"Time to Clean House?"

Scripture Passage

Jeremiah 5:20-6:30; 2 Kings 22:3-20; 2 Chronicles 34:8-28

Scripture Focus

Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the court secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the Lord’s Temple!” (2 Kings 22:8 NLT)

Observation

Imagine this: In the corner of some neglected storage room, workers repairing the Temple run across a dusty scroll. In my mind, it was probably hidden behind the stack of broken folding chairs or obscured from view by the cast-off flannelgraph board. It has apparently been there so long that nobody even knows what it is…or why it’s there…or why anyone ever stuck it in the storage room in the first place—why they didn’t just toss it in the trash, instead? (If you’ve ever gone through a church storage room, you know *exactly* what I’m talking about.)

And so the high priest himself takes a look (I can hear the workmen now—“Pastor, is this something we need to keep?”). And he discovers that this is “The Book of the Law”—the written record of the covenant agreement between Jehovah and Israel! Of course, this raises an obvious question for me: “How’d he ever do his job without that book? How does God’s leader ever navigate from one Sabbath to the next without the guidance and resource of Holy Writ?”

There’s more to the story: Hilkiah reports the news to Josiah the King, who responds in genuine distress and repentance, and God grants something of a reprieve of the judgment coming Judah’s way. But I’m caught thinking about how (like Hilkiah) we so easily and readily neglect God’s Word in our day. I know this is a predictable thing to say, but…

How many Bibles lie dusty and neglected on a bookshelf or an end table while Christians carry on as if nothing were missing in their lives? How many professing believers really have no working knowledge of this gift from heaven and how to secure its benefits? No generation has ever had such ready access to Holy Scripture as this one—printed, online, and audio copies in multiple translations—yet we seem too busy with the “important” stuff to bother feasting on these living words!

To some degree, I’m sure I’m preachin’ to the choir with this one. You wouldn’t be reading this if you weren’t spending your own time in God’s Word. And everybody can always say, “I wish I knew more…I ought to read more…” Still—in the big scheme of things—I’ve got to ask myself what kind of an account I’ll be able to give for the stewardship of resources God has entrusted to me—including the ready availability of His Word. “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked” (Luke 12:48 NIV).

***

"Stop Denying!"

Scripture Passage

Jeremiah 2:23-5:19

Scripture Focus

“How you plot and scheme to win your lovers.
     Even an experienced prostitute could learn from you!…
And yet you say,
‘I have done nothing wrong.
     Surely God isn’t angry with me!’
                                  (Jeremiah 2:33, 35 NLT)

Observation

The nation of Judah is a mess. As a people, they have worshiped every god under the sun, but utterly neglected the One God who is over all—Jehovah, who brought them out of Egypt, made them a people, and gave them a land. More remarkable than their sin, however, is their denial of it! Bottom line, Jeremiah says—“…you claim you have not sinned” (Jeremiah 2:35 NLT).

This isn’t a denial rooted in embarrassment or the shame of “being caught.” Rather, it seems that this denial is rooted in self-deception—being utterly oblivious…just plain clueless…to obvious violations of their covenant commitment of absolute loyalty to God and God alone.

And the solution is not “outside” of them—they don’t need better teaching or lighter burdens or more free time or less challenging days.

This is what the LORD says to the people of Judah and Jerusalem:

“Plow up the hard ground of your hearts!
     Do not waste your good seed among thorns.
O people of Judah and Jerusalem,
     surrender your pride and power.
Change your hearts before the Lord,
     or my anger will burn like an unquenchable fire
     because of all your sins.
                               (Jeremiah 4:3-4 NLT)

The answer is to attend to their own hearts! To “surrender [their] pride and power [and] change [their] hearts before the Lord.”

It strikes me how often we’re busily looking for *God* to change *our* hearts. Indeed, one of my favorite songs—“Change my heart, O God!”—makes that very request. But today’s reading suggests there are things only I can do—things I must do—if I’m not to remain in foolish, oblivious denial about my own sinfulness.

And yet, it seems, even for that I need the Lord’s help! (It sure seems so to me!)  So help me, O Lord, to attend to my own heart and submit myself to You…to surrender my pride and power…to plow up the hard ground of my heart…so that good seed is not wasted among the thorns.

***

"No U-Turn!"

Scripture Passage

2 Kings 21:1-9; 2 Chronicles 33:1-9; 2 Kings 21:10-17; 2 Chronicles 33:10-19; 2 Kings 21:18; 2 Chronicles 33:20; 2 Kings 21:19-26; 2 Chronicles 33:21-25; 2 Kings 22:1-2; 2 Chronicles 34:1-7; Jeremiah 1-2:22

Scripture Focus

He did not turn away from doing what was right.
                                         (2 Kings 22:2 NLT)

Observation

Must…resist…the…urge…to comment…on everything…I thought…

Okay, I won’t mention how remarkable it is that, after all his unfaithfulness, Manasseh was welcomed back by God, restored to power by Him, and effective in leadership for Him (2 Chron 33:12-13).

