The Light in the Dark

the people living in darkness

have seen a great light;

on those living in the land of the shadow of death

a light has dawned.

Isaiah 9:2 & Matthew 4:16

Two things stand out in this verse. First, it accurately describes the world we live in. Ours is a dark world filled with pain and difficulty and hardship. It's a world of confusion and deception. It's a world in which we all live constantly under the shadow of death. 

But if you keep reading, the second half of this verse tells us where to find comfort. When it's dark, you look to the light. Even in the midst of all the darkness of this world, there is a light. That light is Jesus! Jesus alone stands in stark contrast to the darkness of the world around us. He alone is truly different.

His life on earth sets an example for us and reveals how we ought to live. His death paid the penalty for our sins and shows that forgiveness is found only in Him. And His resurrection lights the way to eternal life. All of this taken together (His life, death and resurrection) lights the way to the great Christian hope of salvation. Jesus is that way. Anyone who repents of their sins, places their faith in Him as God's perfect sacrifice for their sins, and confesses Him as Lord of their life will be saved. 

And those who are saved no longer live in fear of the shadow of death. And we no longer stumble along in the darkness of this world. We have the Light. If you have the light, then the way you conduct yourself and walk through this world ought to reflect that. 

I Will Be With You

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.

Isaiah 43:2

In this passage God is speaking to Judah through the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah has been telling God's people that they will be sent into exile in Babylon because of their sin. Yet, even in captivity, God doesn't want His people to give way to fear. 

And in Isasiah 43:2, God tells Judah that even if they should pass through water and fire, they should not fear. The reason why? God says, "You won’t be swept away by water or burned by fire, because I will be with you.”

The mention of water hearkens back to Israel’s escape from Egypt and the crossing of the Red Sea and later the crossing of the Jordan River to enter the Promised Land. God was with His people on both occasions and made a way for them to "pass through the waters" safely. 

But, this verse also mentions walking through fire and that proved literally true in the case of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Do you remember their story? All three were cast into a fiery furnace, but when the king of Babylon looked into the furnace he saw not three but four men walking around in the fire. And one of the men looked like a son of God. And none of the men were harmed by the fire. Why? Because God was with them!

Now, if God brought Israel through the waters of the Red Sea and He brought Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego through the fires of their captivity, then how much more will He do so for His church and for you as a New Testament believer? Of course He will.

At some point in the future, trouble will find you. You can't avoid that. But you do not need to live in fear of it for this very simple reason: whatever trouble might find you, you won't have to face it alone. If you are a believer, God will be with you!

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

A person’s name can tell you a lot about them, but their nicknames can tell you even more. Cause with nicknames there’s often a story, some reason why they received that nickname. Let's look at two of the nicknames Isaiah 9:6 gives to Jesus, and let's see what they reveal to us about the baby in the manger.

‌The first title Isaiah gives this baby is “Wonderful Counselor.” Most kings had counselors or wise men whose job it was to give the king sound advice. But Isaiah tells us that the Messiah will be a king who won’t need any counselors because He will be the wisest counselor of all. Isaiah says that the people will call Him “Wonderful Counselor” because they will gladly listen to and heed His counsel. [John A. Martin, “Isaiah,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 1053.]

I can’t help but wonder though, how true is that in your life? Colossians 2:3 says that “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ.” No one teaches or gives wise counsel like Jesus! But do you receive His counsel? Do you listen to His advice? Or have you gone your own way? Live your life according to Jesus' wise counsel and you will not regret it. 

The next title the people will give to the Messiah is “Mighty God.” Shockingly, Isaiah reveals way back in the Old Testament that this Messiah, this child in the manger, is the one and only Mighty God in the flesh ruling over His people. Jesus is our Mighty God!

‌But so many believers think of Jesus only as their friend and Savior. Jesus is both our friend and our Savior, but He is more. He is the Mighty God and we must receive Him and respond to Him as such. Jesus came not only to save you but also to be your God. Do you remember what the wise men did when they found baby Jesus? "They bowed down and worshipped Him" (Matthew 2:11). Jesus is our mighty God. As you celebrate Christmas this year, treat Him like it.

God is... All-Knowing

Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord,

or instruct the Lord as his counselor?

Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him,

and who taught him the right way?

Who was it that taught him knowledge,

or showed him the path of understanding?

Isaiah 40:13–14

‌

The obvious answer to all these questions is that no one taught the Lord any of these things. Since God knows everything, He does not learn. Not even the highest angel has even one thing he could teach God. Which means that it could not be any more certain, that God doesn’t need you to tell Him anything. He doesn’t need you to explain anything to Him. He doesn’t need your advice or your counsel.

