Psalm 120:5-7:
5 Woe is me that I sojourn with Meshech, that I dwell beside the tents of Kedar [as if among notoriously barbarous people]! 6 My life has too long had its dwelling with him who hates peace. 7 I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.
In ancient times Meshach was located to the northwest of Israel and Kedar to the southeast. The psalmist could not have been speaking of a physical place because he could not have lived in both places at one time! He was referring to the Jewish people who were behaving like the people from these heathen nations who had no covenant with the One, True God! It grieved him to have to live among them! We face the same type of thing today when we have to live and work among believers who do not know the Word of God and do not want to live out the Word! It is very trying to always hear people attribute the works of darkness as "Acts of God" do to their ignorance of God's Word AND of the Covenant! It is also very trying to live in this country among people who don't WANT to hear about how to have peace with God through the Blood of Jesus of Nazareth! What to do? Continue to LIVE the Word in the presence of these people knowing that the time is coming, soon and very soon, when we will hear the trumpet sound and rise to meet HIM in the air! In the meantime, every opportunity to share the Good News, whether they want to hear it or not, should be taken advantage of with excitement and enthusiasm! THEY are running OUT of time while WE are running headlong into eternity with HIM! HALLELUJAH!
Do you want to know how to tell if someone is born again? 1 John 5:1a:
1 EVERYONE WHO believes (adheres to, trusts, and relies on the fact) that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah) is a born-again child of God;
The question is: What does a person believe concerning Jesus of Nazareth? THEN, if they DO believe, what have they done with that belief! Verses 11-13 explain it even further! This is the Message Bible:
11 This is the testimony in essence: God gave us eternal life; the life is in His Son. 12 So, whoever has the Son, has life; whoever rejects the Son, rejects life. 13 My purpose in writing is simply this: that you who believe in God's Son will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have eternal life, the reality and not the illusion.
Isn't that exciting! He spells it out so clearly that we can be rid of all doubt! I AM born again! How about you?
Then in verses 14-15 we have the "key" for getting our prayers answered!
14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
That is one of the most powerful Truths about prayer that you should know! If what we need/want is according to His will, which is revealed in His Word, then we know we will have it for the asking! Once we've asked, then we need to stand strong in our believing, expecting to see the manifestation at any moment! Now ACT like you believe you HAVE it!
In Ezekiel 7-8 God is telling Ezekiel more of what will come upon the nation of Israel because of their disobedience and unbelief! In chapter 8 God reveals to Ezekiel some of the things being done by the religious leaders in secret, and it wasn't pretty! We see continually that the nation of Israel would fall into idolatry, God would warn them of judgment, they would not listen, the judgment would come, they would cry out to God and then He would deliver them. Then the cycle would repeat itself - over and over and over! WE sometimes get into judgment over the way THEY acted and fail to see that the devil was in an all out war against them because he KNOWS that there is something special to God about the nation of Israel! Remember that the devil is not dumb! The only stupid thing about him is that he still REALLY believes that he can beat the One, True God! What can WE take away from Ezekiel? I found THIS in the Bible Exposition Commentary:
When people lose their fear of God, they do as they please and don't worry about the consequences.
Does that NOT sound just like what is going on in our country AND all over the world right now? The unbelievers of the world do NOT really believe that there will be a price to pay for their rebelling against the One, True, Most High, Living, Almighty God of the Bible AND His Word! What do WE do? Continue to pray for our leaders, pray to the Lord of the Harvest for laborers, preach the Good News wherever and whenever we can, and keep looking up! OUR Redemption draws VERY near! Soon and VERY soon! Come quickly, LORD JESUS! AMEN!
Shalom in Him!
