
I also will recompense your way upon your head,
says the Lord God, so that you shall not commit
this lewdness above all your other abominations.
44 (Eze 18:2-3; 1Sa 24:13) Everyone who uses proverbs shall use
this proverb against you, saying, "Like mother, like daughter."
45 (Isa 1:4; Eze 23:37-39) You are your mother's daughter who loathed
her husband and her children. And you are the sister of your sisters
who loathed their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite,
and your father an Amorite.
46 (Eze 23:4; 16:48-49) Now your elder sister is Samaria,
she and her daughters who dwell north of you. And your younger sister
who dwells south of you is Sodom and her daughters.
47 (2Ki 21:9; Eze 5:6-7) Yet you have not walked after their ways,
or done according to their abominations. But, as if that were a very
little thing, you were corrupted more than they in all your ways.
48 (Mt 10:15) As I live, says the Lord God, Sodom your sister has not done,
she nor her daughters, as you and your daughters have done.
49 (Ge 13:10; Ps 138:6) This was the iniquity of your sister Sodom. Pride,
abundance of bread, and careless ease was in her and in her daughters,
but she did strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
50 (Ge 13:13; 18:20) They were haughty and committed abominations before Me.
Therefore I took them away when I saw it.
51 (Jer 3:8-11) Moreover, Samaria did not commit half of your sins.
But you have multiplied your abominations more than they and have made your
sisters appear righteous in all your abominations which you have done.
52 Also bear your own shame in that you have made judgment favorable
to your sisters. Because of your sins that you have committed more abominable
than they, they are more righteous than you. Indeed, be humiliated also
and bear your shame in that you have made your sisters appear righteous.
53 (Isa 19:24-25; Eze 29:14) Yet I shall restore their captivity,
the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria
and her daughters, and along with them your own captivity,
54 (Jer 2:26; Eze 14:22-23) in order that you may bear your own shame
and may be humiliated in all that you have done
in that you are a comfort to them.
55 (Eze 16:53; 36:11) Your sisters, Sodom and her daughters and Samaria
and her daughters, shall return to their former state,
and you and your daughters shall return to your former state.
56 As the name of your sister Sodom was not mentioned by your mouth in the day
of your pride,
57 (2Ki 16:5-7; 2Ch 28:5-6) before your wickedness was uncovered, so now you
have become the reproach of the daughters of Edom and all who are around her,
the daughters of the Philistines, those all around who despise you.
58 (Eze 23:49) You have borne the punishment of your lewdness
and your abominations, says the Lord.
An Everlasting Covenant
59 (Isa 24:5; Eze 17:19) For thus, says the Lord God, I will even deal
with you as you have done, you who have despised the oath
by breaking the covenant.
60 (Lev 26:42; Isa 55:3) Nevertheless I will remember My covenant with you
in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant
with you.
61 (Jer 50:4-5; Eze 20:43) Then you shall remember your ways and be ashamed
when you receive your sisters, your elder and your younger. And I will give
them to you as daughters, but not because of your covenant.
62 (Jer 24:7; Eze 6:7) Thus I will establish My covenant with you,
and you shall know that I am the Lord,
63 (Ro 3:19; Ps 39:9) in order that you may remember, and be humiliated,
and never open your mouth anymore because of your shame,
when I am pacified toward you for all that you have done, says the Lord God.
Ezekiel 16
[1] Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
[2] Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,
[3] And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy
nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother
an Hittite.
[4] And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not
cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted
at all, nor swaddled at all.
[5] None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion
upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the lothing of thy
person, in the day that thou wast born.
[6] And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I
said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when
thou wast in thy blood, Live.
[7] I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast
increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: thy
breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and
bare.
[8] Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was
the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy
nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee,
saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.
[9] Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood
from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.
[10] I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers'
skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.
[11] I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands,
and a chain on thy neck.
[12] And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a
beautiful crown upon thine head.
[13] Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine
linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey,
and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a
kingdom.
[14] And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was
perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD.
[15] But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot
because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that
passed by; his it was.
[16] And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places with
divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon: the like things shall not
come, neither shall it be so.
[17] Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which
I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit
whoredom with them,
[18] And tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them: and thou hast
set mine oil and mine incense before them.
[19] My meat also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey,
wherewith I fed thee, thou hast even set it before them for a sweet savour:
and thus it was, saith the Lord GOD.
[20] Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast
borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is
this of thy whoredoms a small matter,
[21] That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to
pass through the fire for them?
[22] And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not
remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast
polluted in thy blood.
[23] And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, (woe, woe unto thee!
saith the Lord GOD;)
[24] That thou hast also built unto thee an eminent place, and hast made
thee an high place in every street.
[25] Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way, and hast made
thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened thy feet to every one that
passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms.
[26] Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbours,
great of flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke me to anger.
[27] Behold, therefore I have stretched out my hand over thee, and have
diminished thine ordinary food, and delivered thee unto the will of them
that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, which are ashamed of thy
lewd way.
[28] Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast
unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest
not be satisfied.
[29] Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan
unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith.
[30] How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord GOD, seeing thou doest all
these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman;
[31] In that thou buildest thine eminent place in the head of every way, and
makest thine high place in every street; and hast not been as an harlot, in
that thou scornest hire;
[32] But as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead
of her husband!
[33] They give gifts to all whores: but thou givest thy gifts to all thy
lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy
whoredom.
[34] And the contrary is in thee from other women in thy whoredoms, whereas
none followeth thee to commit whoredoms: and in that thou givest a reward,
and no reward is given unto thee, therefore thou art contrary.
[35] Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD:
[36] Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy
nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers, and with all the
idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children, which thou
didst give unto them;
[37] Behold, therefore I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast
taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou
hast hated; I will even gather them round about against thee, and will
discover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness.
[38] And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are
judged; and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy.
[39] And I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down
thine eminent place, and shall break down thy high places: they shall strip
thee also of thy clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee
naked and bare.
[40] They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone
thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords.
[41] And they shall burn thine houses with fire, and execute judgments upon
thee in the sight of many women: and I will cause thee to cease from playing
the harlot, and thou also shalt give no hire any more.
[42] So will I make my fury toward thee to rest, and my jealousy shall
depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry.
[43] Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast
fretted me in all these things; behold, therefore I also will recompense thy
way upon thine head, saith the Lord GOD: and thou shalt not commit this
lewdness above all thine abominations.
[44] Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb against
thee, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter.
[45] Thou art thy mother's daughter, that lotheth her husband and her
children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, which lothed their
husbands and their children: your mother was an Hittite, and your father an
Amorite.
[46] And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at
thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is
Sodom and her daughters.
[47] Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their
abominations: but, as if that were a very little thing, thou wast corrupted
more than they in all thy ways.
[48] As I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor
her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters.
[49] Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of
bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither
did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
[50] And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me:
therefore I took them away as I saw good.
