SCRIPTURE

Studied: Isaiah 29

OBSERVATION

Isaiah 29:15-16 ~ You are in for trouble, if you try to hide your plans from the LORD! Or if you think what you do in the dark can’t be seen. You have it all backwards. A clay dish doesn’t say to the potter, “You didn’t make me. You don’t even know how.”

APPLICATION

Too often we try to keep certain things to ourselves, or we might do certain things that we do not want anyone else to know about. In these verses we are reminded that God knows all things about us. Furthermore God warns that we are in trouble if we try to hide things from Him, and I believe that this could have multiple meanings. First of all I believe that God is reminding us that we can do nothing successfully without His help, or His direction, but with God we can do all things. Secondly I believe that this is also saying that we needn’t fool ourselves into thinking that just like we could hide certain things from our spouse, or mom or dad, that we cannot hide anything from Him. After all, He is our creator, our omniscient (always present) God, so He is well aware of all that occurs around us! God is the potter that made us, but molding us and reshaping us is an ongoing necessity as we are often marred by the Evil One and all of his followers that we come into contact with each day.

PRAYER

Dear God, I pray that I will listen closely to Your Word today and allow You to be an active part of my life, including my decisions, my plans, my words and my actions. You have outlined the path that I should follow and You have reminded me here in these verses that You are there to continue molding me into Your likeness. Please take a major role in my plans for today, because I want others to see Jesus when I speak or when I act on circumstances. May I represent You well today. I pray also that I will openly communicate with You about all my plans, actions or words so that I may benefit from Your wisdom, Your love and Your everlasting mercy. You created me, now help me to always be pliable and moldable each and every day as I travel this earthly road where obstacles seem to always move into my path. Please help me to recognize these as landmarks or places where You took me by the hand and helped me over, not as Satan’s vices to stop, hinder or discourage me from doing Your will.

SCRIPTURE

Studied: Isaiah 29

OBSERVATION

Isaiah 29:13 ~ The Lord says: “These people worship me with their mouths, and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is based on nothing but human rules.

APPLICATION

Unfortunately we could read this verse and say “Oh those people were soooo hardened” but if we are honest with ourselves, we could read this and see a lot of semblance to our churches today. After all, who is the church? It is the people…. us. We are the church, and unfortunately too often we come to worship with hardened hearts, with envy in our hearts, with anger against a brother or sister, with unforgiveness that separates us from a child of God and from God Himself, and sometimes probably a lot more. Each of these things I cited show that our hearts are far from God. Because if we were close to God, we would be filled with love, for God is love, and we would exemplify His character and obey His Word by drawing close to each other and not letting things of this world and of Satan himself separate us from God and His people. Too often our worship (not our church service, but our ability to praise our risen Lord and worship Him in spirit and in truth) is nothing more than tradition itself, or form, or something that we feel we have to do in order to look like that upright person to our friends. Out of a right relationship with God, comes a heart of appreciation filled with love, and an appreciation for a God that loves us so much that He demonstrated it at Calvary, and continues to demonstrate it each and every day. This is the heart that will be honestly ready to truly ‘worship’ and sing praises to our Savior, our Lord, our Master and our King. This will give fresh new meaning to our worship services as there will be sincerity and purpose in our worship, not because we are following some human or earthly or worldly rules.

PRAYER

Father, may our hearts be pure and sincere as we worship You. Help us to stop trying to impress others, but instead help us to express our true, honest love to You. By doing this corporately, may we be an influence and encouragement to our brother or sister that may be near us but discouraged or hurting in some form. Please also direct us to a brother or sister that You would have encourage us also, so that together we may lift up holy hands and hearts in praise to You. May we get our eyes and our minds off self and instead fix them on You, the one that died for us and truly deserves our full attention and who is worthy of all our praise.

