276 - "Break the Chains of Injustice; Free The Oppressed; Cancel Debts" Isaiah 56-58; Romans 11:1-18

Look at how many times the prophet says that this is what God says.  A message from the Holy One. God, the Son, is saying:  "I am coming soon."  

Until He comes, His Grace is with us in the midst of every sigh, every sorrow, every secret, every suffering.  We may be crying in HEARTACHE, but we can be living in HOPE.
  
A Message from the One Whose Name is Holy:  "I live in the high and holy places, but also with the low-spirited, the spirit-crushed, And what I do is put new spirit in them, get them up and on their feet again. For I'm not going to haul people into court endlessly,"  Isaiah 57:15.

Isaiah 58:2 - 9    BUSY BUSY BUSY V. BEING AVAILABLE TO YOUR FAMILIES
Face my family with their sins! They're busy, busy, busy at worship, and love studying all about me. To all appearances they're a nation of right-living people—law-abiding, God-honoring. They ask me, 'What's the right thing to do?' and love having me on their side. But they also complain, 'Why do we fast and you don't look our way? Why do we humble ourselves and you don't even notice?' "Well, here's why:

 

"The bottom line on your 'fast days' is profit. The kind of fasting you do won't get your prayers off the ground.  "This is the kind of fast day I'm after:  to break the chains of injustice, free the oppressed, cancel debts. What I'm interested in seeing you do is:  sharing your food with the hungry, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, being available to your own families. ...  So, every year, I toe the line in the Kansas City Marathon for World Vision. 800 kids today will lose their life because of polluted water sources. Fundraising to help World Vision build one well at a time---$50 builds one well for one child for a lifetime of clean water.

You'll call out for help and I'll say, 'Here I am.' Isaiah 58:9 - I'll give you a full life in the emptiest of places...You'll be like a well-watered garden...If you honor it by refusing 'business as usual,' making money, running here and there— Then you'll be free to enjoy God! 

Romans 11:5 ~ There is a remnant, chosen by grace.  But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace. We are chosen by grace and not by works.  In the true church realitor, it is made up of people saved by grace.  Some are still working real hard to make it to heaven---doesn't work that way.  We are human beings not human doers.  The Hand of Grace is on us~ So why are you working so hard to pull your life together?

PHOTO:  Walking every day and thinking about those without.  Zeke and I are doing the 10K in this pic.  Godspeed. 
 

275 - "God's Word Does Not Return Empty" Isaiah 53-55; Romans 10

Though this mountain is shaking and the hill is removed, 

yet My Unfailing Love for you! will not be shaken; 

nor my covenant of peace be removed, 

said the Lord Who has compassion on you." 

Isa 54:10

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven

and do not return there but water the earth,

making it bring forth and sprout,

giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

it shall not return to me empty,

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,

and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.  Isaiah 55:10-11.

Come. Come with all your longings. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. The efficacy of nature depicts the rain and the snow coming down from heaven yielding seed and bread. Same for God's Word. It will not return to God empty. Do I have that fixed in my mind today?

Seek the Lord while He may be found.  He is near.

His Word is in our mouths.  

He will accomplish all that concerns us.

Our Counselor, His Word, will succeed.

We will find Peace that this world cannot give.

Are we looking in the right places?

Romans 10:2 They have a zeal for God but nor according to knowledge.  They didn't submit to God's Righteousness.  They sought to establish their own.  A righteousness based on the law that the person who does the commandments lives by.  No, the righteousness based on faith says what?  Romans 10:8,9 ~ The word is near you, in your mouth and heart.  Confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is LORD and God raised Him from the dead, and you will be saved.

We have all submitted once and for all to God's Righteousness.  But, every day, we confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts either the resurrection of Christ or a resurrection of our own ideas.  What will it be this day?

PHOTO: Mount Rainier. It doesn't shake every day. 

274 - "God's Arm Is Not Too Short" Romans 9: 16-33

                                                         

ISAIAH 50:2 GOD'S ARM IS NOT TOO SHORT  God's Hand is not too short. Isaiah 50:2 If he sends really hard things our way, do we complain that He is too harsh? He turns life into wilderness. And we argue that it is too much. Who does the argument start with? Not God. Our own desires. His hand is His Strength. Can he dry up the Red Sea? Of course. Can he make a wilderness of our story? Absolutely. Can we argue with the Mighty Hand of God on our lives? Can we set limits on Omnipotence? Can the Almighty hand deliver us from what we face? Will He? Can He silence our questions, our doubts of His Hand in our lives? Here is unquestionable proof: He dried up the sea. He made the rivers into wilderness. And He redeemed His children out of all of it. Redeemed Israel out of Egypt. Redeemed me out of my worldly coveted land. And He can redeem those places in my heart that still need redemption. 

Every day is marked. All our days. Our good ones.  Our bad ones.

For those days when we walk in the dark,

where there is no light for our path,

may we trust in the Name of the Lord,

our God.  Isaiah 50:10

May we lay down our strategies, our crutch,

and not try to illuminate our path

through analysis and maneuvers and spotlights.

If we walk by the light of our own fires,

God puts in Isa 50:11 that it won't turn out well for us.

Torment is the word God uses. Awake the dead! God has comforted his people. He has tenderly nursed his beaten-up, beaten-down people. Has God forgotten me? "Can a mother forget the infant at her breast, walk away from the baby she bore? But even if mothers forget, I'd never forget you—never. Look, I've written your names on the backs of my hands. 