-------------------

Wow—how about that boy-king Josiah? Eight years old when he takes the throne…sixteen when he begins to seek the Lord in earnest…and by the age of twenty he’s leading the whole nation of Judah in serious religious reform! So what national influence were you exerting by the age of twenty? :)

The beauty of Josiah is not in just how he started, however—it’s in how he finished. “He did not turn away from doing what was right” (2 Kings 22:2 NLT).

Every one of us has “started” doing right at some point or another…many of us, many, many times! But the difference with Josiah is that he never stopped doing right! Seems so simple when I write it like that. “Just don’t stop doing what you’ve started doing, Kent!”

The challenge, of course (or at least part of it), is that faith-in-action doesn’t go unopposed…that as long as I sit idly on the sidelines, I’m no threat to anybody, but when I engage what’s right and oppose what’s wrong, Satan takes notice and ramps up the opposition. Today I take heart from a youngster’s example (cf. 1 Tim 4:12) and determine not to "turn away from doing what is right."

***

"An Easy Mark? Don't Bet On It!"

Scripture Passage

Isaiah 63:15-66:24; 2 Kings 20:20-21; 2 Chronicles 32:32-33

Scripture Focus


“But because the rest of you have forsaken the LORD
   and have forgotten his Temple,
and because you have prepared feasts to honor
           the god of Fate
   and have offered mixed wine to the god of Destiny,
now I will ‘destine’ you for the sword.
   All of you will bow down before the executioner.
For when I called, you did not answer.
   When I spoke, you did not listen.
You deliberately sinned—before my very eyes—
   and chose to do what you know I despise.”
                                 (Isaiah 65:11-12 NLT)


Observation


Israel has simply pushed it too far with God. They have repeatedly and flagrantly violated the terms of their covenant with Him and face the inevitable consequences of their actions. Remember back in Exodus when God brought Israel out of Egypt? They were so delighted to be free from bondage, and so ready to enter covenant with this awesome-beyond-words God who had delivered them. How confidently they announced, “We will do everything the LORD has said" (Exodus 19:8 NIV).


All of that has fallen by the wayside, and in one of the saddest verses in all of Scripture…


The holy and beautiful Temple
   where our ancestors praised you
has been burned down,
   and all the things of beauty are destroyed.
                                (Isaiah 64:11 NLT)


How does that happen? Well, *part* of the cause, at least, is identified in 65:11-12—Israel forsook the Lord and forgot His Temple and choose, instead, to honor the gods of “Fate” and “Destiny”.


Sorry—but I can’t read that without thinking about how (within one generation) the neglect of Sunday worship has become pandemic while “gaming” (as we call it) has gone from national vice to national pastime. At the risk of sounding like, well, like a fire-and-brimstone patriot, what kind of future can this nation expect given our growing fascination with and addiction to amusement and chance? Who (please tell me) is worshipped at the casino when the cards are dealt and the bets are placed? To whom are heartfelt prayers offered at the convenience store counter when lottery tickets are bought and sold? It’s not Jehovah—the Holy One of Israel!


I’m frustrated with the unwillingness of Americans to take an honest look at ourselves and see where all this leads. I understand that we’re not in covenant with God the way Israel stood in covenant with God, but the principles by which God’s blessing is obtained and God’s judgment avoided remain the same—


“Righteousness exalts a nation,
   but sin is a disgrace to any people.”
                         (Proverbs 14:34 NIV)


“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD.”
                           (Psalms 33:12 NIV)

Here's the trouble with all this ranting (so far, anyway):  The point of this journey66 blog is personal devotion—experiencing my own personal devotional moments, not sermonizing towards someone else's.  So what do I take from my own concerns here?  Two questions I'll ask myself today.  The first is personal: In what ways is my worship of Jehovah tainted and/or incomplete?  What are my blind spots? Where have I forsaken the Lord and forgotten His Temple?

The second is pastoral:  How can I effectively address valid concerns over social ills (especially, today, the familiarity and comfort that many professing believers seem to have with gambling, alcohol, questionable entertainment, etc.) while not losing sight of (or muddying the waters regarding) the big picture truth that it is only and always by God's grace—not adherance to rules—that anyone is saved.

***

"What Are My Obligations?"

Scripture Passage

Isaiah 58:1-63:14

Scripture Focus

“No, this is the kind of fasting I want:

Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;
     lighten the burden of those who work for you.
Let the oppressed go free,
     and remove the chains that bind people.
Share your food with the hungry,
     and give shelter to the homeless.
Give clothes to those who need them,
     and do not hide from relatives who need your help.
                                            (Isaiah 58:6-7 NLT)

Observation

What are the practical social responsibilities of Biblical Christianity?

I know, that’s kind of a loaded question—but it’s what I ask myself after reading Isaiah 58-63. Isaiah has rebuked the Israelites for fasting “to please themselves” (58:3) and challenges them that God wants nothing to do with that kind of fasting. Rather, the fasting God looks for (from these Israelites, at least) is much more practical—“free the wrongly imprisoned, lighten the burden of workers, share food, give shelter, and stop hiding from relatives who need your help!” (58:6-7) (For some reason, that last one makes me laugh out loud.)

