Psalm 67:1-2:
1 GOD BE merciful and gracious to us and bless us and cause His face to shine upon us and among us -- Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]! -- 2 That Your way may be known upon the earth, Your saving power (Your deliverances and Your salvation) among the nations.
Those two verses spell out the REASON that God wants US to prosper and be in control of every area of our lives! When we do, people know, understand and realize that it is GOD Who is responsible for our being blessed! HE gets the Glory and the lost will turn to Him! That reminds me of one of my very favorite quotations. This is from Jerry O'Dell:
"When we want what God wants, for the same reason He wants it, we cannot fail!"
In Mark 11 Jesus instructs two of His disciples to go into the village and get a colt. This is what Jesus is about to ride into the city! This is fulfillment of the prophecy from Zechariah 9:9:
9 Rejoice greatly, ) Daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O Daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King comes to you; He is [uncompromisingly] just and having salvation [triumphant and victorious], patient, meek, lowly, and riding on a donkey, upon a colt, the foal of a donkey.
When Jesus sat on the donkey colt and began to ride into the city of Jerusalem, the people did this in Mark 11:9-10:
9 And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the LORD: 10 Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the Name of our LORD: Hosanna in the highest.
"Hosanna" has become a form of praise, but in Hebrew it actually means: "save, we pray". The people were calling on Him for salvation! They THOUGHT that Jesus was coming to be their King and replace the rule of Rome. They didn't understand the SALVATION that He was going to bring to all mankind in just a couple of days! BUT WE DO! Thank You, Jesus, for SALVATION! Total and complete deliverance from all of the works and workers and dominion of darkness! NOW we need to WORK OUT that salvation! We need to find out WHO we are and WHAT we can do because of what JESUS has done for us! AMEN!
All that I have to say about Leviticus 4-5 today, after looking at the pictures below, is: "Thank You, Jesus, for 1 john 1:9"!
Shalom in Him!