[51] Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast
multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters
in all thine abominations which thou hast done.
[52] Thou also, which hast judged thy sisters, bear thine own shame for thy
sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they: they are more
righteous than thou: yea, be thou confounded also, and bear thy shame, in
that thou hast justified thy sisters.
[53] When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and
her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then will I
bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them:
[54] That thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded in all
that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them.
[55] When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former
estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate,
then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.
[56] For thy sister Sodom was not mentioned by thy mouth in the day of thy
pride,
[57] Before thy wickedness was discovered, as at the time of thy reproach of
the daughters of Syria, and all that are round about her, the daughters of
the Philistines, which despise thee round about.
[58] Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thine abominations, saith the LORD.
[59] For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even deal with thee as thou hast
done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant.
[60] Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy
youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.
[61] Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt
receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and I will give them unto
thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.
[62] And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I
am the LORD:
[63] That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth
any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that
thou hast done, saith the Lord GOD.
2) Our Daily Bread for 17 August 2022
https://odb.org/CA/2022/08/17/the-making-of-me
Entitled "The Making of Me"
Acts 15:36-40
Paul and Barnabas Separate
36 (Ac 13:4; 13:13-14) After some days Paul said to Barnabas,
"Let us return and visit our brothers in every city
where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing."
37 (Ac 12:12) Barnabas determined to take with them John, who was called Mark.
38 (Ac 13:13) But Paul thought it was not good to take with them one
who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them
to the work.
39 (Ac 4:36) Then there arose a sharp contention,
so that they separated from each other.
Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus,
40 (Ac 14:26; 15:22) but Paul chose Silas and departed,
being commended by the brothers to the grace of God.
[36] And some days after Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us go again and visit
our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and
see how they do.
[37] And **Barnabas determined to take with them John**,
whose surname was Mark.
[38] **But Paul thought not good to take him with them**,
who departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work.
[39] And the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed
asunder one from the other: and so Barnabas took Mark, and sailed unto
Cyprus;
[40] And Paul chose Silas, and departed, being recommended by the brethren
unto the grace of God.
Seven-year-old Thomas Edison didn't like or do well in school. One day, he was
even called "addled" (mentally confused) by a teacher. He stormed home. After
speaking with the teacher the next day, his mom, a teacher by training,
decided to teach Thomas at home. Helped along by her love and encouragement
(and his God-given genius), Thomas went on to become a great inventor. He
later wrote, "My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me,
and I felt I had someone to live for, someone I must not disappoint."
In Acts 15, we read that Barnabas and the apostle Paul served together as
missionaries until they had a major disagreement about whether or not to
bring along John Mark. Paul was opposed because Mark had earlier "deserted
them in Pamphylia" (vv. 36-38). As a result, Paul and Barnabas split. Paul
took Silas and Barnabas took Mark. Barnabas was willing to give Mark a second
chance, and his encouragement contributed to Mark's ability to serve and
succeed as a missionary. He went on to write the gospel of Mark and was even a
comfort to Paul while he was in prison (2 Timothy 4:11).
Many of us can look back and point to someone in our life who encouraged and
helped us along our way. God may be calling you to do the same for someone in
your life. Whom might you encourage?
By: Alyson Kieda
Reflect & Pray
Who had faith in you and helped you succeed?
What did that person do to encourage you?
Dear God, thank You for walking alongside me
and placing people in my life who helped to make me who I am today.
3) Daily verses taken from Billy Graham Evangelical Organisation
Words in Season Scripture Memory Tools
Week 8 Guided by Grace Day 4 - Send for Help !
James 1:5
5 (Pr 2:3-6; Jn 15:7) If any of you lacks wisdom,
let him ask of God, who gives to all men liberally
and without criticism, and it will be given to him.
5 If any of you lack wisdom,
let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally,
and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
A new employee in an electronics plant had the responsibility
for overseeing one machine. The machine worked fine when the young man
came on duty, but soon it began to run a bit rough. The employee
tinkered with the machine, trying to "fix" it, until finally if stopped
working altogether
In fear and trembling the worker sent for the foreman, and stammered,
"I - I, well, sir, I did my best to fix it."
"Son", the foreman thundered, "you need to know only one thing. Around
here, doing you best means sending for me!"
Wisdom, James 1:5 says, has its source in God alone. And if we are
to attain wisdom, we need to learn doing our best means sending for God.
Often we spend time tinkering with our lives or the the lives of others.
We don't think to as God for his wisdom in the decisions we must take;
instead, we use our human reasoning and take our best guess.
But the path to wisdom does not lie in guesswork. The scriptures
give us clear indication of God's direction for his people, and through Bible
study, application, prayer, and meditation,
we can understand what God wants to reveal to us.
"If any of you lacks wisdom," James says, "he should ask God, who gives
generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him."
The first step to attaining wisdom is recognising that we are not wise.
The second step is to ask. And God, who is faithful to his Word
and His people, will respond.
Application
a) Under what circumstances have I tinkered with my life,
making it worse rather then fixing it?
b) What practical steps can I take to ask God for wisdom?
4) From Prosperity Promises - Kenneth Copeland
Exodus 3:7-8
7 (Ps 106:44; Ex 2:23-25)The Lord said,
"I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt
and have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters,
for I know their sorrows.
8 (Ge 50:24; 15:18-21; Ex 13:5) Therefore, I have come down
to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians,
and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land,
to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of
the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites,
the Hivites, and the Jebusites."
7 And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people
which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters;
for I know their sorrows;
8 and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand
of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and
a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the
Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites,
and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
5) From a Book called God's Promises for you:
When you are lonely
PSALMS 23
A Psalm of David.
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 (Ps 63:1; 84:2) He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside still waters.
3 (Ps 79:10; 80:5) He restores my soul;
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for His name's sake.
4 (Isa 30:29; Ps 62:8) Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff,
they comfort me.
5 (Ps 42:11; 43:5) You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup runs over.
6 (2Sa 17:22; Dt 3:8-9) Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
Psalm 23
A Psalm of David.
1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul:
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil:
for thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
Remember God's promises when You pray
The Lord's prayer
Matthew 6:9-13
9 "Therefore pray in this manner:
Our Father who is in heaven,
hallowed be Your name.
10 (Mt 3:2; 4:17) Your kingdom come;
Your will be done
on earth, as it is in heaven.
11 (Pr 30:8; Isa 33:16) Give us this day our daily bread.
12 (Ex 34:7; Ps 32:1) And forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors.
13 (1Co 10:13; Jn 17:15) And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."
9 After this manner therefore pray ye:
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
6) This come from Praying for Muslims in Canada 2015 (Is there a 2021 edition?)
New Brunswick
Total population 753900
Muslim population (est.) 4543
Moncton, followed by Fredericton and Saint John, each have a growing Muslim
population in New Brunswick, In 2007, the building that was formerly a Baptist
church was converted into Moncton's 1st mosque. The University of Moncton
also has a Muslim student association hosting prayer services, fellowship
getherings, and outreaches on campus.
