Chapters of His Heart: Isaiah 8

Before we dive in lets get some background perspective on chapter eight. God the Father loves His children, I mean really loves them, completely and unconditionally without fail. In response to this beautiful love of The Creator, God's children push Him away. The creation has declared itself wiser and better off without it's Creator. With a broken heart God gives His children countless opportunities to return to His open arms. Time after time they refuse to give Him the only thing He desires; their hearts. He longs to protect them as a father, comfort them as a mother, uplift them as a friend, stand by them as a brother, and cherish them as an intimate companion. "My care for the people of Judah is like the gently flowing waters of Shiloah, but they have rejected it." -Isaiah 8:6 They know they have an emptiness inside but they can only see the shiny temptations of the world as capable fillers. How could an abstract God fill a very concrete heart? So the creation walks away, leaving The Creator behind to mourn the loss of His child. What they didn't realize was that when they left God, they also left His protection.

God was willing to do anything to get His children back. Over and over again He rescued them from their own mistakes and gave them another chance to return. God spared them a final time from their plotting enemies, but instead of turning to God and praising Him for saving them, they rejoiced in the bad things that were happening to their adversaries. When God saw that they had still rejected His love, He gave them over to their own corruptness. The punishment He had placed upon the "plotting enemies" He would also allow on His children.

After God's protection is lifted from His wayward children, we see God caution Isaiah to stay true to Him. God has seen too many of His people walk away from Him to know that every man, even one of God's prophets, is capable of stumbling in the world of temptations. In verses eleven through seventeen Isaiah repeats God's warning to him as a warning to us all. God tells Isaiah not to think like everyone else does, nor dread the things that frighten them. God says He is the only one you should fear in this life, the God of heaven's armies is the only one who should make you tremble. Isaiah goes on to say that if you make God holy in your life He will keep you safe, but those who push Him away He will make to fall. What we read next is the part I really want you to hold on to here. Isaiah makes His own decision known,  "I will wait for the Lord…I will put my hope in Him." There were two choices for Isaiah to make, the choice of the wayward child or the choice of the devoted child. Isaiah decided to set himself apart as a child of God. He chose to fill the emptiness in his heart with the very real love of a very real God. He took one look at the pretty temptations shining in all their glory and said "No thank you, I'd rather have God." Let's remember the example Isaiah set for us. When we see those tempting, shiny, world things that clammer to claim a place in our hearts, lets remember that God still protects those who make Him holy in their lives. Let's remember that God's heart still breaks when a child walks away from His love. Let's remember to say "No thank you, I'd rather have God." Let's remember that God's heart is all we need.

Thanks Giving

On this glorious day of feasting and family and football, I wanted to take a minute and truly come back to the spirit of the holiday. Not that I find anything wrong with feasting or family or football, only that I don't want this day to pass without stoping to reflect on it's purpose. When you hear the word Thanksgiving what is the first thing you think of? Turkey, a big dinner, the parade, football, Black Friday? (Or if your brain is wired like my pre-school teacher one, handprint turkeys and paper pilgrim hats.) Why is it that on a day we call "ThanksGiving", giving thanks is not the first thing on our agenda?

I'm making it a point today to give thanks to my creator and the supplier of all my many blessings. I don't know where you are or what life stage you're in right now. I don't know if you can afford a Thanksgiving turkey with all the trimmings, or if you will be celebrating with turkey sandwiches. I don't know if you have family to feast with or if it's just you and your cat sharing a pumpkin pie. However I do know what the Bible says about being thankful,

"Always be Joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who are in Christ Jesus." -1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

So today, and "in all circumstances", let us not forget to lift our hearts in thankfulness. If for no other reason, let us thank Him for His unending, all inclusive love. His love that takes us as we are and invites us to be His child. Because honestly, what other reason do we need?

Chapters of His Heart: Isaiah 7

Isaiah chapter seven tells us the story of God sending King Ahaz of Judah a message. Ahaz was trying to cope with finding out that two neighboring nations were forming an alliance against him. The king of Aram (now know as Syria) and the king of Israel were planning an attack on Judah's capitol city. They wanted to set up a king over Judah that they could manipulate to rule in their favor. Ahaz caught word of this plot and started flipping out. He knew what invading armies did when they attacked a city, and he knew that his one army could not hold off two.

