So, I Am Pondering the Revelation of God. Guess What? Even from the Very Beginning of All Things, God Attracts

Yesterday, we took a brief glimpse at chapter 5 of The Book of Revelation, the last book of the Biblical Canon. To try to encourage individual thought, give an answer to those who have been asking the question: “Is Jesus Worthy of being my Lord and Savior?” An important question with eternal implications. “What If I were to confess His worthiness to be # 1 with my whole heart, soul?” It is an incredibly hopeful, impactful life transforming decision with big implications!

But to make such an impactful decision simply based on one chapter of the last book of the biblical canon, leaves us with a vast chasm of complete emptiness. We do not have begun to build that necessary foundational context upon which such decisions are, and must by greatest necessity, be permanently grounded. Our faith, our hopes and our love must be built up over time to stay steadfast. No one should have to say to another person, life is a rose bush with big thorns.

So, today, we will begin from the beginning – the Book of Genesis, to hopefully, prayerfully begin to edify ourselves, each other “Jesus Christ is our ONLY #1!” We will begin to sort out just what makes God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit so much more attractive to us than the vast temptations from the world around us. If I am deciding whom I am willingly giving my life to, I want to know: “WHY?”

Genesis 1:1-5 HCSB

The Creation

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.^[a]

²Now the earth was^[b] formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. ³Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁴God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. ⁵God called the light “day,” and He called the darkness “night.” Evening came and then morning: the first day.

The Word of God for the Children of God. In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

Each of us began life as a baby, and we were unaware of what was going on around us or what the world was like. But as we grew older, we started to take note of the world—the sky, the sea, the winds, the birds, the flowers, the animals, the trees, and all of life around us. As we became aware of the world, we inevitably asked some questions about it. Those questions are the ones answered for us in brief compass here in the opening words of Genesis 1:1.

What are the questions? First, we ask ourselves, What is the attraction of all this? Driven by an insatiable curiosity, humans have been attempting to answer that question ever since they first appeared on earth. They seek to explore the limitless depths of the universe, finite depths of the world in which they live.

Second, we ask, How did it begin? This question is the emphasis of science. Then we ask, When did it all start? How long has the world been going on like this? Finally, we come to the great philosophical question, Who is behind it? Who is back of these strange and remarkable processes? These questions are answered in this verse, and thus it serves as a tremendous introduction to the great themes of the Bible.

Take the first question, the one most obvious to us—the wonder of the universe itself. In the beginning, we read, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). Someone has said that this phrase is the beginning of true science, because a fundamental part of the task of science is to observe and study and research and classify all that can be observed in the makeup of the world of nature. Here is an early attempt at classification. What do you see around you? You see two great classes of things—the heavens and the earth.

One of the marvels of the Bible is that it uses language that communicates with people of the most primitive and limited understanding, while at the same time it still has significance and inexhaustible meaning for the most erudite and learned scholars. It addresses itself with equal ease to all classes of humanity. That is the beauty of Bible language. Now, it seems we are losing our regard for what it says and what it teaches, how it inspires, how it empowers all our lives.

The popular teaching is that we can disregard, refuse, or reject God because we make a decision, we think, we say, we declare it to be so and just choose to do it.

Is it right to say, then, that our human freedom to choose would move us to prefer not to minimize value or shun away what we know to be so admirable?

God’s Word shows, however, that those who are not attracted to God had failed actually to behold fully His Excellence! They are actually ignorant of Him.

Because of the erroneous concept of God, or ignorance of His Glory, men perceive sin to be more pleasurable than God, the ways of Satan or of this world are more attractive, and personal ambition is more desirable to be cherished.

The design of the Bible is not to tell us how the heavens go, but rather how to go to heaven.

Our physical eyes and other human faculties tend to perceive only the wonder of the physical creation or what could be appreciated by our physical senses. But, even from the beginning, if we have the spiritual eyes to see, we can already admire so much the Splendour of God!

What is the beauty and the attraction of Biblical Language which makes it so -inspiring, so thoroughly encompassing drawing the most insatiably curious?

The opening sentence in God’s Word states:

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

God can create.

He created the heavens and the earth, as we also read In Isaiah 45:18,

“For thus says the LORD,

Who created the heavens,

Who is God,

Who formed the earth and made it,

Who has established it,

Who did not create it in vain,

Who formed it to be inhabited:

‘I am the LORD, and there is no other.’”

Should our interest or attention would not be caught by Him who can make something out of nothing?

Should we not be in awe of God and admire Him exceedingly?

And He could also create a new heaven and a new earth.

We read in Isaiah 65:17-18

“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth;

And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.

But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create;

For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing,

And her people a joy.”

God created not only the heavens and the earth.

We read in Amos 4:13,

“For behold,

He who forms mountains,

And creates the wind,

Who declares to man what his thought is,

And makes the morning darkness,

Who treads the high places of the earth —

The LORD God of hosts is His name.“

Also, He declared in Isaiah 45:7,

“I form the light and create darkness,

I make peace and create calamity;

I, the LORD, do all these things.“

In fact, He created all things, as we read:

“You are worthy, O Lord,

To receive glory and honor and power;

For You created all things,

And by Your will they exist and were created” (Revelation 4:11).

What overwhelming Power He has!

And if we are not attracted to Him, He can give us a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26) or even create a clean heart in us – a heart that can appreciate Divine Beauty!

David prayed:

“Create in me a clean heart, O God,

And renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10).

Let’s proceed to the next verse of Genesis chapter 1:

“The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:2).

Should not this verse make God also attractive to us?

Why?

Could we not realize though our life seemed “without form, and void” – we are not really alone? Though we are in the “seemingly endless tunnel of darkness” – we could also say confidently, like David:

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil;

For You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4).

God is also watching over us. He does not leave us all alone.

If His Spirit “was hovering over…” us before, He is now dwelling in the believers today.

You could also admire God in Genesis 1:3. It says, “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.”

Notice that what God had said became a reality! He “said…” and “there was…”

We read also in Genesis 1:6, “Then God said, ‘Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.’”

Notice very well the following verse: “Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; AND IT WAS SO” (verse 7).

You will notice the same sequence in verses 9, 11, 14-15 and 24 — “God said… and it was so.” When God would say something, it could be made or created.

So awesome and attractive is God, even in His Words! He declared:

“As the rain and the snow

come down from heaven,

and do not return to it

without watering the earth

and making it bud and flourish,

so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

It will not return to me empty,

but will accomplish what I desire

and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10-12).

And consider what Jesus Christ, the Son of God, said:

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).

Should we not be attracted to Him, because of His Words?

Unless, we are spiritually deaf or spiritually unconscious, our respond to God’s Call would be just like what Peter did: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).

Besides, His work is beyond reproach.

Those who find fault with His work are those who measure His Goodness with human standard. They could not grasp His Divine Goodness.

But we read in the first part of verse:4, “And God saw the light, that it was good…”

After God created the light, God’s Word states, He “saw the light, that it was good…” His Word declared repeatedly, whatever He had created “God saw that it was good” (verses 10, 12, 18, 21 & 25).

And it was emphasized in verse 31: “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good…”

Not only what He did is good, He Himself is Good. David said in Psalm 119:68:

“You are good, and do good;

Teach me Your statutes.”

In fact, according to God’s Word, “No one is good but One, that is, God” (Mark 10:18). And the goodness of what He made transcends the excellence of any human accomplishment!

Now, let’s focus on the last part of Genesis 1:4, “… God divided the light from the darkness.”

Other translations render it, “God SEPARATED the light from the darkness” as we read also in the New International Version.

God divides or separates. He does not mix the light with darkness. John 1:1-5

In Genesis 1:5, we read:

“God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.”

After God separated the light from the darkness, He did not just stop there.

He distinguished them by naming them. He called the light “Day” and the darkness “Night.”

We also read in verse 7 and early part of verse 8:

“Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. God called the firmament Heaven…”

And verse 10 tells us that “God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas.”

But apart from His Glorious Name, God called the believers the wonderful name:

“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him” (1 John 3:1).

He called them His children.

Contrary to the teaching of others, God did not call everyone His children. As we read in John 1:12, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.”

God “gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.”

Should we not be so thankful to God and draw closer to Him in admiration for calling us “Children of God”?

If Creator God will make Himself known to us, we will surely admire Him and be hopelessly attracted to Him, His Son and the Holy Spirit. Afterwards, then no one would ever need to convince or force us even to worship and to follow Him.

For He is Supremely Attractive even in the beginning… He can make things out of nothing. Bring everything from nothing, Bring order from chaos. He does not only hover over, but even dwells in His people. His Word has Life and Power. He is echelons beyond Good and He excels in exactly everything. He separates the “light” from the “darkness.” He called sinners out, and believers His children.

And this is just the first chapter of the Book of Genesis, the very Beginning!

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Let us now Pray,

Creator and Creating God,
As we are made in Your image, we give You thanks for the seed of creativity You planted within each person. We thank you for creating order from chaos and then telling us the story that we should, through it, be attracted only to You!

Thank you for giving us Your Holy Scriptures. Help us surely, truly, to live in a deepening appreciative awe of the creativity that you have planted within. Give us the patience and courage to nourish, from beginning to end, that creativity, and the strength and persistence to express it. In Your name we pray, Amen

So, I Am Pondering the Revelation of God. I Am Deciding if Jesus is Worthy.

How many times in a single day, do we just wish that we knew the ‘right’ thing to do? We might be faced with a decision on where to shop for food, what is most healthy for us to eat and drink, what career paths do we follow, where to go to school, who to date, or which sport to play this year. All of these decisions have consequences and you wish that someone would just tell you what to do.

When it comes to making decisions, it’s often easy to ignore what relevant Bible verses tells us about seeking a wisdom greater than our own. It says the Bible is a lamp to guide our feet and a light for our path. This verse tells us that when we do not know what the right first choice is, we should rely on God’s word for our help. God’s word can be the answer to your questions. It can be the light to show you which path to take. The key is to spend time in God’s word and get to know what God says. God’s word will bring light and help you make the right decision.

If we spend time reading the Bible and getting to know Jesus, we find that often the decision we are to make seems much clearer. So the next time we are faced with a tough decision, do what this Bible verse says. Spend some time in God’s word, let them reveal Jesus to you. let it guide you into making good decisions. The revelation of Jesus, the image of that revelation, is what is most impactful.

But, what about the revelation, the vision of Jesus, will help us make the final decision to follow him with the entirety of our lives, If we are to be choosing what we hope and pray are the right career paths, the right relational paths, the healthiest paths, what image or vision of Jesus projected upon our hearts and our souls will “click on the light at the end of our tunnels,” illuminating paths of worthiness, towards steadfastly believing; “I’m on exactly the right track?”

Revelation 5:1-14 (NKJV)

The Lamb Takes the Scroll

5 And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. ²Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?” ³And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it.

⁴So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open ^[a]and read the scroll, or to look at it. ⁵But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and ^[b]to loose its seven seals.”

⁶And I looked, ^[c]and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. ⁷Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.

Worthy Is the Lamb

⁸Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. ⁹And they sang a new song, saying:

“You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
¹⁰And have made ^[d]us kings^[e] and priests to our God;
And ^[f]we shall reign on the earth.”

¹¹Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, ¹²saying with a loud voice:

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
To receive power and riches and wisdom,
And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”

¹³And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:

“Blessing and honor and glory and power
Be to Him who sits on the throne,
And to the Lamb, forever and ^[g]ever!”

¹⁴Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the ^[h]twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped ^[i]Him who lives forever and ever.

The Word of God for the Children of God. In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

A preacher was showing a child a painting of Jesus. Trying to explain that we didn’t really know what Jesus looked like he said: “It’s not really Jesus. It’s just an artist’s conception of him.”

The child looked long and hard at the picture and said; “Well, it sure looks like him,”

(Dick Van Dyke Readers Digest 2/71 p. 232)

Most people already have a picture or a vision in their mind of what Jesus is supposed to have looked like. But – if they saw a picture of what John describes Jesus to be in Revelation 5 – that wouldn’t be precisely what they’d imagine.

At the beginning of this chapter, John is weeping because it seemed no one could be found who was worthy to open the mighty book. Then one of the elders said to him,

“Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” Revelation 5:5

Now I can get into Jesus being the Lion of Judah.

Lions are regal, powerful, majestic. They’re cool!

But when John looks around… he doesn’t see a Lion does he?

What does John see? (a lamb)

“… between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.” Revelation 5:6

Now take a look at the lamb in the image above.

Notice anything different about the image from what you would usually expect to see in any farmers field?

That Lamb doesn’t look in the least bit normal does it?

It doesn’t look in the least like how I would picture Jesus.

So… is this really how Jesus looks?

Well… yes.

And no.

You see, Revelation is a book of imagery.

Most of what it tells us is not meant to be taken literally.

Now there are scholars, teachers of Revelation who try to teach that practically everything in Revelation is literal. And if you were to suggest to them that some part of Revelation should be seen as a spiritual picture God was painting… those prophetic teachers would try to ridicule, criticize you before “correcting” you.

But this is definitely not a literal snapshot of how Jesus actually would look in heaven. For no such snapshot exists or is ever likely to exist absent photoshop.

This is a spiritual portrait of WHO Jesus is.

How many of you have ever been to the fair and seen one of those artists who will make a drawing of you for $5 or so. Have you ever had your portrait done?

Does it look exactly like you?

No, it doesn’t does it?

It’s called a “Caricature .”

What the artist does is take one of your physical characteristics, magnifing it.

If you have bushy eyebrows… they are larger than life.

If you have a strong chin… they give you a BIG chin.

If you have toothy smile… they give LOTS of teeth.

And it’s all in the spirit of family and fun and almost everybody will take it home, frame it and put it on the wall someplace and later boast like crazy .

Now, what we have here in Revelation 5 is a portrait of Christ where the artist is essentially making the TRUTHS about Jesus to be larger than life.

Notice – He is the Lamb that was slain.

