Isn't spring wonderful? The feeling of new life is in the air! God is faithfully transitioning us out of the cold, barren months of winter and renewing and reenergizing us! That reality is the subject of Isaiah 61. I'm sitting in on verses 1 through 7 today, soaking in what God is saying. What do you hear? If you can, take a few minutes to write it down so that you can reflect back on it later. For me . . .
The Spirit of the sovereign LORD is on me . . . to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. (v. 1, 3)
God, you are one who lifts up the fallen. You are the God who brings new joy out of deepest grief, who turns our seasons of despair into powerful testimonies of praise for your deliverance!
This is the Lord I serve. I have no need to despair. If I am living with "a spirit of despair" I am outside God's will for my life. Jesus has come to take away that spirit of despair and replace it with a new look for a brand new me. He refers to it as "a garment of praise." To go along with that he's giving me a crown to wear--"a crown of beauty" that finds its source in my relationship with him. And then he wants to anoint my head with "the oil of gladness." Today that sounds like it would make for some seriously greasy hair! In their arid climate it was like a spa treatment. It was a sensory experience of feeling God's favor poured out on their heads, a sign that a big party was in progress in their honor.
That's the new wardrobe he's giving me to wear to the party he's throwing for me! Dark and anxious days are part of life, yet the true God specializes in turn-arounds. Even through death he promises resurrection! His ultimate plans for me are not for despair but for celebration! It's such an honor, almighty God, that you would have my well-being so high on your list of priorities. I'm going to live in your joy today! Amen.
Your comments and insights add so much to the blog! Please join in the conversation below. (First sign into Google or just choose Anonymous from the drop-down list.)
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Done With Dog Days
God, you are so good to me! Thank you for speaking into my heart and life. Your word is such an incredible blessing by the way it brings your thoughts into my mind.
I'm reading Isaiah 60:15-22 today. Why don't you take a couple of minutes to read it through, preferably more than once. Let the Holy Spirit personalize what he has inspired to be written. Here's what I find God emphasizing to me:
Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end. (v. 20).
These words bring me so much hope. They are spoken out of the dark periods of life when it feels like there's nothing but despair. God reminds me that he's far from done with me, far from done with his people. This prophecy has at least two main points of reference. One is to God's promise that as hopeless as life can seem at times, the sun will come out again. Jerusalem would be destroyed by the Babylonians but the bleakness of the exile wouldn't last forever. Restoration was coming! And in my own life the same promise holds true.
In 2009 while I was rocked by Cathy's fight with cancer this verse spoke encouragement to me. My life was peppered with sad and anxiety-filled days. God promised me through this verse that they wouldn't last forever. The dark alley would have an end. And so it has. His promise has been kept! He has brought the sunshine back into my life. He has turned my sorrow into joy!
But there is another point of reference here. This current life is always going to have its ups and downs, it's sunny times and its rainstorms. But God is pointing ahead to a time coming for us all when days of sorrow have made their very last appearance. I am so excited by the thought that in Heaven and the New Earth eternal happiness are coming my way! So my hope is ultimately there. It's where I'm headed. And no one and nothing rob me of my place by God's side. Thank you, Father! I'm rejoicing in you!
Please share your thoughts by commenting below!
I'm reading Isaiah 60:15-22 today. Why don't you take a couple of minutes to read it through, preferably more than once. Let the Holy Spirit personalize what he has inspired to be written. Here's what I find God emphasizing to me:
Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end. (v. 20).
These words bring me so much hope. They are spoken out of the dark periods of life when it feels like there's nothing but despair. God reminds me that he's far from done with me, far from done with his people. This prophecy has at least two main points of reference. One is to God's promise that as hopeless as life can seem at times, the sun will come out again. Jerusalem would be destroyed by the Babylonians but the bleakness of the exile wouldn't last forever. Restoration was coming! And in my own life the same promise holds true.
In 2009 while I was rocked by Cathy's fight with cancer this verse spoke encouragement to me. My life was peppered with sad and anxiety-filled days. God promised me through this verse that they wouldn't last forever. The dark alley would have an end. And so it has. His promise has been kept! He has brought the sunshine back into my life. He has turned my sorrow into joy!
But there is another point of reference here. This current life is always going to have its ups and downs, it's sunny times and its rainstorms. But God is pointing ahead to a time coming for us all when days of sorrow have made their very last appearance. I am so excited by the thought that in Heaven and the New Earth eternal happiness are coming my way! So my hope is ultimately there. It's where I'm headed. And no one and nothing rob me of my place by God's side. Thank you, Father! I'm rejoicing in you!
