Isaiah 42:1-25
1 “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold;
My chosen one in whom My soul delights.
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the nations.
2 “He will not cry out or raise His voice,
Nor make His voice heard in the street.
3 “A bruised reed He will not break
And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish;
He will faithfully bring forth justice.
4 “He will not be disheartened or crushed
Until He has established justice in the earth;
And the coast lands will wait expectantly for His law.”
5 Thus says God the Lord,
Who created the heavens and stretched them out,
Who spread out the earth and its offspring,
Who gives breath to the people on it
And spirit to those who walk in it,
6 “I am the Lord, I have called You in righteousness,
I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You,
And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people,
As a light to the nations,
7 To open blind eyes,
To bring out prisoners from the dungeon
And those who dwell in darkness from the prison.
8 “I am the Lord, that is My name;
I will not give My glory to another,
Nor My praise to graven images.
9 “Behold, the former things have come to pass,
Now I declare new things;
Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.”
10 Sing to the Lord a new song,
Sing His praise from the end of the earth!
You who go down to the sea, and all that is in it.
You islands, and those who dwell on them.
11 Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voices,
The settlements where Kedar inhabits.
Let the inhabitants of Sela sing aloud,
Let them shout for joy from the tops of the mountains.
12 Let them give glory to the Lord
And declare His praise in the coast lands.
13 The Lord will go forth like a warrior,
He will arouse His zeal like a man of war.
He will utter a shout, yes, He will raise a war cry.
He will prevail against His enemies.
14 “I have kept silent for a long time,
I have kept still and restrained Myself.
Now like a woman in labor I will groan,
I will both gasp and pant.
15 “I will lay waste the mountains and hills
And wither all their vegetation;
I will make the rivers into coastlands
And dry up the ponds.
16 “I will lead the blind by a way they do not know,
In paths they do not know I will guide them.
I will make darkness into light before them
And rugged places into plains.
These are the things I will do,
And I will not leave them undone.”
17 They will be turned back and be utterly put to shame,
Who trust in idols,
Who say to molten images,
“You are our gods.”
18 Hear, you deaf!
And look, you blind, that you may see.
19 Who is blind but My servant,
Or so deaf as My messenger whom I send?
Who is so blind as he that is at peace with Me,
Or so blind as the servant of the Lord?
20 You have seen many things, but you do not observe them;
Your ears are open, but none hears.
21 The Lord was pleased for His righteousness’ sake
To make the law great and glorious.
22 But this is a people plundered and despoiled;
All of them are trapped in [h]caves,
Or are hidden away in prisons;
They have become a prey with none to deliver them,
And a spoil, with none to say, “Give them back!”
23 Who among you will give ear to this?
Who will give heed and listen hereafter?
24 Who gave Jacob up for spoil, and Israel to plunderers?
Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned,
And in whose ways they were not willing to walk,
And whose law they did not obey?
25 So He poured out on him the heat of His anger
And the fierceness of battle;
And it set him aflame all around,
Yet he did not recognize it;
And it burned him, but he paid no attention.
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Friday, June 12, 2015
Only Brokenness Will Heal Us
This should be the prayer of every person who comes to Christ for salvation, in fact, anyone who did not come this way cannot be born again. One of the criteria for salvation is to confess our sinfulness desiring to be changed by Christ.
Anyone who says their sins weren't so bad, cannot be born again!
And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. (Luke 18:13 KJV)
Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. (Psalms 19:12 KJV)
But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. (Ezekiel 18:21 KJV)
Anyone who says their sins weren't so bad, cannot be born again!
And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. (Luke 18:13 KJV)
Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. (Psalms 19:12 KJV)
But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. (Ezekiel 18:21 KJV)
Don't Look Back
No point in looking backward, especially when God changed us into a new creation. When we are looking backward in our walk, we will trip because we can't see where we are going!
What If We Were Like Pets?
Wouldn't it be wonderful if people would be like my pets, they listen to everything I say and love to be with me.
When I leave a room they follow, when I go outside to work they run with the lawn mower, when I go in the car they scramble to get into it with me, they are completely trusting of me.
