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Every Morning

by Joyce Johnson  
8/13/2007 / Christian Living

Every Morning!

Let's established this fact is the Lord our God with us, and is He in our midst? True or not! God said, I will never leave you nor forsake you, I will dwell with you and you shall be my people and I will be your God. Although God was speaking directly to Israel, He is also speaking to all of us, and we do have proof. The proof is all who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour; He has made Himself known to us. Jesus said just before He ascended to heaven and commissioned his disciples, "---Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" Matthew 28:18-20. God is uncompromisingly righteous and would never go back on His Word so whatever He says He accomplishes it.
If God do not fulfil His Word to us He would be proven to be unrighteous, so every promise of God stands God doesn't compromise nor has mood swings. He doesn't gets depress or gets out of bed with negative attitudes. God doesn't make judgment according to how He feels; but He is consistent in dealing with His creation (humanity).
God is just; no matter whether we are weak or strong, right or wrong, His love is overwhelmingly constant and this is what often drives or should drives us to repentance. Every morning He brings justice to light and although we are all God's favourite He deals with us in line with the Word which He has given to us, and in accordance with His character. The book of Zephaniah shows God's justice, judgment, mercy and restoration in order to reinstate His people in fellowship with Him.
The Lord is in the midst of her is [uncompromisingly] righteous. Every morning He brings His justice to light. He fails not but the unjust {person} knows no shame Zephaniah 3:5
Joyce Meyer's note on the book of Zephaniah writes, "One of Jephaniah's key themes is, God is the God of history and He has always been and will always be deeply involved in human affairs. Zephaniah recognised the sin surrounded him--- (The Everyday Bible Amplified p1435). Reading other Old Testament prophesies demonstrated that the prophets of God were burdened because of the people's sins, the prophets dreaded the pending destruction that was going to come upon them. For example, Habakkuk cried out to God asking Him how long Habakkuk 1:2-3; God answered him in chapter 2:2-3 and gave him an assignment to write down the vision of what He had in mind. These people had become proud and it was only for the mercy of God why they were not consumed. God gave Zephaniah's a direct warning to warn His people of the distruction that was about to be fulfilled in Judah, Jerusalem and the surrounding nations. The message also included restoration to Judah after they had repented that God's love and mercy would be extended to them. The beautiful promise of restoration is in the preceding verse:
I will restore to the people a pure language and (after restoration their speech would be pure; after restoration the words of their mouth and meditation of their heart would be acceptable to Him) and they would call on the name of the Lord with one voice, together they would serve Him with one accord.
For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language; that they all may call on the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one accord, Zephaniah 3:9. What a picture! Repentange is180 degrees turn around?
Repentance also brings change; and when we are truly repentant God begins to make the adjustment in us, from glory to glory. God is faithful, God loves us unconditionally; we are the apple of His eye and no way God wants us to continue living the way we are (walking in disobedience); so He will allow any circumstances to invade our lives in order to get our attention.
God is the One who brings His swift judgment and also He is abundantly rich in mercy, Zephaniah knew His God and so he encourages the people. Yes, because of their defiance, selfwill and hardheartedness they had to go through the strict discipline of God. However, not until they had acknowledge their sins and cried out for God's mercy were they restored. God is unchanging and would have dealt with us in the precise manner in which He had dealt with His people because whom the Lord loves He disciplines, weren't it for Jesus our intercessor. Zephaniah, the man of God, brought this wonderful message in verses sixteen and seventeen, encouraging the people that although they are fearful and their hands might feel weak; although they had the feelings it would be difficult to make the necessary change for themselves, God is still at work in them:
Do not fear---Zion, let your hand be weak (because when you are weak then you are strong, your strength is made perfect in your weakness) the Lord your God is in the midst, the Mighty One, will save--- He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing, Zepheniah 3:16-17. The Lord God was present (every morning) even during Judah, or our destruction and (evening, morning and noon) identifies with our pain, and it breaks His heart to see our suffering during days of darkness, and He's just waiting to rejoice and to comfort us with His love.
As David demonstrated time alone with God; that He is approachable at any time
evening; morning and at noon Psalm 55:17, but the most fruitful activities occur in the morning when everything is fresh. I believe that God chose to meet with us in the morning in a special way. 'New every morning is His love our waking and uprising is the proof of it,' that is knowing and experiencing God's love first thing in the morning to give us strength and to equip us for the the day ahead. In the morning everything flourishes and comes to life, but in the evening everything signifies closure, evening seems to be a time when we slow down to denote the end, Psalm 90:6. The Bible talks a lot about morning these are but few: -
o Job said the eyelid of the morning (that shows something opening up, clarity, or essential or central part) Job 41:18
o David talks about the wings of the morning (essential part that take something forward) Psalm 139:9
o King Solomon depicts his beloved looking as the morning (there is something awesome about morning) Song of Solomon 6:10
o We have the description of Satan that he is the angel of light, but his name is Lucifer son of the morning Isaiah 14:12, is this significant or what? He was given a prominent place by the Creator but he lost his station because of pride.
o But our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is called The Bright and Morning Star, Revelation 22:16. Jesus humbled Himself and God highly exalted Him and gave Him a name above all name. The Bright and Morning Star is still shining in heaven.
As stated above there are other references that speak about morning, these also bear striking image portraying our loving God encouraging His children after any destruction or punishment; 'everyday God brings justice to light' as seen in Zephaniah 3:5. God is faithful to forgive and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. God wants to restore us but the devil would do everything in his power to keep us in the bondage of sin; God wants to unite us to Him and one another, the devil works to separate us from God and from each other. Like Judah, Jerusalem and their surrounding nations(or inded every child of God) as portrayed in Zephaniah's time; we also have been given choices to either respond or ignore what God has commanded us to do. It's really up to us individually; nevertheless God is still reaching out to us and wants to quiet us with His love. Not for a day but every morning, for all eternity.

My name is Joyce Johnson, I have been a christian since 1966. I accepted the Lord in a Billy Graham Crusade in Earls Court, London, UK. I love to write every and anything on paper, write letters to God also write my thoughts during my devotion. I have regularly submitted articles in my Church's ma

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