Please share your thoughts by commenting below!
Monday, April 11, 2011
Rise and Shine
I'm back, boys and girls! Thursday and Friday of last week I was on a trip and was unable to do my blog. I should have informed you of that in advance, so please accept my apologies.
I wonder as you woke up this morning, perhaps to an alarm clock, were you anticipating the day? After all, it is Monday, and there's all kinds of bad news to tune into--more earthquakes, war, radiation leakage, soaring gas prices, massive budget cuts. Maybe a word from God will help. Join me in reading and listening to him in Isaiah 60:1-14.
It's the first two verses that really speak to me today:
Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you.
I can dwell on the darkness around me, the bleakness of the world scene, the trouble that is seemingly at every hand, but if I did I would miss something amazing--the glory of God shining on me! There has always been trouble of one sort or another going on in the world. It isn't hard to find. I don't have to look far to find something to be discouraged about. But to be happy I need to have sharper vision.
Because of God's presence in my life, it is full of light! Right now it's like its brilliance is blinding! Sometimes it's difficult to see because of the dark clouds that show up in my life's sky. But God's glory is nevertheless shining on me, hovering over me. Because of my trust in him, his light is light is basking around me, about to be revealed, and when it breaks through the darkness it is nothing short of awesome!
God is encouraging me today. Sure, there is plenty of darkness out there. I don't need to be blind to that. God even points it out himself. Darkness has settled over the peoples of the world. I won't find much real deep-down joy or much focused hope out there. But there is something else to see--things are different in the case of anyone whose hope is the LORD.
Our God, Yahweh, is with us! He's telling me to rise and shine! My vision is clear. My heart is open. My future is secure, and it will be glorious! Even right now at this very moment my life is so very different, so much better because my God is renewing and empowering me, blessing and leading me. It's Monday, and it's a great time to get up and shine! Thank you, God, for how amazing you are!
Please talk to us about what God is impressing on you in this text. Your reflections are very valuable! Comment below (sign into your Google account first or choose Anonymous from the drop-down menu).
I wonder as you woke up this morning, perhaps to an alarm clock, were you anticipating the day? After all, it is Monday, and there's all kinds of bad news to tune into--more earthquakes, war, radiation leakage, soaring gas prices, massive budget cuts. Maybe a word from God will help. Join me in reading and listening to him in Isaiah 60:1-14.
It's the first two verses that really speak to me today:
Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you.
I can dwell on the darkness around me, the bleakness of the world scene, the trouble that is seemingly at every hand, but if I did I would miss something amazing--the glory of God shining on me! There has always been trouble of one sort or another going on in the world. It isn't hard to find. I don't have to look far to find something to be discouraged about. But to be happy I need to have sharper vision.
Because of God's presence in my life, it is full of light! Right now it's like its brilliance is blinding! Sometimes it's difficult to see because of the dark clouds that show up in my life's sky. But God's glory is nevertheless shining on me, hovering over me. Because of my trust in him, his light is light is basking around me, about to be revealed, and when it breaks through the darkness it is nothing short of awesome!
God is encouraging me today. Sure, there is plenty of darkness out there. I don't need to be blind to that. God even points it out himself. Darkness has settled over the peoples of the world. I won't find much real deep-down joy or much focused hope out there. But there is something else to see--things are different in the case of anyone whose hope is the LORD.
Our God, Yahweh, is with us! He's telling me to rise and shine! My vision is clear. My heart is open. My future is secure, and it will be glorious! Even right now at this very moment my life is so very different, so much better because my God is renewing and empowering me, blessing and leading me. It's Monday, and it's a great time to get up and shine! Thank you, God, for how amazing you are!
Please talk to us about what God is impressing on you in this text. Your reflections are very valuable! Comment below (sign into your Google account first or choose Anonymous from the drop-down menu).
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Worth Saying
Today's weather is simply gorgeous! And I'm so ready for a word from God. I'm reading Isaiah 59:14-22. Why don't you join me? This is what is grabbing my attention . . .
"My Spirit, who is on you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children . . . from this time on and forever," says the LORD. (v. 21)
This blog is all about listening to God's voice and receiving his thoughts to guide and enrich our lives. But this statement reminds me that listening to his voice, receiving his word into my heart, is only part of the dynamic activity of his word in my life. He wants me to speak it too. He wants me to share what I'm hearing, beginning with my own family. God's Words are for knowing, obeying and then speaking. He wants to hear them on my lips.
