The Lord corrects the people He loves and disciplines those He calls His own. Hebrews 12:6 CEV.

And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. 1 Kings 19:11-12 KJV.

He brought me out into a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me. 2 Samuel 22:20.

You guide me with Your counsel, and afterward You will receive me to glory. Psalm 73:24 ESV.

Our new book and chapter, Zephaniah 1, was given by Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit, to His prophet Zephaniah, to shake the nation of Judah out of their complacency and to urge them to return to the true God. He had a profound influence on King Josiah but 12 years after Josiah’s death, Judah was invaded by Babylon. As we turn to God and begin to trust Him, we can begin to understand that what needs to be shaken will be shaken. What needs to be shaken in our world today? Everything that prevents us from knowing that Creator God IS and that He loves us too much to leave us in our sins. When God steps in, nothing is as it was. He strips away what is false. The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah, son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, during the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah: “I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord. “I will sweep away both man and beast; I will sweep away the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea – and the idols that cause the wicked to stumble. When I destroy all mankind on the face of the earth,” declares the Lord, “I will stretch out My hand against Judah and against all who live in Jerusalem. I will destroy every remnant of Baal worship in this place, the very names of the idolatrous priests – those who bow down on the roofs to worship the starry host, those who bow down and swear by the Lord and who also swear by Molek, those who turn back from following the Lord and neither seek the Lord nor inquire of Him.” v. 1-6. Our actions bring on the day of the Lord’s correction and the officials, the king’s sons, those who fill the land with violence and deceit, will be shaken; and no silver will save them, v. 7-11. “At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who are complacent, who are like wine left on its dregs, who think, ‘The Lord will do nothing, either good or bad.’ Their wealth will be plundered, their houses demolished…The great day of the Lord is near – near and coming quickly…That day will be a day of wrath – a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness – a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the corner towers. I will bring such distress on all people that they will grope about like those who are blind, because they have sinned against the Lord. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the Lord’s wrath.” In the fire of His jealousy the whole earth will be consumed, for He will make a sudden end of all who live on the earth. v. 12-13, 14, 15-18.

Last night on Zoom, we watched together The Chosen, episode 7 of season 4, where Jesus’ friend Lazarus has been raised back to life after laying entombed for 4 days. Do we ever think about Jesus, the Son, having a friend from childhood on, and that He would talk with him after He raised him from the dead? How could they not sit and talk about what-and-why Jesus did what He did? I took great comfort in listening in to the dramatization of what that conversation might have been like. How could someone understand being brought back to life while still – this present life lives on? Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” John 11:40. Jesus showed them the resurrection. Time was running out and the disciples needed to see to believe fully later. And yet, sitting talking with Lazarus, Jesus would have needed to help Lazarus understand that his friend, whom Lazarus loved, who raised him back to life, the Son of God, would Himself suffer horribly and be killed…and to understand deeply what was only before words on a scroll…He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces He was despised, and we held Him in low esteem. Isaiah 53:3. Creator God has always been rejected by those who turn away from Him. I shared with our group my own failure of understanding. When I saw the news report of the man who shot two young people, a couple about to be engaged – who stood over their bodies as he continued to shoot them in the back, I wanted that man to stand before a firing squad! That sentiment was not worthy of the sacrifice of love that Jesus the Son made for me and for you and for everyone God Himself loves. It’s difficult to read about the Day of the Lord…what we fail to understand is that it is more difficult to live in the way that leads to the Day of the Lord. What needs to be shaken will be shaken. Thank Creator God that it is He that will do the shaking because He alone knows the way that leads to our healing in His love and wisdom. It is our hearts and minds that need God’s healing, and that healing and desire for Him to heal us, even that comes from Creator God. Will we continue to hide our faces from Him so we can continue to do what we want that brings pain and suffering to ourselves and others? A choice of our hearts always. God will not force us but He will shake every foundation we trust in that is not His foundation of His love for us and others. It will always come down to where it must…God’s love. Everything else will be shaken.