Who is like our God ?

 

Who Is like the Lord Our God?

​Praise the Lord!

Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord!
Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore!
From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised!
The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens!
Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high, who looks far down on the heavens and the earth?
He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people.
He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children.

Praise the Lord!

Psalm 113

I will be away for 3 weeks.

The righteous will never be moved

 

Praise the Lord!

Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments!
His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.
Light dawns in the darkness for the upright; he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.
It is well with the man who deals generously and lends; who conducts his affairs with justice.
For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever.
He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.
His heart is steady; he will not be afraid, until he looks in triumph on his adversaries.
He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn is exalted in honour.
The wicked man sees it and is angry; he gnashes his teeth and melts away; the desire of the wicked will perish!

Psalm 112

I am going away for 3 weeks we will continue to journey then.

I will never leave you nor forsake you

 

The Lord your God himself will go over before you.

Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it.

 It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.

 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

 

In Christ we became a people of the Lord. Turn to the Lord and trust Him for He will never leave nor forsake you.

Out of the anguish of His soul He saw and was satisfied

He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—everyone to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?

 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

I have been doing a personal study of Exodus, God story of redemption of His people and the significance of the Passover. The above portion of scripture is from Isaiah 53. It is humbling when we see the cost of grace and our benefit. Our Lord now lives and intercedes for us. Our  hope is in the resurrection of our Lord. Our Lord is our Passover lamb (1 Corinthians 5).

We humbly kneel in awe Lord Jesus and thank you.

An invitation to salvation

 

An Invitation to Abundant Life

Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.

Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. Isaiah 55

A compassion call to salvation. We are privileged to have a Father who loves us and is compassionate towards. Covid affected all of us and our faith. Maybe it made you doubt or your strengthened you faith. Or maybe Covid was your wake up call to faith. No matter here is the compassionate call and invitation of the Father to His salvation. Will you respond the Father is listening and waiting.

 

By faith

 

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Hebrews 11 and 12

Our Father is moved by us turning to Him, trusting Him. Faith grows by us meditating in His Word. Please take time to read both chapters. By faith not by that we are perfect. Faith touches our Father.

Once again I haven’t chosen our next book but I will let you know soon where we will journeying next.

Lead me my Lord

 

Lead Me in Your Righteousness

Give ear to my words, O LORD; consider my groaning.
Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray.
O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.

But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house.
I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you.
Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me.
 

But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you.
For you bless the righteous, O LORD; you cover him with favour as with a shield.

Psalm 5

My HELP comes from the Lord

 

God the Help of Those Who Seek Him

​I will lift up my eyes to the hills—From whence comes my help?

My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.

He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your keeper; The Lord is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night.

The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul.
The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore.

our Father preserves our lives (Jeremiah 46)

 

 “But do not fear, O My servant Jacob, And do not be dismayed, O Israel! For behold, I will save you from afar, And your offspring from the land of their captivity; Jacob shall return, have rest and be at ease; No one shall make him afraid.
Do not fear, O Jacob My servant,” says the Lord, “For I am with you; For I will make a complete end of all the nations To which I have driven you, But I will not make a complete end of you.
I will rightly correct you,   For I will not leave you wholly unpunished.”

 

Our Father keeps His promises and preserves those that belong to Him.

In chapter 34 the Lord warns king Zedekiah.

In chapter 36=37  Judah and Israel are reminded of their sins and the King destroys the scroll. Jeremiah rewrites scroll and once again he is imprisoned.

In chapter 38 Jeremiah advises and warns King Zedekiah.

In chapter 39 Jerusalem falls and Jeremiah is freed from prison.  

From Chapter 47 =52 judgement is pronounced against the other nations and destruction of Jerusalem and Babylon.

 

Renewed Hope (Jeremiah 32-33)

 

Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘that I will perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah:
‘In those days and at that time I will cause to grow up to David A Branch of righteousness; He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.
In those days Judah will be saved, And Jerusalem will dwell safely.
And this is the name by which she will be called:
THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.’

“Thus says the Lord of hosts: In this place which is desolate, without man and without beast, and in all its cities, there shall again be a dwelling place of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the South, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks shall again pass under the hands of him who counts them,’ says the Lord.

