Tag: Israel

Posted in A Father's Love, Devotions, Holiness, Marraige, spiritual warfare, The Gospels, wisdom, worship

Luke 14 Part 1–Humility vs. Self-Promotion

Posted on by Michael Smith

Jesus was now under major scrutiny by the religious leaders.  They had but one goal, get rid of Jesus.  Jesus was invited to a prominent Pharisee’s house for dinner and there, waiting, is a man to be healed.  Of course, it was on the sabbath.  I am sure Jesus was thinking, “Really, healing on the Sabbath again???”  So, Jesus simply asked the leaders the question, is it OK to heal on the sabbath?  They of course did not answer–if they answered No then Jesus had them because as He pointed, they would save their kids and livestock on the sabbath. Doing good was allowed!   If they would have answered yes, then Jesus would have taken away their best trap. It was becoming comical.

Next Jesus talked about living a life of Humility.  He showed that those who try to constantly exalt themselves, will be embarrassed.  Conversely, if one simply lives and acts humbly; God and others will exalt them.  What a gift and what a more lasting honor.  Jesus tried so ardently to help people to shift their thoughts from self-centered survival to an attitude of faith; trusting God to lead and provide. Sadly, the leaders were not grasping the concept.  That was the most frustrating aspect for Jesus.  These were supposed to be God’s best and brightest; but they missed the most important aspect of a life of devotion to God–selfless faith.

In our lives, Jesus still wants us to grasp the principle, Seek God and follow Him.  Then He will meet your needs and lift you up to a life of peace and joy.  The Lord will also prepare for you an eternal life with Him as His chosen.  We need not spend our days trying to earn prominence or self-promoting our spirituality.  That will get us nowhere.  Instead, we simply and humbly follow the Father, then, we can allow the Lord to lift us up.  It is a great way to live and brings peace during chaos.

God Bless You

One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. 2 There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. 3 Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” 4 But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way.

5 Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child[a] or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” 6 And they had nothing to say.

7 When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: 8 “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. 9 If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. 10 But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. 11 For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

12 Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Posted in A Father's Love, devotion, Holiness, spiritual warfare, wisdom, worship

Isaiah 62–A Prophet’s Prayer

Posted on by Michael Smith

It is difficult to be gifted with the gift of prophecy.  Prophecy has two parts: foretelling the future and forthtelling the truth.  In part, many admire and are amazed at the accuracy of Isaiah’s prophecies about Jesus and about Israel.  Remember, at the time of these prophecies, Jerusalem, was prosperous and proud.  They were very sacrosanct and holy–they were just ignoring God.  They were checking boxes like mad, but had no heart for their Creator, Savior, and Provider.

Israel, like most still loved themselves more than God.  They did not mind making God a part of their lives as long as He did not interfere.  That is why much of Isaiah’s prophecy is simply calling them out for their sins of commission and omission. Here in chapter 62, We are blessed to see this prophet’s love for God and God’s chosen.  He personally prayed for their restoration.  for the return of their name and dignity.  The normally blunt and harsh prophet is now bearing his broken heart for these people, God’s Chosen.

We are also His chosen.  Isaiah wants us to also enjoy the blessing and restoration that is due God’s people.  When we trust the Lord as our savior, He will bring us into His family and, like Israel, will gather us and care for us.  This world is not our home.  We are being prepared for an eternal life in God’s presence.  Here there will be no fear, no darkness, no tears, and no regrets.  We will be new creations in the Heavenlies, in God’s loving family.  Like the Israel described in this passage, we will be restored and renewed in the image of our Lord.  What an amazing promise and gift.