Fredericton also has one mosque and a Muslim student association serving the
campuses of the University of New Brunswick and St. Thomas University.
Fredericton's Muslim population consists in 2014 of about 50 families,
and between 300 to 400 university students.
Saint John is home to the 1st Muslim Association for the province,
which also helped foster the Islamic associations of Fredericton and Moncton.
a 'musalla', or prayer location that is not officially structured as a mosque,
has been established in the Uptown area with the intention of seeing it grow
into a 2nd official place of Muslim worship. Demand for this new location has
been primarily for university students moving into the area.
Pray for Muslims and New Brunswick
- that the eyes of pastors, believers and entire congregations will be opened
to see this growing body of Muslims, and their hearts will be opened
to sharing God's love in Jesus Christ with them
- that intentional ministries to Muslims will grow and flourish in these
areas of concentration
- that cooperative CNNMM Networks will form to really, encourage,
and equip believers to lovingly reach Muslims in this province.
Adding further
30 days of prayer for the Muslim World 24 April to 23 May 2020
Under the Keep Praying page
When the new moon is sighted it marks the beginning of t he new Islamic month
and Eid al-Fitr, the "Festival of Breaking the Fast", will start! After 30 days
of fasting, the Eid celebration at the end of Ramadan is a joyful time that
usually lasts about 3 days. Muslims will buy new clothes, exchange gifts and,
of course, enjoy special foods. In Muslim-majority nations, the streets may be
decorated and festivals will be held.
For many Muslims, Eid-al-Fitr begins with communal prayers at daybreak and the
distribution of money (zakat) to the poor, which is one of the 5 pillars of
Islam.
You can greet Muslim friends during this time by saying "Eid Mubarak",
which means Blessed Eid!"
Ramadan is over for this year, but you can continue to pray for Muslims you
know, and Muslims around the world:
- Despite the unsettling developments in our world today that involve actions
in the name of Islam, there is at the same time a largely untold story about
unprecedented movement to Christ among Muslims. There have been more such
movements of thousands or more new disciples among Muslims in the last three
decades or so than in all the previous history of Christian Muslim
relationships! Pray for this momentum to continue.
Acts 2:12-17 : 17 12 They were all amazed and perplexed, saying to each other,
"What does this mean?"
13 (1Co 14:23) Others mocking said, "These men are full of new wine."
Peter's Speech at Pentecost
14 (Ac 1:26) But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice
and said to them, "Men of Judea and all you who dwell in Jerusalem,
let this be known to you, and listen to my words.
15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose,
since it is the third hour of the day.
16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 (Isa 44:3; Ac 10:45) 'In the last days it shall be,' says God,
'that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.'
- Pray for Christian workers an organisations focused on seeing effective
discipleship movements among Muslim people.
- Ask the Holy Spirit to continue to inspire you to have god's heart for
Muslims, to see them as He does, and to be the light that then to Jesus.
Matthew 5:14-15 : 14 "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a
hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do men light a candle and put it under
a basket, but on a candlestick. And it gives light to all who are in the
house."
Ideas for prayer
- Pray for opportunities to show the love of Christ to Muslims around you
- Pray for, and offer generous hospitality to, those you know who are serving
Christ among Muslim people -
Romans 12:13 "contribute to the needs of the saints, practice hospitality."
- When you gather with fellow believers, remember to pray for Muslims
throughout the year and encourage them to also participate in 30 Days!
And
Thank you for praying through the
5 Days of Prayer for Sikhs.
"My name is Kam. I'm 29 years of age, and I grew up Sikh. As a teenager,
I struggled with depression, brokenness, and addiction to
cannabis. I didn't know how to stop or how to get help.
Then a friend invited me to church. As I spent time with Christians
and heard the message of the Gospel, I experienced the
love of Jesus Christ, and it was like nothing I'd known before.
One night I had a dream where I saw Him - a figure surrounded by
light who I knew was Jesus, the light of the world.
As I began to understand the gospel message, I encountered a reassuring and
confident solution to the problem of sin. I knew that I needed a solution
to my sin problem, and I gave my life to Christ.
Slowly, God began to heal my broken heart and my addiction.
Nine years have passed, and I am a devoted husband and a father
to two beautiful boys. I grow deeper in love with Jesus each day.
I ask you to continue praying with me, and others around the world, for Sikhs.
God is the only one who can draw people to Himself. He works in and through
the prayers of His people. I want Sikhs to know the freedom
and healing that is only available through Jesus Christ."
13 (Ro 14:17; 12:12) Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy
and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope,
through the power of the Holy Spirit.
[13] Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that
ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
ROMANS 15:13
My paternal side is of Muslim heritage and will offer this section to further
call for Muslim converts to Christian and any other converts to Christianity
(Hindus, Jews, aboriginals Canadian, atheists, secular humanists, ...) .
7) Prayers for the nation (Canada) coming from Prayer map of Canada
http://www.ehc.ca
17th Day of the Month
a) Pray for the safety of those
who live in your community -
safety from conflict an crimes
( Ps 122:7 - 7 Peace be within your walls
and security within your towers!
7 Peace be within thy walls,
And prosperity within thy palaces.)
b) Pray for the province of Ontario
I) Pray for the leaders of Ontario,
that God's Spirit would influence
then to act justly,
serve with integrity
and honour high moral standards. ( 1 Tim 2:1 - 4
1 Therefore I exhort first of all that you make supplications,
prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings for everyone,
2 (Ezr 6:10) for kings and for all who are in authority,
that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and honesty,
3(1Ti 1:1; Lk 1:47) for this is good
and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
4 (Eze 18:23; 18:32)who desires all men to be saved
and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
II) Pray for the churches of the province,
that they would be lighthouses
beaming forth the illuminating truth of God's Word.
III) Pray that the Lord would use
the Finding the Hope Campaign
and booklet to turn many hearts to Jesus
)
Conclusion:
Pray to the Lord and pray that your nation is not spiritually adulterous.
Pray to the Lord: "Dear God, thank You for walking alongside me
and placing people in my life who helped to make me who I am today."
Pray to the Lord and pray to seek His Wisdom.
Pray to the Lord and pray to Him in distress.
Pray to the Lord and pray that He will guide you in dangerous times.
Pray for Muslims and New Brunswick
- that the eyes of pastors, believers and entire congregations will be opened
to see this growing body of Muslims, and their hearts will be opened
to sharing God's love in Jesus Christ with them
- that intentional ministries to Muslims will grow and flourish in these
areas of concentration
- that cooperative CNNMM Networks will form to really, encourage,
and equip believers to lovingly reach Muslims in this province.
Pray for Christian workers an organisations focused on seeing effective
discipleship movements among Muslim people.
- Pray for opportunities to show the love of Christ to Muslims around you
- Pray for, and offer generous hospitality to, those you know who are serving
Christ among Muslim people -
Romans 12:13 "contribute to the needs of the saints, practice hospitality."