Yet, sometimes we’re tempted to talk to God like He does, aren’t we? In our arrogance, we sometimes want to give God a piece of our mind. We want to explain our situation to Him more fully. We want to tell Him what He should do. We want to put God on trial and ask Him why He isn’t doing this or why He hasn’t already done that. This is nothing more than foolish arrogance.

Don’t lecture God. Don’t allow yourself to think that you know better than Him. Don’t give Him advice. Don’t allow your prayers to become you telling God what He should do. Ask Him for what you need. Ask Him for what you want. But then humbly submit to His better plan. 

That’s the example Jesus left us on the night of His death. He prayed “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). ‌‌If Jesus Himself wouldn’t dare to presume that He knew better than God the Father, if Jesus wouldn’t lecture God, advise God, or criticize God… then you shouldn’t either. Don’t do it. Humble yourself under His perfect wisdom and perfect knowledge and trust His plan.

How to Celebrate Christmas

You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder. For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.

Isaiah 9:3–5

‌

Isaiah looks past the time when Assyria will take the northern part of their land and shrink Israel’s territory and he sees into the far distant future to the time of the Messiah when the territory of God’s people won’t be shrinking but expanding. He says, the Messiah will enlarge the nation. But Jesus didn’t come to enlarge a physical kingdom like Old Testament Israel. No. He came to establish and enlarge a spiritual kingdom, His church.

If you are a believer, then you are part of that kingdom of God. You are part of the church, and God’s church is meant to grow. It is meant to expand. As a church we must enlarge our borders. We must go out and find the hurting and hopeless and invite them in.

As we see Christianity losing cultural influence in America it can be easy to shrink back and watch and wait for the church shrink as well. But that isn’t what Jesus came to do and that isn’t what He has commanded us to do. His kingdom has been expanding for more than 2,000 years, and it is our job to continue to expand its borders. And we do that by obeying the His command to proclaim forgiveness in His name to all who will receive Him. You are commanded by God to call people out of darkness and into Jesus’ light.

And as Isaiah looks into the future he sees God’s people rejoicing because of the coming of the Messiah. He sees New Testament believers celebrating Jesus’ coming…celebrating Christmas you could say. And how do they celebrate?

‌‌He says that they rejoice as people rejoice at the harvest when many months of hard work and investment pay off. These were hungry families, seeing that they would in fact have enough food to make it through the winter. They had battled against the hardships of survival and God had given them the victory. So they would rejoice and have a big feast. That’s what Christian joy is like. That’s how we should celebrate the coming of Jesus.

Then he says it’s like men dividing the plunder of their enemies. In Gideon’s day the Midianites kept the Israelites under their thumb and nearly starved them to death. They invaded their land regularly and ate their crops and ruined their fields and stole anything good that they had. Israel had been plundered by them many times. So, you can imagine the rejoicing that took place when God defeated the entire army of the Midianites with only Gideon and his 300 men and the people of Israel raided their tents. On that day there was plenty of food in Israel and God’s people were given victory over their oppressors. On that day the burden was lifted off their backs. Can you imagine the rejoicing?

That is how we ought to celebrate Christmas. With joy! Not the joy of gifts, or even the joy of family, but the joy that comes from knowing that God is growing His church, the joy of knowing that God has met our deepest need and has delivered us from our greatest enemy. The joy of those who finally know peace. That’s how I want to celebrate Christmas this year. Will you join me?

Carrying Your Deliverance

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

“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. 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.

Isaiah 46:1-4

Lately, I have fallen into some bad habits. I'm spending too much time on my phone and too much time watching TV. Now, I am not watching anything particularly sinful, but the effect it has had on my spiritual life has been devastating, nonetheless. I get stressed, so I consume more entertainment to "unwind." It never fully recharges me like I think it will, so I have to stay up later to watch more TV and scroll further on social media. This causes me to go to bed later. Which means I don't get up and have a quiet time in the morning. Since I haven't spent time with the Lord, I am far more easily stressed and overwhelmed the next day. My problems seem so much bigger when I haven't recently been reminded of how big God is. So, I come home the next night stressed, and I turn once again to entertainment to recharge my batteries. And the cycle repeats. 

I am like a castaway at sea, drinking saltwater to quench my thirst. It sounds like a good idea in the moment, but in the end it only makes my situation more desperate and myself thirstier. 

God speaks to a similar situation in Isaiah 46. He calls two of the primary Babylonian gods, Bel and Nebo, by name. These were false gods, idols, that men looked to for deliverance. God points out just how useless and utterly unable to deliver anyone these idols are. They are so far from delivering anyone in fact, that they are a burden! They have to be moved from one place to another by beasts of burden. They are unable to help themselves, unable to move on their own. Why would anyone look to them for deliverance?!

In sharp contrast to these false gods, is the one true God. He doesn't need His people to carry Him. No! God carries His people. He isn't a burden to them. He has been carrying them since their birth, like a good father, and He will continue to sustain and carry His people.

