November 12

John 10:11-21

[11] I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. [12] He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. [13] He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. [14] I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, [15] just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. [16] And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. [17] For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. [18] No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

[19] There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. [20] Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?” [21] Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

1 John 2:18-23

Warning Concerning Antichrists

[18] Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. [19] They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. [20] But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. [21] I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. [22] Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. [23] No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.

Job 11

Zophar Speaks: You Deserve Worse

[1] Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said:

    [2] “Should a multitude of words go unanswered,

        and a man full of talk be judged right? 

    [3] Should your babble silence men,

        and when you mock, shall no one shame you? 

    [4] For you say, ‘My doctrine is pure,

        and I am clean in God’s eyes.’ 

    [5] But oh, that God would speak

        and open his lips to you, 

    [6] and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom!

        For he is manifold in understanding.

    Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves.

    [7] “Can you find out the deep things of God?

        Can you find out the limit of the Almighty? 

    [8] It is higher than heaven—what can you do?

        Deeper than Sheol—what can you know? 

    [9] Its measure is longer than the earth

        and broader than the sea. 

    [10] If he passes through and imprisons

        and summons the court, who can turn him back? 

    [11] For he knows worthless men;

        when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it? 

    [12] But a stupid man will get understanding

        when a wild donkey’s colt is born a man!

    [13] “If you prepare your heart,

        you will stretch out your hands toward him. 

    [14] If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away,

        and let not injustice dwell in your tents. 

    [15] Surely then you will lift up your face without blemish;

        you will be secure and will not fear. 

    [16] You will forget your misery;

        you will remember it as waters that have passed away. 

    [17] And your life will be brighter than the noonday;

        its darkness will be like the morning. 

    [18] And you will feel secure, because there is hope;

        you will look around and take your rest in security. 

    [19] You will lie down, and none will make you afraid;

        many will court your favor. 

    [20] But the eyes of the wicked will fail;

        all way of escape will be lost to them,

        and their hope is to breathe their last.”

Ezekiel 31

Pharaoh to Be Slain

[1] In the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: [2] “Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude: 

    “Whom are you like in your greatness? 

    [3]     Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon,

    with beautiful branches and forest shade,

        and of towering height,

        its top among the clouds. 

    [4] The waters nourished it;

        the deep made it grow tall,

    making its rivers flow

        around the place of its planting,

    sending forth its streams

        to all the trees of the field. 

    [5] So it towered high

        above all the trees of the field;

    its boughs grew large

        and its branches long

        from abundant water in its shoots. 

    [6] All the birds of the heavens

        made their nests in its boughs;

    under its branches all the beasts of the field

        gave birth to their young,

    and under its shadow

        lived all great nations. 

    [7] It was beautiful in its greatness,

        in the length of its branches;

    for its roots went down

        to abundant waters. 

    [8] The cedars in the garden of God could not rival it,

        nor the fir trees equal its boughs;

    neither were the plane trees

        like its branches;

    no tree in the garden of God

        was its equal in beauty. 

    [9] I made it beautiful

        in the mass of its branches,

    and all the trees of Eden envied it,

        that were in the garden of God.

    [10] “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because it towered high and set its top among the clouds, and its heart was proud of its height, [11] I will give it into the hand of a mighty one of the nations. He shall surely deal with it as its wickedness deserves. I have cast it out. [12] Foreigners, the most ruthless of nations, have cut it down and left it. On the mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its boughs have been broken in all the ravines of the land, and all the peoples of the earth have gone away from its shadow and left it. [13] On its fallen trunk dwell all the birds of the heavens, and on its branches are all the beasts of the field. [14] All this is in order that no trees by the waters may grow to towering height or set their tops among the clouds, and that no trees that drink water may reach up to them in height. For they are all given over to death, to the world below, among the children of man, with those who go down to the pit.

[15] “Thus says the Lord GOD: On the day the cedar went down to Sheol I caused mourning; I closed the deep over it, and restrained its rivers, and many waters were stopped. I clothed Lebanon in gloom for it, and all the trees of the field fainted because of it. [16] I made the nations quake at the sound of its fall, when I cast it down to Sheol with those who go down to the pit. And all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, were comforted in the world below. [17] They also went down to Sheol with it, to those who are slain by the sword; yes, those who were its arm, who lived under its shadow among the nations.

[18] “Whom are you thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? You shall be brought down with the trees of Eden to the world below. You shall lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword. 