There are any number of ways that I might do that. One is discussing the spiritual insights or questions that I have with people in my life. Or simply referring to something from Scripture that I'm reminded of. It can happen through planned times of reading Scripture aloud together. In my prayers I can reflect back to God things that he has said, affirming them or claiming them for my life. When someone is struggling, I can share with them one of God's many promises of comfort, help or guidance. If someone is happy about good things that are happening in their life, I can remind them that God is the giver of all of those good gifts and remark about how much he has blessed them. I can memorize them. I can teach them to my children. I can even preach them . . . well, some of us can anyway.
God, may your words be in my heart and mind but also in my mouth. I know that nothing I can say would ever be more truthful and potentially life-touching than something you have said in your living Word. Use my mouth, Lord, it is yours. I sometimes find it full of anything but your Word. Forgive me! Set a guard around my mouth so that I won't say anything that you wouldn't want me to say. But instead of just focuing on what I shouldn't be saying I know you want me to replace it with what I should be communicating. I want my words to bring life, not pain, to the people around me, starting with those closest to me--my children, my family.
Please share your comments below!
"My Spirit, who is on you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children . . . from this time on and forever," says the LORD. (v. 21)
This blog is all about listening to God's voice and receiving his thoughts to guide and enrich our lives. But this statement reminds me that listening to his voice, receiving his word into my heart, is only part of the dynamic activity of his word in my life. He wants me to speak it too. He wants me to share what I'm hearing, beginning with my own family. God's Words are for knowing, obeying and then speaking. He wants to hear them on my lips.
There are any number of ways that I might do that. One is discussing the spiritual insights or questions that I have with people in my life. Or simply referring to something from Scripture that I'm reminded of. It can happen through planned times of reading Scripture aloud together. In my prayers I can reflect back to God things that he has said, affirming them or claiming them for my life. When someone is struggling, I can share with them one of God's many promises of comfort, help or guidance. If someone is happy about good things that are happening in their life, I can remind them that God is the giver of all of those good gifts and remark about how much he has blessed them. I can memorize them. I can teach them to my children. I can even preach them . . . well, some of us can anyway.
God, may your words be in my heart and mind but also in my mouth. I know that nothing I can say would ever be more truthful and potentially life-touching than something you have said in your living Word. Use my mouth, Lord, it is yours. I sometimes find it full of anything but your Word. Forgive me! Set a guard around my mouth so that I won't say anything that you wouldn't want me to say. But instead of just focuing on what I shouldn't be saying I know you want me to replace it with what I should be communicating. I want my words to bring life, not pain, to the people around me, starting with those closest to me--my children, my family.
Please share your comments below!
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Peacemaker
Today I'm inviting you to join me as we listen to God speak through Isaiah 59:1-13. This passage may convict you personally or it may make you feel for the people around you, the masses who need Jesus so desperately. What are you hearing?
Their thoughts are evil thoughts; ruin and destruction mark their ways. The way of peace they do not know. (v. 7-8)
We humans are a sad lot. We think by asserting our own desires above God, doing whatever we want, that we will get the good life. We're consistenly attracted to evil. Our community is filled with people going their way, so oblivious to the place their choices are leading them. When we go recklessly down that path, what do we get? Ruined relationships, deep disappointment, broken hearts, diseases bodies, corrupted thinking, and lots of worry and frustration. A strong sense of inner peace, peace with God and peace with other people is in pretty short supply in America today, and the world as a whole.
Yet God can and will give us a new start. If only we would learn to trust him! And once we have given our lives to him we have got to look around us and see who we introduce to the peace we have found. People need Jesus! They will never find the good life and real peace without him. God, I know you want me to be deeply impressed with that fact. You want me to long for others to know you and the peace you bring. But it's more than wanting it for them. It's reaching out to them. It's taking the time to get to know them, to invest in their lives. And it's finding those natural moments to put in a word for you about the difference you make in my life and asking thoughtful questions to help get them thinking about their own. So I am a tool in your hand today, Lord. Direct me to the people you want me to touch and give me enough love for them to not just go on my busy way. Make me a peacemaker in this most important sense--someone who helps others find peace with you. Amen.
Please share your thoughts and impressions on what God is saying to you in this text! Log into your Google account first or just select Anonymous from the drop-down men below. Go ahead!
