Monthly Archives: January 2023

Abiding, Bible, Blessing, Caregiver, Confession, Covenant, Forgiveness, Salvation, Scripture

IN HIS CARE

ZEPHANIAH 2:7

“And the coast will be for the remnant of the house of Judah, they will drive sheep to pasture on it. In the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down at evening; for the LORD their God will care for them and restore their fortunes.”

Yesterday, my wife and I had the privilege to have our youngest granddaughter at our house for the day. She is almost five and is full of energy. She never stops, but we love it. We don’t consider caring for her as babysitting. We care for her because we love her and want to spend time with her.

The same holds true for our Lord. Zephaniah reminds his people that God cares for them and wants to “restore their fortunes.” How did God care for them? He removed their enemies. He gave them possessions to meet their needs. He returned what had been taken from them by their enemies. He proved His promises were true.

APPLICATION

We all desire to be cared for, don’t we? Recently, I was sick and needed someone to care for me. I did not call my neighbor or a stranger. I was cared for by the one person who knows me best here on earth. I was cared for by the person I spend a lot of time with. I was cared for by the person who has loved me and has cut covenant with me these past 37 years. My wife cared for me (and by the way, she did an incredible job).

In the same way, God knows you better than anyone and can meet the needs you have even before you know you have them. He wants to bless you and see your “fortunes” restored. What is required of us to receive that blessing? Simply abide in Him. If you are His child, He cares for you. If you are His child, He wants to see you blessed.

That’s the big question, isn’t it? Are you His child? If you are not sure, go to Him now. Make sure of it. If you know you are not in His family, ask Jesus to be your Savior and Lord. Confirm that with someone. Talk to a Pastor or another believer. Tell someone. And then watch the way God works in your life as He cares for you. You will be amazed.

Your blessings blow me away, O God. Your tender touch reassures me of Your care.

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Bible, Change, Following, God's Will, Judgment, Obedience, Restoration, Scripture

A CHANGING LANDSCAPE

ZEPHANIAH 2:6

“So the seacoast will become grazing places, with pastures for shepherds and folds for flocks.”

Going back to visit a location you haven’t been to in a while can be eye opening. The landscape changes. What used to be a cotton field is now a shopping mall. What used to be a shopping mall is now luxury condominiums. Things force change. Sometimes that is for the good of the community. Other times it is not.

Zephaniah continues his message of doom to the neighboring nations. Verse 6 is a continuation of the message to the Philistines. Their seacoast will change from dwellings of warriors to pastures for the shepherds to use to graze their sheep. A nation of war will become a place for peaceful men to dwell. Quite a change. Quite a promise for Judah as well.

APPLICATION

Are there areas of your life that need to be changed? Do you have a rebellious spirit that argues about everything? God wants to transform your life into a place of peace. Philippians 4:6-7 says, “6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

A transformed landscape can involve many little changes over time. God may choose to use sandpaper to smooth off your rough surfaces. Or He may choose to take more drastic measures and bring out the jackhammer and sledgehammer. That’s usually how God works on me, lol. He gets one area of my life’s landscape shaped up and then starts demolition on another.

Now, the difference between our transformed landscape and the Philistines is they were being judged for their idolatry and rebellion against God. We are not being judged by God as He transforms us. We are safe under the blood of Christ. He just wants to make us look more like Him, to reflect the image of His Son. That is transformation that is welcomed. Right?

O Lord my God, shape me into whatever image You feel is right. I trust the work of Your hands on my life.

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Accused, Allies, Belief, Bible, Commands, Defense, Enemies, God's Will, Scripture

AGAINST YOU

ZEPHANIAH 2:5

“Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast, the nation of the Cherethites! The word of the LORD is against you, Canaan, land of the Philistines; and I will eliminate you so that there will be no inhabitant.”

I’ve said before that I don’t think I have any earthly enemies. I try my best to be at peace with all men (Romans 12:18). I don’t like to be in conflict. I won’t run from a fight if faced with it, but I don’t pursue conflict like some people do. I really want to deal with conflict quickly. I don’t want anyone or anything to come against me.

