For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
But wise and knowledgeable leaders bring stability.
I’m just going to leave this here for you to draw your own conclusions.
God’s faithful love endures forever. In light of the circumstances in the world let us remember verse 6:
What can mere people do to me?
I will trust in the Lord rather than in people, even those who run the government. I will tell all who will listen what the Lord has done.
If your faith does not make a difference in how you act it is meaningless and worthless. We are made right with God when we have faith which changes our behavior so that we no longer sin, but do what is right.
And how do we change our behavior? By changing what we say. James tells us that the tongue is a small thing, but it is the key to controlling our behavior. I think part of what James is telling us is that others will interpret our actions in light of what we say. We must strive to make sure that every word we utter brings glory to God. It does not matter how much we do everything else right, if we speak the wrong word at the wrong time we will fail to be good witnesses for God. James points out that sometimes we praise God and sometimes we curse others (who were made in the image of God…there is a whole sermon about how treat others right there). We need to allow the Holy Spirit to change us so that we stop doing the latter.
Jealousy and selfishness are not wise and cannot coexist with wisdom. If you allow either to govern your behavior, you will not act wisely. True wisdom comes from God. It is peace loving, gentle, and willing to yield to others. It is sincere and shows no favoritism. Wisdom is not a path to getting what you want.
Ezekiel prophesied that the day would come when the land of Magog, along with its allies, would march against the restored Israel. (The prophecy started in yesterday’s passage). Ezekiel prophesied that God Himself would strike down the mighty armies arrayed against Israel. This action by God will lead all of the earth to praise His name.
I do not often see specific applications of biblical prophesies in the world around us, because generally I think they are there to show us how God is in control of history more than they are there to tell us what will happen. However, the best description I can find of the lands described as allying against Israel here, remind me of the areas where ISIS is either currently controlling, showing signs of possibly controlling in the near future, or expressing themselves in way which suggest that they might ally with ISIS.