July 17, 2012 … Ahead Is Way Scary! … Way Exciting!!

Chronological Bible Reading Plan - Day 199 

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Isaiah, Chapter 23-27 [NIV] To study these chapters, go to this link - 
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Highlight Passage: Isaiah 23: 1; 8-9 : [NIV] … 1 A prophecy against Tyre: Wail, you ships of Tarshish! For Tyre is destroyed and left without house or harbor. From the land of Cyprus word has come to them. … 8 Who planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose merchants are princes, whose traders are renowned in the earth? 9 The Lord Almighty planned it, to bring down her pride in all her splendor and to humble all who are renowned on the earth.  
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Highlight Passage: Isaiah 24: 3-6; 21, 23b : [NIV] … 3 The earth will be completely laid waste and totally plundered. The Lord has spoken this word. 4 The earth dries up and withers, the world languishes and withers, the heavens languish with the earth. 5 The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore a curse consumes the earth; its people must bear their guilt. Therefore earth's inhabitants are burned up, and very few are left. … 21 In that day the Lord will punish the powers in the heavens above and the kings on the earth below. 23b … for the Lord Almighty will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before its elders—with great glory. 
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Highlight Passage: Isaiah 25: 1; 6-9 : [NIV] … 1 Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago. … 6 On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine— the best of meats and the finest of wines. 7 On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; 8 he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people's disgrace from all the earth. The Lord has spoken. 9 In that day they will say, "Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation." 
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Highlight Passage: Isaiah 26: 1-3; 7-8; 19 : [NIV] … 1 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; God makes salvation its walls and ramparts. 2 Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith. 3 You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. … 7 The path of the righteous is level; you, the Upright One, make the way of the righteous smooth. 8 Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. … 19 But your dead will live, Lord; their bodies will rise — let those who dwell in the dust wake up and shout for joy— your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead. 
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Highlight Passage: Isaiah 27: 2-3; : [NIV] … 2 In that day— "Sing about a fruitful vineyard: 3 I, the Lord, watch over it; I water it continually. I guard it day and night so that no one may harm it. … 6 In days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will bud and blossom and fill all the world with fruit. … 13 And in that day a great trumpet will sound. Those who were perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled in Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem. 

My Journal for Today: Okay, if you’ve come this far to read along with me, I can likely read your mind. You’re probably thinking, … “Aw common, Bill; that’s a bunch to expect me to read and digest!” And you’re right. We’re drinking at God’s fire hydrant fountain of truth again. And if you’ve invested the time to read and meditate on the passages I’ve highlighted above from my chronological reading assignment today, I’ll be brief in my own journal comments; because Isaiah’s prophetic writings in Chapters 24-27, which make up today’s study segment, stand alone in their interpretation.

This segment of Isaiah’s writings is sometimes called “Isaiah’s Apocalypse”, because God, through Isaiah, shifts gears in his prophesies from Isaiah’s earlier warnings to Judah, Israel, Egypt, and other neighboring nations to putting forth a word for the whole world and all of earth’s peoples [including you and me]. And as I’ve titled my journal entry today, these prophesies are “Way Scary And Way Exciting.”

If registered and believed they would have to be WAY SCARY to those who had rebelled against God’s will and His ways through His word; but once digested in these chapters, this word unto the future would be WAY EXCITING for God’s remnant of obedient disciples who’ve believed God’s covenant and have done all they can – in faith – to follow God – i.e., in spite of what God’s spiritual enemies have done to draw believers away from God’s promised ones.

So, I hope you take the time to read, study, and meditate on today’s assigned passages, or at least my highlighted ones copied above. Because if you are motivated enough to do that, you are likely one of those believers whom Isaiah wrote about in God’s pronouncement above in Isaiah 26: 3, … that is, one who lives in peace because your mind is settled and pursuant of God’s will and His ways by being in God’s word. I truly hope you’re one of those; because if you are, reading through Isaiah’s prophesies today had to be WAY EXCITING.

But any who read here today and saw today’s prophesies as WAY TOO SCARY, perhaps you had best take note of just how strongly you believe that today’s word from God is really true or not. If you don’t think so, my dear one, you are headed toward the scariest eternity that anyone can or will face. And all that you need to do is to realize the exciting prospects of heaven, believing that Christ came, as God promised, to provide the way for you to repent, believing that Jesus died to save you and expressing openly/honestly that you want Him to be the Lord of Your life.

Do that … and your eternal future will be more EXCITING than you could ever imagine.

My Prayer Today: … Thank You, Lord, for the eternally exciting times ahead. Amen

July 16, 2012 … You said to do what, God?!

Chronological Bible Reading Plan - Day 198  

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Isaiah, Chapter 18-22 [NIV] To study these chapters, go to this link - 
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Highlight Passage: Isaiah 20: 1-2 : [NIV] … 1 In the year that the supreme commander, sent by Sargon king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and attacked and captured it — 2 at that time the Lord spoke through Isaiah son of Amoz. He said to him, "Take off the sackcloth from your body and the sandals from your feet." And he did so, going around stripped and barefoot. 

My Journal for Today: I read another big historical gulp of God’s word in Isaiah’s book of prophesies, in this case Chapters 18-22 [linked above for your reading. However, today rather than going through each chapter and exposing prophesy after prophesy, God’s Spirit had me hone in on one short passage in Isaiah 20, the first two verses where God commanded Isaiah to walk around stripped of clothing, which would have been considered nakedness by the peoples of his day. So, we might say about God’s word, “What’s that all about, Lord?”

And here’s what my Parson’s Commentary says about that highlight passage:
>>>  GOD’S COMMAND TO ISAIAH TO WALK ABOUT [culturally] NAKED FOR THREE YEARS WAS A HUMILIATING EXPERIENCE. GOD WAS USING ISAIAH TO DEMONSTRATE THE HUMILIATION THAT EGYPT AND ETHIOPIA WOULD EXPERIENCE AT THE HANDS OF ASSYRIA. BUT THE MESSAGE WAS REALLY FOR JUDAH: DON’T PUT YOUR TRUST IN FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS, OR YOU WILL EXPERIENCE THIS KIND OF SHAME AND HUMILIATION FROM YOUR CAPTORS. GOD ASKED ISAIAH TO DO SOMETHING THAT SEEMED SHAMEFUL AND ILLOGICAL. 
>>> AT TIMES, GOD MAY ASK US TO DO THINGS WE DON’T UNDERSTAND. WE MUST OBEY GOD IN COMPLETE FAITH, FOR HE WILL NEVER ASK US TO DO SOMETHING WRONG.

Have you ever felt that God was leading you or “asking” you to do something which was very politically incorrect or unpopular or even outlandish or unrealistic? Well, that was what God commanded of Isaiah as he was giving messages to the various nations in the passages I was charged to read today. Here Isaiah was giving tough words from God to Assyria, Egypt, Edom, and Ethiopia; and he was doing this while stripped and seemingly ridiculously dressed (or rather, undressed).

But Isaiah did what God commanded him to do because it was God Who was calling the shots; and Isaiah had made a covenant with God to follow Him… no matter what was God’s leading (see Isaiah 6). Is that our attitude in following Christ? How many times have I harkened back to Christ’s command to His disciples (from Luke 9: 23 ) … for us to deny our selves, take up our crosses daily, and follow HIM.

But do we do this in the way in which He’s asking us to follow Him?

I’m going to link you to a beautiful and lyrical version of the old hymn, I Surrender All, performed by a soloist in the group, Selah; and I ask you to take a few moments to stop and take in this powerful piece, directing us to ask ourselves if we are living our lives in the way Isaiah was asking to people to live as commanded by God’s prophesies. God’s command to His people then and now is to live lives of total surrender to Yahweh. Here is that link for your meditation:  And I will pray that Isaiah’s message to the peoples and nations of his day is God’s timeless message to all of His children … to SURRENDER ALL to Him.

My Prayer Today: … Lord, I surrender all! And I pray that all who read here with me do too.  Amen

July 15, 2012 … Father God: “Don’t mess with My kids!”