Until fairly recently, most Christians I’ve known (including me, myself, and I) have actually shied away from a strong emphasis on practical acts of compassion. That was a reaction, I think, to the dangers of a social (only) gospel that addressed physical needs but neglected spiritual realities, and perhaps rooted in an expectation that people should “help themselves”. But the neglect of social ministry is changing in conservative Christianity—with good reason, I think. Indeed, the very challenge toward practical acts of compassion and deliverance that Isaiah lays out in chapter 58 is picked up in chapter 61—a passage to which Jesus lays claim when describing His ministry in Luke 4.

All this forms a personal challenge for me. What are my own individual responsibilities…and what are my leadership responsibilities toward the congregation I serve? How can I/we make a tangible difference in practical ways that are not just patchwork responses but genuinely transformative acts…both materially and spiritually effective? “Teach us, Lord, how to serve practical needs in spiritually transformative ways!”

***

If you’d like to read a brief, somewhat technical (my wife says) paper I’ve written about the growth and development of social ministry within the Assemblies of God, you can find it here.

"One Man"

Scripture Passage

Isaiah 52:13-57:21

Scripture Focus

But he was pierced for our rebellion,
     crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
     He was whipped so we could be healed.
                                   (Isaiah 52:5 NLT)
 
Observation
 
We're getting down to business now.  It all rides on the back of one man.
 
As I've read through Isaiah to this point, I've been astounded time and time again at God's patient appeals to a rebellious people and His constant readiness to be reconciled to them.  It's as if however determined Israel is to resist and rebel, God is even more determined to forgive and restore!
 
And today's readings echo other passages that promise remarkable things--the restoration of Jerusalem as a glorious city, the return of God's people from exile back to the Holy City, and the expansion of God's welcome to include the whole world!  It's here, for example, that God promises "my Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations." (Isaiah 56:7 NLT).
 
And though there have been hints of it before, today Isaiah's prophecies are more explicit than ever about how, exactly, all of this will be accomplished:
 
But he was pierced for our rebellion,
     crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
     He was whipped so we could be healed.
All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
     We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
     the sins of us all.
                        (Isaiah 53:5-6 NLT)
 
One man would make the whole thing possible.  One man--the "servant of the Lord"--would carry the sins...the brokenness...the rebellion of all humanity on his back.  All of this, of course, points prophetically to Jesus, and finds its fulfillment in what He did for each of us at Calvary.
 
Theologians use terms like "substitutionary atonement" to explain it.  They speak of this Suffering Servant as the "propitiation" for our sin.  Today, I call it remarkable, and I marvel at the abundant grace of a God so loving!
 

***

"A Pawn? I Thought I Was a Player!"

Scripture Passage

Isaiah 48:12-52:12

Scripture Focus

Have any of your idols ever told you this?
     Come, all of you, and listen:
The LORD has chosen Cyrus as his ally.
     He will use him to put an end to the empire of Babylon
     and to destroy the Babylonian armies.
                              (Isaiah 48:14 NLT)

Observation

Again today, it’s an “early verse” that has my attention. Isaiah is determined, it seems, to show Israel the foolishness of their idol worship. And so he points again to the inability of an idol to do anything—least of all, something as remarkable as that which God is about to do—and about to tell of in advance:

The LORD has chosen Cyrus as his ally.
     He will use him to put an end to the empire of Babylon
     and to destroy the Babylonian armies.
                                 (Isaiah 48:14 NLT)

Cyrus was king of Persia—*not* a God-honoring people…nor a God-honoring king! Say to a Tea Party Patriot, “Obama is God’s man!”…or to a left-wing liberal, “Limbaugh, Beck, and Hannity—practically a second Holy Trinity!”…and you’ve said about the same thing as God says to Israel here. And yet that is just how remarkable—how powerful—how sovereign God is. Eight times in today’s reading alone, Isaiah speaks of the “Sovereign Lord,” and here the Sovereign Lord declares unfathamable history in advance!

To speak of God as “sovereign” affirms Him as the all-powerful One. To speak of God as “sovereign” means He is so mighty in His ways that He can recruit a foreign king, send him on an "errand" (48:15), and accomplish His divine purpose through that king without that king ever having had a clue as to his role. In short, Cyrus thought he was a player—but he was just a pawn!

For years, one of my favorite verses has been Ephesians 1:11, describing God as the One “who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will” (Eph 1:11 NIV). God’s sovereignty assures me that, though His will is not always done, His will shall ultimately be done—His purposes shall ultimately be accomplished—in full! And God’s sovereignty assures me that every part of my broken life is redeemable in His plan for His purpose as I submit my days to Him. I marvel, today, at how almighty the Almighty really is!

***

"Don't Be A Blockhead!"

Scripture Passage

Isaiah 44:6-48:11

Scripture Focus

Who but a fool would make his own god—
                            (Isaiah 44:10 NLT)

Observation

I can’t get past the opening verses of today’s reading. I love the image Isaiah paints of the futility and irony of the idol maker’s work.

