Where He Leads...

“Since you are my rock and my fortress,

for the sake of your name lead and guide me.”    

Psalm 31:3

Recently, as we traveled along the NYS Thruway on our way to Michigan we stopped at a thruway rest stop for a few minutes.

As we were there I watched two older gentleman walking in, one behind the other.

The gentleman following was blind.

He held a cane in one hand and the other hand was on the shoulder of the other gentleman who was leading him through the busy halls filled with travelers.

He had to trust his guide,

Isaiah 42:16 tells us:

“I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,

along unfamiliar paths I will lead them.”

God is your God, sometimes He leads along ways you have not known and along unfamiliar paths.

You will not reach your destination if we do not trust Him and follow where He leads.

Natural sight will not take you down the path set for you.

It may actually hinder or distract you.

It is only through your hand planted firmly on the shoulder of God and trusting as you follow Him that you will go where He wants you to go!

A Child of the Promise

“It is not as though God’s word had failed.

For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.

Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children.

On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”

 In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring. For this was how the promise was stated:

“At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”    

Romans 9:6-9

Romans 9:6-9 (see above) makes it very clear that the promises of the covenant are given to those of the children of faith in the promise and not simply given because of who you were ‘physically’ born to.

Being a Jew carries some blessing from God to be sure, but being a child of God through faith in His promised redemption through His Son is what brings adoption into the family of God.

To be sure – these is a love that God has for Israel and a special place in His heart for its’ people but there is no short cut into His Kingdom.

All must enter through that gate which is Jesus Christ.

Born, not of natural descent, but of the Spirit!

Are you a child of the promise?

The Choice Places

“A voice of one calling:

“In the wilderness prepare

    the way for the Lord;

make straight in the desert

    a highway for our God.”

Isaiah 40:3

We’d like to think that it is the mountaintop experiences in our lives that make wide the entrance to welcome the Spirit of the Lord.

The verse above says otherwise.

In our lives, it is the desert and wilderness experiences that are far more able to prepare the way for the Lord than those wonderfully blissful mountaintop experiences.

Sure, who would deny the exhilaration of standing and looking out from the high peaks and survey the landscape.

Certainly that has to be far more exciting than the wilderness.

We would likely be moved greatly by Gods’ creation and stand in awe of His handiwork in the rarified atmosphere of the mountaintop, but, in the valleys, in the dry places and loneliness of the wilderness our souls cry out in earnest anguish for His presence to accompany us.

That is where, unlike any other place, we seek and find intimate fellowship in His presence.

The mountaintop – like a scenic highway overlook – is often crowded with others.

Not so the desert or the wilderness.

Press in at those seasons and know the company of His presence!

What Were You Thinking?

“Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked,

“What did those men say, and where did they come from?”

“From a distant land,” Hezekiah replied. “They came to me from Babylon.”

 The prophet asked, “What did they see in your palace?”

“They saw everything in my palace,” Hezekiah said.

“There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.”

Isaiah 39: 3-4

Take a moment and read Isaiah Chapter 39.

Perhaps the greatest lesson from this chapter is:

Beware of Babylonians bearing gifts!

Maybe it was boasting, maybe it was gratitude.

Maybe it was flattery for a gift having been received.

Whatever the reason, King Hezekiah never should have shown the Babylonian envoy from their king all the riches, wealth and even the defenses for his country.

But show him he did and without holding anything back!

Then he got a visit from the prophet of God.

If I could paraphrase –

King, what were you thinking?!

King Hezekiah lacked (or at least had a lapse of) discernment.

He opened every kingdom door and cubby to those who would later carry it all off as spoils from victory over the nation.

Hezekiah had previously sought God over his own personal well-being but seemed to lack the wisdom to do the same for his nation.

He did not seek Gods’ direction for his own country.

Sometimes, like Hezekiah, we withhold nothing from the enemy.

Like Hezekiah or Samson we freely show him where our strengths and weaknesses lie.

This is not wise.

Mere Dust

Today’s blog post is contributed by David Trotta:

As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.  For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. (Psalm 103:13-14)

I can be pretty hard on myself when I fail.  I tend to dwell on my mistakes and even engage in some excessive self-scolding for allowing it to happen.

I can quickly forgive others, but forgive myself? That’s a different story.

Does that strike a familiar chord with you?

If yes, those feelings don’t come from our heavenly Father.  He is quick to show compassion.  Why?  Because He knows our frailty.

That’s right, our frailty.

I know, I know, all the self-help books are written to tell us how great we are and how much  potential we have, but in reality, the only true potential in us comes from God’s spirit that dwell within us.

Maybe it’s time we understand that we have many shortcomings as humans and that’s ok.  We have a fallen nature that we will struggle with until death sets us free.

Sometimes I think the unwillingness to forgive ourselves stems from an inflated view of who we are.  God brings us back to reality by reminding us of our origin – mere dust before He breathed life into us.  It’s all about Him.  We are just the vessel.

It’s healthy to have a realistic view of ourselves.  When we do, we won’t take our weaknesses and failures too seriously.  We may even be able to chuckle at some of our bonehead mistakes, instead of taking ourselves out to the whipping shed.

I am going to take it a step farther and say that we should rejoice over our shortcomings, because they allow us to celebrate God’s grace.  It also reinforces in us a healthy reminder of our frailty and our utter dependency on Him.

In 2 Corinthians 12:9, the apostle Paul said “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

I am not advocating taking our sin lightly.  On the contrary, we should seek to always live a holy life in thought and deed, which only can be done by surrendering our hearts and minds to the lordship of Jesus.

But we will never be perfect, so when your human frailty rears its head, show compassion and remember you are but mere dust.  Then lean on God.

Are You Convinced?

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 8:37-39

The verses above are likely very familiar to most of us.

We have probably quoted a time or too as well.

But I can’t help wondering if we miss a point that is so vital to the verses application in our own personal lives.

Paul included some words that are key to appropriating the promise contained in the verses. He said:

“...for I am convinced...”

He was convinced.

Am I?

Are you?

Do we always believe that NOTHING can separate us from the love of God or do I live as if every little thing I say, think or do seperates me?

His love is stronger than that and His word is true!

Even in our failures, even in our sin, He loves us.

That is not to say we should continue in those things but rather that I recognize that God does not turn His love ‘on’ or ‘off’ toward us based on our less than perfect behavior.

God is not fickle and His love is not conditional.

He loves you.

He loved you yesterday, He loves you today and He will love you tomorrow.

He loves you!

Are you convinced of that?

Delivered and Received!

“Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life.”

Isaiah 38:4-5

Isaiah 38 gives us some lessons on delivering and receiving a word from the Lord.

Isaiah delivered a word to the King that was a difficult word to give and to receive.

He told the King he needed to get himself ready because he was going to die.

Just delivering the word could have cost Isaiah his life nonetheless he was faithful to deliver it just as he had received it.

King Hezekiah received the word but did not ‘kill the messenger’.

He received it as from the Lord.

His response was to take it back to the Lord in prayer.

There is no record of an additional conversation between the King and the Prophet of God until the Prophet returns and delivers the good news that God has given the King 15 more years of life.

Again the King showed his great respect for the office of the Prophet by receiving the word delivered but offering, in prayer, his thanksgiving to the Lord who originated the word.

So much we can learn from those examples but lets’ take just one lesson away today and that is to recognize that God still speaks to His people prophetically and through the office of the Prophet.

Let’s honor the Lord by acknowledging that!