Chronological Bible Reading Plan - Day 197 

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Isaiah, Chapters 13-17 [NIV] To study these chapters, go to this link - 
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 Highlight Passage: Isaiah 13: 1; 19-20 : [NIV] … 1 A prophecy against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw: … 19 Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms, the pride and glory of the Babylonians, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah. 20 She will never be inhabited or lived in through all generations; there no nomads will pitch their tents, there no shepherds will rest their flocks.  
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Highlight Passage #2: Isaiah 14: 1; 5-6 : [NIV] … 1 The Lord will have compassion on Jacob; once again he will choose Israel and will settle them in their own land. Foreigners will join them and unite with the descendants of Jacob. 5 The Lord has broken the rod of the wicked [i.e., reference to Babylon, symbolic of any nation who oppresses God’s people], the scepter of the rulers, 6 which in anger struck down peoples [i.e., God’s chosen peoples] with unceasing blows, and in fury subdued nations with relentless aggression.  
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Highlight Passage #3: Isaiah 15: 1 : [NIV] … 1 A prophecy against Moab: Ar in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night! Kir in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night!
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Highlight Passage #4: Isaiah 16: 12-14 : [NIV] … 12 When Moab appears at her high place, she only wears herself out; when she goes to her shrine to pray, it is to no avail. 13 This is the word the Lord has already spoken concerning Moab. 14 But now the Lord says: "Within three years, as a servant bound by contract would count them, Moab's splendor and all her many people will be despised, and her survivors will be very few and feeble."
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Highlight Passage #5: Isaiah 17: 1: 7-9; 12-14 : [NIV] … 1 A prophecy against Damascus: "See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins. 7 In that day people will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel. 8 They will not look to the altars, the work of their hands, and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles the incense altars their fingers have made. 9 In that day their strong cities, which they left because of the Israelites, will be like places abandoned to thickets and undergrowth. And all will be desolation. 12 Woe to the many nations that rage — they rage like the raging sea! Woe to the peoples who roar — they roar like the roaring of great waters! 13 Although the peoples roar like the roar of surging waters, when he rebukes them they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweed before a gale. 14 In the evening, sudden terror! Before the morning, they are gone! This is the portion of those who loot us, the lot of those who plunder us. 

My Journal for Today: It’s quite obvious that those who’ve been oppressors of the Jews over the centuries, including those enemies of the Israelites living in the times of Isaiah, either were ignorant of Isaiah’s prophesies or they simply didn’t believe this Prophet of God was actually bringing a true word of judgment against anyone who would come against God’s chosen and covenant peoples.

But any reader who studies these five chapters of Isaiah’s OT book, with any degree of historical understanding, would have to come away with the message which is the title of my journal entry for today, … that being God’s message – “Don’t mess with MY kids!”

 Isaiah, in today’s reading chapters, predicts that three peoples who came against the Israelites, i.e., the descendants of Jacob, would ultimately be destroyed. And even in the time of Isaiah’s ministry, those hearing his words should have been impressed by the accuracy of his predictions about the Moabites, about which Isaiah predicted that they would be eradicated within three years of his prophesies for their oppression against Israel. And as we read in Isaiah, Chapters 15-16 and know from history, that’s exactly what happened to those Arab tribes who were descendants of Esau.

Now, granted, in the times in which Isaiah was writing, God’s peoples weren’t able to see the outcomes of Isaiah’s prophesies about the Arameans and the Babylonians, which Isaiah prophesied would be totally wiped out. In those days, God’s people were being consumed and enslaved by these oppressive Assyrian peoples. But we now know – from the 20/20 vision of history, that the Arameans, first, and then the Babylonians, later, were decimated by other nations. And, at one point in history, after Babylon conquered Judah, though the Babylonians seemed – at the time – to rule in worldly glory, we now – again from the 20/20 of history – can see that this area of the middle-eastern geography is uninhabitable – JUST AS ISAIAH PROPHESIED.

And yet, down through history, so many people who have been able to read these prophesies either ignored them or simply mocked God’s word by oppressing God’s people, much as we saw in even more modern times with Hitler who tried to wipe the Jews off the face of the earth. And even today, radical Islamists are doing all they can to drive Israel out of their lands or to eliminate as many Jews as they can, as well as any people who support Israel.

But God’s word is still clear; and again, I harken to my title for today by saying that anyone, who does not read and believe Isaiah’s prophesies about Israel, as God’s chosen people, as well as any Gentiles who are grafted into God’s Old or New Covenants with God’s children, is figuratively spitting in the face of God. And that is not a good thing to do!

My Prayer Today: … Lord, You are taking care of Your children. Amen

July 14, 2012 … “We have met the enemy; and he is us!”

Chronological Bible Reading - Day 196 

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: 2nd Chronicles 25 [NIV] To study these chapters, go to this link -
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Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: 2nd Kings, Chapters 16-17 [NIV] To study these chapters, go to this link -
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Highlight Passage: 2nd Chronicles 28: 1-5; 22-23 :[NIV] … 1 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord.2 He followed the ways of the kings of Israel and also made idols for worshiping the Baals.3 He burned sacrifices in the Valley of Ben Hinnom and sacrificed his children in the fire, engaging in the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.4 He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree. 5 Therefore the Lord his God delivered him into the hands of the king of Aram. The Arameans defeated him and took many of his people as prisoners and brought them to Damascus. He was also given into the hands of the king of Israel, who inflicted heavy casualties on him. … 22 In his time of trouble King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the Lord.23 He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus, who had defeated him; for he thought, "Since the gods of the kings of Aram have helped them, I will sacrifice to them so they will help me." But they were his downfall and the downfall of all Israel.  
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Highlight Passage #2: 2nd Kings 16: 10-11; 17-18 :[NIV] … 10 Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria. He saw an altar in Damascus and sent to Uriah the priest a sketch of the altar, with detailed plans for its construction.11 So Uriah the priest built an altar in accordance with all the plans that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus and finished it before King Ahaz returned. … 17 King Ahaz cut off the side panels and removed the basins from the movable stands. He removed the Sea from the bronze bulls that supported it and set it on a stone base.18 He took away the Sabbath canopy that had been built at the temple and removed the royal entryway outside the temple of the Lord, in deference to the king of Assyria. 
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Highlight Passage #3: 2nd Kings 17: 1-2; 5-9; 13; 22-23 :[NIV] … 1 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned nine years.2 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, but not like the kings of Israel who preceded him. … 5 The king of Assyria invaded the entire land, marched against Samaria and laid siege to it for three years.6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in the towns of the Medes. 7 All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods8 and followed the practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced. 9 The Israelites secretly did things against the Lord their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city they built themselves high places in all their towns. 13 The Lord warned Israel and Judah through all His prophets and seers: "Turn from your evil ways. Observe My commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your ancestors to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets." 22 The Israelites persisted in all the sins of Jeroboam and did not turn away from them23 until the Lord removed them from his presence, as he had warned through all his servants the prophets. So the people of Israel were taken from their homeland into exile in Assyria, and they are still there. 

My Journal for Today: Another big historical lesson from the Old Testament in the times when the northern tribes in Israel, who were divided from the southern tribes in Judah, perpetuated their disobedience and idolatry, … doing so until finally God had had enough and He allowed the Arameans to consume and exile the Israelites in the north and ultimately the Babylonians came in and captured Judah.

Really, as one reads/studies these times in today’s chronological read in 2nd Chronicles 28 and 2nd Kings 16-17, it is remarkable (at least to me) that God was so patient and forebearing, allowing His children, the Israelites, to carry on with their disobedience as long as they did. They certainly had, in Moses’ Book of the Law, God’s written warnings; and, as it says above in 2nd Kings 17: 13, which is in bold/underlined, God had sent Prophet after Prophet to try to get his people, especially His kings, to repent and follow God’s will and His ways, through His word. But, … so many of these leaders, like Ahaz in Judah and his priests, as well as Hoshea in Israel, simply relented to the idolatrous practices which had infused their culture from the pagan tribes around them, … even child sacrifice as we read about in Ahaz’s life where he sacrificed his sons to the pagan gods.

Does all of this remind one of a modern nation, founded on God’s will and His ways by following His word in its history, … a nation that has fallen prey to idolatry and the worldly practices of other pagan peoples? … Duh!!!

Years ago, In the Pogo cartoon [depicted above], Walt Kelley, it’s author/artist, gave us that great quote, “We have met the enemy; and he is us!” I’ve adopted Kelley’s quote for my title to my journal entry today because when one looks our founding history and where we are now in this country, could we not say that America has perverted it’s Judeo-Christian roots and taken on the pagan idols and practices of Satan, the world, and the flesh? And now, as a result of our disobedience, just as happened to the Israelites of old, we see God allowing paganism, humanism, and idolatry to consume our culture and our nation. God has lifted His Spirit protection of our nation just as He did so for Israel and Judah.

We are being overtaken by baby killing, just as did Ahaz in Judah. We are being overrun by the idols of pornography and political greed just as were the Israelites in the readings above. And God has sent “prophet” after “prophet,” men quoting and teaching from God’s word, the Bible, to warn our leaders, especially our Presidents, of their disobedience to God’s word. But so many of our leaders, especially since 1960, have ignored the merciful warnings; and we have seen the plague of pornography to proliferate; … we have seen tens of thousands of babies sacrificed in abortion; … and we have seen our leaders march us away from our biblical roots.