This is a repeated image of Christ in the Scriptures

In John 1:29 we’re told that John the Baptist “…saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the LAMB of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

In Isaiah 53:7 which goes into great detail describing the coming Messiah, we’re told:

“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a LAMB before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth.”

And throughout Revelation… Jesus is repeatedly referred to as THE LAMB

• Revelation 7:10 “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

• Revelation 7:17 “… the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd…

• Revelation 12:11 “… (Christians) have conquered (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb…”

• Revelation 19:7 “…the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready”

• Revelation 21:27 tells us that the only ones who will enter heaven will be “… those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

This is the IMAGE that God wants to BURN into our minds when we are trying to make a deeply personal decision – “Is Jesus worthy to be my Lord and Savior?”

When we see Jesus in heaven he’s NOT going to be a literal LAMB.

But that is the picture of WHO Jesus really is to us.

He is the Lamb of God who took away our sins.

Now I can grasp that.

But then we get to this 7 horns and 7 eyes thing… that’s a little too much like mega-super duper-ultra overload to wrap my all too finite mind around.

Look at the image of the Lamb again.

What’s this all about?

Well, let’s take this one step at a time.

First, Let us consider the horns.

Most scholars will teach you that a HORN in the pages of scripture stands for divine kingly power or authority.

Several times in prophecy a King and his power is symbolized by a horn.

So the horns on the lamb symbolize the power and authority that Jesus has.

Then there’s the EYES.

We’re told that these are “…the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.”

Now, I am not seminary trained and I’m going to be honest with you… I have not got a clue what that “7 spirits” thing is all about/ what it means. And most of the commentaries I’ve read didn’t seem have a good explanation of it either.

This is the best I can do right now to give some study material for Verse 6: https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/rev/5/6/t_conc_1172006

I encourage you to break it down for yourselves to see what God reveals.

But I do know what an EYE does.

Do you know what an eye does? (it lets you see)

And this Lamb doesn’t just have just 1 or 2 eyes… He has 7 over them.

That would seem to symbolize the fact that Jesus can see much more than you or I can.

Then there’s the consistent mention of the NUMBER 7,

There are SEVEN horns and SEVEN eyes.

Most scholars tell you SEVEN is one of the numbers that’s tied to who God is

ILLUS: SIX is considered the number of MAN because man was created on 6th day. But SEVEN seems to be God’s number because God rested created the world in 6 days and then rested… on the 7TH DAY.

SEVEN is also considered to be the number of completeness and perfection

So essentially – the 7 horns and the 7 eyes on the Lamb of God are meant to symbolize the divinity, the power and omniscience of our King, Savior Jesus.

This Lamb Is All About Who Jesus Is.

He is the Lamb of God who was slain for our sins.

He is God in the flesh.

He is ALL POWERFUL.

And He is ALL SEEING.

But it does not stop there.

This picture is of Jesus is that He is WORTHY of our worship and praise.

We’re told that the 24 elders and the 4 Living Creatures who stood around the throne all fell down before Jesus … and they sang a new song,

“WORTHY are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation…

Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “WORTHY is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”

And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” Revelation 5:9-13

Everybody in heaven and on earth, and under the earth and in the seas…

Men and Angels, and Creatures of every kind …

are singing and shouting praises to the Lamb of God.

Everywhere you look there is worship and rejoicing OF Jesus!

HE IS WORTHY OF OUR PRAISE!!!

HE IS WORTHY TO BE OUR LORD AND SAVIOR!!!

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen?

Now, why is that important?

Revelation 5 focuses on Jesus, because Jesus is the focus of Revelation.

He is the pivot point of everything else that’s going on here.

Revelation is all about Jesus.

Later in Revelation we find there’s a beast and there’s a whore of Babylon, and there is also all kinds of enemies and villains that will attempt to destroy God’s church.

This is an echo of what Jesus told His disciples:

“In this world you will have trouble…”

But do you remember the rest of what Jesus said:

“But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

That’s essentially what Revelation is saying to every church, in every age, in every nation.

You and I will absolutely have trouble of every manner, every conceivable kind .

There will be circumstances too much for you and me to overcome alone.

There will be forces in this world you and I will NOT be able to control.

You and I will face persecution.

You and I might spend some time in prison.

You and I might even lose your possessions – or even our lives – because you and I belong to Jesus.

There’s pictures in Revelation of Christians who become martyrs for their faith.

God is not pulling any punches in painting this picture for us.

But before God introduces us to the difficulties we will face, He takes us into His throne room and introduces you to the Lamb who was slain for our sins.

Why?

Because Revelation is declaring: TAKE HEART!

God is on His throne.

Jesus has stepped up.

And all the forces of Heaven are in play on our behalf.

We are NOT on the losing side – even though there will be times it will seem that way.

The problem is… too many Christians think that Jesus came into their lives so that they’d be assured of a “good” life where they’d have all the money they need in their 401K, a beautiful family, a wonderful home, and that great car.

But it doesn’t always work out that way.

Revelation says that life may not always been easy and comfortable.

In fact, Revelation’s message is that: this isn’t about having an easy life.

This is all about being part of something that’s bigger than you are

You see – there’s a spiritual war going on for our hearts and our souls, folks.

And war is never pleasant.

We are called to be the soldiers of the King.

And we have an enemy – his name is Satan.

We have a task at hand – storming the gates of Hell – we are taking back the people Satan has enslaved to do his will.

If you think Satan is going to roll over play dead for you… you got another thing coming.

But the promise is this:

Revelation 12:10-12 NKJV

¹⁰Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. ¹¹And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. ¹²Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”

Satan is the big bad bully on the block.

His intention is to take you out, beat you up, and then demand your lunch money.

But Revelation’s message is that no matter how big and bad Satan may be.

Revelation’s vision of Jesus is echelons beyond bigger, and better and bolder.

And you are on the winning team.

No matter what happens to you in this earthly life you will come away the winner in this contest because YOU HAVE JESUS FOREVER on your side!

And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.— Revelation 5:9

Worthy! What a beautiful word! For those of us who are disciples of Jesus, we know of only one who is truly worthy. He is worthy to open the scroll and reveal the future. He is worthy of praise and adoration. Why? Because even though he was holy, perfect and heavenly, his death on the cross to purchase our pardon, forgiveness, and salvation made him worthy. And he did it not just for us, but also for people of all races and languages and cultures. Jesus, you are worthy!

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, let us come and Pray;

Holy Lamb of God, you are worthy! You are worthy of my adoration and love. You are worthy of my worship and my devotion. And Holy Father, I thank you for your plan to send him to save me. Because of your grace in Jesus, I want to live my life in devotion to you and your will. Please forgive me for the times I’ve gotten side tracked. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to return to you. In the name of Jesus, your holy Lamb slain for my sins, I offer my love. Amen.

I Am Pondering the Promises of God! I Am Pondering the reputation of The Lion, The Lamb, The Throne Room!

Premise for Today: In these contemporary days, what about the importance of understanding how our actions, attitudes reflect upon the character of God, how our actions reflect back upon His reputation affecting the world at large.

Throughout history, there have been a proliferation of sports scandals at the amateur and professional levels. Most recently the “sign stealing” scandal in professional baseball. In most, if not all of these situations, there was a key moment of decision when the decision was made to cheat and when allegations inevitably surfaced. The cheaters choice was between character and reputation.

Ideally, each of us would like to have both – both a strong character and a good reputation. However, circumstances often force us to choose one or the other. If I choose character, then my integrity will lead me to do the right thing, perhaps even at the expense of the reputation of my organization, family or myself. If I allow the most important issue to be how something will look to others, then I will immediately go into damage control and take actions to limit any news getting out. This can easily lead to a delay or absence of proper accountability.

“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” –Late UCLA Basketball Coach John Wooden (1910 – 2010).

You and I will have opportunities throughout our lives to uphold both our reputations and our characters. Sometimes we might have to choose one. May you and I always desire to please God and make the choice that honors Him.

But, what of God’s reputation? God has given His children many promises to hold on to. Jesus relied exclusively on His Fathers reputation when ministering to the people of His day. Jesus Implicitly trusted His Father’s reputation and His Character. This implicit trust never even minimally wavered. This measure of trust in His Heavenly Father was such that He willingly chose Death at Calvary! Considering the intervening years between Calvary and 2021, Is this where our measure and degree of trust in the reputation of God and Jesus Christ remains?

The question of whether or not we choose to accept God’s free offer of salvation rests squarely upon our own degree and measure of trust in the one giving the promise in the first place. Because the great and final issue of redemption is to be the reputation of God and His Son and Holy Spirit too. That’s the goal of all spiritual achievements. That’s the glorious climax of all things. Father God, His Son Jesus Christ will have a universal and glorious and everlasting reputation!

I know there are uncountable numbers of individuals across the great expanse of the earth who likewise have questions about the worthiness of God and the reputation and character of His Son, Jesus Christ. These questions and concerns are definitely righteous ones to be asked and worthy of being given a response. I do not know if anything I write may change your minds about God and/or His Son, Jesus, to which I only respond, changing your mind is out of my pay grade.

What matters more to you: the opinion of others or the opinion of God?
When you do wrong, are you more focused on the wrongdoing or on getting caught?
Could you be satisfied if God were pleased with you but everyone in the world was displeased?
What if everyone in the world was pleased with you, but God was displeased?

So, what does the Word of God say and teach us about the Reputation of God?

Ezekiel 36:16-28 HCSB

Restoration of Israel’s People

¹⁶The word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁷“Son of man, while the house of Israel lived in their land, they defiled it with their conduct and actions. Their behavior before Me was like menstrual impurity. ¹⁸So I poured out My wrath on them because of the blood they had shed on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols. ¹⁹I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered among the countries. I judged them according to their conduct and actions. ²⁰When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned My holy name, because it was said about them, ‘These are the people of Yahweh, yet they had to leave His land in exile.’ ²¹Then I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel profaned among the nations where they went.

²²“Therefore, say to the house of Israel: This is what the Lord God says: It is not for your sake that I will act, house of Israel, but for My holy name, which you profaned among the nations where you went. ²³I will honor the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations—the name you have profaned among them. The nations will know that I am Yahweh”—the declaration of the Lord God—“when I demonstrate My holiness through you in their sight.

²⁴“For I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries, and will bring you into your own land. ²⁵I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. ²⁶I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone^[a] and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷I will place My Spirit within you and cause you to follow My statutes and carefully observe My ordinances. ²⁸Then you will live in the land that I gave your fathers; you will be My people, and I will be your God.

The Word of God for the Children of God. In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

Ezekiel 36:22 Amplified

Israel to Be Renewed for His Name’s Sake

²²“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/eze/36/22/t_conc_838022

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h8034/kjv/wlc/0-1/

Here in Ezekiel 36:22, the term “name” speaks of God’s reputation. We often say, “That man has a great name.” What we really mean is that his character results in a far-reaching reputation. O we might hear it said that someone’s name has been dragged through the mud—scandalized, tarnished, or soiled.

Webster says that a reputation is “an estimation, favorably or unfavorably, in which a person or thing is held.”

Think of some names with me. What reputation(s) do they conjure up in your mind? What does history tell us about their character as they lived their days?

– Joseph Stalin, Adolph Hitler: Genocidal evil

– Albert Einstein: Scientific genius

– Moses: deliverer

– Joshua: Leadership

– Michelangelo: art

– The Carnegies and the Rockefellers: Titans of Industry and Philanthropy

– Pope John Paul 2, Mother Teresa: Saintly compassion

– Thomas Stephen Monaghan: American entrepreneur who founded Domino’s Pizza in 1960.

– God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – Genesis 1-2, John 1:1-5, Acts 2

Where does God derive His reputation from?

– His creation

– His mighty acts on behalf of mankind

– His Word

– His spokesmen

– His people

– His enemies

We find God’s reputation described by the term “name” in many places in the Bible. One impressive instance occurs in the record of Joshua. When Israel was defeated by the men of Ai, Joshua pleaded with the Lord. He said, “O Lord, what am I to do now that Israel has fled from her enemies? For when the Canaanites and the nations hear about it, they will wipe us out. And then what will happen to the honor of your great name? (Joshua 7:8-9).

Joshua dreaded that God’s reputation might be ruined. And so should we!

Let’s consider some features of God’s reputation.

1. GOD MUST HAVE A NAME

It’s an absolute necessity, for His own sake, for His people’s sake, and for the world’s sake.

We hear much these days about the rights of the individual. What about God’s rights? Is He not entitled to a name, a reputation? He is declared to be the Creator of all that is. He is the Author of Life. He is perfect in all His ways. His love knows no limits. He is the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Surely He is deserving of a reputation that is above all reputations.

God is not impassive. He has feelings. He has personal desires. And He desires a reputation widespread and splendid. But He doesn’t desire it for His own sake alone. He desires it for His people’s sake.

One of the greatest blessings is to know what the character of God is like. We need to study the attributes of God. We need to become more and more familiar with His desires and goals so that we might understand His will for our lives.

It’s also necessary that God have a perfect reputation for the world’s sake. Man, considered as separated from God by sin, needs to know His redeeming name. Give God a name! The world needs to hear of His reputation as the Lover of our souls!

2. GOD’S DELIVERANCES GIVE HIM A NAME

– He delivered the Hebrews from Egyptian bondage

– He delivered Daniel from the lion’s jaws

– He delivered Jonah from a sea monster

– He delivers sinners from condemnation

– He delivers us from fear, evil habits and Satan’s control

– He delivers us from sorrow and depression and a feeling of worthlessness

Again and again He has done it! Spread His fame abroad. Proclaim it everywhere. He deserves it. We owe it to Him.

3. THE CHARACTERSITICS OF GOD’S PEOPLE

GIVE HIM A NAME

It can be truthfully said that we, as believers help shape the reputation of God in the minds of others by the way we live. God’s reputation as an “Enabler” is enhanced or tarnished, depending on how well we manifest the fruits of the Spirit.

Men always think more highly of God when they see the qualities of love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness and self-control in His people. Our lives are the only theology most people will read. We should make it our aim to give the world an adequate and lovely impression of God.

