Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

A Daily Devotional for the Family of God by Kenton Cheek

13 July 2024

Reading From Micah 1-7

Many nations will come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
    to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
    so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,
    the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He will judge between many peoples
    and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
    and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
    nor will they train for war anymore.
Everyone will sit under their own vine
    and under their own fig tree,
and no one will make them afraid,
    for the Lord Almighty has spoken.
All the nations may walk
    in the name of their gods,
but we will walk in the name of the Lord
    our God for ever and ever.”

–Micah 4:2-5

     I love this vision of people from the nations coming together to worship the Lord and learn His ways; ways of peace, stewardship, justice, and courage.  What a glorious hope that we have that our God will settle international disputes and that people will trade their weapons for farming implements.  This idea of tools made for killing being repurposed for work that bears fruit rather than destruction is beautiful. 

I also marvel at the dream of prosperity where each person will have their own place that produces abundance.  This is a future not of communism or socialism or even capitalism, but an economy where the Lord provides everyone with all that they need and so much more. 

“Jehovah Jireh, I praise You for the hope You provide us with in this gorgeous vision filled with peace and justice.  Thank You God for taking care of Your children now and forevermore.  Amen.”

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
    from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
    the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and of might,
    the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
    or decide by what he hears with his ears;
but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
    with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
    with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
⁵ Righteousness will be his belt
    and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

The wolf will live with the lamb,
    the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling^[a] together;
    and a little child will lead them.
The cow will feed with the bear,
    their young will lie down together,
    and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
    and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.

They will neither harm nor destroy
    on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

 –Isaiah 11:1-9