When you compare God to the false idols that men look to for deliverance there really is no comparison. God can carry you and deliver you and idols only weigh you down and make matters worse! 

 

Is there something or someone in your life that you are looking to for deliverance but is actually only weighing you down? If so, quit burdening yourself with extra problems! What little appearance of help these false idols give you is far outweighed by the trouble they cause you. 

There is a better way! God has carried you since you were born. He says to you today, "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." Make sure you are turning to the right place...to the right Person for help, for deliverance, for rescue. Cast your burdens on Him (Matthew 11:28-30). Don't take up additional ones.

God's Not Like Me (W.o.W. Rewind)

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways.” This is the Lord’s declaration. “For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts."

Isaiah 55:8-9

I'm not very good at forgiveness. I haven't been deeply wronged by many people in my life, but the times I have felt mistreated, I responded pretty poorly. Forgiveness, grace, and redemption are all easier to talk about than they are to live out. Thank goodness God is nothing like me! His ways and thoughts are infinitely higher and better than my ways and thoughts just as He himself is infinitely higher and better than I am.

This applies not just to God's personal holiness and perfection, but also to how He deals with wicked people like me. He not only beckons sinners to come to Him but He does so in incomparably beautiful terms.

"Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost! Why do you spend money on what is not food, and your wages on what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and you will enjoy the choicest of foods. Pay attention and come to Me; listen, so that you will live. (Isaiah 55:1-3a)

What a God we serve! The thirsty drink, the bankrupt eat, the "good stuff" (i.e. wine and milk) are given away for free, and all are satisfied. He offers compassion and free forgiveness, but what must one do to take advantage of this offer?

Seek the Lord while He may be found; call to Him while He is near. Let the wicked one abandon his way and the sinful one his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, so He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will freely forgive. (Isaiah 55:6-7)

God freely forgives any who come. No restrictions or requirements are placed on His offer of forgiveness beyond this: you must abandon your way (turn from your sin) and turn toward God. For the person thinking, "Getting God's forgiveness can't be that easy." God says, "I'm not like you. I'm different. My ways are not your ways. My thoughts are not your thoughts."

Thank you, Heavenly Father, that you are not like me.

Wickedness Burns

Surely wickedness burns like a fire;

it consumes briers and thorns,

it sets the forest thickets ablaze,

so that it rolls upward in a column of smoke. 

(Isaiah 9:18)

It's amazing to think that the wildfires which periodically ravage forests in Colorado, California and the Pacific Northwest all start off small. They burn hundreds or even thousands of acres. They force families from their homes. They kill wildlife. But in the beginning, they are small enough to stamp out with your foot. You could prevent all that damage with a single glass of water if you were there early enough. But sadly we often don't notice these fires until they get big, and by that time, it's often too late to do anything about them.

This Scripture tells us that wickedness burns just like a forest fire. It's just as destructive. Sin will ravage your home. It will send your family away. It will take everything you hold dear away from you and leave a path of destruction in its wake. 

But, just like forest fires, we often don't notice our sin until its too late. Our sin looks so small to us. We can't bring ourselves to think it can really do any harm. We think we've got it under control, so we turn our back on it...and there in the background of our lives, it burns. While you aren't paying attention to it, your sin grows and spreads and gains destructive power. If you aren't careful one day you'll turn around and it'll be too late. Your materialism, your lust, your addiction, or your selfishness will have grown too big for you. It will be blazing out of control, and you'll have to watch it destroy everything you hold dear.

Hear this warning of Scripture before it's too late. "Wickedness burns like a fire! It sets the forest ablaze." So be vigilant! Remove wickedness far from you. Don't hold burning embers against your chest. Cast them away! Harbor no sin or deceit. Give no quarter to your enemy. Make no provision for wickedness in your life. Ask God to help you see the sin you harbor today, and turn it over to Him.

Too Small a Thing (W.o.W. Rewind)

And now the LORD says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

Isaiah 49:6

Why is it "too small a thing" for Jesus to save only the Jews? Why does God insists, even as far back as this Old Testament prophecy predicting Christ as the Suffering Servant, that His salvation must reach the "ends of the earth?"

There are many reasons. For one, God is no respecter of persons. He loves all the nations and offers forgiveness to all. Here's another, no one people group is any more deserving of God's free grace than another. But in his book entitled Let the Nations be Glad, John Piper draws our attention to a reason that we often overlook. He argues that God is more glorified by saving people from every nation, tribe and tongue than He would be simply by saving a large number from a few people groups. Why is it more glorifying to God to ensure His salvation reaches the ends of the earth?

First, if He is God of all, then He deserves praise from all. How can He be the one true God, the Creator of all the earth if He is worshiped by only one people group? It doesn't fit. The one true God deserves to be worshiped by all. God deserves to be praised in Swahili. He is worthy of adoration in French, Books ought to be written about His greatness in Farsi.