Zephaniah tells the Cherethites and Philistines that “the word of the Lord is against” them. Whoa! That would be horrible. Instead of the word of the Lord coming “to” them, it is against them. Why? Because they were the ones who were against His children. They pursued aggression and hostilities against His chosen people. And for that, God was against them.

APPLICATION

How would you feel if the Lord was against you? Terrified? Fearful? Worried? You should! Hebrews 10:31 tells us “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” To openly rebel against God’s commandments and thumb your nose at Him only invites His wrath. Who would do that?

Unfortunately, many in our world today are doing just that. They scoff at God’s Word. They reject His truths as spelled out in Scripture. They make God into their own image, rather than allowing Him to make them into His. They want God to fit their idea of Him. How preposterous. How ridiculous. How can we even begin to comprehend God?

But God tells us very clearly how to follow Him. He tells us to trust Him. He gives us the faith to believe. Faith is a gift. Once we acknowledge Jesus as Savior and Lord, He gives us belief in Him. He discloses more and more of Himself to us as we pursue Him. What a great God! He is not against you. He is for you!

O Lord, I am so thankful You are for me. I am grateful for the faith You have given me.

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Belief, Bible, Choices, Consequences, Destruction, Faith, God's Will, Judgment, Salvation, Scripture

THE RESULTS OF UNBELIEF

Zephaniah 2:4

“For Gaza will be abandoned, and Ashkelon will become a desolation; the inhabitants of Ashdod will be driven out at noon, and Ekron will be uprooted.”

Choices have consequences. I remember dealing with a troubled young man one time at one of the children’s homes where I served. I told him after a particularly heated episode, “You can make your own choices, but you can’t choose your consequences.” Years later I ran into this young man, now an adult, married with two children. He told me he never forgot those words, and they had guided him ever since that day.

Zephaniah begins in verse 4 listing all these nations that surrounded Judah that were rebellious towards God. Look at how he describes their end. They were abandoned, desolate, driven out and uprooted. None of these end results were positive. All these nations suffered God’s wrath. They all were judged by a holy and righteous God.

APPLICATION

I don’t want to be abandoned or desolate or driven out or uprooted. Thanks to Christ, I never will be. Because of the faith I have placed in His saving grace, I will always have God by my side. I will never be desolate. I will never be driven away from Him. I will always be grafted into Him. Those are the results I want and now have.

But so many around us are headed in the same direction as Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod and Ekron. They are headed for disaster. The sad thing is they are not even aware of it. They think they are just fine. It’s all smooth sailing. Tragedy awaits. But we have the answer, don’t we?

Knowing where I am headed makes this life so much easier. I may still face hard times, but He is with me. 2 Timothy 1:12 tells us, “For this reason I also suffer these things; but I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to protect what I have entrusted to Him until that day.” Are you convinced?

Thank You, Lord, for giving me a future and a hope. I rest in You.

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Bible, Humility, Righteousness, Scripture, Submission

ARE YOU HUMBLE?

ZEPHANIAH 2:3

“Seek the LORD, all you humble of the earth who have practiced His ordinances; seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will remain hidden on the day of the LORD’S anger.”

Did you know that the word “humble” or “humility” appears more than one hundred times in the Bible. I guess you could say it’s pretty important. But most of us have no clue what it really means to be humble or to show humility. I don’t see myself as a particularly humble guy. I’ve been called that, but I don’t see it. Does that make me humble, lol?

Zephaniah tells us in verse 3 of chapter 2 the importance of humility. The humble practice the Lord’s ordinances. They seek righteousness. By doing that, he says, “you will remain hidden on the day of the Lord’s anger.” Bowing before a holy God requires such humility. Do you have it?

APPLICATION

The ultimate example of humility, of course, is Jesus. Just look at Philippians 2:5-8. “5 Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross.”

I know what you’re thinking. Sure, Carl. That is all well and good, but He is God. I’m not Jesus. That’s true, but He tells us to be like Him. And if He tells us something to do, then it is possible to do it. He never tells us to do something that He doesn’t equip us for.