No human being would be like this, they are completely satisfied with me and whatever I am doing!!!
What if we had this same attitude toward God? Perhaps He gave us animals to show us how much we should love Him.
When I leave a room they follow, when I go outside to work they run with the lawn mower, when I go in the car they scramble to get into it with me, they are completely trusting of me.
No human being would be like this, they are completely satisfied with me and whatever I am doing!!!
What if we had this same attitude toward God? Perhaps He gave us animals to show us how much we should love Him.
The Chronic Liar
The chronic liar is somewhat like the person who hears the simple gospel but doesn't want to accept it.
The liar will tell lies when the truth would serve him better.
The rebellious heart of the unsaved rejector of Christ, wants to feel in control of their own destiny, never pondering the idea that trusting Christ removes all the stress of attempting to work their way to heaven.
Believing in self is an exercise in futility, we may get along in life for a time, never knowing how much better things would go if we just relinquished our control to God.
The liar will tell lies when the truth would serve him better.
The rebellious heart of the unsaved rejector of Christ, wants to feel in control of their own destiny, never pondering the idea that trusting Christ removes all the stress of attempting to work their way to heaven.
Believing in self is an exercise in futility, we may get along in life for a time, never knowing how much better things would go if we just relinquished our control to God.
You Shall Know Them!
Next time someone tells you that you cannot know what is in a person's heart, perhaps it would be good to remind them of the Scriptures that tells us we can. We do not know where anyone is going to end up in eternity, because we don't know their future, they may repent and become born again, however we can see their fruit or lack of fruit.
When a believer violates the principles of God, they are grieved about themselves and will confess it. When a non-believer violates the principles of God they will refuse to confess even defending their sin, making excuses or pretending it never happened by lying about it.
What is the fruit of the Christian?
Galatians 5:22-23 "22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
The character qualities of a believer will compel them to act in ways that honor God, even if they fall temporarily they will be tormented by the conviction of the Holy Spirit and want to be cleansed of it through confession with the desire to not repeat that sin.
Luke 6:43-44 "43"For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. 44"For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush.…"
God does give us discernment, often we sense something is wrong, no matter how "nice" someones seems to be, there is an absence of genuine Christlike love. We know something is wrong but we cannot put our finger on it. As we continue in the relationship we begin to see the haughtiness and attitude of self righteousness that is a hindrance to a close relationship.
The bad fruit will poison the good fruit making it ill and preoccupied with meaningless drama concocted by the one who does not walk with Christ. A lifestyle of selfishness, drama and intrigue is usually evidence of one who is not submitted to Christ. One of the most evident traits is the refusal to talk a matter through to come to an understanding, they love their secrecy. They do not want to understand, because it would mean they might have to re-evaluate themselves, did they judge wrongly.
There will be many people who lacked the fruit of the Spirit, those character qualities that come from being indwelt by Christ, who will be met with frightening words as they come before the judgement seat. The most ominous words that anyone could ever hear....."I NEVER KNEW YOU." Matthew 7:21-23
These people did all kinds of good works to elevate themselves, they were careful to only allow people to see them in the most positive ways, only to be acting rather than being. Those who walk with Christ, possessing discernment and wisdom can see these people for what they are, but most people will not see it, they will look at the "works" alone without realizing the "fruits" are not present.
One way to tell if someone is desiring holiness and obedience to Christ, is to disagree with them and watch what comes out. There is such a thing as "narcissistic rage" that emerges when someone full of themselves is shown to be wrong about something. They cannot tolerate correction or rebuke to any degree, it must be punished. They never feel remorse and they never confess their sinfulness to the one they harmed.
These same people will accuse of things they are doing but we are not. The purpose is to maintain the elevated position they work to display to the world and want to believe in their own hearts.
We are seeing much of this in our world today, notice the anarchy that is happening all around us, rebellion against authorities. Children are becoming more disrespectful and the parents are indulging them.