God Bless You

Because I love Zion,
    I will not keep still.
Because my heart yearns for Jerusalem,
    I cannot remain silent.
I will not stop praying for her
    until her righteousness shines like the dawn,
    and her salvation blazes like a burning torch.
2 The nations will see your righteousness.
    World leaders will be blinded by your glory.
And you will be given a new name
    by the Lord’s own mouth.
3 The Lord will hold you in his hand for all to see—
    a splendid crown in the hand of God.
4 Never again will you be called “The Forsaken City”[a]
    or “The Desolate Land.”[b]
Your new name will be “The City of God’s Delight”[c]
    and “The Bride of God,”[d]
for the Lord delights in you
    and will claim you as his bride.
5 Your children will commit themselves to you, O Jerusalem,
    just as a young man commits himself to his bride.
Then God will rejoice over you
    as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride.

6 O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen on your walls;
    they will pray day and night, continually.
    Take no rest, all you who pray to the Lord.
7 Give the Lord no rest until he completes his work,
    until he makes Jerusalem the pride of the earth.
8 The Lord has sworn to Jerusalem by his own strength:
    “I will never again hand you over to your enemies.
Never again will foreign warriors come
    and take away your grain and new wine.
9 You raised the grain, and you will eat it,
    praising the Lord.
Within the courtyards of the Temple,
    you yourselves will drink the wine you have pressed.”

10 Go out through the gates!
    Prepare the highway for my people to return!
Smooth out the road; pull out the boulders;
    raise a flag for all the nations to see.
11 The Lord has sent this message to every land:
    “Tell the people of Israel,[e]
‘Look, your Savior is coming.
    See, he brings his reward with him as he comes.’”
12 They will be called “The Holy People”
    and “The People Redeemed by the Lord.”
And Jerusalem will be known as “The Desirable Place”
    and “The City No Longer Forsaken.”

Posted in A Father's Love, Devotions, Holiness, spiritual warfare, The Gospels, wisdom, worship

Isaiah 53–He May Have Endured my Pain, But Don’t Call Me Shirley

Posted on by Michael Smith

This is the most beautiful and specific prophecy about the coming Messiah.  It has been the verse for some of the most beautiful music.  It describes in such detail the sacrifice made by our Lord.  We often forget the level of pain and degradation that the Lord Jesus suffered on our behalf.  In Philippians 2, we are told to have the same attitude as Christ. Who being God, already did not need to attain immortality or authority over all. Yet out of Love for us, He emptied Himself of His Godhood and became a man.  Being in human form He humbled Himself and became obedient to Death–a death on the cross.

Isaiah’s description of the Lord’s sacrifice goes to the very heart of that.  He was GOD! he created the universe. So, to live humbly as a carpenter and then an itinerant Rabbi was quite a step down.  Then to spread the message of the Father’s Love and desire for relationship with us; only to be at odds with the leadership of HIS chosen people…not easy to take. Finally, to heal, raise the dead, feed the masses, and cast out the enemy; knowing all the time these people would demand His execution, uugh. 

It was the most beautiful way for God to demonstrate His love for us.  For Isaiah, well he had the first preview of what would become the greatest event in history.  He saw the thing that would, in fact divide time.  He forecast this life hundreds of years before as if he was watching it in HD.  That is why we should trust God.  He created us and a plan to save us despite our wicked nature. What a prophet and what an evangelist. Thank You Lord, for the prophetic markers to remind us of our Lord’s love and sacrifice for us!

God Bless You

Who has believed our message
    and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
    and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
    nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

4 Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
    yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
    and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression[a] and judgment he was taken away.
    Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
    for the transgression of my people he was punished.[b]
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
    and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
    nor was any deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
    and though the Lord makes[c] his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
    and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
11 After he has suffered,
    he will see the light of life[d] and be satisfied[e];
by his knowledge[f] my righteous servant will justify many,
    and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,[g]
    and he will divide the spoils with the strong,[h]
because he poured out his life unto death,
    and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
    and made intercession for the transgressors.

Posted in A Father's Love, devotion, Holiness, spiritual warfare, The Gospels, wisdom, worship

Isaiah 48–Giving God the Credit He Deserves

Posted on by Michael Smith

Isaiah’s next prophecy was to set the record straight on why Judah was still standing. It was not because they were a holy people.  It was not because they were valient or faithful.  It was not because they had come up with a plan to defeat the rest of the world or to fool God.  No, simply put, they still stood because God loved them and made a covenant to make them a great nation.

