Isaiah 31-35: Would you be willing to run for public office? If you are like me you may have shouted NO!!! It isn’t that anything is wrong with serving or that we would mind the work. It is just that there have been so many people who have served that have not walked in right paths that everyone looks at public officials looking for the imperfections and their weaknesses. The same could be true of ministers, teachers, administrators and anyone in leadership. Isaiah’s day was no different. Here is some of his advice.
32:8 “But he who is noble plans noble things,
and on noble things he stands.”
I thought about the word noble and other words that came to my mind were respect, or uprightness. If some who are noble and upright don’t stand up we will have leadership that few if anyone respects in our churches, communities, our schools, and yes even in our nation’s highest offices. We must teach our children early these lessons because when they are older it is too late. They can already have some heavy baggage that prevents them from leading. As we rock the cradles of our little ones may we pray they become noble men and women who stand for noble things and practice noble things. As we coach and teach these same little ones may we remember we are teaching them noble character traits. Leaders of noble character are grown one choice and one decision at a time.

Isaiah 27-30: Adversity…. I hate when “the bread of adversity” is the manna of the day. God chooses that as a main course for us at times. Isaiah 30:20 “And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. 21And your ears shall 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.”
I know that in times of adversity and affliction God is reminding me that He is my portion. He is sufficient for my every need.
G and I were talking about that this morning. I told her that I remember when Les went through the heart attack, I never realized at the time what was going on or that he was that close to dying. I told her that the thing I learned then and now when another of my greatest fears have come true, when Les’ job chose to stop paying our monthly salary, God is sufficient even when the circumstances of life are not. I have learned I am to depend on Him, not a salary, not on health, not on the things of life that I put my trust in. As I trust Him, He is enough. He provides! He is my stability and I can lean on Him when nothing else is stable.
I still don’t like adversity or affliction, but I love hearing His voice. I love how He is my peace. So I guess if the bread of adversity and the water of affliction is on the menu, I receive that, but I sure will like a slice the cake of peace and joy to go with it! 🙂

2 Kings 18:1-8, 2 Chronicles 29-31,
Psalms 48: Do you ever get to challenging times and say, “I wish I had been prepared for that.” I know that even in the situation we are in these days with our salary being taken away in May we have felt that way. Had the employer let us know ahead of time we could have made plans. And yet God knew all along what was going to happen, and because we were trusting in Him He did prepare us. No, it wasn’t financial, but our faith was already in place. We had already learned to rely on Him in the small things, so when the big thing happened, though we were grieved by the struggles, we have had something to fall back on. That something was Someone. Hezekiah made some wise choices too from the moment he became king. He restored the temple and tore down all of the places where the country worshiped false gods. He called the people to worship and observe the Passover. He restored and renewed the Priests making sure they were ceremonially clean. He gave his own offerings encouraged others to as well. These scriptures tell us that he served God will all of his heart.
As we prepare for our own lives for all that will come we too must serve the Lord with all of our hearts. We too must remove anything that takes the place of a whole heart devotion to God. We must worship Him and read His word daily as we prepare for the challenges ahead. We must learn to trust God in the every day so that when the big things come we are already steadfast and secure in running to the Father, listening to Him and obeying. It is a daily discipline that sets us up for success when the hard times come.

Isaiah 23-26: It is so easy to get overwhelmed by all that is happening around us. From the news to real life in our homes we are bombarded by things that given an opportunity can consume our thoughts and our joy. When life is happening so quickly and so much demands your attention how do you keep your heart and life at peace?
Isaiah 26:3 “You keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in you.
4 Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.”
As we keep our minds stayed on Him we will experience peace. You may be asking how do we keep our minds stayed on Him. That means we lean on Him for support and understanding. We don’t try to work things out on our own, but as Proverbs 3:5-6 says we “Trust in the Lord with all of our hearts and don’t lean on our own understanding.” We can’t see what tomorrow will bring, but He does. We can’t understand all of the things going on behind the scene and where God’s next steps for us are, but He does and He knows where we need to be. So though life may not be taking the turns we want and our world around us be chaotic and even evil, be assured He is still very much in control and He has a plan for you. He is an everlasting Rock that doesn’t shift with the culture. He remains the same, yesterday, today and forever.

