New Things For a New Year

Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it?  I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them.

Isaiah 48:6

I enjoy this part of the year because we can start to look forward to the New Year.  The New Year is an interesting time in which we can look back at the blessing, the triumphs and failures, the challenges, and the twists and turns from the past year.  But, at the same time, we can look forward to the next year.  No matter how good our previous year was, we can always be better!  In the next few days, we will look at some verses related to the New Year.

In this verse, we see that God says “I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them.”  This may come as a shock, but we do not know everything.  There are things that we do not know.  You might know some of the things that I don’t know and I might know some of the things you don’t know.  The point is, there are a lot of things that we do not know.

But God does know all things.  God can show us and teach us things, and He has promised to do so.  In this New Year, we can look forward to learning and receiving the things that God wants to show and teach us.  We can ask Him to show and teach us many things this year.  And He will, if we will only pay attention.  Those things may be hidden now, but He can and will reveal them.

What can we learn about the Lord and from the Lord in the New Year?  Whatever it is, we need to be ready to receive it!

Being Thankful, Pt. 3

Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.  For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

Isaiah 51:3

This is not a passage that people look at when looking at “thanksgiving” passages.  It is in the book of Isaiah and it is a prophetic passage dealing with the future when the Lord comes to restore and rule His people.  It speaks of a glorious future time in history, when everything is good and pleasant.  I would like to look at the description of this perfect time and place: “…he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.”  Right in the middle of this wonderful description we find that there will be “thanksgiving.”

We might tend to think “of course there will be thanksgiving then and there – the Lord Himself will be ruling and all will be good.”  But has He not promised us all of that and more?  Is He not ruling in our hearts and lives even today?  Why should we not be thankful?

Too often, we get our minds focused on what we don’t have or what is going wrong in our lives.  We need to focus instead on all that He has given us and promised us.  We need to submit to Him and His will and be thankful that He knows the way and has promised to lead and guide us.  Everywhere God is in the Bible, we find thankfulness.  Can we find it in our lives today?

Favorite Verses: Isaiah 38:17

Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.

Isaiah 38:17

A lot of people have what they consider a “life verse,” a verse that they have kind of claimed as their own.  There are many verses that I have claimed from time to time, but I always come back to this one.  I can’t think of any other verse that describes my life better than this one.  Many Christians could also say the same thing about their lives.

“Behold, for peace I had great bitterness…”  Before we come to the Lord Jesus Christ, we did not know peace.  There are people all over the world looking for peace.  They search their entire lives for something that gives them peace, but they can’t find it.  Where they would find peace, they find only bitterness.  That is the lot of those who do not know Jesus Christ.  But, thankfully, it doesn’t end there.

“…but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.”

When we searched for peace and found nothing but bitterness, Jesus had love and pity toward us.  He delivered us from the pit of corruption.  He has “cast all my sins behind His back.”  Sometimes we might think about all of our past sins.  Sometimes those can weigh on us, even though we know that they are forgiven.  Sometimes they can even threaten to take away our peace and bring us back to our state of bitterness.  But He has cast them behind His back.

We have peace, we have been delivered from the pit of corruption, and He hast cast all our sins behind His back.  What a wonderful verse and a wonderful Saviour!

I will be away from the computer for a couple of weeks.  Feel free to comment, and I will respond when I get back.  Thanks for reading and commenting and God bless!

1,001st Post

Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.  For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.  The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.

Isaiah 38:17-19

As we move on from the “1,000th post” yesterday, I wanted to look at these verses, specifically verses 18-19.  We are supposed to the praising the Lord, every day and in every way that we can find.  These verses give us some good reasons to do that.

“For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee…”  “The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day…”  Every one of us has been given one life.  And we all have a limited amount of life to live.  And none of us know exactly how long our life will last.  Once our lives are over, our opportunity to praise the Lord (especially to those that don’t know Him) will be over.  We will of course be able to praise Him in Heaven, but our opportunity to influence others for Him will be over.  That is a sobering thought.