A pious long standing church member, who thought himself to be a truly great Christian, visited a junior department of the Sunday school. The Superintendent asked him to say a few word to the boys and girls. He stood pompously before them and asked, “Why do you think people call me a Christian?” There was an embarrassing silence. Then a small voice from the back of the room said,

“Is it Because they don’t know you?”

The story is also told of a soldier in the army of Alexander the Great, who was brought before the great world-conqueror for court martial. When the emperor had listened to the charges and the evidence, he turned to the soldier facing condemnation and said, “What is your name?” “Alexander!” was the reply.

Again the emperor questioned, “What is your name?” And the second time the soldier answered, “Alexander.” With a cry of rage, the emperor roared, “I say, what is your name?” And when the soldier answered for the third time as he had before, the great general angrily replied, “You say your name is Alexander? You are found guilty of your crime as charged and now you must truly pay the penalty. Either change your conduct or change your name, for no man can bear the name of Alexander, my name, and do any of the things that you have done.”

4. TRANSFORMATIONS GIVE GOD A NAME

The crowning work of God is the transformation of a soul—from a sinner to a saint—from self-centeredness to God and neighbors-centeredness—from darkness to light—from wickedness to righteousness—from fear to faith—from bondage to freedom.

And who else could do it but God? Nothing gives God greater fame in all the world than a regenerated individual! Men may argue theology and doctrine but not a changed life.

When the Lord wanted to make an impression on this old world that men or devils, time or eternity could not erase, he met Saul of Tarsus on the Damascus road and pulled him off of his little donkey, blinded him and put him to praying. True transformation of the soul leads to a life of service, sacrifice, and praise. These qualities will not go unnoticed by the unbelieving world. They will serve to remind them of the nature of God, reputation of Jesus. (Galatians 2:19-21)

The apostles and other 1st century Christians lived such consecrated lives that people from all walks of life sat up and took notice (Acts 2 – 3). Many of them were drawn to Christ because they were amazed and astounded when they asked themselves, “What kind of a God must this Jesus Christ be that He could command such unyielding loyalty, such willing sacrifice, such total service?”

5. PRAISE GIVES GOD A NAME

This involves not only gratitude, but also speaking up whenever God’s name is blasphemed or brought into question. We must not be ashamed to testify as to His greatness and grandeur.

Our steadfast praise and devotion speaks of and decisively to God’s goodness, faithfulness, and unchanging devotion to His children. We especially enhance the reputation of God when we praise God during severe trials and suffering. His grace and strength are testimonies to His enduring love and undying hope.

Worthy! What a beautiful word! For those of us who are disciples of Jesus, we know of only one who is truly worthy. He is worthy to open the scroll and reveal the future. He is worthy of praise and adoration. Why? Because even though he was holy, perfect and heavenly, his death on the cross to purchase our pardon, forgiveness, and salvation made him worthy. And he did it not just for us, but also for people of all races and languages and cultures. Jesus, you are worthy!

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Let us now Pray!

The Reputation of Love
has its source in you
Creator God
flows from you like an ocean
into a world as unyielding
as any shoreline cliff And like the ocean
which batters
erodes
and wears away
even the hardest stone
your love persists
finds cracks and inlets
in hardened hearts
flows inside and works a miracle. Who would think that water
was more powerful than granite
love mightier
than the hardest heart
Thank you, Creator God
for the power of your love and reputation of your name!

In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen!

I Am Pondering the Goodness of God! Do I Recognize the Goodness of God?

What do we have that won’t wear out, break, die, go out of style, or ever need repair? We can rejoice and give thanks, because our life and our future are tied to the goodness of our Eternal Father, the creator of the heavens and maker of our world. Not only is God good; he is good to us. But more than just being good, he is loving and his love will not wear out, grow old, fade away, or need repair.

So, today, we will continue our exploration of the depths of Psalm 65. We will try to ponder the questions which ought to be utmost on every person’s mind.

As I am pondering the Promises of God …

As I am pondering the Goodness of God,

Do I Recognize the Goodness of God?

Where Do I Look to Recognize the Goodness of God?

Psalm 65:1- 4 HCSB

God’s Care for the Earth

¹Praise is rightfully Yours,^[a]
God, in Zion;
vows to You will be fulfilled.
²All humanity will come to You,
the One who hears prayer.
³Iniquities overwhelm me;
only You can atone for^[b] our rebellions.
⁴How happy is the one You choose
and bring near to live in Your courts!
We will be satisfied with the goodness of Your house,
the holiness of Your temple.^[c]

The Word of God for the Children of God. In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

The Psalmist attributed as David is saying he owes God everything because it is God who made him who he is. It is because of forgiveness he is allowed to come into the glorious courts of the divine temple of God in heaven. He can actually live in the presence of the eternal God who rules the earth. In his majesty, God still hears the prayers of those who serve him and comes to their aid when in need. Thus God deserves his praise, both in songs and in his devotion of life.

Since we all were once dead in sin, helpless and hopeless on and in our own worldly devices, but now have been forgiven by the blood of Jesus, we owe God all we are today. As his children we come to him in prayer and know he hears us and answers our needs according to his divine will. None of our cares are ever too small to merit his attention or too large that he cannot take care of them.

God our Father deserves our praise and our worship as we honor him both in songs and in the way we live our lives for him. It is only by His grace that we live in his courts and have him live in us (John 14:23, Ephesians 2:8-10). We are to be anxious for nothing but pray about all things because the Lord is near and his indescribable, undeniable goodness and peace will fill our hearts in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4-9, 19,20)

What our challenge is in 2021 is we need to see that God blesses us abundantly in so many various ways. From Psalm 65, David tries to remind us of how much God gives to the people of the earth. God blesses us through material things. So, today, we must consider that the things we have are a blessing from God. God has set the earth up in such a way that we can be prosperous while we live here.

Consider where we are today. There are other planets, like Mars and the Sun, in our own solar system unable to any sustain life, and are desolate wastelands. How amazing we are placed on this planet earth that not only has the ability to sustain life, but is able to give great abundance to the people who live on it.

The earth, challenged as it is by the machinations of man, continues to remain and be productive, even though people may think that we are destroying it. God has not made a delicate earth, but has created a planet that could be useful for people with their primitive technology in 2000 B.C. as it could in our 2021 A.D.

Second, God has given us the beautiful things that we see in creation to know that he exists. We are able to look at the mountains and the waves and know that there is power in this world and someone put these things in motion for us.

The earth is accomplishing God’s purpose. God’s love is so great that these things were placed here so we would know that there is a powerful Creator who answers our prayers. If God can set these things in motion by His own divine will and accomplish His purpose, how much more can God do for those that He loves so much that He created all of this for us and gave up His Son for us.

Finally, we see God’s blessings through the grace he has offered to all of humanity. Our iniquities continue to prevail against us. We are not living the way we should. All of us sin and are falling short of the holiness and glory of God. But God, rather than issue wrath against us, made atonement for our sins.

God is merciful and covers over the sins we have committed. But he must remain just. Just as much as a judge can be merciful, he must also be fair, just, and keep to the requirements of the law. To be able to show us mercy, a price had to paid. The price was the sacrifice of His only Son. This would allow God to be just by covering our sins. This atonement is found in the blood of Christ.

But this forgiveness is not automatically applied. We are required to come in contact with the blood of Christ through repentance and immersion in water.

Romans 6:4 HCSB ⁴Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in a new way^[a] of life.

We can become UNITED as the Body of Christ, His Church in the world, in the sight of God if we will simply choose to come to Jesus and serve Him today.

Ephesians 4:1-6 HCSB

Unity and Diversity in the Body of Christ

4 Therefore I, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, ²with all humility and gentleness, with patience, accepting^[a] one another in love, ³diligently keeping the unity of the Spirit with the peace that binds us. ⁴There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope^[b] at your calling— ⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

Except, what is all of this “goodness of God” supposed to look like? How are we to recognize this Goodness of our Father God and where are we to recognize it?

Does the Bible Talk about the Goodness of God?

Read, diligently study, pray through the entirety of Psalm 107, and Psalm 136.

The Apostle James wrote, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17 ESV). God’s goodness is an attribute of His unchanging character.

“God is light,” 1 John 1:5 says, “in him there is no darkness at all.” There is no dark side to God. He does allow us to endure the consequences of disobedience and the pain and suffering of the fallen world we live in to affect us. But God cannot be anything but who He is, and He is good. In His goodness, God chose to love and save humanity through Jesus Christ (John 3:16-17).

Christ-followers are described as those recognized by light. “But whoever does what is true comes to the light,” Jesus spoke, “so it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” (John 3:19-20 ESV).

In the King James Version of the Bible, there are forty eight (48) references to the word “goodness.” How many can you find and How many do you know?

Whatever version or translation of the Bible you use or is available to you, how many references to the word “goodness” can you find, learn, study, pray over?

What about outside the Bible if you have no Bible to read or none is available?

What about recognizing the Goodness of God from what you can observe daily?

10 Ways to Recognize the Goodness of God Daily:

Recognize God’s Goodness in Nature

Genesis 1:31 KJV

³¹And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

God, our Creator, spoke the world into existence. On the sixth day, He proclaimed it, very good. Not just good as He labeled the other days of creation before but very good. God is unchanging, so if He proclaimed creation very good then, it remains very good now. God is evident in His creation.

In every season, and every location across the globe, God is intentional in every note of every symphony of nature and His goodness purposefully surrounds us with magnificent reminders of His faithfulness and hope and love, both as large and expansive as a sunrise sky and as small and intricate as a blooming flower.

Recognize God’s Goodness in People

Romans 8:26-28 AKJV

²⁶Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. ²⁷And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. ²⁸And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

We were created in God’s image to glorify Him. He has good plans for us. Those, in Christ, are “called according to his purpose.” His purposes draw us, and others, closer to Him. Our mission on this earth is to share the hope we have in Jesus Christ through the gospel. “Love God, and love your neighbor,” are the most important commands (Matthew 22:34-40, Mark 12:28-34).

The people in our lives are purposefully placed. We were not meant to be alone. (Genesis 2:18-22) The people in our lives are part of God’s purpose for our lives. Some are meant to breathe life and faith and hope and love into our lives, and others we are meant to share the message of faith, hope and love of Jesus with. All things working together for good, conforms us to the image of Jesus Christ.

Recognize God’s Goodness in Answered Prayers

Psalm 34:8-10 AKJV

⁸O taste and see that the Lord is good:
blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
⁹O fear the Lord, ye his saints:
for there is no want to them that fear him.
¹⁰The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger:
but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.

Answered prayer reminds us of God’s goodness. King David wrote Psalm 34 in reference to a perilous situation he found himself in. His point of view is very critical, because God’s goodness can be found not only when His blessings are obvious, but also when the bottom falls completely out. Good people will suffer and through that suffering, God remains good. God hears our prayers, and He is moved by the prayers of the righteous.

Recognize God’s Goodness in the Truth of His Word

1 Timothy 4:4-5 AKJV

⁴For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: ⁵for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

Daily Prayer and time in God’s Word are crucial if we are to witness and experience the goodness of God. We can pour out our praise and problems, lift our anxiety up to God, and confess our sins daily.

These are all privileges of living under the New Covenant forged by the blood of Christ. Christ is the living Word of God. The Apostle John wrote, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1-5). When we seek His Light from our darkness with all of our hearts, God promises we will find Him. His goodness abounds in the Truth of His Word.

Recognize God’s Goodness in His Blessings

Psalm 31:19-20 AKJV

¹⁹Oh how great is thy goodness,
which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee;
which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!
²⁰Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man:
thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.

When we leave our lives in the hands of our good God, we will see the good things God has for us. When we become distracted by idols (anything holding our attention more than God), it’s difficult for us to recognize the good things God has for us, as if trading them in for something that has less value. “Fear seems to drive us away from God and taking refuge in God seems to draw into the life of His Son Jesus and to the intercession of the Holy Spirit. (Psalm 91)

We can choose to distrust everything our eyes see. We can also choose to trust more the goodness of God, counting the blessings He has littered our lives with.

Recognize God’s Goodness in His Providence/Provision

Jeremiah 29:10-14 AKJV

¹⁰For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. ¹¹For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. ¹²Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. ¹³And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. ¹⁴And I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.

How do we observe and testify to the providence and provision of God daily? In the way He sustains us each day. He is faithful to meet our physical needs and love us through the people He’s placed around us.

Jesus, in His Sermon on the Mount, instructed us not to worry. But often, we toil over the next day before this one is done. The fact we are alive today is proof God will be in our tomorrow. He knows the number of our days (Psalm 103:13-16). Even when life is hard, we can trust God to sustain us. God uses the hard things in life to strengthen us and make us more like Him. We can trust God’s providence even if His provision does not exactly align with our own desires.

Recognize God’s Goodness in Your Breath (Another Day of Life)

James 1:16-18 AKJV

¹⁶Do not err, my beloved brethren. ¹⁷Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. ¹⁸Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Every breath is a gift from God. Another day of life, full of His providence and blessing, ought to help us recognize God, daily. Often, we take the simple joy of breathing for granted. God, in His goodness, knows every hair on our heads.

At any given time, that number can change. Daily, we lose strands here and there, sometimes unnoticed. But not to our good God. He notices. He is 100% everywhere and all-knowing, and cares for us deeply enough to know the most finite details of our days. Each day, each breath, is evidence of our good God.

Recognize God’s Goodness in His Forgiveness

1 John 1:7-9 AKJV

⁷but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. ⁸If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Forgiveness reveals God’s goodness, daily. Forgiveness was birthed by our good God, who didn’t have to forgive humanity for breaking His laws.

Daily, we come to God for forgiveness, because we all fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:21-23) In Christ, we are able to come to our good God and we can freely confess unto our Father in Heaven our sins. In His goodness and through the sacrifice of His Son, we are able to embrace the gift of forgiveness He has given to us access, and thus we forgive others as He has done for us.

