Searching, light, fear and deliverance

Lam 3:25 VW Jehovah is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.Luk 1:5-8 VW There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. (6) And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, blameless. (7) But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years. (8) So it was, that while he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division,

Luk 1:11-22 VW And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. (12) And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. (13) But the angel said to him, Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. (14) And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. (15) For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. (16) And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. (17) He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. (18) And Zacharias said to the angel, By what shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years. (19) And the angel answered and said to him, I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. (20) But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their season. (21) And the people waited for Zacharias, and wondered that he lingered so long in the temple. (22) But when he came out, he could not speak to them; and they recognized that he had seen a vision in the temple, for he made signs to them and remained speechless.

Luk 1:45 VW Blessed is she who believes, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.

Luk 1:59-80 VW So it was, on the eighth day, that they came to circumcise the child; and they were calling him by the name of his father, Zacharias. (60) And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John. (61) But they said to her, There is no one among your kindred who is called by this name. (62) So they made signs to his father; what he would have him called. (63) And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, saying, His name is John. So they all marveled. (64) And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, praising God. (65) And fear came on all who dwelt around them; and all these sayings were talked about throughout all the hill country of Judea. (66) And all those who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What kind of child will this be? And the hand of the Lord was with him. (67) And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying: (68) Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people, (69) and raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David, (70) as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets since the world began, (71) Deliverance from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, (72) to perform mercy with our fathers and to remember His holy covenant, (73) the oath which He swore to our father Abraham: (74) To grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, (75) in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life. (76) And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, (77) to give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins, (78) through the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; (79) to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. (80) So the child grew and became strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his proclamation to Israel.

2Pe 2:1-10 VW But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. (2) And many will follow their destructive ways, through whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. (3) By covetousness they will exploit you with well-turned words; whose judgment of old is not idle, and their destruction does not slumber. (4) For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; (5) and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing the flood on the world of the ungodly; (6) and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those intending to live ungodly; (7) and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the lustful behavior of the wicked (8) (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, his righteous soul was tormented from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds); (9) then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust for the day of judgment, to be punished, (10) and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of defilement and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries.

Psa 3:2-8 VW Many are saying of my soul, There is no deliverance for him in God. Selah. (3) But You, O Jehovah, are a shield for me; my glory, the One who lifts up my head. (4) I cried unto Jehovah with my voice, and He heard me out of His holy hill. Selah. (5) I lay down and slept. I awoke, for Jehovah sustained me. (6) I am not afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. (7) Arise, O Jehovah; deliver me, O my God; for You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone. You have broken the teeth of the wicked. (8) Salvation belongs to Jehovah. Your blessing is on Your people. Selah.

Psa 27:4-14 VW One thing I have desired from Jehovah, that I will seek after: That I may dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of Jehovah, and to inquire in His temple. (5) For in the time of evil He shall hide me in His den, in the secrecy of His tent He shall hide me; He shall lift me up upon a rock. (6) And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; and I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tent. I will sing; yea, I will make music unto Jehovah.
(7) Hear, O Jehovah, when I cry out with my voice, and have mercy upon me and answer me. (8) When You say, Seek My face, my heart has said unto You, Your face, O Jehovah, I will seek.
(9) Hide not Your face from me; turn not Your servant away in anger. You have been my help; do not leave me, nor forsake me, O God of my salvation. (10) When my father and my mother forsake me, then Jehovah will gather me up.
(11) Teach me Your way, O Jehovah, and lead me in a plain path, because of my enemies. (12) Do not deliver me over to the will of my enemies; for false witnesses have risen up against me, and such as breathe out violence.
(13) I would have fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of Jehovah in the land of the living. (14) Wait upon Jehovah; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, upon Jehovah!

Deu 6:13-19 VW You shall fear Jehovah your God and serve Him, and swear by His name. (14) You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are all around you (15) (for Jehovah your God is a jealous Mighty God among you), lest the anger of Jehovah your God burn against you and destroy you from off the face of the earth. (16) You shall not tempt Jehovah your God as you tempted Him in Massah. (17) You shall take heed to keep the commandments of Jehovah your God, His testimonies, and His statutes which He has commanded you. (18) And you shall do what is right and good in the eyes of Jehovah, that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land of which Jehovah has sworn to your fathers, (19) to cast out all your enemies before you, as Jehovah has spoken.

Deu 6:24-25 VW And Jehovah commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Jehovah our God, for our good always, to preserve us alive, as it is this day. (25) And it shall be righteousness for us if we take heed to do all these commandments before Jehovah our God, as He has commanded us.