SCRIPTURE

Studied: Hebrews 9

OBSERVATION

Hebrews 9:25-28 ~ The high priest enters the Most Holy Place once every year with blood that is not his own. But Christ did not offer himself many times. Then he would have had to suffer many times since the world was made. But Christ came only once and for all time at just the right time to take away all sin by sacrificing himself. Just as everyone must die once and then be judged, so Christ was offered as a sacrifice one time to take away the sins of many people. And he will come a second time, not to offer himself for sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

APPLICATION

A comparison was used here in these verses between what the high priests did in the Most Holy Place annually using the blood of an animal (not their own), compared to what Christ did when His blood was shed on Calvary once and for all. Near the end of these verses I am reminded that Christ will come again a second time, not to repeat the offering of Himself on a cross, but to save us, or collect us that are watching and waiting for Him. My child might wait at the front door of my home waiting for me, but not a stranger visiting our home, so it is with the return of Jesus. He will return for those who are ready, watching and waiting for Him – His kids! Praise God that I am a child of the King longing to see the return of my Savior to take me out of this sinful, stressful, mean world.

PRAYER

While I anxiously await your return Lord Jesus, I pray that You will give me the gift of encouragement to speak with those that I come in contact with, and my family members that still have not accepted You as Lord of their lives, so that on that day when You return to take us home, we all will be ready, watching and waiting for You. Please speak to individuals even today so that they we will be a people ready for Your return. There would be no greater joy than to know that all of my family members would be by my side as You welcome us home! At this time, I don’t believe that all members have accepted the gift that You offer, and this troubles me deeply. Please speak with them again today and help them to realize that TODAY is the day of salvation. Not because of my impatience, but because of the urgency of Your calling and the lack of assurance that they will have another chance tomorrow. Thank You for loving me so much that You gave, so that I may enjoy that gift throughout eternity!

SCRIPTURE

Studied: Hebrews 9

OBSERVATION

Hebrews 9:9 ~ … It shows that we cannot make our consciences clear by offering gifts and sacrifices.

APPLICATION

No matter how much we give financially, no matter how much work we do for God and/or the church, there are two key elements to maintaining a good healthy relationship with our Lord and Savior:

1. Know Jesus as Lord, and this can be done through:
   
   1. Admit/Acknowledge that you are a sinner in need of God’s grace;
      
   2. Believe that Jesus died and arose from the dead and lives at the right hand of the Father interceding on our behalf;
      
   3. Confess your sins and shortcomings to Jesus and ask His forgiveness.
      
2. Maintain an ongoing relationship with the Savior that you just accepted into your life, and this can be done through:
   
   1. Prayer – conversation with God, where you would admit and seek forgiveness of any sin committed, as you did not become exempt from sin when you accepted Him in the steps under (a);
      
   2. Bible Study – as this is the key to learning about the character of Jesus, so that you could mold yourself into being more like Him every day. Plus this will also help you to understand the things that please/displease God, as this will help you to stay obedient to His perfect will for your life. Additionally, this will give you opportunity to worship God as you learn more about His awesome power and how He protected His people in Bible days and how He will also watch over us even today;
      
   3. Worship personally and corporately – Be careful to give God the praise for all that He accomplishes in and through you. With Jesus as our Master, Friend, Guide and Lord, we should never attribute blessings to ‘good luck’ or ‘chance’, for just as He knows the very hair on our head, He also knows just what we need each and every day, so acknowledge that through praise and worship to Him. Worshipping corporately is commanded in the Bible, so God saw the importance of us meeting together to worship our Savior, lift up (encourage) a brother or a sister, and allow them to be a blessing to us.
      

There is no greater joy in knowing Jesus personally and intimately! There is nothing that can take the place of, or get one into Heaven other than the steps outlined above. If you are tired of leading an uncommitted life and now ready for the A,B,C steps outlined in (a), and you would like a friend to pray with you and help you through these steps, please leave a reply to this blog and I will quickly get back in touch with you. It is THE most important life changing event that will take place in your life!