“This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord GOD.” 

Ezekiel 32

A Lament over Pharaoh and Egypt

[1] In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: [2] “Son of man, raise a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him: 

    “You consider yourself a lion of the nations,

        but you are like a dragon in the seas;

    you burst forth in your rivers,

        trouble the waters with your feet,

        and foul their rivers. 

    [3] Thus says the Lord GOD:

        I will throw my net over you

        with a host of many peoples,

        and they will haul you up in my dragnet. 

    [4] And I will cast you on the ground;

        on the open field I will fling you,

    and will cause all the birds of the heavens to settle on you,

        and I will gorge the beasts of the whole earth with you. 

    [5] I will strew your flesh upon the mountains

        and fill the valleys with your carcass. 

    [6] I will drench the land even to the mountains

        with your flowing blood,

        and the ravines will be full of you. 

    [7] When I blot you out, I will cover the heavens

        and make their stars dark;

    I will cover the sun with a cloud,

        and the moon shall not give its light. 

    [8] All the bright lights of heaven

        will I make dark over you,

        and put darkness on your land,

    declares the Lord GOD.

    [9] “I will trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I bring your destruction among the nations, into the countries that you have not known. [10] I will make many peoples appalled at you, and the hair of their kings shall bristle with horror because of you, when I brandish my sword before them. They shall tremble every moment, every one for his own life, on the day of your downfall.

[11] “For thus says the Lord GOD: The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon you. [12] I will cause your multitude to fall by the swords of mighty ones, all of them most ruthless of nations. 

    “They shall bring to ruin the pride of Egypt,

        and all its multitude shall perish. 

    [13] I will destroy all its beasts

        from beside many waters;

    and no foot of man shall trouble them anymore,

        nor shall the hoofs of beasts trouble them. 

    [14] Then I will make their waters clear,

        and cause their rivers to run like oil,

    declares the Lord GOD. 

    [15] When I make the land of Egypt desolate,

        and when the land is desolate of all that fills it,

    when I strike down all who dwell in it,

        then they will know that I am the LORD.

    [16] This is a lamentation that shall be chanted; the daughters of the nations shall chant it; over Egypt, and over all her multitude, shall they chant it, declares the Lord GOD.”

[17] In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: [18] “Son of man, wail over the multitude of Egypt, and send them down, her and the daughters of majestic nations, to the world below, to those who have gone down to the pit:

    [19] ‘Whom do you surpass in beauty?

        Go down and be laid to rest with the uncircumcised.’

    [20] They shall fall amid those who are slain by the sword. Egypt is delivered to the sword; drag her away, and all her multitudes. [21] The mighty chiefs shall speak of them, with their helpers, out of the midst of Sheol: ‘They have come down, they lie still, the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.’

[22] “Assyria is there, and all her company, its graves all around it, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, [23] whose graves are set in the uttermost parts of the pit; and her company is all around her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who spread terror in the land of the living.

[24] “Elam is there, and all her multitude around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised into the world below, who spread their terror in the land of the living; and they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit. [25] They have made her a bed among the slain with all her multitude, her graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for terror of them was spread in the land of the living, and they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit; they are placed among the slain.

[26] “Meshech-Tubal is there, and all her multitude, her graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they spread their terror in the land of the living. [27] And they do not lie with the mighty, the fallen from among the uncircumcised, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose swords were laid under their heads, and whose iniquities are upon their bones; for the terror of the mighty men was in the land of the living. [28] But as for you, you shall be broken and lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword.

[29] “Edom is there, her kings and all her princes, who for all their might are laid with those who are killed by the sword; they lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to the pit.

[30] “The princes of the north are there, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who have gone down in shame with the slain, for all the terror that they caused by their might; they lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.

[31] “When Pharaoh sees them, he will be comforted for all his multitude, Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, declares the Lord GOD. [32] For I spread terror in the land of the living; and he shall be laid to rest among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord GOD.”

Are You Excited for Heaven?

PRAY OVER THIS

“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” Philippians 3:20

 

PONDER THIS

Many people ask what Heaven is going to be like. Are we going to have beds? Are we going to sleep? Will we eat? How old will we be? What will we do? I don’t know the answers to those questions, but that doesn’t bother me.

For 1 John 3:2 says, “It has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” You don't have to know. Let me tell you what Heaven is going to be like. It’s going to be the presence of all that is good and the absence of all that is evil.

