Isaiah
{40:12} Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
So amazing! Can any man measure the waters in the hollow of his hand? Can any man mete out heaven with the span of his hand? Can any man understand the dust of the earth in a measure? No way! No man can do any of that. Who can weigh the mountains in scales? No one! Who can weigh the hills in a balance? None.
No man, only God. Only our creator. Only the one who created the waters, the heavens, the dust, the mountains and hills.
{40:13} Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or [being] his counsellor hath taught him?
None.
{40:14} With whom took he counsel, and [who] instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?
None.
{40:15} Behold, the nations [are] as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
A drop of a bucket, small dust- to God, to the One who created all things from great to small, we are a very little thing.
{40:16} And Lebanon [is] not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
No offering is sufficent for the greatness of God, how can it be? How? His greatness is something we can't begin to truly fathom.
{40:17} All nations before him [are] as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
God doesn't seek anything for vanity, man think in terms of vanity, not God.
{40:18} To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
God is truly indescribable.
{40:19} The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.
{40:20} He that [is] so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree [that] will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, [that] shall not be moved.
{40:21} Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? {40:22} [It is] he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof [are] as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in
{40:23} That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.
{40:24} Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
{40:25} To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.
{40:26} Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these [things,] that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the
greatness of his might, for that [he is] strong in power; not one faileth.
{40:27} Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?
{40:28} Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, [that] the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? [there is] no searching of his understanding.
So amazing! The Creator of the ends of the earth, the everlasting God, the Lord! We cannot hope to understand, we just can't. We have to trust and believe in the Lord our Creator.
{40:29} He giveth power to the faint; and to [them that have] no might he increaseth strength.
{40:30} Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall
{40:31} But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew [their] strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; [and] they shall walk, and not faint.
They that wait upon the Lord!
Wait upon the Lord.
We wait upon You oh Lord our God, our Creator! We wait. By Your mercy and grace we wait.
We need to trust wholly in God.
Would you wait for something you had no hope in? No. You'd cease waiting. We can't stop waiting for our God in any sense of the word. God needs to be real in our lives, in our hearts. Here is a small paragraph from a C.S. Lewis book called Mere Christianity that is truly worthy of thinking on as we realize that our God, our Creator, our Savior, our Redeemer would have us wait. The waiting process isn't something that will garner you Salvation. Salvation is through God alone, through the sacrifice and grace of Jesus Christ, God's Only Son. We have to live our lives but not with the hope of our actions giving us Salvation. Our hope is in Christ and as we live we need to remember to wait upon the Lord.
'People often think of Christian morality as a kind of bargain in which God says, "If you keep a lot of rules I'll reward you, and if you don't I'll do the other thing." I do not think that is the best way of looking at it. I would much rather say that every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature: either into a creature that is in harmony with God, and with other creatures, and with itself, or else into one that is in a state of war and hatred with God, and with its fellow-creatures, and with itself. To be the one kind of creature is heaven: that is, it is joy and peace and knowledge and power. To be the other means madness, horror, idiocy, rage, impotence, and eternal loneliness. Each of us at each moment is progressing to the one state or the other.' Mere Christianity C.S. Lewis
By the grace and mercy of God we live and have life everlasting.
Amen.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Surely the people is grass
Isa.
{40:6} The voice said, Cry.
And he said, What shall I cry?
All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field.
{40:7} The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
{40:8} The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
All flesh is grass
All the goodliness...as the flower of the field
The grass withereth
The flower fadeth
Because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it
Surely the people is grass
Grass withereth
Flower fadeth
But the word of our God shall stand for ever
The Word of Our God
John {1:14} And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
The Word of our God shall stand for ever.
We will fade, we will wither and pass away just as grass does. The Lord's spirit will blow upon us and we are no more and yet Jesus is forever and ever.
God's word is forever.
Creator and Creature.
The Creator made His creatures so that His creatures could live forever. The possibility existed within the man He created for life everlasting. Man forfieted this everlasting life when he chose to disobey the Creator and life everlasting was taken away, but the hope of life everlasting remained. The hope for life everlasting is found in Jesus, God's Son, our Creator's Son who sacrificed Himself for us to have this hope.
We have hope in the word of our God now and forever.
May God help us find this hope, seek this hope, claim this hope through the Holy Spirit, by the Grace and Mercy of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior!
Amen.
{40:6} The voice said, Cry.
And he said, What shall I cry?
All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field.
{40:7} The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
{40:8} The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
All flesh is grass
All the goodliness...as the flower of the field
The grass withereth
The flower fadeth
Because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it
Surely the people is grass
Grass withereth
Flower fadeth
But the word of our God shall stand for ever
The Word of Our God
John {1:14} And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
The Word of our God shall stand for ever.
We will fade, we will wither and pass away just as grass does. The Lord's spirit will blow upon us and we are no more and yet Jesus is forever and ever.
God's word is forever.
Creator and Creature.
The Creator made His creatures so that His creatures could live forever. The possibility existed within the man He created for life everlasting. Man forfieted this everlasting life when he chose to disobey the Creator and life everlasting was taken away, but the hope of life everlasting remained. The hope for life everlasting is found in Jesus, God's Son, our Creator's Son who sacrificed Himself for us to have this hope.
We have hope in the word of our God now and forever.
May God help us find this hope, seek this hope, claim this hope through the Holy Spirit, by the Grace and Mercy of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior!
Amen.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Peace and safety; then sudden destruction
More on Peace.
It's a bad person who stirs up discord and strife, isn't it? People that incite to riot, or begin fights and protests are not very popular. Though some may have just causes for which they are standing up and fighting, but if they stood up to riot or fight without any cause other than their own need to cause disturbance, it'd be this sort of person we're all for locking up in prison for a bit, aren't we?
We don't want discord. We don't want people attacking others. We have laws against such people, against such things. We have laws and we have people we've entrusted to keep the peace.
*
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_enforcement_officer
A law enforcement officer (also called peace officer), in North America, is any public-sector person charged with upholding the peace, mainly police officers, customs officers, correctional officers, probation officers, parole officers, auxiliary officers, and sheriffs or marshals and their deputies.
Modern legal codes use the term peace officer (or in some jurisdictions, law enforcement officer) to include every public-sector person vested by the legislating state with law-enforcement authority—traditionally, anyone "sworn, badged, and armable" but, basically, who can arrest, or refer such arrest for a criminal prosecution. Hence, city police officers, county sheriffs' deputies, and state troopers are usually vested with the same authority within a given jurisdiction.
Jurisdictions may restrict the powers granted to those who have "peace-officer status" instead of "police-officer status". For example, in New York, all New York State Court Officers,[1] as well as Court clerks,[2] assigned to the 1st and 2nd Judicial Departments are classified as peace officers who can carry a firearm both on and off duty.
*
Yes, we have people we've entrusted to keep the peace alright and we see them about us on a daily basis- just drive about a city and you'll more than likely see a police car of some sort.
We are very adamant about wanting peace in our lives. We want peace in the stores we go to shop at, the restaurants we go to eat at, the cinemas we watch movies at, the schools we send our children too or those of higher education we might even go to ourselves. We want peace all around us and when someone disturbs that peace they need to be taken to task for it and we have laws to make sure that they can be taken to task.
Privately in our own homes we desire peace don't we? Who actually wants to live in constant turmoil? Maybe there are some who have a warped sense of living who actually feel best when there is some sort of upset going on, but usually they're those who want attention and find bad attention is better than no attention at all.
As a general rule most people would rather get along with those about them than fight with them.
It's no wonder that there is such a huge push for World Peace, for an end to the discords between countries, between tribes, between all. We can't dispute that peace is something people should desire. We claim that God wants peace don't we?
It's true.
Who can imagine a God that wouldn't want peace?
The push for Peace is growing stronger and stronger and will continue to gain momentum and strength so that it will make it next to impossible for people to stand up and shout they don't want peace, it will make them appear to be troublemakers, dissidents, strangely abnormal and completely against the good of all mankind and their own people.
Are these people troublemakers? Are they strange and abnormal? Are they really against the good of mankind wanting fighting and not peace?
*
What does the Bible say about peace? What does Jesus say?
Matthew 10:34
34Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
Isn't that contradictory? Surely Jesus wants peace on earth! This has to be wrong, right? What about this...
Luke 12:51
51Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division.
He's saying no peace but division!? But...but...He is the Prince of Peace!
Isaiah {9:6} For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
See it says so right there. How can Jesus not want peace for the world? It's impossible- or is it?
Luke 19:38
38Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.
Peace where? Heaven.
John 14:27
27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
His peace, Jesus' peace, not the peace that the world can give. Yes, He is the Prince of Peace but it's a Heavenly peace, it's His peace.
John 16:33
33These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
In Jesus we have peace. In the world tribulation. Yes, Jesus promotes peace in HIM, only in Him. That's not to say He wants us to fight and war with each other, but it is to say that He wants peace on His terms. Peace through Him. Not peace at all costs setting aside God's moral law to obtain a peace accord. Never did Jesus want that, never would he approve of peace by capitulation to other gods. No, our God has made it very clear that there will be NO other gods before Him. To create a peace accord with the world by given in to others that worship other gods is very, very wrong. Of course in many of our world governments today they have taken God out of it all and some never put Him in there to begin with so they will have a much easier time of just being able to say yes, to peace. Others will look for common ground and set aside the less common ground focusing on making things work with what they can agree upon.
Even now in the Mideast there is a lot of discord over the Peace they are trying to find. Is it because some refuse peace at all costs? That they stand by principles, by their religoius laws rather than give in? Maybe, maybe not. People are determined that there will be peace in the Middle East, peace in the world and on the surface that seems like a grand thing.
However, there is a danger, subtle and hidden for those who would worship world peace, they are really worshipping the beast but to tell people such a thing is to risk their wrath. Of course God wants us to have peace and love and all that so no one should say otherwise. Well, I'm saying otherwise. When peace is formed at the expense of belief the peace is a false peace. God will not and has not ever accepted other gods before Him. So while you say it's only good and right, it's only love and peace, you have to ask yourself if it's at the expense of compromising God. If we ignore that it is a compromise and shove aside the exacting God of truth we will be held accountable for our actions and all the supposed peace we've garnered in the world will mean nothing.
Romans 5:1
1Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 8:6
6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Spiritually minded...peace.
Romans 10:15
15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
The gospel of peace is salvation through Jesus! Peace in Jesus.
Romans 14:17
17For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Peace...in the Holy Ghost.
Romans 15:13
13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
Joy and peace in believing! Believing in whom? Jesus through the power of the Holy Ghost.
1 Corinthians 14:33
33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
God the author of peace.. God's peace!
2 Corinthians 13:11
11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.
Live in peace. Living in Jesus, the love of Jesus.
Galatians 5:22
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith.
The fruit of the Spirit is... peace. Christ's peace!
Ephesians 1:2
2Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Peace from God!
Philippians 4:7
7And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Peace of God passes all understanding.
Colossians 1:20
20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
Peace through the blood of his cross! Reconciling all things to himself.
Colossians 3:15
15And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
Peace of God.
1 Thessalonians 5:3
3For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
When they shall say peace and safety--- what, then destruction?!
People are saying peace and safety and they're saying it very loudly, and getting louder all the time.
Sudden destruction.
They shall not escape.
But all they were doing was touting peace.
No, they were touting peace and abandoning God in the process while claiming to be following His will.
God cannot be fooled. Man can and will be fooled but God will not be deceived. He knows what is happening, He's watching over it all.
2 Peter 1:2
2Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord
Grace and peace multipled how? Through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
Not grace and peace by making nice with those who do not believe in God or Jesus Christ as their Savior.
As the world watches in wonder and a great peace descends brought about by satan transformed into an angel of light deceiving the whole world only those clinging to the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus will understand the deception.
Keep our eyes and our hearts open Lord please!
By Your Mercy and Grace we cling to You, Jesus!
You, who told us we have seen the Father when we've seen You, we know His ways are Your ways and Your ways His. You who did not come to destroy the commandments but to have them realized in Your perfection, it is You we cling tightly too and plead for forgiveness and ask for grace and mercy. It is Your peace we desire, not the peace that is in the world.
In your Love, in your Name!
Amen.
It's a bad person who stirs up discord and strife, isn't it? People that incite to riot, or begin fights and protests are not very popular. Though some may have just causes for which they are standing up and fighting, but if they stood up to riot or fight without any cause other than their own need to cause disturbance, it'd be this sort of person we're all for locking up in prison for a bit, aren't we?
We don't want discord. We don't want people attacking others. We have laws against such people, against such things. We have laws and we have people we've entrusted to keep the peace.
*
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_enforcement_officer
A law enforcement officer (also called peace officer), in North America, is any public-sector person charged with upholding the peace, mainly police officers, customs officers, correctional officers, probation officers, parole officers, auxiliary officers, and sheriffs or marshals and their deputies.
Modern legal codes use the term peace officer (or in some jurisdictions, law enforcement officer) to include every public-sector person vested by the legislating state with law-enforcement authority—traditionally, anyone "sworn, badged, and armable" but, basically, who can arrest, or refer such arrest for a criminal prosecution. Hence, city police officers, county sheriffs' deputies, and state troopers are usually vested with the same authority within a given jurisdiction.
Jurisdictions may restrict the powers granted to those who have "peace-officer status" instead of "police-officer status". For example, in New York, all New York State Court Officers,[1] as well as Court clerks,[2] assigned to the 1st and 2nd Judicial Departments are classified as peace officers who can carry a firearm both on and off duty.
*
Yes, we have people we've entrusted to keep the peace alright and we see them about us on a daily basis- just drive about a city and you'll more than likely see a police car of some sort.
We are very adamant about wanting peace in our lives. We want peace in the stores we go to shop at, the restaurants we go to eat at, the cinemas we watch movies at, the schools we send our children too or those of higher education we might even go to ourselves. We want peace all around us and when someone disturbs that peace they need to be taken to task for it and we have laws to make sure that they can be taken to task.
Privately in our own homes we desire peace don't we? Who actually wants to live in constant turmoil? Maybe there are some who have a warped sense of living who actually feel best when there is some sort of upset going on, but usually they're those who want attention and find bad attention is better than no attention at all.
As a general rule most people would rather get along with those about them than fight with them.
It's no wonder that there is such a huge push for World Peace, for an end to the discords between countries, between tribes, between all. We can't dispute that peace is something people should desire. We claim that God wants peace don't we?
It's true.
Who can imagine a God that wouldn't want peace?
The push for Peace is growing stronger and stronger and will continue to gain momentum and strength so that it will make it next to impossible for people to stand up and shout they don't want peace, it will make them appear to be troublemakers, dissidents, strangely abnormal and completely against the good of all mankind and their own people.
Are these people troublemakers? Are they strange and abnormal? Are they really against the good of mankind wanting fighting and not peace?