Isaiah 50:5-  SET FACE LIKE FLINT
He wakes me up in the morning, Wakes me up, opens my ears to listen as one ready to take orders. The Master, God, opened my ears, and the Master, God, stays right there and helps me, so I'm not disgraced. Therefore I set my face like flint, confident that I'll never regret this. My champion is right here. Let's take our stand together! Who dares bring suit against me? ... Lean on your God! 

Isaiah 51: 1-4 - GOD'S WORK IN ME IS RIGHT ON TIME
"Listen to me, all you who are serious about right living and committed to seeking God. Ponder the rock from which you were cut, the quarry from which you were dug. Yes, ponder Abraham and Sarah. I'll transform you to a place of exuberance, laughter, gratitude, and song"...Revelation flows from Me; my salvation right on time. I'll bring justice...You made the bottom of the ocean a road for the redeemed to walk across? In the same way God's ransomed will come back, cheering, shouting. Joy eternal wreathing their heads, exuberant ecstasies transporting them— and not a sign of moans or groans. 

Isaiah 51:12  I WATCH OVER YOUR DOUBLE DOSE OF TROUBLE
I'm the One comforting you. What are you afraid of? Man who dies? You've forgotten Me Who made you. 51:16 I teach you how to talk, word by word, and personally watch over you, Even while I'm unfurling the skies, setting earth on solid foundations 51:20 -You've been hit with a double dose of trouble—does anyone care? Assault and battery, hunger and death—will anyone comfort? "Look, I've taken back the drink that sent you reeling. God has something to say: "No more drinking from that jug of my anger! I've passed it over to your abusers to drink, those who ordered you, 'Down on the ground so we can walk all over you!"

Isaiah 52:7 PURIFY YOURSELVES/ YOU'RE NOT RUNNING....GOD IS LEADING YOU OUT OF HERE.
How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger bringing good news, Breaking the news that all's well, proclaiming good times, announcing salvation, telling Zion, "Your God reigns!"...52:11 - Purify yourselves.  You're not running from anybody! God is leading you out of here, and the God of Israel is also your rear guard. 

Isaiah 53:6 EVERYTHING WE HAVE DONE WRONG IS ON HIM
But the fact is, it was our pains he carried— our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us, and that made us whole. We're all like sheep who've wandered off and gotten lost. We've all done our own thing, gone our own way. And God has piled all our sins on Himself.

It is not owed to the works of our hands, nor our desires, not even our bold actions.  This is not the motive of His mercy.  We are Under The Mercy.

Romans 9:17 ~  "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." It's what God said to Pharaoh who hardened his heart against the Mighty One.  What will we do with this God Who wants to show His Power in you and in me? Will we strive and struggle with all of our strength?  Romans 9:16 says that it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.  We should all be on our faces crying to Our Maker for Mercy.  Romans 9:18 ~ He has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.   Do we answer Him back?   He wants to make known the Riches of His Glory in vessels of mercy.  What will we do with this Jesus, our God? 

PHOTO:  35,000 feet in the air on the way to Kansas City.  "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy...it does not depend on human desire or effort but on God's mercy."  Romans 9:16.

273 - "Lean On The God of Israel" Isaiah 47-49; Romans 9:1-15

Who am I really listening to?

What is playing over and over in my mind?

Am I listening to God?

Am I listening to what it means to "move in" to love those difficult people in my life?

\

You claim to be citizens of the Holy City; 

you act as though you lean on the God of Israel, 

named God-of-the-Angel-Armies. 

You've never been good listeners to me. 

You have a history of ignoring me.

I've refined you, but not without fire. 

I've tested you like silver in the furnace of affliction.  

Come close, listen carefully:   I've always been present with you."

Isaiah 48

He said to me, “You are my servant,
    Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.”

But I said, “I have labored in vain;
    I have spent my strength for nothing at all.
Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand,
    and my reward is with my God.”

                                                                                Isa 49:3-4

Do I allow an Infinite God the Sovereign Right
to manage the affairs of His Creation?
May we adore His Pardoning Mercy,
His New-Creating Grace,
His Ever-Vigilant Superintending,
His Almighty Power.
Christ is God over all.  Romans 9:5.

Romans 9:13 ~ "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." A stunning verse to comprehend. What shall we say??  Injustice!  "By no means.  For God says to Moses: I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."

Praying for us all that the Holy One shifts His Eyes of Mercy our way.  It is all about the Sovereign Will of God not about my human exertion.

PHOTO: My prayer today is for these two guys lean in their lives to listen to God all their days.

272 - "Stirred More By My High Calling or By My Pain?" Isaiah 45-46; Romans 8:22-39

                                                                   

 "I've singled you out, called you by name, and given you this privileged work."  Am I more stirred this day by my high calling or by the pain in my life?  Isa 45:11: "Do you question who or what I'm making? Are you telling me what I can or cannot do?"  Radical Repentance needed to respond to the truth of the Gospel to advance His Kingdom.

God will never stop doing you good.  Isaiah 45:3-6.  God says: I've been carrying you on my back from the day you were born, And I'll keep on carrying you when you're old. I've done it and will keep on doing it.  So why do I act like the center of the universe is me, sometimes.