And, my dear ones reading here, I’m afraid that we’re seeing God allow the pagan world to consume a nation which was founded to honor the LORD. Oh, for sure, there is the same hope for the remnant of America as there was for the remnant of Israel; and that hope, of course, is now found in the faith that today’s believers have in the One God sent, His Messiah, to save His world and His church.

 Oh, how I pray that any who read here are covered by that faith in the blood of God’s Messiah.

My Prayer Today: … Oh, dear God, save us from our sinful ways and bring us to a place of repentance as a nation. Heal our lands; and restore us to a God fearing and God worshipping peoples. Amen

July 13, 2012 … He Will Come Again!

Chronological Bible Reading Plan - Day 195 

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Micah, Chapters 1-7 [NIV] To study these chapters, go to this link - 
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Highlight Passage: Micah 1: 1-3; 5 :[NIV] … 1 The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah—the vision he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. 2 Hear, you peoples, [also translated “ATTENTION!”] all of you, listen, earth and all who live in it, that the Sovereign Lord may bear witness against you, the Lord from His holy temple. 3 Look! The Lord is coming from his dwelling place; He comes down and treads on the heights of the earth. … 5 All this is because of Jacob's transgression, because of the sins of the people of Israel [all of the descendents of Jacob – north and south].
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Highlight Passage #2: Micah 2: 6-7; 11-12 :[NIV] … 6 "Do not prophesy," their prophets say. "Do not prophesy about these things; disgrace will not overtake us." 7 You descendants of Jacob, should it be said, "Does the Lord become impatient? Does he do such things?" "Do not my words do good to the one whose ways are upright? 11 If a liar and deceiver [i.e., a false prophet] comes and says, 'I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,' that would be just the prophet for this people! 12 "I will surely gather all of you, Jacob; I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel. I will bring them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture; the place will throng with people. ============
Highlight Passage #2: Micah 3: 1-2; 5 :[NIV] … 1 Then I said, "Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of Israel. Should you not embrace justice, 2 you who hate good and love evil; who tear the skin from my people and the flesh from their bones; … 5 This is what the Lord says: "As for the prophets who lead my people astray, they proclaim 'peace' if they have something to eat, but prepare to wage war against anyone who refuses to feed them.  
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Highlight Passage #2: Micah 4: 1-2; 10 :[NIV] … 1 In the last days the mountain of the Lord's temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. 2 Many nations will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 10 Writhe in agony, Daughter Zion, like a woman in labor, for now you must leave the city to camp in the open field. You will go to Babylon; there you will be rescued. There the Lord will redeem you out of the hand of your enemies. 
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Highlight Passage #2: Micah 5: 2; 4 :[NIV] … 2 "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times." … 4 He will stand and shepherd His flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they will live securely, for then His greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. 
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 Highlight Passage #2: Micah 6: 6; 8 :[NIV] … 6 With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? … 8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
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Highlight Passage #2: Micah 7: 7-9 :[NIV] … 7 But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me. 8 Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. 9 Because I have sinned against Him, I will bear the Lord's wrath, until He pleads my case and upholds my cause. He will bring me out into the light; I will see his righteousness. 

My Journal for Today: Wow! Another big gulp today from God’s fire hydrant of truth – His word. My reading plan had me read, study, and meditate on the entire book of Micah, a contemporary prophet in the times of Isaiah, about whom I’ve also been studying of late. These were the turbulent times in Israel and Judah, the divided kingdoms of God’s people; and Micah’s prophesies had both bitter and sweet tastes for God’s ones, especially for the leaders, prophets, and kings of the day.

 As I read through the prophesies of Micah, I couldn’t help but sit here in awe, over 2800 years after the prophet was predicting both the immediate destruction of God’s chosen peoples and the far distant salvation of the Lord’s peoples when their Messiah comes to save them (i.e., the first coming) and to rule over them forever (i.e., the second coming). And it’s all there in Micah for any believer in Yahweh, … the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, … and me.

God, … time and time and time … again, kept showing how His chosen ones needed to be living. In fact that’s spelled out in what is probably the key verse in this so-called “minor” book of prophesy; and that is [highlighted in red/bold and underlined above] from Micah 6: 8, which states that we, His children, are “… to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

However, God’s chosen ones DID NOT!! And as many of God’s voices, His prophets, in those days, over 700 years before Christ’s first coming, predicted, the descendents of Jacob would be consumed by other nations; and then they would be dispersed throughout the world to be persecuted. And who could deny that those prophesies did not take place? But Micah (and others of the prophets) also predicted that God’s people, the Jews, would one day be returned to their Holy and Promised Lands; and we may see (some say WE ARE SEEING) the beginnings of this return in our times.

But the ultimate return has yet to take place; and when it does, the Messiah, the Lamb of God, Whom we now know is Jesus, will one day (and I believe soon) return to take His Bride, the Church, to live with Him as He reigns in glory. Micah predicted it; and Jesus sealed it on the cross, when He cried out, “It is finished!!”

My Prayer Today: … Come again, SOON, Lord Jesus! Amen

July 12, 2012 … God’s Promise to His Remnant

Chronological Bible Reading - Day 194

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: 2nd Chronicles 27 [NIV] To study these chapters, go to this link - 
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Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Isaiah, Chapter 9-12 [NIV] To study these chapters, go to this link - 
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Highlight Passage: 2nd Chron 27: 1-2; 9 :[NIV] … 1 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. His mother's name was Jerusha daughter of Zadok.2 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Uzziah had done, but unlike him he did not enter the temple of the Lord. The people, however, continued their corrupt practices. … 
9 Jotham rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. And Ahaz, his son, succeeded him as king. 
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Highlight Passage #2: Isaiah 9: 2; 6 :[NIV] … 2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. … 
6 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. 
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Highlight Passage #2: Isaiah 10: 5-7; 12; 15; 20-21 :[NIV] … 5 "Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of my wrath! 6 I send him against a godless nation; I dispatch him against a people [i.e., God’s own chosen peoples] who anger me, to seize loot and snatch plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets. 7 But this is not what he [i.e., Assyria] intends, this is not what he has in mind; his purpose is to destroy, to put an end to many nations. … 
12 When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, "I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes. … 
15 Does the ax raise itself above the person who swings it, or the saw boast against the one who uses it? As if a rod were to wield the person who lifts it up, or a club brandish the one who is not wood! … 
20 In that day the remnant of Israel, the survivors of Jacob, will no longer rely on him who struck them down but will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. 21 A remnant will return,t a remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God. 
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Highlight Passage #2: Isaiah 11: 1-3a; 6; 10-11 :[NIV] … 1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord — 3 and He will delight in the fear of the Lord. ... 

6 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. … 

10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.11 In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the Mediterranean.
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Highlight Passage #2: Isaiah 12: 1-2 :[NIV] … 1 In that day you will say [some translations have the Hebrew word for “say,” which is “amar,” translated as “sing,” because Chapter 12 was a song of praise] … "I will praise you, Lord. Although you were angry with me, … Your anger has turned away and You have comforted me. 2 Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense; He has become my salvation." 

My Journal for Today: As you can see above, I have highlighted quite a few passages from my chronological reading assignment for today; and I did this for any of my fellow readers to get a sense of what God was promising to His peoples in spite of their collective and nationwide disobedience in the times of Isaiah, the Prophet.

 I hope you can also read a lot of today into these passages; because we now live in times that parallel those written about in 2nd Chronicles 27 and Isaiah, Chapters 9-12. In those days both Israel and Judah had rebelled in flagrant disobedience to God’s word; and God chose to use an even more idolatrous nation, Assyria, to engulf and capture God’s chosen peoples, though Assyria would also be harshly judged and eradicated in God’s plan. But above all in these days, the promise of God’s Messiah rings through these times of a plague of disobedience and destruction. And that promise, which is now the promise of Christ’s second coming, still rings true today.

And perhaps that is what and why the nation of America was established in our times … to show that God’s promised Messiah would not only come in the form of Jesus, the Lame of God; but He will come again; and God’s people, the Jewish remnant, will once again be returned to the Holy and promised land when the seed of Jesse will, as God has promised through Isaiah, sit on the throne of God, ruling all peoples, everywhere, in a time of eternal peace.

I hope you, as I did this morning, read and mediate on today’s Old Testament history and God’s promises from the Prophet Isaiah with the same joy and praise from God’s prophesy of the coming Messiah, … the One Who will come to claim His Bride, the New Testament church, and to return His Old Testament remnant, Israel, to His promised land to dwell forever with the Lamb of God, … the Lion of Judah, … and the King of kings.

And in these promises, to God be the glory!!!