Isaiah starts with the blacksmith (44:12) who works up a hearty appetite forming a sharp tool…so the wood carver can shape a piece of wood (44:13)…into the image of a false god to be worshipped! If those statements alone weren’t ironic enough, Isaiah goes on to describe how the wood carver carefully selects just the right wood to create his idol—and then uses the other half of the same log to cook his meal (44:15)!

He burns part of the tree to roast his meat
     and to keep himself warm.
     He says, “Ah, that fire feels good.”
Then he takes what’s left
     and makes his god: a carved idol!
He falls down in front of it,
     worshiping and praying to it.
“Rescue me!” he says.
     “You are my god!”
              (Isaiah 44:16-17 NLT)

I say, “How stupid!” (Well, not just me—so does Isaiah 44:18). And yet how often have I done the same thing—reducing God to less than He is…shaping God into someone a little more like me, instead of letting God shape me into someone a little more like Him! We’re all guilty of it—we’ve been made in the image of God, but we’ve made God in the image of man!

But this God—as today’s reading goes on to point out—is too great…too awesome…too mighty to be trapped into my box. When I expect judgment, He extends mercy. When I think I’m off the hook, I discover I’ve pushed things too far. When I think there’s no hope, He breaks through the darkness and brings an absolute heathen (Cyrus the Persian? C’mon!) as my deliverer. And when He rescues me, He does so not because I’m worthy of being rescued, but because He’s worthy of being praised! (48:11)

And you can’t chisel that out of a block of wood!  So don't be a blockhead—

Let all the world look to me for salvation!
     For I am God; there is no other.
                              (Isaiah 45:22 NLT)

***

"Trouble's Coming--Secure the gods!"

Scripture Passage

Isaiah 40:1-44:5

(Official "Idol Bolt Down Kit" -- Extra Charges Apply)

Scripture Focus

The lands beyond the sea watch in fear.
    Remote lands tremble and mobilize for war.
The idol makers encourage one another,
    saying to each other, “Be strong!”
The carver encourages the goldsmith,
    and the molder helps at the anvil.
    “Good,” they say. “It’s coming along fine.”
Carefully they join the parts together,
    then fasten the thing in place so it won’t fall over.
                                          (Isaiah 41:5-7 NLT)

Observation

What a wonderful four chapters! There are so many great images that Isaiah uses in these chapters to present his message—Our loving God speaking sweet words of comfort and promise to Israel, our almighty God measuring the heavens with His fingers, and—by contrast—the nations of the world as nothing but “dust on the scales”—i.e., of utterly no consequence when weighing things out! But one of my favorite images comes from Isaiah 41:5-7.

In 41:2, God speaks of calling forth a “king from the east”—most surely Cyrus the Persian, who is prophetically identified by name in chapter 44. As a result, all those “drop in the bucket…dust on the scales” nations “tremble and mobilize for war”. And…

The idol makers encourage one another,
     saying to each other, “Be strong!”
                              (Isaiah 41:6 NLT)

You understand, of course, that a battle between nations was a battle between the gods of each nation. Think, for example, of the ten plagues Jehovah sends proving His power over the gods of Egypt or of the confrontation between Jehovah and Dagon when the Philistines take possession of the Ark of the Covenant. The same thing’s going on here—Cyrus (remarkably, *not* exactly a guy living in covenant with Jehovah) becomes the tool of Jehovah…and the battle is on!

Can’t you just see these idol makers in their workshops chest-bumping each other in false bravado while the terror in their eyes reveals the truth—their “gods” don’t stand a chance! But what do they do? What can they do?

The carver encourages the goldsmith,
     and the molder helps at the anvil.
     “Good,” they say. “It’s coming along fine.”
Carefully they join the parts together,
     then fasten the thing in place so it won’t fall over.
                                               (Isaiah 41:7 NLT)

I’m so grateful nobody needs to fasten my God in place so He won’t topple over. “You rule, God Most High! You have no equal!”

***

"In Praise of Anguish"

Scripture Passage

2 Kings 20:1-11; Isaiah 38:1-8; Isaiah 38:9-22; 2 Kings 20:12-19; Isaiah 39:1-8

Scripture Focus

Yes, this anguish was good for me…
                     (Isaiah 38:17 NLT)

Observation

King Hezekiah of Judah has fallen ill, and the prophet Isaiah brings him this message: “Set your affairs in order, for you are going to die. You will not recover from this illness.” (Isaiah 38:1 NLT)

Now that’ll get your attention! It probably wasn’t only the announcement of impending death that got Hezekiah’s attention, but also the very likely probability that at this point Hezekiah had no son…no descendent to take the throne…upon his death.

The Bible doesn’t identify any specific reason why God brought this message to Hezekiah at this moment—that is, there’s no indication that this pronouncement is a word of judgment for sin or such. Perhaps Hezekiah had simply been unwilling to recognize and prepare for his own inevitable demise and therefore God needed to press the issue a bit. Nobody wants to acknowledge that even *someday* they’re going to die—and it’s clear that Hezekiah had thought (up to this moment, anyway) that he was in the prime of his life (Isaiah 38:10).

