Chapters of His Heart: Isaiah 12

The Return

Read Isaiah chapter 12 here.

We left off in the last chapter with God's promise to reunite His children from all corners of the earth. In this chapter God makes Israel a new promise, one that hinges on the 'reunion promise' of the previous chapter. I'm calling it a joy promise. God promises that one day He will be with them again and there will be such joy that everyone will sing. God promises comfort and happiness after times of separation and war and captivity, He promises a new time of praise. He will be their victory and their salvation, He will reunite Himself with His lost children. His people would once again do what they were created to do, what every fiber of their beings longed to do, they would praise God. They had been away from Him for so long but now, with such joy and release, they would sing because they were no longer apart. They would sing of God's power and might, and praise Him for dwelling among them once again. That was God's new promise, the promise of a victory song.

It isn't hard to apply this story to our own hearts. If you have ever walked through a time where you felt far from God then you know the joy that comes when you are reunited with Him. Maybe you are walking that lonely path now and you can't seem to feel or see or hear God. Try lifting up a song of praise. Let the heaviness fall away from your heart and let it be replaced with a new song of joy. Though it might not be easy at first, you will find that there is something natural and freeing about pure, unrestrained praise. It's because that is the way God made us. We will connect with our creator when we take part in the act of praise that we were created for. 

God's heart longs for our praise and our hearts were made to give it. 

Chapters of His Heart: Isaiah 11

A Remnant of Hope

First read Isaiah chapter 11 and then join me back here. 

From the remnant comes a promise. From hope comes greater hope. Israel was cut down to a stump, destroyed, but for a remnant of the faithful. From this stump a new branch will grow from the old root.  A man of hope, a perfectly fair judge who would rule forever. In the time of His reign peace would fall and all of nature would return to harmony. Wild animals would be gentle, "The Lion will eat hay like a cow." Children would play with dangerous animals without harm. What a world! This must be a picture of what Eden was like. So beautiful, so perfect, so like God. My favorite part is verse nine, listen to this;

"Nothing will hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,
 for as the waters fill the sea,
so the earth will be filled with people who know the LORD."

Beautiful. Such a beautiful promise.

This branch, this man, was the heir to David's throne, the Messiah. His reign  would bring salvation to all the world. God promised that one day, because of the Messiah, He would bring the remnant of His scattered people from every corner of the earth. This is what Christ will do when He comes back to rule the Earth. He will gather all His people. He promises that He will make a way for their return. Whatever it takes He will bring His own back to Him. Even if it means rerouting the largest river on earth to get them there. (Read verse 15 again) God's heart longs to be reunited with His children.

Chapter of His Heart: Isaiah 10

The Just, The Humble, and The Faithful

You can read Isaiah 10 here.
God targets three different groups of people in this chapter and I want to spend some time on each group. Lets try to remember that even though God was speaking to a specific group of people in the old testament, if we are honest with ourselves, we can find traces of their traits in all of us.  I was in a church service once and the preacher approached the pulpit and said "Good evening, before we begin I would like you all to put away your shovels." He said it as naturally as if he were asking you to turn your phone on silent for the service. When he looked up and saw that no one had any idea what he was talking about, the preacher explained that too often when we hear a sermon or read a word from God we think "I know who he's preaching to" or "So-and-so needs to hear this, maybe it would straighten  him/her out". We come to church with our shovels out, so to speak, and when the preacher gives the sermon we scoop it up with our shovels and toss it on someone we think needs to hear it. We don't stop to examine our own lives to see if the words pertain to us before we self-righteously toss the message to that "sinner" in the next pew. So today as you take a minute to read this chapter, put your shovel down and let God's word sink into your heart and bring to the surface anything you may need to attend to.

The first group of people we hear about are the Judges of Israel. In Bible times Judges were appointed by God over every tribe in the nation to govern the people. God saw that the Judges were becoming corrupt and dealing unfairly with the people. God promises that these unjust acts would be dealt with and the people who committed them would be punished.

"What will you do when I punish you…To whom will you turn for help? Where will your treasures be safe? -Isaiah 10:3

God could not tolerate injustice. Those people, and the things those people owned, were destroyed. When you deal with people, are you fair? Are you looking out for others or for yourself? Remember the Judges when you think you can get away with treating people unfairly, because God will not let you go unchecked.

