It is God who enables. It is God who renews. It is God who uplifts. True faithfulness is God. When Hezekiah was faced with illness and death he pleaded before God. He knew that only God was his source of help, “‘Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.’ And Hezekiah wept bitterly.” Isaiah 38:3 What does it say about us when we run to God in our despair? We cast aside our own self sufficiency and we embrace the total sufficiency of God. There is nothing that God cannot do. Is that enough? Continue Reading…
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Thankfulness in the total sufficiency of God: Isaiah 38 and 39
In the battle of allegiance what do you choose: Isaiah 36 and 37
We are in the midst of a great battle of allegiance and devotion. In Isaiah 36 and 37 we are privy to an encounter where the king of Israel is faced with a choice to trust men or trust God. What would you choose? When face with insurmountable opposition what choice do you make? When the world around you screams in a seductively alluring whisper to submit to the ways of the nature of sin do you listen to the sirens song? Of the king of Israel is whispered, “Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you. Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD by saying, ‘The LORD will surely deliver us. This city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’ Do not listen to Hezekiah. For thus says the king of Assyria: Make your peace with me and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern, until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. Beware lest Hezekiah mislead you by saying, ‘The LORD will deliver us.’ Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?” Isaiah 36:14-18 Continue Reading…
A dialogue of compelling love
“Which commandment is the most important of all?”
“The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
“You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
“You are not far from the kingdom of God.”
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
And we will see the Lord in His glory: Isaiah 35
Are you broken and weary by the trials and trouble of life? Do you look upon your life and despair think that all hope is lost? I challenge you to aspire to hope again. “The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God.” Isaiah 35:1,2 Jesus Christ lives! That is your hope. You can never change the fact that Jesus gave up His life that you could live. Will you trust fully in His provision? Continue Reading…
Who can dwell apart from God: Isaiah 33 and 34
Will you delight? Will you seek? Will you hear? Will you see? Will you? “O LORD, be gracious to us; we wait for you. Be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble. At the tumultuous noise peoples flee; when you lift yourself up, nations are scattered, and your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers; as locusts leap, it is leapt upon. The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness, and he will be the stability of your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is Zion’s treasure.” Isaiah 33:2-6 The Lord is to be exalted and praised. We must give up and trust God. The saving grace of God will be the hope that we cling to.
What awaits those who choose to not trust God? What is in store for the people who have closed their hearts and minds to the saving grace of God? There will be eternal suffering and damnation for all people who shun God. There is no sugar coating to be placed on this fact that our sin leads to death but the hope is found when trust is placed in God. Continue Reading…
Are you standing upon the lavish simplicity of God: Isaiah 31 and 32
What do you place your trust and hope in? Do you trust, hope, and love money, sex, drugs, acceptance, or power? Happiness can never be secured by treasures of this life. Everything around you is temporal and the hope and blessing you derive from these trinkets will waiver and fail you when you are craving trust, hope, and love the most. “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the LORD!” Isaiah 31:1 The beautiful simplicity of God’s truth is found in Isaiah. We cannot build our hope on anything apart from the glorious God who lavishly moved to save humanity from its foolish pride. Continue Reading…
Do your actions proclaim your trust or disdain of God: Isaiah 29 and 30
We are given a looking glass into our own lives in Isaiah 29 and 30. What do you treasure? What do you value? What do you hold in high regard? Our lives will answer these questions without a need for us to speak. We can proclaim to act or believe in one thing or another but if our actions do not match what we say we are lying. Do you live out what you proclaim to be your faith in God? Do your actions proclaim your trust or disdain of God? “And the Lord said: ‘Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men, therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.’” Isaiah 29:13,14 Where is your heart? Our hearts are what truly motivate us to do everything we do. Continue Reading…
