Zephaniah 3: ¹⁷ The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.

Stop for a moment and think of this wondrous thought.  The book of Zephaniah to this point has spoken of God’s judgement, His anger against sin.  Yet, there it is; there he proclaims that there is a remnant whom will trust in Him and that He will save.  Beyond that He rejoices over me with joy.  This heart so filled with selfish desires, so prone to wander or to be drawn toward self exaltation as though I deserved anything but to fall before worthy of only thy wrath and judgement.  Yet You dear Lord rejoice over me with love and joy, singing over me.  You, Father, are my only hope, my joy, my love.  You have provided the only means for my salvation, by thy great mercy and thy grace to this such an unworthy servant. 

Ephesians 1:  ³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

⁴ According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

⁵ Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

⁶ To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

⁷ In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

⁸ Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;

⁹ Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:

¹⁰ That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:

¹¹ In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

¹² That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Draw me ever closer to thy Word of Truth.  Fill my heart with thy precepts that I might ever seek to follow thy will in each and every moment of the day.  I cannot do this without your empowering each and every step.  Write your words on my heart and seal it with your courts of love. Keep my eyes fixed upon thee while I step out into the world today; only then can I reflect your glory back to you as it glows forth to those who so need to see thy light of Hope.  Let the words of this great hymn written by Robert Robinson in 1757 become my prayer today.

1. Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,

Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;

Streams of mercy, never ceasing,

Call for songs of loudest praise.

Teach me some melodious sonnet,

Sung by flaming tongues above.

Praise the mount, I’m fixed upon it,

Mount of Thy redeeming love.

2. Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,

Till released from flesh and sin,

Yet from what I do inherit,

Here Thy praises I’ll begin;

Here I raise my Ebenezer;

Here by Thy great help I’ve come;

And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,

Safely to arrive at home.

3. Jesus sought me when a stranger,

Wandering from the fold of God;

He, to rescue me from danger,

Interposed His precious blood;

How His kindness yet pursues me

Mortal tongue can never tell,

Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me

I cannot proclaim it well.

4. O to grace how great a debtor

Daily I’m constrained to be!

Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,

Bind my wandering heart to Thee.

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,

Prone to leave the God I love;

Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,

Seal it for Thy courts above.

5. O that day when freed from sinning,

I shall see Thy lovely face;

Clothèd then in blood washed linen

How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;

Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,

Take my ransomed soul away;

Send thine angels now to carry

Me to realms of endless day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUhU0HgTq94

Attached is a copy of a recent radio interview. 

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCQmYn7Hiiw&list=UU42mNOLo78vBCpPh34HSUTw&index=1

Isaiah 28 Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!

² Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand.

³ The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet:

⁴ And the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up.

⁵ In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,

⁶ And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate….

¹² To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.

^{13 But the word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.14 Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem 15} Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:

¹⁶ Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

¹⁷ Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

¹⁸ And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.

The priests had become drunkards, being filled with wine rather than the truth of God’s words.  They were teaching the people with a form of legalism; yes, the law was important and a guide to man’s behavior.  Still, even in the old testament faith was the key to salvation.  As from Abraham for whom faith was counted for righteousness, so has it been throughout.  God knew that man could not keep the commandments and they were proof of man’s need for a Savior.  The sacrificial system in the old testament was a picture of Christ who was the chief and precious corner stone.  God in perfect Righteousness and to remain a perfectly Just Judge of all the world could not overlook sin; because sin was that which separated man from his true purpose of a relationship with his Creator–God.  Sin lurked deep within covetous, pride filled hearts who were so darkened they could not see the light of God’s Glory.   Sin seeks and follows after counterfeit joys to fill the void that only God can fill.  There is a great warning here to all those who teach anything but faith in Christ Alone as the only means of Salvation.  Christ took upon Himself the full wrath that was demanded to pay the penalty for man’s sin.  If we ignore the depth of wrath that God has against sin, then we look lightly upon the price that was paid at the cross and we look lightly upon the sins within our own life.  Yes, the only hope I have is Jesus who has paid my sins upon the Cross.  True, through Jesus, my sins are paid–past, present, and future by faith in Him; yet, that truth when understood transforms my life.  No longer can I be content with the sins in my life that cause Him such sorrow; because, He realizes that all the darkness in my heart will still cause me not to see the light of His Glory nor feel the depth of His Joy penetrating deeply into my life.  Because of the depth of love and gratitude I have for the magnitude of Grace He has shown me; I must battle against sin in my own heart and battle to hold tight to the Joy I have in Him.  As Jonathan Edwards said "“God’s purpose for my life was that I have a passion for God’s glory and that I have a passion for my joy in that glory, and that these two are one passion.”