I write about this a lot to show those who are victims that they did nothing to deserve this treatment, and to inform those who may think they are saved and are not, to pray and seek God to see if they are in the faith.
2 Corinthians 13:5 "Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you-- unless indeed you fail the test?"
God said that most people are on the wide road to hell and few there are that will be saved, this ought to send chills down our spines, when we realize many will hear those terrible words, "I NEVER KNEW YOU."
I want to warn those who are self righteous, who claim to be Christians but have never trusted Him, attempting to work their way to heaven or even only appear as though they are good people for the sake of men, please pray and ask God if you were ever born again, ask Him to convict you of the things that need to be cleansed. Ask Him to save you and make you holy.
Everyone who has confess their sinfulness and became born again never ever regret that decision to trust Christ and ask to be changed by Him, their entire perspective on life is completely changed, what a wonderful place to be. Hallelujah!!
When a believer violates the principles of God, they are grieved about themselves and will confess it. When a non-believer violates the principles of God they will refuse to confess even defending their sin, making excuses or pretending it never happened by lying about it.
What is the fruit of the Christian?
Galatians 5:22-23 "22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
The character qualities of a believer will compel them to act in ways that honor God, even if they fall temporarily they will be tormented by the conviction of the Holy Spirit and want to be cleansed of it through confession with the desire to not repeat that sin.
Luke 6:43-44 "43"For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. 44"For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush.…"
God does give us discernment, often we sense something is wrong, no matter how "nice" someones seems to be, there is an absence of genuine Christlike love. We know something is wrong but we cannot put our finger on it. As we continue in the relationship we begin to see the haughtiness and attitude of self righteousness that is a hindrance to a close relationship.
The bad fruit will poison the good fruit making it ill and preoccupied with meaningless drama concocted by the one who does not walk with Christ. A lifestyle of selfishness, drama and intrigue is usually evidence of one who is not submitted to Christ. One of the most evident traits is the refusal to talk a matter through to come to an understanding, they love their secrecy. They do not want to understand, because it would mean they might have to re-evaluate themselves, did they judge wrongly.
There will be many people who lacked the fruit of the Spirit, those character qualities that come from being indwelt by Christ, who will be met with frightening words as they come before the judgement seat. The most ominous words that anyone could ever hear....."I NEVER KNEW YOU." Matthew 7:21-23
These people did all kinds of good works to elevate themselves, they were careful to only allow people to see them in the most positive ways, only to be acting rather than being. Those who walk with Christ, possessing discernment and wisdom can see these people for what they are, but most people will not see it, they will look at the "works" alone without realizing the "fruits" are not present.
One way to tell if someone is desiring holiness and obedience to Christ, is to disagree with them and watch what comes out. There is such a thing as "narcissistic rage" that emerges when someone full of themselves is shown to be wrong about something. They cannot tolerate correction or rebuke to any degree, it must be punished. They never feel remorse and they never confess their sinfulness to the one they harmed.
These same people will accuse of things they are doing but we are not. The purpose is to maintain the elevated position they work to display to the world and want to believe in their own hearts.
We are seeing much of this in our world today, notice the anarchy that is happening all around us, rebellion against authorities. Children are becoming more disrespectful and the parents are indulging them.
I write about this a lot to show those who are victims that they did nothing to deserve this treatment, and to inform those who may think they are saved and are not, to pray and seek God to see if they are in the faith.
2 Corinthians 13:5 "Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you-- unless indeed you fail the test?"
God said that most people are on the wide road to hell and few there are that will be saved, this ought to send chills down our spines, when we realize many will hear those terrible words, "I NEVER KNEW YOU."
I want to warn those who are self righteous, who claim to be Christians but have never trusted Him, attempting to work their way to heaven or even only appear as though they are good people for the sake of men, please pray and ask God if you were ever born again, ask Him to convict you of the things that need to be cleansed. Ask Him to save you and make you holy.
Everyone who has confess their sinfulness and became born again never ever regret that decision to trust Christ and ask to be changed by Him, their entire perspective on life is completely changed, what a wonderful place to be. Hallelujah!!
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