It was irritating to God to continue to support such a stiff necked and disobedient people.  He, however had skin in the game.  He delivered them out of slavery and brought them to this land.  He defeated their enemies and prospered them.  So, the decision to allow them to be catered and exiled was not an easy one to make.  In this passage, God makes clear that their very presence only happened as a gift from Him.  Such grace should be heralded and worshipped.  Sadly, the people simply went about their busy lives neither acknowledging God’s grace, nor retuning to the worship and submission to His lordship.

In present day, Many are faced with the same clear message.  It is not because we were that good or reverent; it is simply because God is a God of grace and mercy.  His chosen have not lived with the humility or passion to follow Him that He deserves.  But, As Paul said in Romans 5:8, “God demonstrated His love for us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  That message rings loud in this time and culture.  We need to be humble, grateful and follow God closely.  It is only by His grace that we are still standing.

God Bless You

​“Listen to this, you descendants of Jacob,    you who are called by the name of Israel  and come from the line of Judah,you who take oaths in the name of the Lord    and invoke the God of Israel—    but not in truth or righteousness—2 you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city    and claim to rely on the God of Israel—    the Lord Almighty is his name:3 I foretold the former things long ago,    my mouth announced them, and I made them known.    then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.4 For I knew how stubborn you were.    your neck muscles were iron,    your forehead was bronze.5 Therefore I told you these things long ago;    before they happened, I announced them to youso that you could not say,    ‘My images brought them about;    my wooden image and metal god ordained them.’6 You have heard these things; look at them all.    Will you not admit them?“From now on I will tell you of new things,    of hidden things unknown to you.7 They are created now, and not long ago;    you have not heard of them before today.So you cannot say,    ‘Yes, I knew of them.’8 You have neither heard nor understood;    from of old your ears have not been open.Well do I know how treacherous you are;    you were called a rebel from birth.9 For my own name’s sake I delay my wrath;    for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you,    so as not to destroy you completely.10 See, I have refined you, though not as silver;    I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.11 For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this.    How can I let myself be defamed?    I will not yield my glory to another.

Posted in A Father's Love, Creation, Holiness, spiritual warfare, The Gospels, wisdom, worship

Isaiah 47–Serving a God You Do Not Have to Carry

Posted on by Michael Smith

Isaiah lays out the distinction between being the true God and being an idol.  In short, God says, “Do you want to worship a God that you make, or one that made you?”  He then draws the distinction of the choice.  The God’s that men make become a burden to their worshippers.  There is the cost of casting the idol.  That is not cheap.  Then there is the cost of moving and replacing the worn-out idols.  Then there is the space they take up…AND FOR WHAT??? They cannot hear you; they cannot answer you; they certainly cannot protect or restore you.


Conversely, God tells His people, “I have made you; I have carried you; I will sustain you from youth until you reach old age.  But you cannot place me on a shelf, nor can you control me.” An old axiom is that God created man in his own image, and men have been trying to return the favor ever since.  It is not our job to create, to control or even to figure out God.  He is the Creator, the Lord.  We are simply called to trust Him and follow Him.  If we will, He will carry us all the days of our lives.  It is however a choice we must make, both personally and daily.


From God’s perspective, men can choose to follow the God’s that they have created, or they can follow THE God that created them. Either choice has a trajectory and a cost. I am going to do as Joshua said in Joshua 24:15, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!!!”


God Bless You

Bel bows down, Nebo stoops low;
    their idols are borne by beasts of burden.[a]
The images that are carried about are burdensome,
    a burden for the weary.
2 They stoop and bow down together;
    unable to rescue the burden,
    they themselves go off into captivity.