Second, different people groups and cultures worship God in different ways. God is too diverse in His beauty, character and excellence for any one people group to reflect back to Him all the worship He deserves. Piper puts it this way. "More depth of beauty is felt from a choir that sings in parts than from a choir that sings only in unison. Unity in diversity is more beautiful and more powerful than the unity of uniformity" (Piper p.222). Our worship is inherently more beautiful when it is offered by a diverse body of believers. 

Third, it shows the greatness of God's true worth. "The fame and greatness and worth of an object of beauty increases in proportion to the diversity of those who recognize its beauty. If a work of art is regarded as great among a small and like-minded group of people but not by anyone else, the art is probably not truly great. Its qualities are such that it does not appeal to the deep universals in our hearts but only to provincial biases. But if a work of art continues to win more and more admirers not only across cultures but also across decades and centuries, then its greatness is irresistibly manifested" (Piper p.222). 

This means that you and I must do more than simply worship God in the way that best fits our culture and skin color. We ought to pray for the gospel to reach unreached people groups. And we should push the gospel to the ends of the earth by giving to missions, going on mission trips, and encouraging our churches to become more ethnically diverse. Let's make Jesus' name great at home and to the ends of the earth because He is worthy of all worship! 

You're a Sign

Ezekiel will be a sign to you; you will do just as he has done. When this happens, you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.

Ezekiel 24:24

Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the Lord Almighty…

Isaiah 8:18

The prophets we read of in Scripture were God’s mouthpieces. They received messages from God and then delivered those messages word-for-word to God’s people. Sometimes the prophets spoke these messages to God’s people. At other times they wrote them down in the books we have in the Bible. Often they did both. But occasionally, the prophets went to greater lengths to deliver their messages. Sometimes merely speaking the truth wasn’t enough. God’s people needed to see it lived out in front of them. So, occasionally, God commanded His prophets to put His word into action, to act out God’s prophecy, to be a living metaphor or parable for God’s people.

Ezekiel served as a sign to God's people in this way when God commanded him not to mourn the death of his wife (Ezekiel 24:15-24). Isaiah also served as a living sign. God told him to walk around naked (possibly in a loincloth) for three years (Isaiah 20:3)! Even his children were given names that carried prophetic meanings (Isaiah 8). The prophet Hosea was commanded to marry an adulterous woman so he could picture God's grace for His people's idolatrous worship (Hosea 1:2-3 & 3:1-3).  

I believe that in a way all believers are called to the same. You are a sign. In the same way that the prophets served as a picture of God’s dealing with His people, so too your life tells the people around you about God. Your life may be the only Bible they ever read. You may be the closest thing to a preacher they're ever willing to talk to. So, think seriously about this. What does your life point people to? What does your life say about Jesus? About the gospel? You are called to be an ambassador for Christ, so be careful how you live (2 Corinthians 5:20). Make sure your life paints an attractive picture of your Savior and points people to Jesus accurately.

Don't Worry About Tomorrow

My times are in your hands...

Psalm 31:15

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

Isaiah 30:21

One week from today my daughter starts kindergarten. She is my oldest child, and I'm not ready for it. I knew it was coming, but now that it's upon me I don't like it one bit. 

Thinking about the future can bring up a lot of different feelings in our lives. Like me, you may be looking ahead at something difficult that you would just as soon avoid. Or maybe there's something just around the bend in your life for which you have been waiting a long time. Or, perhaps worst of all, your future may be a big question mark. You know you are approaching a fork in the road, but you have absolutely no idea which way to go. 

Thinking about the future can make you feel anxious, unsettled, excited, or even afraid. You may want to hold your future off a bit longer or you may feel like you can't wait another minute for it to get here. Either way, it doesn't matter; because the most difficult thing about the future is that it doesn't care about our feelings. No matter how you feel about it, your future marches to meet you at its own determined pace. You can't stop it. You can't slow it down. And you can't speed it up. So, what can we do? Take comfort in reminding yourself Who is in control. 

God holds your future. Whatever is going to happen will be worked out according to His plan for the good of His children (Romans 8:28). It will happen in His perfect time. And His Spirit inside you will be your guide so you know which way to go when you get to that fork in the road. So, trust God with your future! Walk according to His Word. Keep in step with His Spirit. And leave the rest in His hands. Matthew 6:34 says, "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself."

I still don't like having to send my little girl out into the big wide world, but it gives me comfort knowing that she has an infinitely good God to walk with her through her days. So even when her earthly daddy can't be with her, her Heavenly Father will be. 

