Shall I Fall Down Before a Block of Wood?---Day 268 Through the Bible

                             Wood can be used for heat, to roast meat or bake bread. It then turns into ashes.
                                Isaiah says "a deceived heart" is behind the desire to carve wood into a god.

Do I rejoice in the fact that the God of Jacob, the Holy One of Israel, is MY God?  He is not a block of wood (Isaiah 44:19), or an image I have made for myself, or something I hang in my car or set on the mantel. "Before (Him) there was no God formed, nor shall there be after (Him) . . . besides (Him) there is no savior" (Isaiah 43:10-11).  Isaiah 43 & 44, are filled with truth about the only real God and His relationship with us! He formed us, He redeemed us, He knows our names, and He takes care of us because He is the Lord our God.  We are precious in His sight (v. 4), He loves us and calls us His sons and daughters.  "Everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him" (v.7).

God desires that we understand who He is, what He has done for us, as well as how He loves and cares for us. "I am the Lord your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King" (v.15).  God has formed a people for Himself, a chosen people that shall declare His praise (v.20-21).  However, even with this status God says we have not called upon Him and have become weary of Him. Rather than honoring and worshiping our great God He says we have burdened Him with our sins and wearied Him with our iniquities (v. 22-24).  "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins. Put Me in remembrance" (v. 25-26).  "Return to Me, for I have redeemed you" (Isa. 44:22).

In Galatians, God also reminds us of our status as sons (and daughters), and that God saw fit to "adopt" us and elevate us to the status of sons and heirs of God through Christ (4:5-7).  "And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, 'Abba, Father!" (v.6).  "Abba" is a term depicting the relationship with a warm, loving Daddy, not a stern, distant father figure.  The Galatians were evidently wanting to return to being under the law (v. 21). Paul uses the analogy of Abraham's two wives to explain our freedom in Christ. Hagar's son was born according to the flesh and represents "bondage" to sin. While Sara, a freewoman, gave birth to the son of promise. "For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar--for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children---but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all" (v. 24-26).

Some of the questions I am left with after reading these passages:
Who or what is MY God?  Do I rejoice in the fact that I know the one true God and that He is MY God?
To what extent do I set limits on God?  Am I glorifying God in my body, with my life and my words? Do I recognize what God does for me and do I praise Him for it?

What Kind of Grapes Does God Find in My Vineyard?---Day 249 Through the Bible

                                                 "So He expected it to bring forth good grapes."
Isaiah 5:1-6:13

God likens Israel to a vineyard--"the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel".
"He looked for justice, but behold, oppression; for righteousness, but behold, a cry for help" (v.7).
We manage to live in ways God never intended--ways that limit His blessings on what we do:
"Woe to those who join house to house; they add field to field, till there is no place where they may dwell alone in the midst of the land!"  Verse 9: "Truly many houses shall be desolate, great and beautiful ones, without inhabitant". (Unfortunately, we have recently witnessed this very thing happen in our country as many beautiful homes now stand empty.)  (But what about me?  What does God look for in my life and what does he actually find?  Does He find justice and righteousness?)

God also pronounces, "Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may follow intoxicating drink". They party with music and wine in their celebrations, "But they do not regard the work of the Lord, nor consider the operation of His hands.  Therefore my people have gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge" (v. 11-13).  Verse 18, 20: "Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as with a cart rope (what a visual!); . . .Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness . ..bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!"  Verse 22, "Woe to men mighty at drinking wine, woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink, who justify the wicked for a bribe and take away justice from the righteous man".  Chapter 5 finishes with a description of the army that will carry away Israel "and no one will deliver.  In that day they will roar against them like the roaring of the sea. And if one looks to the land, behold, darkness and sorrow; and the light is darkened by the clouds" (v. 29-30).

In chapter 6, Isaiah "saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple".  His encounter with the Almighty changed Isaiah's life.  "You will never deal effectively with your sin without first realizing who God is.  When you study His Word and begin to grasp His holiness, a deep reverence for Him grows in your heart" (Dr. Stanley).  (Am I growing in reverence for God?)

Psalm 105:23-36
The Psalmist recounts God's hand in the events that Israel experienced in Egypt. (Do I recognize God's hand in my life?)

Proverbs 24:28-29
A warning against "bearing false witness" against your neighbor---using your lips for deception, and seeking to pay back in return. (Do my lips speak deception?  Do I seek revenge?)

I Corinthians 15:29-58
Paul asks if there is no resurrection, then why not "eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!"  He warns them to "Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God.  I speak to your shame".  (Do I prove all things and hold fast that which is good (I Thessalonians 5:21?)