3 “Listen to me, you descendants of Jacob,
    all the remnant of the people of Israel,
you whom I have upheld since your birth,
    and have carried since you were born.
4 Even to your old age and gray hairs
    I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
    I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

5 “With whom will you compare me or count me equal?
    To whom will you liken me that we may be compared?
6 Some pour out gold from their bags
    and weigh out silver on the scales;
they hire a goldsmith to make it into a god,
    and they bow down and worship it.
7 They lift it to their shoulders and carry it;
    they set it up in its place, and there it stands.
    From that spot it cannot move.
Even though someone cries out to it, it cannot answer;
    it cannot save them from their troubles.

8 “Remember this, keep it in mind,
    take it to heart, you rebels.
9 Remember the former things, those of long ago;
    I am God, and there is no other;
    I am God, and there is none like me.
10 I make known the end from the beginning,
    from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say, ‘My purpose will stand,
    and I will do all that I please.’
11 From the east I summon a bird of prey;
    from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose.
What I have said, that I will bring about;
    what I have planned, that I will do.
12 Listen to me, you stubborn-hearted,
    you who are now far from my righteousness.
13 I am bringing my righteousness near,
    it is not far away;
    and my salvation will not be delayed.
I will grant salvation to Zion,
    my splendor to Israel.

Posted in A Father's Love, Devotions, Holiness, The Gospels, wisdom, worship

Isaiah 45–The Lordship Of Almighty God

Posted on by Michael Smith

Isaiah brings forth a clear and bold statement from the Lord. It is not complex; it is not controversial; it is simply the truth.  I am the Lord God. In context for the world, Lord is the key word.  So many nations worship so many things. Yet , during that, God remains the Lord of all.  He raises and levels kings, kingdoms, and empires. As the creator of all that is, God could and has simply wiped it all out. 

God has been amazingly patient in his handling of men and specifically His own.  Israel’s and Christians’ pride and sin have resulted in so many lost blessings.  He has had to allow sin to take its toll. The result has been loss of freedom, of prosperity, and loss of life. None has ever thrilled the Father. In retrospect, however, God has done everything possible to reach out and restore salvation to His chosen.

Satan, in many forms has always looked to undermine God’s plan.  Each life and period of history where people have abandoned God, it not only breaks the Lord’s heart, but it also fuels sin and despair among those for whom He sacrificed all to redeem.  God will not be mocked.  He does not ignore our choices and sin.  Instead, He trusts His son Jesus to separate the sheep from goats. Accepting into fellowship sheep and not goats.

All we like sheep have gone astray–but God demonstrates His love for us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8.  It is our responsibility to trust Him and follow Him closely.  We do that by seeking the Lord out in word and in prayer.  To be effective, we must accept Jesus as LORD and Savior.  That will change everything; it gives us eternal life with God and restores the relationship the enemy so ardently desires to quash.

Do not be afraid of the Lordship of God–Like any father, our Lord, Adonai always wants an abundant life for us here and for eternity.  We simply have to look at what He has done and trust that God can repeat it in our lives.

God Bless You

“This is what the Lord says to his anointed,
    to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of
to subdue nations before him
    and to strip kings of their armor,
to open doors before him
    so that gates will not be shut:
2 I will go before you
    and will level the mountains[a];
I will break down gates of bronze
    and cut through bars of iron.
3 I will give you hidden treasures,
    riches stored in secret places,
so that you may know that I am the Lord,
    the God of Israel, who summons you by name.
4 For the sake of Jacob my servant,
    of Israel my chosen,
I summon you by name
    and bestow on you a title of honor,
    though you do not acknowledge me.
5 I am the Lord, and there is no other;
    apart from me there is no God.
I will strengthen you,
    though you have not acknowledged me,
6 so that from the rising of the sun
    to the place of its setting
people may know there is none besides me.
    I am the Lord, and there is no other.
7 I form the light and create darkness,
    I bring prosperity and create disaster;
    I, the Lord, do all these things.

8 “You heavens above, rain down my righteousness;
    let the clouds shower it down.
Let the earth open wide,
    let salvation spring up,
let righteousness flourish with it;
    I, the Lord, have created it.