So the Lord sends Isaiah with a message to meet King Ahaz. The Lord tells King Ahaz to stop worrying because the invasion will never even take place. God explains that Israel and Aram are not strong enough to prevail against Judah, but that isn't the only reason the attack isn't going to happen. We'll get to the other reason in a minute. The Lord knows Ahaz has his doubts so He tells Ahaz to ask Him for a sign of confirmation, but Ahaz replies, "No, I will not test the Lord like that". Wow, this guy either has some nerve or some faith. (Unfortunately when we read on we find out it's the former, he's got a stupid nerve.) When I first read this passage I thought, I would have failed that faith test miserably, I would have taken God up on His offer and asked Him for a sign. I would want to know that I was really hearing from God. Ahaz on the other hand, decides that maybe he doesn't want to hear what God has to say. So he plays the righteous card and blows God off with a theological cliche, not a great choice. The response Ahaz gets is pretty intense and I think, to get the full effect, you should just read it for yourself.

"Listen well, you royal family of David! Isn't it enough to exhaust human patience? Must you exhaust the patience of my God as well? All right then, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look!" 

-Isaiah 7:13-14 NLT 

No, I did not add the exclamation points, those are actually in there. Now, maybe you don't think Ahaz's answer was wrong. Maybe you think it was actually respectful of him to turn down the offer, maybe he was showing his level of faith. Keep in mind that while that answer itself may not have been wrong, the motives that produced it, were. God knows our hearts better than we do. He knew that Ahaz wasn't acting out of faith, but out of pride. God goes on to give Ahaz a sign that would actually foreshadow the coming of Christ, as well as prove to Ahaz that God really wasn't going to let Judah be attacked.

We finally come to the other reason why God was keeping Judah safe from this threat. God has other plans. God was already planing a form of punishment on Judah, and Israel and Aram were not a part of that plan. God was going to send another country as a "razor" to wipe Judah clean. That was God's sign to Judah. I'm not going to let these "burned out embers" punish you because I've already given that job to someone else. The point here is this, God has a plan, and His plans are infinite and perfect and cannot be changed. Not by The Enemy's works and certainly not by man's works. Not only do we have this great reassurance that no one can change the plans set forth by God, but we also have the promise that, for those who love God, His plans give us hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11) This truth applies across the board. (Not just when neighboring armies attack.) God's heart and His plans are steadfast.

My Heart's Home. Love at first sight.

I find myself longing for it. My mind always ends up there when it wanders. At night, when it's really windy, I close my eyes and imagine that the sound of the trees is the ebb and flow. I can almost smell the salty air, feel the brisk spray on my face. It captured me long ago and every time I've seen it since, the hold on my heart has grown stronger, tighter, faster. I am drawn by the beautiful balance of it's frightening power and reassuring peacefulness. The Ocean. The place I go to deep inside when everything else is to much to bear. Because there, I am small. There, my problems are but a grain of sand. Because there, I feel alive.

Let me introduce you to my heart's home. We met when I was 8 or 9 and it was love at first sight. My family traveled for twelve hours to reach the beach in South Carolina and the first thing I wanted to do was go swimming. I didn't care about seeing the house we were staying in, or greeting the rest of the family who were waiting for us, some of whom we hadn't seen for months. I was going to get in the ocean. Almost before we could get our bags out of the car I was in my swim suit, dragging my mom down the board walk to the beach. I remember it being overcast and not the warmest day for mid summer in the south. The beach was packed but I didn't care, all I knew was that I wanted in the water. What I didn't know was that it was high tide, and very windy. What I also didn't know was that high tide means huge waves. What I further didn't know was that a 9 year old is no match for a 4 foot breaker at high tide. Maybe you can tell where this is going but for those who may not be catching on I'll spell it out... I ate sand. Before I even felt the water hit my toes I was on my back spitting sandy, salty water and trying to figure out who hit me and which way was up. Now, you have to give me some credit here, I was a city kid from Ohio and this was my first time in the ocean. Aside from summers with my Aunt at the lake, the biggest wave I had ever seen was when my brother splashed in our blow up pool. My mom franticly hauled me out of the water and while she did inventory of my major body parts and wiped the sand from my rear, I was looking over her shoulder in childlike wonder. That big wave just came right up to me and knocked me over. I came all this way just to see the ocean and in return it pushed me on my backside. I was hurt, beyond the major bruise I was going to have, my 9 year old pride was deeply wounded. With my hand firmly in hers, it was my moms turn to haul me back up the beach, over the board walk and into the house. And that was how we first met.