*
What does the Bible say about peace? What does Jesus say?
Matthew 10:34
34Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
Isn't that contradictory? Surely Jesus wants peace on earth! This has to be wrong, right? What about this...
Luke 12:51
51Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division.
He's saying no peace but division!? But...but...He is the Prince of Peace!
Isaiah {9:6} For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
See it says so right there. How can Jesus not want peace for the world? It's impossible- or is it?
Luke 19:38
38Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.
Peace where? Heaven.
John 14:27
27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
His peace, Jesus' peace, not the peace that the world can give. Yes, He is the Prince of Peace but it's a Heavenly peace, it's His peace.
John 16:33
33These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
In Jesus we have peace. In the world tribulation. Yes, Jesus promotes peace in HIM, only in Him. That's not to say He wants us to fight and war with each other, but it is to say that He wants peace on His terms. Peace through Him. Not peace at all costs setting aside God's moral law to obtain a peace accord. Never did Jesus want that, never would he approve of peace by capitulation to other gods. No, our God has made it very clear that there will be NO other gods before Him. To create a peace accord with the world by given in to others that worship other gods is very, very wrong. Of course in many of our world governments today they have taken God out of it all and some never put Him in there to begin with so they will have a much easier time of just being able to say yes, to peace. Others will look for common ground and set aside the less common ground focusing on making things work with what they can agree upon.
Even now in the Mideast there is a lot of discord over the Peace they are trying to find. Is it because some refuse peace at all costs? That they stand by principles, by their religoius laws rather than give in? Maybe, maybe not. People are determined that there will be peace in the Middle East, peace in the world and on the surface that seems like a grand thing.
However, there is a danger, subtle and hidden for those who would worship world peace, they are really worshipping the beast but to tell people such a thing is to risk their wrath. Of course God wants us to have peace and love and all that so no one should say otherwise. Well, I'm saying otherwise. When peace is formed at the expense of belief the peace is a false peace. God will not and has not ever accepted other gods before Him. So while you say it's only good and right, it's only love and peace, you have to ask yourself if it's at the expense of compromising God. If we ignore that it is a compromise and shove aside the exacting God of truth we will be held accountable for our actions and all the supposed peace we've garnered in the world will mean nothing.
Romans 5:1
1Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 8:6
6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Spiritually minded...peace.
Romans 10:15
15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
The gospel of peace is salvation through Jesus! Peace in Jesus.
Romans 14:17
17For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Peace...in the Holy Ghost.
Romans 15:13
13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
Joy and peace in believing! Believing in whom? Jesus through the power of the Holy Ghost.
1 Corinthians 14:33
33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
God the author of peace.. God's peace!
2 Corinthians 13:11
11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.
Live in peace. Living in Jesus, the love of Jesus.
Galatians 5:22
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith.
The fruit of the Spirit is... peace. Christ's peace!
Ephesians 1:2
2Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Peace from God!
Philippians 4:7
7And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Peace of God passes all understanding.
Colossians 1:20
20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
Peace through the blood of his cross! Reconciling all things to himself.
Colossians 3:15
15And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
Peace of God.
1 Thessalonians 5:3
3For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
When they shall say peace and safety--- what, then destruction?!
People are saying peace and safety and they're saying it very loudly, and getting louder all the time.
Sudden destruction.
They shall not escape.
But all they were doing was touting peace.
No, they were touting peace and abandoning God in the process while claiming to be following His will.
God cannot be fooled. Man can and will be fooled but God will not be deceived. He knows what is happening, He's watching over it all.
2 Peter 1:2
2Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord
Grace and peace multipled how? Through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
Not grace and peace by making nice with those who do not believe in God or Jesus Christ as their Savior.
As the world watches in wonder and a great peace descends brought about by satan transformed into an angel of light deceiving the whole world only those clinging to the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus will understand the deception.
Keep our eyes and our hearts open Lord please!
By Your Mercy and Grace we cling to You, Jesus!
You, who told us we have seen the Father when we've seen You, we know His ways are Your ways and Your ways His. You who did not come to destroy the commandments but to have them realized in Your perfection, it is You we cling tightly too and plead for forgiveness and ask for grace and mercy. It is Your peace we desire, not the peace that is in the world.
In your Love, in your Name!
Amen.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Thou hast made heaven and earth
Isa. {37:16} O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest
between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou
alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made
heaven and earth. {37:17} Incline thine ear, O LORD, and
hear; open thine eyes, O LORD, and see: and hear all the
words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the
living God. {37:18} Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria
have laid waste all the nations, and their countries, {37:19}
And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no
gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone:
therefore they have destroyed them. {37:20} Now therefore,
O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the
kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD,
even thou only
Long ago as wars took place, kings going from place to place to conquer lands they could claim as theirs, the men of God prayed to Him knowing He alone could hear and help. God alone reigned.
Today for the most part in our so called civilized and modern world we don't have people warring to gain kingdoms. It's almost unthinkable to imagine France warring with England trying to gain control of England to make it part of France's kingdom (country). I can't imagine it anyway. France is France and will always be France, England is England and will always be England. Today the focus is more on World Peace- while retaining individuality in established countries. Biblically the *ten toes* are the last kingdoms before Christ's kingdom. Dan. 2 - the stone that was cut without hands destroyed the prophectic statue that depicted the reigning rulership though time. From Babylon right on down to a time when the kingdoms were divided- never to be reunited under one kingdom.
Back in the days when King Hezekiah was being threatened destruction by the Assyrians he prayed-
O Lord of hosts
God of Israel
that dwellest between the cherubims
thou art the God
even thou alone
of all the kingdoms of earth
thou hast made heaven and earth
Incline thine ear, O Lord
and hear
Open thine eyes, O Lord
and see
and hear all the words of Sennacherib
which reproach the living God
Of a truth
Lord
the kings of Assyira
have laid waste all the nations and their countries
And have cast their gods into the fire
for they were no gods
but the work of men's hands
wood and stone
therefore they have destroyed them.
Now therefore,
O LORD
our God
save us from his hand
that all the kingdoms of the earth may know
that thou art the LORD,
even thou only.
There is no man trying to overthrow my country, my state, my county, my neighborhood, none. I don't live in fear of being taken captive, I don't live in fear of the enemy and his army heading my way threatening to destroy my land, my family, my friends. Maybe our government has that fear and because of that fear they have to keep up a great military presence so that the enemies of our country are kept at bay. We live in a world where we have enemies but because of all sides having the potential to destroy everything there can be no out and out war without the realization the world itself will be destroyed. Before we let another country take us captive we would do our best to destroy them first. They call it the former cold war- a war not truly being fought outside of the build up of arms in space and elsewhere to declare destruction on whomever might decide t fight. We still have that war going on even if people have outwardly called a truce and are trying to be friendly with one another.
Bottom line, I don't truly live in fear of being taken captive of war taking place and my country and its people taken over by another.
Yet, with that fear mostly gone and as long as the weaponery of the various countries remain somewhat equal in destructive possibilities, we still have a battle to fight, one that isn't visible.
Maybe we can take comfort in the fact we don't live in the days where we need a king to pray to God to destroy an enemy coming to kill us, but the invisible enemy is alive and well and he's destroying many and he doesn't sleep, he doesn't rest, he works relentlessly. You can scoff if you want, you can ignore him entirely, you can even claim he's not real and doesn't exist, but he doesn't care- you don't have to believe in him, he believes in you.
We've so many fictional tales out there- movies, shows, books, making him seem harmless- keeping him on a fictional level- and it fits in great with his warfare.
Very few are crying out to God to save them from this very real threat.
We need to cry out to God.
O Lord of hosts God of Israel that dwellest between the cherubims thou art the God even thou alone of all the kingdoms of earth thou hast made heaven and earth Incline thine ear, O Lord and hear Open thine eyes, O Lord and see
Lord!
Maker of heaven and earth!
See, hear!
We need You Lord! We need you!
See the corruption, hear the horrific words against You!
The earth groans with the overwhelming denial of You.
The entire earth reeks of corruption.
The cry of the few is loud and pleads for You to hear among the screaming and shouting of the evildoers that would drown out any word to You that might arise.
Lord! Please! Please! Our anguish is nothing compared to Your heartache over the betrayal of Your people. You've done all You could do to save us, and so many don't want to be saved. You would draw us to you and yet they run away fast as they can to look after their own lives, thinking that of themselves they can exist, thinking of themselves they can excel, thinking they can save themselves and have no need at all of being saved.
Lord! Hear us Lord! We would run to You! We know that You and You alone, the Maker of Heaven and Earth! You Lord can save us, You alone keep us alive! Only in You are we anything at all, only in You!
Please Lord! Save us! We would be Yours, totally Yours!
By Your will and Grace, by Your Mercy, by Your Love.
Amen.
“And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”- 2 Peter 1:5-8
between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou
alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made
heaven and earth. {37:17} Incline thine ear, O LORD, and
hear; open thine eyes, O LORD, and see: and hear all the
words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the
living God. {37:18} Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria
have laid waste all the nations, and their countries, {37:19}
And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no
gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone:
therefore they have destroyed them. {37:20} Now therefore,
O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the
kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD,
even thou only
Long ago as wars took place, kings going from place to place to conquer lands they could claim as theirs, the men of God prayed to Him knowing He alone could hear and help. God alone reigned.
Today for the most part in our so called civilized and modern world we don't have people warring to gain kingdoms. It's almost unthinkable to imagine France warring with England trying to gain control of England to make it part of France's kingdom (country). I can't imagine it anyway. France is France and will always be France, England is England and will always be England. Today the focus is more on World Peace- while retaining individuality in established countries. Biblically the *ten toes* are the last kingdoms before Christ's kingdom. Dan. 2 - the stone that was cut without hands destroyed the prophectic statue that depicted the reigning rulership though time. From Babylon right on down to a time when the kingdoms were divided- never to be reunited under one kingdom.
Back in the days when King Hezekiah was being threatened destruction by the Assyrians he prayed-
O Lord of hosts
God of Israel
that dwellest between the cherubims
thou art the God
even thou alone
of all the kingdoms of earth
thou hast made heaven and earth
Incline thine ear, O Lord
and hear
Open thine eyes, O Lord
and see
and hear all the words of Sennacherib
which reproach the living God
Of a truth
Lord
the kings of Assyira
have laid waste all the nations and their countries
And have cast their gods into the fire
for they were no gods
but the work of men's hands
wood and stone
therefore they have destroyed them.
Now therefore,
O LORD
our God
save us from his hand
that all the kingdoms of the earth may know
that thou art the LORD,
even thou only.
There is no man trying to overthrow my country, my state, my county, my neighborhood, none. I don't live in fear of being taken captive, I don't live in fear of the enemy and his army heading my way threatening to destroy my land, my family, my friends. Maybe our government has that fear and because of that fear they have to keep up a great military presence so that the enemies of our country are kept at bay. We live in a world where we have enemies but because of all sides having the potential to destroy everything there can be no out and out war without the realization the world itself will be destroyed. Before we let another country take us captive we would do our best to destroy them first. They call it the former cold war- a war not truly being fought outside of the build up of arms in space and elsewhere to declare destruction on whomever might decide t fight. We still have that war going on even if people have outwardly called a truce and are trying to be friendly with one another.
Bottom line, I don't truly live in fear of being taken captive of war taking place and my country and its people taken over by another.
Yet, with that fear mostly gone and as long as the weaponery of the various countries remain somewhat equal in destructive possibilities, we still have a battle to fight, one that isn't visible.
Maybe we can take comfort in the fact we don't live in the days where we need a king to pray to God to destroy an enemy coming to kill us, but the invisible enemy is alive and well and he's destroying many and he doesn't sleep, he doesn't rest, he works relentlessly. You can scoff if you want, you can ignore him entirely, you can even claim he's not real and doesn't exist, but he doesn't care- you don't have to believe in him, he believes in you.
We've so many fictional tales out there- movies, shows, books, making him seem harmless- keeping him on a fictional level- and it fits in great with his warfare.
Very few are crying out to God to save them from this very real threat.
We need to cry out to God.
O Lord of hosts God of Israel that dwellest between the cherubims thou art the God even thou alone of all the kingdoms of earth thou hast made heaven and earth Incline thine ear, O Lord and hear Open thine eyes, O Lord and see
Lord!
Maker of heaven and earth!
See, hear!
We need You Lord! We need you!
See the corruption, hear the horrific words against You!
The earth groans with the overwhelming denial of You.
The entire earth reeks of corruption.
The cry of the few is loud and pleads for You to hear among the screaming and shouting of the evildoers that would drown out any word to You that might arise.
Lord! Please! Please! Our anguish is nothing compared to Your heartache over the betrayal of Your people. You've done all You could do to save us, and so many don't want to be saved. You would draw us to you and yet they run away fast as they can to look after their own lives, thinking that of themselves they can exist, thinking of themselves they can excel, thinking they can save themselves and have no need at all of being saved.
Lord! Hear us Lord! We would run to You! We know that You and You alone, the Maker of Heaven and Earth! You Lord can save us, You alone keep us alive! Only in You are we anything at all, only in You!
Please Lord! Save us! We would be Yours, totally Yours!
By Your will and Grace, by Your Mercy, by Your Love.
Amen.
“And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”- 2 Peter 1:5-8
Friday, March 13, 2009
Blessed are we if we wait for Him.
Isaiah {30:1} Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin.
Isaiah {30:18} And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD [is] a God of judgment: blessed [are] all they that wait for him.
*
Take counsel. What good are those words if the source of your counsel is corrupt? Seriously. We tell people to get counseling all the time, that it helps and it can help. But what if we tell someone to get counseling and they choose a counselor that is abusive and only hurts them? Would they have a good experience with the counseling? No. The counseling could actually hurt them more than help. When counseling is taken it's recommended that a person know the reputation of the one they are going to get counseling from.
Isaiah {9:6} For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. {9:7} Of the increase of [his] government and peace [there shall be] no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
Jesus- Counsellor!
When we take counsel from any other than God in things pertaining to life everlasting that counsel labels us as rebellious. When we desire to be covered with anything but the Spirit of God we are only adding sin to sin. We need the Spirit of God and when we have the Spirit of God, when we are covered by the Holy Spirit we are protected by God. When we take counsel of God we are protected by God.
We are to see God in all ways.
We aren't to seek others, we aren't to get help from others, and no, I'm not saying we can't go to others with our problems or such but they should be secondary, not primary. God's counsel should be first. If was seek God first we have the protection that we need when we go to others seeking their help. God should always be first, always. The Holy Spirit should be totally covering us, totally surrounding us. When we allow other things, other people to control our lives then we take control from God where it belongs. Only God has our total well being in mind, even when we are chastened by Him.
*
The Lord waits- why? To be gracious. To have mercy upon us. Blessed are we if we wait for Him.
Think about it...
