Monday, March 9, 2020

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PHARAOH

Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 30-31

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).

 

Once standing 60 feet high, this colossal statue of Ramses II, carved from limestone, now lays on the ground. It looks like he is sleeping, perhaps dreaming. This statue once adorned the great temple of Ptah in Memphis, Egypt. Ramses the Great ruled for more than 60 years, roughly 1279 to 1213 BC (about 200 years after the exodus of the Israelites). This image may have already been toppled by the time of today’s reading, some 700 years after the reign of Rameses II. The empires of Babylon and Persia made Memphis the capital city of the province (satrap) of Egypt. The prophecies of the Bible predicted this.

GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.

 

Key Verses: Ezekiel 30:19

Thus I will execute judgments on Egypt,

Then they shall know that I am the Lord.

 

Ezekiel 30 mentions Egypt a dozen times with statements like our key verse. For example, 30:13 tells us of the destruction of the idols and images of Noph (ancient Memphis). Like the king of Tyre in yesterday’s reading, the Pharaohs and the Emperors claimed to be gods to be worshipped. Lucifer, the archangel who was exiled from Heaven because he desired to be worshipped instead of the true God, now seeks that worship on earth by convincing earthly rulers that they are gods to be worshipped. Satan still seeks to divert worship away from the Great Creator, the One and Only God of the cosmos.

Ezekiel 31 seems to reflect the hurt God experiences because of rejection by His creation. Ezekiel, speaking for God, refers to “the garden of God” three times, and the “trees of Eden” twice. God placed our first parents in a beautiful garden. There were trees there in Eden. The first three chapters of the Bible describe this garden God had lovingly prepared for His human family. We’ve messed up so horribly. Today we might consider repenting, not only for our own sins, but for the sin of rebellion against God throughout the years of recorded history. Again and again, because we have sided with Satan knowingly or unknowingly against God, we have been the cause of our own destruction.

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Lord God, I’m sorry for my sins against You and for the sins of our human family for whom You have such great, joyous and peaceful plans to bless with a happy future. I pray that I will give myself to You in such a way that I will be, for all those whose paths cross mine, a source of hope for a better world, because of Your gift of restoration which You have given me in Your Son and our Saviour Jesus Christ, in Whose Name I pray. Amen!!!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

My parents spent many years doing God’s work in Egypt. I’ve stood beside the great fallen image of Rameses in ancient Noph (Memphis) and wondered at the giant statue carved from one piece of granite. What gigantic self images must have been in the minds of the Pharaohs and their people who worshipped them as gods. One story my dad told in his autobiography, which he intended only for his family but which I published after his death, was of my mother and an Egyptian police officer. Mother, who died when I was 12, was praying at the altar in a church building when the officer carrying a rifle came to the front to investigate what was happening. Dad said that he heard this policeman tell this story several times. He said, as mother stood to her feet, a tear dropped from her eyes onto the man’s arm. He dropped the rifle, fell to his knees and was converted to Jesus Christ. I think that if I were to weep more over the spiritual condition of humanity, one of my tear drops could touch someone, and by the working of God’s Spirit, more people would come to know Jesus. Individuals, families, and nations could be changed by believers in Jesus all over the world. I pray that I will touch someone’s life for Jesus today.

Yours for loving God and loving people,

David

27 thoughts on “Monday, March 9, 2020”

  1. We repent of our sin, Lord Jesus, and give thanks for Your love in our lives. You are still touching our lives for Jesus, David. Praying all us saints touch others’ lives for Jesus in the same way. Be blessed today, fellow saints.

    “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
    whose trust is the Lord.
    He is like a tree planted by water,
    that sends out its roots by the stream,
    and does not fear when heat comes,
    for its leaves remain green,
    and is not anxious in the year of drought,
    for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
    Jeremiah 17:7-8 ESV

    Here I am Lord with lyrics
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcxOkht8w7c

    Reply ↓

  2. Dear Lord God, thank You for Your great work in creation and in our lives. You make all things new. You forgive us, clean us, comfort us and strengthen us. Help us in turn to go and be a blessing to others because of Your presence in us. We ask Your forgiveness for those around us. Draw them to You today, Lord, and help us to share the Word of Life with them. In Jesus’s great name, amen

    Reply ↓

  3. I am praying David’s prayer this morning and as you say Beverlee, He is still blessings us.
    Would you please pray for my neighbour Norma. She has cancer and also demencia, they could’nt give her chemo as they said she wouldn’t survive it . She just finished 10 radiations and is quite poorly.her husband and her are both 87. Praise God they know Him. Thank you in advance for yours prayer.
    Eleanor M
    ps she has scratched herself raw, went to hospital last night and they sent home. Trying to see a Dr today.

