Susanna 1:22-23

Then Susanna sighed deeply and said, “I am hemmed in on all sides, for if I do this thing, it is death for me; yet if I do not, I will not escape your hands. But it is better for me not to do it and to fall into your hands, than to sin against the Lord.”

Personal Challenge

Sometimes it feels like life is offering us no win scenarios. In these situations we believe that we have no choice but to take the route that causes us to sin the least. However, as Susanna tells the two men who have trapped her and are pressing her to sin, it is better to stay true to her Lord and trust that He will sort it out. That is a great lesson in the scripture that is unfort­unately left out of many Bibles. Glory be to God!

Ezekiel 37:26-28

I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant, and I will establish My sanctuary in their midst forever. My tabernacle shall be among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them, when My sanctuary is among them forever.

Encouraging Words

God promises to establish a covenant of peace with His creation that will last forever. Part of that covenant will be the establishment of His sanctuary, His tabernacle, in the midst of His people where He can be worshipped. Jesus ushered in this covenant and He became that tabernacle that is amongst us and eternal. We can seek sanctuary in Him at all times. Glory be to God!

Ezekiel 36:25-27

I shall sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be cleansed from all your uncleanness, and I will also cleanse you from all your idols. I shall give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I shall take the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I shall put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My requirements, and you will keep My judgments and do them.

Encouraging Words

When Adam and Eve were created, they were created perfect. God planted in all of creation His perfection. When they sinned that perfection was soiled and has been soiled ever since. God promises us here through the prophesy of Ezekiel, that there will be a day when He will regenerate us. He will sprinkle clean water on us to cleanse us from our uncleanness and our idolization of things other than God. He will give us a new heart and a new spirit. He will fill us with His spirit and will cause us to walk in His ways. For those of who have been baptized into His family, our journey to this regenerated person has begun. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner and forgive me for continually turning back to my old worldly ways.

Ezekiel 34:15-16

I shall feed My sheep and refresh them; and they will know that I am the Lord,” thus says the Lord and Master. “I shall seek the lost, bring back the misled, bind up the broken, strengthen the fallen, protect the strong, and feed them with judgment.”

Encouraging Words

God loves His flock of sheep. Through Jesus and His works, we can all become sheep in God’s flock. As sheep in His flock, He feeds and refreshes us. We will know Him. He seeks after those who are lost, brings back those who are misled, binds up the broken ones, Strengthens the fallen ones, protects the strong ones, and feeds us all with judgment.

Ezekiel 1:27b

This was the vision of the likeness of the Lord’s glory. I saw it, and I fell down on my face, and heard the voice of One speaking.

Encouraging Words

Ezekiel had the privilege of seeing the pre-incarnate Christ, face-to-face. The apostles and others of their day had the privilege of seeing the incarnate Christ face-to-face and to live with Him while He ministered here on earth. And we, the followers of Christ, have the privilege of having Him dwell within our hearts as we await His second coming. We honor and serve a God who is real and who has manifested Himself to us in so many ways. Glory be to God!

Lamentations 3:24-27

It is good for a man when he takes up
A yoke in his youth.
“He will sit alone and be silent,
Because he bears it on himself.
He will give his cheek to the one who strikes him,
And he will be filled with insults.
Yet the Lord shall not reject him forever.”

Personal Challenge

Once again many of us miss an under­standing of a passage like this one because we no longer live in a culture that is tied to an agricultural way of life. f we had a cow or an ox that we were raising with the intent of yoking them to a cart, we would start early in their life, putting a yoke on them. By doing this they become familiar with it and slowly become accustomed to its pressure and weight. Isn’t this an image of the expected life of a Christian.The sooner we let God put on His yoke of obedience, or the cross that Jesus told us to take up and bear for Him, the sooner we begin to grow accustomed to carrying out cross through live. Jesus Christ, Son of God, hare mercy on me, the sinner!

WAIT AND EXPECT

Lamentations 3:22-23

“The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
To the soul who will seek Him, the Good One.
He will wait for and quietly expect
The salvation of the Lord.”

Command with a Promise

Wait for and quietly expect the salvation of the Lord and He will be good to us. If we seek Him, He will be good to us. Now this does not mean that God’s salvation is dependent upon us, for there is nothing that we can do to earn that. Salvation is God’s free gift to mankind through the work of Jesus Christ. If we wait for God to show Himself in our lives, if we seek Him and wait quietly expecting His salvation, He reveal all of that to us. Glory be to God!