We want to yell and scream at God for taking too long as people suffer and yet it is pure graciousness, pure mercy on His part that He waits and blessed are we that wait for him. We have to wait on Him knowing that to do so will bless us beyond our imaginations.
May the Lord bless and keep us waiting for Him, keep us covered by His Holy Spirit, and may we seek counsel from the Lord first and foremost, by His will and by the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior, Amen.
Isaiah {30:18} And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD [is] a God of judgment: blessed [are] all they that wait for him.
*
Take counsel. What good are those words if the source of your counsel is corrupt? Seriously. We tell people to get counseling all the time, that it helps and it can help. But what if we tell someone to get counseling and they choose a counselor that is abusive and only hurts them? Would they have a good experience with the counseling? No. The counseling could actually hurt them more than help. When counseling is taken it's recommended that a person know the reputation of the one they are going to get counseling from.
Isaiah {9:6} For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. {9:7} Of the increase of [his] government and peace [there shall be] no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
Jesus- Counsellor!
When we take counsel from any other than God in things pertaining to life everlasting that counsel labels us as rebellious. When we desire to be covered with anything but the Spirit of God we are only adding sin to sin. We need the Spirit of God and when we have the Spirit of God, when we are covered by the Holy Spirit we are protected by God. When we take counsel of God we are protected by God.
We are to see God in all ways.
We aren't to seek others, we aren't to get help from others, and no, I'm not saying we can't go to others with our problems or such but they should be secondary, not primary. God's counsel should be first. If was seek God first we have the protection that we need when we go to others seeking their help. God should always be first, always. The Holy Spirit should be totally covering us, totally surrounding us. When we allow other things, other people to control our lives then we take control from God where it belongs. Only God has our total well being in mind, even when we are chastened by Him.
*
The Lord waits- why? To be gracious. To have mercy upon us. Blessed are we if we wait for Him.
Think about it...
We want to yell and scream at God for taking too long as people suffer and yet it is pure graciousness, pure mercy on His part that He waits and blessed are we that wait for him. We have to wait on Him knowing that to do so will bless us beyond our imaginations.
May the Lord bless and keep us waiting for Him, keep us covered by His Holy Spirit, and may we seek counsel from the Lord first and foremost, by His will and by the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior, Amen.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
He made me not?
Isaiah {29:14} Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, [even] a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise [men] shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent [men] shall be hid. {29:15} Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us? {29:16} Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?
The wisdom of their wise men shall perish.
The understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.
Woe to them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord.
Their works are in the dark.
They say--
Who sees us? Who knows us?
Turning things upside down -
As potter's clay.
Shall the work say of him that made it- he made me not?
Or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it- he had no understanding?
Today people do this all that time. They cry out we don't need God, we don't need an overbearing fictional figure to dictate to us. They say everyone has their own image of what God is like and one church has one God another another God and no one can agree on a single God. Some have a God that is kind and benevolent, others have an overbearing angry God.
The audacity of man at all to presume to think they have to define God in relation to themselves is amazing. God is the great I AM. God is the creator of all! God has made it very clear through the Bible who He is and we've been told we can't take away anything from that word.
Jesus even remarked--Matthew {5:17} Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. {5:18} For
verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Nothing is to be taken away from all that God has revealed of Himself. We aren't to pick and choose the bits and pieces we want and disregard the rest.
Isaiah-
Shall the work say of him that made it- he made me not?
The work says it ALL the time! The work is going to great lengths to try and prove that it wasn't made by any superior being at all. Happenstance created man and nothing more. The work is refusing to believe it was made. The work doesn't want to admit that it was made because then it has to admit there is a maker. If there is a maker then there is a being that is infinitely superior to what He's made. The maker might have designs upon that which He's made. The maker might have designed the made a certain way expecting certain things from the thing made. If there is a maker then the made is not the maker at all and owes its life to another.
The work does say to him that made it- Man says to God- he made me not.
The framed says of him that framed it- he had no understanding.
So stipulating that man was framed (was made), man dares to say that the One who framed him that he did so and now can not understand us.
Who better to understand than the maker? Who better to understand than the one who framed you? Who better to know man kind inside and out than the Creator? And yet so many would rather they didn't have to admit to a Maker at all. They don't want to be beholden in any way to a Creator. They'd rather be as a child birthed and left to raise itself not realizing that to truly desire such a thing they'd be dead quickly. Our Creator didn't make us and discard us, leaving us to fend for ourselves without any guidelines, without any hope, without anything at all. Our Creator loves us and yet because we believe that on our own we are the best- that we know what is right and good for us, because of this we push the Creator away and deceive ourselves and no wonder so many will perish in the coming day of the Lord.
They will have no grasp of being the thing made, the thing framed, rather they will rely on themselves for all things, believing they need nothing else.
Rev. {3:17} Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: {3:18} I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and [that] the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
We have need to be given gold, to be given white raiment, to have our eyes anointed.
Yes, so many think of themselves they'll be rich, clothed, and have the understanding they need all on their own. They don't understand it needs to be given them, that they need to buy it from someone, their Creator, their Redeemer. They'll keep on claiming they have no maker, no one made them, no one framed them, no one need bother about them because they're taking care of things by themselves, thank you very much.
God is God.
God is the great I AM.
God is the God of the Old and New Testament.
God is our Creator and our Redeemer.
We can't forget this, we can't lose sight of these things, we can't! If we lose sight of it all then we are condemning ourselves. We need to wake up, to take off our blinders, we need realize our condition before it's too late!
Don't let anyone fool you into believe you have no need of God, that there is no God, don't...don't do that. You are a creature created and to forget that means forgetting the Creator and when the Creator is forgotten He will not force His creatures to lay claim to Him. He will allow the creatures to wander away as they will and in the end he will be a creature lost.
May God be ever before us! May we kneel down before our Creator, our Redeemer and never deny our Maker!
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior may we be found rich, clothed, and filled with sight all given from our Maker, our Redeemer.
In His name
Amen.
The wisdom of their wise men shall perish.
The understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.
Woe to them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord.
Their works are in the dark.
They say--
Who sees us? Who knows us?
Turning things upside down -
As potter's clay.
Shall the work say of him that made it- he made me not?
Or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it- he had no understanding?
Today people do this all that time. They cry out we don't need God, we don't need an overbearing fictional figure to dictate to us. They say everyone has their own image of what God is like and one church has one God another another God and no one can agree on a single God. Some have a God that is kind and benevolent, others have an overbearing angry God.
The audacity of man at all to presume to think they have to define God in relation to themselves is amazing. God is the great I AM. God is the creator of all! God has made it very clear through the Bible who He is and we've been told we can't take away anything from that word.
Jesus even remarked--Matthew {5:17} Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. {5:18} For
verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Nothing is to be taken away from all that God has revealed of Himself. We aren't to pick and choose the bits and pieces we want and disregard the rest.
Isaiah-
Shall the work say of him that made it- he made me not?
The work says it ALL the time! The work is going to great lengths to try and prove that it wasn't made by any superior being at all. Happenstance created man and nothing more. The work is refusing to believe it was made. The work doesn't want to admit that it was made because then it has to admit there is a maker. If there is a maker then there is a being that is infinitely superior to what He's made. The maker might have designs upon that which He's made. The maker might have designed the made a certain way expecting certain things from the thing made. If there is a maker then the made is not the maker at all and owes its life to another.
The work does say to him that made it- Man says to God- he made me not.
The framed says of him that framed it- he had no understanding.
So stipulating that man was framed (was made), man dares to say that the One who framed him that he did so and now can not understand us.
Who better to understand than the maker? Who better to understand than the one who framed you? Who better to know man kind inside and out than the Creator? And yet so many would rather they didn't have to admit to a Maker at all. They don't want to be beholden in any way to a Creator. They'd rather be as a child birthed and left to raise itself not realizing that to truly desire such a thing they'd be dead quickly. Our Creator didn't make us and discard us, leaving us to fend for ourselves without any guidelines, without any hope, without anything at all. Our Creator loves us and yet because we believe that on our own we are the best- that we know what is right and good for us, because of this we push the Creator away and deceive ourselves and no wonder so many will perish in the coming day of the Lord.
They will have no grasp of being the thing made, the thing framed, rather they will rely on themselves for all things, believing they need nothing else.
Rev. {3:17} Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: {3:18} I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and [that] the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
We have need to be given gold, to be given white raiment, to have our eyes anointed.
Yes, so many think of themselves they'll be rich, clothed, and have the understanding they need all on their own. They don't understand it needs to be given them, that they need to buy it from someone, their Creator, their Redeemer. They'll keep on claiming they have no maker, no one made them, no one framed them, no one need bother about them because they're taking care of things by themselves, thank you very much.
God is God.
God is the great I AM.
God is the God of the Old and New Testament.
God is our Creator and our Redeemer.
We can't forget this, we can't lose sight of these things, we can't! If we lose sight of it all then we are condemning ourselves. We need to wake up, to take off our blinders, we need realize our condition before it's too late!
Don't let anyone fool you into believe you have no need of God, that there is no God, don't...don't do that. You are a creature created and to forget that means forgetting the Creator and when the Creator is forgotten He will not force His creatures to lay claim to Him. He will allow the creatures to wander away as they will and in the end he will be a creature lost.
May God be ever before us! May we kneel down before our Creator, our Redeemer and never deny our Maker!
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior may we be found rich, clothed, and filled with sight all given from our Maker, our Redeemer.
In His name
Amen.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Ordain Peace for Us
Isaiah
{26:12} LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us.
{26:13} O LORD our God, [other] lords besides thee have had dominion over us: [but] by thee only will we make mention of thy name.
{26:14} [They are] dead, they shall not live; [they are] deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.
{26:15} Thou hast increased the nation, O LORD, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed [it] far [unto] all the ends of the earth.
{26:16} LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer [when] thy chastening [was] upon them.
{26:17} Like as a woman with child, [that] draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, [and] crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD.
{26:18} We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.
Ordain peace for us.
There's something special there isn't there. Ordain peace.
We are meant to have peace ultimately, peace is ordained for us. Could there be a better future? Peace. How many people have very little peace in their lives. Maybe not everyone has a life of turmoil but we sort of expect various things to go wrong to interfer with the peace we really want. A good day is a day that goes by without any upsets, right?
Peace. We try to take vacations from our everyday life seeking some peace. Ultimately we will have peace because it has been ordained for us. We won't have it here and now...
John
{14:27} Peace I leave with
you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give
I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be
afraid.
{16:33} These
things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have
peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good
cheer; I have overcome the world.
In the world we will have tribulation.
Through Jesus we will have peace...it's ordained.
People throughout time have had those they called lord- rulers, masters, leaders they've put in place of God and yet they all die they are human and death takes them. 'They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.'
There is no lord but God, our Lord and Savior!
{26:17} Like as a woman with child, [that] draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, [and] crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD.
{26:18} We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.
A woman in labor. Pain, crying, travailing...we cry out and for all our crying out we have nothing to show for it. All our crying, screaming, and flailing about and in the end it'll be for nothing. We can't bring about salvation from our own efforts. No matter how painful our efforts are, no matter how hard we try to bring about our salvation all our hard work, all our pain to obtain it will be for nothing if we count on ourselves for deliverance. Only Christ can save us. We can't save ourselves. We can't bring about the end of days. We can't bring an end to this world or the evil that dwells within it. We can't bring low any man, not really, not as God can. God will prevail and it is through God we have salvation and only through God. Of our ownselves we are nothing and when we fuss and bother about our own good works, about our own trials and tribulations, hardships we've endured we are fussing for no reason. All our lives mean little, all that we go through is nothing compared to what Christ endured. We like to imagine that what we suffer is enough to make us deserve salvation, and yet nothing we do, nothing we suffer will ever have us deserving of anything but death for our sins. Yes, we go through horrible hardships, we go through horrors we can't imagine we can survive, we go through day to day life struggling to survive and yet it is only grasping hold of Christ that will mean a thing. Fairness has nothing to do with any of it, it is hope and trust, faith, belief in Christ and salvation through Him and Him only.
May the Lord help us to understand that we need Christ and Christ only in our lives. Our hope in Christ has to be foremost beyond anything else. We need to cry out.. Lord I believe! Help my unbelief! We believe in Him and Salvation through Him and no other. By grace are we saved.
Please Lord Your will be done in our lives now and forever! By Your mercy and grace!
Amen.
{26:12} LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us.
{26:13} O LORD our God, [other] lords besides thee have had dominion over us: [but] by thee only will we make mention of thy name.
{26:14} [They are] dead, they shall not live; [they are] deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.
{26:15} Thou hast increased the nation, O LORD, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed [it] far [unto] all the ends of the earth.
{26:16} LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer [when] thy chastening [was] upon them.
{26:17} Like as a woman with child, [that] draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, [and] crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD.
{26:18} We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.
Ordain peace for us.
There's something special there isn't there. Ordain peace.
We are meant to have peace ultimately, peace is ordained for us. Could there be a better future? Peace. How many people have very little peace in their lives. Maybe not everyone has a life of turmoil but we sort of expect various things to go wrong to interfer with the peace we really want. A good day is a day that goes by without any upsets, right?
Peace. We try to take vacations from our everyday life seeking some peace. Ultimately we will have peace because it has been ordained for us. We won't have it here and now...
John
{14:27} Peace I leave with
you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give
I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be
afraid.
{16:33} These
things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have
peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good
cheer; I have overcome the world.
In the world we will have tribulation.
Through Jesus we will have peace...it's ordained.
People throughout time have had those they called lord- rulers, masters, leaders they've put in place of God and yet they all die they are human and death takes them. 'They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.'
There is no lord but God, our Lord and Savior!
{26:17} Like as a woman with child, [that] draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, [and] crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD.
{26:18} We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.
A woman in labor. Pain, crying, travailing...we cry out and for all our crying out we have nothing to show for it. All our crying, screaming, and flailing about and in the end it'll be for nothing. We can't bring about salvation from our own efforts. No matter how painful our efforts are, no matter how hard we try to bring about our salvation all our hard work, all our pain to obtain it will be for nothing if we count on ourselves for deliverance. Only Christ can save us. We can't save ourselves. We can't bring about the end of days. We can't bring an end to this world or the evil that dwells within it. We can't bring low any man, not really, not as God can. God will prevail and it is through God we have salvation and only through God. Of our ownselves we are nothing and when we fuss and bother about our own good works, about our own trials and tribulations, hardships we've endured we are fussing for no reason. All our lives mean little, all that we go through is nothing compared to what Christ endured. We like to imagine that what we suffer is enough to make us deserve salvation, and yet nothing we do, nothing we suffer will ever have us deserving of anything but death for our sins. Yes, we go through horrible hardships, we go through horrors we can't imagine we can survive, we go through day to day life struggling to survive and yet it is only grasping hold of Christ that will mean a thing. Fairness has nothing to do with any of it, it is hope and trust, faith, belief in Christ and salvation through Him and Him only.