Recognize God’s Goodness in Acts of Kindness

Psalm 145:5-9 AKJV

⁵I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty,
and of thy wondrous works.
⁶And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts:
and I will declare thy greatness.
⁷They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness,
and shall sing of thy righteousness.

⁸The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion;
slow to anger, and of great mercy.
⁹The Lord is good to all:
and his tender mercies are over all his works.

Everyday random and planned acts of kindness are proof of God’s goodness. We are placed, purposefully, in the pathways of each other’s lives. Nothing good ever happens apart from the Father. Every good work exists because of Him. He makes good of all things, even those intended to harm us. How much more can He take any random act of kindness, turn it into 100% blessing (Acts 3:1-10)?

Recognize God’s Goodness at the Cross

John 3:16-17 AKJV

¹⁶For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. ¹⁷For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

In single the greatest act of love, God sent His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah of the Old Testament, to earth. Fully God and fully man, Jesus came to earth to die a sacrificial death on the cross by crucifixion. He was innocent, yet died a criminal’s death, intentionally for us, to carry out the will of His Father, only He was capable of fulfilling. The cross is a daily reminder of the indescribable, immeasurable, undeniable, unchangeable goodness of God.

I fervently pray whoever comes to read these words, discovers His goodness. But not only discovers His goodness, but is empowered by those discoveries.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Let us now Pray,

God, our Father, companion and guide, we would be lost without your direction— wanderers in wildernesses of our own making. We praise you for dealing so graciously with your people in the past, when you guided them to freedom and a promised new life. We are heirs of that promise fulfilled in Jesus, our Redeemer.

Through him, you have established for us a permanent direction for our lives and as we dwell in him, our lives are blessed with fruitfulness. Holy God, may this time of worship be a joyful response of praise and thanksgiving for all that goodness you have shown, acts of hope you have done for all, for all that you are doing, and for all that you will continue to do for us and all people through the power of the Holy Spirit and in the name of Jesus. Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

I Am Pondering the Promises of God. I Am Pondering the Goodness of God!

In the mid to late 90’s people in the church began to say God is good— all the time— all the time—God is good. It’s easy to proclaim and to shout aloud the goodness of God when things are going great! Except life is not all about what goes good but what goes goofy too. What about when we just get mad at God?

“God is good, all the time; all of the time, God is good,” is a popular phrase used in the course of worship by many pastors, leaders, and believers. “Good” is who God is, what He does, and what we experience on His behalf. God, in His infinite goodness, is sovereign over every circumstance. He proclaimed each note of His creation, “good.” God purposefully brings every human life into existence upon the earth, intended for “good” works to bring glory and honor to His name.

We take as our text today, Psalm 65

Psalm 65 HCSB

God’s Care for the Earth

For the choir director. A Davidic psalm. A song.

⁵You answer us in righteousness,
with awe-inspiring works,
God of our salvation,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the distant seas.
⁶You establish the mountains by Your^[d] power,
robed with strength.
⁷You silence the roar of the seas,
the roar of their waves,
and the tumult of the nations.
⁸Those who live far away are awed by Your signs;
You make east and west shout for joy.

⁹You visit the earth and water it abundantly,
enriching it greatly.
God’s stream is filled with water,
for You prepare the earth^[e] in this way,
providing people with grain.
¹⁰You soften it with showers and bless its growth,
soaking its furrows and leveling its ridges.
¹¹You crown the year with Your goodness;
Your ways overflow with plenty.^[f]
¹²The wilderness pastures overflow,
and the hills are robed with joy.
¹³The pastures are clothed with flocks
and the valleys covered with grain.
They shout in triumph; indeed, they sing.

The Word of God for the Children of God. In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

Our passage in Psalm 65 is a celebration of God’s goodness. It is a call to count our blessings. It is a reminder to cultivate thanksgiving and give praise to God for all that He has done for us and all that He is doing for us. “It is good to give thanks to the Lord, And to sing praises to [the Lord] . . .” (Ps. 92:1). Psalm 65 instructs us in how to do that. It leads us in a celebration of God’s providential care and provision. It leads us to ponder the goodness of God in our existence.

Psalm 65 is another psalm penned by David. This psalm and song centers around describing the great blessings of God. As we can see in verse 1, this is a psalm of praise for the great wonders and works of God through creation.

We will see David praise God for God’s grace, God’s might, and God’s prosperity to humanity. This is a worship psalm that could have been sung at any time. But due to the language of fulfilling vows and receiving plentiful harvests, this was like a psalm used during the Feast of Tabernacles.

This feast was one of the most joyful feasts of the Jewish people, lasting eight days in which the people of Israel celebrated the abundance of the harvest crops. Further, this is only one of three psalms that uses the word “atone” or “atonement.” This helps us tie this psalm to the Feast of Tabernacles because the Day of Atonement occurred five days before the Feast of Tabernacles.

God of Grace (65:1-4)

The psalm begins with David declaring that praise rightfully belongs to God in Zion. The psalm begins with what seems to be a very nationalistic psalm about the people of Israel and their feasts and offerings being performed at the sanctuary in Jerusalem. But verse 2 expands this worship psalm to all people. “O you who hears prayer; to you shall all flesh come” (ESV). This psalm expresses the universal need to come to God. All people on the earth, not just the Jewish people, not just God’s chosen people, everyone must come to God.

Verse 3 describes the crux of the problem for humanity. “When iniquities prevail against me, you atone for our transgressions”(ESV). When we read these words before the coming of Christ, we recognize that this is what the people of Israel understood the goodness of God is to be doing for them all.

The people recognized that their sins were against them and that God was making atonement for their sins. God was willing to make a covering for our sins. Notice that David does not say that the animals sacrificed atone for the people’s transgressions. David knew better than this. He says that it is God who is covering over the people’s sins.

David is declaring what Paul would would a thousand years later be teaching to the Ephesians: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)…” (Ephesians 2:4-5).

The day would one day come when the people needed to know and to also experience ONE Savior. God continued to show mercy toward the people by covering over their sins. But justification for God’s favorable treatment of us had to come through the death of His own Son. One of the inescapable roles of the Messiah was to come to the people of Israel and save them from their sins.

But there is another blessing that comes from the God of grace. Not only were the people’s sins covered, but the people could be brought near to God. “Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, to dwell in your courts!”

This is an incredibly beautiful picture of our ability to come near to God. Can you or I imagine what a source of confidence it was to the people to have God dwelling in the center of the camp? God dwelling in the tabernacle. A cloud over the tabernacle in the day and a fire over the tabernacle at night.

God was with his people and it was a great blessing to see God dwelling in their midst each day. “We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple!” The connection is that when God is near us, we can be relationally satisfied. We will find abundant provisions from the Lord when we remain near the Lord. God’s goodness overflows from his presence. Goodness and righteousness surround God and we all ought to desire to be near it all.

God of Might (65:5-8)

The second section of this psalm describes the power and might of the Lord. This stanza mentions two specific displays of God’s power in the earth. In verse 6 we read, “The one who by his strength established the mountains, being girded with might.” The mountains of the earth show God’s power and might.

We cannot move the mountains. It is a feat for us just to blaze a tunnel through a mighty mountain. The mountains of Yosemite speak to the power of God. The lofty expanse of the Rocky Mountains shows God’s might. To stand on top of any of the mountains of the earth is an indescribable majestic experience. God put these mountains on the earth to show his might.

The second way God shows his might is described in verse 7: “Who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples.” The waves of the ocean are absolutely fascinating when you consider their power.

The power of a wave is unbelievable. Stand in the ocean and notice how a wave will push you back. Even with all of your might to walk forward, you will be pushed back by the ocean’s waves. Dive under a wave and you will feel the great force of it as it passes. One of my fondest memories as a child was the sound of the waves. Mom and Dad would pull into the beach parking lot and when you opened the door, you could hear the sound of the waves crashing. A calming yet powerful sound of the waves crashing on the shore reminds us of God’s power.

Why does the psalmist record these events in nature? Verse 8 tells us that we are to be in awe of the signs of God. These things exist so that we would seek after God. These are permanent signs that our parents enjoyed, that we enjoy, and that generations of children and their children’s children can enjoy.

All of it speaks to the power of God. The power is there to show us something very important. Notice verse 5: “By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas” (65:5; ESV). These things powerfully remind us of God’s power to answer prayer. David is telling us to look at the earth to see what good God can, will do, and remember that this same power is working to answer us.

God of Prosperity (65:9-13)

The third and final section of this psalm describes the bountifulness of God to his people. In these contemporary days, We are not much of an agrarian society as ancient Israel anymore. So, here, we need to place ourselves back in history as good people who lived off of the land and farmed it for sustenance and pay.

The first part describes the watering of the land for crops. David declares that it is God who visits the earth and waters it. This brings about the grain from planting. Further, God brings the showers on the earth to soften it for farming, by which people receive the blessing of growth from their harvest.

In verse 11 David continues by describing the harvest that people enjoy because God has made the earth profitable. Isn’t it interesting the different type of soils that exist on the earth so that all sorts of crops can be planted and harvested? This is not random chance but a thoughtful God who has prepared these things for humanity. Verses 12-13 describe the blessings of God as the pastures and the hills are made ready for the animals to eat and find provision. The earth is made ready by God for the people to harvest.

One of the keys to this section is the description of the abundance of the harvest. In verse 9, “you greatly enrich it” and “the river of God is full of water.” Notice verse 10, “You water its furrows abundantly.” Verse 11, “You crown the year with your bounty” and “your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.” Here is a picture of the cart having so much crop that some of the harvest is falling off the cart and being left behind on the ground. Finally, in verse 12 we read, “The pastures of the wilderness overflow.” This final section is all about how God blesses abundantly. God is not the least bit stingy when he does these things for the earth. God is overflowing with blessings to all flesh.

Tomorrow, we will expand on this Psalm to explore its applications for us today too also strive to identify several ways we can turn to to recognize the goodness of God on a daily basis. The challenges of our days merits such an examination.

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Let us enter into Prayer,

God of life and love We rejoice in your abundant gifts God of all peoples and all places We celebrate your generosity and grace God of the earth and the heavens We praise you for your provision You visit the earth and water it Softening it with showers and blessing its growth You compel springs to gush forth in the valleys From your lofty abode you water the mountains God of life and love We thank you for your abundant goodness and mercy as we bless your holy name!

A Promise is A Promise is A Promise: God’s Promises Light Up Our Tunnel!

“Due to the current financial constraints, the light at the end of the tunnel will be turned off for the foreseeable future!” “With the raising costs of energy and our budget already constrained beyond its reasonable limits, with no desire to enter bankruptcy anytime or ever ….” so reads a notice on a local notice board.

Someone has deemed it necessary to shut off the light at the end of our tunnel! With no expressed promise the light will ever be turned on again? How does it sound for someone contending for a gold medal in ultimate pessimism? Not one press release extending hope will be forthcoming from anyone in any authority!

Now, who has the right to make such a statement? Who has both of their hands on the switch which permanently shuts off down Tunnel of Hope’s power grid?

Answer is quite obviously – no one! Nobody can take away the power of hope unless you let him. Hope is as essential to life as oxygen is to your human body.

Yet, how can we find even the slightest evidence of hope in “impossible” times?

Stand in God for He will be with you now and forever. When we are laid low, He is the ONE with the power to stand us up, He watches over you and He shields you. Pray! Do not be afraid for He is the never ending source of your strength.

Job 5:1-11 HCSB

5 Call out if you please. Will anyone answer you?
Which of the holy ones will you turn to?
²For anger kills a fool,
and jealousy slays the gullible.
³I have seen a fool taking root,
but I immediately pronounced a curse on his home.
⁴His children are far from safety.
They are crushed at the city gate,
with no one to rescue them.
⁵The hungry consume his harvest,
even taking it out of the thorns.^[a]
The thirsty^[b] pant for his children’s wealth.
⁶For distress does not grow out of the soil,
and trouble does not sprout from the ground.
⁷But mankind is born for trouble
as surely as sparks fly upward.

⁸However, if I were you, I would appeal to God
and would present my case to Him.
⁹He does great and unsearchable things,
wonders without number.
¹⁰He gives rain to the earth
and sends water to the fields.
¹¹He sets the lowly on high,
and mourners are lifted to safety.

The Word of God for the Children of God. In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

Job’s life has been turned completely upside down and utterly backwards. His children are all “suddenly dead.” All of his vast storehouses of property and wealth have suddenly evaporated. And if things seemingly could not get any worse, his whole body is afflicted by weeping sores and his wife tells him to “just curse God” and go off somewhere all by yourself and end it all and die. From every possible blessing he could hope for to every curse he did not want.

In the twinkling of an eye someone has pulled the switch on the light in Job’s tunnel. At the snap of some finger from somewhere Job could not identify, his very existence was unceremoniously thrown into chaos. He could not identify who it was who had done such a thing without even one warning whatsoever. Now, he is thrown into a situation where he must figure out; “what’s next?” Where does one even begin, aside from “cursing God and dying” to answer it?

Can you hear Job’s Lament across the great expanse of time from his wilderness unto these contemporary times where it seems Covid pandemic has turned off the lights at the end of too many of our tunnels? Where the economics does not yet support giving someone the authority and the power to turn them back on? It is crystal clear that there is nowhere on earth where our tunnels are all lit up at the same time! Do we hear our Lament coming from those darkened tunnels?

Psalm 42

Longing for God!

¹As a deer longs for streams of water,
so I long for You, God.
²I thirst for God, the living God.
When can I come and appear before God?
³My tears have been my food day and night,
while all day long people say to me,
“Where is your God?”
⁴I remember this as I pour out my heart:
how I walked with many,
leading the festive procession to the house of God,
with joyful and thankful shouts.

⁵Why am I so depressed?
Why this turmoil within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him,
my Savior and my God.
⁶I^[a] am deeply depressed;
therefore I remember You from the land of Jordan
and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
⁷Deep calls to deep in the roar of Your waterfalls;
all Your breakers and Your billows have swept over me.
⁸The Lord will send His faithful love by day;
His song will be with me in the night—
a prayer to the God of my life.