My Prayer Today: … Oh, my Yahweh, praise Your Holy Name; and I pray that You come soon to rule and reign just as You have promised. Amen

July 11, 2012 … All Gone? … Well, Almost All !!

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Amos, Chapter 6-9 [NIV] To study these chapters, go to this link -
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Highlight Passage: Amos 6: 1-2; 14 : [NIV] … 1 Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you notable men of the foremost nation, to whom the people of Israel come! 2 Go to Kalneh and look at it; go from there to great Hamath; and then go down to Gath in Philistia. Are they better off than your two kingdoms? Is their land larger than yours? … 13 … you who rejoice in the conquest of Lo Debart and say, "Did we not take Karnaim by our own strength?" 14 For the Lord God Almighty declares, "I will stir up a nation against you, Israel, that will oppress you all the way from Lebo Hamath to the valley of the Arabah." 
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Highlight Passage #2: Amos 7: 8-9; 14-15 : [NIV] … 8 And the Lord asked me, "What do you see, Amos?" "A plumb line," I replied. Then the Lord said, "Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer. 9 "The high places of Isaac will be destroyed and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined; with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam." … 14 Amos answered Amaziah [Jereboam’s priest in Israel, who was telling Amos to go back to Judah and quit prophesying], "I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees.15 But the Lord took me from tending the flock and said to me, 'Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'  
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Highlight Passage #3: Amos 8: 11-12 : [NIV] … 11 "The days are coming," declares the Sovereign Lord, "when I will send a famine through the land — not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. 12 People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it. 
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Highlight Passage #4: Amos 9: 1; 8-10 : [NIV] … 1 I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said: "Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake. Bring them down on the heads of all the people; those who are left I will kill with the sword. Not one will get away, none will escape. … 8 "Surely the eyes of the Sovereign Lord are on the sinful kingdom. I will destroy it from the face of the earth. Yet I will not totally destroy the descendants of Jacob," declares the Lord. 9 "For I will give the command, and I will shake the people of Israel among all the nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, and not a pebble will reach the ground. 10 All the sinners among my people will die by the sword, all those who say, 'Disaster will not overtake or meet us.' 
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Reference Passage: Deuteronomy 28: 63-68 : [NIV] … To study this passage go to this link: 
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Reference Passage #2: Matthew 25: 14-30 : [NIV] … To study this passage go to this link:  


My Journal for Today: Yesterday I was led again to the prophesies of Amos in the book by his name and authorship. It’s the rest of that book for me; and today, if you read through Chapters 6-9 of Amos, you will see that Amos’s prophesies to King Jeroboam II and the peoples of the northern tribes in Israel were dire for those whom Amos was declaring that Assyria would wipe them out. Well, almost all of them! Amos’ prophesies, however, do end with a positive and hopeful note (see Amos 9: 8-10), with God reminding His people that some of God’s children – a remnant, who were faithfully obedient to God’s ways from His word - would be spared.

And in this reading today, one passage jumped out at me as an indicator of what God used to judge the remnant of the descendants of Jacob who were saved; and that passage is found above in bold/red above as Amos 8: 11-12 But first note and read the first reference passage from Deut. 28, linked above, where God told the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that He would always watch over and save those who remained obedient to His word. And here, in the doom-ridden prophesies of Amos, we see that this prophesy, centuries before from God about his people, Israel, was being upheld.

And I believe that one of the ways that God separated those whom He would save from destruction was their loyalty and discipline to stay in, and be immersed in, His truth, i.e., His word (i.e., the Bible as we know God’s word today). And that gets me to a chronic fear which God has deeply implanted in my mind/heart. I’ve labeled it “alogosphobia,” which is a made-up word, taken from the Greek language, which means “a deep fear of being without God’s word.”

There was a time in my life, just like the peoples of Israel in Amos’ time, when I spurned the Bible and would have nothing to do with God’s truth, living selfishly and idolatrously, … just as were those people in Israel to whom Amos prophesied. But Christ came into my life about 30 years ago; and now I’m driven to be in God’s word as I am here this morning, … reading it, studying it, and doing all I can to apply it in my life. I truly believe that those who held on to God’s truth, through His word, in Amos’ day were the ones – the remnant – who were saved by God.

It’s much like Jesus taught in His PARABLE OF THE TALENTS (in Matthew 25: 14-30 linked above), where Jesus set the one servant aside who was unwilling to invest and do all he could with the “talents” God had given him to steward. And we – you and me, as disciples of Christ – are stewards of God’s talents of truth; and I believe that those who are truly Christian will “fear God” (i.e., reverence Him) enough to invest priority time to be in God’s word and to help His truth grow in us through His word. Those are the ones – the true believers in these days of darkness – who will be the ones whom God will one day say, “Well done, my good and faithful slave of My word.”

Oh, how I pray that we all have enough “alogosphobia” to drive us to be in God’s word and to maintain and declare the light of His truth, as did Amos, to a perverse and word-rejecting generation. I believe that only those who are Bible reflecting lights in these dark days will be the ones to whom Christ will one day say in glory, … “Well done … my good and faithful disciple!”

My Prayer Today: … Oh Lord, help me to be in, stay in, believe in, and live in Your word. Amen

July 10, 2012 … God Hates Sin

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Amos, Chapter 1-5 [NIV] To study these chapters, go to this link - 
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Highlight Passage: Amos 1: 1-2 : [NIV] … 1 The words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa—the vision he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel. 2 He said: "The Lord roars from Zion and thunders from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds dry up, and the top of Carmel withers." 3 This is what the Lord says: "For three sins of Damascus [the capitol of Aram], even for four, I will not relent. …  
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Highlight Passage #2: Amos 2: 1; 4-6, 13, 16 : [NIV] … 1 This is what the Lord says: "For three sins of Moab, even for four, I will not relent. Because he burned to ashes the bones of Edom's king, … 4 This is what the Lord says: "For three sins of Judah, even for four, I will not relent. Because they have rejected the law of the Lord and have not kept his decrees, because they have been led astray by false gods, the gods their ancestors followed, 5 I will send fire on Judah that will consume the fortresses of Jerusalem." 6 This is what the Lord says: "For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not relent. They sell the innocent for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. 13 "Now then, I will crush you [Israel] as a cart crushes when loaded with grain. 16 Even the bravest warriors will flee naked on that day," ,declares the Lord. 
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Highlight Passage #3: Amos 3: 3-7; 10-11 : [NIV] … 3 Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so? 4 Does a lion roar in the thicket when it has no prey? Does it growl in its den when it has caught nothing? 5 Does a bird swoop down to a trap on the ground when no bait is there? Does a trap spring up from the ground if it has not caught anything? 6 When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble? When disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it? 7 Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets. 10 "They [i.e., the tribes of Israel in the north] do not know how to do right," declares the Lord, "who store up in their fortresses what they have plundered and looted." 11 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: "An enemy [i.e., Assyria] will overrun your land, pull down your strongholds and plunder your fortresses." 
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Highlight Passage #4: Amos 4: 6; 12 : [NIV] … [God’s word through Amos] 6 "I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town, yet you have not returned to me," declares the Lord. 12 "Therefore, this is what I will do to you, Israel, and because I will do this to you, Israel, prepare to meet your God." 
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Highlight Passage #5: Amos 5: 1, 6; 21-23 : [NIV] … 1 Hear this word, Israel, this lament I take up concerning you: … 6 Seek the Lord and live, or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire; it will devour them, and Bethel will have no one to quench it. 21 "I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me. 22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. 23 Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.

My Journal for Today: Okay! This morning I had to take in another big gulp of truth from God’s fire hydrant of wisdom, … my chronological reading plan taking me to the book of Amos, the first five chapters. Amos was the shepherd Prophet, who was from Judah but prophesied to the northern tribes in Israel about 760-750BC at the time of Kings Jeroboam II of Israel and Uzziah (Azariah) of Judah.

Amos had tough gig for God, prophesying to a recalcitrant and unrepentant nation, Israel, captivated by idolatry; and when you see how this itinerant shepherd missionary brought God’s message to his wayward peoples in Israel, one has to be impressed with his way of getting in to the listening ears of a people whom Amos was to bring a very tough confrontation from God. First he spoke about how God would judge the neighboring tribes, such as the Arameans, the Edomites, the Moabites, the Philistines, and such. That would have been a “hooray” message to the Israelites. And then Amos even prophesied doom for those in Judah, which also would have been received positively by the northern tribes in Israel. … But then can the slammer in the latter chapter of today’s reading, … a hard case against Israel for their sinful rebellion and the prophesy of a day when the Assyrians would come into their lands, take over, and destroy the northern tribes.

Way bad news for a way bad people!