What an introduction in Psalm 46:10. I am God! Be still. Know this! Such a beautiful way to introduce the offer. Take this comfort: I am with you. I am for you. That is what you use to answer your worries. 

The Hebrew word for "be still" means to let it fall; let the concerns hang down. Then, slack off, especially your hands. No exertion needed. Leave the matter with God. Oh! The Providence in all our problems. 

Oh! The Power in what we contemplate. Oh! That introduction! Take the comfort! 

What is most alive in me this day?  Am I more alive with other people who are "safe" and backing away from those closest to me?  Heaven forbid.  What does love look like today toward those in my life who are difficult to read and dismissive in actions toward me?  "Only those who know they are not acting right and hate their responses more than their pain and emptiness---those people will experience transformation to love their spouse, their children, their families, their friends.   I have prayed this verse for you over and over throughout all of your lives. Romans 8:26

"The Holy Spirit is the spring of all desires toward God, which are often more than words can utter." M. Henry.  The Spirit Himself intercedes for you in wordless groans.  Rom 8:26,

Nothing can come between your soul and those wordless groans of glory.  God is answering!

PHOTO:  The sun draping our city in the power of Light. Only God can raise this sun every day. That's the same power we have to love. 

271 - "Wood Fuels Fires and Carves Idols" Isaiah 43-44; Romans 8:1-21

 

The Lord says:  I created you.  I formed you.  I redeemed you.  I summoned you by name.  You are mine.When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.  And the fire will not burn you.  Isaiah 43:1-2

When God acts, who can reverse it?  Isaiah 43:13.

God formed me from the womb. No one on earth knows me like that. He wired me together this way. He will help me even when I am fed up with me. Isaiah 44:2

He'll pour water on thirsty real estate. He'll pour His Spirit on our children.  

Fear not.

This God Who has formed us is here to redeem us. And that changes everything.  

The more that we know about things in this life, the less we wonder. The more that we know about things in the next life, the more we wonder. Mystery! While an earth groans and the Spirit inside of us bears witness: "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Romans 8:1. No spirit of slavery. No more. We have a spirit of adoption. So, cry out to the most real thing in the world! Romans 8:15. "In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of tthe Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God." Romans 8:26.  And pray where you are suffering.  "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us." Romans 8:18. "The sufferings of the saints strike no deeper than the things of time, last no longer than the present time, are light afflictions, and but for a moment. How vastly different are the sentence of the word and the sentiment of the world, concerning the sufferings of this present time!"  Matthew Henry. The sentence of the Word tells us that tribulations will happen to us in this life; the sentiment of the world says that if God is really good, then He will protect us and spare us from this suffering. May we live for the the truth of the word of Grace not sentiment.  May our thoughts that keep returning for a visit home conclude in truth not sentiment.  

PRAYER FROM PSALMS

"Guide me in Your Truth and teach me, O God, for you are my God, my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long."  Psalm 25:5  All. Day. Long. This day, I will put my hope in You. For what I entertain in my thoughts, hold in my heart, please intercede with groanings too deep for words, according to Your Will.  For You, I wait. 

270 - “God Is Tender Toward Suffering” Isaiah 41-42; Romans 7

 

 Find Rest, O My Soul.

Isaiah 42:3 "A bruised reed He will not break, and a dimly burning wick, He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice."  This prophecy is about the Coming Christ.  This Son of God is tender toward those who are suffering, the bruised and the broken; the dimly burning and the delicate.  He knows our frame.  He will never allow more suffering than for our good.  Whatever comes our way, we have a Savior who will bear us up, bring us up, and give birth to Something New.  Isa 42:9; 43:1-4.This is my world today.

269 - “Every Valley Lifted Up” Isaiah 39-40; Romans 6

 

 Isaiah 40 - it's a commission to all of God's ministers, you and me. Comfort God's people. Speak tenderly to them. Tell them they are forgiven. They will receive double from the Lord's hand. These people saw Jerusalem "ripening for ruin" and they couldn't help themselves. They were melancholy for good reasons. But they needed to look further. God had mercy in store. So, what's the point here. Comfort, you comfort. Doubled down. They needed it in the worst of times and so do we. Make straight in this desert, a highway for God. Every valley shall be lifted up and every mountain and hill be made low. The glory of the Lord shall be revealed. Isa 40:1-4.

“Patient sufferers have most of the Divine consolations, which abound as afflictions abound. It works needful experience of ourselves. This hope will not disappoint, because it is sealed with the Holy Spirit as a Spirit of love. God sheds abroad the love of God in the hearts of all the saints.  A right sense of God's love to us, will make us not ashamed, either of our hope, or of our sufferings for him."  Matthew Henry.  

Just watched a story on the "I Am Second" website about Ethan:  http://www.iamsecond.com/ethan/ This 13-year-old is not ashamed of his suffering and neither am I.  

Therefore present yourselves to God as alive from the dead." Rom 6:13.  People don't want us to suffer---they don't want to hear the trodden stories.  And they miss the Grace of God there.

PHOTO:  The Hound of Heaven comes.  From the days of Jerusalem to the days of hill country, He comes.