Humility requires us to die to our flesh. That’s the hard part. We see others as more important than ourselves. We seek to serve others. Can we do that? Certainly, but only through Christ. Will you humble yourself today? Will you bow before your Lord and allow Him to humble you? Give it a shot. He will reward you.

Humble me, Lord. Show me how to live as You did in service to others.

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Belief, Danger, Judgment, Repentance, Scripture, Sin

DANGER, WILL ROBINSON!

ZEPHANIAH 2:2

“Before the decree takes effect—the day passes like chaff—before the burning anger of the LORD comes upon you, before the day of the LORD’S anger comes upon you.”

When I was a kid, there was a TV series called, “Lost in Space.” In this series there was a robot and a young boy named Will Robinson. Every time there was danger around, the robot would cry out this warning to Will – “Danger, Will Robinson!” Don’t you wish you had a robot to do that for you every time you got near danger spiritually?

Zephaniah continues his urging of the people to repent and gather themselves before “the decree takes effect” or “the burning anger of the Lord comes upon you” or “the day of the Lord’s anger comes upon you.” Wow! That was much better than the warning to Will Robinson by the robot. Zephaniah is giving clear warning that God’s judgment is coming.

APPLICATION

All through Scripture we are given warnings about the impending judgment of God. The prophets all warned us. The New Testament writers did as well. And of course, Jesus gave us warning after warning that those who did not come to Him would surely perish (John 3:16). Warning after warning after warning.

So, why don’t people heed the warning. Unbelief! People have stopped believing in sin. They have stopped believing there are consequences for their actions. Live like you want. There are no repercussions. The devil has them all blinded to the truth. He is so good at that.

Aren’t you glad your blinders are off? Aren’t you glad you know the truth? We must now shout out like that robot did to Will Robinson. We must announce, “Danger! Sin has consequences. Turn to Jesus Who can forgive you of your sins.” That isn’t a hard message to give. Tell someone today.

I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore…but the Master of the sea heard my despairing cry, from the waters lifted me now safe am I.

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Abiding, Bible, Confession, Repentance, Scripture

GET IT TOGETHER

ZEPHANIAH 2:1

“Gather yourselves together, yes, join together, you nation without shame,”

Have you ever been totally flustered about something? I remember one time I was trying to put a new starter on my 1984 Chevrolet Cavalier station wagon (yea, I owned a station wagon). I got the old one off with no problem, but I could not get the bolts to line up to install the new one. I finally left it and returned the next morning. The bolts instantly lined up. I just had to step away and gather myself.

Zephaniah is telling the people it is time to gather themselves, to get it together. They had for too long been wandering around, thus, the judgment had come. Now it is time to pull together and repent “without shame.” True confession does not cause shame. It removes it.

APPLICATION

I don’t know about you, but I need to “get it together” sometimes. If I am not careful, I can wander into the wilderness. I can get my eyes off of Jesus and onto the world. I can get my priorities all out of whack and pursue the wrong things. I have to get it all back together.

So, how do I do that? Only through prayer and the study of His Word. Nothing else comes close to shifting me back. I can’t rely on other people. I can’t rely on a good self-help book. I can’t mellow out with good music. No! Only the pursuit of Jesus through concentrated time with Him does it. And that must begin with confession and cleansing.

I love to quote Psalm 51:2-4. “2 Wash me thoroughly from my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my wrongdoings,

and my sin is constantly before me. 4 Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified when You speak and blameless when You judge.” Will you join me in doing that? Get it together.

Thank You for Your cleansing power in my life, Lord. Because of it, I can walk boldly and courageously.

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Bible, Dependence, Money, Provision, Scripture, Trust

SILVER AND GOLD

ZEPHANIAH 1:18

“Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the LORD’S anger; and all the earth will be devoured by the fire of His jealousy, for He will make a complete end, indeed a horrifying one, of all the inhabitants of the earth.”

“Silver and gold, silver and gold; everyone wishes for silver and gold.” So go the lyrics to the song sung by the snowman in the animated movie classic, “Rudolph, the Red-Nose Reindeer.” Those sentiments are so true. As I write this blog, one of the lotto games is up to $1.35 billion. Everyone is clamoring for that prize, thinking it will bring them ultimate joy. It won’t.

