Shalom,


I like Psalm 131 in the Message Bible:


1 God, I'm not trying to rule the roost, I don't want to be king of the mountain. I haven't meddled where I have  no business or fantasized grandiose plans. 2 I've kept my feet on the ground, I've cultivated a quiet heart. Like a baby content in its mother's arms, my soul is a baby content. 3 Wait Israel, for GOD. Wait with hope. Hope now; hope always!


David was fully aware of God's presence in his life, MOST of the time! He was content to be what God had called him to be! That is the same attitude we should all have! 1 Timothy 6:6 says that it brings abundance into our lives!


6 [And it is, indeed, a source of immense profit, for] godliness accompanied with contentment (that contentment which is a sense of inward sufficiency) is great and abundant gain.


There are several things that really stand out to me in John 8 today. The first is in verse 1-2. The previous chapter took place mainly in the Temple with arguments about Who Jesus was. The people all left to go home, but Jesus did not!


1 BUT JESUS went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning (at dawn), He came back to the Temple [court], and the people came to Him in crowds. He sat down and was teaching them,


When everyone else went home to sleep, Jesus went to the Mount of Olives to pray and fellowship with His Heavenly Father! After spending the night away from people and in the presence of the Father, Jesus was ready to teach the people!  We all need to be doing this BEFORE we open our mouths to other people! That's why James tells us to do THIS in James 1:19:


19 Understand [this], my beloved brethren. Let every man be quick to hear [a ready listener], slow to speak. slow to take offense and to get angry.


If we HEAR from God BEFORE we speak, we WILL speak "as the oracle of God"! (1 Peter 4:11) That brings us to John 8:31-32:


31 So Jesus said to those Jews who had believed in Him, If you abide in My word [hold fast to my teachings and lie in accordance with them], you are truly My disciples. 32 And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.


The Truth is the Word of the Living God! (John 17:17) Center your entire life around the Word of God! Make it your vital necessity! Then you will know TRUE freedom! AMEN! Then we see the Jews questioning, again, Who Jesus is. He says this in verse 58:


58 Jesus replied, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, before Abraham was born, I AM.


They did not understand His Deity! They could only see the Man. If they had really understood their own Scriptures, they would have recognized Who He was! I like this verse in the Message Bible!


58 "Believe Me," said Jesus, "I am Who I am long before Abraham was anything."


I love that! And guess what? He STILL IS! AMEN!


In Ezekiel 28:1-10 the LORD is telling Ezekiel what to say to the prince of Tyre. Verse 2:


2 Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord God: Because your heart is lifted up and you have said and thought, I am a god, I sit in the seat of the gods, in the heart of the seas; yet you are only man [weak, feeble, made of earth] and not God, though you imagine yourself to be almost more than mortal with your mind as the mind of God;


This man had such an exalted opinion of himself! He did not acknowledge that it was the One, True God Who allowed him to succeed! There was a certain end for him that the LORD instructed Ezekiel to speak out and it happened! Then in verses 11-19 the LORD instructs Ezekiel to speak to the king of Tyre. In these verses He is speaking to satan! He, too, has a certain end! It WILL come to pass! Until that time, we have been given ALL authority over him through the Blood of Jesus, by the Word of God, and in the Name of Jesus! USE IT! The authority was given so that we would operate just as Jesus did in His earthly ministry! 


Ezekiel 30:20-26 shows the LORD dealing with Egypt. They had to acknowledge, again, that our God IS God! I find it very exciting to read over these Old Testament prophecies and their fulfillment! Everything that God said would happen, DID happen! All of the prophecies concerning the Messiah have been, or soon will be, fulfilled in Jesus! We are living in the most exciting time! Keep looking up AND looking out to the ripe fields! Do all that you can do to preach the Good News while there is still time to do so! Soon and VERY soon, we are going to see our KING of kings! AMEN!


Shalom in Him!