- When you gather with fellow believers, remember to pray for Muslims
throughout the year and encourage them to also participate in 30 Days!
Pray for the safety of those
who live in your community -
safety from conflict an crimes
Pray for an increase in youth engagement with the Gospel in Bhutan.
Pray to the Lord that to know the Holy Spirit.
and Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness.
Remember eternity starts now -
Pray for the direction you take to the Ever lasting loving God.
1) Ezekiel 14-16
Ezekiel 14
Idolatrous Elders Condemned
1 (Eze 8:1; 20:1) Then some of the elders of Israel came to me
and sat before me.
2 The word of the Lord came to me, saying:
3 (Eze 7:19; Isa 1:15) Son of man, these men have set up their idols
in their heart and put the stumbling block of their iniquity
before their face. Should I be inquired of by them at all?
4 (2Ki 1:16; Isa 66:4) Therefore speak to them and say to them, Thus says
the Lord God: Every man of the house of Israel who sets up his idols
in his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face,
and comes to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him who comes according
to the multitude of his idols,
5 (Isa 1:4; Zec 11:8) in order to seize the heart of the house of Israel
who are estranged from Me through all their idols.
6 (Isa 2:20; 30:22) Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says
the Lord God: Repent and turn away from your idols and turn away your
faces from all your abominations.
7 (Ex 12:48; 20:10) For every one of the house of Israel or of the stranger
who sojourns in Israel who separates himself from Me, and sets up his idols
in his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face,
and comes to the prophet to inquire of Me for himself,
I the Lord will answer him by Myself.
8 (Eze 5:15; 15:7) And I will set My face against that man and will make him
a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of My people.
And you shall know that I am the Lord.
9 (Jer 4:10) And if the prophet is deceived when he has spoken a word,
I the Lord have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand
against him and will destroy him from the midst of My people Israel.
10 They shall bear the punishment of their iniquity. The punishment
of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him who seeks him
11 (Eze 37:23; 48:11) in order that the house of Israel may no more
go astray from Me or be polluted anymore with all their transgressions.
Thus they shall be My people, and I shall be their God, says the Lord God.
Jerusalem's Imminent Judgment
12 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying:
13 (Lev 26:26; Eze 4:16) Son of man, when the land sins against Me
by trespassing grievously, then I will stretch out My hand against it,
and break the staff of the bread, and send famine against it,
and cut off man and beast from it.
14 (Jer 15:1; Eze 14:20) Even though these three men, Noah, Daniel,
and Job, were in it, they could deliver but their own souls
by their righteousness, says the Lord God.
15 (Eze 5:17; Lev 26:22) If I cause wild beasts to pass through the land,
and they destroy it so that it becomes desolate, that no man may pass
through because of the beasts,
16 (Ge 19:29) though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord God,
they could deliver neither their sons nor their daughters.
They alone would be delivered, but the land would be desolate.
17 (Lev 26:25; Eze 21:3-4) Or if I bring a sword on that land, and say,
"Let the sword go through the land and cut off man and beast from it,"
18 though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord God,
they would deliver neither their sons nor their daughters,
but they alone would deliver themselves.
19 (Eze 38:22; 2Sa 24:15) Or if I send a pestilence into that land
and pour out My fury on it in blood to cut off from it man and beast,
20 (Eze 14:14) though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live,
says the Lord God, they would deliver neither their sons nor their
daughters. They would deliver only their own souls by their righteousness.
21 (Eze 5:17; 33:27) For thus says the Lord God: How much more when I send
My four sore judgments on Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine,
and the wild beasts, and the pestilence, to cut off man and beast from it.
22 (Eze 20:43; 12:16) Yet a remnant shall be left in it who shall
be brought out, both sons and daughters. They shall come out to you,
and you shall see their way and their deeds. Then you shall be comforted
concerning the disaster that I have brought against Jerusalem,
even concerning all that I have brought upon it.
23 (Jer 22:8-9) Then they shall comfort you when you see their ways
and their deeds. And you shall know that I have not done without cause all
that I have done in it, says the Lord God.
Ezekiel 14
[1] Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.
[2] And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
[3] Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put
the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be
inquired of at all by them?
[4] Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD;
Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and
putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to
the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the
multitude of his idols;
[5] That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are
all estranged from me through their idols.
[6] Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent,
and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your
abominations.
[7] For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth
in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his
heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and
cometh to a prophet to inquire of him concerning me; I the LORD will answer
him by myself:
[8] And I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a
proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall
know that I am the LORD.
[9] And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD
have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and
will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
[10] And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of
the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him;
[11] That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither be
polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my
people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord GOD.
[12] The word of the LORD came again to me, saying,
[13] Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously,
then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the
bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast
from it:
[14] Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should
deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD.
[15] If I cause noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil it,
so that it be desolate, that no man may pass through because of the beasts:
[16] Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they
shall deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only shall be delivered, but
the land shall be desolate.
[17] Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the
land; so that I cut off man and beast from it:
[18] Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they
shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be delivered
themselves.
[19] Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my fury upon it
in blood, to cut off from it man and beast:
[20] Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord
GOD, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver
their own souls by their righteousness.
[21] For thus saith the Lord GOD; How much more when I send my four sore
judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast,
and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast?
[22] Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be brought
forth, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth unto you, and
ye shall see their way and their doings: and ye shall be comforted
concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all
that I have brought upon it.
[23] And they shall comfort you, when ye see their ways and their doings:
and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have
done in it, saith the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 15
Jerusalem as a Useless Vine
1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 (Isa 5:1-7; Hos 10:1) Son of man, how is the wood of the vine tree
better than any wood of a branch which is among the trees of the forest?
3 Can wood be taken from it to do any work, or can men take a peg of it
to hang any vessel on it?
4 (Jn 15:6; Isa 27:11) If it has been cast into the fire for fuel
and the fire has devoured both ends of it and the middle of it is burned,
is it useful for any work?
5 When it was whole, it was not made into anything. How much less is it
useful for any work when the fire has devoured it and it is burned!
6 Therefore thus says the Lord God: As the wood of the vine tree among
the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel,
so I will give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
7 (Eze 14:8; Ps 34:16) I will set My face against them. Though they go
out from one fire, yet the fire shall devour them. Then you shall know
that I am the Lord when I set My face against them.
8 (Eze 6:14) I will make the land desolate, because they have committed
a trespass, says the Lord God.
Ezekiel 15
[1] And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
[2] Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch
which is among the trees of the forest?
[3] Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? or will men take a pin of it
to hang any vessel thereon?
[4] Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire devoureth both the
ends of it, and the midst of it is burned. Is it meet for any work?
[5] Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less shall
it be meet yet for any work, when the fire hath devoured it, and it is burned?
[6] Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As the vine tree among the trees of
the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the
inhabitants of Jerusalem.
[7] And I will set my face against them; they shall go out from one fire,
and another fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I am the LORD,
when I set my face against them.