May the Lord help us to understand that we need Christ and Christ only in our lives. Our hope in Christ has to be foremost beyond anything else. We need to cry out.. Lord I believe! Help my unbelief! We believe in Him and Salvation through Him and no other. By grace are we saved.
Please Lord Your will be done in our lives now and forever! By Your mercy and grace!
Amen.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Our Hope
Isaiah
{26:4} Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength
{26:5} For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low; he layeth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust.
{26:6} The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy.
{26:7} The way of the just is uprightness: thou, most upright, dost weigh the path of the just.
{26:8} Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
{26:9} With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
{26:10} Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.
{26:11} LORD, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people; yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them.
Everlasting strength.
The Lord brings down them that dwell on high.
The lofty city he lays low to the ground, to dust.
The poor, the needy will walk on the city tread to the ground.
The way of the just is upright.
The most upright weighs the path of the just.
In the Lord's judgement we wait for Him.
Our desire is for the Lord, to remember Him.
With our souls we desire the Lord in the night.
Early our spirits shall seek the Lord.
When the Lord's judgments are here upon the earth all in the earth will learn righteousness.
Even when favor is showed to the wicked he will not learn righteousness. With uprightness all around him he will deal unjustly, he will not behold the majesty of the Lord.
When the Lord's hand is lifted up- they will not see, but they shall see- they'll be ashamed for their envy towards God's people. They will be destroyed.
*
Early we need to seek the Lord.
In the night we need to desire the Lord.
All those who look to themselves, all those who turn from God will be brought low, they have no choice.
God is God over all.
People fool themselves if they some how imagine being above or beyond God's judgement. The just and the unjust. There will be no inbetween the two. No one will be claimed to be a little unjust, or mostly just. Just and unjust.
May God bless us and keep us. We need to seek Him morning and night. We can't neglect to seek the Lord, our Savior. We can't neglect to seek Him always.
We can't allow ourselves to believe that we won't be accountable for our lives, our actions.
Yes, we are saved by grace through our Lord and Savior, He alone won salvation for us and is our HOPE. Having Hope we need to look to that Hope always. We can't lose sight of that Hope ever. When we lose sight of our Hope there is nothing left-- nothing.
We need to seek the Lord our Hope early. We need to desire the Lord our Hope in the night. Our Hope needs to remain before us now and forever.
Please Lord, help our weakness that would have us take our eyes of our only Hope, You. Forgive us our sins that would keep us from You.
Lord, by Your grace and mercy now and forever.
Amen.
{26:4} Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength
{26:5} For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low; he layeth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust.
{26:6} The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy.
{26:7} The way of the just is uprightness: thou, most upright, dost weigh the path of the just.
{26:8} Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
{26:9} With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
{26:10} Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.
{26:11} LORD, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people; yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them.
Everlasting strength.
The Lord brings down them that dwell on high.
The lofty city he lays low to the ground, to dust.
The poor, the needy will walk on the city tread to the ground.
The way of the just is upright.
The most upright weighs the path of the just.
In the Lord's judgement we wait for Him.
Our desire is for the Lord, to remember Him.
With our souls we desire the Lord in the night.
Early our spirits shall seek the Lord.
When the Lord's judgments are here upon the earth all in the earth will learn righteousness.
Even when favor is showed to the wicked he will not learn righteousness. With uprightness all around him he will deal unjustly, he will not behold the majesty of the Lord.
When the Lord's hand is lifted up- they will not see, but they shall see- they'll be ashamed for their envy towards God's people. They will be destroyed.
*
Early we need to seek the Lord.
In the night we need to desire the Lord.
All those who look to themselves, all those who turn from God will be brought low, they have no choice.
God is God over all.
People fool themselves if they some how imagine being above or beyond God's judgement. The just and the unjust. There will be no inbetween the two. No one will be claimed to be a little unjust, or mostly just. Just and unjust.
May God bless us and keep us. We need to seek Him morning and night. We can't neglect to seek the Lord, our Savior. We can't neglect to seek Him always.
We can't allow ourselves to believe that we won't be accountable for our lives, our actions.
Yes, we are saved by grace through our Lord and Savior, He alone won salvation for us and is our HOPE. Having Hope we need to look to that Hope always. We can't lose sight of that Hope ever. When we lose sight of our Hope there is nothing left-- nothing.
We need to seek the Lord our Hope early. We need to desire the Lord our Hope in the night. Our Hope needs to remain before us now and forever.
Please Lord, help our weakness that would have us take our eyes of our only Hope, You. Forgive us our sins that would keep us from You.
Lord, by Your grace and mercy now and forever.
Amen.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Trust ye in the LORD for ever
Isaiah {26:2} Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. {26:3} Thou wilt keep [him] in perfect peace, [whose] mind[is] stayed [on thee:] because he trusteth in thee. {26:4} Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH [is] everlasting strength
Which keeps the truth.
The truth.
There are fundamental aspects to the Bible we keep coming back to. There are certain aspects in the Word of God that are prominent and shout for attention.
The truth shouts loudly and demands to be heard.
Only a righteous nation will keep the truth. Only righteous people will keep the truth.
Jesus is the truth.
All other rigteousness is deception.
When we hear people loudly proclaim that we are being too limiting in our demand that Jesus is the Truth, we know they are being led by Satan. Maybe not completely trapped by Him but led by Him. I'll readily agree that I let myself be led by Satan for a long time. That I was one of those who readily accepted the belief that God would save good people no matter what. That God to be a loving God would have to save all those who had good intentions in their hearts because He knows the heart. I believed it didn't matter what you believed, even if you practiced devil worship and hurt no one doing it as long as you did it with a good heart God would understand. It sounds so idyllic. Believe what you want and as long as you're a nice person you're saved. Where is that in the Bible? Oh, that's right, who needs the Bible, all you have to do is be nice, have a good, kind heart and that's that.
We can't seem to acquaint niceness with evil. The two are at odds, opposites like black and white. We see a nice person and we think good. We see a bad person and we think evil. If niceness is good, then the murderer with his nice smile helping an old lady with her groceries every week, checking on her every afternoon to make sure she's okay and needs nothing, then is he good or bad? His niceness is surely good, but his evil isn't. When he strangles that young woman every month or so it's pure evil, right? And yet he has on the guise of goodness.
Not all goodness, not all those who are super nice people we would never dream of being bad, not all those who live in harmony with the world and people around them- not even the people who are truly good and are murderers in disguise, will be God's.
We can't equate niceness with salvation.
We can't point a finger and say, my friend so and so is sooooo sweet, they're definitely saved. We can't say that of anyone, we don't know the hearts, we don't know the walk they have with Christ.
We sometimes can know that they don't believe in salvation by grace through Jesus Christ our Lord, they'll tell us they don't believe in the God stuff. But even then we cannot judge their eternal life as if we know for certain they'll never accept Jesus as their Savior.
We see through a glass darkly--
1 Cor. {13:12} For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
We don't see the eternal, we only see bits and pieces of lives people choose to let us see and no more.
There are truths, basic truths and the Bible is very big on the truth because it is the truth in Jesus that saves us. It is the truth that sets us free.
Christ is our righteousness and this is the Truth. Truth is our righteousness. Keeping the truth in Jesus Christ, keeping that and holding it dear to us, keeping it as we breath in air, such as sustains our lives, this is what will give us eternal life.
Isaiah {26:3} Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Like the air we breath, we live by the grace and mercy of Jesus, trusting in Him now and forever through all.
Perfect peace in a world full of turmoil seems all but impossible. Perfect peace when the world comes crashing down around you and threatens your very ability to sustain your life, impossible? When all hope seems gone, hope is all we have to cling to. Our hope in Jesus. Our trust in Jesus. Our faith in Jesus.
Why is it call perfect peace? Because any other peace is imperfect. All the peace the world offers to us is imperfect and can be taken from us in the blink of an eye. Peace that is dependent upon Jesus and Jesus alone is perfect peace.
When our minds are stayed upon someone we can't stop thinking about them. We think about them during all we do.
Remember being newly in love? Remember that feeling of having thoughts of another bring a smile to your lips? Remember being caught day dreaming away? Remember waking up and thinking of someone? Remember having the hope in you of seeing that person, hearing from them, of constantly living in the hope of being with that person? We place our hopes on them and then when things interfere we get upset because we aren't able to be with them, to hear from them, and it just brings a weight down on us until we can once again renew the hope of a future meeting, until we can grasp hold of the anticipation once more and place our hope in that future.
We understand this on a human to human level and we need to understand it on a human to human/God level. We need to have our minds stayed upon Jesus.
Stayed upon meaning we can't take our minds off Jesus, they need to be stayed upon the Hope, the Way, the Truth, the Life, Jesus Christ our Savior!
{26:4} Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH [is] everlasting strength
By the grace and mercy of Jesus, may our trust in the Lord be forever, may our minds be stayed upon Jesus, and may we find peace in Jesus.
Amen.
Which keeps the truth.
The truth.
There are fundamental aspects to the Bible we keep coming back to. There are certain aspects in the Word of God that are prominent and shout for attention.
The truth shouts loudly and demands to be heard.
Only a righteous nation will keep the truth. Only righteous people will keep the truth.
Jesus is the truth.
All other rigteousness is deception.
When we hear people loudly proclaim that we are being too limiting in our demand that Jesus is the Truth, we know they are being led by Satan. Maybe not completely trapped by Him but led by Him. I'll readily agree that I let myself be led by Satan for a long time. That I was one of those who readily accepted the belief that God would save good people no matter what. That God to be a loving God would have to save all those who had good intentions in their hearts because He knows the heart. I believed it didn't matter what you believed, even if you practiced devil worship and hurt no one doing it as long as you did it with a good heart God would understand. It sounds so idyllic. Believe what you want and as long as you're a nice person you're saved. Where is that in the Bible? Oh, that's right, who needs the Bible, all you have to do is be nice, have a good, kind heart and that's that.
We can't seem to acquaint niceness with evil. The two are at odds, opposites like black and white. We see a nice person and we think good. We see a bad person and we think evil. If niceness is good, then the murderer with his nice smile helping an old lady with her groceries every week, checking on her every afternoon to make sure she's okay and needs nothing, then is he good or bad? His niceness is surely good, but his evil isn't. When he strangles that young woman every month or so it's pure evil, right? And yet he has on the guise of goodness.
Not all goodness, not all those who are super nice people we would never dream of being bad, not all those who live in harmony with the world and people around them- not even the people who are truly good and are murderers in disguise, will be God's.
We can't equate niceness with salvation.
We can't point a finger and say, my friend so and so is sooooo sweet, they're definitely saved. We can't say that of anyone, we don't know the hearts, we don't know the walk they have with Christ.
We sometimes can know that they don't believe in salvation by grace through Jesus Christ our Lord, they'll tell us they don't believe in the God stuff. But even then we cannot judge their eternal life as if we know for certain they'll never accept Jesus as their Savior.
We see through a glass darkly--
1 Cor. {13:12} For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
We don't see the eternal, we only see bits and pieces of lives people choose to let us see and no more.
There are truths, basic truths and the Bible is very big on the truth because it is the truth in Jesus that saves us. It is the truth that sets us free.
Christ is our righteousness and this is the Truth. Truth is our righteousness. Keeping the truth in Jesus Christ, keeping that and holding it dear to us, keeping it as we breath in air, such as sustains our lives, this is what will give us eternal life.
Isaiah {26:3} Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Like the air we breath, we live by the grace and mercy of Jesus, trusting in Him now and forever through all.
Perfect peace in a world full of turmoil seems all but impossible. Perfect peace when the world comes crashing down around you and threatens your very ability to sustain your life, impossible? When all hope seems gone, hope is all we have to cling to. Our hope in Jesus. Our trust in Jesus. Our faith in Jesus.
Why is it call perfect peace? Because any other peace is imperfect. All the peace the world offers to us is imperfect and can be taken from us in the blink of an eye. Peace that is dependent upon Jesus and Jesus alone is perfect peace.
When our minds are stayed upon someone we can't stop thinking about them. We think about them during all we do.
Remember being newly in love? Remember that feeling of having thoughts of another bring a smile to your lips? Remember being caught day dreaming away? Remember waking up and thinking of someone? Remember having the hope in you of seeing that person, hearing from them, of constantly living in the hope of being with that person? We place our hopes on them and then when things interfere we get upset because we aren't able to be with them, to hear from them, and it just brings a weight down on us until we can once again renew the hope of a future meeting, until we can grasp hold of the anticipation once more and place our hope in that future.
We understand this on a human to human level and we need to understand it on a human to human/God level. We need to have our minds stayed upon Jesus.
Stayed upon meaning we can't take our minds off Jesus, they need to be stayed upon the Hope, the Way, the Truth, the Life, Jesus Christ our Savior!
{26:4} Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH [is] everlasting strength
By the grace and mercy of Jesus, may our trust in the Lord be forever, may our minds be stayed upon Jesus, and may we find peace in Jesus.
Amen.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
The End of the World is Coming Whether We Like It or Not.
The End of the World is Coming Whether We Like It or Not.
Formation of a one world government is a precursor to Satan impersonating Christ- and yes, making Jerusalem the site of his power.
Rev. {16:13} And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs [come] out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. {16:14} For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, [which] go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
Rev. {13:7} And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. {13:8} And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Rev. {13:14} And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by [the means of] those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
Dan. {11:41} He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many [countries] shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, [even] Edom, and
Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. {11:42} He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. {11:43} But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians [shall be] at his steps. {11:44} But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. {11:45} And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.
2 Cor. {11:14} And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. {11:15} Therefore [it is] no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
Rev. {14:6} And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, {14:7} Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. {14:8} And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is
fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. {14:9} And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive [his] mark in his forehead, or in his hand, {14:10} The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: {14:11} And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. {14:12} Here is the patience of the saints: here [are]
they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. {14:13} And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed [are] the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.
*
Would people knowingly worship a beast?
Would people worldwide and openly, knowingly worship Satan other than those who profess to be Satanists? Could you even imagine the President of the USA standing up and declaring he worships Satan? What about the UK's Prime Minister, Brown? The Chancellor of Germany, Merkel? The leader of any country? Can you picture them standing up to address their country before millions and millions of people who are looking to them to guide their country and hear the words coming out of their mouths---
"I'd like to inform you, I worship Satan."
No, it's not something we can imagine, not in any sort of reality.
Why?
Because first off, church and state are supposed to be separate in most of your countries with power.
Is this perhaps why Israel who claim their Jewish hertiage proudly are so despised? Probably not, you have your Isalmic countries who have no qualms about staying stedfast to their religion, Islam.
Americans and many other countries can't lay claim to their countries truly being *God-fearing* because they've embraced the belief that all are free to worship whatever god they choose.