Now, if that doesn’t satisfy you, let me give you something else. Heaven is going to be all that the loving heart of God can conceive, and the omnipotent hand of God can prepare. That is what Heaven is going to be. It’s a present place; it’s a perfect place; and it’s a purposeful place.

What questions about Heaven have you wrestled with?

What does it look like to hold to the certainty of Heaven without knowing exactly what it will be like?

PRACTICE THIS

Cast on the Lord your fears and questions about death and Heaven. Ask Him to grow your trust in Him, believing His Word even if you don’t have all the answers.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

We Are His House

Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses — as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope. (Hebrews 3:3–6)

The people who boast and hope in Jesus Christ are the house of God. Which means that Jesus this very day — not just back in Moses’s day or in his own days on earth — but this very day is our Maker, our Owner, our Ruler, and our Provider.

Jesus is called the “builder” of this house. Moses was not the builder. He was part of the house. So it says, “Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses — as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself.” So Moses, as great as he was in leading the house, and giving God’s word to the house, was still just a part of the house. But Jesus built the house.

So if we boast in Jesus and hope in Jesus, we are the house, and Jesus is our Builder, and Owner and Ruler and Provider. He does not let his house be destroyed or fall into ruin.

Then the writer changes the imagery — from builder and house, to son and servant. “Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant . . . but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son.” So Christ did become part of the house — part of the household — he built. But even so, his honor is far above Moses. Moses was a servant. Christ is the Son. The heir.

And we are part of this household. Hebrews 3:6: “And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.” By all means, let us respect and give Moses his due. But the point of the whole book of Hebrews is: Christ is greater. Greater in every way. He is the builder of the house of God’s people. And he is the Son in the house of God’s people. Let us respect Moses. But let us worship Jesus — our Maker, our brother.

John Piper 

How Do We Sin Against God

Psalm 119:11

    [11] I have stored up your word in my heart,

        that I might not sin against you.

Psalm 51:1-3

Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

    [1] Have mercy on me, O God,

        according to your steadfast love;

    according to your abundant mercy

        blot out my transgressions. 

    [2] Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

        and cleanse me from my sin!

    [3] For I know my transgressions,

        and my sin is ever before me.

Psalm 37:31

    [31] The law of his God is in his heart;

        his steps do not slip.

Psalm 51:4-6

    [4] Against you, you only, have I sinned

        and done what is evil in your sight,

    so that you may be justified in your words

        and blameless in your judgment. 

    [5] Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,

        and in sin did my mother conceive me. 

    [6] Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,

        and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

Sin begins in our heart in the form of rebellion.

We rebel by willful disobedience.

It is the very nature of Satan who by his disobedience was thrown out of Heaven.

He is a liar. 

He entices you to sin by breaking God's holy commandments.

He wants you to deny God.

He wants you to put self forward and do all the evil things the mind can conjure.

November 11

John 10:1-10

I Am the Good Shepherd

[1] “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. [2] But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. [3] To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. [4] When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. [5] A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” [6] This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

[7] So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. [8] All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. [9] I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. [10] The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

1 John 2:12-17

    [12] I am writing to you, little children,

        because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. 

    [13] I am writing to you, fathers,

        because you know him who is from the beginning.

    I am writing to you, young men,

        because you have overcome the evil one.

    I write to you, children,

        because you know the Father. 

    [14] I write to you, fathers,

        because you know him who is from the beginning.

    I write to you, young men,

        because you are strong,

        and the word of God abides in you,

        and you have overcome the evil one.

    Do Not Love the World

[15] Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. [16] For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. [17] And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Job 10

Job Continues: A Plea to God

    [1] “I loathe my life;

    I will give free utterance to my complaint;

        I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. 

    [2] I will say to God, Do not condemn me;

        let me know why you contend against me. 

    [3] Does it seem good to you to oppress,

        to despise the work of your hands

        and favor the designs of the wicked? 

    [4] Have you eyes of flesh?

        Do you see as man sees? 

    [5] Are your days as the days of man,

        or your years as a man’s years, 

    [6] that you seek out my iniquity

        and search for my sin, 

    [7] although you know that I am not guilty,

        and there is none to deliver out of your hand? 

    [8] Your hands fashioned and made me,

        and now you have destroyed me altogether. 

    [9] Remember that you have made me like clay;

        and will you return me to the dust? 