Face-to-Face

Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And [God] said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you... But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” 

Exodus 33:18-20

Can you imagine how glorious it must have been to get a glimpse of God? How amazing to have all of God's goodness pass before you. How is that even possible? God's goodness is without measure. How long did that take for all of His goodness to pass in front of Moses? What did it look like? What was Moses feeling? Did he get goosebumps? Because I do just thinking about it!

How unimaginably blessed Moses was, but I have something even better to tell you if you can dare to believe it. One day, believer, you will see more of God than Moses did on that day. Even Moses, wasn't allowed to see God's face and live. He only got a glimpse. But Scripture says that every believer will get not just a glimpse of God, but that we will stare long and hard into the very face of God (Revelation 22:4). In heaven you will see God face-to-face. 

This is what Heaven is all about. It isn't about clouds or harps or anything you've seen in a child's cartoon. It is God and man, living with one another without barriers. What a privilege. What a joy. What a thing to look forward to. God wants you to be close to Him. He wants you to know Him. He promises that one day the knowledge of Him will cover this earth like water covers the sea (Isaiah 11:9). That is what heaven is.

Even now, as we look forward to and long for that day, God gives us glimpses too. His Word reveals His character to us. If we will spend time gazing into the truth of the Bible we will know Him better. And His Spirit meets us in our times of prayer so that we may at least feel His glory until that day when we can finally see it. Don't take these gifts for granted. Stare deeply at God's revelation of Himself today and drink deeply of His spiritual presence. The Word and the Spirit will cause His goodness to pass before you and you will be blessed because of it.     

Make No Complaint

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

    yet he opened not his mouth;

like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

    and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

    so he opened not his mouth.

                                                                            Isaiah 53:7

He was dragged before the Sanhedrin and the High Priest to be questioned and falsely accused, yet "Jesus remained silent" (Matt. 26:63). When Pilate questioned Him to determine His fate, "He gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed" (Matt. 27:14). He had another chance still when Pilate sent Him to Herod, yet again "He made no answer" (Luke 23:9). Even as He was flogged, struck in the head with a reed, spit upon and mocked Scripture records no complaint escaping Jesus' lips. 

Isaiah prophesied that it would be this way. He said the Messiah would march to His death like a lamb is led to the slaughter, silently and submissively. Lambs don't protest because they lack sense. Jesus refused to grumble because He trusted His Father and was willing to endure anything to fulfill God's purpose for His life. Anything for God's glory (John 12:28).

Ultimately that's the problem with complaining, with grumbling against the circumstances of your life. It means that you think God has messed up. Either you don't trust that He knows what He is doing, or you don't think His purposes are worth your pain. Are you willing to endure anything to fulfill God's purpose for your life, to bring Him glory? When you grumble and complain against God, even in your own thoughts, you reveal the outer boundaries of your willingness to follow Him.

Consider how often the people of Israel grumbled, complained and rebelled against God during their journey in the wilderness. God had a purpose for every discomfort and difficulty they experienced. He was teaching His people to trust Him completely. With each trial they had the opportunity to learn to turn to Him for help and watch Him provide for their needs abundantly. Had they submitted to God and learned this lesson well it would have paid great dividends as they went in to possess the Promised Land. Unfortunately, they didn't submit to God. They grumbled and complained, so they continued to struggle for many years to come.

But Jesus is the new and perfect Israel. He gets it right precisely where they got it wrong. He doesn't grumble. He willingly submits. He accomplishes God's will for His life. In only three and a half years of ministry He changed the world forever and He opened a door into the true Promised Land, Heaven above.

God accomplishes great things in and through us by virtue of our suffering, our difficulty, and our discomfort. We are called to emulate Jesus. Let's complain less and trust more. Let's turn to God for strength and deliverance, and trust that He really will cause all things to work together for our good (Romans 8:28). Let's stop grumbling and start praising!  

Am I Wicked?

“There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

Isaiah 57:21

Memorize this verse! Roll it over in your mind. "Write it on the tablet of your heart" as the Scripture says. Do this because this little verse reveals something important about God.

God opposes the wicked. Those that break His laws, who go against His commands, He will not prosper. The world may celebrate them, they may even appear to thrive for a short time, but their end is destruction (see Psalm 73). They will not know peace. Psalm 146:5-9 elaborates on this same point. As you read it take note of all the types of people God helps and notice that there is only one type of person He disappoints.

How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,

Whose hope is in the Lord his God...

Who executes justice for the oppressed;

Who gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets the prisoners free.

The Lord opens the eyes of the blind;

The Lord raises up those who are bowed down;

The Lord loves the righteous;

The Lord protects the sojourners;

He supports the fatherless and the widow,

But He thwarts the way of the wicked.

God doesn't take the sin in your life lightly, so you shouldn't either! Run from wickedness! Avoid temptation. Focus less on identifying who the wicked are around you and focus more on asking yourself the question, "Am I wicked?". 

For further reading...