Still, even the USA and other countries that uphold religous freedom don't have leaders proudly announcing they worship Satan. It's practically unthinkable.
Practically being the key word there.
We have leaders claiming to believe in God, and of course as soon as they claim they believe in God they have to admit they believe in Satan-- Biblically you cannot have one without the other, it doesn't work. Unless of course you're not believing in the God of the Bible, and that could be the case for many.
Right now in the days we live in, we expect our President to take His inaugural oath with a hand on a Bible. It happened this year, even if things were flubbed a bit and later on when it was redone there was no Bible in sight.
The public as a whole here in the USA are a religious people in some respects, and they tolerate others who aren't. They've been taught at great lengths to accept people no matter what they believe, they've been hounded to not put one faith above another.
We live in a time when *universal* relgious belief is strong, very strong.
Let's get the Baptist together with the Methodist and the Catholic, and sure invite the Hindus and the Moslems along and don't forget to snag a Jewish representative while you're at it. We're one big happy family and the things that separate us should be overlooked for the things that join us together- say - world peace.
We all want world peace right? Who doesn't want world peace? It's almost criminal to say you don't, because as soon as you say don't want world peace you are saying you're supporting wars and discord between people and well, heck, that just isn't right.
World peace will be the standard held high and if it can be achieved while each person is allowed to believe in whatever god (or no god if they choose) then all the better.
World peace, we can all come together and you know what... it's only possible if we SET aside any and all principles that demand we hold fast to our own beliefs.
I can hear it now. That's not what's happening, not really, it's just an agreement not to IMPOSE one's god upon another's god. It's keeping religions apart where they differ, but listen up close...it's bringing them together on the parts they don't differ on.
Common ground, and there we are and we come full circle back to World Peace.
Only there is a problem with that, a serious, serious problem with world peace.
God, the one and only true God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, the Creator of you and me-- He doesn't want to be sacrificed for World Peace.
God doesn't want the standards and principles set aside. He doesn't want to agree that it's right to worship whatever god you choose, or no god at all. He is a jealous God. Throughout history He's let everyone know that He is the One and True God. He sent His Only Son to die to save people from their sins, but now as we push God aside in favor of world peace, we are pushing His commandments aside and we're pushing aside the very reason Christ came to earth as man and died for us!
Seriously, sin is the transgression of God's law.
If you don't believe in God's law then you might say sin is anything mankind deems sin and punishable, but not that Godly commandment stuff.
Wrong.
Sin is the transgression of God's law! God's law was broken. Mankind was guilty and saved by Jesus... but... hold on... that's the Christian religion right?
Right.
So what happens when Christians set aside God's law and say it's okay to have more than one god? It's okay to have your own god, it's okay if you don't have a god at all, and you know what...it's okay if you even worship satan... as long as we can finally have-- here it comes -- drumroll please --
WORLD PEACE.
But wait there's more.
By setting aside differences and embracing commonalities to foster peace, we tell ourselves that we are NOT breaking any of God's laws because God wants us to foster peace and embrace differences and love our enemies and do good to those who despitefully use us. So there, I can have my God and I can foster world peace too.
We lie to ourselves.
We sacrifice God and when we do that who are we really embracing under the guise of love, under the guise of world peace, under the guise of goodness and mercy? Who? Who is there whispering in the ears of people telling them that God isn't really a jealous God, not if you can accomplish something as monumental as World Peace? Who is the beguiler? The deceiver? The greatest counterfieter of all?
Satan.
And the whole world will be deceived.
Rev. {12:9} And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Deceiveth the whole world.
Matt. {24:24} For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if [it were] possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
The Great Deceiver!
When we are told all this how in the world can we ever hope not to be deceived?
The faithful-
Keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus.
{12:17} And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
A bride who makes herself ready-
Rev. {19:7} Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. {19:8} And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
'...and his wife hath made herself ready.'
Made herself ready.
How does a wife make herself ready for her husband, for her marriage? She submits to Him and His will, trusting in Him in all things. She gives herself fully over to His care. She gives up her self so that she may be one with her husband. She no longer clings to her independence. She willing, lovingly and with her whole heart joins with her bridegroom and they are truly one.
The faithful-
Able to live during such a time that they will stand out and make themselves targets because while all the world is beguiled by the false Christ and his answers to all the world's woes, they will denounce this worldly savior and seem to be of the devil himself.
Rev. {14:12} Here is the patience of the saints: here [are] they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
That's right, when World Peace is being herald by all and claiming to be the universal answer to all the worlds ills-- the saints will be standing up against the universal answer and shouting loudly- Fear God and give glory to Him for the hour of His judgment is come! Worship Him that made the Heavens and the Earth! Keep His commandments!
We'll be a strange people who shun peace because most will be deceived into believing that peace is what God wants, when in truth, it's obedience and love that God wants.
If we are going to be willing to die to keep God's commandments when all the world is fighting against us, we have to be willing to keep God's commandments when NO one is fighting us. We have to be so deeply entrenched in our love for God's word, for God's law, for His commandments that we wouldn't dream of not keeping them. What makes anyone think we will suddenly foster a love of commandment keeping when we are threatened with death? No. If we do not have the love of God in us now when the waters are calm and the sea is without a single wave, we can't hope to suddenly have the love of God when our faith is to be tested and tried.
Now...
John {4:23} But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to
worship him. {4:24} God [is] a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship [him] in spirit and in truth.
Rev. {12:10} And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. {12:11} And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. {12:12} Therefore rejoice, [ye] heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time
Now.
Please Lord, be merciful to us sinners. Please Lord, we believe, help our unbelief. Please Lord, we want you to know us! Please Lord, let Your Holy Spirit utter that which I cannot, that which we cannot. We would be Yours, wholly Yours now and forever. Please.
By Your grace, your mercy.
Amen.
Formation of a one world government is a precursor to Satan impersonating Christ- and yes, making Jerusalem the site of his power.
Rev. {16:13} And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs [come] out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. {16:14} For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, [which] go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
Rev. {13:7} And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. {13:8} And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Rev. {13:14} And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by [the means of] those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
Dan. {11:41} He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many [countries] shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, [even] Edom, and
Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. {11:42} He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. {11:43} But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians [shall be] at his steps. {11:44} But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. {11:45} And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.
2 Cor. {11:14} And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. {11:15} Therefore [it is] no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
Rev. {14:6} And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, {14:7} Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. {14:8} And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is
fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. {14:9} And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive [his] mark in his forehead, or in his hand, {14:10} The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: {14:11} And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. {14:12} Here is the patience of the saints: here [are]
they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. {14:13} And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed [are] the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.
*
Would people knowingly worship a beast?
Would people worldwide and openly, knowingly worship Satan other than those who profess to be Satanists? Could you even imagine the President of the USA standing up and declaring he worships Satan? What about the UK's Prime Minister, Brown? The Chancellor of Germany, Merkel? The leader of any country? Can you picture them standing up to address their country before millions and millions of people who are looking to them to guide their country and hear the words coming out of their mouths---
"I'd like to inform you, I worship Satan."
No, it's not something we can imagine, not in any sort of reality.
Why?
Because first off, church and state are supposed to be separate in most of your countries with power.
Is this perhaps why Israel who claim their Jewish hertiage proudly are so despised? Probably not, you have your Isalmic countries who have no qualms about staying stedfast to their religion, Islam.
Americans and many other countries can't lay claim to their countries truly being *God-fearing* because they've embraced the belief that all are free to worship whatever god they choose.
Still, even the USA and other countries that uphold religous freedom don't have leaders proudly announcing they worship Satan. It's practically unthinkable.
Practically being the key word there.
We have leaders claiming to believe in God, and of course as soon as they claim they believe in God they have to admit they believe in Satan-- Biblically you cannot have one without the other, it doesn't work. Unless of course you're not believing in the God of the Bible, and that could be the case for many.
Right now in the days we live in, we expect our President to take His inaugural oath with a hand on a Bible. It happened this year, even if things were flubbed a bit and later on when it was redone there was no Bible in sight.
The public as a whole here in the USA are a religious people in some respects, and they tolerate others who aren't. They've been taught at great lengths to accept people no matter what they believe, they've been hounded to not put one faith above another.
We live in a time when *universal* relgious belief is strong, very strong.
Let's get the Baptist together with the Methodist and the Catholic, and sure invite the Hindus and the Moslems along and don't forget to snag a Jewish representative while you're at it. We're one big happy family and the things that separate us should be overlooked for the things that join us together- say - world peace.
We all want world peace right? Who doesn't want world peace? It's almost criminal to say you don't, because as soon as you say don't want world peace you are saying you're supporting wars and discord between people and well, heck, that just isn't right.
World peace will be the standard held high and if it can be achieved while each person is allowed to believe in whatever god (or no god if they choose) then all the better.
World peace, we can all come together and you know what... it's only possible if we SET aside any and all principles that demand we hold fast to our own beliefs.
I can hear it now. That's not what's happening, not really, it's just an agreement not to IMPOSE one's god upon another's god. It's keeping religions apart where they differ, but listen up close...it's bringing them together on the parts they don't differ on.
Common ground, and there we are and we come full circle back to World Peace.
Only there is a problem with that, a serious, serious problem with world peace.
God, the one and only true God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, the Creator of you and me-- He doesn't want to be sacrificed for World Peace.
God doesn't want the standards and principles set aside. He doesn't want to agree that it's right to worship whatever god you choose, or no god at all. He is a jealous God. Throughout history He's let everyone know that He is the One and True God. He sent His Only Son to die to save people from their sins, but now as we push God aside in favor of world peace, we are pushing His commandments aside and we're pushing aside the very reason Christ came to earth as man and died for us!
Seriously, sin is the transgression of God's law.
If you don't believe in God's law then you might say sin is anything mankind deems sin and punishable, but not that Godly commandment stuff.
Wrong.
Sin is the transgression of God's law! God's law was broken. Mankind was guilty and saved by Jesus... but... hold on... that's the Christian religion right?
Right.
So what happens when Christians set aside God's law and say it's okay to have more than one god? It's okay to have your own god, it's okay if you don't have a god at all, and you know what...it's okay if you even worship satan... as long as we can finally have-- here it comes -- drumroll please --
WORLD PEACE.
But wait there's more.
By setting aside differences and embracing commonalities to foster peace, we tell ourselves that we are NOT breaking any of God's laws because God wants us to foster peace and embrace differences and love our enemies and do good to those who despitefully use us. So there, I can have my God and I can foster world peace too.
We lie to ourselves.
We sacrifice God and when we do that who are we really embracing under the guise of love, under the guise of world peace, under the guise of goodness and mercy? Who? Who is there whispering in the ears of people telling them that God isn't really a jealous God, not if you can accomplish something as monumental as World Peace? Who is the beguiler? The deceiver? The greatest counterfieter of all?
Satan.
And the whole world will be deceived.
Rev. {12:9} And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Deceiveth the whole world.
Matt. {24:24} For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if [it were] possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
The Great Deceiver!
When we are told all this how in the world can we ever hope not to be deceived?
The faithful-
Keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus.
{12:17} And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
A bride who makes herself ready-
Rev. {19:7} Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. {19:8} And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
'...and his wife hath made herself ready.'
Made herself ready.
How does a wife make herself ready for her husband, for her marriage? She submits to Him and His will, trusting in Him in all things. She gives herself fully over to His care. She gives up her self so that she may be one with her husband. She no longer clings to her independence. She willing, lovingly and with her whole heart joins with her bridegroom and they are truly one.
The faithful-
Able to live during such a time that they will stand out and make themselves targets because while all the world is beguiled by the false Christ and his answers to all the world's woes, they will denounce this worldly savior and seem to be of the devil himself.
Rev. {14:12} Here is the patience of the saints: here [are] they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
That's right, when World Peace is being herald by all and claiming to be the universal answer to all the worlds ills-- the saints will be standing up against the universal answer and shouting loudly- Fear God and give glory to Him for the hour of His judgment is come! Worship Him that made the Heavens and the Earth! Keep His commandments!
We'll be a strange people who shun peace because most will be deceived into believing that peace is what God wants, when in truth, it's obedience and love that God wants.
If we are going to be willing to die to keep God's commandments when all the world is fighting against us, we have to be willing to keep God's commandments when NO one is fighting us. We have to be so deeply entrenched in our love for God's word, for God's law, for His commandments that we wouldn't dream of not keeping them. What makes anyone think we will suddenly foster a love of commandment keeping when we are threatened with death? No. If we do not have the love of God in us now when the waters are calm and the sea is without a single wave, we can't hope to suddenly have the love of God when our faith is to be tested and tried.
Now...
John {4:23} But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to
worship him. {4:24} God [is] a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship [him] in spirit and in truth.
Rev. {12:10} And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. {12:11} And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. {12:12} Therefore rejoice, [ye] heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time
Now.
Please Lord, be merciful to us sinners. Please Lord, we believe, help our unbelief. Please Lord, we want you to know us! Please Lord, let Your Holy Spirit utter that which I cannot, that which we cannot. We would be Yours, wholly Yours now and forever. Please.
By Your grace, your mercy.
Amen.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Lo, this is our God we have waited for Him!
Isaiah {25:7} And he will destroy in this mountain
the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail
that is spread over all nations. {25:8} He will swallow up
death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears
from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take
away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken [it.
]{25:9} And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this [is] our
God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this [is]
the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and
rejoice in his salvation. {25:10} For in this mountain shall
the hand of the LORD rest,
He will destroy the face of the covering cast over all people.
He will destroy the vail that is spread over all nations.
Coverings and vails what do they typically do? Hide things, right? They hide things either from someone seeing in or someone seeing out. When you cover your head you prevent others from seeing your head but you also limit your own ability to see outward.
1 Cor. {13:12} For
now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face:
now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am
known.
Our understanding is limited by sin it can be no other way. Sin corrupts and warps things, and we are born with the propensity to sin. Sin limits us with it's presence in our lives and in the world. We know in part, we see through a dark glass, our vision, our knowledge is limited. Even with our limited knowledge we are allowed to see, to know the way to Christ. Our salvation is not hidden from us, it is found in Jesus and all have the opportunity to know Him, to know the Love of God. We are given enough light through that dark glass, we are allowed to know in part but one day we will see clearly. One day there will be no dark glass, nothing hidden.
He will destroy the face of the covering cast over all people. He will destroy the vail that is spread over all nations.
He will swallow up death in victory.
The Lord God will wipe away tears from off faces.
No more death.
No more tears.
Revelation {21:4} And God shall wipe away all
tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death,
neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more
pain: for the former things are passed away.
Praise God! Such hope! Such promise!
Isa. 25:8...and the rebuke of his people shall he take
away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken [it.