The Mystery of the Cross I cannot Comprehend

The Agonies of Calvary

You the perfect Holy One, Crushed Your Son

Who drank the Bitter Cup Reserved for Me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUZQ1R_uyiQ

Matthew 11:

²⁸ Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

As I began my search for a devotional today, I came upon this song and this verse.  I, at first, said, "But Lord, why this song and why this message?  Shouldn’t I just shout your praise and your Joy–after all, that is where I am today?"  Yet He drew me to this message and song, so it must be for you that I am writing.  In this Christian journey, I have been there where you are many times in my life.   The trials and struggles of this life have brought you to a point of deep sorrow and no matter how hard you try to lift yourself up; you can’t see how to go one more step.  Are you burdened down today and feel that the troubles of this world have worn you down?  When you look at this verse, initially you may see a dichotomy.  If you are heavy laden by your labor,  Christ says, "Take my yoke upon you and learn of me"  A yoke is a wooden bar or frame by which two draft animals (as oxen) are joined at the heads or necks for working together.  We would often think of rest as just stopping the labor; but Christ is suggesting that we take upon ourselves an instrument to continue the work and in that we find rest.  When we are yoked together with Christ, we are unable to pull to the right or left; we must march forward only.  Every time we pull against the yoke we are pulled back.  Every time we struggle against the yoke, we become worn out.  However, as we are fastened tightly at the neck with Jesus we suddenly find that He is doing the work.  The labor becomes light.  I cannot help but remember a sermon by John Piper in which he describes the yoke as such that once connected tightly, Christ lifts the weight of that yoke and we are lifted til our feet barely touch the ground and as He performs the work we are weightlessly jumping, gleefully along the path. So if you are burdened or worn out today, look to Jesus; He will carry the weight of that burden with you and restore the Joy and Love in your heart that you so long for today. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zulKcYItKIA

Zechariah 9:

⁹ Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

John 12: ¹² On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,

¹³ Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.

¹⁴ And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written,

¹⁵ Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass’s colt.

Luke 23: ²⁰ Pilate therefore, willing to release Jesus, spake again to them.

²¹ But they cried, saying, Crucify him, crucify him.

²² And he said unto them the third time, Why, what evil hath he done? I have found no cause of death in him: I will therefore chastise him, and let him go.

²³ And they were instant with loud voices, requiring that he might be crucified. And the voices of them and of the chief priests prevailed.

The crowds who sang Hosanna (Savior, Rescuer) as Jesus entered Jerusalem were the same ones who so soon thereafter called out to Crucify Him.  They wanted Him to set up His Kingdom now.  They wanted riches, ease, power to be theirs now. Much like many who may say that they believe in Christ when they want or need something from God; yet, do not see His worth, Glory, nor Righteousness when He chooses to allow sorrow, pain, and suffering.  Many tend to want a "Give me what I want God" and do not understand that a relationship with Him is the only hope for Joy.  He is all that we need to fill this empty, broken heart.  They do not love nor appreciate the price He paid for us to be allowed that relationship with a Just, Righteous God.  When they realize that He may even ask us to follow Him in His Suffering so that we might be a testimony for Him; they want nothing to do with Him–just like those who cried out Crucify Him.  When we see the majesty, the Glory and the Righteousness which is Christ and then desire Him above all else; the desire for worldly gifts from God becomes foolishness as it becomes replaced with awe for Him.  The more we know of Him, the more we recognize our utter unworthiness of this marvelous Grace.  Then we come before knowing two things.  1. I am a great sinner.  2.  He is a great Savior.  Recognizing that with praise and love we bow before Him, humble servants desiring that He do with us whatever He desires that might bring Him Glory.  We desire that He remove anything within us that might stand between us and Him. 

Hebrews 12:Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

² Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

³ For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

⁴ Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

Lord, whatever desires of this covetous heart of mine seeks any counterfeit joy which dims my view of you; please, rip it from me that I may only desire you.  You the author and finisher of my faith- Hosanna, my Savior.  Rescue me from any desires that impedes my vision of Your Glory. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZBiC_5aI6k