Zechariah 8:2 (KJV) Inside the Walls

Zechariah 8:2 (KJV)
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury.

My interest is in the title, the LORD of hosts. God is LORD, master, sovereign. In this case, He wants us to know He is that over the hosts. 

The term comes from an ancient pictograph of a man on his side and a tent. It represents he who is inside the walls. The one who is protected by the walls. The term developed to mean a garrison or army. “That which goes forth.” 

God is the LORD of His forces. He may use them at His will to protect and enclose those He loves and the people of His interest. 

Elisha’s servant came to discover he was walled around by the host of heaven. 

The believer, so assured, need never fear.

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and more than 5100 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Zechariah 8:2 (KJV) Inside the Walls

1 Corinthians 16:22 (KJV) “Let Them Be Accursed”

1 Corinthians 16:22 (KJV)
If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.

What a solemn and stern warning 

• Anathema means, accursed 
• Maranatha means, the LORD comes

It could either be 

• “Let them be accursed “until” the Lord comes” or
• “Let them be accursed “because” the Lord comes”

Either way, the warning is of huge consequence. 

Christianity today misses so much of this. 

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and more than 5100 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

1 Corinthians 16:22 (KJV) “Let Them Be Accursed”

1 Corinthians 15:11 (KJV) I, Or They

1 Corinthians 15:11 (KJV)
Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.

Albert Barnes writes, “It is comparatively immaterial by whom it was done. The establishment of the truth is the great matter; and the question by whom it is done is one of secondary importance.”

Years ago, while in Bible college, the church I belonged to and had helped plant had a missionary by the name of Dario Lumba. When I got to the church, I joked to my pastor that I had been tempted to stay at the college where a well-known preacher by the name of A.V. Henderson was preaching. Dario Lumba overheard my conversation and, from the pulpit, rebuked me for elevating the preacher above the preaching.

Apostle Paul and Albert Barnes agree with Bro Lumba here. While there are preachers of a false gospel this not the concern of this text. The point is that the personality of the preacher is not nearly as important as that the Word of God is preached and souls have responded. 

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and more than 5100 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

1 Corinthians 15:11 (KJV) I, Or They

photos from pexels.com.

1 Corinthians 14:20 (KJV) We Do Have to Grow Up

1 Corinthians 14:20 (KJV)
Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.

Children are wonderful. 

• Their zeal for life 
• Their simplicity of joy
• Their love of family
• Their innocence 
• Their harmlessness 

We see our children and grandchildren and sometimes wish they could remain children forever. 

But that is unnatural and even unscriptural. The Word of God expects, even demands we all grow up, mature, and become productive workers. 

We never have to be angry or cynical, but we do have to grow up. 

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and more than 5100 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

1 Corinthians 14:20 (KJV) We Do Have to Grow Up

Zechariah 7:11 (KJV) A Common Problem

Zechariah 7:11 (KJV)
But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.

I think what is expressed in this chapter is a common trouble among men. 

Certain men had come to pray before the Lord and to seek answers from the priests. They seem, at first blush, to be sincere. 

• They want to pray
• They want to fast
• They want to seek spiritual answers

They had done these things for many years.

But Zechariah’s answer to them is different than they likely expected. I imagine had he told them to keep praying and fasting and attending to the services they would have been fine. 

What he did say was that their faith ought to produce action, change of behavior.

It was that which they refused to hearken. It was that about which they pulled away and stopped their ears. 

The common problem among men is that we are willing to perform acts of worship so long as they do not require a change in action, attitude, and lifestyle.

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and more than 5100 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Zechariah 7:11 (KJV) A Common Problem

photos from pexels.com.

Zechariah 6:13 (KJV) We Work Today

Zechariah 6:13 (KJV)
Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.

The subject of the passage is Jesus Christ. He is the BRANCH. The context of the passage is the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. The original audience was Zerubbabel and Joshua. 

Even as they were urged to build the temple in Jerusalem, they were told about a new priest coming who would build the temple of the LORD and sit on His throne. 