And as one reads through this scathing indictment and God’s word about sinful disobedience, if one comes away thinking that this is only a history lesson, we would be missing the point of this history scenario being included in God’s Old Testament. This is “bad news,” not only for Israel in the 8th century BC; but it is a hard word for “bad people” like you and me.

Now you may not think of yourself as one of the “bad people,” but if I read and interpret my Bible correctly, when it says, in Romans 3: 23, “… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” … that includes me (and you too!). And in Isaiah 53: 6, God’s word says, “… ALL we like sheep have gone astray,” … that’s me (and you) to whom God is referring. So, we’re not any different from those 8th century BC Israelites, are we?

The only difference is found in the last part of that passage above in Isaiah 53, which completes the “good news” message, saying [NKJV], “… All we like sheep have gone astray, and the Lord has laid on HIM the iniquity of us all.” Yes, we’re bad people like those Israelites; but because of being part of those whom Amos and other prophets prophesied, we have been covered by the blood of the Messiah, the Lamb of God; and we stand saved by what Jesus did for us on the cross hundreds of years after Amos prophesied the Lord’s coming to save mankind.

But Amos’ indictment of sin stands true for us today just as it did for God’s people in Israel in 850 BC. Please note above in Amos 5: 21-23 God will not hear and relate to those who come to worship him with lives wrapped in sin and hypocrisy. And in all of his bill of particulars about the sins of Israel 800 years before Christ, we read so much of what we see in today’s world as well, including what is going on in God’s church among God’s people; … yes, among Christians today.

God cannot pour His saving, enabling, and empowering grace into a prideful people who strive to do life their own way, as did these Israelites some 800 years before Christ came to save us. We’re no different than are they. And we need God’s saving grace, through faith and obedience to God, just as Amos prophesied to these wayward children of God.

I hope we get God’s tough message today; … GOD HATES SIN!!!

My Prayer Today: … Lord, oh I desire to be child of Yours, growing in Your grace; and I know that I can only receive your grace by humbling myself to see Your will from Your word. Amen

July 9, 2012 … Here I am, Lord, … Send me!

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Isaiah, Chapter 1-4 [NIV] To study these chapters, go to this link -
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Highlight Passage: Isaiah 5: 20-22 : [NIV] … 20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. 21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight. 22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks, 23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent.
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Highlight Passage #2: Isaiah 6: 5-8 : [NIV] … 5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty." 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" 
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Highlight Passage #3: Isaiah 8: 11-16 : [NIV] … 11 This is what the Lord says to me with His strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people: 12 "Do not call conspiracy everything this people calls a conspiracy; do not fear what they fear and do not dread it. 13 The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread. 14 He will be a holy place; for both Israel and Judah He will be a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem He will be a trap and a snare. 15 Many of them will stumble; they will fall and be broken, they will be snared and captured." 16 Bind up this testimony of warning and seal up God's instruction among My disciples. 

My Journal for Today: Sometimes, in my calling to ministry, when I feel inadequate to the task, which happens occasionally, I get a bit dispirited and even discouraged. But my gig for God is small potatoes when compared to Isaiah’s calling. And in today’s chronological reading we get a sense of what Isaiah’s calling to deliver the truth to God’s people in Judah was like.

First, his news was not “good news” to the people of his day. As we can read in Isaiah 5 (highlight passage above), in my best southern dialect, Isaiah was giving a “Woe to y’all!” message, which would not have been received well in Judah in the times just before the southern tribes where defeated and consumed the Babylonians. And Isaiah was likely downhearted to be called to deliver such a message; and so, God gave the Prophet a vision of heaven to give him a boost of sight and encouragement for his prophetic mission. And in (highlight passage #2 above) we read of Isaiah grasping his calling and surrendering to the Lord’s plans for his life.

 And in meditating on this passage this morning, I went back to listen to one of my favorites, a lilting and beautiful song, sung by the Messianic Jewish songwriter, Marty Goetz, entitled “Hineni,” which the Hebrew word for “Here am I,” If you can take a few moments, you can listen to this powerful song at this link .

Isaiah was in enveloped in an attitude of what I call “surrender mode,” which is the attitude that all believers need to live out our lives. It seems quite obvious that Isaiah had understood his calling as a Prophet, even before this dramatic episode in Isaiah 6. However, God needed to take Isaiah to a higher level of calling because the Lord knew what was ahead for this Prophet. But, in reading these passages this morning, I realize that I also had my own “Hineni” moment years ago when I received my calling to develop Battle Plan Ministry, the mission God has called me out to lead in these troubled and darkened times. And to God’s calling I too said, “Here am I, Lord, send me!”

My friend, you may not be called to be God’s messenger from a pulpit or a missionary to some 3rd world. But if you are a disciple of Christ, God does have a plan for you and your life; and that plan is for God’s glory, not for your own comfort. And God wants us ALL to bloom where He has planted us, … and to shine a light in the darkness which surrounds us. And … my dear one, the darkness abounds in these troubles times, doesn’t it?

All we need to do is respond as did Isaiah did and go forth with God’s calling in surrender mode with our lives, saying, “Here am I, Lord; send me!” In closing out this journal entry, let me link you to one more song for your devotional edification as you take in this journal entry. It is sung by Daniel O’Donnell and is entitled, “Here I Am, Lord;” and linked here for your meditation . I’ll leave it to you to decide, with the Lord’s guidance, whether you are living in surrender to His calling for your life.

My Prayer Today: … Here I am, Lord! Shine Your light brightly; and I will follow You. Amen

July 8, 2012 … God’s Refining Fire

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Isaiah, Chapter 1-4 [NIV] To study these chapters, go to this link -
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  Highlight Passage: Isaiah 1: 1; 21; 24-25 : [NIV] … 1 The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. … 21 See how the faithful city has become a prostitute! She once was full of justice; righteousness used to dwell in her — but now murderers! … 24 Therefore the Lord, the Lord Almighty, the Mighty One of Israel, declares: "Ah! I will vent my wrath on my foes and avenge myself on my enemies. 25 I will turn my hand against you; I will thoroughly purge away your dross and remove all your impurities. … 30 You will be like an oak with fading leaves, like a garden without water. 31 The mighty man will become tinder and his work a spark; both will burn together, with no one to quench the fire." 
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  Highlight Passage #2: Isaiah 2: 8-12; 22 : [NIV] … 8 Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made. 9 So people will be brought low and everyone humbled — do not forgive them. 10 Go into the rocks, hide in the ground from the fearful presence of the Lord and the splendor of his majesty! 11 The eyes of the arrogant will be humbled and human pride brought low; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. 12 The Lord Almighty has a day in store [i.e., “The Day of the Lord”] for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled),… 22 Stop trusting in mere humans, who have but a breath in their nostrils. Why hold them in esteem? 
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  Highlight Passage #3: Isaiah 3: 8-11 : [NIV] … 8 Jerusalem staggers, Judah is falling; their words and deeds are against the Lord, defying his glorious presence. 9 The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves. 10 Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds. 11 Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them! They will be paid back for what their hands have done. 
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  Highlight Passage #4: Isaiah 4: 2-4 : [NIV] … 2 In that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel.3 Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called holy, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem.4 The Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion; he will cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire. 


My Journal for Today: Okay, my reading plan again has me drinking God’s truth from a fire hydrant, taking in a big gulp of God’s story today in the Book of Isaiah and studying from the writings of the Prophet considered by Bible scholars as being one of the greatest of all the prophets. Isaiah proclaimed God’s word and warning to the people of Israel, especially when the tribes in the northern regions of Israel and Judah in the south had divided. And Isaiah came along chronologically in the times I’ve been reading about in the last few days with a tough message for the believers in Judah, confronting them with their disobedience and idolatry, which was a message they really didn’t want to hear.

 And so, if you’re reading along in these journal entries, I charge you to read/study from the link above the messages Isaiah gave to the Jews in his day; and when you do I’m sure you will be note one overriding – VERY LOUD – message; and that is God’s warning for His disobedient children with a prophesy of their ultimate doom if they did not repent and live in obedience to God’s word and His will and His ways.

 But right in the midst of all of this doom and gloom prophesy, there is a ray of light and a glimpse of glory for the remnant in Israel who have remained faithful and had walked in obedience to God’s truth and His proclaimed ways; and that glimmer of hope is found in the one verse above which I have copied in bold/red above (see Isaiah 3: 10). And when I see what is going on in our times and in this country, I see a culture and a people who are living in parallel with the unbelieving, recalcitrant Jews in Isaiah’s time.