The Lord warns the people in verse 18 that their wealth will not save them in the end. They may think they can escape His wrath, but no amount of silver or gold can expunge the sins committed against God. He does not demand monetary payment for our sins. He demands repentance. He expects contrition. This is a good warning for us today.

APPLICATION

Jesus warns us in Matthew 6:24, “‘No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.’” And we find in Paul’s first letter to Timothy, chapter 6, verses 9 and 10, “9 But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

You see, the Bible has lots to say about money. In fact, by some counts, there are over 2,300 verses on money in the Bible. Do you think God sees the importance of us understanding it? I think so. How you handle your money is a direct reflection on how you trust the Lord. Is money your source of provision or is the Lord?

Now, don’t get me wrong. I like having money as much as the next guy. You have to have it to live in this world. But I know my provision is not in what I have. It is in Who I have – Jesus. He is my only true source. I dare not trust in the temporal in exchange for the eternal. How about you?

Remind me, Father, of my total dependence on You, not on the things of this world.

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Accountability, Belief, Bible, Blind, Consequences, Deception, Following, Judgment, Scripture

BLIND LEADING THE BLIND

ZEPHANIAH 1:17

“I will bring distress on mankind so that they will walk like those who are blind, because they have sinned against the LORD; and their blood will be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung.”

You’ve heard that expression, “the blind leading the blind.” It portrays a pretty, sad picture. I am not using this as a demeaning statement against the blind. Rather, I mean to imply the picture of the uninformed or willfully ignorant person leading others who follow them without verifying what they say. Thus, the statement.

The Lord tells us in today’s verse that those who do not follow Him are like that. They walk about aimlessly as a blind person who has no one to lead them. We know that can be dangerous. They could fall over obstacles. They could injure themselves seriously. Those who choose to walk blindly without the Lord will face judgment.

APPLICATION

Oh, friends, listen! Don’t walk blindly in this dark and dangerous world. Ask the Lord to open your eyes with the truths of His Word. Ask Him to show you the path He wants you to travel. Ask Him to send others into your life who can hold your hand when necessary to traverse those dangerous spots. Open your eyes.

We are all blind before Christ. None of us can see due to the sin that is born in us through the fall of Adam. But just like the scales that fell off of Paul’s eyes when he came to Christ, ask the Lord to remove those things that blind you to truth. God wants to open your eyes. Psalm 119:18 says, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from Your Law.”

Most days I walk with my eyes open. But other days, I close my eyes to what I know is true just because I want to have my way. I bet you’ve never done that, right? My prayer for you and myself is that we will allow the Lord to open our eyes.

Open my eyes that I may see glimpses of truth thou hast for me.

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Abiding, Accountability, Battles, Bible, Choices, Discipline, Godliness, Integrity, Purity, Scripture

SOUND THE TRUMPETS

ZEPHANIAH 1:16

“A day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and the high corner towers.”

I have never played a trumpet but have the utmost respect for those who do. One of my favorite trumpeters is Phil Driscoll. He is amazing. He’s been playing the trumpet for decades and using it to praise the Lord. If you haven’t heard him, you need to check out some of his music.

Unfortunately, Zephaniah isn’t referring to Phil Driscoll in today’s verse. Instead, he is reminding the people of the trumpets that were played in times of war. There were different trumpets and different sounds played to give signals and warnings. Now, they are going to hear God’s trumpet as He brings judgment on the land.

APPLICATION

God may not sound a trumpet to give us warnings, but we have every warning sign we need in His Word. All throughout its pages God tells us how to live and the consequences if we don’t. It would be nice if we had red lights that flashed and got buzzed with an electric current every time we came close to straying, but God gives us that infamous free will, doesn’t He?

The only way we can stay holy is to follow His Word. I love 2 Peter 1:3-4. “3 for His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 Through these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world on account of lust.”

So, what is our excuse? It says very clearly that He has given us everything we need to live godly lives. We want trumpets to blare and sound the warning. We want God to reach down and jerk us away from sin. We have to make the choice – the choice to live holy, to live in purity. Will you today?

Take my life, lead me Lord, take my life, lead me Lord!

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