9 “Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker,
    those who are nothing but potsherds
    among the potsherds on the ground.
Does the clay say to the potter,
    ‘What are you making?’
Does your work say,
    ‘The potter has no hands’?
10 Woe to the one who says to a father,
    ‘What have you begotten?’
or to a mother,
    ‘What have you brought to birth?’

11 “This is what the Lord says—
    the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker:
Concerning things to come,
    do you question me about my children,
    or give me orders about the work of my hands?
12 It is I who made the earth
    and created mankind on it.
My own hands stretched out the heavens;
    I marshaled their starry hosts.
13 I will raise up Cyrus[b] in my righteousness:
    I will make all his ways straight.
He will rebuild my city
    and set my exiles free,
but not for a price or reward,
    says the Lord Almighty.”

Posted in A Father's Love, Fathers Love, Holiness, spiritual warfare, The Gospels, wisdom, worship

Isaiah 43 Part 1–The Gospel of Isaiah

Posted on by Michael Smith

Isaiah communicates one of the sweetest promises in the Bible to God’s chosen people.  First, the Lord makes clear who He is–I am the one who created you, who formed you; and, I am the one that has redeemed you.  In short, God is not a disinterested party!  As discussed throughout this book of Prophecy, History and promise–God desires most ardently to communicate to Israel and to those who have decided to be in relationship with Him.  The primary message is very simply I know you.I love you, and I will care for you.

The word pictures are so beautiful and specific.  I have summoned you by name and you are mine! Through flood and fire, you will be safe. I will bring you back literally from the corners of the earth. There is no price to high, no people more important than the ones I have chosen and have chosen Me.  God knew that what lay ahead for Israel and for the church would be difficult.  He wanted both to know that He would never leave or forsake them.

In our day, it is difficult to see that love from God.  All media, culture, and forces in the world would have us believe God is a crutch the weak use to cope.  But the loving Father that called out to Israel through Isaiah calls out to us in 2020–“I created and formed you! Do not fear, I have redeemed you. I have summoned you by name; you are Mine!”

In the most difficult of circumstance, we can cling to this truth that has stood for thousands of years.  God loves us and knows us like none other.  The world desires to use us and then cast us aside.  It only loves itself and makes no provision for the care of others.  That is why we must cling to the truth and gift of our faith.  Romans 10:9 says it best, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and if you believe God has raised Him from the dead–You will be saved.”  God wants us to trust Him and allow Him to have lordship of our lives.  He knows us and wants to lead us through this mess we call life!

God Bless You

But now, this is what the Lord says—
    he who created you, Jacob,
    he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
    I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters,
    I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
    they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
    you will not be burned;
    the flames will not set you ablaze.
3 For I am the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I give Egypt for your ransom,
    Cush[a] and Seba in your stead.
4 Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
    and because I love you,
I will give people in exchange for you,
    nations in exchange for your life.
5 Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
    I will bring your children from the east
    and gather you from the west.
6 I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’
    and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’
Bring my sons from afar
    and my daughters from the ends of the earth—
7 everyone who is called by my name,
    whom I created for my glory,
    whom I formed and made.”

8 Lead out those who have eyes but are blind,
    who have ears but are deaf.
9 All the nations gather together
    and the peoples assemble.
Which of their gods foretold this
    and proclaimed to us the former things?
Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right,
    so that others may hear and say, “It is true.”
10 “You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord,
    “and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
    and understand that I am he.
Before me, no god was formed,
    nor will there be one after me.

Posted in A Father's Love, Fathers Love, spiritual warfare, The Gospels, wisdom, worship

Isaiah 29-30 With God, There Is Always the Hope of Restoration

Posted on by Michael Smith

It is an amazing part of the knowledge of the Lord, to realize the reality that God’s strongest desire is to bless and protect the ones He loves.  In Isaiah 29-30, God speaks first of the siege of Jerusalem.  He speaks of the sadness as Jerusalem is taken down.  He warns not to run from what is ahead–but, to repent.  Turn their hearts from other gods and destroy their idols.  Then as they return to Him, the Lord will protect and restore them.  He will restore their faith, hope, and their future.  