    Reply ↓

    • Ahhh. Lord God, our Heavenly Father, we bring Eleanor’s dear neighbour Norma before Your throne. Please Lord, take her home quickly so she does not have to suffer from the cancer, dementia, scratching herself raw and confusion. Lord God, please be the strength for her husband and rest of her family as they seek to deal with this situation that is oh so difficult. We give You all the thanks and praise and are grateful they know Your Name. Amen.

      My 89 year old mother suffered from Alzheimer’s and had been in the nursing home for a few years when the cancer took her within six months. My mother did not receive any treatment for the cancer except for pain. In the strangest way, it was a blessing because she still knew us right up until the end and her suffering was short. That was a difficult time because she was on the verge of not knowing us due to the Alzheimer’s. The cancer was a gift as I personally felt it slowed my mother’s memory loss down. I would suspect it would be the same for Norma’s loved ones. But I pray for her comfort and peace and ease of pain and suffering, most of all. In Jesus’ mighty Name. Amen.

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      • Thank you Beverlee i join you in prayer for Norma’s relief from pain and suffering. Thank you for sharing about you Mother.

        Please pray for my sister Ollie, she has dementia: she is confused, and living in the past. Pleas pray for the Lord to set her free, Amen

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        • Lord God, we hold Irene’s dear sister Ollie to You and pray for her quick return home to You in heaven, to ease her confusion, pain and suffering. Bring Irene peace of mind, Lord, as she knows her sister will soon be home with You. In Jesus’ Name, we pray. Amen.

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        • Praying for your sister Olllie that the Lord WOULD release her of this terrible disease. Thank you for praying for Norma. She will be going into palative care As her husband can’t look after her.
          God bless you Eleanor M.

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      • Thank you Beverlee for praying for Norma and sharing about your Mom.
        Norma’s daughter is with her, Her dad and her got Norma to the Dr. They have given her morphine so she can sleep tonight. They are trying to get her into palatine care, as her husband can’t look after her. At least he will be able to visit her, although she is now getting quite argumentative with him.
        Your prayers seemed to give me peace of heart. Eleanor M

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  5. I barely recall that story about ‘the tear and the police officer’ and realize the affect Mrs Mainse must have…or the affect His holy Spirit had on that policeman.
    Being confident of one’s self is good but to be so proud that you elevate yourself above others is a deviation from God’s path for you and hurtful to God.Excessive pride will lead to downfall because it cuts you off from hearing God.
    Search Me

    Search me,oh Lord,I’m yours,
    Remove the cobwebs that hide,
    Find out what my heart stores,
    Then put the wrong far to one side.

    Search again,oh Lord,for light,
    Let not darkness cloud my mind,
    That I may freely do what’s right,
    For I want a heart clean and kind.

    Search my soul,Oh Lord,for me;
    Don’t let me be vain and phony,
    For such get lost and can’t see,
    Then become the devil’s crony.

    Search my heart,oh Lord again,
    Leave no trace of greed within,
    Then I can show,without pain,
    The love betrayed by my sin.
    G W Marshall / 08-Nov-013

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  6. Praying for your neighbor Norma Eleanor M. that you Lord will minister to her today and relieve her itchiness and other discomfort. You love her and died for her so help her every day in her affliction we pray in Jesus Name. Thank you for all the posts today and please remember that court case in Vancouver. God Bless you.

    Reply ↓

    • Thank you Ger for you prayer for Norma. Her daughter doesn’t want her to suffer, so if the Lord takes her home soon it would be a blessing. Hopefully she will get some sleep tonight with the Morphine and then I hope they can get her into palative care soon. Thanks again, Eleanor M.

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