by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
Isaiah 59-61
Why did Jesus come? It’s all right here.
Man in his own “righteousness” was totally corrupt. Hands defiled with blood, lips speaking lies, tongues muttering perversity. No one pleading for justice or truth. (59:3-4) There was no hope for man in this state.
So God was going to send the hope: the Messiah. There was no one to intercede for man, so His own right arm brought salvation to them. The Redeemer was to come to Zion and to all those who turn to Him in Jacob. (59:30)
“Arise, shine for your light has come.” (60:1) There’s a new day on the horizon. No longer will the people have to remain in darkness; they can now come to the light.
And God will be the glory of His people. No longer will the sun be the light by day, but the Lord will be the light. They will be the work of His hands, and they will be glorified with Him.
Chapter 61 is the chapter Jesus quoted in His own hometown to introduce Himself as the Messiah. The local parishioners knew that these words spoke of the Messiah, for they had heard them read many times. But on this day, Jesus announced that “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:21).
“Blasphemy!” They screamed and tried to throw Him off the cliff. They had liked this young man up until this point, but He was calling Himself the Messiah, and they couldn’t take it!
There is more in the chapter for us to understand. We are there also. Those of us who believe in Jesus, and let Him lead us, will rebuild the old ruins and raise up desolations of many generations. We shall be named the priests of the Lord – and we shall be blessed beyond measure. With riches and honor. With garments of salvation. With robes of righteousness.
Let’s spend some time meditating on these scriptures today. His plan is awesome! If we’ll just partake.
II Thessalonians 3
Everyone should work. That’s Paul’s command to the Thessalonians, because there were some who were idling away their time, and becoming “busybodies.”
This concept can be a hard one to “get right.” Of course, when people have hard times, we want to be compassionate and share with them. Paul is not coming against true charity.
However, people were designed by God to be productive. There is greater satisfaction in a life lived with energy and drive than in a life lived in idleness. And further, everyone is expected by God to “do his part.” All working together for the good of all.
Laziness is not a godly attribute.
This is something to think about as we observe our modern customs.
by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
Isaiah 56-58
Within the words of the prophets, we find God’s plan foretold. If people are deaf to His words, they don’t hear what He is saying. Their ears have to be open to His voice and His ideas in order to understand.
It would be a few hundred years before these words would come to pass, but they would come to pass. That’s the way it is with God’s Word. It will all come to pass – eventually.
The Lord is introducing the concept of the gospel being sent to all nations. “The sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the Lord to serve Him, and to love the name of the Lord and be His servants … even them I will bring to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer….For My house shall be called a house of many nations…I will gather to Him others besides those who are gathered to Him.” (56:6-8).
These words are there for the Pharisees to read and understand many generations in the future. However, their ears were closed to God’s truth. They wanted to keep themselves as a special people, and so they did – with pride and arrogance against all others. Not God’s plan.
This should be a lesson for all of us. We have all assumed certain things and been taught certain things, but those things might not be from God.
Now He is not going to bring us revelation which can’t be found in the word, but if we read His word with fresh eyes, asking for Him to teach us, we will see the truth – even if it hasn’t been taught us. Sometimes we may wrestle with what we see, knowing that we have been taught differently. That’s okay. In fact, it’s good for us to ponder to make sure that we are seeing correctly.
I’ll give you an example in my own life. I was brought up in church, studying the Word, and listening to teaching. Never did anyone bring up the baptism in the Holy Spirit. I knew nothing about it.
There came a time, however, when I was seeking God in a desperate way, and I received it. I started babbling in other tongues. (It was so strange to me that at first I was afraid I was losing my mind). But I wasn’t losing it; I was gaining it!
Now there are many churches which teach that this experience is no longer available to us, but it’s too late for those people to tell me that. I have received so much from having my “prayer language,” that no one could ever talk me out of it.
It’s right there in the Word, but tradition and erroneous teaching have kept many from receiving God’s best.
There are two special privileges which go with this gift. First, when you pray in the spirit, you “edify yourself.”(I Corinthians 14:4) In other words, you gain knowledge and wisdom from the Holy Spirit who is praying through you. The second privilege is that when you don’t know how to pray as you ought, He prays for you – and God’s perfect will is being prayed out in your life or in the lives of those for whom you are praying. (Romans 8:26-27).
It’s a powerful gift, which totally changed my life. Yet traditions of men have kept many from receiving it.
In the same way, there may be traditions which you have become accustomed to and you think they are true. When you encounter something in the Bible which says something different, don’t gloss over it. Let the Lord begin to teach you.
God’s Word is true! Let that be your starting point, and you will have many understandings opened to you.
II Thessalonians 2
The Thessalonians were listening to some of the wrong voices of the day. There were some who were saying that the Day of the Lord had already come. Obviously, many were afraid that they had missed out on God’s plan.
Paul makes it clear, however, that the Day of the Lord was for the future.
First there would be a great falling away from God’s truth – and that the son of perdition would arise. (The antichrist).
He would oppose the things of God and exalt himself to be God – even taking the seat in the temple of God as an imposter. Paul goes on to say that the spirit of this one is already working.
I think that we can certainly see that antichrist spirit working today. There has been a great falling away. Many have denied Jesus and many have tried to substitute their own ideas for what the Word says.
It’s really important for us to stay faithful to God’s plan – and not our own.
May we be preserved blameless spirit, soul, and body until the coming of our Lord.
by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
Isaiah 53-55
Isaiah 53 is one of the most important chapters in the Bible. It’s the chapter telling about the coming Messiah – Jesus.