PRAYER

Father, I thank You for the day that You knocked at my heart’s door and encouraged me to follow the steps in (a) above. I pray for that brother or sister that reads this blog today and realizes deep within that this is a necessary step for them, I pray that they will be led of Your Spirit into action and not procrastinate on such important business, as none of us know the day that You will call us out of this old world, when it will be eternally too late to make such decisions. Please give boldness to ones that need to follow these steps today, for it is in Your name that I pray and only You will I praise as I see the results of Your hand at work. Amen!

SCRIPTURE

Studied: Isaiah 14

OBSERVATION

Isaiah 14:24 ~ The LORD All-Powerful has made this promise: Everything I have planned will happen just as I said.

APPLICATION

1. I know that it is easy to say that we read the Bible and we believe it is true, but I believe that if we sincerely believe all that God promises us in His Word and if we take heed to all the warnings given, and stop finding excuses and stop looking at which brother or sister a particular verse is more applicable to, but instead look deep within and allow God’s Word to penetrate into our own evil minds, then I believe that God will accomplish much through us. I know that we hate to pray selfishly for ourselves instead of praying for others, but unless we clean up our own selves, we can’t effectively minister to others. God needs a clean, broken vessel to work in and through. One totally devoted and committed to Him. Everything that God has planned will happen just as He said it would. Am I, are you on board with Him so that we may reap the benefits of being a part of the winning team and not the team doomed for ultimate destruction? I love that little song, “

SCRIPTURE

Studied: Isaiah 13

OBSERVATION

Isaiah 13:9 ~ I, the LORD, will show no mercy or pity when that time comes. In my anger I will destroy the earth and every sinner who lives on it.

APPLICATION

This is a clear warning to those who have not repented of their sin and sought God’s forgiveness of their sin. God will one day become weary in trying to melt the heart of the stubborn, the wicked, the ones that try to reason themselves out of everything – the sinners, then He will destroy them along with planet earth that they reside on. The good news is that this will then be a very peaceful time for those of us that have surrendered our lives over to Him, for we will be with Jesus in glory free from the stresses of all those that constantly try to lead us astray. So for some, this will be a day of mourning, weeping and total destruction, but for others this will be the day that we have lived for, praise God! I often hum the tune or sing the words of that chorus “

SCRIPTURE

Studied: Isaiah 12

OBSERVATION

Isaiah 12:1-2 ~ … O LORD, I will praise You; Though You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me. Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid;

APPLICATION

There comes a day when we all come to our senses and realize that we are in need of a Savior. This sounds very much like a maturing teenager, when they realize that they don’t know it all! God is loving and He is merciful, He is awaiting our cry to Him, as He wants to be our Savior and our Lord. Another scripture (Isaiah 55:6) says: Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near. Yet another verse (2 Corinthians 6:2) says: Now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation. The reason “now” is so important is that we are told in scripture that no one knows the day or the hour when Jesus will return. We should therefore be ready to meet Him ‘NOW’ if He chooses to call us home ‘NOW’.

PRAYER

Thank You Father for giving us the warning in Your Word to be ready ‘NOW’. Thank You for providing the simple means for us to have that assurance. You created us, and so we are to return to You and surrender ourselves to our Creator so that You may mold us into Your likeness. What a glory it is to know You as Lord and personal Savior, and to have the assurance of life eternally with You in Heaven! Thank You Father for loving me so much that You gave, so that I may live forever with You!

SCRIPTURE

Studied: Hebrews 4

OBSERVATION

Hebrews 4:16 ~ So whenever we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God. There we will be treated with undeserved kindness, and we will find help.

APPLICATION

We are such a needy people, and so dependent on a mighty God who, as this verse reminds us, will treat us with undeserved kindness and help us through our need. However there are a few considerations:

1. We must know Jesus as Lord and Savior in order for us to go to Him for help, for He hears the cry of His children – and you can know Him even today by turning loose of self, asking God to forgive us of our sin, and accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior;
   
2. Acknowledge that our Savior has performed miracles in the past, and that He has the power to do ALL things today;
   
3. We must acknowledge that we want help, then go to the throne of God in prayer and ask for the help.
   

God’s Word declares it in this verse, and fellow Christians could vouch for it, that God treats us so lovingly and kind, in spite of our wicked and worldly influenced ways, that we often feel so undeserved of His love and His help. God is the ultimate example of love, let’s remember that as we turn to Him for help and depend on Him daily. He has our best interest at heart, praise the Lord!