Bottom line, Hezekiah is deathly ill, and God’s message that he’ll not recover has been delivered. In desperation (hmmmm, sounds like yesterday’s reading…) Hezekiah “turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord” (Isaiah 38:2) and God graciously intervened. And when all was said and done, Hezekiah was grateful to have walked “through the valley of the shadow of death” (Psalm 23:4, of course).

I think I understand why. Look at your own life. Don’t we generally learn so much more from our trials than from our blessings? Nobody would *choose* difficulty, given the option, but most everybody I know wouldn’t trade what they learned in the valley for even all the joys of the mountaintop.

And most everybody knows that's the truth. What’s difficult is embracing that reality wholeheartedly in the middle of the trial! And so I pray…

“Lord, in the middle of the trial…in the middle of the anguish…give me eyes of faith for the lessons that will be understood at the end, and for the blessings which await those who faithfully persevere!  Remind me of the promise of Revelation 3:21—'To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.'” (Revelation 3:21 NIV)

***

"Have You Seen This????"

Scripture Passage

2 Kings 19:1-19; Isaiah 37:1-20; 2 Chronicles 32:9-19; 2 Kings 19:20-37; Isaiah 37:21-38; 2 Chronicles 32:20-23

Scripture Focus

After Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it, he went up to the LORD’s Temple and spread it out before the LORD.  (2 Kings 19:14 NLT)

Observation

It’s almost comical—this image of Hezekiah laying out this letter before the Lord. Hezekiah basically prays, “Lord, have you seen this?!? Do you know what this says?!?”—as if God might say, “No—wow—hadn’t seen that yet!”

And, of course, the whole story is wonderful (it actually begins in yesterday’s reading—go back if you didn't get that done). Judah is under Assyrian attack, and the Assyrians are using every trick in the book to press their attack, including intensive broadcasting of political propaganda (à la Tokyo Rose during WWII or Radio Free Europe during the Cold War). But King Hezekiah appeals to the prophet Isaiah for a word from the Lord, and Isaiah brings a word of miraculous deliverance—a word that comes true just as God promised!

The thing I like today is the very thing that makes me smile—Hezekiah’s physical, tangible, concrete action when approaching God in prayer. It not only reveals Hezekiah’s desperation for God to act—in my mind, at least, it must have helped connect (for Hezekiah) the spiritual activity of prayer with the tangible need in Hezekiah’s world. Hezekiah is in dire straits, desperate for God to move. So he grabs what he can—he carts something into the prayer closet with him—not in an act of shamanism or spiritual manipulation, but just as an expression of need. And I say…

Why not? Why not bring before the Lord some symbol…some expression…some icon that tangibly identifies the way in which I’m desperate for God to move. Maybe it’s a letter from a loved one…or a report from the doctor…or a bank statement…or a layoff notice…or the business card of someone for whose salvation I am praying. Whatever it is, could it become a way to tie the spiritual realm into my earthly reality?

Hezekiah’s actions make me wonder if we’ve not made prayer a little too reserved and cerebral—if maybe we’re not desperate enough…if maybe we’re just a little too passionless in our praying. I don’t want to be there, Lord—I want all that I am to reflect the desperate pursuit of You!

***

"Spiritual ADD"

Scripture Passage

Micah 6-7:20; 2 Chronicles 32:1-8; 2 Kings 18:13-18; Isaiah 36:1-3; 2 Kings 18:19-37; Isaiah 36:4-22

Scripture Focus

“O my people, what have I done to you?
     What have I done to make you tired of me?
                                       (Micah 6:3 NLT)

Observation

It’s clear from several verses in Micah 6 that the people of Judah are hardly a model of ethical behavior. Micah speaks of the “homes of the wicked filled with treasures gained by cheating” and the rich becoming wealthy “through extortion and violence.” The second half of verse 12 is a strong indictment:

Your citizens are so used to lying
     that their tongues can no longer tell the truth.
                                        (Micah 6:12 NLT)

Micah details all those sins because—in light of God’s continuing mercy towards the people of Judah—such actions make no sense! Micah asks, in essence, “Where’s the disconnect? Why this huge, gaping distance between what God has the right to expect versus what He’s actually getting?” And I love—okay, I’m rebuked by—the way Micah sets it all up in 6:3…

“O my people, what have I done to you?
     What have I done to make you tired of me?
                                       (Micah 6:3 NLT)

God acts in gracious, loving ways towards people—they make and/or renew commitments to God-honoring life-styles and priorities—and before the ink’s dry on the contract (so to speak), all is forgotten! It’s like Spiritual ADD!

(My goodness—if people forgot the offenses of others as quickly as they forget their promises to God…)

What’s the antidote? It’s detailed in Micah 6:8—

O people, the LORD has told you what is good,
     and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy,
     and to walk humbly with your God.
                                 (Micah 6:8 NLT)

***

"Line "Em Up...and Mow 'Em Down!"

