a Quick Note

Before you read the post for last week and the week to come, I wanted to let you know what is happening. You will notice that I've combined both weeks, last week's and this week's. Unfortunately, with all the busyness of last week, I failed to get the blog up before I left. I thought I had brought my notes and was all prepared to remedy that once I got here. But when I went to put the blog entry together, I realized that I hadn't included those notes in the notebook that I brought. Bummer!!!! Obviously, I try to stay ahead in my readings and thought I'd gone back far enough in my notebook. (Didn't want to bring the whole thing) Anyway, I think I've summed up last week and next week's pretty well. If I get a chance, I will try and add more. We'll see how it goes.

In the meantime, feel free to post any insights you've gotten and will get over the next week. I look forward to being encouraged by your journey as we traverse these pages together. We are in this together!!!!

February 22-26 & March 1-5, 2010

Therefore, thus says the Lord, …Before Me you will stand; And if you extract the precious from the worthless, you will become My spokesman. They for their part may turn to you, but as for you, you must not turn to them. (Jeremiah 15:19)

Have you ever noticed where God put the greatest riches of this world - diamonds, gold, oil, pearls! Not one of them is easily obtained! Only through searching, digging, and refining can their wealth be uncovered. Recently we went with some dear friends to the largest copper mine in the world. It’s interesting to me that Jeremiah goes on to say:

“Then I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; and though they fight against you, they will not prevail over you; For I am with you to save you and deliver you,” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 15:20)

Bronze is a copper-based alloy. It’s hardness makes it virtually indestructible. It has the ability to withstand amazing temperatures, which is why it is used as gratings in furnaces and braziers. It is no wonder that God has promised to make those who walk with Him, obeying His Word and shunning the world and its ways, like a wall of bronze. As we continue to walk with Jeremiah and the other prophets who warned Judah of their sins, we are constantly reminded that a fire is coming. God is an all-consuming fire and will destroy anything that can’t take the heat of His judgment. In His compassion and patience, God has been so kind to give His people time to judge themselves. Clearly and concisely, God spells out the actions that cause His anger to be stirred. If they listen and take heed, they will be able to withstand the time of judgment that is coming, just as bronze is able to withstand natural fire. But if there has been no refining process and their substance is mostly “earth,” they will be destroyed.

One of the most difficult things in walking with the prophets is that it seems like they say the same things over and over. Unfortunately, that’s what you have to do with immature children. A number of years ago, I was ministering at a church that I used to return to yearly. The pastor’s son Paul was just a little guy when I first met them. This particular time I was there, he was about eleven years old. Paul, Tammy - the boys mother and my dear friend - and I had gotten into the car. “Do you have your seatbelt on?” Tammy asked, just as she did each time they got into the car. “No,” came Paul’s sheepish reply. “Paul, you are eleven years old. Everyday for eleven years, I have told you to buckle your seatbelt. How old will you be before you learn to do it without being told?” Tammy chided with motherly exasperation. 365 x 11 = 4,015. When you stop and realize that Paul had been in the car for more than one trip each day, going to and from school, to and from church, to and from the store or a friends house, you can easily see that he had heard those same words at least 8,000 to 10,000 times in his young lifetime. And yet, in his immaturity, the message had somehow eluded him. I haven’t seen Paul in a number of years. He is an adult now with a wife and children soon to come. Paul no longer has the voice of his mother telling him to buckle his seatbelt each time he climbs in the car. As an adult, he is expected to know and to do what is right. If he fails to buckle up, it is no longer because of immaturity - it is stupidity and rebellion, and the punishment more costly!

Like a persistent parent, God sent His prophets to remind His children to do what they had been taught to do. Our journey with the prophets lasts only a short time, but in actuality, these somber messages took place over a vast number of years. We hear their words repeatedly, day after day and it begins to sound quite repetitious. But unfortunately, like Paul who failed to heed his mother’s instruction regarding his seatbelt, God’s children refused to be obedient from the heart. Jeremiah knows that God’s patience is running out and His judgment fire is about to be kindled.

Jeremiah’s warnings are as relevant today as they were for the kingdom of Judah. Disregard for God’s ways is as rampant in our society as it was in the days before Judah’s captivity. May we hear God’s instructions and take it to heart as His Spirit speaks to us saying, “If you extract the precious from the worthless, You will become My spokesman, My mouth, My voice to this doomed generation. Hopefully, they will turn to you in an effort to walk in the same path of obedience you walk in, but you must never become like them!!!” Only then will we stand fortified as a wall of bronze and be able to endure the fire that is about to come upon our sinful generation!