]{25:9} And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this [is] our
God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this [is]
the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and
rejoice in his salvation. {25:10} For in this mountain shall
the hand of the LORD rest,
All praise and glory to God!
In that day we will say... Lo, this is our God we have waited for him and he will save us this is the Lord we have waited for him and we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation!
Can you picture it? Close your eyes for a moment and just imagine being able to say those words.
Lo, this is our God we have waited for Him!
We wait for Him, He is our promise. Our hope isn't in ourselves, it is in Jesus!
We need to take our eyes off ourselves and place them on our One and Only Hope, Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Savior!
Praise the Lord!
Lo, this is our God we have waited for Him!
He will save us!
This is the Lord we have waited for Him!
We will be glad and rejoice in His Salvation!
Praise be to God now and forever!
Amen
the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail
that is spread over all nations. {25:8} He will swallow up
death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears
from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take
away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken [it.
]{25:9} And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this [is] our
God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this [is]
the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and
rejoice in his salvation. {25:10} For in this mountain shall
the hand of the LORD rest,
He will destroy the face of the covering cast over all people.
He will destroy the vail that is spread over all nations.
Coverings and vails what do they typically do? Hide things, right? They hide things either from someone seeing in or someone seeing out. When you cover your head you prevent others from seeing your head but you also limit your own ability to see outward.
1 Cor. {13:12} For
now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face:
now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am
known.
Our understanding is limited by sin it can be no other way. Sin corrupts and warps things, and we are born with the propensity to sin. Sin limits us with it's presence in our lives and in the world. We know in part, we see through a dark glass, our vision, our knowledge is limited. Even with our limited knowledge we are allowed to see, to know the way to Christ. Our salvation is not hidden from us, it is found in Jesus and all have the opportunity to know Him, to know the Love of God. We are given enough light through that dark glass, we are allowed to know in part but one day we will see clearly. One day there will be no dark glass, nothing hidden.
He will destroy the face of the covering cast over all people. He will destroy the vail that is spread over all nations.
He will swallow up death in victory.
The Lord God will wipe away tears from off faces.
No more death.
No more tears.
Revelation {21:4} And God shall wipe away all
tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death,
neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more
pain: for the former things are passed away.
Praise God! Such hope! Such promise!
Isa. 25:8...and the rebuke of his people shall he take
away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken [it.
]{25:9} And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this [is] our
God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this [is]
the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and
rejoice in his salvation. {25:10} For in this mountain shall
the hand of the LORD rest,
All praise and glory to God!
In that day we will say... Lo, this is our God we have waited for him and he will save us this is the Lord we have waited for him and we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation!
Can you picture it? Close your eyes for a moment and just imagine being able to say those words.
Lo, this is our God we have waited for Him!
We wait for Him, He is our promise. Our hope isn't in ourselves, it is in Jesus!
We need to take our eyes off ourselves and place them on our One and Only Hope, Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Savior!
Praise the Lord!
Lo, this is our God we have waited for Him!
He will save us!
This is the Lord we have waited for Him!
We will be glad and rejoice in His Salvation!
Praise be to God now and forever!
Amen
Friday, March 6, 2009
Thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth
Isaiah
{25:1} O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I
will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things;
thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
Thy counsels of old...
are faithfulness and truth.
Faithfulness and truth.
Time and time again we hear of faithfulness.
We need faith.
We need the truth.
These two things are essential.
People say they want proof- not faith. They want something substanial- not faith. They want something solid- not faith. They want facts- not faith. They call anything other than tangible evidence folly and those who believe deluded.
Faith.
Heb. {11:1} Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen
Hope.
Can you put your hands around hope?
What is hope?
Dict.
hope (hop) verb
hoped, hoping, hopes verb, intransitive
1. To wish for something with expectation of its fulfillment.
2. Archaic. To have confidence; trust.
verb, transitive
1. To look forward to with confidence or expectation: We hope that our children will carry on our family traditions.
2. To expect and desire. See synonyms at expect.
noun
1. A wish or desire accompanied by confident expectation of its fulfillment.
2. Something that is hoped for or desired: Success is our hope.
3. One that is a source of or reason for hope: the team's only hope for victory.
4. Often Hope (hop) . The theological virtue defined as the desire and search for a future good, difficult but not impossible to attain with God's help.
5. Archaic. Trust; confidence.
Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary
Hope isn't something we touch. You can say you place your hope in someone, but that hope is in the something that someone is doing, not really in that person, it's in an accomplishment they have the possibility of fulfilling.
Hope - theological virtue - desire and search for a future good, difficult but not impossible to attain with God's help.
Faith is the substance of things hoped for.
Faith is the hope of a future fully absorbed in God's love. Faith is the hope of a world without sin. Faith is the hope of a world the way it was intended before sin took over.
Abraham, Moses, David had faith. They had this hope that God, their creator would rule, that He would be the God of all one day, that His reign would be realized. They all lived in a world just as we do, with some believing and others not believing, with some following and others not following. They all lived in a world full of sin and temptations towards that sinning. They shunned the sinning and grasp hold of a better world. Or, they repented of their sin and grasped hold of a better world, an unseen world, a promised world.
When you're promised something as a rule, the promise is for something that isn't seen.
When a man and woman promise to love each other until death do they part for as long as they both shall live- they are hoping for a future live that will keep them together in love until death. That promise isn't realized until way down the line when one or the other dies and they've lived a life together through all the hardships, the ups and the downs, and then they can say that promise was kept.
When you promise someone you'll get them a present that person will wait for the present and until that present arrives all they have is the promise of tha present, the hope of the present and that the promise will be kept.
We you promise to meet someone at a certain place and time, until the moment of the meeting the promise is unkept, but once the meeting takes place the promise is realized.
Great men and woman of God throughout the Bible held fast to the future promise, they had hope in that promise, they lived believing that God would fulfil the promises made to them. They had faith- hope in the promises even when there was no evidence to support the promises. Even when their lives seemed such that those promises being fulfilled would seem to be impossible. Even when DEATH was inevitable and they were tasting the precusors of the end of their lives, they still HOPED. They believed in something more and they trusted in God.
People say it's crazy to have such hope, to believe in such a thing, that here and now is all we can really trust and believe in. They call it false hope, and foolish dreaming. They say it's a waste of a good life and a chance to have all sorts of worldly pleasures when people deny themselves that pleasure because they are hoping in something better in the future, a future promise that might not even be realized in their lifetime. They have hope beyond the grave, beyond their deaths.
When EVERYTHING seems to be telling us, tickling our senses, tempting us to grasp hold to ONLY what we can see, touch, smell, feel, taste we have to look beyond all that, way beyond all that to the hope that is found in Jesus Christ, to the promise that God gave to Abraham and extended right on down to us.
People as a whole will never agree to look beyond the here and now.
As individuals we have to look beyond, we have to have hope and faith in God's promises.
Isaiah
{25:1} O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I
will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things;
thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
We need to exalt in God, our God. We need to praise His name. He has done wonderful things. His counsels of old are-- faithfulness and truth.
Faithfulness and truth.
God has made promises.
God has give us prophecies and allowed us to look back through history and see the prophecies fulfilled.
God tells us what will be and by faith in God who has done wonderful, wonderful things, we have to have faith- hope in Him, He will keep His promises, He is truth.
John {14:6} Jesus saith
unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man
cometh unto the Father, but by me.
The way, the truth, the life, may we find it all in our Lord and Savior, through His wondrous grace and mercy, in Jesus Christ, now and forever...
Amen.
{25:1} O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I
will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things;
thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
Thy counsels of old...
are faithfulness and truth.
Faithfulness and truth.
Time and time again we hear of faithfulness.
We need faith.
We need the truth.
These two things are essential.
People say they want proof- not faith. They want something substanial- not faith. They want something solid- not faith. They want facts- not faith. They call anything other than tangible evidence folly and those who believe deluded.
Faith.
Heb. {11:1} Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen
Hope.
Can you put your hands around hope?
What is hope?
Dict.
hope (hop) verb
hoped, hoping, hopes verb, intransitive
1. To wish for something with expectation of its fulfillment.
2. Archaic. To have confidence; trust.
verb, transitive
1. To look forward to with confidence or expectation: We hope that our children will carry on our family traditions.
2. To expect and desire. See synonyms at expect.
noun
1. A wish or desire accompanied by confident expectation of its fulfillment.
2. Something that is hoped for or desired: Success is our hope.
3. One that is a source of or reason for hope: the team's only hope for victory.
4. Often Hope (hop) . The theological virtue defined as the desire and search for a future good, difficult but not impossible to attain with God's help.
5. Archaic. Trust; confidence.
Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary
Hope isn't something we touch. You can say you place your hope in someone, but that hope is in the something that someone is doing, not really in that person, it's in an accomplishment they have the possibility of fulfilling.
Hope - theological virtue - desire and search for a future good, difficult but not impossible to attain with God's help.
Faith is the substance of things hoped for.
Faith is the hope of a future fully absorbed in God's love. Faith is the hope of a world without sin. Faith is the hope of a world the way it was intended before sin took over.
Abraham, Moses, David had faith. They had this hope that God, their creator would rule, that He would be the God of all one day, that His reign would be realized. They all lived in a world just as we do, with some believing and others not believing, with some following and others not following. They all lived in a world full of sin and temptations towards that sinning. They shunned the sinning and grasp hold of a better world. Or, they repented of their sin and grasped hold of a better world, an unseen world, a promised world.
When you're promised something as a rule, the promise is for something that isn't seen.
When a man and woman promise to love each other until death do they part for as long as they both shall live- they are hoping for a future live that will keep them together in love until death. That promise isn't realized until way down the line when one or the other dies and they've lived a life together through all the hardships, the ups and the downs, and then they can say that promise was kept.
When you promise someone you'll get them a present that person will wait for the present and until that present arrives all they have is the promise of tha present, the hope of the present and that the promise will be kept.
We you promise to meet someone at a certain place and time, until the moment of the meeting the promise is unkept, but once the meeting takes place the promise is realized.
Great men and woman of God throughout the Bible held fast to the future promise, they had hope in that promise, they lived believing that God would fulfil the promises made to them. They had faith- hope in the promises even when there was no evidence to support the promises. Even when their lives seemed such that those promises being fulfilled would seem to be impossible. Even when DEATH was inevitable and they were tasting the precusors of the end of their lives, they still HOPED. They believed in something more and they trusted in God.
People say it's crazy to have such hope, to believe in such a thing, that here and now is all we can really trust and believe in. They call it false hope, and foolish dreaming. They say it's a waste of a good life and a chance to have all sorts of worldly pleasures when people deny themselves that pleasure because they are hoping in something better in the future, a future promise that might not even be realized in their lifetime. They have hope beyond the grave, beyond their deaths.
When EVERYTHING seems to be telling us, tickling our senses, tempting us to grasp hold to ONLY what we can see, touch, smell, feel, taste we have to look beyond all that, way beyond all that to the hope that is found in Jesus Christ, to the promise that God gave to Abraham and extended right on down to us.
People as a whole will never agree to look beyond the here and now.
As individuals we have to look beyond, we have to have hope and faith in God's promises.
Isaiah
{25:1} O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I
will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things;
thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
We need to exalt in God, our God. We need to praise His name. He has done wonderful things. His counsels of old are-- faithfulness and truth.
Faithfulness and truth.
God has made promises.
God has give us prophecies and allowed us to look back through history and see the prophecies fulfilled.
God tells us what will be and by faith in God who has done wonderful, wonderful things, we have to have faith- hope in Him, He will keep His promises, He is truth.
John {14:6} Jesus saith
unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man
cometh unto the Father, but by me.
The way, the truth, the life, may we find it all in our Lord and Savior, through His wondrous grace and mercy, in Jesus Christ, now and forever...
Amen.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
The Lord turns the earth upside down
Isaiah
{24:1} Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and
maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth
abroad the inhabitants thereof.
The Lord maketh the earth empty.
The Lord maketh the earth a waste.
The Lord turns the earth upside down.
The Lord scatters everywhere the inhabitants of the earth.
Amazing isn't it?
We don't like to think of God this way, we just don't.
It goes against the *love your enemy, do good to those who despitefully use you* teachings of Jesus.
Some people rouse themselves up and say that God was done away with in the Old Testament, Jesus and His teachings are the real way.
I say the Lord God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Hebrews {13:8}
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
John {1:1} In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God. {1:2} The same was in
the beginning with God. {1:3} All things were made by
him; and without him was not any thing made that was
made. {1:4} In him was life; and the life was the light of
men. {1:5} And the light shineth in darkness; and the
darkness comprehended it not.
John {1:14} And the Word was made flesh, and
dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of
the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
The Old Testament God is not the *bad* God. The Old Testament God was the same God with Jesus in the Beginning. They are of one purpose, they are like-minded. Jesus came and revealed God to us, but He didn't change the God of the Old Testament.
Before mankind sinned they were warned of the consequences of the sin.
We can see this sort of behavior in our own parenting, or from our own parents when they warn us before we do something we'll regret. They warn us because they Love us. They tell us of the consequences of our behavior should we go ahead and do the thing they warn us against. We get the wrath of our parents, or the children feel our wrath when they disobey and then they have to suffer the consequences, or we have to suffer it if we were warned. You know what I'm talking about here. It's common knowledge, it's the bit in us that we can see and understand.
Man chose to sin and the consequences of that action will be with mankind until sin is totally gone.
God constantly reaches out to mankind seeking a people who will follow Him out of love, and it's the love that understands actions that some might call unloving are in fact the most loving.
The Lord maketh the earth empty.
The Lord maketh the earth a waste.
The Lord turns the earth upside down.
The Lord scatters everywhere the inhabitants of the earth.
{24:2} And it shall be, as
with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so
with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as
with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with
the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of
usury to him.
In this day it will matter not what sort of profession you hold. It won't matter at all if you are a master or a slave. In God we are all equal and the same standard for one will be with another.
{24:3} The land shall be utterly emptied, and
utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word. {24:4}
The earth mourneth [and] fadeth away, the world
languisheth [and] fadeth away, the haughty people of the
earth do languish. {24:5} The earth also is defiled under the
inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the
laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting
covenant.
Why do we have to have such utter destruction? Because the inhabitants of the earth- that's you and I and every single other person on the earth- have sinned, we've transgressed the laws of God, we've changed the way God would have us live in Him, we've broken the covenant He's sought to make with us to redeem us to Him.
That covenant, that redemption is found in Jesus, by His grace. Jesus who upheld every single law of God and did not transgress a single one. Jesus the innocent One.
{24:6} Therefore hath the curse devoured the
earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the
inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left. {24:7}
The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the
merryhearted do sigh. {24:8} The mirth of tabrets ceaseth,
the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp
ceaseth. {24:9} They shall not drink wine with a song;
strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it. {24:10}
The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut
up, that no man may come in. {24:11} [There is] a crying
for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the
land is gone. {24:12} In the city is left desolation, and the
gate is smitten with destruction.