⁹I will say to God, my rock,
“Why have You forgotten me?
Why must I go about in sorrow
because of the enemy’s oppression?”
¹⁰My adversaries taunt me,
as if crushing my bones,
while all day long they say to me,
“Where is your God?”
¹¹Why am I so depressed?
Why this turmoil within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him,
my Savior and my God.

Do you ever ask yourself, “Why am I so down?” “Why should I trust in any of the Promises of God to change anything? Is my answer because God has “failed me? Has He gone home, and turned off voice mail for a little uncluttered time?

No–of course not. Is it because He is powerless to minimally change the angle of trajectory of the circumstances which now greatly trouble you? In effect, my worry says, “God, my problem is bigger than You are. I’m not sure that You can handle any of this for me, so I guess I am on my own to figure this thing out.” “Why should I even put one ounce of my hope into thinking my God’s hope is by far, way bigger and higher than the depths of my sorrow in my life right now?”

Can anybody turn out the light at the end of the tunnel? Have I given anyone my permission to temporarily or permanently flip the switch on my tunnel of hope? Nope! –but somebody or something can surely stand between me and the light of my Savior Jesus Christ, blocking His radiance throwing shadows everywhere.

And as much or as little as it has happened to you, if it has happened to you or even to someone you have come to love, care a great deal about, there’s only one thing to do: Return to the Promise of Jesus Christ (John 1:1-5)! Get rid of that pessimism, Pray God and the Holy Spirit directly into that situation. Go straight to the heart of the matter (Joshua 1:1-9). Push your way past, but get focused on the forever visible light of Jesus Christ at the end of your tunnel.

The first step is making the decision to get on with life and do something about your gloom. I don’t know who wrote the following which someone gave to me, but I do know I like what the author wrote. It’s entitled, “Today,” and it goes:

“And only I can determine/ What kind of day it will be./ It can be busy and sunny, laughing/ and gay; or boring and cold, unhappy and gray./ My own state of mind is the determining key,/ For I am only the person I let myself be./ I can be thoughtful and do all I can to help,/ Or be selfish and think just of myself./ I can enjoy what I do and make it seem fun;/ Or gripe and complain and make it hard on someone./ I can be patient with those who may not understand/ Or belittle and hurt them as much as I can./ But, I have faith in myself and/ believe what I say/ And I personally intend to MAKE, GIVE, GOD THE BEST OF TODAY.”

The Psalmists response was the “full throated” determination to yet praise Him whom he called “my Savior and my God.” God did not leave David in any cave of depression and gloom. He eventually led him back home and to God’s throne.

Job’s response, his own personal affirmation of faith immediately afterwards:

Job 1:20-21 (HCSB)

²⁰Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head.^[a] He fell to the ground and worshiped, ²¹saying:

Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will leave this life.^[b]
The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away.
Praise the name of Yahweh.

To which he would later build upon with,

Job 19:19-27 (HCSB)

¹⁹All of my best friends^[a] despise me,
and those I love have turned against me.
²⁰My skin and my flesh cling to my bones;
I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.

²¹Have mercy on me, my friends, have mercy,
for God’s hand has struck me.
²²Why do you persecute me as God does?
Will you never get enough of my flesh?

²³I wish that my words were written down,
that they were recorded on a scroll
²⁴or were inscribed in stone forever
by an iron stylus and lead!
²⁵But I know my living Redeemer,^[b]
and He will stand on the dust^[c] at last.^[d]
²⁶Even after my skin has been destroyed,^[e]
yet I will see God in^[f] my flesh.
²⁷I will see Him myself;
my eyes will look at Him, and not as a stranger.^[g]
My heart longs^[h] within me.

I am convinced that only we ourselves can allow clouds and shadows to obscure the light at the end of our tunnels of hope. Praising God for what He is and what He has done, what HE HAS PROMISED TO DO allows us to realize He is the light at the end of the tunnel and nothing can obscure that when we stay focused on Him. This turns despair to hope–something you and I can learn for ourselves.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Let us now PRAY;

Prayer: I Have Hope

God, my soul is sad. My heart is hopeless. I’m frowning within and without. But I know the cure. The crack in my heart can be mended by you. The thirst in my throat can be quenched by you. How refreshing you are! I spend a few minutes in worship and you will fulfill your promise made to the Psalmist to abundantly replace everything that is missing. You rehydrate my heart. You rehydrate my hope! You replenish my depleted spirit. So I’m telling my soul, “Cheer up!” I’m counseling my heart, “I Have hope!” For you, my God, are all I need and more. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

Isaiah 55:6 Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. “Promises, Promises.”

A Promise is a Promise is a Promise!

Promises, Promises, Promises!

What is the real meaning of Promise?

A promise is a commitment by someone to do or not do something. As a noun promise means a declaration assuring that one will or will not do something. As a verb it means to commit oneself by a promise to do or give. It can also mean a capacity for good, similar to a value that is to be realized in the near future.

How does the Bible define promise?

In the New Covenant scriptures, promise (epangelia) (https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/luk/24/49/t_conc_997049) is used in the sense of God’s design to visit his people redemptively in the person of his son Jesus Christ. W. E. Vine says that a promise is “a gift graciously bestowed, not a pledge secured by negotiation.”

Luke 24:49 NASB (The Only Time in the Gospels a Promise is made by Jesus)

⁴⁹And behold, I am sending the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

Why do we promise?

Fulfilling promises to yourself to do better or be better is just as important as following through on your promises to others. When you make a promise to yourself, you are taking the time to work towards improving your life. When we work on ourselves, it gives us the ability to better take care of others.

What are the Seven Promises of God?

I am your strength.
I will never leave you.
I have plans for you to prosper.
I hear your prayers.
I will fight for you.
I will give you peace.
I will always love you.

How many believe God can answer every prayer request, no matter what?

Isaiah 55:6 NASB

⁶Seek the Lord while He may be found;
Call upon Him while He is near.

Matthew 21:21-22 NASB

²¹And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. ²²And whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive it all.”

The Word of God for the Children of God. In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

How many here can genuinely say, with 100% blessed assurance they 100% truly believe God can answer their prayers, no matter what may come along?

If there is a hesitation in your spirit, when you hear that question asked, there shouldn’t be, should there?

I mean, do some of us really, seriously think that our problems and situations are impossibly harder for God to answer and then work out, than the problems, needs, wants and desires of our friends and neighbors!

Should we not expect, as great or greater miracles to be done in our lives, than the fantastic miracles we read about in the Bible?

If we believe the promise of the scripture and we can take Jesus at His Word, we should! We ought to do so without any hesitation or without purpose of evasion.

Well, I do not know that’s setting the bar awfully high, Reading through each of the Gospel Narratives, Can we not say Jesus did some pretty amazing things?

And I would say to that…….you are more than just a little bit correct with that summation, His actions were and are 100% amazing, His words were and are also quite amazing, everything about what we read of Jesus is 100% Amazing!

For myself, this Word from John’s Gospel Narrative transcends 100% amazing.

John 1:1-5 NASB

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ^2 [a]He was in the beginning with God. ³All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him ^[b]not even one thing came into being that has come into being. ⁴In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind. ⁵And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not ^[c]grasp it.

I share this next passage of scripture with you, because I so much want you to realize, truly “beyond 100%” we have been given by God, through and by our relationship with God, that we have with His Son, Jesus, our Lord and Savior!

John 14:7-15 NASB

Oneness with the Father

⁷If you ^[a]had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”

⁸Philip *said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” ⁹Jesus *said to him, “Have I been with ^[b]you for so long a time, and yet ^[c]you have not come to know Me, Philip? The one who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own, but the Father, as He remains in Me, does His works. ¹¹Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves. ¹²Truly, truly I say to you, the one who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I am going to the Father. ¹³And whatever you ask in My name, this I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.

¹⁵“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

Absolutely everything, ranging from small to large, as you make it a part of your believing prayer, gets included as you lay hold of God’s capabilities!

God wants to bless and give to His Children! Are you, right now, a child of the most high God?

Well then Let me say that again, with Greater Clarification!

“God…….wants…….to…….Bless…….you….and…..Give…….to……you!!

Do you believe you are beyond 100% blessed by the abundance of God?

You should, before your feet ever hit the ground in the morning you need to remember and declare God this amazing truth, “God has already prepared uncountable blessings, all waiting for you to arrive at each and every day!”

God not only wants to Bless you, God is willing to go to greatest length’s to do whatever it takes to make your request and desires come to fruition!

Absolutely everything, ranging from small to large, as you make it a part of your believing prayer, gets included as you lay hold of Gods capabilities!

Absolutely everything? Yes everything! Every single solitary concern! To Be Sure and absolutely assured. all of Gods promises, are Yes and Amen!

God is very aware of how much power His Words possess, when you proclaim them and speak them in and over your life!

Do you know what happens when you make promises?

You’re held accountable and expected to keep them aren’t you?

God can never, God would have never made any promises, if He did not mean them and utterly intend on keeping every single one of them and being 100+% true and responsible for each and every one of them! Who of us could say that?

Isaiah 55:8-11 HCSB

⁸“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
and your ways are not My ways.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.
⁹“For as heaven is higher than earth,
so My ways are higher than your ways,
and My thoughts than your thoughts.
¹⁰For just as rain and snow fall from heaven
and do not return there
without saturating the earth
and making it germinate and sprout,
and providing seed to sow
and food to eat,
¹¹so My word that comes from My mouth
will not return to Me empty,
but it will accomplish what I please
and will prosper in what I send it to do.”

In this moment, as I am listening to my Pastor and several of my brothers and sisters in Christ praying to and praising God, I am thinking about a lot of things.

So many Prayer requests, so many praise reports, and the great number of things on my to do list and the shorter hours of day light to accomplish them. Looking forward or backwards to the time change coming up again in a short matter of days, the “Day Light Savings Time” which takes place twice a year.

Altering time…….after thousands of years of trying by man, a simple law by congress, somehow, we made it a reality, well at least upon paper anyways.

Man trying to manipulate the works of God to achieve his end! Man has never had an original thought that was not Gods idea or thought, in the first place.

I remember reading a story some years ago,

The famous American author, Samuel Clement, Mark Twain, attended a Sunday service. He met the preacher at the door afterward to shake his hand. And he told him that he had a book at home with every word he had preached that morning.

The minister assured him that his sermon that morning was an original. But Twain was adamant. The preacher asked to see the book. So, Twain sent it over the next day. When the preacher opened the package he found a dictionary. And inside the cover Twain had written, “Words, just words.”

Jeremiah 23:28-30 HCSB

²⁸The prophet who has only a dream should recount the dream, but the one who has My word should speak My word truthfully, for what is straw compared to grain?”—this is the Lord’s declaration. ²⁹“Is not My word like fire”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and like a hammer that pulverizes rock? ³⁰Therefore, take note! I am against the prophets”—the Lord’s declaration—“who steal My words from each other.

Jeremiah 32:26-27 HCSB

²⁶Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ²⁷“Look, I am Yahweh, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for Me?

One word from man may help for a moment, One Word from God, is all that you and I will ever need! One word from God, can and will propel you to victory your whole life long and shower you with beyond a lifetime of His Grace and Favor!

God is omnipresent, which means; always present everywhere: continuously and simultaneously present throughout the whole of creation.

God knows no time, because He owns time! He can start time He can stop time!

If God chooses He can make more time, or speed up or slow down time!

He has already been to the future, there is no place in time God hasn’t already inhabited.

God has already been at this very moment, where we are at right now…….thousands of years ago and maybe even as recent as yesterday.

Absolutely everything all of the time, ranging from small to large, as you and I make it an essential part of our believing prayer, gets included as we lay hold of, as we come to possess the God given strength to grasp each of Gods capabilities!

There is power, there is life, there is Victory in His words! There is power, there is life, there is Victory in your words when you believe and declare His Words!

Is there no length, that God will not go to for His Children?

Is there nothing that God won’t do for those that Love Him?

Is there nothing that is not possible, when you put your faith and trust in God?

Praise God, shout Hallelujah, God is a prayer answering God!

Absolutely everything, ranging from small to large, as you make it a part of your believing prayer, gets included as you lay hold of God.”

Is there nothing that God can’t and won’t do for His Children? The answer is no, nothing is to large a task for The God Of All Things Possible!!

Absolutely everything, ranging from small to large, as you make it a part of your believing prayer, gets included as you and I lay 100+% hold of God.

The scoffers still say that was then, that was a long time ago, yes it was, in our limited way of thinking and understanding, yes it was.

But to the God of unlimited possibilities, to the God who knows no time constraints and is not bound by our understanding of time. For all we know, the battle at Gibeon could have happened, in Gods realm of possibilities, as recent as just yesterday!

What we do know is this, Gods Word is true, God is not a respecter of persons, Gods Word never returns void and there is just as much power in the words of that time stopping miracle today, as the day it happened!

God is the same yesterday, today and forever! The amazing this battle took place before the promise of Jesus, was delivered.

How much more is possible in our lives, for us who have received the Promise of the salvation message Jesus offers?

Whatever you hath need of today, is 100+% possible, when you put 100+% of your hope, your faith and trust in God, through your relationship with Jesus!

What Jesus has available to Him, we have available to us. As Jesus is the Way and the Truth and the Life of and in this world or these are not just words that we will only find in the dictionary! Those words are God’s biblical declaration, that life changing declaration is 100+% promise from the God of all things possible!

The Everlasting God, the Great I Am who not only makes Promises, but also absolutely Keeps His Word!

Start declaring and proclaiming God’s Promises over your life, God’s Words over your every situation. Something supernatural happens when you release God’s Words over your life into the atmosphere!

They go relentlessly to work accomplishing everything their assigned to do, until. Until they complete the assignment!

There is power, there is life, there is Victory in His words!

There is power, there is life, there is Victory in your words when you believe and declare His Words!

*Life giving,

*life altering!