• Asaph considers the apparent prosperity of the wicked in a powerful psalm- Psalm 73.

God's Not Like Me

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways.” This is the Lord’s declaration. “For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8-9

I'm not very good at forgiveness. I haven't been deeply wronged by many people in my life, but the times I have felt mistreated I responded pretty poorly. Forgiveness, grace, and redemption are all easier to talk about than to live out. Thank goodness God is nothing like me! His ways and thoughts are infinitely higher and better than my ways and thoughts as He himself is infinitely higher and better than me.

This applies not just to God's personal holiness and perfection, but also in how He deals with wicked people like me. He not only beckons sinners to come to Him but He does so in incomparably beautiful terms.

"Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost! Why do you spend money on what is not food, and your wages on what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and you will enjoy the choicest of foods. Pay attention and come to Me; listen, so that you will live. (Isaiah 55:1-3a)

What a God we serve! The thirsty drink, the bankrupt eat, the "good stuff" (i.e. wine and milk) are given away for free, and all are satisfied. He offers compassion and free forgiveness, but what must one do to take advantage of this offer?

Seek the Lord while He may be found; call to Him while He is near. Let the wicked one abandon his way and the sinful one his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, so He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will freely forgive. (Isaiah 55:6-7)

God freely forgives any who will come. No restrictions or requirements are placed on His offer beyond the person simply turning from their sin toward God. For the person thinking, "Getting God's forgiveness can't be that easy." God says, "I'm not like you. I'm different. My ways are not your ways. My thoughts are not your thoughts."

Thank you, Heavenly Father for being different than me.

Too Small a Thing

And now the LORD says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

Isaiah 49:6

Why is it "too small a thing" for Jesus to save only the Jews? Why does God insists, even as far back as this Old Testament prophecy predicting Christ as the Suffering Servant, that His salvation must reach the "ends of the earth?"

There are many reasons. For one, God is no respecter of persons. He loves all the nations and offers forgiveness to all. Here's another, no one people group is any more deserving of God's free grace than another. But in his book entitled Let the Nations be Glad, John Piper draws our attention to a reason that we often overlook. He argues that God is more glorified by saving people from every nation, tribe and tongue than He would be simply by saving a large number from a few people groups. Why is it more glorifying to God to ensure His salvation reaches the ends of the earth?

First, if He is God of all, then He deserves praise from all. How can He be the one true God, the Creator of all the earth if He is worshiped by only one people group? It doesn't fit. The one true God deserves to be worshiped by all. God deserves to be praised in Swahili. He is worthy of adoration in French, Books ought to be written about His greatness in Farsi.

Second, different people groups and cultures worship God in different ways. God is too diverse in His beauty, character and excellence for any one people group to reflect back to Him all the worship He deserves. Piper puts it this way. "More depth of beauty is felt from a choir that sings in parts than from a choir that sings only in unison. Unity in diversity is more beautiful and more powerful than the unity of uniformity" (Piper p.222). Our worship is inherently more beautiful when it is offered by a diverse body of believers. 

Third, it shows the greatness of God's true worth. "The fame and greatness and worth of an object of beauty increases in proportion to the diversity of those who recognize its beauty. If a work of art is regarded as great among a small and like-minded group of people but not by anyone else, the art is probably not truly great. Its qualities are such that it does not appeal to the deep universals in our hearts but only to provincial biases. But if a work of art continues to win more and more admirers not only across cultures but also across decades and centuries, then its greatness is irresistibly manifested" (Piper p.222). 

This means that you and I must do more than simply worship God in the way that best fits our culture and skin color. We ought to pray for the gospel to reach unreached people groups. And we should push the gospel to the ends of the earth by giving to missions, going on mission trips, and encouraging our churches to become more ethnically diverse. Let's make Jesus' name great at home and to the ends of the earth because He is worthy of all worship! 

Fiberglass Bathtubs and a Forever Rock

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.

Isaiah 26:3-4

There are two kinds of people in this world. Those who hear a tornado warning and quickly go get in the bathtub and those who immediately open the front door to walk outside to see if the tornado is close to their house. I am the latter, and it drives my wife crazy. 

The problem is that I'm just not convinced my fiberglass bathtub can protect me from a tornado. If I had a real storm shelter it might be different, but why huddle in a damp bathtub for an hour if it isn't going to do me any good?

Perhaps this is how too many of us think about God. "Why take my problems to God in prayer? He isn't going to listen to me. I've tried the whole God thing before and it didn't work for me. God didn't take my problems away." It's uncomfortable to humble ourselves before God. People simply won't do it if they aren't convinced it will work. 