There will come a day when absolutely nothing will make mankind happy. Nothing. Because they'll realize that they spurned salvation and all that's left is a bitter ending.
{24:13} When thus it shall be in the midst of the land
among the people, [there shall be] as the shaking of an olive
tree, [and] as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done.
There will be a people in that time, a very few people who will be shaking out from the rest.
{24:14} They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the
majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud from the sea.
{24:15} Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the fires, [even]
the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea.
{24:16} From the uttermost part of the earth have we
heard songs, [even] glory to the righteous. But I said, My
leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers
have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have
dealt very treacherously. {24:17} Fear, and the pit, and the
snare, [are] upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth. {24:18}
And it shall come to pass, [that] he who fleeth from the
noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up
out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the
windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the
earth do shake. {24:19} The earth is utterly broken down,
the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
{24:20} The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and
shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression
thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise
again. {24:21} And it shall come to pass in that day, [that]
the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones [that are]
on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. {24:22}
And they shall be gathered together, [as] prisoners are
gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and
after many days shall they be visited. {24:23} Then the
moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the
LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem,
and before his ancients gloriously.
Amazing! So amazing! Not unsurprising that such destruction has to come to rid the world of sin.
{25:1} O LORD, thou [art] my God; I will exalt thee, I
will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful [things;
thy] counsels of old [are] faithfulness [and] truth. {25:2}
For thou hast made of a city an heap; [of] a defenced city a
ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be
built. {25:3} Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee,
the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee. {25:4} For
thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy
in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the
heat, when the blast of the terrible ones [is] as a storm
[against] the wall. {25:5} Thou shalt bring down the noise
of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; [even] the heat with
the shadow of a cloud: the branch of the terrible ones shall
be brought low.
The Lord will save His people from destruction. Those who love Him, truly love Him will be saved by the grace of Jesus Christ, through His righteousness.
A storm is coming.
A storm that the world has known was on it's way.
A storm that like a woman in labor, the pains have been felt for some time.
No one can escape this storm.
There is a shelter from the storm and that shelter is Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
The storm is a necessary storm, it's the storm that will ultimately cleansed the world of sin once and forever.
May the Lord keep us in the Storm. May we find Grace in the eyes of the Lord through our Savior Jesus. May we be cleansed of sin and be found in Him, living in Him, for Him, in love.
All praise and glory to our Lord God, our Savior, our Creator!
Amen.
{24:1} Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and
maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth
abroad the inhabitants thereof.
The Lord maketh the earth empty.
The Lord maketh the earth a waste.
The Lord turns the earth upside down.
The Lord scatters everywhere the inhabitants of the earth.
Amazing isn't it?
We don't like to think of God this way, we just don't.
It goes against the *love your enemy, do good to those who despitefully use you* teachings of Jesus.
Some people rouse themselves up and say that God was done away with in the Old Testament, Jesus and His teachings are the real way.
I say the Lord God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Hebrews {13:8}
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
John {1:1} In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God. {1:2} The same was in
the beginning with God. {1:3} All things were made by
him; and without him was not any thing made that was
made. {1:4} In him was life; and the life was the light of
men. {1:5} And the light shineth in darkness; and the
darkness comprehended it not.
John {1:14} And the Word was made flesh, and
dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of
the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
The Old Testament God is not the *bad* God. The Old Testament God was the same God with Jesus in the Beginning. They are of one purpose, they are like-minded. Jesus came and revealed God to us, but He didn't change the God of the Old Testament.
Before mankind sinned they were warned of the consequences of the sin.
We can see this sort of behavior in our own parenting, or from our own parents when they warn us before we do something we'll regret. They warn us because they Love us. They tell us of the consequences of our behavior should we go ahead and do the thing they warn us against. We get the wrath of our parents, or the children feel our wrath when they disobey and then they have to suffer the consequences, or we have to suffer it if we were warned. You know what I'm talking about here. It's common knowledge, it's the bit in us that we can see and understand.
Man chose to sin and the consequences of that action will be with mankind until sin is totally gone.
God constantly reaches out to mankind seeking a people who will follow Him out of love, and it's the love that understands actions that some might call unloving are in fact the most loving.
The Lord maketh the earth empty.
The Lord maketh the earth a waste.
The Lord turns the earth upside down.
The Lord scatters everywhere the inhabitants of the earth.
{24:2} And it shall be, as
with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so
with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as
with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with
the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of
usury to him.
In this day it will matter not what sort of profession you hold. It won't matter at all if you are a master or a slave. In God we are all equal and the same standard for one will be with another.
{24:3} The land shall be utterly emptied, and
utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word. {24:4}
The earth mourneth [and] fadeth away, the world
languisheth [and] fadeth away, the haughty people of the
earth do languish. {24:5} The earth also is defiled under the
inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the
laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting
covenant.
Why do we have to have such utter destruction? Because the inhabitants of the earth- that's you and I and every single other person on the earth- have sinned, we've transgressed the laws of God, we've changed the way God would have us live in Him, we've broken the covenant He's sought to make with us to redeem us to Him.
That covenant, that redemption is found in Jesus, by His grace. Jesus who upheld every single law of God and did not transgress a single one. Jesus the innocent One.
{24:6} Therefore hath the curse devoured the
earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the
inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left. {24:7}
The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the
merryhearted do sigh. {24:8} The mirth of tabrets ceaseth,
the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp
ceaseth. {24:9} They shall not drink wine with a song;
strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it. {24:10}
The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut
up, that no man may come in. {24:11} [There is] a crying
for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the
land is gone. {24:12} In the city is left desolation, and the
gate is smitten with destruction.
There will come a day when absolutely nothing will make mankind happy. Nothing. Because they'll realize that they spurned salvation and all that's left is a bitter ending.
{24:13} When thus it shall be in the midst of the land
among the people, [there shall be] as the shaking of an olive
tree, [and] as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done.
There will be a people in that time, a very few people who will be shaking out from the rest.
{24:14} They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the
majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud from the sea.
{24:15} Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the fires, [even]
the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea.
{24:16} From the uttermost part of the earth have we
heard songs, [even] glory to the righteous. But I said, My
leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers
have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have
dealt very treacherously. {24:17} Fear, and the pit, and the
snare, [are] upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth. {24:18}
And it shall come to pass, [that] he who fleeth from the
noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up
out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the
windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the
earth do shake. {24:19} The earth is utterly broken down,
the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
{24:20} The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and
shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression
thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise
again. {24:21} And it shall come to pass in that day, [that]
the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones [that are]
on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. {24:22}
And they shall be gathered together, [as] prisoners are
gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and
after many days shall they be visited. {24:23} Then the
moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the
LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem,
and before his ancients gloriously.
Amazing! So amazing! Not unsurprising that such destruction has to come to rid the world of sin.
{25:1} O LORD, thou [art] my God; I will exalt thee, I
will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful [things;
thy] counsels of old [are] faithfulness [and] truth. {25:2}
For thou hast made of a city an heap; [of] a defenced city a
ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be
built. {25:3} Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee,
the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee. {25:4} For
thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy
in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the
heat, when the blast of the terrible ones [is] as a storm
[against] the wall. {25:5} Thou shalt bring down the noise
of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; [even] the heat with
the shadow of a cloud: the branch of the terrible ones shall
be brought low.
The Lord will save His people from destruction. Those who love Him, truly love Him will be saved by the grace of Jesus Christ, through His righteousness.
A storm is coming.
A storm that the world has known was on it's way.
A storm that like a woman in labor, the pains have been felt for some time.
No one can escape this storm.
There is a shelter from the storm and that shelter is Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
The storm is a necessary storm, it's the storm that will ultimately cleansed the world of sin once and forever.
May the Lord keep us in the Storm. May we find Grace in the eyes of the Lord through our Savior Jesus. May we be cleansed of sin and be found in Him, living in Him, for Him, in love.
All praise and glory to our Lord God, our Savior, our Creator!
Amen.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Destruction from the Almighty.
Isaiah
{13:6} Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it
shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
Throughout history there have been many days the Lord has exacted punishment for the various and many sins of His people.
With Isaiah being a prophet it's not always easy to understand things, not for this ordinary layperson who has no background in theology or even history. Do I always interpret things correctly? I'd be the first to admit that I only do the best I can with the knowledgde I do have and pray that the Holy Spirit guide me into understanding.
Can a prophecy hold duel meanings? I'm not sure. I do know that prophecies can be given in more ways than one. Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 for instance. Some might expound more on what was at first given.
God's ways are mysterious and we have to seek to understand, to know, and to realize that God gives prophecies to us for our edification.
I read stuff like this...
{13:6} Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it
shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
And it makes me think of the last days before Christ's return and the chaos that will be going on. Howl, cry out, and we know many will be doing just that when they realize that the day they never imagined would come is finally here. We know the Bible tells us many will be deceived--
Matthew {7:22} Many will say to
me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy
name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy
name done many wonderful works? {7:23} And then will I
profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye
that work iniquity.
There will be plenty of howling when the deceived realized their deception, when instead of waiting and eagerly looking for Christ to redeem them they have gone after other ways, deceptive ways. Ways, so deceptive that just like Eve in the garden of Eden the only defense will be I was beguiled, only unlike Eve the people will realize that they allowed themselves to be deceived when they had didn't have to, they welcomed the deception, the heart will be revealed and unlike Eve's heart, people will know that they embraced sin rather than the truth because the price of the truth was too much for them to bear- they couldn't give up enough of themselves to God's will, they had to try and save themselves and the deception will be great.
Reading on...
{13:7}
Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart
shall melt: {13:8} And they shall be afraid: pangs and
sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a
woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another;
their faces shall be as flames.
The agony of realizing you've been deceived will be horrific won't it? How could it be otherwise? We see horror movies, even if we don't watch the movie itself we see advertisements for them, we know they exist, we know what they are and even the worst horror movie we've ever seen or know exists will not compare to the true pain described here. Even the worst tortures man has endure will not be as this. Eternal life lost. There can be no greater horror to endure.
{13:9} Behold, the day of
the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger,
to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners
thereof out of it.
Sin must be destroyed ultimately and of course sinners don't like to believe that can happen. Fairytale and yes, another horror story or movie to be told. End of the world stuff sells. Yet there is a reality here that people want to keep fictionalized. As long as it stays a mere story it's okay. Suspecting there might be truth to it is a bit frightening, and people will equate it with being lunatic, being freaks, being an oddity. Keep it fictional and all is well. Make it reality then either facing it or joking it away are options a person has. It's easier to make a joke of it. It is easier to not think about it because thinking about it will call your life into accountability and well, who wants that, it's no fun. We call sin fun and the majority of the world has made sin acceptable. Is it no wonder the world has to be destroyed, that God's wrath and fierce anger are coming? That when sin is wiped away the world will be desolate.
{13:10} For the stars of heaven and the
constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall
be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause
her light to shine. {13:11} And I will punish the world for
[their] evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will
cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low
the haughtiness of the terrible. {13:12} I will make a man
more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden
wedge of Ophir. {13:13} Therefore I will shake the
heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the
wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce
anger.
The world will be punished for it's evil.
The wicked will be punished for their sins.
The arrogant, the proud will no longer exist, there will be no more haughtiness.
Those of God's left will be precious and pure through Jesus Christ.
God's wrath is real.
God's wrath is coming.
No one has ever seen the fierce anger that God possesses towards sin and the sinner.
People would much rather talk of love than hate.
Yet God's love for us, the greatest love of all brought His Only Son, Innocent of all sin to die for us sinners.
Love conquers sin.
God's love will defeat the hateful sin, not accept it, defeat it. Sin will be wiped away, not indulged, not overlooked.
There will come a day when there is no more sin.
God's love will reign because it is so much more powerful than sin.
May the day of the Lord's fierce wrath find us protected in love and by the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
May we look only to Jesus and know of ourselves we can do nothing, let alone save ourselves.
By the glory and will of our Lord now and always.
Amen.
{13:6} Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it
shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
Throughout history there have been many days the Lord has exacted punishment for the various and many sins of His people.
With Isaiah being a prophet it's not always easy to understand things, not for this ordinary layperson who has no background in theology or even history. Do I always interpret things correctly? I'd be the first to admit that I only do the best I can with the knowledgde I do have and pray that the Holy Spirit guide me into understanding.
Can a prophecy hold duel meanings? I'm not sure. I do know that prophecies can be given in more ways than one. Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 for instance. Some might expound more on what was at first given.
God's ways are mysterious and we have to seek to understand, to know, and to realize that God gives prophecies to us for our edification.
I read stuff like this...
{13:6} Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it
shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
And it makes me think of the last days before Christ's return and the chaos that will be going on. Howl, cry out, and we know many will be doing just that when they realize that the day they never imagined would come is finally here. We know the Bible tells us many will be deceived--
Matthew {7:22} Many will say to
me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy
name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy
name done many wonderful works? {7:23} And then will I
profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye
that work iniquity.
There will be plenty of howling when the deceived realized their deception, when instead of waiting and eagerly looking for Christ to redeem them they have gone after other ways, deceptive ways. Ways, so deceptive that just like Eve in the garden of Eden the only defense will be I was beguiled, only unlike Eve the people will realize that they allowed themselves to be deceived when they had didn't have to, they welcomed the deception, the heart will be revealed and unlike Eve's heart, people will know that they embraced sin rather than the truth because the price of the truth was too much for them to bear- they couldn't give up enough of themselves to God's will, they had to try and save themselves and the deception will be great.
Reading on...
{13:7}
Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart
shall melt: {13:8} And they shall be afraid: pangs and
sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a
woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another;
their faces shall be as flames.
The agony of realizing you've been deceived will be horrific won't it? How could it be otherwise? We see horror movies, even if we don't watch the movie itself we see advertisements for them, we know they exist, we know what they are and even the worst horror movie we've ever seen or know exists will not compare to the true pain described here. Even the worst tortures man has endure will not be as this. Eternal life lost. There can be no greater horror to endure.
{13:9} Behold, the day of
the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger,
to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners
thereof out of it.
Sin must be destroyed ultimately and of course sinners don't like to believe that can happen. Fairytale and yes, another horror story or movie to be told. End of the world stuff sells. Yet there is a reality here that people want to keep fictionalized. As long as it stays a mere story it's okay. Suspecting there might be truth to it is a bit frightening, and people will equate it with being lunatic, being freaks, being an oddity. Keep it fictional and all is well. Make it reality then either facing it or joking it away are options a person has. It's easier to make a joke of it. It is easier to not think about it because thinking about it will call your life into accountability and well, who wants that, it's no fun. We call sin fun and the majority of the world has made sin acceptable. Is it no wonder the world has to be destroyed, that God's wrath and fierce anger are coming? That when sin is wiped away the world will be desolate.