When they return to Him, the Lord will then come in a fury and destroy the enemy, restore the land, and restore the faith and joy of the people.  Amid the sieges, the captivity, and the loss of national identity, it had to be these promises that allowed many to maintain their faith and follow God.  It was these promises that led the remnant back and through the centuries allowed the people of Israel to continue their traditions and seek the Messiah.

Now these thousands of years later, the Messiah has come and died and rose again; and, we all can be in personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus.  That faith will bring hope in all circumstance and as in the passage return us to days of peace and times of joy.  We will quit worshiping our handmade gods and humbly seek our Father.  We will experience peace, love, and have the confidence that we will be with the Lord throughout eternity.  

We can live without fear in a fearful time.  We can have real joy during chaos and unrest.  In short, we can and will live abundant lives even while the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. (John 10:10) We can walk in confidence as we allow our lives to be hidden in Christ with God. (Col 3:1-4) Thanks Father, that Your peace does pass all human understanding; and Your desire is to bless those You love.

God Bless You

18 Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you,
    and therefore, he exalts himself to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice.
    Blessed are all those who wait for him.

19 For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. 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. 21 And 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. 22 Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, “Be gone!”

23 And he will give rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous. In that day your livestock will graze in large pastures, 24 and the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork. 25 And on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. 26 Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the Lord binds up the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.

27 Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar,
    burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke;[d]
his lips are full of fury,
    and his tongue is like a devouring fire;
28 his breath is like an overflowing stream
    that reaches up to the neck;
to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction,
    and to place on the jaws of the peoples a bridle that leads astray.

29 You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart, as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel. 30 And the Lord will cause his majestic voice to be heard and the descending blow of his arm to be seen, in furious anger and a flame of devouring fire, with a cloudburst and storm and hailstones. 31 The Assyrians will be terror-stricken at the voice of the Lord, when he strikes with his rod. 32 And every stroke of the appointed staff that the Lord lays on them will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres. Battling with brandished arm, he will fight with them. 33 For a burning place[e] has long been prepared; indeed, for the king it is made ready, its pyre made deep and wide, with fire and wood in abundance; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it.

Posted in A Father's Love, Marraige, spiritual warfare, The Gospels, wisdom, worship

Isaiah 25–God’s Amazing Promise to His Chosen

Posted on by Michael Smith

Clearly, the Lord has an end game.  It was always God’s plan to restore His people to a place to fellowship with Him.  God has always wanted to be in a personal relationship with us.  Still, our sin and culture has separated us from God.  Isaiah knew that separation would one day end.  God showed Isaiah that the sin would be wiped away and the veil removed.  When Christ was crucified, the curtain that separated the Holy of Holies was ripped into from top to bottom.  God wanted to fulfill his word to Isaiah–not by ripping a curtain, but by removing the barrier between God and man–SIN.

Isaiah’s words were and are for the entire world.  God will clear the way for His own.  He will swallow up death, remove the barrier between God and Man, wipe away all tears and provide a feast for all that will follow Him and believe His Word.  That is no small promise, and fortunately for us; God always keeps His promises.  When one considers that this was written hundreds of years before the world experienced the coming of the Messiah; we who are 2000 years after still benefit from the promise and its fulfillment.  That is a great testimony to God’s patience, desiring that none should perish and His planning and execution of that plan.  

We need to live a life that honors God’s promise.  What that means simply is to walk in a way that allows God to transform us into His image; so that we will be like him, and enjoy the eternal feast planned for the Bride .

God Bless You

O Lord, you are my God;
    I will exalt you; I will praise your name,
for you have done wonderful things,
    plans formed of old, faithful, and sure.
2 For you have made the city a heap,
    the fortified city a ruin;
the foreigners’ palace is a city no more;
    it will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;
    cities of ruthless nations will fear you.
4 For you have been a stronghold to the poor,
    a stronghold to the needy in his distress,
    a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat;
for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall,
5     like heat in a dry place.
You subdue the noise of the foreigners;
    as heat by the shade of a cloud,
    so the song of the ruthless is put down.