2 Kings 16-17, 2 Chronicles 28: Captivity…..sin brings captivity. We may not be conquered by an enemy army, but we certainly find ourselves held captive to addictions, bad choices, scars, and sometimes even worse. Israel found themselves in a foreign land, submitting to the authority of an evil king. Some did not survive and the things they did in killing those they captured would rival any horror movie today. Some might ask where was God is all of this? He had been rejected by Israel and they had chosen to bow to others gods. The end result was that God turned them over to their own choices. They suffered the consequences of worshiping wood, metal, the things of their hands, their money and possessions. In time those who survived came back to God.
We don’t read of their return in these verses, only their captivity. So grateful to know the end of the story.
If you find yourself having run from God and chasing after your own way. You may have found yourself in captivity yourself. Just know God is still there for you. Just return to Him.

Isaiah 9-12: Israel was facing some very hard days ahead. There was unrest in the country. There were threats of war and conquest from neighboring countries, the people had trusted in themselves, their possessions, and false gods. God had tried everything in the world to convince them to turn from their wicked ways and come back to God. In their defiance God knew the only way this people could be redeemed is by the peace that His Son could and would bring.
That answer remains the same today:
12:1 “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.
2 Behold, God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the Lord God is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation’.”
We are all facing hard times in one way or another. Our country seems to be in conflict with each other, neighboring countries, even among our denominations. Many have turned to trusting their jobs, finances, possession, and ability to “fix” things. God is speaking to us as well trying to remind us that the things of this world will one day be gone, and the only peace you will have is through choosing Jesus.
9:6 “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.”

Isaiah 5-8: What do you fear? The second weekend in August I am doing a retreat here at our home entitled Fear Not. As I read this passage today I could not help but think of how God is reminding us what not to fear.
8:11 “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. 13But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken’.”
Isaiah lived in a time when there were wars and rumors of wars all around them. There was indeed conspiring and conflict all around. God’s children had walked away and were headed shortly into captivity. And yet God was saying, don’t fear these things. Fear God and turn back to Him.
What a great word for us today. We are to fear, respect, revere God and His Son Jesus above any earthly thing. If we get Him right He will handle everything else. Judah had seen this happen. They had seen an army of 158,000 leave after holding them hostage. God had caused them to return to their country. You would think they would honor God and follow Him alone, but they were much like us. Our memories fade and our fleshly desires increase.
The hidden prophecy in this passage of the rock of stumbling is speaking of Jesus. He indeed was a stumbling stone and yet He was the cornerstone of our salvation! He was and is the only hope of Peace.

Amos 6-9: Is your wealth and convenience getting in the way of your worship? Have you lost your focus? Have we as the church lost focus of our mission? Our friend L. Lavon Gray wrote this today and it is so where the nation of Israel was in Amos’ day, and it is where the church in America is today. We have lost our focus on our mission. Here are Lavon’s words.
It’s no secret the institutional church is in big-time trouble. According to January 2018 LifeWay Research, between 6,000 and 10,000 churches in the U.S. will die this year. That means around 100-200 churches will close this week.

Why? Because we’ve made it into something it was never intended to be. We entertain instead of worship….socialize instead of evangelize….and are more focused on protecting the status quo than reaching the communities in which we sit. We focus on music styles, cosmetic issues and keeping cash in the bank while people flee in droves, all looking for a church somewhere, anywhere, that is making a difference in people’s lives.

The result: Beautiful and majestic church houses half filled with weak and ineffective social clubs. God help us.

Years ago I heard Chuck Swindoll tell the following old parable about the Life-Saving Station. Unfortunately, it sums it up pretty well:

On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur there was a once a crude little life-saving station. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat, but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea, and with no thought for themselves, they went out day or night tirelessly searching for the lost.

Many lives were saved by this wonderful little station, so that it became famous. Some of those who were saved, and various others in the surrounding areas, wanted to become associated with the station and give of their time and money and effort for the support of its work. New boats were bought and new crews were trained. The little life-saving station grew.

Some of the new members of the life-saving station were unhappy that the building was so crude and so poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge of those saved from the sea.

So they replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in an enlarged building. Now the life-saving station became a popular gathering place for its members, and they re-decorated it beautifully and furnished it as a sort of club.

Less of the members were now interested in going to sea on life-saving missions, so they hired life boat crews to do this work.

The mission of life-saving was still given lip-service but most were too busy or lacked the necessary commitment to take part in the life-saving activities personally.