Their thoughts are evil thoughts; ruin and destruction mark their ways. The way of peace they do not know. (v. 7-8)
We humans are a sad lot. We think by asserting our own desires above God, doing whatever we want, that we will get the good life. We're consistenly attracted to evil. Our community is filled with people going their way, so oblivious to the place their choices are leading them. When we go recklessly down that path, what do we get? Ruined relationships, deep disappointment, broken hearts, diseases bodies, corrupted thinking, and lots of worry and frustration. A strong sense of inner peace, peace with God and peace with other people is in pretty short supply in America today, and the world as a whole.
Yet God can and will give us a new start. If only we would learn to trust him! And once we have given our lives to him we have got to look around us and see who we introduce to the peace we have found. People need Jesus! They will never find the good life and real peace without him. God, I know you want me to be deeply impressed with that fact. You want me to long for others to know you and the peace you bring. But it's more than wanting it for them. It's reaching out to them. It's taking the time to get to know them, to invest in their lives. And it's finding those natural moments to put in a word for you about the difference you make in my life and asking thoughtful questions to help get them thinking about their own. So I am a tool in your hand today, Lord. Direct me to the people you want me to touch and give me enough love for them to not just go on my busy way. Make me a peacemaker in this most important sense--someone who helps others find peace with you. Amen.
Please share your thoughts and impressions on what God is saying to you in this text! Log into your Google account first or just select Anonymous from the drop-down men below. Go ahead!
Monday, April 4, 2011
Bringers of Hope
God's hands are so full of good things to pour into my life and yours! And he gives the best of those things to people whose hearts really resonate with his own, who live in step with him. Let's listen to what he has to say to us in Isaiah 58 on this Monday. If you spent part of the day yesterday in worship and prayer, this message will be especially challenging. It's just 14 short verses, so take the time to read.
Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed ? . . . If you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness. . . . The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs . . . (v. 5, 10-11)
Sometimes we believers become worship addicts. We love to just soak in praise and worship and spend time in prayer. On Mondays we're already craving next Sunday! We go from one inspirational worship experience to another. We even carry them with us on our iPods and iPhones and iPads.
Worship isn't the only way to be filled up by God. There is a connection between how active I am in meeting the needs of others, especially the poor and powerless, and the extent to which God meets my own needs (read the verses above again). God delights in the love I offer him in my praise. He is eager to listen to my prayers and takes note of my fasting when I'm intensely seeking his blessing. But there needs to be some practical outcomes from my worship. It should motivate me to live a life of love and service to others, as Jesus did. I cannot love God and not serve people that he loves, particularly those who are in need and unable to help themselves. Would they testify to the fact that iServe?
At the very root of most of the world's poverty is a profound sense of hopelessness. That is something that I have never really experienced. I have grown up believing that good will come. Even in the worst of times I have been encouraged by the conviction that something better lies just down the road. It is not like that for the world's impoverished masses. They live with absolutely no anticipation that a break is coming their way. It is my privilege and duty to help them discover hope--a hope that comes from knowing God.
In doing that, there is an even greater hope for my own future! For when I meet the real needs of others God promises to meet my needs as well.
By the way, our church has an open slot (maybe two) for our week-long mission trip to Guatemala in October of this year to build a water well for a community that doesn't even have access to safe, clean drinking water. I can't wait to satisfy such a great need for these oppressed people! If you're interested, contact us at info@onelifeonline.org. Now, please post your comments on what God is saying to you through this chapter . . .
Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed ? . . . If you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness. . . . The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs . . . (v. 5, 10-11)
Sometimes we believers become worship addicts. We love to just soak in praise and worship and spend time in prayer. On Mondays we're already craving next Sunday! We go from one inspirational worship experience to another. We even carry them with us on our iPods and iPhones and iPads.
Worship isn't the only way to be filled up by God. There is a connection between how active I am in meeting the needs of others, especially the poor and powerless, and the extent to which God meets my own needs (read the verses above again). God delights in the love I offer him in my praise. He is eager to listen to my prayers and takes note of my fasting when I'm intensely seeking his blessing. But there needs to be some practical outcomes from my worship. It should motivate me to live a life of love and service to others, as Jesus did. I cannot love God and not serve people that he loves, particularly those who are in need and unable to help themselves. Would they testify to the fact that iServe?
At the very root of most of the world's poverty is a profound sense of hopelessness. That is something that I have never really experienced. I have grown up believing that good will come. Even in the worst of times I have been encouraged by the conviction that something better lies just down the road. It is not like that for the world's impoverished masses. They live with absolutely no anticipation that a break is coming their way. It is my privilege and duty to help them discover hope--a hope that comes from knowing God.