6 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
    a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
    of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
7 And he will swallow up on this mountain
    the covering that is cast over all peoples,
    the veil that is spread over all nations.
8     He will swallow up death forever;
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
    and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
    for the Lord has spoken.
9 It will be said on that day,
    “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.
    This is the Lord; we have waited for him;
    let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

Posted in A Father's Love, Creation, Devotions, spiritual warfare, wisdom, worship

Isaiah 17–The Rise and Fall Of Empires

Posted on by Michael Smith

Isaiah was sadly having to deliver a message to Damascus and to the Northern Tribes of Israel.  After the Division of Israel under Jeroboam, the northern tribes took on the identity of Ephriam. The Southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin took on the identity of Judah as the sons of David. As time progressed, Ephriam became increasingly evil and first aligned with the Assyrians, whose capitol city was Damascus.  Then after some time they were conquered by the Assyrians, removed from the lands, and transplanted in Samaria.

Isaiah was giving both groups fair warning–If they thought they would take Judah; God had a different plan.  As they dared to challenge God and His people, God would destroy them, disband them, and make sure they would be completely and utterly forgettable. History tells us, that is exactly what happened.  The northern tribes were scattered. Assyria defeated, absorbed, and forgotten.

Amazingly, God’s people are still a nation, God is still in charge, and His name still above all names.  In our culture, men still believe they can eradicate God from the world–they are as mistaken as were the Assyrians.  Try though they may, all attempts to defeat and dispel God will fail. 

We as His chosen must remain on our knees and pray for direction and revival of our hearts and the heart of our nation.  Following God is always the best answer for peace, security, and prosperity. All other answers are at best band-aids and are never successful.  We must change the course and return to being “One nation under God, indivisible; with liberty and justice for all.” If we will; we can still have an impact on the world.

 Sadly, the alternative has been played out many times. Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medes & Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Prussians, Mongols, Japanese, British, Axis, USSR…nations and empires rise and fall–God simply does not.  That’s why following the Lord and His plan is always the right course.

God Bless You

An oracle concerning Damascus.

Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city
    and will become a heap of ruins.
2 The cities of Aroer are deserted;
    they will be for flocks,
    which will lie down, and none will make them afraid.
3 The fortress will disappear from Ephraim,
    and the kingdom from Damascus;
and the remnant of Syria will be
    like the glory of the children of Israel,
declares the Lord of hosts.

4 And in that day the glory of Jacob will be brought low,
    and the fat of his flesh will grow lean.
5 And it shall be as when the reaper gathers standing grain
    and his arm harvests the ears,
and as when one gleans the ears of grain
    in the Valley of Rephaim.
6 Gleanings will be left in it,
    as when an olive tree is beaten—
two or three berries
    in the top of the highest bough,
four or five
    on the branches of a fruit tree,
declares the Lord God of Israel.

7 In that day man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will look on the Holy One of Israel. 8 He will not look to the altars, the work of his hands, and he will not look on what his own fingers have made, either the Asherim or the altars of incense.

9 In that day their strong cities will be like the deserted places of the wooded heights and the hilltops, which they deserted because of the children of Israel, and there will be desolation.

10 For you have forgotten the God of your salvation
    and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge.
therefore, though you plant pleasant plants
    and sow the vine-branch of a stranger,
11 though you make them grow[a] on the day that you plant them,
    and make them blossom in the morning that you sow,
yet the harvest will flee away[b]
    in a day of grief and incurable pain.

12 Ah, the thunder of many peoples;
    they thunder like the thundering of the sea!
Ah, the roar of nations;
    they roar like the roaring of mighty waters!
13 The nations roar like the roaring of many waters,
    but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away,
chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind
    and whirling dust before the storm.
14 At evening time, behold, terror!
    Before morning, they are no more!
This is the portion of those who loot us,
    and the lot of those who plunder us.