268 - “Spread Out Your Dilemma” Isaiah 36-38; Romans 5

   

This picture of Hezekiah going to God with his problems is cemented in my heart.  I'll go looking for Hezekiah in heaven to tell him just how much his story of spreading his problems before God's Eyes meant to me over my lifetime.  I've smoothed out sheets and asked God to sit in the hospital bed next to me.  I've smoothed out paper and invited Him to write a different script.  I've smoothed out sin-sick souls and sat next to them and wept.  Whatever we face, spread it before the One Who is the Author of all.  Isaiah 37:14 - Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord:  “O Lord of hosts, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see..."

Spreading before the LORD what concerns us this very day. Oh God, incline your ear.

Romans 5:3-5 Rejoice in Suffering...How do you do that?
And God moves...
Endurance
Character
Hope 
Love poured into our hearts.

PHOTO: California. Whether cemented in splendor or surreal or surprise or senseless, spread it out before the Lord.

267 - “Converting Grace” Isaiah 34-36; Romans 4

  

We are on the right path to rest forever.  

All our sighs and sorrows will be no more.

We shall see the Glory of the Lord.  Isa 35:1

So,

Strengthen our weak hands, O God,

Make firm our feeble knees.

Let's say to those who have anxious hearts,

No More, Fear Not, Be Strong,

And speak peace to our brothers. Isa 35:4

For,

Our God is coming One Day with a vengeance,

and He will right all wrongs done against us.

Leave it in His Lap this day.

Our God will open blind eyes.

Unstop deaf ears.

The lame will leap and

the deaf will sing.

Yes,

There will be a Highway there...

and we are on that highway today.

Headed in the Right Direction.

The Way of Holiness.

Isaiah 35:8

Converting Grace.

Those who are barren in a wilderness

will sing again, will love even deeper, will grow mighty themselves.

That is the Gospel we live for, the Day we long for.

Oh God, help us see in our sighing that what matters so today will not be a thought in Eternity. What matters to me today is being around people who know-it-all; who don't give a flip about me; who think it's a great idea if it is their idea only.  Why does this bother me so?  Not a drop of that thought in Eternity. Let it go.  Help us to prepare for the Day we live for---to be with You.  

PHOTO:  Stunning sunset contemplating speaking to anxious hearts including my own. Let your words lay help upon the Almighty, the Might One, for your friends.  

266 - “Counsel For Our Deepest Needs” Isaiah 32-34; Romans 3

             

This beautiful book counsels us in our deepest need where our plans to walk wisely fail.  

Where our plans to be strong sink.  Where this Holy One is our strength, our everything.

O, Lord, be gracious to us this sunrise.  We wait for you not for any man.  

"Be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble."  Isaiah 33:2.  

And, You will be the stability of our times today, an abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge.  Isaiah 33:6.  

The Jews provided Light to the World.  They knew the truth and rebelled and God had two things against them.  They didn't rebel in ignorance.  God held the nation accountable.

Did the Jews think they were superior over the  Gentiles?  God was their Author.  But He chose the Jews just like He chose the Gentiles because of His Love set on them not because they were so great or so many.

Rom 3:10-11   "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God."  Wonder why I think other people are better than I when we are all wandering pilgrims.  

We are justified by His Grace as a gift.  Undeserved.  Unbelievable.  Unrelenting. PHOTO: On this beach while I walk, be our arm in time of trouble. 

265 - “Run To These Verses” Isaiah 30-31; Romans 2

Three Verses I have thought about for the past 5 decades.

The default of the Jews was to go to their neighbors if they needed help,
not to their God.
What about me?
I too have run to the arms of flesh for guidance, counsel, support.
May we deeply depend this day on the LORD our God.

In Returning and Rest
In Quietness and Trust
Shall be Your Strength.
Isaiah 30:15

The LORD longs to be gracious to you
He longs to show mercy to you.
He is a God of justice.
Blessed are those who wait for Him, not for any man.
Isaiah 30:18

And though the Lord gives you
the bread of adversity and the water of affliction,
Your teacher will not hide himself anymore.
Your eyes will see Your Teacher.
Your ears will hear a word behind you, saying:
This is the way, walk in it.
When you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.
Isaiah 30:20-21

We will find strength in affliction because You are there.  Help us this day in what you have allowed in your Providential Hand to escape the snares of the enemy of our souls.  Help us this day to find that quietness and rest in You in the midst of this world we live in.

This chapter has meant more to me over the last three decades. I carry these words daily. Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the Lord. Isa 31:1 To Whom or what do I turn this day, this hour? 30:18

Woe to the one

who tells God what to do.

Shall the clay tell the Potter

what to do?  

We have life mixed up..

Paul David Tripp calls it 

Eternity Amnesia.

"Life is a struggle.  The Lord, in His Wisdom, has left us in a fallen world.  But perhaps our struggles are not primarily about the brokenness that surrounds us.  Could it be there is something we bring to each of these struggles that makes them harder to bear?"   www.paultripp.com/articles/posts/your-final-destinatio

Romans 2:4  Our Good God does not give us what we deserve.  We should have perished even today for what we did to Him, to others.  But no, it's His Goodness that leads us to repentance.  Goodness closely related to kindness.  He is way more Kinder than we think!  You practice evil and repent either in ignorance or in full knowing.  He is always doing us good even when we don't see it.