[8] And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a
trespass, saith the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 16
Jerusalem as an Adulterous Bride
1 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 (Eze 22:2; 20:4) Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,
3Eze 16:45; Ge 15:16and say, Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: Your birth
and your nativity are from the land of Canaan. Your father was an Amorite,
and your mother a Hittite.
4 (Hos 2:3) As for your birth, on the day you were born your navel cord
was not cut, nor were you washed in water to cleanse you. You were not rubbed
with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths.
5 No eye pitied you to do any of these to you, to have compassion on you.
But you were cast out in the open field, to the loathing of your person,
in the day that you were born.
6 When I passed by you and saw you polluted in your own blood, I said to you
when you were in your blood, "Live!" Indeed, I said to you when you were
in your blood, "Live!"
7 (Ex 1:7; Dt 1:10) I have caused you to multiply as the bud of the field,
and you have increased and become tall, and you have reached the age of fine
ornaments. Your breasts were fashioned and your hair had grown,
yet you were naked and bare.
8 (Ru 3:9; Jer 2:2-3) Now when I passed by you and looked upon you, you were
old enough for love. So I spread My garment over you
and covered your nakedness. Indeed, I swore to you, and entered into
a covenant with you, says the Lord God, and you became Mine.
9 (Ru 3:3; Ps 23:5) Then I washed you with water. Indeed, I thoroughly
washed away your blood from you, and I anointed you with oil.
10 (Eze 16:18; 16:13) I clothed you also with embroidered work,
and put sandals of porpoise skin on your feet, and girded you about
with fine linen, and covered you with silk.
11 (Ge 24:22; 24:47; 41:42) I decked you also with ornaments,
and put bracelets on your hands, and a chain on your neck.
12 I put a jewel on your forehead, and earrings in your ears,
and a beautiful crown on your head.
13 (Dt 32:13-14; 1Ki 4:21) Thus you were decked with gold and silver.
And your raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and embroidered work.
You ate fine flour, and honey, and oil. And you were exceedingly beautiful
and advanced to royalty.
14 (La 2:15; 1Ki 10:24) Then your renown went out among the nations
for your beauty. For it was perfect through My comeliness which I had put
upon you, says the Lord God.
15 (Isa 57:8; Jer 2:20) But you trusted in your own beauty, and played
the harlot because of your renown, and poured out your fornications
on every willing passerby.
16 (2Ki 23:7) Of your garments you took and decked your high places
with various colors and played the harlot on them,
which should never come about or happen.
17 You have also taken your fair jewels made of My gold and My silver,
which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men that
you might commit harlotry with them.
18 Then you took your embroidered garments and covered them.
And you have set My oil and My incense before them.
19 (Eze 16:13) My bread also which I gave you, fine flour, and oil,
and honey, with which I fed you, you have even set before them
for a sweet savour. And thus it was, says the Lord God.
20 (Eze 23:37; Ex 13:2) Moreover you have taken your sons
and your daughters, whom you have borne to Me,
and these you have sacrificed to them to be devoured.
Were your harlotries so small a matter?
21 (2Ki 17:17) You have slain My children and delivered them up
to idols by causing them to pass through the fire.
22 (Jer 2:2; Eze 16:43) Besides all your abominations and your harlotries
you have not remembered the days of your youth when you were naked
and bare and were polluted in your blood.
23 After all your wickedness (Woe, woe to you! says the Lord God)
24 (Ps 78:58; Isa 57:7) you also built for yourself a shrine
and have made yourself a high place in every street.
25 (Jer 3:2; Eze 16:31) You have built yourself a high place
at the head of every street, and have made your beauty to be abhorred,
and have spread your legs to every passerby to multiply your harlotries.
26 (Eze 23:19-21; 20:7-8) You have also committed fornication
with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, and increased your harlotries
to provoke Me to anger.
27 (Isa 9:12; Eze 16:57) Therefore I have stretched out My hand against
you and have diminished your ordinary food and delivered you to the will
of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines who are ashamed
of your lewd conduct.
28 (2Ki 16:7; 16:10-18) You have played the harlot also with the Assyrians
because you were insatiable. Indeed, you have played the harlot with them,
and yet could not be satisfied.
29 You have moreover multiplied your fornication with the land of merchants,
Chaldea. And yet you were not satisfied even with this.
30 (Jer 3:3; Pr 9:13) How weak is your heart, says the Lord God,
seeing you do all these things, the works of an imperious harlot.
31 (Isa 52:3; Eze 16:33-34) When you built your shrine at the head
of every street and made your high place in every square, you have not been
as a harlot in that you scorned payment.
32 You have been as a wife who commits adultery, who takes strangers
instead of her husband!
33 (Isa 57:9; Hos 8:9-10) Men give gifts to all harlots.
But you give your gifts to all your lovers, and hire them that they may come
to you on every side for your harlotry.
34 Thus you are different from other women in your harlotries
in that no one follows you to commit harlotries, because you give money,
and no money is given to you. Thus you are different.
35 Therefore, O harlot, hear the word of the Lord.
36 (Eze 23:10) Thus says the Lord God, Because your filthiness
was poured out and your nakedness discovered through your harlotries
with your lovers, and with all the idols of your abominations,
and by the blood of your children, which you gave to idols,
37 (Jer 13:22; Hos 2:10) therefore I will gather all your lovers with whom
you have taken pleasure and all those whom you have loved with all those
whom you have hated. I will even gather them from all around against you
and will reveal your nakedness to them
so that they may see all your nakedness.
38 (Lev 20:10; Ge 9:6) I will judge you as women who commit adultery
or shed blood are judged. And I will bring on you the blood of fury
and jealousy.
39 (Eze 23:26; Hos 2:3) I will also give you into their hand,
and they shall throw down your shrines, and shall break down your high places.
They shall strip you also of your clothes, and shall take your fair jewels,
and leave you naked and bare.
40 (Eze 23:47; Hab 1:6-10) They shall also bring up a company against you,
and they shall stone you with stones,
and thrust you through with their swords.
41 (Eze 23:48; 2Ki 25:9) They shall burn your houses with fire
and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women.
And I will cause you to cease from playing the harlot,
and you also shall give no hire anymore.
42 (Eze 5:13; 39:29) So I will make My fury toward you to rest,
and My jealousy shall depart from you, and I will be quiet,
and will be angry no more.
43 (Eze 16:22; Ps 78:42) Because you have not remembered the days
of your youth, but have enraged Me in all these things,
I also will recompense your way upon your head,
says the Lord God, so that you shall not commit
this lewdness above all your other abominations.
44 (Eze 18:2-3; 1Sa 24:13) Everyone who uses proverbs shall use
this proverb against you, saying, "Like mother, like daughter."
45 (Isa 1:4; Eze 23:37-39) You are your mother's daughter who loathed
her husband and her children. And you are the sister of your sisters
who loathed their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite,
and your father an Amorite.
