The verses you are about to read are words that God spoke to Isaiah for the destruction of Jerusalem. Jerusalem had become wicked and idolatrous before God and the people took on the practices, the fornication, and idols of the nations around them. They half-heartedly followed the Lord and are not following God at all.
-- Jesus said unto him (a lawyer questioned Jesus that out of the 613 commandments they had was the greatest), Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, and all thy mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. Matt.22:37
This is all God has ever wanted to be fully loved by His Creation. We want the same. Nobody wants to be married to a spouse who goes off with someone else every other weekend. That is not love.
A Sinful Nation
Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children( Israel), and they have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the donkey his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken -- the LORD, they have provoked -- the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward Isaiah 1:2-4 (God has to punish His people before sin destroys them. Just like us, when everything goes well we forget about God. When times are tough we start going to church).
God warned them of their punishment through Isaiah the prophet, who proceeded to Jeremiah the prophet, and Jeremiah lived through Judah's destruction. The King of Judah rebuked him for weakening the soldiers by his prophecies of Jerusalem's destruction. He was labeled a traitor for his words, and as punishment, he was put in jail. Later, when the Babylonian army came, he was lowered into a muddy cistern until the Babylonian army found him and pulled him out. They knew of Jeremiah's preaching to surrender to Babylon.
They offered to take him to Babylon and give him the best living places. He chose to stay with the people and continued to speak God's words to them. Isaiah and Jeremiah loved Israel and couldn't understand why God would use a much wicker nation to judge them.
Both prophets suffered rejection and rebuke from the people for obeying God and preaching His Word. Yet they both had their mandates from God and truly wanted Jerusalem to repent and come back to God so as to avoid punishment. The following verses are Jeremiah's calling from God. He was considered the reluctant prophet, as are many of us, when it comes to sharing our faith.
Then the word of the LORD came unto me saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee (this is why we are against abortion), and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
A pregnancy may seem like a mistake from man's perspective, but not from God's. God is aware of every conception and is able to turn the circumstances around, provided He is given the chance.
But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and -- whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD. Jeremiah 1:2-4
Isaiah's experience of being commissioned by God was very different. It started with a vision of God's Temple.
And one cried unto another (the Angels), and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the Temple shook at his voice that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips (conscious of his sinfulness before a Holy God), and I dwell amid a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen -- the King, the LORD of hosts (elsewhere God is called The Lord Almighty, and Holy is His name. How often do we forget this).
Then flew one of the seraphim (a super angel) unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged (this is what faith in Christ's death and resurrection does for any sinner who is willing to confess his/ her sin).
Also, I heard -- the voice of the Lord, saying, -- Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. Isaiah 6:3-8 (read verses 1&2).
Isaiah was willing to answer the call even though the people's hearts were far from God. They did their own thing, not needing to repent before a Holy God. Society has changed largely from those days, with all the conveniences we have, yet the heart of man remains unchanged. Most of us feel we are pretty good people, and if asked to repent, we would say why? It would be foreign to us, yet if we examine our lives in the light of God's Word, we would find much need for repentance, but are we willing to do this to be right with God? How much do we value walking in harmony with the Lord versus doing our own thing? How strong is our pride? Will we not humble ourselves before the Lord Almighty, the Creator of Heaven and Earth? It cost Isaiah his life to proclaim God's Words, and Jeremiah was considered a traitor for his words, contrary to the truth. They were obeying the Lord and seeking the very best for the people.
Though they were written down, Isaiah and Jeremiah's prophecies were largely ignored. As an example, there are prophecies in Isaiah 53 that speak of the coming Messiah (The Lord Jesus), His virgin birth and His mission, and even how He would die, even before Crucifixion was a way of death. Much of this reading is forbidden for the Jews to read by their leaders because it is so accurate.
Here's some proof of the Bible's accuracy. In Isaiah's time, Babylon hadn't become a superpower; Assyria was. Assyria came to destroy Jerusalem, but God defended her and sent an Angel, and in one night, the angel killed 185,000 thousand soldiers.
Therefore, thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD.
For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant (King) David's sake. And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib, king of Assyria, departed, went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. And it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his God, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon, his son, reigned in his stead.2 Kings 19:32-37 (all this historical detail can be searched out).
**The life of a prophet was tough. To speak God's words, you offend people. Isaiah was sawn in two by King Manasseh for prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem. God told Jeremiah His plans to chasten His people, and he could not believe that God would use a more wicked nation to judge Israel( we categorize sin, mine is not as bad as his, but to a Holy God, sin is sin. As we say, a miss is as good as a mile). A few of Jeremiah's comments are here, and more in earlier verses. God also promised He would leave for Himself a remnant of people who would forsake idol worship and be true to Him alone, which brought Jeremiah much joy.
Repentance and Hope
I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. He hath led -- me and brought me into darkness, but not into light. Surely against me is he turned; he turneth his hand against me all the day. Lamentations 3:1-3
And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgot prosperity. And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD: Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. My soul hath them still in remembrance and is humbled in me, but I recall this to my mind, and therefore, I have hope( the purpose of memorizing God's promises when times are tough). It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions fail (even in chastisement, God's mercy is seen). They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him(who is our portion, where does our self-esteem come from? Is it our relationship to The Lord or something else?).
The LORD is good unto them that wait (or trust in Him) to the soul seeking him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD. (it is so amazing that for every trial, heartache, or joy, you can find scripture to lift you and address your concerns).
I am completely through my surgeries, an experience I do not want to relive. The second surgery, screws put into my vertebrae to secure the titanium rods used to keep my new disc in place and help with keeping my spine straight, was by far the most painful experience I've gone through. I underestimated it. If you are ever faced with this, get it done. Scoliosis is nothing to play with. Yet through it, I see the faithfulness of the Lord. Because I was injured 6 months before surgery, I had to learn to keep working, run the crews, and deal with the pain, etc.; though this pain was more intense, the attitude of Okay, Lord, we can do this together was cemented into my soul. Now, it's just in me to push forward with Him. I would not have had this fortitude in me if it had not been for the prior months.
Now, I must learn my limitations, like going up and down steps or a big lesson of having to figure out the pain meds. How little can I take and still function with the pain? Also, I want to help Lisa run the business to the best of my ability and help her with the billing. As for myself, I must do what I can because Lisa's plate is so full. This way of thinking started with my first injury, and even my icing routine of 2x a day came into play. So, The Lord knew that having this surgery "cold turkey" would have been too much for me. So thank you, Lord, for the months of preparation that gave me the mental and emotional toughness.
Lastly, we all have our crises and our challenges. It's not that we have them, but how do we respond to them? Do we take it upon ourselves and muscle through it? Do we call a close friend or a spouse? All this has merit, but the better and best decision is to bring it to the Lord. Ask for prayer. I have several friends praying for Lisa and me, which is comforting, but mainly, my time of writing Vida comforts and strengthens me. Hearing His Words in my head is a privilege I will never get used to. I want to make sure that I hear Him speak to me through this and that I represent courage and faith through it.
Dear Lord,
Thank you for the good times, and thank you, Lord, for the hard times. Thank you for the medication, which is a measured amount of help, and thank you for the desire and fortitude to press forward. I pray that these devotionals during this period of my life touch and encourage people in their struggles and that they find a God who is all-sufficient, kind, and loving.
Let us be 100% true to You alone,
Amen, your son, by great grace,
Arthur
The Path of Holiness (final reading)
The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose (our lives).
It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God.
Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with a vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and save you. Amen. Isaiah 35: 1-3