Chapters of His Heart: Isaiah 6

Isaiah experienced what very few people have ever experienced on earth, and his is one of  the few accounts that we have like it. Isaiah saw God.
He literally saw the Lord of heavens armies with his human eyes. Isaiah accounts that he was so overwhelmed at the holy presence of God that he immediately repented. He  was sure that he was going to die in the presence of such holiness. His words were "it's all over! I'm doomed..." (Isaiah 6:5). I know it sounds a bit dramatic but we're not talking about meeting a celebrity crush or the current top-of-the-charts pop star. This is The God of all creation. The holder of our universe. The one who knows how many hairs you have on your head (and how many are in your hairbrush). The one who planned out your ENTIRE life before you were even thought of in this world. The God who held your yesterday, is walking beside you right now, and has already prepared tomorrow. Isaiah wasn't being dramatic in the least, he was being realistic. Think of your human, flesh-ly filth in the presence of an all knowing, all seeing, everywhere God...your reaction would probably be more dramatic than Isaiah's.

The amazing part comes next. An angel attending God, called a seraphim, came up to the blubbering Isaiah with a live coal and places it on Isaiah's lips. Now, at this point I'm trying to picture the look on Isaiah' s face when this heavenly being comes at him with a piece of coal straight from the fire. I'm thinking panic mixed with 'I'm a dead man'. (Kind of the way my face looks when I'm dreaming that I tripped and then wake up to that horrible falling sensation.) When the coal touches Isaiah's lips the angel steps back and says, your guilt is removed, your sins are forgiven. Not that the hot coal did that, only God can forgive our sins. (The coal was more of a ceremonial metaphor of the purifying of our lives that has to happen before we can approach the throne of God on our own.)

Here comes the cool part. God says "whom should I send as a messenger to this people? (His people) Who will go for us?" Isaiah's response? "Here I am. Send me." God's reply, "yes, go". Two minutes ago Isaiah was an emotional mess because he knew he wasn't fit to be in God's presence. Then with one cleansing and empowering touch, a sinful form of a man was transformed into a messenger of the Lord. Could you even imagine the rush Isaiah must have felt when he heard the words "yes, go"? Excitement, adrenaline, courage, inadequacy, determination, fear, what potential, what responsibility! Being a messenger of God wasn't a cushy job. They had to deliver the hard messages right along with the easy ones, and it just so happened that Isaiah's first assignment was going to be pretty difficult. His job was to speak to a people who thought they were blessed by God and break the news that God was going to destroy them because of their disobedience. Talk about a tough crowd. In fact God already knew that the people wouldn't listen. One commentary reads:

"God told Isaiah that the people would listen but not learn from his message because their hearts had been hardened beyond repentance. God's patience with their chronic rebellion had finally exhausted. His judgement was to abandon them to their rebellion and hardness of heart. Why did God send Isaiah if He knew the people wouldn't listen? Although the nation itself would not repent and would reap judgement, some individuals would listen. In 6:13 God explains His plan for a remnant (holy seed) of faithful followers"                         -Life Application Study Bible notes on Isaiah 6:9-13 pg 1101

You may have come to the conclusion that all the book of Isaiah talks about is judgement and doom on Israel. That's where this chapter differs from the previous ones, and I love how God chose to end it. Have you ever watched a movie that ends in a way that just perfectly sets you up for a sequel? That's the way I feel God ends Isaiah 6, with a little cliff hanger. Like a sneak preview of what He's planning next. I love that. It's like getting a little glimpse of a new part of God's character for me. Like He's letting you in on something. I love reading the Bible and finding those little pieces of God. In talking about the punishment to come to Israel God says this:

"If even a tenth-a remnant-survive, it will be invaded again and burned. But as a terebinth or oak tree leaves stump when it is cut down, so Israel's stump will be a holy seed." -Isaiah 6:13

And roll credits. I love that! God is so playful, a master story teller. Through all of this God has shown us that His heart has a plan for His faithful followers. An individual plan to do great things in and through us like Isaiah, and a master plan that orchestrates our lives into the beautiful community of faithful followers who are living for God. God's heart has a plan.

Autumn Photo Shoot

As promised here are the best of the best from our photo shoot a few weeks ago. I have to brag on my model because she was a trooper. True, she has some great pictures now, but I'm sure she didn't know what she was signing up for when she agreed to let me take them. ;) We had a great time in the park but it was quite chilly that day and a few times I thought we would have to quit, but she just kept smiling. I hope you enjoy viewing these as much as we enjoyed shooting them.

There they are, let me know what you think in the comments below. Have a blessed day!

Sneak Peek

I am working on some pictures from my latest shoot and wanted to give you a little teaser, something to get your mouth watering. My model and I had a great time with this shoot, which you can hopefully see in the pictures. The location was perfect and aside from it being a little chilly, the weather and light were ideal. This, combined with the patience and overall good nature of my gorgeous model, meant I was able to snag some great pictures. So enjoy, and look for some more pictures to be posted, hopefully, in the next couple of days.

