QT 15 Jun 15, Isa 12:1, God longs to comfort his children

Isa 12:1 (ESV) 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,

that you might comfort me.

NOTE: God is so kind and forgiving despite our stupidity and sin. Even when we fail him, he still loves us and longs to comfort us. He is gracious to us while we are foolish. He is a Father who cares for his children, whom he allows to call, Abba. He knows what is best for us. Sometimes he disciplines us and sometimes he allows us to experience the effects of our choices, another form of discipline. But, all the time He remains there to comfort us when we repent. God thank you for the mercy you show to me. Have mercy on your church, have mercy on our nation and on our culture. We have strayed so far from you, and even worse, we are proud of our foolishness. I know that most in our culture are not your children and do not have the promise of you as our Father, but I still pray for mercy for them.

QT 12 Jun 15, Isa 10:12-13, Do we deny the facts of God's ultimate rule and continue in our arrogance?

Isa 10:12-13 (ESV) When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, he will punish the speech of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes. 13  For he says:

"By the strength of my hand I have done it,

and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;

I remove the boundaries of peoples,

and plunder their treasures;

like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones.

NOTE: This is one of the primary struggles of all mankind, our arrogance. Arrogance can be defined in many ways, but in the bible, one of the main ways it is defined is as: a belief that I can live my life without God, that I do not need God, that I can have meaningful purpose without God, and that I can be successful without God. The king of Assyria was convinced that he did not need God. He did not believe in the God of the bible nor did he believe that he needed the God (that he did not acknowledge) to allow him to conquer the known world. But he was wrong. Not only was he wrong about the God that he did not believe exists, but that God would pull him off of his throne for his very arrogance. For the bible, the question of God working in history is not a question of existence, but a statement of absolute truth. Denial of a fact does not change the fact. Of course, how do you prove the statement? That is a lot harder but not impossible. The Old Testament alone provides evidence through the fulfilled prophecies of God's appointed prophets. Jesus' life and miracles provide evidence. The learned is left with one of two options, deny the facts because they are too uncomfortable for his own unproven world view, or accept what is laid out before us -- God rules the world.

QT 11 Jun 15, Isa 9:1, 6, 7, Do we really want to know truth or rather to believe what we want to believe?

Isa 9:1, 6, 7 (ESV) But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.

…

6  For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given;

 and the government shall be upon his shoulder,

and his name shall be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

 Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

7 Of the increase of his government and of peace

 there will be no end,

on the throne of David and over his kingdom,

to establish it and to uphold it

 with justice and with righteousness

from this time forth and forevermore.

 The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

NOTE: I was reading an advertisement for a course from a speaker who will remained unnamed. He posits that "clearly" Jesus could not be the Messiah since he did not take over and rule the land immediately during his time on earth. I am absolutely sure that this speaker understands the two return concept, in fact, in antiquity, the Jews believed two Messiahs would come because they were so different in description. But rather than accept the answer that brings together the facts into a coherent whole, he ignores those facts to make a case that Jesus could not be divine …. Fascinating, unbelievably fascinating. Even this Jewish passage calls the coming Messiah, God. And this passage is a reminder to the people before they are exiled to Babylon, that God will bring about something glorious in the future days, and he will do it in Galilee. But no, instead of understanding scripture in the context of the entire bible, some people choose to believe what they want to believe and to deceive the sheep. Have mercy on us Lord for our foolishness.

QT 8 Jun 15, Isa 8:11-13, We need to be more concerned about living for God then the world's conspiracies

Isa 8:11-13 (ESV) For the Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: 12 "Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. 13 But the Lord of hosts, him you shall regard as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.

NOTE: As believers we spend far too much time and effort worrying about conspiracies, and far too little time considering God's holiness. We believe God is in charge and yet we don't believe he is in charge. And while he does not control men whom he has given free will, he does know how to work out all things for our good. How does he do that, we might ask, since he does not overrule our free will? His knowledge and ways are far above ours. I might be able to give an explanation, but it would be feeble and human, so I will stick with what I know from what God has revealed in his word. We have free will. We choose to believe or not to believe. We are not preselected to believe, that is our choice. In Romans, God says that those he foreknew, … he predestined … he selected. In other words, he knew our choice--he did not force our choice. He promises to bring good out of every situation (also Romans), but does not say how he does it. He allows evil to work in our world so that, as Jesus tells us, we might repent. No one turns to God because life is so easy and so great. Men turned to God when everything around them has failed and collapsed. When life is good, rejoice, but when life is hard and evil, remember God has made one as well as the other. For myself, I need to remember God at all times. And I need to make right choices.

QT 4 Jun 15, Isa 7:7, Sin reigns and God "can" intervene where he chooses

Isa 7:7 (ESV) thus says the Lord God:

 "'It shall not stand,

and it shall not come to pass

NOTE: In context, Syria and Assyria are conspiring to attack Judah and place their man in charge of the nation. They will be successful in destroying the Northern Kingdom, Israel, but they will fail to destroy the Southern Kingdom, Judah. In this verse, God responds to their plans concerning Judah and basically says that it will not happen. They will try and 180K troops will mysteriously die during the siege against Jerusalem--and only at the point where the famine is so great that it does not appear there is any hope left. So, God has promised, but God brings his promise to the very edge of fulfillment. Only at the last instance, when people are starting to starve does God intervene. So again we see a common theme in scripture--God is in ultimate charge and men have free wills to choose and act. God can and does intervene at times, but often his intervention does not occur until that last very moment possible. Ultimately, his will prevails. But I think he gives us much more freedom than many people seem to believe. And I think that is where we fail, when as believers we believe every event is the hand of God rather than just the natural part of a sinful dying planet and evil men who do not know God. 

QT 1 Jun 15, Isa 5:3-4, Called to display real fruit

Isa 5:3-4 (ESV) And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem

and men of Judah,

judge between me and my vineyard.

4  What more was there to do for my vineyard,

that I have not done in it?

 When I looked for it to yield grapes,

why did it yield wild grapes?

NOTE: The message to Israel is also applicable to us. God has done a lot for us and he expects to see fruit that represents his investment in our lives. The fruit (or character) that he expects was revealed in the life of his son, his exact representation (Heb 1). And so that means to me, that I need to show a genuine love and concern for others that goes beyond words to actions. I must be willing to sacrifice my plans and goals at times to meet the needs of others. I need to show kindness and gentleness in my business dealings. And I need to treat everyone with the same level of respect, irrespective of persons or lifestyle or philosophy. God has called me to love others. That does not mean I have to change my view on truth, but I need to present truth with gentleness and respect (1 Pet 3:15).