About this time a large ship was wrecked off the coast, and the hired crews brought in boat loads of cold, wet, and half-drowned people.

They were dirty and sick, and some of them had black skin, and some spoke a strange language, and the beautiful new club was considerably messed up. So the property committee immediately had a shower house built outside the club where victims of shipwreck could be cleaned up before coming inside.

At the next meeting, there was a split in the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club’s life-saving activities as being unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal life pattern of the club.

But some members insisted that life-saving was their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a life-saving station. But they were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save the life of all the various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they could begin their own life-saving station down the coast. They did.

As the years went by, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old. They evolved into a club and yet another life-saving station was founded.

If you visit the seacoast today you will find a number of exclusive clubs along that shore. Shipwrecks are still frequent in those waters, only now most of the people drown.

Amos 1-5: Amos is not a book many of us open to for great encouragement, but we should read it with eyes toward our own nation. Israel was in a time of prosperity and in their prosperity they forgot God and treated the poor and needy badly. It wasn’t just Israel that Amos spoke against, but most of his words were for them. As Amos addressed each nation he used the same format.
“For three transgressions of _______________,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they have…”
Each of the 5 countries were given their “punishment”. As I read through these words, I thought how If Amos had been the prophet for America he would have said something like this.

“For the three transgressions of America and for four” This just means that we just like the other nations have fallen into a sin pattern. It wasn’t just one or two sins, we are not turning from our sinful ways
“I will not revoke the punishment, because they have” chosen to satisfy themselves instead of turning to God. They have chosen to take the life of innocent babies. They have chosen the gods of convenience, comfort, money, and self over the One true God.
To these things we would have to say guilty. We like Israel have chosen to leave our dependency and love for God instead choosing our dependency on self and our money and possessions. We take Him and His provision for granted.

Our punishment is easy to see. We are driven by greed and selfish desires. Our country is experiencing violence, hatred, conflict, and insecurity. Fear is the basis for so many things not love or care for others. We are self seekers who are more concerned for our own needs than the poor around us. This isn’t how it was meant to be. It doesn’t have to be this way now. The answer is the same as it was for Amos’ generation. Turn back to God before it is too late. The sad part is that it usually takes a tragedy to bring us back to God. Things that used to be a tragedy and push us towards Him have become common place so that it will take something even greater to humble us as a nation. My heart breaks to consider what that might be.

No matter how the world around me responds I choose today and plan to keep choosing to honor the Lord with my whole heart. I pray that others will find me to be a person who deeply loves and points them to Jesus. I pray in the darkness and despair people will want the Light of the Gospel in me. I pray that though I walk through my own valleys that people will see the hope of the Gospel in me. May Jesus be glorified even in the darkness that surrounds and be drawn to HIM!

1 Kings 20-21: We are in the part of the Bible where there will be good kings who follow after God and there will be bad kings who follow other gods. Ahab was one of the bad kings. He was married to Jezebel and she was just plain evil. 1 Kings 21 describes this couple like this, “25(There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited.” Jezebel had people killed, she hated the prophet Elijah and tried to get him killed. She worshiped Baal and was very instrumental in getting the country of Israel to follow Baal as well. God must have seen something good in Ahab. In chapter 20 God saved Israel from the king of Syria twice to reveal himself to Ahab. I wonder if the influence of Jezebel was so great that somewhere deep down Ahab had a humble heart toward God, but her influence dominated that.
Do you know people who have a heart for the Lord, but they allow other people to influence their behavior? They know the right things to do, but when they get with the crowd they act and think like the crew they are following. The Bible says “Bad company corrupts good morals.” That sure seemed to be the case for Ahab. At the end of chapter 21 Ahab is told because of Jezebel’s having Naboth killed and Ahab going along with it and taking his land, God had passed judgment on them. Then something amazing happens, read it for yourself.
21:27 And when Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly. 28And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 29″Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son’s days I will bring the disaster upon his house.”
No matter how far away you might run, God is always waiting for you to return! Ahab may have been a bad king, but God hears the prayers of one who humbles himself before the Lord. I also believe Ahab had seen the power of God when he fought against Syria and he knew that God was real. Has God used things like that in your life to show you He is real? Were you once much closer to God. Don’t waste your life, return now and experience joy. Don’t allow friends to pull you away. Get in church, surround yourself with others pursuing Christ and live in the bounty of God’s blessing.