Scripture Passage

Isaiah 34-35:10; Micah 2-5:15

Scripture Focus

Now many nations have gathered against you.
     “Let her be desecrated,” they say.
     “Let us see the destruction of Jerusalem.”
But they do not know the LORD’s thoughts
     or understand his plan.
These nations don’t know
     that he is gathering them together
to be beaten and trampled
     like sheaves of grain on a threshing floor.
                                       (Micah 4:11-12 NLT)

Observation

Micah prophesied in Judah during the reign of King Hezekiah. The book that bears his name most notably contains the prophecy of Jesus’ birthplace as Bethlehem in Micah 5:2 and a great call to socially responsible living in Micah 6:8 (which we haven’t actually read yet on Journey66). But what’s captured my attention today is this wonderful statement regarding the sovereignty and power of God in Micah 4:11-12.

Judah seemed to be in big, big trouble—“Many nations have gathered against you.” But God had other plans. What all those powerful, intimidating, threatening nations didn’t know was that, while they thought they were gathering to destroy Jerusalem, they were really *being* gathered together “to be beaten and trampled like sheaves of grain on a threshing floor” (Micah 4:12 NLT).

I love that! Some days difficulties stack up like snowdrifts in a Kansas winter, and I presume too easily that the troubles and challenges in my life have come to destroy me. Micah’s words suggest that maybe the Lord’s just collecting ‘em all in one place for easy disposal!

Oh, that my heart would trust the simple promise of His Word and the consistent victory of His care! Line ‘em up, Jesus—and mow ‘em down!

***

"Blessed Are Those Who Wait..."

Scripture Passage

Isaiah 30:1- 33:24

Scripture Focus

So the LORD must wait for you to come to him
     so he can show you his love and compassion.
For the LORD is a faithful God.
     Blessed are those who wait for his help.
                              (Isaiah 30:18 NLT)

Observation

I am amazed at the repeated echo of warning and invitation in Isaiah.

Today’s passage could not be clearer in its declaration of the coming judgment of Israel—“What sorrow awaits my rebellious children,” says the Lord (Isaiah 30:1 NLT). Israel trusts in Egypt (instead of the Lord) for deliverance. Israel rejects the word of the Lord and asks, instead, for comforting lies. Punishing judgment is assured!

“Because you despise what I tell you
     and trust instead in oppression and lies,
calamity will come upon you suddenly—
     like a bulging wall that bursts and falls.
In an instant it will collapse
     and come crashing down.
You will be smashed like a piece of pottery—
     shattered so completely that
there won’t be a piece big enough
     to carry coals from a fireplace
     or a little water from the well.”
                       (Isaiah 30:12-14 NLT)

And yet it seems impossible for God to stop there. He’s always following up with an invitation to return to Him, to rely on Him, to receive from Him—

This is what the Sovereign LORD,
     the Holy One of Israel, says:

“Only in returning to me
     and resting in me will you be saved.
In quietness and confidence is your strength.
     But you would have none of it.
                            (Isaiah 30:15 NLT)

Israel will have nothing to do with God's rich invitation.  But instead of slamming the door in Israel’s face, God waits—arms open.

So the LORD must wait for you to come to him
     so he can show you his love and compassion.
For the LORD is a faithful God.
     Blessed are those who wait for his help.
                                 (Isaiah 30:18 NLT)

I don’t know—it simply remains remarkable beyond words.  And I want to be among the blessed who wait for his help.

***

"A New Song of New Growth!"

Scripture Passage

Isaiah 24:1-27:13; Isaiah 29:1-24

Scripture Focus

“In that day,
     sing about the fruitful vineyard.”
                       (Isaiah 27:2 NLT)

Observation

Isaiah 27:2 makes me wish I were a *real* musician.

Today’s passage is predominately one of judgment—all the nations of the world…more than that, the globe itself…suffering necessary judgment for the sins of its inhabitants.

The earth staggers like a drunk.
     It trembles like a tent in a storm.
It falls and will not rise again,
     for the guilt of its rebellion is very heavy.
                               (Isaiah 24:20 NLT)

But like the sun peeking through on an overcast day, there are glimpses of a remnant restored—the promise of God’s people once again enjoying God’s blessing. One of the sweetest glimpses of sunshine shows up in Isaiah 27:1-6, where Israel is pictured as a vineyard which the Lord himself shall tend, with the result that…

…Jacob’s descendants will take root.
        Israel will bud and blossom
        and fill the whole earth with fruit!
                           (Isaiah 27:6 NLT)

And the instruction is to "…sing about the fruitful vineyard!”

It does make me want to sing! It makes me wish I were capable of writing a song that would express the wonder of God’s grace…the wonder of God’s restoration…the wonder that—even as He brings necessary judgment—He is already planting by his Word the promise of new life…new growth…new and bountiful fruitfulness!