1Ki 18:21 VW And Elijah came to all the people, and said, How long will you be limping between two divided opinions? If Jehovah is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow after him. But the people answered him not a word.

Psa 32:6-11 VW For this let everyone who is godly pray unto You, in a time when You may be found; surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come near him. (7) You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from distress; You shall enclose me with shouts of deliverance. Selah. (8) I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye. (9) Do not be like the horse, or like the mule, which have no understanding, whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, so that they do not come near you. (10) The wicked has many sorrows, but mercy envelops him who trusts in Jehovah. (11) Be glad in Jehovah and rejoice, you righteous; and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.

Joh 9:29-41 VW We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from. (30) The man answered and said to them, Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes! (31) Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone reveres God and does His will, He hears him.
(32) Since the world began it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. (33) If this Man were not from God, He would not be able to do anything. (34) They answered and said to him, You were born completely in sins, and do you teach us? And they drove him out. (35) Jesus heard that they had driven him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, Do you believe into the Son of God? (36) He answered and said, Who is He, Lord, that I may believe into Him? (37) And Jesus said to him, You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you. (38) And he said, Lord, I believe! And he did homage to Him. (39) And Jesus said, For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind. (40) Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, Are we blind also? (41) Jesus said to them, If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, We see. Therefore your sin remains.

Joh 6:35-40 VW And Jesus said to them, I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to Me shall not ever hunger, and he who believes into Me shall never ever thirst. (36) But I said to you that you also have seen Me and do not believe.
(37) All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. (38) For I have come down out of Heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. (39) This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should not lose any of it, but should raise it up at the last day. (40) And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes into Him may have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

Mat 13:10-23 VW And the disciples came and said to Him, Why do You speak to them in parables? (11) He answered and said to them, Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven, but to them it has not been given. (12) For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. (13) Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. (14) And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: Hearing you will hear and shall not at all understand, and seeing you will see and by no means perceive; (15) for the heart of this people has grown dull, their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, that they should not see with their eyes, nor hear with their ears, nor understand with their heart and convert, and I should heal them. (16) But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; (17) for truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. (18) Therefore hear the parable of the sower:
(19) When anyone hears the Word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is that which was sown by the wayside. (20) That which was sown on stony places, this is he who hears the Word and immediately receives it with joy; (21) yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when affliction or persecution arises because of the Word, immediately he stumbles. (22) And that which was sown among the thorns is he who hears the Word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the Word, and he becomes unfruitful. (23) But that which was sown on the good ground is he who hears the Word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: this a hundredfold, that sixty, that thirty.

Luk 21:31-36 VW So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. (32) Truly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place. (33) Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. (34) But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with giddiness, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come upon you unexpectedly. (35) For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. (36) Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.

Next: Serve him without fear

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The Daily Gospel and Readings 3 March 2015 (prayersandmeditations.com)
Hear the word of the LORD, princes of Sodom! Listen to the instruction of our God, people of Gomorrah! Wash yourselves clean! Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes; cease doing evil; learn to do good.
Trust in the Most Unlikely of People (therealdaniel.com)
I do wonder why He lets things happen that should not happen.
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Christ like behavior can be seen where you least expect it from those who aren’t even Christ followers.
Correctly Understanding Jesus’ Condemnation of the Pharisees (juicyecumenism.com)
A recent (2013) Barna study that found Evangelicals tending toward Pharisaical actions and attitudes included some mistaken criteria of what such actions and attitudes are (“I like to point out those who do not have the right theology or doctrine” – but Jesus did, against both the Pharisees and Sadducees (Matt. 16:6-12, 22:23-46), or condemning those who reject “Christian values” (which Jesus said are not to be rejected (Matt. 5:17-20)).
The Wrath of God (chasingthewind.net)
Have we been led to believe that our God is only capable of love? That Yahweh is not capable of anger? That Jehovah God incapable of wrath and justice? Do we simply discard scripture that deals with His anger and wrath? Is our God limited and powerless against evil?

If we do not know that God hates pride, arrogance, and evil, then we do not know Yahweh. Proverbs 8:13,
Feb. 22. Jeremiah Speaks Against other Nations (fellowshiproom.org)
The Lord speaking through the prophet declared their horrific downfall at the hands of the Babylonians. Moab would return in the future as God stated, “Yet I will bring back the captives of Moab In the latter days.”
The Story for Kids {a BookLook Blogger review} (debrakb.blogspot.com)
The Story for Kids parallels the adult and teen edition of the book and can be used as part of The Story campaign or on its own.