A Prayer for Guidance and Protection

"I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."  (Jeremiah 29:11)




Father God, in His abundant mercy and love, desires the best for His children.  We are the ones who mess it up.  He has arranged a wonderful path for each of our lives; but, we oftentimes choose to veer off the path.  The results are the consequences of life...   Sometimes we come full-circle and recognize the fact that we are back at the same crossroads we saw years before...  Even so, God patiently guides us back to His path - the path that leads to abundant life.





1 Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul...  4 Show me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.  5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me;  for thou art the God of my salvation;  on thee do I wait all the day. 6  Remember, O LORD, thy tender mercies and thy loving-kindnesses;  for they have been ever of old. 7  Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions;  according to thy mercy remember thou me
         for thy goodness' sake, O LORD.

        


10 All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth;  unto such as keep his 
covenant and his testimonies. 11 For thy name's sake, O LORD,  pardon
mine iniquity; for it is great.

12 What man is he that fearest the LORD? 

 Him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose. 

13 His soul shall dwell at ease;  and his seed shall inherit the earth. 

 14 The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him;  and he will 

show them his covenant.




15 Mine eyes are ever toward the LORD;  for he shall pluck my feet out of the net. 
16 Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me;  for I am desolate and afflicted. 
17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged: 
20 O keep my soul, and deliver me:  let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in thee
   (Psalm 25:1,4-7,10-17,20  King James Bible)

JEREMIAH 3:16

     "... in those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land", declares the Lord, "Men no longer will say, 'The ark of the covenant of the Lord.'   It will not be missed, nor will another one be made..."  (NIV)

Painting by Michelangelo, 1512

 The author of this book of the Bible is the prophet Jeremiah.  Jeremiah was known as "the weeping prophet", because his message was a very sober one, and people tended to disbelieve him.  His primary message was,  "Repent; turn away from sin and towards God; go back to Torah."  God sent His people another message through Jeremiah:  the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.
     Jeremiah was delivering these messages from God to Judah during the reigns of the last five kings. These were not good times spiritually.  If you will refer back to I Chronicles, it gives you a sense of the moral climate of Jeremiah's day.   People really don't like to hear scary messages like Jeremiah's.  And, because of the content of his messages, Jeremiah wasn't a popular person. Even so, he continued to deliver God's message for forty years .When it was obvious that destruction was inevitable, Jeremiah urged the leaders to submit to the Babylonians, to accept the punishment they deserved. In this way Jerusalem would be spared. Delivering such a message branded Jeremiah as a traitor. People did not listen to his warnings.
     Jeremiah wept.   But, Jeremiah did not weep for himself; he wept for the loss he knew was coming;  he wept for his people who refused to listen to God's word, and he wept for the destruction of the city and its temple.

courtesy Crystalinks Metaphysical and Science Website

You may recall that the beautiful temple in Jerusalem was built under the direction of Solomon.  Inside was the Ark of the Covenant, which was the sacred symbol of God's presence among His people. The Ark of the Covenant is described in the Bible as a sacred container, which held the stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments as well as Aaron's rod and manna. The Ark was built per God's command, in accord with Moses' prophetic vision on Mount Sinai, and God communicated with Moses "from between the two cherubim" on the Ark's cover (Exodus 25:22).  The Biblical account relates that during the exodus of the Israelites, the Ark was carried by the priests. When the Ark was borne by priests into the  Jordan, the river was separated, opening a pathway for all the Israelites  to pass over (Josh. 3:15-16).  When carried, the Ark was always wrapped in a veil, in animal skins, and a blue cloth, and was carefully concealed, even from the eyes of the priests who carried it.
  

 But Jeremiah, through God, foresaw the day when God would be present among men through the Holy Spirit.  Much of the book of Jeremiah is about the Messiah.  The New Covenant would be a covenant of personal relationship with Messiah.  Today, we are living in that New  Covenant.  WE  ARE  LIVING  IN THAT  KINGDOM  WITH  GOD  AMONGST  US  THROUGH  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT!  The Ark of the Covenant was beautifully made of precious materials and with careful attention to every detail, as directed by the Lord.  But we have the New Covenant, which is Christ Jesus, whose beauty is unspeakable.









Jesus walks alongside me all the time.  If He is not walking with you, ask Him to.

JOSHUA 3:16

     "That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan; and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off; and the people passed over right against Jericho."  (KJV)



     DANGER: KEEP OUT: FLOODING!   If this event happened nowadays, surely some government agency would post a danger sign.  It was Springtime, and, as we read in the prior verse, " the Jordan overflows all his banks through all the time until harvest."   So, every year, from Spring through Autumn, the Jordan River was at flood stage.  Despite this, God gave specific instructions on what to do at the river;  he also gave His promise that He would be there... just as He had been with Moses...

the Jordan River

     Just as crossing the Red Sea with Moses to escape from Egypt was a milestone in the Israelite's history, so was the crossing of the Jordan River with Joshua to enter the promised land.  There are many similarities between the two events.  Both were God-directed.  And, both were God-delivered journeys.
     God gave specific instructions that the priests carrying the ark of the covenant go first and stand in the water. The preists, Joshua, and the people obeyed.  ( Oh, boy, there's that obedience thing again! Are you beginning to notice a trend here?)  The waters parted when the priests' feet hit the water. It actually piled up in "heaps".  (Gives new meaning to the term, "standing water", doesn't it?) The priests then took the ark to the center of the DRY riverbed, and all the Israelites followed, successfully crossing the Jordan River. 
     Now, we're not talking about a couple dozen people here... The army was forty thousand men, fully dressed for battle.  Add to that women and children,  the priests and Levites, and any foreigners who had elected to join the Israelites.... a very low estimate of the people crossing the river would be 100,000.  This was no small pathway!  No small miracle!
     Once all the people had crossed the riverbed, the priests with the ark came out.  Then the water returned and ran at flood stage as it had before the crossing.  Only God could make that journey possible.  All He asked for was faith and obedience.
     The Israelites had been trapped in terrible slavery and oppression in Egypt.  Although their situation was of their own doing, God, with His amazing love and mercy, provided them a way of escape.  Are you experiencing an "Egypt" of your own today?   People are slaves to schedules, the media, substances, possessions, emotions... Do you recognize the slavery in your life?  God can make your journey out of "Egypt" possible.  He will tell you how.  Be willing to listen.  And obey.
     And, if needed,  be prepared to get your feet wet.



priests carrying the ark, as the water parts...