    [10] Did you not pour me out like milk

        and curdle me like cheese? 

    [11] You clothed me with skin and flesh,

        and knit me together with bones and sinews. 

    [12] You have granted me life and steadfast love,

        and your care has preserved my spirit. 

    [13] Yet these things you hid in your heart;

        I know that this was your purpose. 

    [14] If I sin, you watch me

        and do not acquit me of my iniquity. 

    [15] If I am guilty, woe to me!

        If I am in the right, I cannot lift up my head,

    for I am filled with disgrace

        and look on my affliction. 

    [16] And were my head lifted up, you would hunt me like a lion

        and again work wonders against me. 

    [17] You renew your witnesses against me

        and increase your vexation toward me;

        you bring fresh troops against me.

    [18] “Why did you bring me out from the womb?

        Would that I had died before any eye had seen me 

    [19] and were as though I had not been,

        carried from the womb to the grave. 

    [20] Are not my days few?

        Then cease, and leave me alone, that I may find a little cheer 

    [21] before I go—and I shall not return—

        to the land of darkness and deep shadow, 

    [22] the land of gloom like thick darkness,

        like deep shadow without any order,

        where light is as thick darkness.”

Ezekiel 29

Prophecy Against Egypt

[1] In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: [2] “Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt; [3] speak, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: 

    “Behold, I am against you,

        Pharaoh king of Egypt,

    the great dragon that lies

        in the midst of his streams,

    that says, ‘My Nile is my own;

        I made it for myself.’ 

    [4] I will put hooks in your jaws,

        and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales;

    and I will draw you up out of the midst of your streams,

        with all the fish of your streams

        that stick to your scales. 

    [5] And I will cast you out into the wilderness,

        you and all the fish of your streams;

    you shall fall on the open field,

        and not be brought together or gathered.

    To the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the heavens

        I give you as food.

    [6] Then all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the LORD. 

“Because you have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel,  [7] when they grasped you with the hand, you broke and tore all their shoulders; and when they leaned on you, you broke and made all their loins to shake. [8] Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will bring a sword upon you, and will cut off from you man and beast, [9] and the land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste. Then they will know that I am the LORD. 

“Because you said, ‘The Nile is mine, and I made it,’  [10] therefore, behold, I am against you and against your streams, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Cush. [11] No foot of man shall pass through it, and no foot of beast shall pass through it; it shall be uninhabited forty years. [12] And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of desolated countries, and her cities shall be a desolation forty years among cities that are laid waste. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries.

[13] “For thus says the Lord GOD: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered, [14] and I will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin, and there they shall be a lowly kingdom. [15] It shall be the most lowly of the kingdoms, and never again exalt itself above the nations. And I will make them so small that they will never again rule over the nations. [16] And it shall never again be the reliance of the house of Israel, recalling their iniquity, when they turn to them for aid. Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD.”

[17] In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: [18] “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre. Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was rubbed bare, yet neither he nor his army got anything from Tyre to pay for the labor that he had performed against her. [19] Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall carry off its wealth and despoil it and plunder it; and it shall be the wages for his army. [20] I have given him the land of Egypt as his payment for which he labored, because they worked for me, declares the Lord GOD.

[21] “On that day I will cause a horn to spring up for the house of Israel, and I will open your lips among them. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”

Ezekiel 30

A Lament for Egypt

[1] The word of the LORD came to me: [2] “Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: 

    “Wail, ‘Alas for the day!’ 

    [3]     For the day is near,

        the day of the LORD is near;

    it will be a day of clouds,

        a time of doom for the nations. 

    [4] A sword shall come upon Egypt,

        and anguish shall be in Cush,

    when the slain fall in Egypt,

        and her wealth is carried away,

        and her foundations are torn down.

    [5] Cush, and Put, and Lud, and all Arabia, and Libya, and the people of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword.

    [6] “Thus says the LORD:

    Those who support Egypt shall fall,

        and her proud might shall come down;

    from Migdol to Syene

        they shall fall within her by the sword,

    declares the Lord GOD. 

    [7] And they shall be desolated in the midst of desolated countries,

        and their cities shall be in the midst of cities that are laid waste. 

    [8] Then they will know that I am the LORD,

        when I have set fire to Egypt,

        and all her helpers are broken.

    [9] “On that day messengers shall go out from me in ships to terrify the unsuspecting people of Cush, and anguish shall come upon them on the day of Egypt’s doom; for, behold, it comes!