46 (Eze 23:4; 16:48-49) Now your elder sister is Samaria,
she and her daughters who dwell north of you. And your younger sister
who dwells south of you is Sodom and her daughters.
47 (2Ki 21:9; Eze 5:6-7) Yet you have not walked after their ways,
or done according to their abominations. But, as if that were a very
little thing, you were corrupted more than they in all your ways.
48 (Mt 10:15) As I live, says the Lord God, Sodom your sister has not done,
she nor her daughters, as you and your daughters have done.
49 (Ge 13:10; Ps 138:6) This was the iniquity of your sister Sodom. Pride,
abundance of bread, and careless ease was in her and in her daughters,
but she did strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
50 (Ge 13:13; 18:20) They were haughty and committed abominations before Me.
Therefore I took them away when I saw it.
51 (Jer 3:8-11) Moreover, Samaria did not commit half of your sins.
But you have multiplied your abominations more than they and have made your
sisters appear righteous in all your abominations which you have done.
52 Also bear your own shame in that you have made judgment favorable
to your sisters. Because of your sins that you have committed more abominable
than they, they are more righteous than you. Indeed, be humiliated also
and bear your shame in that you have made your sisters appear righteous.
53 (Isa 19:24-25; Eze 29:14) Yet I shall restore their captivity,
the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria
and her daughters, and along with them your own captivity,
54 (Jer 2:26; Eze 14:22-23) in order that you may bear your own shame
and may be humiliated in all that you have done
in that you are a comfort to them.
55 (Eze 16:53; 36:11) Your sisters, Sodom and her daughters and Samaria
and her daughters, shall return to their former state,
and you and your daughters shall return to your former state.
56 As the name of your sister Sodom was not mentioned by your mouth in the day
of your pride,
57 (2Ki 16:5-7; 2Ch 28:5-6) before your wickedness was uncovered, so now you
have become the reproach of the daughters of Edom and all who are around her,
the daughters of the Philistines, those all around who despise you.
58 (Eze 23:49) You have borne the punishment of your lewdness
and your abominations, says the Lord.
An Everlasting Covenant
59 (Isa 24:5; Eze 17:19) For thus, says the Lord God, I will even deal
with you as you have done, you who have despised the oath
by breaking the covenant.
60 (Lev 26:42; Isa 55:3) Nevertheless I will remember My covenant with you
in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant
with you.
61 (Jer 50:4-5; Eze 20:43) Then you shall remember your ways and be ashamed
when you receive your sisters, your elder and your younger. And I will give
them to you as daughters, but not because of your covenant.
62 (Jer 24:7; Eze 6:7) Thus I will establish My covenant with you,
and you shall know that I am the Lord,
63 (Ro 3:19; Ps 39:9) in order that you may remember, and be humiliated,
and never open your mouth anymore because of your shame,
when I am pacified toward you for all that you have done, says the Lord God.
Ezekiel 16
[1] Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
[2] Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,
[3] And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy
nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother
an Hittite.
[4] And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not
cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted
at all, nor swaddled at all.
[5] None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion
upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the lothing of thy
person, in the day that thou wast born.
[6] And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I
said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when
thou wast in thy blood, Live.
[7] I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast
increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: thy
breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and
bare.
[8] Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was
the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy
nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee,
saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.
[9] Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood
from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.
[10] I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers'
skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.
[11] I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands,
and a chain on thy neck.
[12] And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a
beautiful crown upon thine head.
[13] Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine
linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey,
and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a
kingdom.
[14] And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was
perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD.
[15] But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot
because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that
passed by; his it was.
[16] And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places with
divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon: the like things shall not
come, neither shall it be so.
[17] Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which
I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit
whoredom with them,
[18] And tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them: and thou hast
set mine oil and mine incense before them.
[19] My meat also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey,
wherewith I fed thee, thou hast even set it before them for a sweet savour:
and thus it was, saith the Lord GOD.
[20] Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast
borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is
this of thy whoredoms a small matter,
[21] That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to
pass through the fire for them?
[22] And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not
remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast
polluted in thy blood.
[23] And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, (woe, woe unto thee!
saith the Lord GOD;)
[24] That thou hast also built unto thee an eminent place, and hast made
thee an high place in every street.
[25] Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way, and hast made
thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened thy feet to every one that
passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms.
[26] Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbours,
great of flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke me to anger.
[27] Behold, therefore I have stretched out my hand over thee, and have
diminished thine ordinary food, and delivered thee unto the will of them
that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, which are ashamed of thy
lewd way.
[28] Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast
unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest
not be satisfied.
[29] Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan
unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith.
[30] How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord GOD, seeing thou doest all
these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman;
[31] In that thou buildest thine eminent place in the head of every way, and
makest thine high place in every street; and hast not been as an harlot, in
that thou scornest hire;
[32] But as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead
of her husband!
[33] They give gifts to all whores: but thou givest thy gifts to all thy
lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy
whoredom.
[34] And the contrary is in thee from other women in thy whoredoms, whereas
none followeth thee to commit whoredoms: and in that thou givest a reward,
and no reward is given unto thee, therefore thou art contrary.
[35] Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD:
[36] Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy
nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers, and with all the
idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children, which thou
didst give unto them;
[37] Behold, therefore I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast
taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou
hast hated; I will even gather them round about against thee, and will
discover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness.
[38] And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are
judged; and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy.
[39] And I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down
thine eminent place, and shall break down thy high places: they shall strip
thee also of thy clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee
naked and bare.
[40] They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone
thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords.
[41] And they shall burn thine houses with fire, and execute judgments upon
thee in the sight of many women: and I will cause thee to cease from playing
the harlot, and thou also shalt give no hire any more.
[42] So will I make my fury toward thee to rest, and my jealousy shall
depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry.
[43] Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast
fretted me in all these things; behold, therefore I also will recompense thy
way upon thine head, saith the Lord GOD: and thou shalt not commit this
lewdness above all thine abominations.
[44] Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb against
thee, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter.
[45] Thou art thy mother's daughter, that lotheth her husband and her
children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, which lothed their
husbands and their children: your mother was an Hittite, and your father an
Amorite.
[46] And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at
thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is
Sodom and her daughters.
[47] Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their
abominations: but, as if that were a very little thing, thou wast corrupted
more than they in all thy ways.
[48] As I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor
her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters.
[49] Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of
bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither
did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
[50] And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me:
therefore I took them away as I saw good.
[51] Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast
multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters
in all thine abominations which thou hast done.
[52] Thou also, which hast judged thy sisters, bear thine own shame for thy
sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they: they are more
righteous than thou: yea, be thou confounded also, and bear thy shame, in
that thou hast justified thy sisters.
[53] When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and
her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then will I
bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them:
[54] That thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded in all
that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them.
[55] When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former
estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate,
then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.