PRAYER

1. Father, we walk around with such a load of concern and worry. Thank You for reminding me through Your Word today that I need to surrender these concerns over to You and allow You to do Your work. I am so undeserved of Your love and Your watch over me, but I am extremely grateful to You for expressing Your love in so many ways each and every day. Thank You for being God, and especially for being my God! A song comes to mind, “

SCRIPTURE

Studied: Psalm 73

OBSERVATION

Psalm 73:25-28 ~
In heaven I have only you, and on this earth you are all I want. My body and mind may fail, but you are my strength and my choice forever. Powerful LORD God, all who stay far from you will be lost, and you will destroy those who are unfaithful. It is good for me to be near you. I choose you as my protector, and I will tell about your wonderful deeds.

APPLICATION

What a powerful conclusion to this Psalm that began with Asaph sharing how easy it is to be envious of those that appear to have more (in earthly possessions) than we do. Like Asaph, I wish that I could always overlook situations that may indicate someone is more blessed than I am, and instead thank God for the air I breathe each day, the food on my table, the love of family and friends, the comforts of a roof over my head each night, a job where I am blessed to receive vacation and most of all – a Savior who loved me so much that He sent His Son to die a cruel death so that I may have life with Him in glory. What more can I ask for? God is all I need on this earth and all that I look forward to in heaven!

PRAYER

Lord may I live the victorious life that You have blessed me with. You are all I want on this earth, and You are all that I look forward to in heaven. May I live in expectation of the day that You will call me home to be with You in heaven. Thank You for providing for my every need here on this earth, and for preparing a home for me even when I leave this old earth. Please help me to tell of Your great love each and every day, for You are truly awesome!

SCRIPTURE

Studied: Psalm 73

OBSERVATION

Psalm 73:1-5 ~ No doubt about it! God is good— good to good people, good to the good-hearted. But I nearly missed it, missed seeing his goodness. I was looking the other way, looking up to the people at the top, envying the wicked who have it made, Who have nothing to worry about, not a care in the whole wide world.

APPLICATION

Thank God for His timely Word! Like Asaph, it is so easy to look at those around us that are filthy rich and who seem to live beyond the realm of having any kind of heartache or difficulty in everyday life. However, it is mind sobering to note what Asaph realized, that in doing this I may be missing out on the blessings of God. When we allow the distractions of this world to take our eyes off Jesus, and this could easily be the envy of seeing someone better off than us, then we lose out on the blessings God has already blessed us with and possibly the blessings He has in store for us. To realize our blessing, we should look at those less fortunate than us. Perhaps it might be a friend without a job in this economic down turn – it helps me to be thankful for the blessing of the job that I have; or perhaps the brother that lost his wife or a child – it helps me to be thankful for the family (wife and child) that God has blessed me with. Being envious of those that appear to have more earthly possessions than I do, is like saying to God that He has messed up and didn’t quite bless me enough. God is very much aware of all that I need and He provides those needs each and every day. That’s what I need to concentrate on and continually give God thanks for! For He is truly GOOD to me!

PRAYER

Father I need to step back and thank You once again for all that You bless me with each and every day. I want to also thank You for all that You have blessed my brother and/or sister with, for they are Your children too and they need to see Your blessings in their lives also. However, I am a blessed man and I want to be so in tuned to all that You do in my life each and every day that I will always find opportunities to praise You and adore You for just being God to me. Please help me to keep my eyes fixed on You and Your love for me, so that I may not miss out on seeing Your goodness at work. You are God and You alone deserve the praise for all that I may have. I can boast of nothing without giving You the glory for everything that I am or anything that I may have. In fact, I believe that You bless me with earthly things so that I may be a blessing to others. May I willingly do this at every opportunity, and may You receive glory and praise for it.