      “There is in every willful sin a contempt of the Goodness of God.”                      
                                                           Matthew Henry

Romans 2 ... these people were on a downward spiral. Be mindful, God is good and kind. But, He is not soft. Romans 2:1-3

  

PHOTO: A Rabbit Hole.  As we look deep into the holes of our own lives, may we sense Your Presence with us, Your Provision toward us, and Your Bending Low to us. 

264 - “Confront Us with The Holy One” Isaiah 28-29; Roman’s 1

 

Isaiah 28:8 Woe to: parodies of a proud and handsome past. 

Isaiah 28:21 – The LORD will rise up; He will rouse Himself to do His Work, His Strange Work.

Isaiah 29:13 – These people come near to me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.  Their worship of Me is made up only of rules taught by men…I will astound them with Wonder upon Wonder. No. They wanted to hear what would make them feel better. 

Here it is.  The first verse I read that grabbed me and what I was doing, living, being when I was a mere 21 years old. 

These people come to me

and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is based on merely human rules they have been taught. Isaiah 29:13.

And I turned.  I could no longer live in the human rules.

I could no longer live by the works of my hand.

I can no longer live today by the principle of this land.

Their worship is made up of rules that come from merely humans, yet the Sovereign Lord says: In quietness and trust is your strength.

This justification by faith is no new doctrine introduced.  Those disciples just bore witness to a perfect life and a resurrection. That word of mouth changed everything.  The Resurrected Christ is resurrecting me. What was written here in antiquity now is now alive. Romans 1:7.  With great affection and powerful authority, this blessing is for you Today and always.  Sweet Grace: the favor of God on us and the work of God in us.  Great Peace: peace with God, peace with our own conscience, peace with all that surrounds us.  "Grace to you and peace." 

263 - "We Gave Birth to The Wind" Isaiah 26-27; Ephesians 6

     

                  We have given birth to the wind.  Isaiah 26:18.

Brooke gave birth the best way in the whole wide world.  God's way for these babies to come to earth.

We wanted to give birth to what is real and what will last for all eternity.

Whispered Prayers for true birth.

We need You so to intervene, intercede, interplay, interact.  

May the pangs of childbirth form Christ in us.  Gal 4:19.

May the peace of God grasp us and keep us safe.

"You keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in you.
Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord God is an everlasting rock."

Isaiah 26:3-4

Perfect peace

Inward peace

Outward peace

Peace with God

Peace of conscience

Peace at all times

Peace in all events

[Matthew Henry Commentary]

This verse has been on my mind since you all my kids have lived in footed pajamas.  Eph 6:13-17. After you have done everything to stand <<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>

We wrestle not only with flesh and blood.  We wrest principalities who know a thousand ways of "beguiling my soul."  The devil knows me through-and-through.  Those intimate things that I carry.  Those secrets that belong only to me.  Those holes in my heart. Oh for grace to resist.  Resist Him and he will flee.  

Here in Ephesians 6 are the heavy-armed pieces that protect the face of our lives.  Not the back.  A girdle.  A helmet.  A breastplate. Leg armor.  A sword.  Nothing for the back side.

A single text, rightly divided and applied.
A single prayer, fastens the armor to our lives.

"We must pray with all kinds of prayer---public, private, secret, social, solitary, solemn, sudden."  Matthew Henry.
Our Redeemer draws nigh to us.  Our Redeemer is Almighty.
His Power is present in our wrestle when we face the hard things of life.
When we turn away, there is no armor for the back.  

PHOTO:   For the twins! May new birth be Christ formed in us. A true birth.

262 - "Live With Your Final Destination In View" Ephesians 5:17-33

There will be boundless joy, One Day.

                                                   

Grief will be banished forever.
Tears will be wiped away, no place.
Isaiah 25:8
Therefore, live with sorrow patiently, kindly.
He is coming to remove that sorrow, that shame.
May we have no forgetfulness of what, of Whom we Await.
"Live with your final destination in view." Paul David Tripp
Tripp says that we sometimes live with functional eternity amnesia.
We forget where we are actually going, the day we live for.
"Behold, this is our God for Whom we have waited that He might save us." Isaiah 25:9

We have given birth to the wind.  Isaiah 26:18.

When we wanted to give birth to what is real and what will last for all eternity.

Whispered Prayers for true birth.

We need You so to intervene, intercede, interplay, interact.  

May the pangs of childbirth form Christ in us.  Gal 4:19.

May the peace of God grasp us and keep us safe.

"You keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in you.
Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord God is an everlasting rock."

Isaiah 26:3-4

Perfect peace

Inward peace

Outward peace

Peace with God

Peace of conscience

Peace at all times

Peace in all events

[Matthew Henry Commentary]

Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. The desire of our souls is for Your Name. Isaiah 26:8 As I walk into a reunion room of friends, may my heart be for Your Name, all you have done. Whether we walk through self-made afflictions or walk in the wealth of your Word. That You would manifest Yourself as our Friend.

The path of the righteous is level;
You, the Upright One, make the way of the righteous smooth.
Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your Word,
we wait for you;
your name and renown
are the desire of our hearts. Isaiah 26:7-8

May God's Name be made known from this first day here and forever.

We whisper this prayer for peace.

Wives should submit in everything...and...let the wife see that she respects her husband ~ Ephesians 5:33. There is an Energy at work to accomplish the mystery of marriage ~ Col 1:29. May God do abundantly beyond what we think according to that Power that works within ~ Eph 3:20.

