Bible League: Living His Word And all the trees of the field shall know that I am the LORD; I bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it.— Ezekiel 17:24 ESV Sooner or later, everyone will know that the Lord God of heaven and earth rules and reigns over all things. In our verse for today, trees represent the nations of the earth. Sooner or later, then, every nation of the earth will know that the Lord God rules and reigns over all things. How shall the Lord make this known, even to the nations of the earth? He shall make it known by bringing low the high trees and drying up the green trees. Every nation that looks upon its power and wealth, that thinks it is above the rule and reign of the Lord God will be brought low. The other nations will see this happen and pay heed, lest the same thing happen to them. You can't rage against the Lord, you can't plot against Him, and expect to get away with it. The Lord God sits in heaven and laughs at that kind of foolish hubris. He holds the nations that indulge themselves with it in derision (Psalm 2:1-4). The Lord shall also make it known by making high the low trees and making the dry trees flourish. Every weak and poor nation that acknowledges the rule and reign of the Lord God will be lifted up and made to flourish. The other nations will also see this happen. If they see and pay heed, then the same thing can happen to them. Any wise and humble nations that serve the Lord with fear and rejoice in Him with trembling, any that look to Him for help and take refuge in Him, will be richly blessed (Psalm 2:10-12). The Lord Himself has spoken this and He will do it. It is, put simply, a done deal. It doesn't matter what the nations of the earth think about this, it's going to happen the way the Lord God says it's going to happen. And, sooner or later, every nation will know it. Bible in a Year Old Testament Reading2 Kings 12, 13, 14 2 Kings 12 -- Joash Reigns over Judah, Repairs the Temple NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 2 Kings 13 -- Jehoahaz, Jehoash, Kings of Israel; Elisha Dies NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 2 Kings 14 -- Amaziah and Jeroboam II Kings of Judah NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading John 5:25-47 John 5 -- The Pool of Bethesda; Testimony about Christ NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion I know, LORD, that our lives are not our own.We are not able to plan our own course. So correct me, LORD, but please be gentle. Do not correct me in anger, for I would die. Insight God's ability to direct our lives well is infinitely beyond our ability. Sometimes we are afraid of God's power and God's plans because we know his power would easily crush us if he used it against us. Challenge Don't be afraid to let God correct your plans. He will give you wisdom if you are willing. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Acts 13:39 All that believe are justified.The believer in Christ receives a present justification. Faith does not produce this fruit by-and-by, but now. So far as justification is the result of faith, it is given to the soul in the moment when it closes with Christ, and accepts him as its all in all. Are they who stand before the throne of God justified now?--so are we, as truly and as clearly justified as they who walk in white and sing melodious praises to celestial harps. The thief upon the cross was justified the moment that he turned the eye of faith to Jesus; and Paul, the aged, after years of service, was not more justified than was the thief with no service at all. We are today accepted in the Beloved, today absolved from sin, today acquitted at the bar of God. Oh! soul-transporting thought! There are some clusters of Eshcol's vine which we shall not be able to gather till we enter heaven; but this is a bough which runneth over the wall. This is not as the corn of the land, which we can never eat till we cross the Jordan; but this is part of the manna in the wilderness, a portion of our daily nutriment with which God supplies us in our journeying to and fro. We are now--even now pardoned; even now are our sins put away; even now we stand in the sight of God accepted, as though we had never been guilty. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." There is not a sin in the Book of God, even now, against one of his people. Who dareth to lay anything to their charge? There is neither speck, nor spot, nor wrinkle, nor any such thing remaining upon any one believer in the matter of justification in the sight of the Judge of all the earth. Let present privilege awaken us to present duty, and now, while life lasts, let us spend and be spent for our sweet Lord Jesus. Daily Light on the Daily Path Revelation 21:4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away."Isaiah 25:8 He will swallow up death for all time, And the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces, And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken. Isaiah 60:20 "Your sun will no longer set, Nor will your moon wane; For you will have the LORD for an everlasting light, And the days of your mourning will be over. Isaiah 33:24 And no resident will say, "I am sick"; The people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity. Isaiah 65:19 "I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; And there will no longer be heard in her The voice of weeping and the sound of crying. Isaiah 35:10 And the ransomed of the LORD will return And come with joyful shouting to Zion, With everlasting joy upon their heads. They will find gladness and joy, And sorrow and sighing will flee away. Hosea 13:14 Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from death? O Death, where are your thorns? O Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion will be hidden from My sight. 1 Corinthians 15:26,54 The last enemy that will be abolished is death. • But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. 2 Corinthians 4:18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. 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