*life changing!

*life extending!

*abundant 100+% far, above and beyond life to be lived starting right now!

Alleluia? Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Amen? Amen!

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Let us now Pray,

Psalm 100 HCSB

Be Thankful

A psalm of thanksgiving.

¹Shout triumphantly to the Lord, all the earth.
²Serve the Lord with gladness;
come before Him with joyful songs.
³Acknowledge that Yahweh is God.
He made us, and we are His^[a] —
His people, the sheep of His pasture.
⁴Enter His gates with thanksgiving
and His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him and praise His name.
⁵For Yahweh is good, and His love is eternal;
His faithfulness endures through all generations.

Accepting or Refusing History’s Greatest Invitation: Does God Truly Offer Us the Absolute Best for Free?

Premise for Today: The Gifts of God are free but they won’t be of any value to the one who does not actually take them and truly apply them to his/her life.

The Spirit of God is calling out this very day. He is calling out to every man, woman and child in this world. God is reaching out, with open hands that are filled with an over abundance of good things; and it’s all for the taking.

Every good gift that God offers is absolutely free; just there waiting for us to take our share and apply to our own lives. Nothing that God has bears a price tag. The price has been paid in full by Jesus’ sacrificial death upon the cross.

Isaiah 55:1-7 The Message

Buy Without Money

55 ^1-5“Hey there! All who are thirsty,
    come to the water!
Are you penniless?
    Come anyway—buy and eat!
Come, buy your drinks, buy wine and milk.
    Buy without money—everything’s free!
Why do you spend your money on junk food,
    your hard-earned cash on cotton candy?
Listen to me, listen well: Eat only the best,
    fill yourself with only the finest.
Pay attention, come close now,
    listen carefully to my life-giving, life-nourishing words.
I’m making a lasting covenant commitment with you,
    the same that I made with David: sure, solid, enduring love.
I set him up as a witness to the nations,
    made him a prince and leader of the nations,
And now I’m doing it to you:
    You’ll summon nations you’ve never heard of,
and nations who’ve never heard of you
    will come running to you
Because of me, your God,
    because The Holy of Israel has honored you.”

^6-7Seek God while he’s here to be found,
    pray to him while he’s close at hand.
Let the wicked abandon their way of life
    and the evil their way of thinking.
Let them come back to God, who is merciful,
    come back to our God, who is lavish with forgiveness.

The Word of God for the Children of God. In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

Yes! the over abundant supply of God’s provisions are absolutely 100% available and just waiting for the supply and demand line to line all of up its storehouses.

But what good are the free gifts of God if we do not accept them for ourselves? If there were 50 $100 bills lying on a storehouse floor and you could have as many as you wanted but you did not come to get them; what good would it do to offer them on the floor? Even better than that; there are free things offered on this floor that are far more valuable than $100 bills; in fact most of the gifts that God offers here are priceless. No amount of money, personal sacrifice, or payment of personal suffering and penance could ever pay for just one of God’s free gifts.

Envision it! He offers all salvation for the soul, healing for the body, soundness for the mind, joy for the heart, power for the weakened, encouragement for the discouraged, happiness for the depressed; victory for the defeated; deliverance for those who are bound up inside and peace in the midst of life’s storms. These are all free gifts from God; free for the taking; free to apply to our own needs.

But not one of these gifts will do any of us any good at all until we first learn to trust it then pick it up and apply it to our own need; at the moment we need it.

God wants to give his people all the good things in life. Jesus said in John 10:10, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

Yet, too, It is absolutely certain that some of us here this day have had Satan nearly succeed in his attempts to steal, kill and destroy, not just the things in this life, but our eternal souls as well. In fact, I can say this with full assurance of its truth – there is not one person who comes to read this devotion that Satan has not tried to destroy in every way possible. He came against your body with diseases, sicknesses, addictions and weakness – but by the grace of God, and because of God’s limiting factor on Satan, you came through it victoriously.

The devil tried to destroy everything good in your life; stealing peace, love, for members of your own family, and communities, causing an uncaring, and even an attitude of deepest hate sometimes toward the very ones you love the most.

Satan tried to destroy your very life; bringing things into your path that caused you to fall into temptation and sin that nearly killed you. (Job Chapter One!)

The devil then stole your joy, because real joy comes in knowing who you are, who you belong to, and where you are going. He stole that joy because you lost your identity with God, lost sight of the person that God always intended for you to become, and all you could see was death and destruction in your path.

Satan took away hope; because from the beginning when sin entered the picture, our hope was lost, for there is no hope without Jesus in your heart.

Satan even took away your desire to live because everything that makes life worth living seems to be forever gone. There is no Garden of Eden to care for.

Brother’s and Sisters in Christ, It’s time we quit swallowing the lies of the devil. It’s time we realize that every negative thought like those I’ve just mentioned, do not come from God, but from the very pits of hell. Satan never quits trying to steal, kill and destroy. But neither does God ever quit offering his free gifts of deliverance and salvation either. Satan’s “gifts” all carry a very large price tag; but all of God’s gifts are free and good. Just pick them up and use them freely!

God spoke through His prophet Isaiah who penned these words under the anointing of the Holy Spirit in Isaiah chapter 55.

Isaiah 55:1 Authorized (King James) Version

55 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters,
and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat;
yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

That word, “Ho” carries the meaning of a Shofar blast to attention. God is calling forth to every one of us right now to just listen to what he has to say.

If you’re thirsty – not for water, or a soda pop, or coffee or tea or beer, but for something that will quench the feeling of dryness and emptiness in your very heart – then God says its time to come to the waters. No, there’s no bottles of water here that will quench that spiritual thirst; but there is the Word of God that waters the driest soul; and there is a River of living water flowing from the Throne of God that was paid for at Calvary. A river of life which will never cease.

Like Jesus told the woman at the well, “if you will just taste of the good water that Jesus offers, you will never thirst again.” (John 4:7-15)

God’s water is eternally satisfying and life-giving, and it will fill that emptiness in your soul. Taste and see that the Lord is good! (Psalm 34:8) It is His free gift! What do we have to lose except that which we do not want to begin with?

“HO, EVERYONE”…come taste the water. We do not need to “buy it”; we could not if we tried for there is no price. Come on, take a bite of the Bread of Life that only comes in knowing Jesus; come forth and taste of the sweet wine of the Holy Spirit down in your heart; and drink of the milk of God’s Word.

All of it is absolutely free, but we have to pick it up and we have to apply it to our own lives. God gives it; but he will never force it on you. The gifts are there; but we each have to choose to receive them by choice and then use them by choice.

Contemporary Religion would try to tell us that we have to obey a set of laws, be “politically correct” to receive God’s free gifts, but our contemporary religion is 100% wrong. True life in Christ is free. We do not have to pay a penance; or beg God; pay a price in service – just believe and receive – that’s “bottom line” it!

Isaiah 55:2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

Why waste time; and throw away your most valuable asset – life itself- searching for things that satisfy that have no power to satisfy? Satan’s offerings of sex, drugs, money, fame and popularity will not satisfy the hunger in your soul. Why work so hard chasing after the things that this world have to offer when none of those things will provide happiness, peace or eternal life. Everything of this world is dying; perishing; and will soon be gone forever. Only that which comes from God alone will stand for eternity.

God’s call if for us all to listen very closely to his voice. Don’t let Satan steal the free gifts of God from you because you are letting ever other voice in the world silence the voice of God! Jesus is not going to try to shout over the top of the voices of Satan or the things of the world. He speaks in a still, small, quiet voice.

We will not hear him if we do not listen closely. It’s only his voice that’s going to matter in the end. It’s only his voice that’s calling each and everyone of us to good things and a life filled with abundant blessings. Are any of us listening?

Can we hear him calling? His sheep; his people will hear his voice; and they won’t follow any other! Are we his sheep; and are we listening to his voice?

Isaiah 55:3 “Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.”

Isaiah 55:4 “Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.

Who is God speaking of here?

It’s God’s only Son whom He sent to be the leader and commander of God’s people. Jesus Christ came so that we might have life and that more abundantly!

Isaiah 55:6 “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

The gifts of God are always laid before us in the realm of the Holy Spirit. At any moment; in any place, they will be waiting for us to just take them as our own.

God is always near; as near as a whisper; as near as prayer; as close as a thought. God has promised that he will always be with us, in the storm, or in the sunny days of life; in the valley and on the mountaintop. You can call on God anytime.

When I get in trouble fighting “life”; I can call upon my Savior Jesus any time!

When I feel discouraged he will lead me on; I can call Jesus any time

Let me proclaim this again at the top of my lungs: I can call Jesus anytime.

He is always on the battle line. He is king almighty; Lord God is his name!

I can call Jesus anytime!

When the storm is raging and the billows over me roll; I can call Jesus any time!

When my heart is way too heavy, my spirit is too low; I can call Jesus any time!

Jesus is always as close as the mention of his name.

All he is doing is waiting on us to call on him. Call on Him!

Seek Him! Receive from Him! Jesus is waiting on us all the time!

Isaiah 55:7 “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”

Turn to Christ, laying aside the sin in your life, giving your heart to him – just return to Jesus. It’s time we all turn back toward home.

We have wandered far enough. Like the Prodigal Son, we have wandered so very, very, far from God; but now is the acceptable time: “I’m coming home!”

One of my very favorite songs since accepting Christ into my heart twenty some years ago went something like this, “Coming home; coming home; never more to roam. Open wide, thine arms of Love. Lord, I’m coming home.” Alleluia!

God’s great love is always there! Jesus is always standing with open arms just waiting for us to turn to him! God’s heart aches for his wayward children; those who have refused to pick up his free gift of life eternal.

Let us extend the Words and thoughts of Isaiah 55 just a little bit further today because we can and because they are there and God has given us His permission.

Isaiah 55:8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.”

Isaiah 55:9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Please! Please! Please! Do not let the devil deceive you – God does love you!

God does truly care! And God does want you in his family!

In our minds we often think that we aren’t good enough; and that we’ve gone too far to be saved from ourselves and our sin. God does not want us anymore.

But nothing could possibly be further from the Gospel truth.

Jesus died that we might be able to come to him in repentance at any time. God’s thoughts for us are only for good and not for destruction. He will only consider punishment when we have given him no other choice.

God thinks about you and me; and can see us in a place that is far greater than anything we could ever imagine. His thoughts for us are to see us blessed, sanctified, holy, righteous, and he thinks of how great we will be as a Born Again, Holy Ghost filled, anointed and faithful Child of his own house. He thinks on a higher plane for our good than you or I could ever imagine for ourselves.

Isaiah 55:10 “For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

Isaiah 55:11 “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”

The rain which fell here over the past several days, came for a purpose. It came to water the ground; not just to fall and be immediately vaporized back into the clouds. The snow falls in winter, not just to look pretty on the ground, but to remain until it thaws in the spring months so that the earth may be nourished.

The rain provides what the ground needs to grow the food that we all need to live. That’s God’s purpose in sending it, and it’s purpose will be fulfilled. God’s purpose is that the rain and waters from the snows provide for the seed to grow, the crops to come forth, and food for all living things should be the product.

That’s also the purpose in the preaching and teaching of the Word of God. It goes forth to water the soul and feed the spirit of a man. It goes forth to provide nourishment in the heart so that the seed of the eternal things of God will grow.

God says that when any of the Words from his living Word are preached; they will go forth to water the hearts and souls of men; if those hearts and souls will receive it. This too, is a free gift of God. It’s there for the taking. How much of it anyone of us receives and then genuinely applies is absolutely up to you and me.

Isaiah 55:12 “For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”

Here is God’s free promise to all who will accept the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. Here is God’s will for your life if you will only be faithful to him.

He promises Love, Joy, Peace, Patience and Understanding. Singing, clapping – all motions that come from a heart which is glad and filled with good things. That sure beats the dreariness, sadness, confusion, and crying that Satan offers.

Isaiah 55:13 “Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

God is not going to allow Satan’s thorns to overtake you (Book of Job). All of those things in your life that seem to be a constant bother may not go away, but God will give you the peace and power to deal with them and overcome them.

God is not promising us any of this because we deserve it. He is giving us this free gift of an abundant life because of his own immeasurable love, mercy and grace. God blesses all of his people because they are his and he will not fail us.

God’s gifts are absolutely free; they won’t leave you broken and dying by the side of the highway of life. God gives gifts of freedom, life more abundant and life that we can enjoy living. Have we received God’s free gifts this great day?

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Let us now Pray;

‘Tis Finished! The Messiah Dies written by Charles Wesley, 1707-1788

1. ‘Tis finished! the Messiah dies,
cut off for sins, but not his own.
Accomplished is the sacrifice,
the great redeeming work is done.

2. The veil is rent; in Christ alone
the living way to heaven is seen;
the middle wall is broken down,
and all the world may enter in.

3. ‘Tis finished! All my guilt and pain,
I want no sacrifice beside;
for me, for me the Lamb is slain;
’tis finished! I am justified.

4. The reign of sin and death is o’er,
and all may live from sin set free;
Satan hath lost his mortal power;
’tis swallowed up in victory.

History’s Greatest Invitation Ever Extended, Yet Seldom Ever Delivered: Our Decision to Accept It or Refuse It.

We continue our journey through the “Great Invitation” from Isaiah 55:1-3.

God has decisively and directly intervened into the affairs of mankind. It is God Himself who is speaking above His Prophet Isaiah and is directing His Voice to the Israelites who have been exiled in Babylon for about seventy years. It is the only place two plus generations of Israelites have known as their home. To what degree do they yet know their God who had brought forth their ancestors from hundreds of years of bondage Egypt? We do not know. Now, we might find out.

They have been exposed to Babylonian deities and local religious practices. It is everywhere around them. Generations of men women and children going about their day to day living surrounded by Babylonian festivals to their pantheon of the gods they worshipped. To what degree were the Israelites allowed their own decisions to practice their own traditional worship practices unencumbered by their Babylonian hosts? Did they still “know” the One true God of Deuteronomy 6:4-9? Did they still centrally worship “The Lord is thy God, the Lord Alone!?”