 We are living in a time which very likely could be the times when Jesus, the Messiah prophesied by Isaiah and many other of the Prophets in those days, is about to return and set up His millennial rule prior to that great time of judgment which one can read about in today’s reading. But, as a Christian believer, though it is very hard to take in all the idolatry and unGodly disobedience in my day, I’m uplifted by the hope and the promise of The Messiah’s return and the truth that the remnant of believers and those who seek His righteousness, in any age, will be protected and delivered from God’s wrath; … BUT, sadly, not so with those who’ve mocked our Lord with their rejection.

 Therefore, to this truth and promise, I give thanks.

  My Prayer Today: … Oh, God, … thank You for watching over, guiding, and protecting Your remnant of believers. And we pray, Lord Jesus, that You come soon to deliver us from evil. Amen

July 7, 2012 … The Downfall of Success

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: 2nd Kings 15 [NIV] To study these chapters, go to this link -
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Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: 2nd Chronicles 26 [NIV] To study these chapters, go to this link -
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Highlight Passage: 2nd Kings 15: 1-5:[NIV] … 1 In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam II, king of Israel, Uzziah, son of Amaziah, king of Judah began to reign. 2 He was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother's name was Jekoliah; she was from Jerusalem. 3 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. 4 The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. 5 The Lord afflicted the king with leprosy until the day he died; and he lived in a separate house. Jotham the king's son had charge of the palace and governed the people of the land.
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Highlight Passage #2: 2nd Chronicles 26: 16-19 :[NIV] … 16 But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.17 Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the Lord followed him in.18 They confronted King Uzziah and said, "It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the Lord God." 19 Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the Lord's temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead.

My Journal for Today: A couple of days ago (July 5) in reading through 2nd Kings and 2nd Chronicles, I was reminded of the story of one of Judah’s kings, Amaziah, who had done a lot of good things in leading God’s people in the southern kingdoms of Israel; but he didn’t go far enough to rid the kingdom of the high places of idol worship. And also, in defeating the Edomites and their mountain stronghold, Amaziah became prideful; and it was his ultimate downfall. In that July 5th devotional [check it out!], I entitled my journal entry, ”Pride Goes Before A Fall” because Amaziah let his pride and arrogance get in the way of his complete surrender to God in leading God’s people. And he paid the price of God’s wrath in his time.

Well, apparently Amaziah’s son, Uzziah, didn’t learn a lot of Godly wisdom from observing his father, because when Uzziah became king in Judah, he ended up repeating a lot of his daddy’s mistakes as well as his successes. Uzziah, did a lot of good in his 52 year reign in Judah; but like his father, he let his pride and partial devotion to God’s will and ways get in the way of ruling as God’s word as well as from the advice of the priests who advised him.

It’s one thing as a follower of God to disobey and give only partial allegiance to God’s written word. But God’s anointed leaders and teachers are held to a higher standard by God’ and Uzziah, as it was with Amaziah, his father, were not able to give – voluntarily – what God demands of His leaders – i.e., the full and last measure of devotion. And as you can read in the highlight passages I’ve copied above, Uzziah ultimately was brought down for his half-hearted worship and prideful leadership by contracting (from the hand of God) leprosy, living out the last years of his rule in quarantine and having to have his son be the co-regent of Judah until Uzziah’s death.

Lesson: … We as Christians must give our all to our God – especially if we’ve been called out and/or raised up to be leaders in the kingdom of God. Really, Jesus said as much to His disciples in Luke 9: 23 (which I’m assuming by now you have memorized, since I have quoted it so often in my journal entries). Okay, I’ll remind you; … Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, he (or she) must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”

Are you, as I am, doing a self inventory right now? Are we living up to what God wants of His disciples? Are we giving our 100% of devotion (i.e., worship) to God by the way we live? Are we being “living sacrifices,” as Paul wrote in Romans 12: 1-2, in the way we live … 24/7? My friend, as a called-out leader in God’s kingdom - as an Elder in my church and the leader of a discipleship ministry, I’m under deep conviction by God word, more specifically my devotional on July 5th and today, to give more and become the “living sacrifice” I’m called to be as the leader God has charged me to become. But merely as a follower of Jesus Christ, I need to do more to deny myself, to avoid prideful arrogance, and to simply and devotedly follow Jesus.

Are you with me?

My Prayer Today: … Lord, I pray that all who read with me here are doing all we can to be or become living sacrifices to Your calling for our lives. Amen

July 6, 2012 … Running From God’s Purpose

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Jonah, Chapters 1-4 [NIV] To study these chapters, go to this link - 
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Highlight Passage: Jonah 1: 1-4 :[NIV] … 1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai:2 "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me." 3 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord. 4 Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 
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Reference Passage #1: Matthew 12: 38-39 : … 38 Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.” 39 He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish; so, the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 

My Journal for Today: Well, in my chronological Bible reading, since I’ve been reading about some of the Kings in Israel and Judah in about 790BC, today my reading plan assigned me to read and meditate on the entire book of Jonah, one of God’s prophets at the time of King Jeroboam II in Israel and Uzziah (i.e., Azariah) in Judah. And reading through the historical narrative about this so-called “minor prophet,” there are many life lessons and spiritual applications which could come out of this book. Jesus, as I’ve copied above in Matthew 12, even used the story and the sign of Jonah to prophesy His being buried for three days before being spit forth by God from the ground to live again.

But today, I don’t need to go further than the first four verses of this book about Jonah to get a very pertinent life lesson – at least for myself. So, if you’re reading along with me here, let me ask you: “Have you ever been in a place in your Christian discipleship where you knew exactly where God wanted you to go or what to do; and instead, you resisted (at best) or [at worst] you simply bolted and ran the other way?” Aw, common! I’ll bet someone here has that t-shirt besides myself.

Jonah, who was a prophetic contemporary of Joel and Micah, also living in the times of Elisha, knew that he was a chosen prophet of God; and he had received his marching orders directly from the Lord – i.e., to go to probably the most hated and evil, God-hating peoples of the day (for the Israelites), the Assyrians, more specifically to their capital of Nineveh. That would be like God calling out someone today to be a Christian missionary to Iran or North Korea. The Ninevites were evil, godless people; and they were feared and hated by those in Israel in the days of Jonah.

Now, of course, having read the book of Jonah, you know the “rest of the story,” as Paul Harvey would say it. Jonah bolted on a ship headed west; and in doing so – that is, running away from God’s purpose for his life – Jonah put a lot of other folks in danger (i.e., the crew of the ship). And that’s a lesson we all need to remember. When God calls us, and we know it’s His calling and purpose, we very well could put others in jeopardy if we resist His calling and run toward the self-driven ways in our life.

Anybody else feeling a little bit of conviction at this point?

 For years in my life, I knew that being involved in selfish, sexual sin as well as into gluttonous eating habits were wrong. And after my conversion to Christ, I certainly knew these strongholds of sinful behavior were not God’s purpose for my life. But I continued to pursue those inward directions for my life. However, just like with Jonah, God had different plans for me; and the Lord gobbled me up in His own “big fish;” and then He spit me out in the face of the death of my family, my career, and even my physical well-being; and He took me where He had planned for me to serve Him.

And here I am today, having been delivered, by God’s mercy, from the mouth of my enormous big fish, which was my former denial of Christ and my obsessive/destructive lifestyle, to be able to serve the Lord in the direction and for the purposes He had set out for my life. And just like Jonah, all those years, when I was running from God’s purpose, I put many others in danger. My sexual sin put my marriage and family in jeopardy. My gluttony, and the resulting obesity, led me to contract type 2 diabetes, which put me in serious physical jeopardy.

The lesson today is pretty transparent, isn’t it? When we know where God wants us to go, the ONLY way to go is God’s way; and running and hiding from His purposes will only lead to emotional, spiritual, and maybe even physical pain or anguish. And having been mercifully delivered from the mouth of that big fish, I’m here to be a loud witness to this life lesson today.

My Prayer Today: … Lord, help me to stay tuned in to Your calling and to follow it faithfully. Amen

July 5, 2012 … Pride Goes Before a Fall

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: 2nd Kings 14 [NIV] To study these chapters, go to this link -
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 Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: 2nd Chronicles 25 [NIV] To study these chapters, go to this link -
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Highlight Passage: 2nd Kings 14: 1-4; 7-10 :[NIV] … 1 In the second year of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel, Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah began to reign. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother's name was Jehoaddan; she was from Jerusalem. 3 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not as his father David had done. In everything he followed the example of his father Joash. 4 The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. … 7 He was the one who defeated ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt and captured Sela in battle, calling it Joktheel, the name it has to this day. 8 Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, with the challenge: "Come, let us face each other in battle." 9 But Jehoash king of Israel replied to Amaziah king of Judah: "A thistle in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar in Lebanon, 'Give your daughter to my son in marriage.' Then a wild beast in Lebanon came along and trampled the thistle underfoot.10 You have indeed defeated Edom and now you are arrogant. Glory in your victory, but stay at home! Why ask for trouble and cause your own downfall and that of Judah also?"
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Highlight Passage #2: 2nd Chronicles 25: 1-2; 14-15 :[NIV] … 1 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother's name was Jehoaddan; she was from Jerusalem.2 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not wholeheartedly. … 14 When Amaziah returned from slaughtering the Edomites, he brought back the gods of the people of Seir. He set them up as his own gods, bowed down to them and burned sacrifices to them.15 The anger of the Lord burned against Amaziah, and he sent a prophet to him, who said, "Why do you consult this people's gods, which could not save their own people from your hand?"
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Reference Passage #1: Proverbs 3: 34 and James 4: 6 and 1Peter 5: 5 [paraphrased] : … God resists the proud; but gives grace to the humble. 