February 15-19, 2010

But while in deep distress, Manasseh sought the Lord his God and sincerely humbled himself before the God of his ancestors. II Chronicles 33:12




We begin our journey this week with bewilderment and a sigh. How could it be that one king could live so righteously and then have a son go in such an opposite direction? It’s a phenomenon that is not only reserved for Bible times. How many good Christian leaders have walked a righteous life all their lives, only to have children that choose to wallow in the world’s ways and live by its standards? Once again we are reminded that a walk of righteousness is a personal choice and not an inherited path. Even though he had co-reigned with his father for 10 years, it did not guarantee that he held his father’s values!

A couple of weeks ago, we heard God speak to Hezekiah, Manasseh’s father, and tell him that God would pour out his judgment for his pride on his son and not do it in his lifetime. We questioned how Hezekiah could be so unaffected by the message. What’s even more puzzling at first glance is why God would punish the son for the father’s pride? That seems totally contrary to God’s Law. Obviously, both God and Hezekiah saw Manasseh’s heart. God knew Manasseh’s the truth about his idolatrous heart and prophesied his downfall.

But just as Hezekiah’s story didn’t end with his faithfulness, Manasseh’s doesn’t end with his unfaithfulness. We are told that YHWH spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they ignored all his warnings. It was only when Manasseh found himself in “deep distress” and chains that the message was finally able to get through! The Hebrew word “mesar,” translated “deep distress,” speaks of anything that is narrowing or confining. Places that are too small are described by this word. When the people refused to hear Isaiah’s message, he tells his disciples to “Bind up (mesar) the testimony, seal the teaching among my disciples” (Isiaha 8:16). The Theological Wordbook also tells us that it also refers “to the strong emotional response that one experiences when pressed externally by enemies or internally by wrong decisions or passions.” Obviously Manasseh experienced the same thing that I have (and do) when God has put me in those places of pressure that have narrowed my options and my view. It is in times like these that all you can do is focus on is what’s at hand! You can’t get away from the problem and without God’s intervention, the problem isn’t going to leave you! When all your options have been restricted to nothing, all you can do is sincerely humble your heart and pray!

The good news is that YHWH was listening. It amazes me that God says while we are in our sin, He will not hear our prayer, but the moment the cry of repentance comes to His ears, His heart is moved and His ears are open! What comfort and encouragement!!!

There is an interesting verse at the end of Manasseh’s life’s story.

The rest of the events of Manasseh’s reign, his prayer to God, and the words the seers spoke to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, are recorded in The Book of the Kings of Israel. Manasseh’s prayer, the account of the way God answered him and an account of all his sins and unfaithfulness are recorded in The Record of the Seers. It includes a list of the locations where he built pagan shrines and set up Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself and repented. II Chronicles 33:18-19

It is my firm belief that there is a correlation between these verses and Revelation 20:11-12 and 20:15:

And I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.

And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Did you notice that the book of life determines whether or not we have eternal life, while the other books are opened so our deeds can be judged? The events of Manasseh’s life were carefully documented. His “righteous” deeds were recorded in The Book of the Kings of Israel, while his unfaithful ways were kept in The Record of the Seers. Perhaps, if we caught a glimpse of these books and realized that someday we will give and account of our lives and answer for our deeds, we might be a bit more care of the things we say and do.

The good man out of his good treasure brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth what is evil. And I say to you, that every careless word that men shall speak, they shall render account for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you shall be justified and by your words you shall be condemned. Matthew 12:35-37

The word “condemned” in this verse refers to our words acting as proof of our wrong actions and not eternal damnation. Manasseh’s record is there for all to see. What do you think we would find if we looked into our own personal database?

As we continue our journey this week, we are introduced to the prophet Jeremiah. At our first encounter with this mighty man of God, we learn that he is a prophet who came from Anathoth that is in the territory of Benjamin. His ministry begins in the 13th year of Josiah, the grandson of Manasseh. Unlike the other prophets we’ve met, Jeremiah give us keen insight of not only his message, but the emotional trauma of delivering that message. Isaiah had some pretty harsh things to declare, but he also had the comfort of informing the hearers that the fulfillment of the message was not coming in their lifetime. Jeremiah, on the other hand, was going against the tide. While the accepted prophets were crying out peace and safety, Jeremiah was pronouncing God’s judgment on that generation! God was not waiting any longer. This generation would be the generation that would experience God’s fury. Words like these will not win you popularity contests.

Jeremiah’s call and commission did not come from the insight of a previous prophet or an insightful priest. Before he was ever conceived, God had ordained him to carry His message to His people. For nearly 40 years, Jeremiah declared God’s message. Jeremiah sees that all Judah’s times of repentance were temporary. She is “like a thief” who only knows shame when she gets caught! This kind of repentance is not a change of heart and brings short-lived results.

I pray that we will hear and perceive the words of this weeping prophet, and that our hearts will be touched by the pain and persistence of his life. And may we heed its warnings for our sinful generation!