If you spend some time in these verses, you will begin to understand more completely the power of the cross.
Jesus took our place. We deserved to be eternally separated from God, because of our sin nature. But our God wouldn’t stop His plan with the sin of Adam. Instead He sent His own Son to bear the penalty we should have borne – and He exchanged what we deserved for what Jesus deserved.
Our Father took our griefs, our sorrows, our transgressions, and our iniquities, and gave them all to Jesus to bear on the cross. He paid the debt we owed, and gave us His righteousness instead.
It’s such a tremendous mystery, it takes a lifetime to understand it all. Our God loves us that much! He would stop at nothing to bring us back to Him.
When we receive all that Jesus paid the price for, we receive healing – of our emotions and our physical illnesses. We also receive freedom from grief and sorrows.
Through the power of the blood of Jesus and of His Spirit living within us, we have the ability to overcome any hurts which may have come our way. Miracle after miracle are awaiting us, if we believe.
The great and the strong will be able to share in all that Jesus did. Strong in our own strength? No way! His strength comes from His Spirit abiding within us.
It’s there for us, if we will just take it!
II Thessalonians 1
Grace and peace to you! That goes for those of us who believe in this day, as well as in the days of the Thessalonians.
They were going through tremendous persecution, but God was faithful to them to encourage them in the midst of their trials.
Patience and faith were being exhibited among the people, and God was pleased with that.
One thing is for sure. Our God is a just God, and there will be great reward for those of us who remain faithful, even through hardship.
Paul prays that “they may be found worthy of the call of God upon their lives, and that God may fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power.” (V. 11)
I pray that for you also. May God fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power in your life also.
There is no tribulation or hardship in the world which can stop the flow of God’s goodness to those who truly believe Him.
May we truly believe!
by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
Isaiah 50-52
Beautiful words of encouragement – stoking the coals of fire in the heart of Israel. Stoking the hot coals also in us.
You see once again the parallels between God’s dealings with the Jews and His dealings with us as Christians. Sure, these words were written to the Jews, but, as always with our God, He can speak to several groups at once. The words are also for us.
“Awake, awake, put on your strength, O arm of the Lord.” (51:9) “Rouse yourself. Rouse yourself. Arise, O Jerusalem.” (51:17) “Awake, awake, clothe yourself with your strength.” (52:1) “Shake off the dust. Loose the chains from around your neck, O captive daughter of Zion.” (52:2)
Verse after verse seems to be talking to us directly. We are the spiritual Jerusalem. We are Zion. When the church gets this and really believes it, we will see an explosion of purpose coming from His body.
All of what has gone on before has brought us to this place. Now we understand the power of God’s Words in our lives – and the power of His plans for us.
The church has been in Babylonian captivity – mixed up with the ways of the world. Now is the time for us to rise up and be the beautiful church He wants us to be. Clothed with His strength and His garments, we can take His message to those around us who don’t know Him.
God’s love is for all, if they will just receive it. They need for someone to tell them.
Will we do it?
I Thessalonians 5
Paul’s last words in this letter are rich with meaning.
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God for you.” (V.16-18)
These verses are foundational for a walk of faith. Rejoice, pray, give thanks.
Does it mean that everything that happens to us is God’s will? I don’t think so. But if we give thanks in the midst of whatever is going on, He will continue to work on our behalf. Our Father will bring good from evil – and what the devil meant for evil will be turned around for our good.
Then Paul strikes a note of encouragement to those who are growing weary. “May God sanctify you completely. He who called you is faithful, who will also do it.” (V. 23-24)
Our God is faithful!! He will do what he has promised.
by Suellen | Project 2013: Read The Bible
Isaiah 47-49
Do you ever wonder why so much is said about Babylon in the Bible? In this passage of Isaiah’s prophecy, God really comes against Babylon, and He does the same throughout Bible prophecy.
Well, of course, one of the strikes against Babylon is that they destroyed Jerusalem and took the Jews captive. (They had to go to Babylon and serve that empire for 70 years). Yet there’s more, as there almost always is in scripture.
Babylon comes from the root word, babel, which means “confusion by mixing.” (Remember the Tower of Babel)?
In our modern times, we might say that the church has gone into Babylonian captivity. What do I mean? I mean that there has been confusion in the church because of mixing God’s pure doctrine with the ways of the world. Confusion is rampant.
When we mix God’s doctrine with the world’s ways, we come up with a counterfeit gospel – not a pure one. As a result, people don’t know what is truly from god and what is not. Whether we lived in the year 500 bc or the current year, God is smarter than we are, and we need to listen to Him and not to current trends for our guidelines.
The church which mixes the doctrine in this way is called the Babylonian church, and our Father is not pleased with it. He wants His pure doctrine expressed, because that’s the only doctrine which will save lives and change them into His likeness.
When we mix our ways with the ways of the world, we lose the power of God’s plan and purpose.
In fact, this is the true meaning of holiness. Not that we dress in an extreme way, but that we remain true to the Word of God and honor what He has to say. Purity – that’s what we are after in our lives.
I Thessalonians 3
Everyone should work. That’s Paul’s command to the Thessalonians, because there were some who were idling away their time, and becoming “busybodies.”
This concept can be a hard one to “get right.” Of course, when people have hard times, we want to be compassionate and share with them. Paul is not coming against true charity.
However, people were designed by God to be productive. There is greater satisfaction in a life lived with energy and drive than in a life lived in idleness. And further, everyone is expected by God to “do his part.” All working together for the good of all.
Laziness is not a godly attribute.
This is something to think about as we observe our modern customs.
Hmmm.