How easily…how thoughtlessly…I seek to reject or postpone the judgment of God.  But “the Lord disciplines those he loves…” (Hebrews 12:6 NIV) “ “Now he has promised, ‘Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens’…so that what cannot be shaken may remain” (Hebrews 12:26-27 NIV).

Lord, grant that I do not resist your judgments…your necessary pruning and shaking…that the growth towards new fruitfulness might begin!

***

"A Front Porch Perspective"

Scripture Passage

Isaiah 18:1-23:18

Scripture Focus

For the LORD has told me this:
“I will watch quietly from my dwelling place—
     as quietly as the heat rises on a summer day,
     or as the morning dew forms during the harvest.”
                                             (Isaiah 18:4 NLT)

Observation

Isaiah 18-23 records a series of oracles against various nations—promises, essentially, of God’s judgment against each nation (including His own people, Judah), along with a remarkable prophecy of redemption: Egypt, Assyria, and Israel united side-by-side in the worship of Jehovah!

The passage reminds me (among other things) that Israel did not exist in isolation, but was divinely situated at the crossroads of the world and deeply connected to even the international politics of her day—but (at the same time) that this was a world in God’s full control! That God was God over all the earth—and is, still—and that He directs the future of not only His chosen people Israel, but the future of the whole earth.

And He does so quite matter-of-factly. That’s what catches my attention today. I’m reminded of Psalm 2, where the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain…where the kings of the earth take their stand—and God in heaven laughs! In today’s reading, the Lord “watches quietly from his dwelling place—“

     “as quietly as the heat rises on a summer day,
      or as the morning dew forms during the harvest.”
                                            (Isaiah 18:4 NLT)

It’s like the whole world is abuzz with activity, and God simply sits on His porch and watches—not disinterested…not uninvolved…but quite unflappable and unperturbed by it all! God’s feathers remain unruffled by all the activity of humanity, because—for all our hectic scurrying—He remains the One in control! And He is able to effect judgment and redemption as pleases Him. And when He is done, the most remarkable things will have happened—

     In that day Egypt and Assyria will be connected by a highway. The Egyptians and Assyrians will move freely between their lands, and they will both worship God. And Israel will be their ally. The three will be together, and Israel will be a blessing to them. For the LORD of Heaven’s Armies will say, “Blessed be Egypt, my people. Blessed be Assyria, the land I have made. Blessed be Israel, my special possession!”
                                                  (Isaiah 19:23-25 NLT)

I’m suggesting that the unqualified authority of the Lord—authority over all the earth—has my attention today, and that, for all my mad planning and frenzied action, I marvel at His deliberate, measured use of divine power. “Help me, Lord, to view both your work and my days from your divine, ‘front porch’ perspective.”

***

"From the Heavens…From the Earth"

Scripture Passage

Psalm 136; Psalm 146; Psalm 147; Psalm 148; Psalm 149; Psalm 150

Scripture Focus

Praise the LORD from the heavens!
     (Psalm 148:1 NLT)

Praise the LORD from the earth!
     (Psalm 148:7 NLT)

Observation

I’m tempted to focus in on Psalm 150. I love music…and I love instrumental music particularly. So a psalm encouraging the praise of God through trumpets, lyre, and harp…strings and flutes and cymbals…has my attention!

But I like even more today the way Psalm 148 captures a world alive with the praise of God Almighty. The activity of heaven—sun, moon, twinkling stars, “vapors high above the clouds”—and the activity of earth—

     …creatures of the ocean depths,
fire and hail, snow and clouds,
     wind and weather that obey him,
mountains and all hills,
     fruit trees and all cedars,
wild animals and all livestock,
     small scurrying animals and birds…
                      (Psalm 148:7-11 NLT)

—is in its entirety called upon to “Praise the Lord!”

(I know I’m on a bit of a kick these days in this regard, but…)

With our Western, rationalistic, scientifically-dominated mindset, we’ve reduced our world to less than it is—to whatever we can study under the microscope or replicate in the laboratory. The Scriptures picture a bigger world than that—a world where the glory of God is revealed in, and the praise of God resonates from, every element of existence—a world where there is spiritual activity all around.

And in the thick of a world buzzing with active praise to God, the call extends to even the highest human ranks (and the lowest)—

kings of the earth and all people,
     rulers and judges of the earth,
young men and young women,
     old men and children.
               (Psalm 148:11-12 NLT)

I want two things today—First, I want a heart more aware of the breadth and depth of spiritual activity in the world around me and, second, a heart that joins with all creation—from the heavens…from the earth—in praise of God Almighty!

***

"Sacred Places"

Scripture Passage

Psalm 128; Psalm 129; Psalm 130; Psalm 132; Psalm 134; Psalm 135

Scripture Focus

LORD, remember David
     and all that he suffered.
              (Psalm 132:1 NLT)

Observation

Psalm 132 is another of the psalms of ascent—psalms that served especially as “Israel’s hymnbook” while the Israelites journeyed to Jerusalem for the various feasts celebrated as part of their covenant with Jehovah. They are beautifully poetic, deeply expressive psalms that capture the commitments and experiences of spiritual pilgrims.