“For thus says the Lord: ‘David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; nor shall the priests, the Levites, lack a man to offer burnt offerings before Me, to kindle grain offerings, and to sacrifice continually.’ ”

And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord: ‘If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that there will not be day and night in their season, then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levites, the priests, My ministers. As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.’ ”

The Father establishes a permanent covenant, a covenant to stand for all generations to come. In Christ our Lord this promise is fulfilled to include us all.

Restoration and a new covenant (Jeremiah 30-31)

‘Therefore do not fear, O My servant Jacob,’ says the Lord, ‘Nor be dismayed, O Israel;
For behold, I will save you from afar, And your seed from the land of their captivity.
Jacob shall return, have rest and be quiet, And no one shall make him afraid.
For I am with you,’ says the Lord, ‘to save you

Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will bring back the captivity of Jacob’s tents,
And have mercy on his dwelling places; The city shall be built upon its own mound,
And the palace shall remain according to its own plan. Then out of them shall proceed thanksgiving
And the voice of those who make merry; I will multiply them, and they shall not diminish;
I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.
Their children also shall be as before, And their congregation shall be established before Me;

The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.
Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt,
O virgin of Israel!
You shall again be adorned with your tambourines,
And shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice.

A New Covenant
“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

 

Blessed be the Father forever and ever

 

Blessed are You, Lord God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever.
Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, The power and the glory, The victory and the majesty;
For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, And You are exalted as head over all.
Both riches and honour come from You, And You reign over all.
In Your hand is power and might; In Your hand it is to make great And to give strength to all.
“Now therefore, our God, We thank You  And praise Your glorious name.

1 Chronicles 29

Prosper but beware of false prophets (Jeremiah 29)

 

Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished.

And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are in your midst deceive you, nor listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed. For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them, says the Lord.

 

And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord,

 

This is part of the Lord asked Jeremiah to write and bring hope to the captives. That the Lord has plans great plans for Israel and Judah is evident  but He also warns of false prophets and continues detailing punishment for false prophecy. Don’t fall into the same trap and believe falsehood. The Lord says when you call on me and seek me when your whole heart is mine again then I will fulfil my promise,

Our Father does not want to share our hearts with falsehood He desire that we would turn to Him wholeheartedly for that gives Him the opportunity to do for us what He desires for us.

 

A calm resolve to trust the Father

 

“This man does not deserve to die. For he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.”

 

Truly my soul silently waits for God; From Him comes my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation;
He is my ^[a]defence; I shall not be greatly moved.^[b] My soul, wait silently for God alone, For my ^[c]expectation is from Him.
 He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defence; I shall not be ^[d]moved.
In God is my salvation and my glory; The rock of my strength, And my refuge, is in God.

Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah

 

Surely men of low degree are ^[e]a vapour, Men of high degree are a lie; If they are weighed on the scales,

Do not trust in oppression, Nor vainly hope in robbery; If riches increase,
Do not set your heart on them.  

God has spoken once, Twice I have heard this:
That power belongs to God.

 

Chapter 26 tells of the attempt on Jeremiah life and he stood on the Word given to him by the Lord.

The rest of the scriptures shared today is from Psalm 62 a psalm of calm resolved to trust God instead of man in power. In the following 2 chapters Israel and Judah are handed over and ruled by Babylon.  I share psalm 62 because I imagine at the time in exile the promise of restoration and the writings they had would have been of great comfort of them. We also have the privilege of His Word and belonging to the Father and we too can trust as David, as Jeremiah did.

Th;e Father promises freedom for the captives (Jeremiah 21-25)

 

Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge those who are carried away captive from Judah, whom I have sent out of this place for their own good, into the land of the Chaldeans. For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land; I will build them and not pull them down, and I will plant them and not pluck them up. Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart.

From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, this is the twenty-third year in which the word of the Lord has come to me; and I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, but you have not listened.

Then it will come to pass, when seventy years are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity,’ says the Lord; and I will make it a perpetual desolation. So I will bring on that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah has prophesied concerning all the nations. (For many nations and great kings shall be served by them also; and I will repay them according to their deeds and according to the works of their own hands.)’ ”