These two verses in Isaiah give us some pretty good reasons to believe it will work. God promises to keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast. The word for "keeping" can also mean that God is guarding or watching over us, ensuring that we are kept in perfect peace. Perfect peace is literally "peace peace" in the original language. It is double peace. The Hebrew word for peace goes beyond our understanding of peace in the English language. According to the ESV Study Bible the Hebrew word for peace "shalom" meant more than just the absence of trouble but also included the idea of positive blessing. It was like saying "all is well." This is the kind of peace that God promises to preserve for those whose minds are dependent on Him. These people have God as their support. They lean on Him. He upholds them. They have confidence in God and trust Him for their security.

The passage continues to tell us that we should trust in God (a concept that includes boldness and confidence) because He is the rock eternal. Some translations render this as everlasting strength, but I like the picture of God as a forever rock. He is immovable and unchanging. Just the kind of shelter you want to run to in a storm. Just the kind of protection you seek out when under attack. God is our refuge!

Here is the takeaway. An immovable, lasting, perfect peace in life has to be built on an immovable, lasting, perfect God. This is the only way to double peace, peace that isn't dependent on your situation. The storm may rage, but your peace is unmoved because you have confidence in your refuge. You may fall, but your confidence is unshaken because your mind is stayed on God's faithfulness instead of your sinfulness. You are quiet even when you are under attack because you know that the ultimate victory has already been declared on your behalf in Christ.

Far too many of us lack this kind of peace, because far too many of us lack this type of confidence in our God. Will you place your trust in God today? Will you rest your mind steadfastly on His nature and His promises? Let God be your support, then you can move forward in confidence knowing that God is your forever Rock, a sturdy constant in a sea of change. 

The Cobra Effect

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!

Isaiah 30:18 (ESV)

Life is full of problems, isn't it? Little problems, big problems, complex problems, problems! But I have learned that sometimes the solution is worse than the problem. Sometimes when you try to fix something you actually end up making it worse. This is called the Cobra Effect. 

During British rule of Colonial India, the government was concerned about the number of venomous cobra snakes in Delhi. So the government offered a bounty for every dead cobra. At first, the incentive worked. Large numbers of snakes were killed for the reward. But it wasn't long until some crafty and enterprising residents began to breed cobras expressly for the purpose of turning them in for the reward. Once the government became aware of this, the bounty program was scrapped, causing the cobra breeders to set the now-worthless snakes free. In the end, the cobra population in Delhi actually increased as a result of the bounty program. The apparent solution to the problem actually made the situation worse.

Sometimes we see this Cobra Effect in our personal lives when we try to solve our problems by running to the world for help instead of taking our problems to God. Our Heavenly Father wants us to cry out to Him for help and wait for His deliverance. Only He can save us from our problems anyway! Only He is in control. 

Isaiah 30:18 tells us something amazing- God is waiting on you! God wants to be gracious to His people and rescue us from our problems, but He will not give up His glory. That's the most important thing to Him. While you are frantically trying to solve your problems yourself or turning to the world for help or turning to sin to cope with the pain, God is quietly waiting for you to cry out to Him for help so He can rescue. Our Father must teach us to turn to Him for help. He will not rescue us as long as we are trying to rescue ourselves or turn elsewhere for help. We must learn to look to Him first.

What is the biggest problem you are facing today? What's keeping you awake at night? And what have you done to try to fix this problem? Have you cried out to God for help and waited to see what he will do? Carry your problems to the throne of God today. Ask for help, and see what He will do!

Holy, Holy, Holy

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

Isaiah 6:1-3

There I was- twenty-four years old and ready to ask the woman I loved to marry me. It had hit me all at once. One day, I just knew I was ready to marry this woman, but I needed to buy a ring before I could ask her. So I did what most young men in that situation do. I begged a woman to help me pick out a ring! There are only a few mistakes in life that really stick with you but mucking up your engagement with a bad ring is one of them. Thankfully, my future sister-in-law came through for me. Seven and a half years later and my wife still likes her engagement ring.

It isn't uncommon at a wedding ceremony to hear the pastor wax eloquently about the symbolism of the wedding ring. How its circular shape pictures the couple's endless love, etc., etc... But today I want to use the engagement ring as a picture of God's holiness. In the prophet Isaiah's vision, as he saw God Almighty seated on a throne, there around Him were powerful angels called seraphim who cried out, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty." Holiness can be a hard concept to wrap your head around, but our God is three times holy. He is holy to the third degree. So it is worth the effort for us to try to understand this important aspect of His nature. 

Three elements of the engagement ring makes it easier for us grasp the concept of holiness.