What about making the decision to choose which god or God they will “serve” and love with all of their hearts, all of their souls, with all all of their strength?

We will turn to a familiar passage of text from Joshua chapter 24 verses 14 – 24.

Joshua 24:14-24 NASB

“We Will Serve the Lord”

¹⁴“Now, therefore, ^[a]fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and ^[b]truth; and do away with the gods which your fathers served beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. ¹⁵But if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served, which were beyond the Euphrates River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

¹⁶The people answered and said, “Far be it from us that we would abandon the Lord to serve other gods; ¹⁷for the Lord our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slaves, and did these great signs in our sight and watched over us through all the way in which we went and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed. ¹⁸The Lord drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God.”

¹⁹Then Joshua said to the people, “You will not be able to serve the Lord, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your wrongdoing or your sins. ²⁰If you abandon the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and destroy you after He has done good to you.” ²¹And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the Lord.” ²²So Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves the Lord, to serve Him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” ²³“Now then, do away with the foreign gods which are in your midst, and incline your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.” ²⁴And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God and ^[c]obey His voice.”

The Word of God for the Children of God. In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

To Make Wise Decisions, Connect The Dots

How many of us have ever made a decision that we later regretted? How many of us have said, “If I had known then, what I know now, I would have chosen a different path?” When you or I make a poor choice, are we more likely to blame ourselves or lash out so to put the blame on others or on our circumstances? Do we claim ignorance, claiming we are victims of circumstances not of our own making? The ages old: “this is what was handed to me by people in authority over me” defense? Ergo, “I did not know any better to challenge their choices?” “My parents did the best they could to raise me believing in a God I never met!”

Nowadays we wonder where are the road signs which direct us to that one place we are trying to get to in total safety. What do all these words have in common? Yield, bump, curve ahead, stop, one way, bridge freezes before road, detour, and left turn only. These are all words that you, I will find on roadway signs through any given community we are living in. What’s the purpose of the information?

They get us from point A to all subsequent points which might come afterwards. They get us from a point of origination, eventually to our points of destinations. These word signs all want you to think safety and to make adjustments before we make a decision to keep moving forward or detour if we flaunt them. They do not have the power to make you do anything. They do provide you with a decision to change your behavior to keep you from regretting that bad decision.

Sometimes we decide to ignore the signs, and there might not be any apparent consequences for doing so. Sometimes you can ignore the signs and experience an inconvenience, minor damage to your car, or a traffic ticket or worse, jail. Sometimes you can ignore the signs, and it may cost you or others their lives.

It’s not a simple matter of whether or not you like the particular message of a particular sign that should impact our behavior. It’s a matter of connecting the dots into the future of what might happen if this sign is ignored. The very sign we are so tempted to ignore, might be something that’s there to save our lives.

There is a passage in the book of Proverbs that provides us with direction and insight on how to make wise decisions by connecting the dots. By connecting the dots I’m talking about drawing a picture.

Do you remember as kids, we use to be given a piece of paper with numbers all over it? If you drew a line from one number to the next in the right sequence a picture will begin to emerge on the page.

Choosing to go from #5 to #6 would further create the picture. Our decisions do not happen in a vacuum. We are drawing a biblically based picture whether we like it or not of our lives of living God, loving God with each decision we make.

Jesus understood this decision very well. He knew he had a certain purpose to accomplish with his life. He was to be in Jerusalem on a particular day in order to be crucified and to die for our sins. He could live God or He could walk away.

When others tried to get him to make choices to show who he was, “Jesus would say, my time has not yet come.” Jesus connected the dots between his current behavior, and how the choices he made now would impact the final mission that his Father had sent Him to do. These are the self same decisions we must make.

Proverbs 27:12The Message

¹²A prudent person sees trouble coming and ducks;
a simpleton walks in blindly and is clobbered.

We don’t use the word prudent very much anymore but it means shrewd in a good sense. It’s the person who sees a situation and thinks before acting upon it. Google defines it as acting with or showing care and thought for the future.

A prudent person is diligent, taking the time to connect the dots between where “I am now, and where I will be in the future.” The prudent person knows that, I must make some decisions and changes to avoid a danger that is in front of me.

In our Old Testament Reading from Joshua, God had made a promise to the people of the nation of Israel. God told them that He would deliver them out of slavery in Egypt, take them unto a bountiful land, remove the people out, and would go “before them” and defeat their numerous enemies. Well God did it.

Moses was the leader God used to get them out of Egypt. Joshua was the leader God used to conquer the land and to distribute it to the people. Finally, Joshua was ready to retire from his job and the people had everything God had wanted to give to them.

Joshua said to the people, “You need to make a choice. This is it. Either throw away the gods you have been hiding and carrying around in your back pockets so that you can serve the Lord faithfully or choose to serve the gods you’ve been carrying around, either the old ones or the new ones you just found.

Joshua was a prudent person. He could see the danger of trying to hold on to certain things while having a goal of trying to walk with the Lord. He saw very clearly, saw through the people’s words knowing that if they were not willing to get rid of the gods now which they had been collecting, they were never going to follow God into their future, they would lose everything God had given to them.

The people agreed with Joshua, that God had done some incredible things for them. They agreed with Joshua that serving the Lord was a good thing. They agreed that God was holy and even though God could take away their blessings, they said we will serve the Lord our God and obey ONLY Him.

They claimed they wanted the same thing Joshua did, but nowhere in chapter 24 does it ever say, “the people went and got their foreign gods and idols and stacked them up in a pile and threw them away as Joshua told them to do.”

They honestly believed there was no danger in compromising what God had told them to do. They saw the same situation as Joshua did. Joshua was prudent.

He looked ahead and said “I don’t care how attractive these idols are, I do not want them in my house and in none of the houses of my family.” He connected the dots into the future and found his safety in God. He declared as for me and my house ,we will serve the Lord.

The people on the other hand kept going forward as they had been doing and like the second half of verse 27:12, says the simple keep going and pay the penalty.

Within a few years of the death of the elders who outlived Joshua, the people lost their land, their freedom and their relationship to God because they did not connect the dots between the decisions they were making in the present with the consequences of the future. The Israelites had been in Babylon for 70 years. They had been raised by succeeding generations of parents, grand parents who had first hand experience with the same God who had led them out of Egypt. Personal experience and generational education goes a long way to keeping “God alive and well” in the hearts of true believers. But, lose that education?

A prudent person asks questions before marching off into a decision. 1) Is the decision I’m making a wise choice. 2) What will I gain if I choose this option? 3) Who will be affected if things don’t go as I plan. 4) What will this do to my walk with Christ. 5) Will I be pleased if others find out what I have done? But if the Gospel truth gets watered down or “acculturated,” God gets “watered down!”

Do you know why Jesus said, “come follow me?” Because He knows we are all following something or someone and we are all headed to a destination of some sort. Many of us are tempted to make decisions today without attempting to get into their bibles, diligently study and apply them, to connect dots for the future.

Throughout the Book of Joshua, we can follow the dots,

We have watched as Joshua stood before a raging river in flood stage and placed his feet into the water. God honored his faith and the waters walled up Joshua led the Israelites to safety.

We watched as the Israelites marched around the walls of Jericho for six days; on the Sabbath day seven priests marched around the city seven times on the seventh time they blew the trumpets in the walls fell down and they captured the city.

We watched as Joshua prayed what may be the most powerful prayer ever prayed as he asked for the sun and the moon to standstill; to basically stopped time long enough for him to win and finish the battle.

Then God spoke to Joshua and he said Joshua, your very old-and when God tells you you’re old… Well, you’re old. And he told him there were still some very large areas of land to be taken over. So the land of Canaan was divided into the 12 tribes of Israel. That covers nearly 13 chapters of the book.

Today we come to the end of this great book. Now we finally connect the dots.

In chapter 23 Joshua was summons all the leaders together in says I am old and well advanced in years and he reminds them that God would lead them, that God would keep his promise to them and that they would live forever in the land he had promised to them. Then in chapter 24 Joshua gives them these final words of advice. Verses 14-15.

Let me ask you a question this morning… How do you go about making the major decisions of life? Life is full of so many choices. How do you go about making those decisions? What is the process for you?

George Jones was an icon in country music… Just before his death in 1999 he wrote a song called choices-the mainline the song says I’m living and dying with the choices I made. And we do. We live and die with the major choices we make in life. These are some of the major choices in my opinion that we make in life.

1. What kind of work will I do? How are you going to use the gifts and talents God has given to you to help make a

difference in this world? In this church? In this community?

2. Who am I going to marry? Too many times we give two little thought to this decision and it is made through our emotions-after all were in love. This is a major decision because that person you choose will impact your life forever. In both good ways and often in bad ways. Who we choose to marry is clearly a life-changing decision.

3. Where will I live? I counted this week and realized that in my life of 60 years now I have lived in five different states, eight different cities and 13 different apartments and homes. For over 22 years now I have been in the same spot but we have had more than our share of moving. During those 22 years I have served eight churches and each time I have changed there has been a major time of prayer for me. Because those changes affects not only me but my wife to. And as a couple it also affects those congregations, it also has had a large impact on.

The decisions? What kind of work will I do? Who am I going to marry? Where will I live? All of these decisions are huge but there is one more that is obvious that matters even more. And here it is. How will I make decisions? How we make decisions will determine the course and the direction of your life how you make decisions will determine whether you will live inside or outside of God’s will.

These are decisions the exiled Israelites in Babylon would have to make in deciding how to respond to God’s Great Invitation from Isaiah 55. That said I want to give you a four step process for how we must begin to make decisions as a church and of course as individuals, families and communities. Decisions that are solid, scripturally based decisions that are certain, decisions that are godly… With results that will hopefully, prayerfully one day come to benefit everyone.

1. Learn to pray. Pray as though your life depends on it. Because one day in the very near future it just might. Too many times we “rush in where even lions fear to tread” and make major decisions but only give them minor consideration.

2. Learn to wait. Isaiah says wait on the Lord and you will mount up with wings like eagles, you will run and not even get tired. Too many times we make what we commonly refer to as impulsive decisions which we cannot financially do. Too many of our worst decisions have been made by faulty impulse control and you and I can end up paying for them for a long time. Learning to wait ON GOD is one of the hardest lessons we must learn in life. The key word here is timing.

Remember Psalm 46 NASB!

46 God is our refuge and strength,
A ^[b]very ready help in ^[c]trouble.
²Therefore we will not fear, though the earth shakes
And the mountains slip into the heart of the ^[d]sea;
³Though its waters roar and foam,
Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah

⁴There is a river whose streams make the city of God happy,
The holy dwelling places of the Most High.
⁵God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved;
God will help her ^[e]when morning dawns.
⁶The ^[f]nations made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered;
He ^[g]raised His voice, the earth quaked.
⁷The Lord of armies is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah

⁸Come, behold the works of the Lord,
^[h]Who has inflicted horrific events on the earth.
⁹He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth;
He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;
He burns the chariots with fire.
¹⁰“^[i]Stop striving and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the ^[j]nations, I will be exalted on the earth.”
¹¹The Lord of armies is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah

3. Learn how to get a word from God.

Remember Psalm 19 NASB

The Works and the Word of God.

For the music director. A Psalm of David.

19 The heavens tell of the glory of God;
And their expanse declares the work of His hands.
²Day to day pours forth speech,
And night to night reveals knowledge.
³There is no speech, nor are there words;
Their voice is not heard.
⁴Their ^[a]line has gone out into all the earth,
And their words to the end of the world.
In them He has placed a tent for the sun,
⁵Which is like a groom coming out of his chamber;
It rejoices like a strong person to run his course.
⁶Its rising is from ^[b]one end of the heavens,
And its circuit to the ^[c]other end of them;
And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

⁷The Law of the Lord is ^[d]perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
⁸The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
⁹The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether.
¹⁰They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much pure gold;
Sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
¹¹Moreover, Your servant is warned by them;
In keeping them there is great reward.
¹²Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.
¹³Also keep Your servant back from presumptuous sins;
Let them not rule over me;
Then I will be innocent,
And I will be blameless of great wrongdoing.
¹⁴May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.

Seek the advice of godly, successful people. People do not become successful in life by luck. He’s usually the result of making solid decisions. Solomon said the way of a fool seems right to him, a wise man listens to advice. Proverbs 12:15

Go to God’s word. This book gives us instructions on how to live. It is an owner’s manual. Basic instructions before leaving Earth. God’s word says I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. Solomon said lean not unto your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5-8

Both Joshua and Isaiah said whether you turn to the right or the left you will hear a voice behind you saying, here is the way (scriptures); ergo walk in it.

4. Once you make a decision, never look back.

Stop 2nd guessing yourself. Why? Because it’s too late and accomplishes nothing. Look ahead. Living life by constantly looking in the rearview mirror is the wrong way to live. Make a decision and then look forward.

Decisions. We make them every day. Today we decided to get up and come to worship. We decided whether to listen or not. And now I want to ask you to consider another couple of critically important decisions relevant to your response to whether or not you accept or you refuse to live into Isaiah 55.

(1) To become a part of this body of Christ. (2) A decision to follow Christ as your Lord and Savior. I made mine 2o years ago and it is the one of the decisions I have made for which I have absolutely zero regrets about. None. Nada. Zip. Will you make an Isaiah 55 decision today? What will you, your household do?

Having the right guidance in life requires abiding by the Lord’s will and having his discernment in your life.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Let us come to pray,

Loving Father, only you know my end from the beginning. Nothing I do or say catches you by surprise. You know what is in my heart, good or bad. Everyone around me is choosing to do things their way, and it is very tempting for me to do so too. But Father God, I want your will to be done in my life. If it is not your will for me to take this path, then Father, give me divine strength to accept and to follow your lead. May every decision I make be truly pleasing to you. In Jesus’ name, I believe and pray. Alleluia! Alleluia! Allelui1! Amen.

