Monday... So let's keep at it.

Zechariah 6:15b (NIV), "This will happen if you diligently obey the Lord your God."

Monday... So let's keep at it.

We have been following all that has happened in the past few weeks in Los Angeles and the fires that have destroyed whole towns. It has been such a difficult thing to watch. I have lived close to where the fires have destroyed whole towns, Now it is getting close to being taken care of us. But it has been a major diligent effort by firefighters. It has taken real diligence. And it is going to take diligence in building back these cities, these homes, these businesses. It isn't going to just happen.

Now over in the book of Zechariah in the OT of the Bible Zechariah sees a task that needs to be done. Zechariah 6:15b (NIV) says, "This will happen if you diligently obey the Lord your God." The task was the building of the Temple of God. It had been destroyed and the people had agonized over this and they had fasted at certain times of the year. Yes prayer is so important and there has been and will be much prayer over the rebuilding of LA.

Now Zechariah has a message here in his book and he urges people to practice justice and the true form of fasting and to focus on rebuilding. Yes, prayer is so important but as Zechariah says in 6:15, "Those who are far away will come and help to build the temple of the Lord, and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. This will happen if you diligently obey the Lord your God."

So, what does it mean to be diligent? Well, the word diligent comes from the Latin diligere, which means "to value highly, take delight in" but in English it has always meant "careful and hard-working". If you're a diligent worker, you don't just bang away at your job; you earnestly try to do everything right.

The Amplified Bible says, "And those who are far away will come and [help] build the temple of the Lord. Then you shall know [without any doubt] that the Lord of hosts sent me (Zechariah) to you. And it will come about if you will obey the [voice of the ] Lord your God."

Yes, we must pray but yes, we must diligently do and obey what God will tell us to do. The Message paraphrase says verse 15 this way, "People will come from faraway places to pitch in and rebuild the Temple of God. This will confirm that God-of-the-Angel-Armies did, in fact, send me to you. All this follows as you put your minds to a life of responsive obedience to the voice of your God."

Psalm 80:19 (NLT) says, "Turn us again to yourself, O Lord God of Heaven's Armies. Make your face shine down upon us. Only them will we be saved." There is a diligent part for us to do but there is a definite part that he only he can do but we must turn to him. That is where we start.

Now in verse 12 of Zechariah 6 (AMP) it says, "Thus says the Lord of hosts, 'Behold (look, keep in sight, watch), a Man (Messiah) whose name is Branch, for He shall branch out from His place (Israel, the Davidic line); and He shall build the [ultimate] temple of the Lord." Yes, Zechariah is prophesying Jesus is coming and that we will be the ultimate Temple with Him living in us.

But in the task at hand God will answer their prayers by sending people to help in building but there is also something that they must do.

Yes, "This will happen if you diligently obey the Lord your God." "And it will come about if you will obey the [voice of the] Lord your God." So let's diligently do our part by obeying the voice of the Lord. Let's keep at it, and do our part and diligently do what he says. Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

Friday... We have this hope of expectancy.

Psalm 5:3 (NLT), "Listen to my voice in the morning Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly." Friday... We have this hope of expectancy. Now David found a great way to start his day. He says in Psalm 5:1-3 (NLT), "O LORD, hear me as I pray." And that is a great place to start. It really is. Morning sunrise He goes on, "Listen to my cry for help, my King, my God, for I pray to no one but you." And that is so important. We don't try to pump ourselves up by ourself. No, we pray to no one but you, God, my LORD, my King. Now this relationship with God is so, so very important. And then David says, "Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to you" And that is so great. And then he says, "and wait expectantly." Yes, we have this hope of expectancy. We are experienced. That is what a relationship with God and a moment by moment connection does. It makes a difference in our daily wa...

Friday... Yes, we can know this to be true.

Psalm 12:6 (NLT), "The Lord's promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over." Friday... Yes, we can know this to be true. Maybe this is what you want to say in this day in which we live. Psalm 12:1-2 (MSG) says, "Quick, I need your helping hand! The last decent person just went down, all the friends I depend on gone. Everyone talks in lie language; lies slide off their oily lips. They doubletalk with forked tongues." Do you ever feel that way?" Have you found that to be true? Well David the writer of this Psalm continues and says in verse 6 something to encourage us, to lift us up, to give us hope. Psalm 12:6 (NLT) says, "The Lord's promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over." The Message Paraphrase says verses 6-8 this way, "God's words are pure words, pure silver words refined seven times in the fires of his word-kiln, pure on earth as well as in heaven, God, keep ...

Friday... So what is it that you really fear?

1 Corinthians 15:57 (NLT), "But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ." Friday... So what is it that you really fear? Yes, fear holds us back. It seems to take hold of us so that we can't even really enjoy living. Now I have found that one of the best ways to handle fear is to solve the problem of what we fear. Let's say that death is what we really fear. Everyday we wake up afraid to get up because we are afraid to do anything because we are afraid to die. And that is so understandable. Now I have found the solution to fearing death. I have through faith taken care of my fear to die. 1 Corinthians 15:57 (NLT) says, "But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ." Verse 22 (CEV) says, "Adam brought death to all of us, and Christ will bring life to all of us." Death was not God's plan. Adam was created for an eternal life but he and his partner, Eve blew it and sin a...

Today's Beginning

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