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DAY 234 OR AUGUST 22.

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REMEMBER WHO IS ULTIMATELY IN CONTROL.

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Our thoughts today are from Ezekiel chapter 31, verses 10 and 11.

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Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says, Because the great cedar towered over

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the thick foliage, and because it was proud of its height, I gave it into the hands of

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the ruler of the nations, for him to deal with according to its wickedness.

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I cast it aside.

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And now the big picture concerning these verses.

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There was a sense in which Judah felt confident because God had chosen them.

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They had forgotten that there was a covenant, and only God had kept his side.

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They hadn't, and judgment was inevitable.

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Once again Ezekiel denounces Egypt, which had sometimes been a friend to Judah, and

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at other times her enemy.

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Ezekiel declares God's unwillingness for any of his children to perish.

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However, they are determined to belligerently disobey God, as the crisis approaches.

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And now today's action step.

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Years ago it was very popular to add two letters to most things that you intended to do in

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God's name.

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I remember the announcements always ended with these letters.

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They are DV, and stand for the Latin words, doe volente, which means God-willing.

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This is rooted in James chapter 4, verses 13 to 16.

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Look here, you who say, Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town, and will stay

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there a year.

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We will do business there and make a profit.

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How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow?

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Your life is like the morning fog.

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It's here a little while, then it's gone.

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What you ought to say is, If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.

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Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil.

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Sadly the use of DV began to be mere repetition, and it fell into non-use.

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We don't have to say them, but it's good to recall them whenever you are making plans.

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If God is in your arrangements, then you are at the centre of His will for your life.

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If you are struggling or feeling uneasy about something right now, then ask yourself, DV,

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is God willing?