[56] For thy sister Sodom was not mentioned by thy mouth in the day of thy
pride,
[57] Before thy wickedness was discovered, as at the time of thy reproach of
the daughters of Syria, and all that are round about her, the daughters of
the Philistines, which despise thee round about.
[58] Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thine abominations, saith the LORD.
[59] For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even deal with thee as thou hast
done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant.
[60] Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy
youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.
[61] Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt
receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and I will give them unto
thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.
[62] And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I
am the LORD:
[63] That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth
any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that
thou hast done, saith the Lord GOD.
2) Our Daily Bread for 17 August 2022
https://odb.org/CA/2022/08/17/the-making-of-me
Entitled "The Making of Me"
Acts 15:36-40
Paul and Barnabas Separate
36 (Ac 13:4; 13:13-14) After some days Paul said to Barnabas,
"Let us return and visit our brothers in every city
where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing."
37 (Ac 12:12) Barnabas determined to take with them John, who was called Mark.
38 (Ac 13:13) But Paul thought it was not good to take with them one
who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them
to the work.
39 (Ac 4:36) Then there arose a sharp contention,
so that they separated from each other.
Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus,
40 (Ac 14:26; 15:22) but Paul chose Silas and departed,
being commended by the brothers to the grace of God.
[36] And some days after Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us go again and visit
our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and
see how they do.
[37] And **Barnabas determined to take with them John**,
whose surname was Mark.
[38] **But Paul thought not good to take him with them**,
who departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work.
[39] And the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed
asunder one from the other: and so Barnabas took Mark, and sailed unto
Cyprus;
[40] And Paul chose Silas, and departed, being recommended by the brethren
unto the grace of God.
Seven-year-old Thomas Edison didn't like or do well in school. One day, he was
even called "addled" (mentally confused) by a teacher. He stormed home. After
speaking with the teacher the next day, his mom, a teacher by training,
decided to teach Thomas at home. Helped along by her love and encouragement
(and his God-given genius), Thomas went on to become a great inventor. He
later wrote, "My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me,
and I felt I had someone to live for, someone I must not disappoint."
In Acts 15, we read that Barnabas and the apostle Paul served together as
missionaries until they had a major disagreement about whether or not to
bring along John Mark. Paul was opposed because Mark had earlier "deserted
them in Pamphylia" (vv. 36-38). As a result, Paul and Barnabas split. Paul
took Silas and Barnabas took Mark. Barnabas was willing to give Mark a second
chance, and his encouragement contributed to Mark's ability to serve and
succeed as a missionary. He went on to write the gospel of Mark and was even a
comfort to Paul while he was in prison (2 Timothy 4:11).
Many of us can look back and point to someone in our life who encouraged and
helped us along our way. God may be calling you to do the same for someone in
your life. Whom might you encourage?
By: Alyson Kieda
Reflect & Pray
Who had faith in you and helped you succeed?
What did that person do to encourage you?
Dear God, thank You for walking alongside me
and placing people in my life who helped to make me who I am today.
3) Daily verses taken from Billy Graham Evangelical Organisation
Words in Season Scripture Memory Tools
Week 8 Guided by Grace Day 4 - Send for Help !
James 1:5
5 (Pr 2:3-6; Jn 15:7) If any of you lacks wisdom,
let him ask of God, who gives to all men liberally
and without criticism, and it will be given to him.
5 If any of you lack wisdom,
let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally,
and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
A new employee in an electronics plant had the responsibility
for overseeing one machine. The machine worked fine when the young man
came on duty, but soon it began to run a bit rough. The employee
tinkered with the machine, trying to "fix" it, until finally if stopped
working altogether
In fear and trembling the worker sent for the foreman, and stammered,
"I - I, well, sir, I did my best to fix it."
"Son", the foreman thundered, "you need to know only one thing. Around
here, doing you best means sending for me!"
Wisdom, James 1:5 says, has its source in God alone. And if we are
to attain wisdom, we need to learn doing our best means sending for God.
Often we spend time tinkering with our lives or the the lives of others.
We don't think to as God for his wisdom in the decisions we must take;
instead, we use our human reasoning and take our best guess.
But the path to wisdom does not lie in guesswork. The scriptures
give us clear indication of God's direction for his people, and through Bible
study, application, prayer, and meditation,
we can understand what God wants to reveal to us.
"If any of you lacks wisdom," James says, "he should ask God, who gives
generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him."
The first step to attaining wisdom is recognising that we are not wise.
The second step is to ask. And God, who is faithful to his Word
and His people, will respond.
Application
a) Under what circumstances have I tinkered with my life,
making it worse rather then fixing it?
b) What practical steps can I take to ask God for wisdom?
4) From Prosperity Promises - Kenneth Copeland
Exodus 3:7-8
7 (Ps 106:44; Ex 2:23-25)The Lord said,
"I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt
and have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters,
for I know their sorrows.
8 (Ge 50:24; 15:18-21; Ex 13:5) Therefore, I have come down
to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians,
and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land,
to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of
the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites,
the Hivites, and the Jebusites."
7 And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people
which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters;
for I know their sorrows;
8 and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand
of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and
a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the
Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites,
and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
5) From a Book called God's Promises for you:
When you are lonely
PSALMS 23
A Psalm of David.
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 (Ps 63:1; 84:2) He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside still waters.
3 (Ps 79:10; 80:5) He restores my soul;
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for His name's sake.
4 (Isa 30:29; Ps 62:8) Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff,
they comfort me.
5 (Ps 42:11; 43:5) You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup runs over.
6 (2Sa 17:22; Dt 3:8-9) Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
Psalm 23
A Psalm of David.
1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul:
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil:
for thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
Remember God's promises when You pray
The Lord's prayer
Matthew 6:9-13
9 "Therefore pray in this manner:
Our Father who is in heaven,
hallowed be Your name.
10 (Mt 3:2; 4:17) Your kingdom come;
Your will be done
on earth, as it is in heaven.
11 (Pr 30:8; Isa 33:16) Give us this day our daily bread.
12 (Ex 34:7; Ps 32:1) And forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors.
13 (1Co 10:13; Jn 17:15) And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."
9 After this manner therefore pray ye:
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
6) This come from Praying for Muslims in Canada 2015 (Is there a 2021 edition?)
New Brunswick
Total population 753900
Muslim population (est.) 4543
Moncton, followed by Fredericton and Saint John, each have a growing Muslim
population in New Brunswick, In 2007, the building that was formerly a Baptist
church was converted into Moncton's 1st mosque. The University of Moncton
also has a Muslim student association hosting prayer services, fellowship
getherings, and outreaches on campus.
Fredericton also has one mosque and a Muslim student association serving the
campuses of the University of New Brunswick and St. Thomas University.
Fredericton's Muslim population consists in 2014 of about 50 families,
and between 300 to 400 university students.
