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Upcoming Event: Spruce Pine Potters Market - Yancey and
Mitchell counties have more artists, per capita, than anywhere else in
America. Many of the artists are
internationally acclaimed. This event
will showcase many of the top potters of our area – near Mt. Celo Church.
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My Lessons and Applications from
Today’s Readings
(Ellipses are mine and are used for contemplation.)
A Jewish Remnant Saved / Gentile Believers Brought In – Isaiah 65 and 66 – (Facts: What It Says – Summarized) With all the blessings of
Divine intervention and fellowship, the Jewish nation “angers God continually to
His face” with idolatry and rebellion. “I have stretched out My hands all day long
to a rebellious people…when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke; you did
not hear, but did evil before My eyes, and chose that in which I no do
delight. Therefore, thus says the Lord
GOD: ‘You shall leave your name as a curse to My chosen; for the Lord GOD will
slay you, and call His servants by another name…I was sought by those who did
not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me, I said, ‘Here I am,
here I am,’ to a nation that was not called by My name.”’ But on this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit,
and who trembles at My word. For I know
their works and their thoughts. It shall
be that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see My
glory…They shall declare My glory among the Gentiles. Then they shall bring all your brethren for
an offering to the LORD out of all nations…to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says
the LORD.” Principle: The
rebellious, idolatrous Jewish nation, blessed with the oracles of God, will be
punished with only a believing remnant left.
God will then bring believing Gentiles – of all nations – into His
kingdom. This is the prophecy of the mission of the Elect One, the Servant, the
Messiah and the church age.
I Love the Lord – Psalm 116:1-4 (Facts: What
It Says – Summarized) “I love the LORD…because…He has heard My
voice…and my supplications. Because…He
has inclined His ear…to me. Therefore….I
will call upon Him…as long as I live.”
The psalmist then tells of his near scrape with death when He called
upon the name of the LORD: “O LORD, I
implore You, deliver my soul!” Principle: We love God because He first loved us. (1
John 4:19) In His mercy, grace and love He
has called us into eternal fellowship with Him – beginning now in our earthly
pilgrimage – as we come before His throne in prayer and commune with Him in His
Word through the Holy Spirit.
Consolation in Christ – Philippians 2 – (Facts: What It Says – Summarized) The Apostle Paul is
reminding the Church at Philippi of Christ’s consolations: 1) the comfort of love in and of Him and with
other believers, 2) the fellowship of the Spirit corporately in the church and
within individual believers, 3) the affection and mercy of God upon us through
Jesus Christ. The Apostle pleads with
the church – based on these consolations of Christ – "to be like-minded…having
the same love…being of one accord…of one mind." He admonishes: “Let nothing…be done through selfish
ambition…or conceit…BUT…in lowliness of mind…let each esteem others better than
himself…look out for your own interests as well as for the interests of others.” Paul urges the church to have the same mind
that was in Christ Jesus…humbling Himself to accomplish God’s will…taking the
form of a bondservant to God…being obedient to God to the point of death. God’s reward to His Servant: “Therefore
God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every
name, that…at the name of Jesus…every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and
of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and…that every tongue should
confess…that Jesus Christ is Lord…to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, we are to…work out…our own
salvation…with fear and trembling…for…it is God who works in us both to
will…and to do…for His good pleasure.
Do all things…without complaining and disputing…that…you may become
blameless…and harmless…children of God…without fault…in the midst of…a
crooked and perverse generation…among whom…you shine as lights in the world…holding fast…the word of life.” Principle: The Redeemed of the Lord are called to live the life of faith in the midst of, among evil and dissolute people as lights, reflecting God’s
glory – Christ within us – and this is done by holding fast to His Word in
obedience.
My Lessons and Applications: Do I have a
grateful heart, an unquenchable love for the Lord because of what He has done
for me...for who He is...a remembrance of what His Chosen Nation and People did to incur His
wrath – they forsook His Word, His law, did not call on Him, did not obey or
love Him? They turned to the idols of
the world, and He turned to the Gentiles – to all the nations of the world – to
those who would love Him and serve Him in obedience. We have, by His mercy and grace, been grafted
into the believing remnant of whom Isaiah prophesied. Am I shining as a light of truth, integrity,
Biblical morality in the midst of
the corruption and evil that seems to permeate every facet of our
society? Do I know what God’s Word says through the teaching of His Holy Spirit within me – in its entirety – not just what someone has told me it says – so that I can
hold fast to it? Do I continually go to the
throne of God in prayer as an intercessor for others, to get the mind of
Christ in a matter? Then am I willing to leave those sacred times “in the heavenly places” and
come back down into the valley - into the evil, the corruption, the godlessness…among whom…I am to reflect the
glory of Christ within me – to be Christ to the world?
While you
have the light, believe in the light . . . —John 12:36
We have
all experienced times of exaltation on the mountain, when we have seen things
from God’s perspective and have wanted to stay there. But God will never allow
us to stay there. The true test of our spiritual life is in exhibiting the
power to descend from the mountain…It is a wonderful thing to be on the
mountain with God, but a person only gets there so that he may later go down
and lift up the demon-possessed people in the valley (see Mark 9:14-18).
We are not made for the mountains, for sunrises, or for the other beautiful
attractions in life— those are simply intended to be moments of inspiration. We
are made for the valley and the ordinary things of life, and that is where we
have to prove our stamina and strength…The mountaintop is not meant to teach
us anything, it is meant to make us something…We must learn to live in
the ordinary “gray” day according to what we saw on the mountain…The test
of mountain-top experiences, of mysticism, of visions of God and of
solitariness is when you are “in the soup” of actual circumstances. Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest
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