[10] “Thus says the Lord GOD: 

    “I will put an end to the wealth of Egypt,

        by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. 

    [11] He and his people with him, the most ruthless of nations,

        shall be brought in to destroy the land,

    and they shall draw their swords against Egypt

        and fill the land with the slain. 

    [12] And I will dry up the Nile

        and will sell the land into the hand of evildoers;

    I will bring desolation upon the land and everything in it,

        by the hand of foreigners;

    I am the LORD; I have spoken.

    [13] “Thus says the Lord GOD: 

    “I will destroy the idols

        and put an end to the images in Memphis;

    there shall no longer be a prince from the land of Egypt;

        so I will put fear in the land of Egypt. 

    [14] I will make Pathros a desolation

        and will set fire to Zoan

        and will execute judgments on Thebes. 

    [15] And I will pour out my wrath on Pelusium,

        the stronghold of Egypt,

        and cut off the multitude of Thebes. 

    [16] And I will set fire to Egypt;

        Pelusium shall be in great agony;

    Thebes shall be breached,

        and Memphis shall face enemies by day. 

    [17] The young men of On and of Pi-beseth shall fall by the sword,

        and the women shall go into captivity. 

    [18] At Tehaphnehes the day shall be dark,

        when I break there the yoke bars of Egypt,

    and her proud might shall come to an end in her;

        she shall be covered by a cloud,

        and her daughters shall go into captivity. 

    [19] Thus I will execute judgments on Egypt.

        Then they will know that I am the LORD.”

    Egypt Shall Fall to Babylon

[20] In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: [21] “Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and behold, it has not been bound up, to heal it by binding it with a bandage, so that it may become strong to wield the sword. [22] Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt and will break his arms, both the strong arm and the one that was broken, and I will make the sword fall from his hand. [23] I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them through the countries. [24] And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put my sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him like a man mortally wounded. [25] I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall. Then they shall know that I am the LORD, when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt. [26] And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”

God Has a Place Saved for You

PRAY OVER THIS

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.” Psalm 23:5

 

PONDER THIS

Who sets the table in your house? It likely depends on who’s coming. If no one’s coming, I may set the table, but I never can get it quite right.

But when we are expecting company, generally, Joyce will set the table. No longer do we have the place mats. We have the linen tablecloth. No longer do we have the glass. We get the crystal. No longer do we have ordinary dishes; the best China comes out, and there will be lit candles and fresh flowers on the table. Everything is just right, and the music will be playing softly in the background. We really love to set the table. Do you know why we set the table that way? To honor the person who’s coming.

You see, here’s what David was saying: “God has put on an apron. God, Jehovah, has prepared a table for me. For me! The Lord of glory has prepared a table for me. He loves me. He welcomes me. I’m special to Him.”

How does it feel to know God values your place at His table?

Who is someone in your congregation who needs to be reminded that God has a place for him or her at His table?

PRACTICE THIS

Encourage someone who may be feeling left out that God has a special place at His table for him or her.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Wipe Your Fears Away

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. (Psalm 56:3)

One possible response to the truth that our anxiety is rooted in unbelief goes like this: “I have to deal with feelings of anxiety almost every day; and so I feel like my faith in God’s grace must be totally inadequate. So I wonder if I can have any assurance of being saved at all.”

My response to this concern is: Suppose you are in a car race and your enemy, who doesn’t want you to finish the race, throws mud on your windshield. The fact that you temporarily lose sight of your goal and start to swerve does not mean that you are going to quit the race.

And it certainly doesn’t mean that you are on the wrong racetrack. Otherwise, your competitor — your adversary — wouldn’t bother you at all. What it means is that you should turn on your windshield wipers.

When anxiety strikes and blurs our vision of God’s glory and the greatness of the future that he plans for us, this does not mean that we are faithless, or that we will not make it to heaven. It means our faith is being attacked.

At first blow, our belief in God’s promises may sputter and swerve. But whether we stay on track and make it to the finish line depends on whether, by grace, we set in motion a process of resistance — whether we fight back against the unbelief of anxiety. Will we turn on the windshield wipers?

Psalm 56:3 says, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.”

Notice: it does not say, “I never struggle with fear.” Fear strikes, and the battle begins. So the Bible does not assume that true believers will have no anxieties. Instead, the Bible tells us how to fight when they strike. It tells us how to turn on the windshield wipers.

John Piper