February 8-12, 2010

His watchmen are blind,
All of them know nothing.
All of them are dumb dogs unable to bark,
Dreamers lying down, who love to slumber;
Isaiah 56:9



Walking through the book of Isaiah is like hiking the mountain trails here in Phoenix. With each crest of a mountaintop you see the same thing in a distance from a slightly different angle, and yet each peak has a distinct personality. Through Isaiah, God tries every way He can to show Judah and Jerusalem their sin, as well as to show them the benefits of obedience. YHWH continually defines the ways that bring His hand of blessings. Justice and righteousness are a MUST.

I have often heard it said that life isn’t fair. I’ve also heard the retort, “God never said life would be fair!” Reality is that if we all followed God’s laws and walked in His ways, fairness would be the natural order of things. God’s ways are COMPLETELY fair; disobedience has a way of botching up the works like a whirlwind in a paper factory!!! When we don’t know God’s ways, and selfishness blinds the eyes, fairness and right judgments are perverted! God’s directive to “preserve justice, and do righteousness” can only be fulfilled when we know His heart as He has revealed it through His Word!

In oriental culture, it is the father’s responsibility to ensure that the laws that govern them are handed down to his children. God made this expressly clear when He told the people at Mt. Sinai:

You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. And you shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house on your gates, so that your days and the days of your sons may be multiplied on the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens remain above the earth. Deuteronomy 11:18-20

But, unfortunately, God’s people had become ignorant. Over and over we see that they have been overtaken by their desires to have things their way. Fathers fail to teach their children God’s standard of right and wrong, while the leaders fail to stand up for what is right and just. They close their eyes and enjoy a dream world that is untouched by reality. As a result, they refuse to see the destruction that is looming right before their eyes!!!

This week we also are made aware of God’s plan to bring a legal name change to several places. We are not unfamiliar with this phenomenon. It is interesting to read the Jewish perspective of names. Rather than my retelling of their thoughts, let me give you a quote from A Book of Jewish Concepts by Philip Birnbaum (NAMES, page 616)

The relation of name to thing plays an important part in the story of creation. Name and thing are one. “When the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and the birds of the air, he brought them to the man to see what he would call them; whatever the man called any living creature, that was to be its name” (Genesis 2:19). That is, man would establish his dominion over the creatures of the earth by giving them names. To know the name is to know the essence of a thing; to know is to have power over the object. Adam’s utterance of the names of the beasts put those beasts in subjection to him.

The close relationship between man and women is conveyed by Adam’s utterance: “She shall be called woman, for from man she has been take.” This sets forth the social and moral relationship between man and woman. Since the woman is formed out of the man’s rib, she depends upon him; it is her duty to be at hand, ready at all times to be a help to her husband; it is the husband’s natural duty ever to defend and cherish his wife as part of his own self. In Biblical times, the names of persons were not only significant, but their meaning was know to those who spoke Hebrew.

Names are not merely tags; they are identifications of relationships or status. We are familiar with Abraham, Sarah, and Jacob’s encounter with the Almighty. As God brought change to their lives, He also brought change to their names. Naming or changing ones name showed God’s authority and ownership over that individual. Sometimes God named an individual before birth, and at other times He changed their names later on in life. I’m sure you can recall several times in the Bible when God announced a child would be born and He said, “And you shall call his name….” In each instance, God claimed ownership of the one to come before he was even born.

In other instances, names clearly signal a change in character, such as in Jacob’s name being changed to Israel. This week we encounter several name changes.

Zion (“Defence” or “Fortress”) –
Previous names and titles –
Azubah – “Forsaken”
Shemamah – “Desolate”

New names and titles
“City of the Lord” and “Zion of the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 60:13)
Hephzibah (“My delight is in her”) and Beulah (“Married”) (Isaiah 62:4)

Daughters of Zion
New names and titles
“The holy people, the redeemed of the Lord”
“Sought out, a city not forsaken.”

Did you notice that there were multiple changes in Zion’s name; but why? Zion’s new names reveal new relationships not only with God, but also with the nations around her. It is one thing to convince those that love you that you’ve changed, but it’s another to convince those that despise you that you are not the same. The nations will see that Zion’s change was not the result of self-made determination, but because of a right relationship with her God. God has established His dominion over His creation and His Lordship over His bride and the world stands in awe of the love affair.

With all this in mind, we may want to ask ourselves, “By what name would people refer to us if they were open enough to reveal their thoughts?” Would our relationship with God be found in their descriptive title? And if you were to give yourself a name, what would you call yourself? But most of all, do you know how God refers to you? By what name does He identify you? May we be careful as we traverse the word path of Isaiah and look for the signposts that bear our name.

February 1-5, 2010

If only you had paid attention to My commandments?