This is not a slap in the face but a motivator. Our work, as feeble as it is, and as full of problems and trouble as it experiences, is but a picture and precursor to another work done by the LORD Himself and filled with beauty and holiness. 

I work today looking forward to that work of the LORD. 

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and more than 5100 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Zechariah 6:13 (KJV) We Work Today

photos from pexels.com.

Zechariah 3:9 (KJV) In One Day

Zechariah 3:9 (KJV)
For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.

The types of Christ are replete in this text:

• The Branch
• The Stone
• The Vine

So much so that it is impossible for me to miss the reference. This is Christ and the time is Calvary. 

In one day the iniquity of the land was removed. 

• One long day
• One painful day and still
• One grand and victorious day

What a price God paid that day so that iniquity is removed. But, oh, what freedom was won. 

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and more than 5100 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Zechariah 3:9 (KJV) In One Day

photos from pexels.com.

Zechariah 1:20-21 (KJV) How to Make an Impact in the World

Zechariah 1:20-21 (KJV)
And the LORD shewed me four carpenters.
Then said I, What come these to do? And he spake, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it.

Language scholars say the word, carpenter, can mean a smith or a craftsman. I think carpenter is more than appropriate; it is inspired. 

The thing about any craftsman is that they build. It is true that, often, demolition takes place before the construction, but the work of the carpenter is to build. 

I believe this is an indication of exactly how believers can “fray” the worldly powers around us. It is not through battle or criticism. It is not through rebellion or revolution. It is not through vengeance or violence. The way to take the heart out of the enemy of the Lord is to build something for the Lord. 

Never forget the target of Zechariah’s preaching. His was to stir up the children of God to resume building the Temple. Its construction alone would have dismayed the enemies of the Lord. 

The way to make an impact in this world is not to fight the world but to build the house of God. Pour yourself into that and the kingdoms of this world will be confounded. 

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and more than 5100 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Zechariah 1:20-21 (KJV) How to Make an Impact in the World

photos from pexels.com.

Haggai 1:1-2 (KJV) Where to Hear God’s Word and Will

Haggai 1:1-2 (KJV)
In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying,
Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD’S house should be built.

Zerubbabel and Joshua were tasked with rebuilding the temple, the house of the Lord after the Jews returned from Babylonian captivity. The work had been challenged and the enthusiasm of the people had waned. For the most part, they had lost interest in the house of the Lord. God brought the prophets to reinvigorate the work.

Zerubbabel and Joshua were getting input from two concerned but very different sources. 

• On the one hand, there was the prophet 
• On the other was the people. 

The Bible very specifically says that the Word of the Lord came, not through the will of the people, but from the prophet. The pressure certainly came from the people, work would surely have needed the cooperation of the people. But the word of the Lord, His will, was not to be found in the people but in the prophet. God spoke to Zerubbabel and Joshua. God even spoke directly to them. God spoke to them through the prophet. 

So many people miss the Word of God and the will of God because they are listening to the people and not to their preacher. It may even be they have so set their lives that they have no preacher to whom to listen. 

It’s so important that men and women repent of this. Return to the Lord by returning to church and by returning to the hearing and heeding of preaching.

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and more than 5100 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Haggai 1:1-2 (KJV) Where to Hear God’s Word and Will

photos from pexels.com.

Zephaniah 3:2 (KJV) May She Repent!

Zephaniah 3:2 (KJV)
She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the LORD; she drew not near to her God.

The passage is a pronouncement against Jerusalem.

• She is filthy
• She is polluted 
• She is oppressing

Further, 

• She obeyed not the voice of God through the prophets
• She received not correction to repent 
• She trusted not the Lord
• She drew not nigh to her God 

There is, I note, a hint of grace in that, through all that is pronounced, she is still said to belong to God. But she is far from where she ought to be. 

All of this may be equally said of the United States of America today. 

• May God lead believers to trust in the Lord. 
• May God then cause the nation to draw night to Him. 

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and more than 5100 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Zephaniah 3:2 (KJV) May She Repent!

photos from pexels.com.