Grow in the Word of the Lord

THE THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

God gives us one precious day at a time.  Live each and every precious day according to God’s will as if He was to take you home tonight!

“Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.”

Proverbs 27:1 (KJV)

Ecclesiastes 5

God does not encourage debt but if you have to borrow, be diligent [responsible] in what you owe

Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 (KJV), “⁴ When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.  ⁵ Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.”

For those who seek riches, they never have enough and are never satisfied

Ecclesiastes 5:10 (KJV), “He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.”

Those who gain wealth on their own relish [boast] in their possessions…

Ecclesiastes 5:11 (KJV), “When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes?”

…and then lose sleep worrying and guarding all of their possessions

Ecclesiastes 5:12 (KJV), “The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.”

You know the old saying, ‘you can’t take it with you’

Solomon is reflecting on the importance he had put on his wealth

Ecclesiastes 5:15-16 (KJV), “¹⁵ As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.  ¹⁶ And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind?”

God wants us to enjoy the gifts that He gives to us but also to recognize that God gave us the gifts, in which we most likely did not deserve

In summary, Solomon reflects

Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 (KJV), “¹⁸ Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion.  19 Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.  ²⁰ For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart.”

Joel

Joel was an Old Testament prophet. His name means “The Lord is God” and is still in common use today. Joel is considered a minor prophet alongside Hosea, Obadiah, Habakkuk, Jonah, Micah, Malachi, and some others. These prophets are seen as minor not because they are less important but because their books are shorter. In the Hebrew Bible, they are grouped together in a book called The Twelve.

Joel wrote the book of Joel probably between 835 and 800 BC. Little is known about the prophet himself, except that he was the son of Pethuel. He might have lived during the days of Uzziah the king, alongside Amos and Isaiah.

Joel 1

Joel 1:1 (KJV), “The word of the Lord that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.”

Joel wrote his book during a tragic period in Judah’s history. Locusts had attacked the land, leaving destruction in their wake

Joel 1:2-5 (KJV), “² Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?  ³ Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.  ⁴ That which the palmerworm [locusts]hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm [locusts]  eaten; and that which the cankerworm [locusts]  hath left hath the caterpiller [locusts]  eaten.  ⁵ Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.”

Jeremiah 48

Judgment on Moab – Moab was exiled to Babylon for his arrogance and idolatry

Jeremiah 48:8 (KJV), “And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape: the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the Lord hath spoken.”

Why?

Jeremiah 48:10 (KJV), “Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.”

Jeremiah 48:42 (KJV), “And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified himself against the Lord.”

God does promise to give the land back to Moab later after their return to God after adversity

Jeremiah 48:47 (KJV), “Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith the Lord. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.”

Proverbs 27

God gives us one precious day at a time.  Live each and every precious day, according to God’s will, as if He was to take you home tonight!

Proverbs 27:1 (KJV), “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.”

Be humble

Proverbs 27:2 (KJV), “Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.”

A husband’s jealousy is more harsh than the wrath of an angry man

Proverbs 27:4 (KJV), “Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?”

Envy/Jealousy

Strong’s Concordance (7068) – qinah: ardor, zeal, jealousy.  Brown-Driver-Briggs – 1. ardour of jealousy of husband.

We are to edify [encourage] one another

Proverbs 27:17 (KJV), “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.”

1 Thessalonians 5:11-15 (KJV), “¹¹ Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.  ¹² And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; ¹³ And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves.  ¹⁴ Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.  ¹⁵ See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.”

Be diligent and prudent towards your family, as your riches are only for a moment

Proverbs 27:23-24 (KJV), “²³ Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.  ²⁴ For riches are not for ever: and doth the crown endure to every generation?”

Ezekiel 46

Ezekiel prophesized in The Manner of Worship

Ezekiel 46:1 (KJV), “Thus saith the Lord God; The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened.”

The Jewish faithful had to wait for the priests to worship God

Ezekiel 46:2 (KJV), “And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate without, and shall stand by the post of the gate, and the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate: then he shall go forth; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening.”

The tabernacle of the Lord laid behind the veil permitting only the priests to enter

Ezekiel 46:9 (KJV), “But when the people of the land shall come before the Lord in the solemn feasts, he that entereth in by the way of the north gate to worship shall go out by the way of the south gate; and he that entereth by the way of the south gate shall go forth by the way of the north gate: he shall not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in, but shall go forth over against it.”

 But, not us…

Matthew 27:51 (KJV), “And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent.”

Hebrews 10:19 (KJV), “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.”