History’s Greatest Invitation Ever Extended, Yet Seldom Ever Delivered: An Invitation Too Frequently Refused

An Invitation is an Invitation. Someone is supposedly thinking high enough of someone that they want that someone to share in a uniquely special moment.

But then again, it might be that the person or those people being invited is, are supposed to be invited to a particular event because of their place or status in the particular arenas (politics, entertainment, wealth, higher social standing, politically correct standing) they are being invited into. As a commoner or much less than a commoner I am quite certain I’m on nobodies mandatory party list. O’ the glitz and glamour politically correct chauffeured soiree’s I miss out on.

But then again, invitations are not always just invitations to a party or event I would want to be seen at, associated with or active or passive participant in. It means I would have to make some measure of personal commitment to some cause or concern I do not philosophically agree with or can financially support or will surely end up regretting because its original intent is purposely hidden.

So, it is ever wise and thoroughly prudent to do one’s due diligence before one RSVP’s themselves to another persons or organizations invitation to “party!”

For example;

“Religious life is an encounter with the living God. Sometimes that encounter is preceded by a kind of soul-searching agony that tries desperately not to hear, runs in the opposite direction, and frantically tries to reason itself out of answering the invitation.” Mother Angelica

“I’m always shocked when I get an invitation. People are always shocked when they see me at a party.” Joan Rivers

“I got an invitation to go to the Olympic trials. And in the same week, I got a telegram from a… big executive at Columbia Records.” Johnny Mathis

“Wherever the invitation of men or your own occasions lead you, speak the very truth, as your life and conscience teach it, and cheer the waiting, fainting hearts of men with new hope and new revelation.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

So, now, we should exercise our due diligence on the greatest invitation ever recorded anywhere. The greatest invitation to the greatest “party” anywhere!

Isaiah 55:1-3 AKJV

55 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters,
and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat;
yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
²Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread?
and your labour for that which satisfieth not?
hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good,
and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
³Incline your ear, and come unto me:
hear, and your soul shall live;
and I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
even the sure mercies of David.

The Word of God for the Children of God. In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

AN INVITATION NOT TO BE REFUSED

I once read of a visiting preacher who arrived at a neighborhood church and read the poster announcing him as a “preacher with the unchanged message”.

He had a nasty moment in his spirit when he thought that the news had got out that he had only one sermon to his name! Charles Spurgeon got exasperated with a number of his students whose sermons were below standard. He said of them, “10,000 thousands are their texts but all their laborious sermons one!”

In one sense, a preacher of the gospel has an unchanged message; each sermon may have a different text, but ultimately the gospel has but one message. And that message can be summarized in one word – it’s an invitation from God – it’s an invitation to focus all of one’s energies and resources on the word “Come”.

Imagine if you can you’re at your shopping centre one Saturday morning. Quite unexpectedly a window on the first floor of a large super market or wholesale shoppers club or departmental store opens and the manager rings a bell to get the attention of the shopping crowd within. He shouts out, “Everybody is truly invited to come shopping – everything is free today: there’s nothing to pay!”

It was this kind of announcement that Isaiah made in Babylon some 2,500 years ago. Hear the words of God spoken through the prophet, “Come, all you who are thirsty, and you, who have no money, come buy and eat!” (55:1).

“Come, all you who are thirsty.” If you’ve been to the Holy Land you’ll have seen the water-seller as he walks the streets of the Old City of Jerusalem. I remember seeing this colorful figure and took his photograph and had to pay for the drink he poured out, although I didn’t fancy it and didn’t drink it! Water, especially in a hot climate, is a valuable commodity and not easy to come by.

Isaiah was addressing the people of Israel who at this time were exiled from their homeland. They had refused to obey God’s laws and now they were suffering the consequences of their actions. God had allowed the Assyrian army to be his instrument of punishment. Their land had been devastated and they had been taken into captivity in Babylon for seventy years.

These are the defeated people who sat and wept by the rivers of Babylon, mocked by their captors, surrounded on every hand by the images of the gods who had apparently defeated Jehovah, the living God of Israel. (Psalm 137)

The people were strangers in a strange land, separated from their homeland by several hundred of miles of inhospitable wilderness. They felt alienated from their God who they believed had turned his back on them. The divine glory of Jerusalem, its temple were but a faded memory that only brought them pain to think about it. These unfulfilled longings brought them to the edge of despair.

It was into this bleak spiritual wilderness that God’s messenger came with a word from the Lord. It wasn’t just good advice, based on human wisdom and psychology, telling them to resign themselves to their present sad condition.

No, it was history’s greatest proclamation of salvation and hope. It was:

A GRACIOUS INVITATION

Most people like to receive an invitation to a special function, perhaps to a wedding or a celebration dinner. But that sort of invitation is highly restrictive. Wedding invitations are given to relatives and close friends; celebration dinner invitations are restricted to top people in business or politics.

But the invitation Isaiah offers is a universal invitation. Isaiah’s words are those which would have been used in the market place. You can imagine the street traders calling out to the passers-by to try their produce – “Come…” It’s like in a carnival with the town crier ringing his bell and calling the crowds’ attention.

How typical this is of our gracious God. He does not wait for people to go in search of him – he takes the initiative, His eternally wide open eyes comes in search of them. (2 Chronicles 16:9a: ⁹For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. )

His love is such that he wants to be found by them, he longs to pardon them and share good things with them. Jesus said that he “came into the world to seek and save what was lost” (Luke 19:1-10). It’s as if God stands in the market place and implores the people to come to him to find what they really need.

Being our Creator, God possesses the greatest understanding of our human condition. (Psalm 139) Ever since the disaster of the Garden of Eden when our first parents failed to obey God’s instruction, when they tried to “eat their fill” from God’s tree of knowledge, to overstep divinely-given boundaries, mankind has been trying to get to that perfect place of satisfaction for an inner longing.

The famous English poet, Lord Byron (1788-1824), described his experience vividly typical of so many of our fellow citizens: he said he “Drank every cup of joy, drank early, deeply drank, drank draughts which common millions might have drunk, then died of thirst because there was no more to drink.”

It seems, he missed drinking from the Fount of life that only God can supply.

The prophet Isaiah’s call is to everyone who is not satisfied, who feels that their life is incomplete; that there’s something they crave for over and above their present possessions. It’s to “all you who are thirsty, come to the waters, and you who have no money, come buy and eat.” The only qualification that is made to the invitation is that need must be recognized. The invitation is to “all” –

It means none are excluded who do not for some reason exclude themselves. Jesus said he “did not come to call the righteous but sinners” (Matthew 9:13).

Those whose eyes have been blinded by the “glitz and glamor” of this world; driven by politics and wealth, corruption, intrigue and power, those who falsely depend upon the temporary merits of their own good works for righteousness – these do not all thirst. They have, sadly, an insufficient sense of their true need.

What a sad condition for anyone to be in! And what a dangerous state, because the invitation is also an urgent invitation, for however great is God’s patience, the offer isn’t available indefinitely. Isaiah went on to say, “Seek the Lord while he may be found, call on him while he is near” (Isaiah 55:6).

God’s word to mankind is a word of gracious invitation, but not only that, it’s an invitational word of:

GENEROUS PROVISION

Here indeed is good news of abundant provision, of generosity that only God could provide. He makes a personal invitation to “Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.” The words of the text are a paradox – something which would be absurd if it weren’t true. Isaiah’s hearers, and us too, are invited to “buy, yet without money and without price.” Can this be true? Isn’t it a contradiction in terms? The contradiction on the surface is but intended to make this wonderful truth more emphatic.

This offer from God has been termed “the Salvation Market” because it reverses the world’s commercial values where you get “nothing for nothing”! As they say in business: ‘There’s no such thing as a free lunch!’ But here we must recognize our absolute spiritual poverty in God’s sight. We must abandon any claims to self-righteousness. We must put away all ideas of having a part in our own salvation. We must be willing to rely on God’s undeserved love and forgiveness, made possible by the sacrifice by his Son, Jesus, on the Cross. The “Salvation Market” is the only market where the seller pays, not the buyer!

Cheap things are seldom valued. Ask a high price and people think a commodity is precious. But God’s offer is not an illusion. Here is the “heavenly merchant” who died for the buyers in his market. He died that no one coming to his market should ever be sent empty away. The selling price is zero, but that doesn’t mean that these goods cost nothing to the “heavenly merchant”. These goods are the cheapest sold and the dearest bought that ever were. All the wealth in the world couldn’t purchase one item in God’s marketplace, for the Son of Man bought them at great price, and now they are all free. No money can buy them because what God offers here in this text is without price because it is 100% priceless.

The offer is not merely about the basic necessities of life. It’s not just enough to only just barely “get by” as if the offer was only for bread and water. No, it is for “wine and milk” – nothing but the best. These were undreamed of luxuries for a people in exile, living in the foreign hovels of Assyria and yet, such is the fallen nature of mankind, Isaiah immediately has to ask the question, “Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labour on what does (can) not satisfy?”

The prophet is puzzled. “Why” he asks his hearers, “do you waste your life?” The inference is that, unbelievably, so many refuse God’s invitation to eternal life. Yet human nature always finds it hard to accept a free offer and wants to make a ‘minimal’ contribution of some kind towards it. No one likes to feel permanently indebted, not even to God, such is the stubbornness of humanity. Those who do that will end up like the Prodigal Son, shattered and disillusioned with life. God’s eternal values are 100% diametrically opposite of our worlds.

We come back to the prophet’s words, “Why spend money … and labour on what does not and cannot ever satisfy?” Why indeed? The free will that God has given us enables us to come freely to him and to be able to enter into the full relationship of sonship. If we reject the generous provision that he has made in Jesus, we deliberately choose darkness rather than light, we turn our backs upon his love. It leaves us without protection and exposed to the forces of evil.

We only have to look at the indescribable depths of moral and ethical failures of our world around us to see the 1000% chaos sin has brought upon its victims.

The good news is that God hasn’t given up on mankind. The gracious invitation, “Come, all…”, the generous provision, “buy … without money”, leads on to a:

GREAT EXPECTATION

The commodity in shortest supply among the exiles was hope. Everything that belonged to their past had been destroyed. Their land had been ravaged. The temple in Jerusalem, the centre of their worship, lay in ruins. There was no comfort to be found in their present circumstances. They were overwhelmed by their sense of loss, taunted by their captors, like fish out of water in an alien culture. Life was bleak and the future didn’t bear thinking about. (Psalm 137)

It was into this darkness that a near inaudible word of promise came, “Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you…” It was a both a quiet yet thunderous word of hope. God was telling them that he still rules and is in control of events in Babylon. He’s a God whose purposes are way beyond the grasp of mere humans. He knows precisely what he’s doing and he is willing to transform their circumstances.

The exiles were in despair. They believed that they were doomed to remain in exile and that all was lost. But the word from the Lord through Isaiah spoke of a new beginning. There was, after all, a future for them.

There was going to be a second Exodus. For a second time God was going to redeem his people from captivity and lead them across the wilderness. “You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace” (Isaiah 55:12). The thunderous sounds of hope declaring God will once again save his people and lead them into triumph.

Our God is the God of the “Second Chance”. Yes, the people of Judah had for the most part rejected God but he still loved them, and here he was offering them a fresh start. There’s an urgency, an imperative about the words; there’s a progression in what had to be done. The invitation was to “come, buy and eat” indicating there’s more involved to God’s offer of salvation than hearing the good news of the gospel and even believing it: there’s a definite requirement that we make it our own by a participation of it, by “eating” it. (Psalm 34)

“Hear me”, says God, “that your soul may live.” This would be secured by an “everlasting covenant” as promised “to David”.

God’s promises to King David and his royal successors after him are now being made freely available to all the people of Israel, both high and low. Covenant privilege has now been extended to the whole people of God. The prophecy was wonderfully fulfilled and made possible by the Incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ, “great David’s greater son”. He is the mediator and trustee of the new covenant. All believers in Jesus are members of God’s royal family.

Here then is Isaiah’s great invitation. It comes to us with compelling urgency to accept God’s offer of a lifetime. It sweeps away our objections. It presses us to respond without delay. It points to God’s immeasurable love and it tells us that whether we are thirsty for his grace or strangers to his covenant or too poor to purchase our salvation, we have only to return our lives to the Lord and he will abundantly pardon. We shall be ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven through Jesus Christ our Redeemer and our Lord (Mark 10:41-45, Luke 19:1-10).

The salvation of God is there for all that will come to him in repentance and faith. Even knowledge of it won’t save us. It is faith, that unique obedience of a relationship with God, which saves. God’s purpose for his people is to give us his life by putting his Spirit within us. Don’t let’s miss it; don’t let’s accept anything less. Isaiah’s word, “Come”, is a gracious invitation; it offers a generous provision and provides a great expectation.

We can thank our God for what He’s done for us in Jesus in the words of an old hymn: “How Good is the God We Adore” by Joseph Hart, 1712-1768

“How good is the God we adore,

Our faithful, unchangeable Friend!

His love is as great as his power,

And knows neither measure or end!

‘Tis Jesus the First and the Last,

Whose Spirit shall guide us safe home;

We’ll praise him for all that is past,

And trust him for all that’s to come.”

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Let us now Pray;

God of our hearts…here we are! We’ve come with thirsty hearts, praying that your Word will satisfy us. We come with aching hearts, praying for good news to comfort us. We come with overflowing hearts, praying for a chance to share your love with all those who are our neighbors. You, who know our hearts and hear our prayers, be with us now in these days of greatest want and need. Amen.

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Restoration of Israel’s People

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Isaiah 55:6 NASB

Matthew 21:21-22 NASB

Oneness with the Father

Psalm 100 HCSB

Be Thankful

A psalm of thanksgiving.

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Isaiah 55:1-7 The Message

Buy Without Money

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Joshua 24:14-24 NASB

“We Will Serve the Lord”

Proverbs 27:12The Message

The Works and the Word of God.

For the music director. A Psalm of David.

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Isaiah 55:1-3 AKJV

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