Application to the Heart
Wednesday, May 7, 2009
Isaiah 66

Isaiah 66:17 "Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one in the midst, eating pig's flesh and the abomination and mice, shall come to an end together, declares the LORD.”

In God’s dealing with man, he seeks to judge those that have compromised in their faith. These are the people who no longer listen to God, instead, they listen to anything that they hear. These are the ones who forsake the revelation of God and now become the epitome of “following one in the midst.” What is evident from the text, with the listing of pig’s flesh and mice, is that it does not seem to matter to them how much of an abomination they become against the Lord. With those who “sanctify and purify themselves to go into the garden” this is not a one time event but suggests an organized cult possibly lead by an elder or leader. As we already know, God is a jealous God, and this outright sin against him will not go unpunished as his hand moves towards judgment.

Recently I was reminded by an old and very popular saying, “a rolling stone catches no moss.” The idea behind it, was that if you keep moving, keep focused, then all those extra things in life that tend to tie people down would not be able to hold you back. Likewise there wouldn’t be enough opportunity for a rolling stone to grow moss upon itself. I tend to think that most of the time when we wander into “whatever” it is because we have lost the focus of God within our life. If we were really focused on the Lord, if we really knew what was at stake, we simply would not have the time or the chance to wander into some strange garden and perform weird ritualistic ceremonies. The problem is that there is an organized front meant to distract us and we are indeed fallen creatures. We must remind ourselves that we are new in him every morning, and pray that the Lord “keeps us from temptation.”

J. Alec Motyer, Isaiah: TDOT, (Downers Grove : IVP, 1999) p. 404-5.

The way of the Lord

Joel 2:32 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.

Proverbs 19:3 When a man's folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the LORD.

Psalm 119:1-3 Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD! 2 Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, 3 who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways!

I realize that Proverbs 21:31 is right when it says, "The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the LORD." This has been one of my most favorite proverbs since I started studying wisdom literature. I tend to be the kind of personality that tries to make everything ready before any deadline. With this kind of personality I often become over-prepared and even overly-anxious.

There are times when I realize I become "creative" in the way I handle situations. In today's devotion it made the point, why do we consider any other way when we know that God's way is always the correct answer. True, there are some situations where there could be some possible gray areas, but questions concerning salvation, relationships, work ethics; most major subjects in our life can be easily answered by an understanding from God. The hardest part is doing it.

I try to reason why we doubt. Maybe we doubt the outcome? Maybe we think that the cost is not worth the reward? Maybe we doubt the one who we are supposed to trust? In cases like these we are all forced to bank on the Scriptures. Because the Lord promised, that will be enough for me. When things don't go the way I expect, I will trust the Lord and not have my "heart rage against" Him (Prov 19:3). Saying this is easy, promising this is another story. But our Lord already has, and so must I.

L.B. Cowman, Streams in the Desert, (Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1997) p. 179-180.

No pain, no gain

Isaiah 37:31 And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward.

Philippians 3:8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

James 1:2-4 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

I realize that I might be taking the first verse slightly out of context but the idea certainly follows suit. I love today's devotional because it brings back the true meaning to where our life and energy comes from each and every day.

Phil 3:8 teaches that everything is rubbish in comparison to following Christ. This seems like just another "captain obvious" statements but it is completely true. When our lives are separate from Christ, we simply do not live in the best way possible.

So when do we live closest to the Lord? The devotional recommended that it was during the time that we suffer. Say when we are "persecuted," sick, or possibly disabled for a given amount of time. In the "worlds" perspective, this could be considered times of least effectiveness. Yet I know and I am sure you would agree, during times like these (sometimes considered like setbacks), these are the times we grow closest to God and leave with a greater awareness of him. It goes to the idea, "no pain no gain" or as Isa 37:31 puts it, our roots must grow downward for our plants to blossom upwards. God Bless friends!

L.B. Cowman, Streams in the Desert, (Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1997) p. 171-172.

Test of faith

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Psalm 37:5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.

Matthew 11:28 - 12:1 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

My devotions today lead me to the first verse listed in this post. The question was whether we can truly trust the Lord. The author used a number of examples, one of which was a letter. When we write a letter we put down the content and the address but sometimes we never want to mail it because we fear or don't have confidence to what the outcome will be. The point was made, if we never let go of our letters, they will never do what they were intended to do. This is the same for our prayers. If we never let go of our prayers to the Lord, they will never accomplish in faith what they were intended to do. I have made a number of prayers to the Lord, but how many have them do I feel completely confident about that they are in God's hands. When we give things to God, are we truly confident that God will handle them? I pray that the Lord may encourage/strengthen me in this area of my life.

L.B. Cowman, Streams in the Desert, (Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1997) p. 168-169.

First steps...

Galatians 1:10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

The Lord put it on my heart today to prepare my resume, write a cover letter, and have a short interview with the senior pastor at APC. I was actually thinking about not going, but I am sort of glad that I did. Ultimately, a few issues of complication came up due to details about the church and I was blessed to have a good friend talk to me about the way to respond to possible reactions... It gave me so much freedom to remember that I am not hear to please what "men" might think as right, but what God thinks is right. Optimistically we hotpe tha these two would be one in the same, but quite often they are not. In this case I am not hear to please man, but God in all I do.