Because of that sobering thought, we are implored to praise Him while we here and have life.  As fathers and mothers, teachers and friends, we are to “make known thy truth” to the children.  The only way the next generation will know about the goodness and mercy of the Lord will be for us to tell them.  Are we fulfilling that responsibility?

Let us thank Him, praise Him, glorify Him and honour Him every day.  We have but one life and one opportunity.  Let us use it for His glory.

1,000th Post

Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind my back.

Isaiah 38:17

I’ve been thinking about what verse to write about for the 1,000th post on this blog.  I decided on this one because it’s one of my favorite verses in the entire Bible.  It perfectly describes every one of us both before and after we come to Jesus Christ.  It also describes us when we stray from Him and return to Him.  The whole of our Christian experience can be found right here.

“Behold, for peace I had great bitterness…”  We all want peace.  Christians and non-Christians alike want to pillow their heads at night at peace.  We want to be at peace with other people, at peace with ourselves, and at peace with our Creator.  But, as many through the years have found, that peace can be elusive.  In fact, if we don’t come to Jesus for peace, we end up with “great bitterness.”

“But thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption…”  That is a perfect description of us at salvation.  God offers to deliver us from the pit of corruption.  He freely offers us salvation, if we would only take it.

“…thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.”  I love that imagery.  God taking my filthy, dirty, vile sin and “casting it behind His back.”  There is no greater thought to me than that.  That God would save a sinner like me is beyond my comprehension.  What a wonderful Saviour!  The reason I started this blog was to glorify Him, and I hope and pray that I have done that thus far.

When I started this blog a few years ago, I had no idea that I would hit 1,000 posts.  I appreciate everyone who reads and comments and I hope that it has been an encouragement to you.  Thanks for reading, and, Lord willing, we’ll shoot for another 1,000.

All Talk, No Heart

Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me…

Isaiah 29:13a

Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

Matthew 15:7-8

This is a scary passage.  It is mentioned in the Old Testament and repeated in the New.  I think that it is mentioned in both places because it is a problem that we are always going to have.  It was a problem in Isaiah’s day, it was a problem in Matthew’s day, it is still a problem today and it will likely be a problem tomorrow.

There are always going to be hypocrites.  In fact, I’m sure all of us have been hypocritical in some situation at one point or another.  But we do not have to be like the hypocrite spoken of in these verses.  These hypocrites say everything just right.  They “draw nigh unto me with their mouth.”  They “honour me with their lips.”  But there is no heart anywhere.  “Their heart is far from me.”

God wants our hearts.  He wants us to worship Him and serve Him from our hearts.  Of course, when our hearts are right, it will help our mouths to be right also.

I have heard it said that it is much easier to say the right words without having a right heart than it is to say to wrong words while having a right heart.  So many Christians today are putting on a show.  They smile and say the right things, but they have no heart for the Lord.  What a sad situation to be in.

We would do well to examine ourselves regularly to make sure that we do not fall into this category!

Agnus Dei

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every on to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.  He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

Isaiah 53:6-7

Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

Revelation 5:12

This post is entitled “Agnus Dei,” which, in Latin, means “Lamb of God.”  I have been thinking about the theme of Jesus being the “Lamb of God”  a lot lately.  The Bible speaks often of us as sheep, and it often refers to Jesus as a Lamb.  He is the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”  The inspiration for this thinking came from a strange source: a painting.  The painting was also titled “Agnus Dei.”  It was painted by the Spanish painter Fransisco De Zubaran in the 1600s.  I came across it the other day and haven’t stopped thinking about it.