Check back soon for the rest of the pictures from this fun Autumn shoot.

Chapters of His Heart: Isaiah 5

It seems the theme of the previous chapters has resurfaced in chapter five. God, through Isaiah, is warning the people of Judah and Jerusalem of His impending punishment for their wickedness.

Isaiah spends the first part of the chapter explaining all that God has done for His people, the good things he's provided and the way He has cared for them. After all that, God tells of the bitter disappointment He faced when the people He tended to, grew to be violent and unjust. God lets them know what will happen to them and their land, He will remove their protection and let them be destroyed. God even says when nations come against them there will be no rescue for them. God's people had stepped outside of the protective boundaries that He had set up for them and by doing that they also stepped out from under His hand of protection. They would find that those boundaries were not kill joys but life savers. The very boarders they ran from they would find themselves running to.

However, the bulk of this chapter is spent going over the sins of the people and giving each one a consequence. The interesting thing is that the consequence was usually the sin itself. If people were stealing, their consequence would be that they would have everything stolen from them. If they were exploiting others land they would be exiled from their own land. The people's blatant sin was always the cause of their own downfall. The things they took pleasure in ultimately destroyed them.

So, what? Now the Bible is saying anything that gives us pleasure is bad? No. Target missed here, that isn't the point. God loves fun, I mean have you ever seen a platypus? Or a narwhal?  The point God is making is this, there are rules in life, guidelines, if you want to live under His protection. You step out of the lines, you step out of His protection. Let me go out on a limb here and try to give you a bit of perspective on what I mean. When you were a young adult living at home, did you ever get the, as-long-as-you-live-under-my-roof-you-will-obey-my-rules speech? (Yeah? Me too.) Kind of the same concept here with God saying, my protection requires your obedience. (Turns out your parents may not have been too far off.) God wants you to enjoy life, He just wants you to make sure you aren't trying to fill the God shaped hole in your heart with something more world shaped. When we step out of God's boundaries to have our fun we are cramming world things into our heart and that pushes out all the things of God, including His protection. When we let God in and let Him fill our heart we will find that the things inside the boundaries are a lot more appealing than we first thought. A heart full of God and a life inside the guidelines, under His protection is a rich, full, joy filled life. The life outside the boundaries may hold momentary appeal and even some satisfaction, but ultimately it brings our hearts destruction. God's heart is to protect ours.

Chapters of His Heart: Isaiah 4

Happy Friday!

Thanks for stopping in. Sit back, sip your coffee, grab your Bible and lets jump in to chapter four. If you have been coupling my posts with reading the corresponding chapter from Isaiah you may have noticed that this next one is an easy read. In fact you may have read ahead (good for you, you overachiever :D) and you may be thinking, "how can you possibly pull anything about God's heart out of that". I know that's what you're thinking because that's what I was thinking when I read it the first time. But if there is one thing I have learned about reading God's word, it's this, I can read a passage one time and feel like it's just words on a page, and then go back and read the same passage later and a whole new perspective can open up. That perspective can lead me to glean something out of it that I didn't see before. So I waited and tried again and this is what a new perspective (or possibly just an open heart to the voice of God) brought me.

This chapter is short, only six verses, and it kind of has a P.S. feeling about it. It closely follows the theme and message of the previous chapter. Again bringing up the judgement of the unfaithful Israelites and how God will wipe out all that is unclean from His people. However in this chapter a new theme arrises. Restoration. God promises those who are holy in His sight that He will protect them. He is keeping a place of protection for them.

Talk about proving my point, I am sitting here typing my notes and God drops a fresh perspective my way. I wrote these notes a few months ago and now, going over them again, I have discovered a new truth in these verses. Being that Isaiah is a prophet, a lot of what you find in his writing is a foreshadowing of things to come. These verses are not only foreshadowing the future of the Israelites, but the future of Christians as the bride of christ. The Israelites were God's chosen people, and as I've mentioned before, because of what Jesus did on the cross, so are we. God was purging Israel from all the filth they had let creep into their lives. They were His chosen ones, but they were not choosing Him. Much like as Christians we are God's chosen ones, called to live according to His purpose. But on a daily basis we reject Him, we are not choosing to accept the call.

God promised restoration to Israel, restoration of their nation. God promises us restoration as well, but of a different kind. Restoration of relationship. When God returns to restore His people, it will be to reestablish us in His presence. To renew the relationship that God intended for us to have with Him, from the beginning of time. We will be with God and He with us. What a beautiful, hope filled  promise. Israel's promise of restoration came in the form of rebuilding their people. Our restoration will come in the form of an eternal one-ness with God's heart. Our promise, is Heaven. God's heart restores.