My Journal for Today: Today in reading more about the kings in the northern Jewish kingdoms of Israel and the southern kingdom in Judah, I was led to study the living times of King Amaziah in Judah, who had conquered the seemingly impregnable peoples of Edom in the mountains of what is now Jordan.

I’ve been to that area of the world; and it’s impressive that anyone could defeat an organized army holding forth in that mountain kingdom of what is now the area of Petra in Jordan. But the Judean army, under Amaziah did just that. And following that conquest, Amaziah became prideful having this victory under his belt; and in the events which followed, as so often happens, documenting the truth I’ve delineated above in Proverbs 3: 34, we see that God will oppose the proud, ... only giving His grace to the humble.

Amaziah became filled with pride after his defeat of the Edomites; and mockingly, he even brought back idols to worship from the spoils of this so-called “victory.” And mocking God in that way was just, plain STUPID! And anytime we let our pride go before our humble worship of the Lord, we are stupid enough to think that we’re more important than God.  

WRONG! … DUMB!! … FOOLISH … !!!

But this may be the one pitfall which causes me to come up short in my life more than any other stronghold of sinfulness in my life, … i.e., letting my desire to look good in front of others and my pridefulness getting in the way of my ability to honor God (i.e., worship Him) with my life.

 I really don’t think I need to go on with this God-inflicted conviction bomb, coming out of this lesson today. The lesson is very straight-forward for all of us; … and that is to stay humble and worship God, in humility, avoiding letting my pride dampen God’s willingness to pour His grace in my life. And if you have benefited from this lesson today, to God be the glory!!

My Prayer Today: … Lord, I know that this is a risky prayer; but I pray for You to help me to live in humble worship of Your glory. Amen

July 4, 2012 … And the Beat Goes On … And On and On!

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: 2nd Kings 12-13 [NIV] To study these chapters, go to this link - 
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 Passage of the Day #2: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: 2nd Chronicles 24 [NIV] To study these chapters, go to this link - 
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 Highlight Passage: 2nd Kings 12: 1-3:[NIV] … 1 In the seventh year of Jehu, Joash became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother's name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba. 2 Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the years Jehoiada the priest instructed him. 3 The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. 
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Highlight Passage #2: 2nd Kings 13: 1-3; 22-23 :[NIV] … 1 In the twenty-third year of Joash son of Ahaziah king of Judah, Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned seventeen years. 2 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord by following the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit, and he did not turn away from them. 3 So the Lord's anger burned against Israel, and for a long time he kept them under the power of Hazael king of Aram and Ben-Hadad his son. … 22 Hazael king of Aram oppressed Israel throughout the reign of Jehoahaz. 23 But the Lord was gracious to them [the northern Israelites] and had compassion and showed concern for them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To this day he has been unwilling to destroy them or banish them from His presence. 

My Journal for Today: It’s July the 4th as I read though this segment of ancient Jewish history today in 2nd Kings 12-13 and 2nd Chronicles 24, two parallel passages of the historical accounts of the some of the later Kings of Israel and Judah. Today, and here in these times so-called “modern” times, we live in a day when we celebrate the birth of our nation; and here I am reading about how the Jewish nation, which was birthed by God for God’s glory just as we were in America, keeps reminding me, insidiously ingloriously, of God’s children and how they repetitively treated to the one, true God, the One Who gave birth to their nation. My historical and realistic question today is … “Are we any different now than Israel was then?”

And as the title of my journal entry implies, by repeating the title of an old Sonny and Cher song, the Jews, following their deliverance from Egypt under Moses, just kept recycling their selfish, disobedient, and idolatrous ways over and over and over again. Hence, is my remembrance of that old 60s song, “And the Beat Goes On!” And here, …. Today, on our remembrance of our country’s birthday, I harken back to that same title because of the way we, in America, keep doing so much of the same thing which Israel – and even Judah – kept repeating … over and over again … disobedience >> repentance >> selfishness >> repentance >> sinfulness >>  repentance.

 In the ministry I lead, I call this repetitive recycling of the same pattern, “The Repentance Roller-Coaster.” And we here in America are headed toward much the same idolatrous patterns which were being meted out in the life of the Jewish nation in the times I’m reading about in these scriptural passages. And I hope we all can see that we individual believers as well as we, here in America, can get caught in the repetitive chorus of “And the Beat Goes On” … just like nation of Israel, who got caught in the repentance roller-coaster centuries ago.

 Oh, don’t you wish, in reading through these repetitive patterns of sin and disobedience, that the Jews could see what they were doing and break through with a victory of obedience and righteousness. But, NOOOOOOOOOO .... !!! … the beat just kept going on and on and on for Israel in those days. We can only hope we, in the here-and-now, see where we’re headed this July 4th and break the cycle of sinfulness and selfishness in our government, perhaps voting for men with Godly values in our next major election this year; …and in that regard, let us pray that the beat will not keep going on!!!

My Prayer Today: … Help us, Lord, as a nation to see that Your way is the only way to go. Amen

July 3, 2012 … Half-hearted Leadership

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: 2nd Kings 9-11 [NIV] To study these chapters, go to this link - 
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Highlight Passage: 2nd Kings 9: 6-8; 36-38 :[NIV] … 6 Jehu got up and went into the house. Then the prophet poured the oil on Jehu's head and declared, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'I anoint you king over the Lord's people Israel. 7 You are to destroy the house of Ahab your master, and I will avenge the blood of my servants the prophets and the blood of all the Lord's servants shed by Jezebel. 8 The whole house of Ahab will perish. I will cut off from Ahab every last male in Israel—slave or free. … 36 They [the servants of the king Jehu] went back and told Jehu, who said, "This is the word of the Lord that he spoke through his servant Elijah the Tishbite: On the plot of ground at Jezreel dogs will devour Jezebel's flesh. 37 Jezebel's body will be like dung on the ground in the plot at Jezreel, so that no one will be able to say, 'This is Jezebel.'"  
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 Highlight Passage #2: 2nd Kings 10: 11; 28-29 :[NIV] … 11 So Jehu killed everyone in Jezreel who remained of the house of Ahab, as well as all his chief men, his close friends and his priests, leaving him no survivor. … 28 [After the overkill of destroying all of Ahab’s family] So Jehu destroyed Baal worship in Israel. 29 However, he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit—the worship of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan.  
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 Reference Passage #1: Hosea 1: 4-5 :[NIV] … 4 Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call him Jezreel because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. 5 In that day I will break Israel’s bow in the Valley of Jezreel.

My Journal for Today: Today my reading focused on one of the later rulers in Israel, the northern kingdom of the Jews after the tribes of Israel/Judah had been divided. Today, millennia later, we see a living example that leadership in God’s kingdom cannot have one foot in Godliness and the other in worldliness. Our biblical example of this is Jehu, the northern kingdom ruler after Ahab, whom we read about in 2nd Kings, chapters 9-10.

Jehu was a piece of work who actually started to head in the right direction, following God’s command to eliminate Baal worship; but his methods were WAY TOO SEVERE, … for example, killing ever vestige of Ahab’s lineage to which God spoke through the Prophet Hosea (in the reference passage above) that the Lord would put an end to the northern kingdom due to Jehu’s cruelty. But that wasn’t all. Jehu also wiped out every vestige of Baal worship by slaughtering the prophets of Baal and all those who worshiped in the temple for Baal. But then, catering to worldly worship, he left the idol statutes of the golden calves in Bethel, probably because he felt that this would anger God’s people. Political leaders who cater to worldliness in selfishness will ultimately lead their followers down the garden path to death. (Remind you of anything going on today!)

All of this is an example of half-hearted leadership on the part of those who are called and/or ordained (i.e., anointed, as was Jehu) to be leaders in God’s kingdom.