PHOTO:  The Hill Country.  May new birth be Christ formed in us.  Not a birth of the wind.PHOTO: Our neighborhood. Live with your final destination in view every day everywhere.

261 - "God Fastened Him As A Nail" Isaiah 20-22; Ephesians 5:1-16

God fastened him as a nail.  Isaiah 22:23.  

God put in my husband's hands the power to lead His church.  

He stood.  Established.  Spoke well.  Served to the hilt. The support a congregation needed.  And our family needs.  

And this spike will be strengthened by each of you and your prayers.  And the church will be contrived to strengthen its walls by the binding of its people together.  

And we all hang on that nail.  And the nail-scarred Hands.

Praying for the strength that only come from the One Who has called us to lead.

Some so sleep in their sins.
        Awake.  Arise.
Christ may give you light!!
We must have a sight that sin is sin.
We must have some knowledge that sin is sin.
We must have "some measure shameful" that sin is sin.
       Awake.  Arise.

What stirs me this day to redeem the time?  Eph. 5: 16.
Neglect of my soul is the greatest loss.
Let me lift my spirits by prayer.
Asking to be filled.
Avoiding sin.

"Live as children of light?
For the fruit of the light
consists of all
goodness, all
righteousness, all truth.
Ephesians 5:9

PHOTO:  Bob is as tough as nails, yet so tender with me. Today is his 76th birthday. We've lived a long life. I've had a rough patch of a life but it's been a good life with him so strong and true.  I always wanted to marry a pastor. Couldn't be happier about that. Wish we could have stayed at Hope and spent all our days there but God had other plans to fasten my husband as a nail in Austin. 

260 - "The Holy One Will Silence You With A Word" Isaiah 17-19; Ephesians 4

                                                        

 17: 7 -8   Yes, the Day is coming when people will notice The One Who Made Them, take a long hard look at The Holy of Israel. They'll lose interest in all the stuff they've made—altars and monuments and rituals, their homemade, handmade religion—however impressive it is. 

Isaiah 17: 10 - 11 You have forgotten God even though you are very religious.  Even though you work very hard. 

Isaiah 17:13 God will silence them with a word. 

Have I taken a hard look at the Holy One?  Isaiah 30:1 are words that will soon come from Isaiah's mouth.  "Woe to those who carry out plans that are not mine...Isaiah 30:11 stop confronting me with the Holy One of Israel.  Have we forgotten our God?  What word is God speaking to us through the prophet Isaiah?

"My love makes people holy.  "Only those who know they are unholy, who hate their unholiness more than their pain and emptiness, experience the transforming power of My Love.  Only holy people live well.  Only holy people love."  66 LL  Do I hate my unholiness more than my pain?  More than my emptiness?

Eph 4:2 -4 "I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don't want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don't want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences. You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly."   ... No more pretense (v. 25).PHOTO: May the God Who created you hear the sound of your voice rising up to Him every day of your life.

259 - "God's Love Makes People Holy" Isaiah 14-16; Ephesians 3

The Work of Your Fingers.

May we learn better how to live in humility not pride.
Isaiah 14:4 - The LORD will give rest from the pain and turmoil. Expect victory. Babylon was a noble city. A proud city. And people changed. Evil reigned. Pride fell hard. "Give diligence to obtain a kingdom which cannot be moved; and in this hope let us hold fast that grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear." Hebrews 12:28. 

The LORD is coming to help desolate Babylon. The LORD comes to help every one of us. "Expect Victory." Because He has come, we have victory over every enemy of our souls. So, what is the point here? No matter where we've been, what we've done, God moves to give us rest. God moves to give us Himself. And are we open? What is it that we do not understand about the movement of God, the Love of God.

"God's Love makes people holy. Only those who know they are unholy, who hate their unholiness more than their pain and emptiness, experience the transforming power of God's Love. Only holy people live well. Only holy people love." 66LLPaul's response to the Incredible Riches of His Grace is to go to his knees...

Eph 3:14-21  "My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God. God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us. 
Glory to God in the church! 

258 - "God Sweeps His Hand Across My Raging Waters" Isaiah11-13; Ephesians 2

And you will say in that day:

I will give thanks to You, O LORD,

for though you were angry with me,

your anger turned away.  Isaiah 11:1

With joy, I will draw from the wells of salvation.
Great in your midst is the Holy One. Isaiah 11:6

That is the best news I can ever know.
The Holy One.  In our midst. 
Not because we are righteous but because He is.

The Messiah, a branch of Jesse.
Posting early notice:  His Kingdom will not be of this world.
And He will reign with justice and kindness and righteousness.
His Kingdom will know no end.

"There shall be great peace and quiet in his government."  M. Henry
There needs to be the same in each of our lives.
No show.  No display.  No favorites.
Just peace and quiet.

Hope for the Darkest of Days. Isaiah 12:6 "Great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel." 

How True.  How Beautiful.
We are fully loved this moment, this midst that we are in.
We are fully known in our darkest moments.

“It is precisely because we resist the darkness that we miss the depths of the loveliness, beauty, brilliance, creativity, and joy that lie at our core.”~ Thomas Moore, Dark Nights of the Soul.

A God Who sweeps His Hand (Isa 11:15) across my raging waters that I may cross in sandals not sails. Dryshod!  All impediments to His Will dried up on both sides. 