Saint John is home to the 1st Muslim Association for the province,
which also helped foster the Islamic associations of Fredericton and Moncton.
a 'musalla', or prayer location that is not officially structured as a mosque,
has been established in the Uptown area with the intention of seeing it grow
into a 2nd official place of Muslim worship. Demand for this new location has
been primarily for university students moving into the area.
Pray for Muslims and New Brunswick
- that the eyes of pastors, believers and entire congregations will be opened
to see this growing body of Muslims, and their hearts will be opened
to sharing God's love in Jesus Christ with them
- that intentional ministries to Muslims will grow and flourish in these
areas of concentration
- that cooperative CNNMM Networks will form to really, encourage,
and equip believers to lovingly reach Muslims in this province.
Adding further
30 days of prayer for the Muslim World 24 April to 23 May 2020
Under the Keep Praying page
When the new moon is sighted it marks the beginning of t he new Islamic month
and Eid al-Fitr, the "Festival of Breaking the Fast", will start! After 30 days
of fasting, the Eid celebration at the end of Ramadan is a joyful time that
usually lasts about 3 days. Muslims will buy new clothes, exchange gifts and,
of course, enjoy special foods. In Muslim-majority nations, the streets may be
decorated and festivals will be held.
For many Muslims, Eid-al-Fitr begins with communal prayers at daybreak and the
distribution of money (zakat) to the poor, which is one of the 5 pillars of
Islam.
You can greet Muslim friends during this time by saying "Eid Mubarak",
which means Blessed Eid!"
Ramadan is over for this year, but you can continue to pray for Muslims you
know, and Muslims around the world:
- Despite the unsettling developments in our world today that involve actions
in the name of Islam, there is at the same time a largely untold story about
unprecedented movement to Christ among Muslims. There have been more such
movements of thousands or more new disciples among Muslims in the last three
decades or so than in all the previous history of Christian Muslim
relationships! Pray for this momentum to continue.
Acts 2:12-17 : 17 12 They were all amazed and perplexed, saying to each other,
"What does this mean?"
13 (1Co 14:23) Others mocking said, "These men are full of new wine."
Peter's Speech at Pentecost
14 (Ac 1:26) But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice
and said to them, "Men of Judea and all you who dwell in Jerusalem,
let this be known to you, and listen to my words.
15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose,
since it is the third hour of the day.
16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 (Isa 44:3; Ac 10:45) 'In the last days it shall be,' says God,
'that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.'
- Pray for Christian workers an organisations focused on seeing effective
discipleship movements among Muslim people.
- Ask the Holy Spirit to continue to inspire you to have god's heart for
Muslims, to see them as He does, and to be the light that then to Jesus.
Matthew 5:14-15 : 14 "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a
hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do men light a candle and put it under
a basket, but on a candlestick. And it gives light to all who are in the
house."
Ideas for prayer
- Pray for opportunities to show the love of Christ to Muslims around you
- Pray for, and offer generous hospitality to, those you know who are serving
Christ among Muslim people -
Romans 12:13 "contribute to the needs of the saints, practice hospitality."
- When you gather with fellow believers, remember to pray for Muslims
throughout the year and encourage them to also participate in 30 Days!
And
Thank you for praying through the
5 Days of Prayer for Sikhs.
"My name is Kam. I'm 29 years of age, and I grew up Sikh. As a teenager,
I struggled with depression, brokenness, and addiction to
cannabis. I didn't know how to stop or how to get help.
Then a friend invited me to church. As I spent time with Christians
and heard the message of the Gospel, I experienced the
love of Jesus Christ, and it was like nothing I'd known before.
One night I had a dream where I saw Him - a figure surrounded by
light who I knew was Jesus, the light of the world.
As I began to understand the gospel message, I encountered a reassuring and
confident solution to the problem of sin. I knew that I needed a solution
to my sin problem, and I gave my life to Christ.
Slowly, God began to heal my broken heart and my addiction.
Nine years have passed, and I am a devoted husband and a father
to two beautiful boys. I grow deeper in love with Jesus each day.
I ask you to continue praying with me, and others around the world, for Sikhs.
God is the only one who can draw people to Himself. He works in and through
the prayers of His people. I want Sikhs to know the freedom
and healing that is only available through Jesus Christ."
13 (Ro 14:17; 12:12) Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy
and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope,
through the power of the Holy Spirit.
[13] Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that
ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
ROMANS 15:13
My paternal side is of Muslim heritage and will offer this section to further
call for Muslim converts to Christian and any other converts to Christianity
(Hindus, Jews, aboriginals Canadian, atheists, secular humanists, ...) .
7) Prayers for the nation (Canada) coming from Prayer map of Canada
http://www.ehc.ca
17th Day of the Month
a) Pray for the safety of those
who live in your community -
safety from conflict an crimes
( Ps 122:7 - 7 Peace be within your walls
and security within your towers!
7 Peace be within thy walls,
And prosperity within thy palaces.)
b) Pray for the province of Ontario
I) Pray for the leaders of Ontario,
that God's Spirit would influence
then to act justly,
serve with integrity
and honour high moral standards. ( 1 Tim 2:1 - 4
1 Therefore I exhort first of all that you make supplications,
prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings for everyone,
2 (Ezr 6:10) for kings and for all who are in authority,
that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and honesty,
3(1Ti 1:1; Lk 1:47) for this is good
and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
4 (Eze 18:23; 18:32)who desires all men to be saved
and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
II) Pray for the churches of the province,
that they would be lighthouses
beaming forth the illuminating truth of God's Word.
III) Pray that the Lord would use
the Finding the Hope Campaign
and booklet to turn many hearts to Jesus
)
Conclusion:
Pray to the Lord and pray that your nation is not spiritually adulterous.
Pray to the Lord: "Dear God, thank You for walking alongside me
and placing people in my life who helped to make me who I am today."
Pray to the Lord and pray to seek His Wisdom.
Pray to the Lord and pray to Him in distress.
Pray to the Lord and pray that He will guide you in dangerous times.
Pray for Muslims and New Brunswick
- that the eyes of pastors, believers and entire congregations will be opened
to see this growing body of Muslims, and their hearts will be opened
to sharing God's love in Jesus Christ with them
- that intentional ministries to Muslims will grow and flourish in these
areas of concentration
- that cooperative CNNMM Networks will form to really, encourage,
and equip believers to lovingly reach Muslims in this province.
Pray for Christian workers an organisations focused on seeing effective
discipleship movements among Muslim people.
- Pray for opportunities to show the love of Christ to Muslims around you
- Pray for, and offer generous hospitality to, those you know who are serving
Christ among Muslim people -
Romans 12:13 "contribute to the needs of the saints, practice hospitality."
- When you gather with fellow believers, remember to pray for Muslims
throughout the year and encourage them to also participate in 30 Days!
Pray for the safety of those
who live in your community -
safety from conflict an crimes
Pray for an increase in youth engagement with the Gospel in Bhutan.
Pray to the Lord that to know the Holy Spirit.
and Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness.
Remember eternity starts now -
Pray for the direction you take to the Ever lasting loving God.