It depicts a lamb, laying on the ground, bound but not struggling.  (Isaiah 53:7)

The lamb is spotless and pure.  (“But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:” -I Peter 1:19)

Looking at that painting, I saw what it represented: Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on the cross.  He was bound and sacrificed for me and you.  He went willingly.  He was the perfect Lamb and the perfect sacrifice.  He did it all for us.  He was, in the words of Isaiah, “brought as a lamb to the slaughter.”  He knew what was going to happen, but He went willingly without argument.  What a perfect Lamb and a perfect sacrifice!

http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/francisco-de-zurbaran/agnus-dei-1640

The Importance of our Speech

In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple… Then said I, Woe is me!  for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.

Isaiah 6:1,5 

Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.

Psalm 141:3

Isaiah chapter six was the subject of a sermon at church the other day.  One of the things that struck me was the importance he placed on his lips (his speech) immediately after seeing the Lord.  Isaiah had just seen the Lord “high and lifted up.”  He got a tremendous view of the glory and majesty of the Lord.  Immediately afterward, his first words are “Woe is me!”  Next, he says that he is unclean and undone.  The specific he gives for this is that he is a “man of unclean lips.”  He also says that he lives among a people of “unclean lips.”

Of all of the reactions to seeing the Lord, this one was surprising to me.  Of all the areas in which he could have thought about being unclean, he singled out the area of speech.  That just goes to show how important our speech really is.

Psalm 141:3 gives us a great prayer in this area: “Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.”  Think of how much improvement our lives would see if this were true of us.  Think of what a difference it would make if the Lord Himself kept our lips.  Think of the help we could be to others if we allowed the Lord to control every word we spoke.  It would be life changing.

Often, we might neglect our speech and our words.  But, like Isaiah, when we see the Lord, we will realize the importance of our words and our speech.

Enter John the Baptist

The voice of his that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Isaiah 40:3

In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.  For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

Matthew 3:1-3

The book of Matthew shifts gears a little from the second chapter to the third chapter.  We go from Jesus in chapter two to John the Baptist in chapter three.  John the Baptist is an interesting character whose life should be studied and emulated by Christians.

Today, we will look at his message: “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  His first message was one of repentance.  He preached about sin.  It is human nature to think of yourself as being “pretty good.”  It is also human nature to want to justify ourselves to ourselves, no matter what we do.  It is human nature to want to avoid thinking about our own sin.

One of the reasons that most people will not accept Christ is that they will not accept the fact that they are guilty sinners.  They will not see their sin for what it is.  They will not repent.

This is where John the Baptist starts.  He preaches to the people that they need to recognize their sin and turn from it.  The theme of John the Baptist (and a theme repeated throughout the New Testament) is one of the issue of sin and righteousness.  Jesus came to take away our sin and to give us His own perfect righteousness.

John the Baptist wasted no time in getting people to repent of their sin.  He wasted no time in pointing people to the Saviour.  We would be wise to emulate him.

The 12 Verses of Christmas #10

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Isaiah 53:6

This might seem like a strange verse to include in a series of verses dealing with Christmas.  There are verses about Mary and Joseph.  There are verses about the Angel appearing to various people.  There are verses about Jesus being born in a manger.  There are many verses that might seem to “fit” the Christmas story better than Isaiah 53:6.  But, to me, this verse lies at the very heart of Christmas.

This verse is about two things: our sin and our Saviour.

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way…”  Every man, woman and child ever born on this earth has been a sinner (except One).  We are born in sin and we commit sin – every single one of us.  We can try our best to not sin, but there is nothing that we can do about our corrupt, fallen nature.  We need a Saviour.

“…the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”  That is our Saviour.  He took our sins – all of them – to the cross, where He bled and died for us.  This verse is the gospel in one verse: we are sinners in need of a Saviour, and the Lord Jesus Christ is that Saviour.

That is what we celebrate at Christmas.  If we were not all sinners, we would not need a Saviour.  If we didn’t need a Saviour, Jesus would not have needed to come to earth as a man and die on the cross for us.  The celebration of Christmas is the celebration of the Saviour.  A what a wonderful Saviour He is!