Concerning the resurrection, Paul says that when you sow seed it does not come back up; the seed dies and a new plant is generated. He differentiates the flesh of men, animals, fish, and birds. (According to this passage animals are not "people in fur coats" as some suggest.)  "The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption."  He elaborates: It is sown in dishonor--raised in glory, sown in weakness--raised in power, sown a natural body--raised a spiritual body.  "And as we have borne the image of the man of dust (Adam), we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man (Jesus)".  Because there is a resurrection from the dead Paul says this: "Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ: Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord"!  (What kind of fruit is in my vineyard?)

Seek His Face Evermore--Day 247 Through The Bible

                                         The viewing deck atop Mt. Mitchell reveals a spectacular view.
                                             God's Word also reveals a spectacular view of the future for the Believer!


In reading the daily Scripture passages and commentary by Dr. Stanley, there is often a theme or message that arises. I like it when that happens. I suppose this is possible because there are only so many "common threads" that run through the Bible and these are repeated throughout the Scriptures. I would like to set the theme for today's reading from the commentary on Psalm 105:4, "Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His face evermore!"  We will see where this takes us.

The passage in Isaiah 1:1-2:22, could easily be a description of today's world--"my people do not consider"--"they have forsaken the Lord"--"the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faints. . .there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; they have not been closed or bound up, or soothed with ointment".  The world is not yet even close to a healing process. When spiritual healing comes, it brings other aspects of healing also.

Throughout the Bible, we read that God has always had a "remnant" of people who belong to Him (this would probably make a good Bible study). In verse 9, of Isaiah 1, we read again of a remnant, "Unless the Lord of hosts had left to us a very small remnant, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been made like Gomorrah".  In the following verses God expresses disgust with His people Judah for continuing to appear before Him with their "futile sacrifices" and "trample" His courts! Their incense comes across as "an abomination to Me" (v. 13). God says, "I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting".  He said that "even though you make many prayers, I will not hear".  The reason God won't hear?---"Your hands are full of blood" (v. 15). (In this country, our hands are unfortunately full of the blood of unborn babies--ugly, but reality!) He urges them to make themselves clean, to put away the evil--"Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow" (v. 16-17). These two verses reveal what is important to God. (Note that "doing good" is something that can be learned.) Also, God says to cease, to learn, to rebuke, to defend, to plead--these are all action words! Next, comes the familiar passage, "Come now and let us reason together, says the Lord, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" (v.18). Such Good News for sinners like we!

It is discouraging to dwell on the sins that fill the earth at present and the coming judgment of God. Yet looking beyond this to Christ's return and subsequent rule brings scenes that fill us with hope! Isaiah 2, brings us glimpses of what the world will be like at that time. "The mountain (government) of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains (governments), and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it" (v.2).  "For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem" (v.3).  And, in verse 4, swords and spears will be fashioned into farm implements. "Neither shall they learn war anymore". What a glorious time!

Verse 6, specifically says God has forsaken His people, the house of Jacob, "because they are filled with eastern ways".  How many Eastern religions do people today try to combine with their worship of the one true God??  Isaiah gives this description of the culture that God is addressing here: "And they are pleased with the children of foreigners. Their land is also full of silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures; their land is also full of horses, and there is no end to their chariots. Their land is also full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands" (verses 6-9).  These people can prepare for "the terror of the Lord" (v. 10), because "the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low" (v.17).  Why?  "The Lord alone will be exalted in that day, but the idols He shall utterly abolish" (v. 18). (The phrase "in that day" occurs throughout the Bible and refers to the time surrounding the day of the Lord and would make a great Bible study.) The following verses serve to record what "the day of the Lord" will be like for these idolaters when they go into the caves of the earth to flee from the terror of the Lord.

Proverbs 24:25, "But those who rebuke the wicked will have delight, and a good blessing will come upon them". God does not intend for us to just keep quiet!  Ephesians 4:14, says "That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ"!  If we are established in God's Word, there will be no place in our lives, or need, for "eastern ways". "For God is not the author of confusion but of peace (I Corinthians 14:33). Chaos and confusion are products of godlessness, whether in personal life, church, or society. We have so much to look forward to when Christ returns. We can live in eager expectation of justice and worship of the one true God, and of the putting away of evil, the rebuking of oppressors, and the defense of the helpless. It is definitely time to "set our affections on things above, not on things on the earth" (Colossians 3:2)! That is the message or theme that I discovered in today's study and it does follow the theme set out in Psalm 105:4, "Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His face evermore"!  It will be to our advantage!