In doing that, there is an even greater hope for my own future! For when I meet the real needs of others God promises to meet my needs as well.
By the way, our church has an open slot (maybe two) for our week-long mission trip to Guatemala in October of this year to build a water well for a community that doesn't even have access to safe, clean drinking water. I can't wait to satisfy such a great need for these oppressed people! If you're interested, contact us at info@onelifeonline.org. Now, please post your comments on what God is saying to you through this chapter . . .
Friday, April 1, 2011
A Heart to Be Led
Today's God-thoughts come from Isaiah 57:14-21. Such a contrast between his tone here and the tone of the previous verses! This is such a great promise! What are you hearing here?
God: "I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly. . . . I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will guide him and restore comfort to him. . ." (v. 15, 18)
The healing God promises here is so real and miraculous! The grace of God is amazing! What especially jumps out at me right now is his promise to guide me in my life journey. I will receive God's guidance if my heart is open and truly seeking his will.
This can be a nebulous concept, and one of the more difficult things about God to experience. There isn't any magic formula to listening for God's voice. The role I have is to humble myself and invite him to tell me whatever I need to hear. His written Word provides the framework and the principles. His Holy Spirit provides the inner leading to personalize it to my own life and circumstances. The variable that I control is whether I have a real heart to know and do God's will. Am I teachable? Is my will really surrendered and submitted to his? Do I realize how I've messed things up when I've asserted my own will in the past? And, of course, do I take the time to listen?
God doesn't usually speak to us out of burning bushes. Receiving his guidance isn't about erasing your mind and expecting him to just download everything I need to know. Receiving his guidance is a partnership, using the mind he blessed me with but decisively putting it under the Holy Spirit's guidance. When I do that, it's often hard to distinguish between what are my own thoughts and what are his. But that is because through my submitted heart, the two have become one. He will help me shape my thoughts and my evaluations of the alternatives before me.
And then there are other times when I know that it's his guidance because he's telling me to do something I would never choose to do on my own volition. In Scripture, God's guidance to the people we read about was very often not what they would have thought of or desired. He loves to stretch our faith and build our character!
Heavenly Father, I surrender my will to yours. I know that you are far wiser than me, powerful enough to accomplish whatever your will is, and that you have my good and the good of others as your agenda. Please guide me. Please lead me forward. Let every step I take be aligned with your desires for me. Amen.
Please share your thoughts on this great piece of God's conversation with us! Either sign in with your Google account first or just choose Anonymous from the drop-down menu below.
God: "I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly. . . . I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will guide him and restore comfort to him. . ." (v. 15, 18)
The healing God promises here is so real and miraculous! The grace of God is amazing! What especially jumps out at me right now is his promise to guide me in my life journey. I will receive God's guidance if my heart is open and truly seeking his will.
This can be a nebulous concept, and one of the more difficult things about God to experience. There isn't any magic formula to listening for God's voice. The role I have is to humble myself and invite him to tell me whatever I need to hear. His written Word provides the framework and the principles. His Holy Spirit provides the inner leading to personalize it to my own life and circumstances. The variable that I control is whether I have a real heart to know and do God's will. Am I teachable? Is my will really surrendered and submitted to his? Do I realize how I've messed things up when I've asserted my own will in the past? And, of course, do I take the time to listen?
God doesn't usually speak to us out of burning bushes. Receiving his guidance isn't about erasing your mind and expecting him to just download everything I need to know. Receiving his guidance is a partnership, using the mind he blessed me with but decisively putting it under the Holy Spirit's guidance. When I do that, it's often hard to distinguish between what are my own thoughts and what are his. But that is because through my submitted heart, the two have become one. He will help me shape my thoughts and my evaluations of the alternatives before me.
And then there are other times when I know that it's his guidance because he's telling me to do something I would never choose to do on my own volition. In Scripture, God's guidance to the people we read about was very often not what they would have thought of or desired. He loves to stretch our faith and build our character!
Heavenly Father, I surrender my will to yours. I know that you are far wiser than me, powerful enough to accomplish whatever your will is, and that you have my good and the good of others as your agenda. Please guide me. Please lead me forward. Let every step I take be aligned with your desires for me. Amen.
Please share your thoughts on this great piece of God's conversation with us! Either sign in with your Google account first or just choose Anonymous from the drop-down menu below.
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