THE THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
To fear the Lord is to abolish death
“1 My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: 2 For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. 3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: 4 So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. 5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
Proverbs 3:1-6 (KJV)
“But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”
Isaiah 59:2 (KJV)
Death is separation. A physical death is the separation of the soul from the body. Spiritual death, which is of greater significance, is the separation of the soul from God.
“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
Genesis 2:17 (KJV)
Matthew 13
He who has ears to hear
Ears are a feature shared by all of humanity—to not have ears would be an unnatural occurrence. Therefore, when Jesus addresses those who have ears, He refers to all who have been given His words—no matter their age, ethnicity, language, or status
Why Jesus spoke in parables
Matthew 13:13-14 (KJV), “13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive.”
Asaph, the chief musician of David, wrote this to remind the generations to continue to pass on to the next generation; they had a responsibility to not hide them from their children
Psalm 78:2 (KJV), “I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old.”
This is not just something Jesus decided to tell those who were present at the time
Isaiah 6:9-10 (KJV), “9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. 10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.”
Jesus spoke in parables because He knew without the wisdom of God, mankind could not reveal the true meanings of these sayings. When you truly accept the Lord with your heart and not just with your mouth, God’s wisdom is available to interpret by giving you a genuine hunger for God. In other words, to give you the desire to not just read the Word but to examine what God is revealing.
True repentance and discipleship is essential for salvation
Matthew 13:20-22 (KJV), “20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; 21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. 22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.”
Daniel 6
The first test of Daniel’s faithfulness was when Nebuchadnezzar was king – the furnace
Daniel 3:4-6 (KJV), “4 Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, 5 That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up: 6 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.”
The next real test was a decree from Darius – The lion’s den
Daniel 6:6-9 (KJV), “6 Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live forever. 7 All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. 8 Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. 9 Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree.”
Being faithful to God in the presence of man is one way of fulfilling the great commission – King Darius is now converted
Daniel 6:26 (KJV), “I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast forever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end.”
Jeremiah 28 Hananiah’s Falsehood and Doom
There is no salvation in the for false teaching
Jeremiah 28:16-17 (KJV), “16 Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the Lord. 17 So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.”
Proverbs 3 Put your trust only in the Lord (read)
Proverbs 3:5-6 (KJV), “5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
Ezekiel 26 Proclamation Against Tyre (Lebanon)
Is Ezekiel 26:14 a false prophecy because it says that Tyre will never be rebuilt?
Ezekiel 26:14 (KJV), “And I will make thee like the top of a rock: thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon; thou shalt be built no more: for I the Lord have spoken it, saith the Lord God.”
When God told Tyre, “You will never be rebuilt,” He did not lie. Ancient Tyre was stripped of its glory and strength. Modern Tyre is but a shadow of its former reality. The businesses and dwellings that now stand on the ancient site are a far cry from the luxury, greatness, or influence of the original city-state. That Tyre—the Tyre judged by God—will never be reconstituted or rebuilt.
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