He Himself is Our Peace - Ephesians 2:14.
Wonder how my day would have looked different if I truly believed that
He Himself is Our Peace.
There are moments where I am so "at war" in my mind
to believe the best, to not blameshift, to rest at being not doing.
It's not about things:
MORE: going well, 
ALL: being solved, 
LESS: having fewer problems
He Himself is Our Peace.
No solutions.  No formulas.  No outlines.  No cheat sheets.
So, what stirs in you this day as you process life?

PHOTO:  A very dark day on Santa Rosa Island.  Thinking about how we are not evil yet do evil things.  We are righteous.  Called to peace and quietness in the midst of our deep darkness.  Big difference between evil people and those pursuing peace.

257 - “Between The Already and The Not Yet” Isaiah 9-10; Ephesians 1

 

Paul is writing to the faithful in this town----you know, the ones whose faith he has heard about; the ones who have shown love toward all.   And he's telling the good guys---you are always being mentioned in my prayers---Ephesians 1:16---because, we all need prayer!

"that the Father of Glory 
may give to you a Spirit of wisdom 
and revelation in the knowledge of Him.
having the eyes of your hearts enlightened,
that you may know what is the hope of His Calling,
what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints
and what is the exceeding greatness of His Power toward us who believe
according to that working of the strength of His Might."     Ephesians 1:17-19

"God has laid up spiritual blessings for us in his Son the Lord Jesus; but requires us to draw them out and fetch them in by prayer."  Matthew Henry.  That so makes me want to go pray.  Makes me so want to ask you to mention my name.  And just how did I get to this place where I am today.  And just how in the world can I get to a better place?  It is Your Working of the Strength of Your Might.  Oh God, help us all.

There is nothing on this earth that can enlighten the eyes of our hearts.  
Nothing less than the power of the Almighty God at work to will and do of His Good Pleasure.

Will I let Him this day have His Own Way?  For we are made for Him.  We are known by Him.  We are here in Him.   God will honor the nations. 

For a child is born. 

The people walking in darkness have seen a Great Light.

 On those living in the land of deep darkness, a Light has dawned. 

And That Love is the wonder of us all.

He is a Wonderful Counselor. 

He knew God's counsel from the Beginning. 

And He consults on our behalf the Wisdom of God. 

Nothing like this on earth. 

We live between the Already and the Not Yet.

It's the Not Yet that keeps me trusting cause I'm not There yet. 

And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the greatness of his government and peace
    there will be no end." Isa 9:6.

Can we Fathom "no end"???

Can I embrace the present and find a Wonderful Counselor? 

256 - Isaiah 7-8; Acts 20:17-38

                               

Isaiah 7:2  "When the Davidic government learned that Aram had joined forces with Ephraim (that is, Israel), Ahaz and his people were badly shaken. They shook like trees in the wind."  What they feared wasn't even legitimate.  Why am I shaking like a tree in the wind?  What do I fear?  What is my terror?

Isaiah 7:10 - 12  "Ask for a sign from your God. Ask anything. Be extravagant. Ask for the moon!"  But Ahaz said, "I'd never do that. I'd never make demands like that on God!"  Ahaz almost missed hearing the prophecy of Jesus.  I love Isaiah 7: 14 - the Master is going to give you a sign anyway.  God, would you give us this day what we are missing?  God-With-Us.

Isaiah 8:10   "All your talk is mere talk, empty words, because when all is said and done, the last word is Immanuel—God-With-Us."  Am I really convinced that God is with me in this?

Isaiah 8:16  While I wait for God as long as he remains in hiding, while I wait and hope for Him, I stand my ground and hope.  In the midst of confusion, will you wait in hope with me?  Will you redefine your problems as God-With-Us on a Journey---not solutions for our suffering.  God-With-Us in His Providence has allowed what you face today.  Providential Suffering.  Face the silence and wait in darkness.

For a child is born. 

The people walking in darkness have seen a Great Light.

 On those living in the land of deep darkness, a Light has dawned. 

And That Love is the wonder of us all.

He is a Wonderful Counselor. 

He knew God's counsel from the Beginning. 

And He consults on our behalf the Wisdom of God. 

Nothing like this on earth. 

We live between the Already and the Not Yet.

It's the Not Yet that keeps me trusting cause I'm not There yet. 

And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the greatness of his government and peace

    there will be no end."  will honor the nations. 

For a child is born. 

The people walking in darkness have seen a Great Light.

 On those living in the land of deep darkness, a Light has dawned. 

And That Love is the wonder of us all.

He is a Wonderful Counselor. 

He knew God's counsel from the Beginning. 

And He consults on our behalf the Wisdom of God. 

Nothing like this on earth. 

We live between the Already and the Not Yet.

It's the Not Yet that keeps me trusting cause I'm not There yet. 

And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the greatness of his government and peace

  And there will be no end."  In all of this opposition in these chapters, they pray not for protection from suffering but for boldness in testifying. They were committed to their new-found purpose and dependent on God's power. Opposition like this would sideline most. Not Paul. May we live with eyes fixed on our purpose for being here. "I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me---the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace." Acts 20:24 

All those hardships, sleepless nights, shipwrecks, merciless beatings. "None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the Grace of God." Acts 20:24

The Kingdom stirs in this heart. And it's a beautiful calling. This Gospel of Grace. And it is this Grace that builds us up. Acts 20:32. We all need to be built up this day, this moment.