1. Engagement rings almost always have a diamond in them. Diamonds of course are very valuable because they are relatively rare. You can't get them just anywhere. And the more rare the diamond, the more valuable it is. This is a great picture of God's holiness. God is set apart by the fact that He is one of a kind. King Solomon said of Him, "There is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below." (I Kings 8:23) More to the point, Hannah prayed "There is no one holy like the LORD; there is no one besides You; there is no Rock like our God." (I Samuel 2:2) God is holy, exalted, and completely different from anyone or anything else.
2. Another thing about diamonds is that you want one with the least amount of impurities or inclusions in it. If the diamond has cloudy parts, dark spots, or cracks then it is worth less. In other words: the more pure it is the more valuable it is. God's holiness means that He is completely pure from sin and imperfection. He is separate from all evil and darkness. In fact, Scripture often depicts God as shining with brilliant light. I John 1:5-6 says, "This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all."
3. Lastly, the engagement ring signals to the watching world that the two of you are set apart for one another. To be holy also means to be set apart for a special purpose- God's purpose. It may seem odd to say that God is set apart for His own purpose. But He is. Imagine how weird it would be for God to serve some other lesser purpose, for Him to spend His time accomplishing lesser goals or worshiping false gods. No. For God to be holy He must spend His time accomplishing His own perfect ends and extending His own awesome glory. We too are called to be set apart to serve God's purposes. The Apostle Paul said, "'Come out from them and be separate,' says the Lord...Therefore, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." (2 Corinthians 6:17a & 7:1) We are called to be set apart from sin and the world, so that we may be used by God.  

It is important for us to understand God's holiness because it is such a singular and vital part of His nature. But it's also important because God calls us to be holy like Him. In Leviticus 19:2 God tells Moses to call all Israel together and give them the following command. "Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy." 

Are you holy? Has your life been set apart for use by God? Are you becoming increasingly free of sin? Are you different from those around you? God promises to conform believers into the image of His Son. Each day we seek to become more like Christ. As we do, we increase in holiness and become more like the Father as well. So my prayer for you and for me today is that we would throw off the sin that entangles us, that we would stop conforming to the pattern of this world, and that we would be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we might increase in holiness as we are made into the likeness of Christ. (Hebrews 12:1, Romans 12:2 & 8:29)

A Glimpse of the Gospel in the Old Testament

This week as I read Isaiah 59, its truth shined to me as though I had never read it before. I found a beautiful glimpse of the gospel too precious not to share.The chapter opens with the truth of the human problem of sin. Isaiah 59:2-3a:

But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity... 

In Isaiah's time this passage spoke of God's judgment on the people of Judah. Their continued sin and rebellion had turned God's face away from them in punishment. But this passage is also one of Isaiah's prophecies about the coming Savior, thus its meaning extends beyond its original context to the plight of every man. We all have sinned against God. Our sin separates us from God and earns His wrath. We, like the exiles of Isaiah's day, "hope for salvation but find none" in what this world has to offer.

But into this bleak picture steps God Most High.

Now the Lord saw, and it was displeasing in His sight that there was no justice. And He saw that there was no man, and was astonished that there was no one to intercede; then His own arm brought salvation to Him, and His righteousness upheld Him. He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head; and He put on garments of vengeance for clothing and wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle. According to their deeds, so He will repay, wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies... “A Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares the Lord.  (Isaiah 59:15b-18a, 20)

The wickedness of Judah is such that there is none to save. Worse than that, there isn't even one to act as a mediator between to intercede on behalf of the people. God chooses to take this role on Himself in order to save His people. Again, the meaning of this prophecy easily extends to Jesus. All of humanity is lost in sin and unwilling to repent before a holy God. No one intercedes or seeks after God while in sin. There is not even one righteous person in all the earth. So our Heavenly Father sent Jesus to bring salvation to mankind and to act as that needed mediator. Just as verse twenty says, He offers redemption to men who turn from their sin. This happened through His death on the cross during His first coming. But God has also promised a second coming of Christ in which He will sit in judgment over all the earth. He will pour out God's wrath on those who oppose and turn away from God the Father Almighty.

So what are we to do with so great a salvation? Certainly we are to turn from our sin in repentance before the day of His coming in judgment! We are to believe that Jesus is God's Son who took the punishment for our sin upon Himself by His death on the cross. We also ought to believe that He rose from the dead on the third day in order to beat the power of sin and death. He ascended into heaven and now sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty and there He waits to return and judge the living and the dead. Beyond this act of faith, the Lord tells us what else we ought to do in verse twenty-one.

“As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from now and forever.”

We are called to live in the Spirit and to proclaim God's good Word not only to our families but to the whole world. Glory be to the only God who is righteous enough to demand justice against His enemies, loving enough to intercede on their behalf, powerful enough to bring salvation to His enemies, gracious enough to offer them forgiveness by way of His own suffering, and good enough to give them His great Word. Share His good Word with someone today!

For further reading...

• Romans 10:9-10 & Acts 16:16-40-What must I do to be saved?
• Romans 1-3- The sinfulness of man and the righteousness of God as presented in the New Testament.
• Isaiah 49-53- The Servant Songs of Isaiah