ISRAEL TURNING TO THE LORD

IN THE BEGINNING...THE WORD
DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR TODAY, DECEMBER 11, 2014

ISRAEL TURNING TO THE LORD

 O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.
 Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.
 Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.
 I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.
 I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.
 His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.
 They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.
 Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found.
  Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein. HOSEA 14

 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.
 A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
 The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.
 Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.
  Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.
  They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks:
 Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.
 They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.
 The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:
  And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?
Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:
  And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
 Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?
 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:
 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
 Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?
 Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people.
  Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen:
  But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.
 Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things.
Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength.
 Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.
 And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil.
  And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.
 And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.
  And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.
 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.
 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
  The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.  JOEL 2

NEWNESS OF LIFE: FAITH, FRUIT, HOLY GHOST BAPTISM AND FIRE

IN THE BEGINNING...THE WORD
DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR TODAY, DECEMBER 10, 2014

NEWNESS OF LIFE: FAITH, FRUIT, HOLY GHOST BAPTISM AND FIRE

 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. MATTHEW 3:11-12

 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. HEBREWS 11:6

Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. ROMANS 7:4

THE BODY OF CHRIST: NEWNESS OF LIFE

IN THE BEGINNING...THE WORD
DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR TODAY, DECEMBER 9, 2014

THE BODY OF CHRIST: NEWNESS OF LIFE

 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
  For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
  But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. ROMANS 7:4-6

  Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:
How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?
  For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.
 For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.
 For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.
Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech:
 And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:
 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.
But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.
 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.
  Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2 CORINTHIANS 3:6-18

OF HIS BODY, OF HIS FLESH, AND OF HIS BONES

IN THE BEGINNING...THE WORD
DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR TODAY, DECEMBER 9, 2014

OF HIS BODY, OF HIS FLESH, AND OF HIS BONES

 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
  For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
  Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
  So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
  For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
  This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. EPHESIANS 5:22-32

A BODY FOR YOU

IN THE BEGINNING...THE WORD
DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR TODAY, DECEMBER 9, 2014

 A BODY FOR YOU

For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but A BODY  hast thou prepared me:
In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.
Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;
 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
  By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the BODY of Jesus Christ once for all. HEBREWS 10:4-10

  For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:
  And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my BODY, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. I CORINTHIANS 11:23-24

  I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. JOHN 6:51

  And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my BODY. MATTHEW 26:26

  And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my BODY. MARK 14:22

 Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, 

 There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat. 

 But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? 

 For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor. 

 When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. 

 For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. 

 For in that she hath poured this ointment on my BODY, she did it for my burial. 

 Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her. MATTHEW 26:6-13

  After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death. 

  But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people. 

  And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head. 

  And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made? 

  For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her. 

  And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me. 

  For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always. 

  She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my BODY to the burying. 

  Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her. MARK 4-19

HOW SHE MAY PLEASE HER HUSBAND

IN THE BEGINNING...THE WORD
DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR TODAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

HOW SHE MAY PLEASE HER HUSBAND

 There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. I CORINTHIANS 7:34

I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys. 

 As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. 

As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. 

 He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. 

 Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love. 

  His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me. 

 I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please. 

  The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. 

 My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice. 

 My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. 

 For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; 

 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; 

 The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. 

 O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. 

 Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes. 

 My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies. 

 Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether. SOLOMON 2

THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL

IN THE BEGINNING...THE WORD
DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR TODAY, DECEMBER 7, 2014

THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL

 And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
 This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.
  TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
  PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
  Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
  In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.
 And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old. DANIEL 5:25-31