Today, in God’s new covenant Church, we see religious leaders, whether in denominations of Christianity or in cults, like Mormonism or the Watchtower Society, setting up their own ideas of what “orthodox” worship of God should be like rather than simply following God’s word and doing worship God’s way. Worshiping God is an all-or-none thing. Either the Church is all in or it’s going to be all out. And that’s what Jehu couldn’t see. And those in the northern kingdom of Israel paid the price, with their lands ultimately being captured by pagan peoples – at least for a season.

But we must also remember that God’s covenant with His faithful was still in effect in Jehu’s time; as we flash forward in time and history (HIS-story), we see that God protected the covenant the LORD had made with King David; and that covenant was completely fulfilled in the coming of The Messiah, … our Lord, and Savior, Jesus, coming as the Lamb of God, … the One Who will one day sit on the throne of David in the New Jerusalem.

Oh, Lord, we tire of all the political intrigue and half-hearted worship leaders in Your now kingdom on earth.

My Prayer Today: … Come soon, Lord, Jesus!!! Amen

July 2, 2012 … Life Lessons from Elisha

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: 2nd Kings, Chapters 5-8 [NIV] To study these chapters, go to this link -
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Highlight Passage: 2nd Kings 5: 11-12 :[NIV] … 11 But Naaman went away angry and said, "I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy.12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed?" So he turned and went off in a rage. 
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Highlight Passage #2: 2nd Kings 6: 4-7 :[NIV] … 4 And he [Elisha] went with them [his student priests]. … They went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees. 5 As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axhead fell into the water. "Oh no, my lord!" he cried out. "It was borrowed!" … 6 The man of God asked, "Where did it fall?" When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float.7 "Lift it out," he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it. 
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Highlight Passage #3: 2nd Kings 7: 8-9 :[NIV] … 8 The men who had leprosy reached the edge of the camp, entered one of the tents and ate and drank. Then they took silver, gold and clothes, and went off and hid them. They returned and entered another tent and took some things from it and hid them also. 9 Then they said to each other, "What we're doing is not right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let's go at once and report this to the royal palace." 
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Highlight Passage #4: 2nd Kings 8: 12-13 :[NIV] … 12 "Why is my lord weeping?" asked Hazael. "Because I know the harm you will do to the Israelites," he answered. "You will set fire to their fortified places, kill their young men with the sword, dash their little children to the ground, and rip open their pregnant women." 13 Hazael said, "How could your servant, a mere dog, accomplish such a feat?" "The Lord has shown me that you will become king of Aram," answered Elisha. 

My Journal for Today: Today, I’m back in 2nd Kings, Chapters 5-8, learning a number of life lessons from the life and times of the Prophet Elisha. These lessons were emboldened for me by the highlight passages which I’ve quoted above.

Life Lesson #1 from 2nd Kings 5: 11-12: Naaman, the mighty warrior and leader of the Aramean army was first unwilling to humble himself before God and Elisha, simply not being willing to try Elisha’s simple prescriptive bathing in the Jordan river to allow God to heal Naaman of his skin disease. But when Naaman was finally willing, in his brokenness, to humble himself before God and bathe as Elisha recommended in the Jordan, the healing was forthcoming. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to learn God’s lesson here. God simply doesn’t dole out His grace to the prideful (see also Prov. 3: 34).

Life Lesson #2 from 2nd Kings 6: 4-7: Elisha healed generals (Naaman) and delivered the Israelites from the Arameans; but this passage, shows the Prophet also attended to the needs of a group of simple student priests, which illustrates that God, through Elisha, will even float an axhead on behalf of a common student of Elisha who needed God’s intervention. We should never feel that we are not important enough for God to listen to our needs; and we so often think that our simple, common needs are not worthy of God’s attention. ……………. NOT!!!

Life Lesson #3 from 2nd Kings 7: 8-9: The story about the four desperate lepers who learned of the good news of God’s deliverance teaches us all to shout out the great news about God to others. The willingness of these men to break with deeply held fears and conventions involving their leprosy and to share the good news about God’s power is a lesson to us all that God’s great news – the greatest news, the Gospel – which should be shouted to all who will hear it no matter what it takes for us to get the message out.

Life Lesson #4 from 2nd Kings 8: 12-13: The Aramean leader, Hazael, who would become King of Aram and ultimately wipe out the northern tribes in Israel, balked when he heard Elisha’s, God-inspired – prophesy of Hazael one day doing things of unspeakable cruelty. This illustrates that mankind should never be in denial about how unspeakable the sin of any man (or woman) can be. That is why, when I see others committing horrible acts of evil, I force myself to realize – “There, but for the grace of God, go I!” These are great lessons from the life and times of Elisha; and may we all glean God’s wisdom, His will, and His ways from God’s Old Testament characters, like Elisha, … lessons for our lives; because these stories can shape our lives and allow us to be more powerful and effective disciples of our Lord, sharing God’s truth with all who will hear.

My Prayer Today: … Lord, thank you for reshaping my life from the life of Elisha. Amen

July 1, 2012 … The Torch of Discipleship Is Passed

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: 2nd Kings 1-4 1 [NIV] To study these chapters, go to this link - 
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Highlight Passage: 2nd Kings 1: 1-2; 15-16 :[NIV] … 1 After Ahab's death, Moab rebelled against Israel. 2 Now Ahaziah [the King in Israel] had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers, saying to them, "Go and consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, to see if I will recover from this injury." … 15 The angel of the Lord said to Elijah, "Go down with him [Ahaziah, the king]; do not be afraid of him." So Elijah got up and went down with him to the king. 16 He told the king, "This is what the Lord says: Is it because there is no God in Israel for you to consult that you have sent messengers to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Because you have done this, you will never leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!"
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Highlight Passage #2: Kings 2: 9 :[NIV] … 9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?" "Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit," Elisha replied. 
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Highlight Passage #3: Kings 3: 11-12 :[NIV] … 11 But Jehoshaphat asked, "Is there no prophet of the Lord here, through whom we may inquire of the Lord?" … An officer of the king of Israel answered, "Elisha son of Shaphat is here. He used to pour water on the hands of Elijah." 12 Jehoshaphat said, "The word of the Lord is with him." So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him. 12 Jehoshaphat said, "The word of the Lord is with him." So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.
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Highlight Passage #4: Kings 4: 32-35 :[NIV] … 32 When Elisha reached the house [of a Shunammite widow], there was the boy lying dead on his couch. 33 He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to the Lord. 34 Then he got on the bed and lay on the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched himself out on him, the boy's body grew warm. 35 Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out on him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes. 

My Journal for Today: My chronological read today takes me into the book of 2nd Kings, Chapters 1-4, where we read of the torch of prophesy being passed from one great prophet and mentor, Elijah, to his mentee, Elisha. And as this light of God was moving forward, the darkness in which these two anointed prophets showed the power of God in their miracles and powerful words from God, the people of God, under the leadership of corrupted kings, withered in disobedience and disrespect of God’s authority.

 If you continue to read along with me, we’ll be reading about how the kings of God’s chosen people became more divided and disrespectful of God and His chosen prophets; and ultimately their division and disarray proved their demise with their falling into slavery to unGodly kingdoms.

 But in today’s reading, the story of two of God’s great spokesmen was chronicled, … Elijah and Elisha. And in a very personal sense, the relationship of these two men reminded me of the relationship I had years ago with an Elder in our church who became my mentor. “Dr. Bob,” as I called this Godly man, … him being a retired physician, undertook a challenging discipleship project when I asked him to help me grow in the Lord. I met with that man for seven years weekly and five years bi-weekly until he finally cut me loose and told me that the torch of discipleship had been passed; and it was then my responsibility to go and disciple others.

When I read, above, of Elisha asking for a double portion of the power exhibited by Elijah, it reminded me of how I sought to glean as much of God’s wisdom from my mentor, Dr. Bob, as I could get from him. And God used my “Elijah” to pass along a great deal of what I now carry with me as I mentor and disciple to other men of God who seek to become Godly men.

 If you, being like Elisha, seek to become more powerful from God’s Spirit in your life, using your God-given gifts for His glory, I hope you’ve had an “Elijah” (or like me a “Dr. Bob”), … one who will walk ahead of you in the footsteps of God, leading and teaching you, until you can glean as much power from that relationship as you can to pass God’s torch forward in discipling others.

 I’m afraid the model of discipleship exhibited in these chapters in the OT, as well as that modeled by the relationship between the Apostle Paul and the younger Timothy in the NT, is not seen as often as it should be in today’s church. And because of that, I don’t think the torch and light of Christ is being passed along from one generation of Christians to the next as it should be.

My Prayer Today: … Lord, help me to pass Your torch, imparted to me from my mentor, to others so that they can pick up Your light and shine it to the next generation of Christians. Amen