Isaiah 38
I often tell my husband that nothing makes me happier than to hear those three little words from him: You were right. Such simple things can make a girl’s day! (ha ha) And I must admit that this was on my mind as I read today’s chapter from Isaiah. I imagine there are a lot of words we can say that would make God happy, and I think some of them were in this chapter.
Isaiah 37
Although the acting has sometimes left something to be desired, I must say that I have taken quite a fancy to the Mission: Impossible movies. I’m always fascinated at how the characters manage to find a way around the “impossible” situations they face. And if there was a Mission: Impossible story in the Bible, this could be it. Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, has gone around the region, conquering everyone and everything in sight (including Israel!), and now, he was sitting on Jerusalem’s doorstep with 185,000 soldiers, ready to capture Judah as well. Good guys, bad guys, lots of drama—this chapter has it all.
Isaiah 36
Have you ever noticed that for everything God offers, Satan has a counterfeit? And usually, it sounds pretty good. So good that, sometimes, it can be hard to distinguish the right from the wrong. Instead of trying to decide between black and white, it’s more like trying to decide between white and off-white.
Isaiah 26
There are times in our lives when circumstances cause us to step back and realize just how fleeting life is and just how little control we have over the things that happen to us. This isn’t a reality we often face; most of us go merrily through the day, living out the plans we have made for ourselves, gleefully unaware that it could all come crashing down around us in a moment (although somewhere, in the back of our minds, we know it’s true).
Isaiah 22
In the last part of this chapter, Isaiah wrote about Eliakim, who was going to become the chief royal steward: “I will clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash around him and hand your authority over to him. He will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the people of Judah. I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.” (vs 21-22)
Isaiah 20
Do you want to serve the Lord?
Are you sure? Think carefully before you answer!
Make sure you noticed this from today’s chapter: “Then the Lord said, ‘Just as my servant Isaiah has gone stripped and barefoot for three years, as a sign and portent against Egypt and Cush, so the king of Assyria will lead away stripped and barefoot the Egyptian captives and Cushite exiles, young and old, with buttocks bared—to Egypt’s shame.’” (vs 3-4)
Isaiah 14
In this chapter of Isaiah, we get a glimpse of Lucifer and the insane road he traveled which led him to total destruction: “How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.” (vs 12-15)
Isaiah 10
Just in case you didn’t pay special attention to the first part of this chapter, let’s review it right off the bat: “‘Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of my wrath! I send him against a godless nation, I dispatch him against a people who anger me, to seize loot and snatch plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets. But this is not what he intends, this is not what he has in mind; his purpose is to destroy, to put an end to many nations.’ When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, ‘I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes. For he says: “By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, because I have understanding. I removed the boundaries of nations, I plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their kings.”‘” (vs 5-7, 12-13)
Isaiah 3
We hear a lot (especially in the church) about the reality of God’s acceptance. God accepts you as you are. God loves you as you are. And yes He does. There is no doubt about it! There is nothing we can do to earn His love; we already have it. But it is a fallacy to believe that God wants to leave us the way He finds us. It is because He loves us that He wants to change our hearts and lives for the better. As Max Lucado wrote in the extended title of his 1998 book, “God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way. He wants you to be… just like Jesus.”
Isaiah 2
War and peace. No, not the book title; the two things people are constantly headed toward. Either we are moving toward war or we are moving toward peace. Sometimes, in this sinful world, it’s difficult to know when (or if) war is appropriate. Some people believe it is never needed; others believe certain situations warrant it. Certainly, the Bible presents situations in which God allowed or sent His people to war.
Isaiah 1
In this first chapter of Isaiah, God reveals Himself as someone who has little interest in religious traditions: “‘The multitude of your sacrifices—what are they to me?’ says the Lord. ‘I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—I cannot bear your worthless assemblies. Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals I hate with all my being. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.’” (vs 11-14)
Song of Solomon 8
For me, this chapter holds one of the most beautiful passages ever written about love: “Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like the very flame of the Lord. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If one were to give all the wealth of one’s house for love, he would be utterly scorned.” (vs 6-7)
Ecclesiastes 12
It’s interesting, isn’t it? Solomon traveled the world, tasted every delight, sampled every pleasure, and denied himself nothing. And at the end of it all, he was left to conclude that all was empty and meaningless, except for this: “Have reverence for God, and obey his commands, because this is all that we were created for.” (vs 13)
Ecclesiastes 10
Solomon begins this chapter with an interesting proverb: “As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.” (vs 1) He’s saying that it takes far more energy to create something beautiful than it does to muck it up. And unfortunately, in this world, there are people who would rather spend their time going around tearing things down than building things up.
Ecclesiastes 8
In this chapter, Solomon continues his theme that life isn’t fair: “There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless. So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.” (vs 14-15)
Ecclesiastes 7
A few days ago, I quoted from an article written by Aleksandar Hemon about the death of his little girl, Isabel. The paragraph I quoted began with a sentence that, at the time, I left out, but I will quote now: “One of the most despicable religious fallacies is that suffering is ennobling—that it is a step on the path to some kind of enlightenment or salvation.” Now, I don’t know about suffering being a step toward salvation, but I’m not sure I’m ready to agree that suffering is not ennobling.
Proverbs 20
Alright, let’s start today’s blog with a pop quiz. It’s been a while since we studied Psalm 16. Do you remember this verse? “You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy. In Your right hand, there are _________ _________.” (Ps 16:11) Can you fill in the blank without looking it up?
Proverbs 16
There seems to be a recurring theme in this chapter—that our human judgment is often skewed. Verse 2 says that “a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the LORD.” Later, we are warned that pride, while it may make us feel confident, “goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” (vs 18)
Proverbs 5
I can almost guarantee you’ll never hear someone get up at church and say, “Our Scripture reading this morning is from Proverbs, chapter five, verses 18 and 19: ‘May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer—may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love.’”