The Assyrians are the second group God uses as an example, and they represent people who take credit for God's works.  God had used the Assyrians as a tool to punish Israel for her disobedience. God allowed them take Israel captive, but Assyria was taking the credit. Arrogantly they boasted of their strength and what they had accomplished, even vowing to destroy Israel's "god". They didn't realize that God was the deciding factor in their victory. If it were not for God's hand moving in their favor the Assyrians never would have made it past the city limits.

"But can an ax boast greater power than the person who uses it? Is the saw greater than the person who saws? Can a rod strike unless a hand moves it? Can a wooden cane walk by itself?" -Isaiah 10:15

We never do anything unless it is in, through, with, or by God. We couldn't draw another breath without His power. Things don't just happen, God happens. Assyria was destroyed because of it's pride in it's own strength. The Bible has a lot to say about pride, and probably one of the most well known passages on the topic is Proverbs 16:18 "Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall." That's exactly what happened to the Assyrians and that's why we can't let pride touch our hearts. The moment we believe we can do anything in our own strength is the moment we fall.

The last group is the faithful followers of Israel. Lets flash back to Isaiah 6, God left us a little clue to His plan when He promised a remnant.

"..but as a Terebinth or Oak tree leaves a stump when it is cut down, so Israel's stump will be a holy seed."-Isaiah 6:13

 After all the punishment and plundering of Israel that was to come, God would honor those who were steadfast in their faith. They would be the remnant, they would be the holy seed. Flash forward to chapter 10 and the remnant is mentioned again. God has already decided to destroy the land of Israel but He promises hope to the faithful. Again He calls them "the remnant" and again He promises that they will be spared. They will return to God and to their land. The definition of the word remnant is 'a fragment, a scrap or a trace'. Sometimes it may seem like you are the remnant, like you are the faithful follower and everyone else has jumped ship. It may seem like you are being faithful but you are still being punished with those who are not. Remember the Israelites who were faithful. Because they never gave up their trust in God, He used them to grow a new nation of believers. Out of the scraps God brought hope.

I hope we didn't let our shovels sneak back out while we were reading, because honestly I think this chapter was a reminder we all could use. When the opportunity arises, be the one to deal fairly even when others aren't. Because God's heart loves the just. If someone compliments you on an achievement, remember who's strength got the job done, and give Him the credit. Because God's heart empowers yours. Those who follow faithfully will be remembered by God, those who are the remnant will be restored. Because God's heart honors the faithful.

Chapters of His Heart: Isaiah 9

I know, I know….I'm late. To be completely honest I've been a bit distracted by the new white world outside and Friday morning completely flew by. If you've been watching the weather the past few days then you probably know that Ohio is buried somewhere under, at least, five inches of ice and snow. So I'm calling it a snow delay. Maybe some pictures will make up for my forgetfulness. :D (Scroll down to see the winter wonderland. Well, after you read my post…)

Isaiah 9 is a refreshing and hope filled reminder that God is not all doom and destruction. It reminds us that He is a God of peace and He offers His hope to all who will accept it. Here are a few of my favorite passages from this chapter.

"Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever….The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine….For you will break the yoke of their slavery and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders….The boots of the warrior and the uniforms bloodstained by war will all be burned. They will be fuel for the fire. For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on His shoulders. And He will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and it's peace will never end, He will rule with fairness and Justice from the throne of His ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven's Armies will make this happen!"

Such hope, such glorious hope! Hope of a future, hope of glory and light, of harvest and freedom, of peace and end to war, hope of a Messiah. Hope to one day live in His everlasting reign of peace. Such is the hope that belongs to those who wholeheartedly trust the Lord, to those who follow His commands. Yet such is the nation's pride that such a hope is lost to them. Never will they experience such hope through their pride-blinded eyes. Pride says "In our strength…" or "Look what we have done.." but hope comes to those who say "It is only by His strength…" or "Look what He has done".

When we boast of our accomplishments without giving credit to the one who gave us the abilities to accomplish things, we are just as pride-blinded as the Israelites were. Instead of choosing to trust in His strength they choose their pride, and instead of being rewarded with The Great Hope, they were punished with a great anger. Their arrogance did not go unnoticed and neither did it go unchecked. God's heart longs to fulfill His promise of hope, but until our pride is thrown away and replaced by a repentant heart, there will be no hope. He is waiting, and when we come….oh such hope.

As promised, here are some pictures I took this morning of the snow. Enjoy!

The pond behind my house.

 

This is my puppy, she loves the snow!

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.