Then your peace would have been like a river,
and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.

Isaiah 48:18





Take a seat by the river for a moment and let’s dangle our weary feet in the cool waters. If you’re thirsty, don’t be afraid to take a drink from its flow. Is there anything more calming than the sound of the flow of water or waves breaking on the beach? I don’t think so. The resonance has a way of drowning out unwanted noise while amplifying the welcomed whispers that could be easily missed. The birds seem to sing louder when they are by water. The rustling leaves have a way of harmonizing with the melody of the water’s rumble. Serenity is the song that fills the air.

“If only!” What a sad sound those two words make! “If only you would have paid attention to My Word!!!!!” “If only you would have had a heart to obey.” “If only you would have stayed on My paths!!!” “If only” clearly says that life could have been a lot better. “If only” screams that this was not God’s choice for His people. And “if only” says that a consequence of actions is inevitable.

Isaiah’s words fall on stony ground. They fall on the hearts of people who are sure nothing bad can happen to them. Somehow they are sure that although their lives are filled with compromise, and although they have incorporated the religious ways of the pagans, they hold on to enough godliness to live free from God’s judgment. Little do they understand the nature and ability of God.

I am the Lord, and there is no other, the One forming light and creating darkness, causing peace and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these. (Isaiah 45:6b-7)

These words have perplexed many through the years, but there is no need to be concerned. If we understand God’s nature and consider what He said, we will see that this statement is in total harmony with who God is. Did you notice that God said He forms the light, which in turn creates darkness? God set His laws in motion. He gave His people His word as a lamp to their feet and a light to their path. Everything and everyone that lives by that light is in the light. Anything contrary to it is dark. By defining what is light, God creates darkness!

It is also interesting to note that God did NOT say, “I formed the light and created darkness.” He speaks these words in the present tense. God’s Word does not change. How can it be that He continually forms light and creates darkness? The answer is quite simple; when we cry out to know God’s will in the situations of our lives, we are asking God to give us His light to walk by. Once God illuminates our path, we know that anything that is outside the parameters of His will is darkness.

This truth has been my stay for many years. In 1974 I asked God to show me His will for my life so that I could make the most of my time here on earth. And show me He did!!! The encounter I had with the Almighty has kept me from making some miserable mistakes. Job offers in the worldly business sector with amazing salaries quickly lost their luster when scrutinized by God’s will for my life. For others who are called to be in the business place and know this is their God-given role, to go into full-time ministry would be an equal disaster. God’s will is to be the definer and ordainer of our steps!

Isaiah can teach us much about being a servant of God. On Tuesday he shares words from the heart of the Servant who has worked and toiled, but wonders if he has made any kind of difference.

But I said, “I have toiled in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;.” Isaiah 49:4a

By the eyes of faith, Isaiah saw the Christ who was to come. Surely these words are accurate when we look at Jesus’ life. Here is the One who literally gave up all that He was and had in order to do the will of His Father. Although we see the times when He fed great multitudes and often had to stay out of town because of the press of the ancient paparazzi, the end of His life as He died on the cross was anything but successful by natural standards. His support group as He hung dying consisted of one disciple and a few faithful women. Even after His resurrection, when He told His followers to wait for what the Father had promised, only 120 bodies occupied the room when the promise was fulfilled. A gathering of one hundred and twenty people is a far cry from the vast multitudes who enjoyed the bread and fish dinners that came from His hands.

The words of God’s faithful Servant are encouragement to all ministers who have spent their lives pouring out God’s word, sometimes seeing momentary success, but often followed with rejections or disappointments of one kind or another. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has questioned if in the eternal scheme of things, I’ve done anything worthwhile at all. Our hope lies in the words of the preincarnate Christ:

“…yet surely the justice due to me is with the Lord, and my reward with my God.” Isaiah 49:4b

I’m sure Isaiah found refuge in this statement. As we continue our journey with Isaiah, we hear the futility of his words. He speaks to a stubborn, stiff-necked, obstinate people who have just enough religion to make them comfortable, and enough of the world’s ways to make them condemned! But Isaiah knows His God. He knows His nature. He knows He is faithful to His word. He is filled with loving-kindness, compassion and mercy, and He is able to do what He says He will do. In spite of all that his eyes see in the natural, Isaiah has the ability to sit by the river of God and hear the voice of the Spirit. His complete trust in the merciful nature and ability of God spurs him to speak of the glories that will someday come.

As we continue to walk in a world that is on the brink of godly disaster, may we learn from this great prophet of God and hear the words of God’s faithful Servant. May we continually seek God’s will in every situation and let Him define what is light. May we walk in His illumination so that peace may flow like a river in the immensely difficult times to come. And may the fruit of righteousness grow in our lives so that we may stand unashamed when we must give an account of for our deeds on this earth.