PHOTO: And a new baby sleeps.

255 - "The Lord Sent An Angel and God Provided on Every Side" 2 Chronicles 31-32; Acts 20:1-16

                                                             

King Hezekiah faced harsh words from the king of Assyria. 

Blasphemy. Terror on every side. 

So 

What did Hezekiah do?

He prayed "because of this"

And cried to heaven. 2 Chron 32:20

And what did God do?

The unimaginable. For them. For us. 

"The Lord sent an angel 

Who cut off all the mighty warriors & commanders & officers

in the camp of the king of Assyria. 2 Chron 32:21

In truth, The Lord saved Hezekiah from

The hand of all of his enemies

"And he provided for them on every side." 2 Chron 32:22

Won't He do the same for us?

You did this centuries ago. You can do it this day, too. For my friend who just lost her husband. For my child who is in a hard place.  For my husband who embraces impossible odds. Send an angel, Lord. 

All those hardships, sleepless nights, shipwrecks, merciless beatings. "None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the Grace of God." Acts 20:24

The Kingdom stirs in this heart. And it's a beautiful calling. This Gospel of Grace. And it is this Grace that builds us up. Acts 20:32. "Now I commit you to God and to the Word of His Grace which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified."  Acts 20:32

PHOTO:  A dark day in Florida when the heavens opened up. Whatever darkness we face, may our first words be prayer. 

254 - "Hold Fast" 2 Chronicles 29-30; Acts 19:21-41

   

Hezekiah was a man who "held fast to the Lord."  What does that mean to you, to me?  Hold fast.  "And the Lord was with him, wherever he went out, he prospered."  

Hezekiah started his reign awful young, at 25.  Yet he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord according to all that his father David had done.  None like him among all the kings of Judah, before or after. 

What did this king know about following God that most people don't know.

Two things he knew:

1. The Lord your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him. 2 Chron 30:9

2. The hand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the princes commanded by the word of the Lord. 2 Chron 30:12

May the good Lord pardon everyone who sets his heart to seek God, the Lord, the God of his fathers.  2 Chron 30:19.  Oh God, please forgive us!  Pardon our ways of not remembering You in all we do.  

Let us not be dismayed; the Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters; he can still the rage whether it be in my own heart or those I disturb. Acts 19:41. There is so much noise in my life.   My God is mightier." 

Father, the town is disrupted by disputes.  The proconsul is called on to settle the disputes.  Even the town clerk's reasoning shows that the Gospel aligns with the Roman law.  It is no disruptor of order.  And we all know the scene too well in our own hearts.  Reasoning flies out the window.  Father, disrupt our lives for good.  Make us keepers of the truth.

PHOTO:  8 years ago, A friend told me on a very dark night: Hold fast. I never forgot that moment. I need that moment tonight. Walking on this beach in Pensacola Beach. 

253 - "Seek Not Great Things" 2 Chronicles 27-28; Acts 19:1-20

Two Verses jump off the pages of today's reading:

2 Chronicles 26:16 - "But then Uzziah's strength and success went to his head. Arrogant and proud, he fell. One day, contemptuous of God, he walked into The Temple of God like he owned it and took over, burning incense on the Incense Altar.   

2Chronicles 27:8 -  "Jotham's strength was rooted in his steady and determined life of obedience to God."

 What does our world look like?

The sins of the kings that went before King Uzziah was that of turning their back on God---

forsaking the things of God.  But, this King embraced the things of God.  

But, he wanted them a little too much.  A little too high.  

Uzziah enters the Holy of Holies with pride.  Seeking what God has not given.  

Forbidden Knowledge.  

Why do I seek a door God has not opened. 

 "But when Uzziah became strong," his heart became corrupt, 

and he did things he should not have done. II Chron 26:16. 

 Uzziah. Pride of heart. 

Live the Life that is before you---what God has called you to.

 Seek not great things for yourself.

Is life about our choices?  Do we really just choose to serve God and it happens.  Do we really just choose to love others and it happens? Am I really trying to choose to make the best out of what has been handed to me in this world?  Of course obedience is a choice---Joshua 24:15 - Choose this day whom you will serve...as for me and my house.  But there is Mystery in God moving His Plan forward.  One of my favorite quotes from 66 LL follows:  "No matter how great your path or how confusing and intense your suffering, live in the Mystery of My Love.  Struggle to trust Me.  Do not live with the priority of making your life in this world as good as you can make it.  You will suffer, at times unfairly, but you will be given what you need to enter strongly and wisely with Supernatural Love into every circumstance you face." 

 I've spent way too much of my life living with a priority of making my life as good as I can make it.  So what is God calling me to "let go of" where my priorities actually reflect a drivenness to accept my lot and make it as good as I can?  I've struggled lately with feelings of not being wanted---my perception, my interpretation from constructive feedback.  So do I deal with that by making my priority to make my life as good as I can in light of the pull on my life?  Romans 7:24---oh no.  Someone is setting me free from this mess I am in, praise God!

Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? Acts 19:2  The Holy Spirit is on all of us who believe. We must trust Him. Trust Truth. Not experience nor better versions nor even the blessings of this life. Trust Him. It is the power of the Holy Spirit within that is greater than anything we face; greater than any suffering; greater than any fall into sin.

PHOTO:  That moon!