{13:10} For the stars of heaven and the
constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall
be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause
her light to shine. {13:11} And I will punish the world for
[their] evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will
cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low
the haughtiness of the terrible. {13:12} I will make a man
more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden
wedge of Ophir. {13:13} Therefore I will shake the
heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the
wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce
anger.
The world will be punished for it's evil.
The wicked will be punished for their sins.
The arrogant, the proud will no longer exist, there will be no more haughtiness.
Those of God's left will be precious and pure through Jesus Christ.
God's wrath is real.
God's wrath is coming.
No one has ever seen the fierce anger that God possesses towards sin and the sinner.
People would much rather talk of love than hate.
Yet God's love for us, the greatest love of all brought His Only Son, Innocent of all sin to die for us sinners.
Love conquers sin.
God's love will defeat the hateful sin, not accept it, defeat it. Sin will be wiped away, not indulged, not overlooked.
There will come a day when there is no more sin.
God's love will reign because it is so much more powerful than sin.
May the day of the Lord's fierce wrath find us protected in love and by the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
May we look only to Jesus and know of ourselves we can do nothing, let alone save ourselves.
By the glory and will of our Lord now and always.
Amen.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
But with righteousness shall he judge the poor
Isaiah {11:1} And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of
Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: {11:2} And
the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of
wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; {11:3}
And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of
the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes,
neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: {11:4} But
with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with
equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth
with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips
shall he slay the wicked. {11:5} And righteousness shall be
the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his
reins. {11:6} The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and
the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the
young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall
lead them. {11:7} And the cow and the bear shall feed; their
young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat
straw like the ox. {11:8} And the sucking child shall play
on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his
hand on the cockatrice’ den. {11:9} They shall not hurt nor
destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full
of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea
'And he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes.
Neither reprove after the hearing of his ears.
But with righteousness shall he judge the poor.'
The only way we do judge is with the sight of our eyes and hearing of our ears.
We only have the ability to judge in those ways, right?
We have no righteousness in ourselves with which to judge with because we are all sinners and subject to judging only as sinners.
The judges we have in courts are they righteous?
No.
They like to claim impartiality and fairness but all their judging is colored by their own sinfulness.
The juries we use to judge others are filled with sinners.
We like to think we are fair and for the sinners we are just maybe we are as fair as we can be, yet there is no getting around the fact that we judge without the purity that only the Lord can judge us with.
He judges without sight, without hearing, but with righteousness.
We are told not to judge--
Matthew
{7:1} Judge not, that ye be not judged. {7:2} For with
what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what
measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
Does this mean we cannot judge anything at all? If this were the case how could we even judge right from wrong? This doesn't mean we aren't to judge for ourselves, it means we are not to judge for others.
You'll get a lot of people shouting and condemning others, pointing their fingers at them and telling them they're doomed. Even in our Bible we have those men of God who went to the people and told them if they didn't change their ways they'd be destroyed. We have to know right from wrong to be able to judge the difference. We can judge an action, we can shout the penalty for wrong actions, but we cannot condemn anyone, we cannot judge their eternal life- that is only for the one and only Righteous One to do, the One who can judge without sight or hearing but with righteousness.
Am I saying we shouldn't have judges and juries, trials and hearings, jailings and dismissals? No. We do what we need to do in society to keep people safe and such.
We can't claim to know anyone's eternal life status.
We might think we can, but we can't.
We can judge actions, but not the eternal life.
I can judge that the action of a person as being an action that is wrong, I can tell that people what they are doing is wrong, I can even tell the person that if it's not repented of they may lose eternal life, but ultimately I cannot tell that person they are unsaved and never going to have eternal life. I cannot be that judge, I only judge with what I see and hear, I don't know the heart, I can't know their thoughts. The One who judges with Righteousness, He knows it all.
There is a special reassurance for all of us that we will be judged with Righteousness and not as men judge one another. God will judge with pure righteousness. This is why we cannot be saved of our ownselves in our own righteousness-
Romans {3:10} As it is written, There is
none righteous, no, not one.
2 Peter {1:1} Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus
Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us
through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus
Christ
Through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ.
Gal. {5:5} For we through the Spirit
wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
Our hope, our faith, our righteousness is found only in Jesus Christ.
We have no righteousness of our own, our righteousness exists by faith in Jesus Christ and His righteousness.
There is comfort knowing we are not judged by our own righteousness which falls far short of any righteousness at all.
This doesn't mean we aren't to judge between right and wrong actions and follow after what we know to be right, it does mean that ultimately every one of us sinners has to rely on Christ and His righteousness, we have no righteousness of our own that is even comparable to the righteousness of Christ.
There is hope in knowing we aren't to be judged by sight, by hearing as we know it but by righteousness, Christ's righteousness. There is hope and the knowledge that it is only by the mercy and grace of our Lord will we be saved by His righteousness.
May the Lord bless and keep us, by faith in Christ may we live.
Amen.
Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: {11:2} And
the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of
wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; {11:3}
And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of
the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes,
neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: {11:4} But
with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with
equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth
with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips
shall he slay the wicked. {11:5} And righteousness shall be
the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his
reins. {11:6} The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and
the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the
young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall
lead them. {11:7} And the cow and the bear shall feed; their
young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat
straw like the ox. {11:8} And the sucking child shall play
on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his
hand on the cockatrice’ den. {11:9} They shall not hurt nor
destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full
of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea
'And he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes.
Neither reprove after the hearing of his ears.
But with righteousness shall he judge the poor.'
The only way we do judge is with the sight of our eyes and hearing of our ears.
We only have the ability to judge in those ways, right?
We have no righteousness in ourselves with which to judge with because we are all sinners and subject to judging only as sinners.
The judges we have in courts are they righteous?
No.
They like to claim impartiality and fairness but all their judging is colored by their own sinfulness.
The juries we use to judge others are filled with sinners.
We like to think we are fair and for the sinners we are just maybe we are as fair as we can be, yet there is no getting around the fact that we judge without the purity that only the Lord can judge us with.
He judges without sight, without hearing, but with righteousness.
We are told not to judge--
Matthew
{7:1} Judge not, that ye be not judged. {7:2} For with
what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what
measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
Does this mean we cannot judge anything at all? If this were the case how could we even judge right from wrong? This doesn't mean we aren't to judge for ourselves, it means we are not to judge for others.
You'll get a lot of people shouting and condemning others, pointing their fingers at them and telling them they're doomed. Even in our Bible we have those men of God who went to the people and told them if they didn't change their ways they'd be destroyed. We have to know right from wrong to be able to judge the difference. We can judge an action, we can shout the penalty for wrong actions, but we cannot condemn anyone, we cannot judge their eternal life- that is only for the one and only Righteous One to do, the One who can judge without sight or hearing but with righteousness.
Am I saying we shouldn't have judges and juries, trials and hearings, jailings and dismissals? No. We do what we need to do in society to keep people safe and such.
We can't claim to know anyone's eternal life status.
We might think we can, but we can't.
We can judge actions, but not the eternal life.
I can judge that the action of a person as being an action that is wrong, I can tell that people what they are doing is wrong, I can even tell the person that if it's not repented of they may lose eternal life, but ultimately I cannot tell that person they are unsaved and never going to have eternal life. I cannot be that judge, I only judge with what I see and hear, I don't know the heart, I can't know their thoughts. The One who judges with Righteousness, He knows it all.
There is a special reassurance for all of us that we will be judged with Righteousness and not as men judge one another. God will judge with pure righteousness. This is why we cannot be saved of our ownselves in our own righteousness-
Romans {3:10} As it is written, There is
none righteous, no, not one.
2 Peter {1:1} Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus
Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us
through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus
Christ
Through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ.
Gal. {5:5} For we through the Spirit
wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
Our hope, our faith, our righteousness is found only in Jesus Christ.
We have no righteousness of our own, our righteousness exists by faith in Jesus Christ and His righteousness.
There is comfort knowing we are not judged by our own righteousness which falls far short of any righteousness at all.
This doesn't mean we aren't to judge between right and wrong actions and follow after what we know to be right, it does mean that ultimately every one of us sinners has to rely on Christ and His righteousness, we have no righteousness of our own that is even comparable to the righteousness of Christ.
There is hope in knowing we aren't to be judged by sight, by hearing as we know it but by righteousness, Christ's righteousness. There is hope and the knowledge that it is only by the mercy and grace of our Lord will we be saved by His righteousness.
May the Lord bless and keep us, by faith in Christ may we live.
Amen.
Monday, March 2, 2009
His anger is not turned away.
Isaiah {9:13} For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth
them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts. {9:14}
Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail,
branch and rush, in one day. {9:15} The ancient and
honourable, he [is] the head; and the prophet that teacheth
lies, he [is] the tail. {9:16} For the leaders of this people
cause [them] to err; and [they that are] led of them [are]
destroyed. {9:17} Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in
their young men, neither shall have mercy on their
fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an
evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his
anger is not turned away, but his hand [is] stretched out still.
Hypocrite and evildoer, mouths speaking folly.
We want God to overlook our hypocrisy.
We want God to overlook our evil doing.
We want God to overlook the folly we speak with our mouths.
It doesn't matter who we are.
Young.
Old.
Leader.
Follower.
Fatherless, motherless, childless, widows, widowers.
Executive.
Laborer.
None of it matters, not one little tiny bit.
It doesn't matter if you are a church leader, a choir singer, a visitor, a patron, it doesn't matter.
What matters if you're alive.
If you're alive you are accountable for your actions.
Every single action you make you are accountable for and have no one but yourself to answer for that action. You can claim outside influence just as Eve claimed beguiling by the Devil. Did Eve's claim to beguiling and Adam's claiming Eve giving him the fruit change their guilt any? Was it then pronounced by God that everything was fine the blame was passed on to the beguiler? No.
No. Everything wasn't fine, the sin remained. The beguiler reaped a punishment for beguiling but ultimately Eve and Adam both were to pay for their own sins.
Today we can blame everything for our actions- circumstance, trickery, beguiling- we can blame all sorts of things for our actions but ultimately we choose every action we make. Even in the most tense situations where we feel our hands are being forced by circumstances, we make the choice that we have to be responsible for. Some say it was a life or death situation, so compromising principles and such should be understood, surely we're not expected to die. But maybe we are.
I hear the shout of a cruel, unloving God that would ask that of us. Well, it's simply not true. God's love goes beyond our comprehension and we are only given small glimpses of that love in our lives such as a father or mother for a child- raising a child- you don't ask nothing of that child you expect obedience and you discipline the child to get the obedience.
God's ways are so far beyond our own but faith and trust are so important.
He is our creator, period.
He is our creator and as such we- His creation are not meant to function fully without Him guiding our lives.
We want to think that God will overlook our short comings but He won't.
He overlooks NOTHING.
How can He overlook sin, when He allowed His only Son to die for sin?
Jesus died for us to pay the price of our forgiven sins, sins we repent of and do no more. Jesus died and God would be very remiss to make the death of His only Son so meaningless that He can simply overlook the sins we commit as being unimportant.
A price was paid for sin.
Sin cannot be overlooked.
Sin can be forgiven.
Isaiah {9:17} Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in
their young men, neither shall have mercy on their
fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an
evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his
anger is not turned away, but his hand [is] stretched out still.
No joy. No mercy. His anger is not turned away.
We can't expect sin to be overlooked.
Sin must be confessed.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to
forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.
We can't expect our sins no matter how tiny or how huge to be overlooked. We can't excuse them away because of this reason or that. We must confess our sins.
May our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ hear our prayer as we seek to confess our sins and repent of them. May His faithfulness and His being just forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness.
By His mercy and grace now and forever!
Amen.
them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts. {9:14}
Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail,
branch and rush, in one day. {9:15} The ancient and
honourable, he [is] the head; and the prophet that teacheth
lies, he [is] the tail. {9:16} For the leaders of this people
cause [them] to err; and [they that are] led of them [are]
destroyed. {9:17} Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in
their young men, neither shall have mercy on their
fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an
evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his
anger is not turned away, but his hand [is] stretched out still.
Hypocrite and evildoer, mouths speaking folly.
We want God to overlook our hypocrisy.
We want God to overlook our evil doing.
We want God to overlook the folly we speak with our mouths.
It doesn't matter who we are.
Young.
Old.
Leader.
Follower.
Fatherless, motherless, childless, widows, widowers.
Executive.
Laborer.
None of it matters, not one little tiny bit.
It doesn't matter if you are a church leader, a choir singer, a visitor, a patron, it doesn't matter.
What matters if you're alive.
If you're alive you are accountable for your actions.
Every single action you make you are accountable for and have no one but yourself to answer for that action. You can claim outside influence just as Eve claimed beguiling by the Devil. Did Eve's claim to beguiling and Adam's claiming Eve giving him the fruit change their guilt any? Was it then pronounced by God that everything was fine the blame was passed on to the beguiler? No.
No. Everything wasn't fine, the sin remained. The beguiler reaped a punishment for beguiling but ultimately Eve and Adam both were to pay for their own sins.
Today we can blame everything for our actions- circumstance, trickery, beguiling- we can blame all sorts of things for our actions but ultimately we choose every action we make. Even in the most tense situations where we feel our hands are being forced by circumstances, we make the choice that we have to be responsible for. Some say it was a life or death situation, so compromising principles and such should be understood, surely we're not expected to die. But maybe we are.
I hear the shout of a cruel, unloving God that would ask that of us. Well, it's simply not true. God's love goes beyond our comprehension and we are only given small glimpses of that love in our lives such as a father or mother for a child- raising a child- you don't ask nothing of that child you expect obedience and you discipline the child to get the obedience.
God's ways are so far beyond our own but faith and trust are so important.
He is our creator, period.
He is our creator and as such we- His creation are not meant to function fully without Him guiding our lives.
We want to think that God will overlook our short comings but He won't.
He overlooks NOTHING.
How can He overlook sin, when He allowed His only Son to die for sin?
Jesus died for us to pay the price of our forgiven sins, sins we repent of and do no more. Jesus died and God would be very remiss to make the death of His only Son so meaningless that He can simply overlook the sins we commit as being unimportant.
A price was paid for sin.
Sin cannot be overlooked.
Sin can be forgiven.
Isaiah {9:17} Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in
their young men, neither shall have mercy on their
fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an
evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his
anger is not turned away, but his hand [is] stretched out still.
No joy. No mercy. His anger is not turned away.
We can't expect sin to be overlooked.
Sin must be confessed.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to
forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.
We can't expect our sins no matter how tiny or how huge to be overlooked. We can't excuse them away because of this reason or that. We must confess our sins.
May our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ hear our prayer as we seek to confess our sins and repent of them. May His faithfulness and His being just forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness.
By His mercy and grace now and forever!
Amen.
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