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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Saturday, 23 December 2023:
Zechariah 10:1, 2, 12 – Ask rain from the Lord in the season of the spring rain, from the Lord who makes the storm clouds, and he will give them showers of rain, to everyone the vegetation in the field. For the household gods utter nonsense, and the diviners see lies; they tell false dreams and give empty consolation. Therefore the people wander like sheep; they are afflicted for lack of a shepherd…. “I will make them strong in the Lord,
and they shall walk in his name,” declares the Lord.
Do not be deceived by leaders, teachers, scholars, and preachers who proclaim a “truth” apart from the Truth (Jesus) and who offer hope apart from the Lord. Do not walk with these robbers who disguise themselves as shepherds but rather walk with the Good Shepherd, Jesus (see John 10:7-17):
– Genesis 5:24 — Enoch walked with God.
– Genesis 6:9 — This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.
– Deuteronomy 10:12, 13 — What does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?
– Joshua 22:5 — Love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul.
– 2 Chronicles 17:3 — The LORD was with Jehoshaphat because in his early years he walked in the ways his father David had followed. He did not consult the Baals.
– Jeremiah 7:23 — Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you.
– Micah 6:8 — And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
– 2 Corinthians 6:16 — What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
It is amazing to see where people will turn for answers to life’s questions, and it is even more amazing to see how in man’s search for meaning, God’s Truth is so aggressively rejected. The world prefers a lie over the Truth, and Zechariah says, “Therefore the people wander like sheep oppressed for lack of a shepherd.” In Matthew 9:35-37 it says, “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the Kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.” Notice that Zechariah continues with, “My anger burns against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the LORD Almighty will care for his flock, the house of Judah…. From Judah will come the cornerstone…. I will restore them because I have compassion on them. They will be as though I had not rejected them…. I will strengthen them in the LORD and in his name they will walk,” declares the LORD. In light of this prophecy, consider Jesus’ (the cornerstone) words in John 10 when he says, “I am the good shepherd.” He didn’t say he was the shepherd, he said he was the “good shepherd,” in contrast to the shepherds described in Zechariah and condemned by Jesus as the “brood of vipers,” and “white-washed tombs.” Jesus described who would walk in the name of the Lord: “The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” The world has its shepherds; we have ours, the One, True, Good Shepherd, Jesus.
Zechariah 10:3 — My anger is hot against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the LORD of hosts cares for his flock, the house of Judah.
God punishes false teachers that lead His people astray with false doctrines.
Psalm 147:1 — Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.
Singing praises to God is a healthy habit you should develop. Learn Christian songs to sing to yourself throughout the day to keep your spirits up and to keep you focused.
Psalm 147:6, 11 – The Lord lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground…. but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.
The Lord blessed the humble and curses the prideful. The world honors the prideful and views humility as weakness.
The wicked are those who have not humbled themselves before the Lord, surrendering to His rule and His sovereignty over their lives – the wicked are in rebellion. “Rebellion is the inborn tendency to give in to the lies of autonomy, self-sufficiency, and self-focus. It results in a habitual violation of God-given boundaries. Autonomy says, ‘I have the right to do what I want when I want to do it.’ Self-sufficiency says, ‘I have everything I need in myself, so I don’t need to depend on or submit to anyone.’ Self-focus says, ‘I am the center of the world. It is my right to live for myself and to do only what brings me happiness.’ These are the lies of the Garden, the same lies Satan has whispered in generation after generation of willing ears. They deny our basic makeup as human beings. We were not created to be autonomous. We were designed to be in daily submission to God and to live for His glory. Living outside this design will never work. Independence, self-sufficiency, and self-absorption lead us to think of ourselves first and to climb over the fences between ourselves and our sinful desires. We want control and hate being controlled. We want to make up the rules and change theme whenever it suites us. Essentially we want to be God, ruling the world according to our will. No matter what else we are rebelling against, our rebellion is ultimately directed at God. We refuse to recognize His authority, robbing him of his glory and usurping his right to rule.” (Paul David Tripp) We want a Savior, but we often don’t want a Lord and Savior. However, to love Him is to fear Him and to obey Him. One is impossible without the other.
Psalm 147:20 — They do not know his rules.
The rules in the Bible are not merely a list of dos and don’ts intended to control your behavior. They are intended to help you understand the ways of God, to help you develop the mind of Christ, to help convict you of sin, to help you appreciate the grace and mercy you have received, to change your heart, and to draw you closer and closer to Jesus. God intends for us to follow His commands, but he doesn’t want just your duty, but rather your heart. God wants us to truly love Him to the point where the rules become a non-issue because you naturally obey. Jesus was the model of obedience to the rules, and Jesus said, that He did not come to abolish the law, but rather to fulfill it. Pure love obeys naturally without the need of rules. You don’t need a law to tell you to do what you love doing or not to do what you hate doing. If your heart is right, the rules are not needed, but where your heart is not right, the rules become a needed guide and control to keep you from sinning.
God expects all nations to obey His rules, and He punishes those who don’t.
Proverbs 23:4 — Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist.
Many people are wearing themselves out doing what God never wanted them to do because they are not satisfied with God’s provision in their lives.
Proverbs 23:17, 18, 23 — Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the Lord. There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off…. Buy the truth and do not sell it; get wisdom, discipline and understanding.
The Bible tells us to be zealous for the fear of the Lord, to put all of our effort, non-stop, into fearing the Lord; to invest everything we have into fearing the Lord. One definition for the word zealous is fanatical. Of course, the word fanatic is used in a negative sense today, but the devotion a Christian expresses for God will always appear excessive and extreme to the non-believer. To the non-believer, living in complete reverence, awe, and submission to the Lord is ignorant and foolish; however, the Bible reminds us that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 9:10). All creation is commanded by God to fear Him, both believer and non-believer. “Blessed is the man who always fears the Lord, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble.” (Proverbs 28:14). As Proverbs points out today, the fear of the Lord and the wisdom and understanding that comes from fearing the Lord requires discipline – hence the word disciple. It’s not just a feeling; it is fervent, consistent action — it is radical and fanatical; it’s true love demonstrated by faithfulness.
Proverbs 23:22 — Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
Character is taught in the home, and God’s way is for a man and woman, united in marriage, to teach their children to fear the Lord.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 23 December 2023: Humbly obey God’s word today, and consider deeply where obedience was difficult for you and why. Search your heart to consider what made obedience hard. Discern where you are still not perfected in love, and pray that God will help you surrender more and more to His love. Love makes obedience easy and joyful. (see today’s readings)
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 