Lord, You're Speaking To Us. Help Us To Listen To You.

"This is a revelation from the Lord ..." (Nahum 1:1). What a wonderful start to this prophecy! "The Lord is patient and has great strength" (Nahum 1:3). Where does such knowledge of God come from? It comes from the revelation of God. It is revealed to us. It is the Word that comes to us from the Lord. It is the Word that is given to us by the Lord. "The Lord is good. He is a fortress in the day of trouble" (Nahum 1:7). Do we come to this faith by way of our unaided reason? or Is such faith given to us by the Lord? The way to faith is the way of revelation. "What do you think about the Lord?" (Nahum 1:9). This is a challenging question. True thoughts about the Lord are given to us by the Lord Himself. Fake thoughts come from our own minds. We think that we know God, until God comes to us and shows us that we are far from Him, and we need to be saved by Him. We need to have our minds renewed by Him. "This is what the Lord says" (Nahum 1:12). Learning to listen to the Lord is more important than anything else.

A Word of warning for God's people: "The one who will scatter you is coming to attack you. Guard your fortress! Keep a lookout on the road! Prepare for battle! Be very courageous!" (Nahum 2:1). A promise of victory for God's people: "The Lord will restore Jacob's glory like Israel's glory, although enemies have looted it and have destroyed its vines" (Nahum 2:2). We read the Old Testament prophets. It seems to us that their world is very different from our world. There are, however, spiritual principles which remain constant for every nation and every generation. The Lord comes to us in our conflict. He leads us on to His victory.

"I am against you, Nineveh, declares the Lord of Armies" (Nahum 3:5) - The Lord speaks against us so that we might learn to stop speaking against Him. We cannot really appreciate God's positive Word concerning salvation until we learn to listen attentively to His negative Word concerning our sin. It's only when we begin to see ourselves as sinners that we will begin to see how wonderful is the great salvation that has provided for sinners.

Conversion

" ... Will you ... come and stand before Me in this house, which bears My Name, and say, We are safe" - safe to do all these detestable things? Has this house, which bears My Name become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the Lord" (Jeremiah 7:8-11). “God demands a conversion of the mind and heart as the basis of peace and security (cf. Is 26:3), not the superstitious veneration of a stone building or a traditionally sacred site” ( R K Harrison , Jeremiah ).

"In the beginning, God" (Genesis 1:1).

"In the beginning, God" (Genesis 1:1). Here, we are taken back to eternity, back to the eternal God. There is nothing beyond this. There is nothing beyond Him. "God created the heaven and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). He is the Lord of heaven and earth. The mention of heaven and earth in the Bible's opening verse sends our minds on from the beginning to the middle and the end of God's great Story of salvation. At the heart of this wonderful Story, there is Jesus Christ who came from heaven to earth for us. The Story moves on to the marvellous fulfilment of God's plan of salvation. The Lord Jesus will come to take us from earth to heaven to share with Him in the glory of eternal life.

Lord, we worship You in the place of worship ...

Psalm 48:1-14 Lord, we worship You in the place of worship – “Within Your Temple, we meditate on Your unfailing love.” Help us to go out from there, and play our part in seeing that Your praise “reaches to the ends of the earth” (Psalm 48:: 9-11). How will other people know of Your love, if we don’t tell them? How will they find their way to Your House, if we don’t invite them? When we share Your Word with others, help us to remember Your promise: “My Word … will not return to Me empty, but will … achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).

Feasting on God's Word (One Year Bible)

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