Psalm 132 opens with an interesting prayer—

LORD, remember David
     and all that he suffered.
                (Psalm 132:1 NLT)

The psalm then celebrates David’s commitment in bringing the symbol of God’s presence—the Ark of the Covenant—into Jerusalem, and celebrates God’s choice of Jerusalem as the “home” He desired (vv 14-15).

In my imagination, as the people of God marched toward Jerusalem and sang this psalm, they must have been filled with both grateful nostalgia and spiritual longing—grateful nostalgia for the times and ways in which they had experienced God’s presence at the feasts in the past (as God inhabited His Holy City), and spiritual longing that God would be there to meet with them when they arrived again at their sacred destination.

And so this prayer by the Israelites—“Remember David”—is really a prayer that says, “Remember us!” In essence, “O God, you have chosen Jerusalem as your dwelling place—meet with us there again!  Be there in all your glory when we arrive!”

I pray that each of us has those kinds of places—those sacred places—where we know we’ve met with God. If that’s not yet true for you, I pray that God would give you those sacred places. I pray, as well, that we would each be filled with a deep and motivating longing to meet with Him in those sacred places again—that the memory of rewarding and strengthening times in His presence would draw us again to divine encounters with the Almighty God!

***

"Rescue me, O Lord!"

Scripture Passage

Psalm 120; Psalm 121; Psalm 123; Psalm 125; Psalm 126

Scripture Focus

Rescue me, O LORD, from liars
     and from all deceitful people.
                    (Psalm 120:2 NLT)

Observation

Today’s reading took me back to my bookshelf to retrieve a book I’ve mentioned before but, I think, not opened in years. Eugene Peterson’s A Long Obedience in the Same Direction gave me an appreciation for the psalms of ascent I have not forgotten. Psalm 120 is one of those psalms—a psalm of discipleship…a psalm for one that is engaging a spiritual journey towards the City of God (literally or metaphorically).

I quote Eugene Peterson directly:

A person has to be thoroughly disgusted with the way things are to find the motivation to set out on the Christian way. As long as we think that the next election might eliminate crime and establish justice or another scientific breakthrough might save the environment or another pay raise might push us over the edge of anxiety into a life of tranquility, we are not likely to risk the arduous uncertainties of the life of faith. A person has to get fed up with the ways of the world before he, before she, acquires an appetite for the world of grace.

Psalm 120 is the song of such a person, sick with the lies and crippled with the hate… We have been told the lie ever since we can remember: that human beings are basically nice and good. Everyone is born equal and innocent and self-sufficient. The world is a pleasant, harmless place. We are born free. If we are in chains now, it is someone’s fault, and we can correct it with just a little more intelligence or effort or time. (pp 21-22)

Psalm 120 declares the opposite. Psalm 120 declares that we are in need of rescue—that we cannot save ourselves.

Rescue me, O LORD, from liars
     and from all deceitful people.
                     (Psalm 120:2 NLT)

I read that…I think of the broken condition of the whole of humanity…I think of my own broken condition…and I long to re-engage a journey of faith. “Rescue me, O Lord, from liars and from all deceitful people”—most of all, I pray, from myself!

***

"Consistent Reflection"

Scripture Passage

Psalm 119

Scripture Focus

Oh, that my actions would consistently
     reflect your decrees!
Then I will not be ashamed
     when I compare my life with your commands.
                              (Psalm 119:5-6 NLT)

Observation

Psalm 119 is a remarkable piece of literature. It’s an acrostic, the verses within each successive stanza beginning with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It was probably written that way as a mnemonic device, to aid students in memorizing the values discovered in the study of the Law of God. And, of course, it holds the distinction as the longest psalm (just removed from the shortest—Psalm 117), and as the longest chapter in the Bible. The purpose of the study of the Law of God is declared in verses 5 and 6:

Oh, that my actions would consistently
     reflect your decrees!
Then I will not be ashamed
     when I compare my life with your commands.
                                (Psalm 119:5-6 NLT)

I love that heart-cry!

Ever visited one of those carnival funhouses with the mirrors that intentionally create a distorted reflection?  That's funny at the carnival, but tragic in the life of the believer.  I don't want to give a distorted reflection or an inconsistent reflection—"Oh, that my actions would consistently reflect your decrees!"

The thing I love about this psalm is how the psalmist pursues the knowledge of God’s commandments not out of fear of God’s judgment or a legalistic understanding of God’s salvation (“Obey the rules and thou shalt be saved!”), but out of the Word of God as an expression of the love of God and the life He gives. Just a few examples affirm that:

I will never forget your commandments,
     for by them you give me life.
                       (Psalm 119:93 NLT)

Oh, how I love your instructions!
     I think about them all day long.
                      (Psalm 119:97 NLT)

Your laws are my treasure;
     they are my heart’s delight.
                     (Psalm 119:111 NLT)

That’s what I want my attitude to be regarding the commands of God—to know that in them is life, to know that He directs my steps not just for His purposes but for my good, to know that by His living Word to me, He gives me life! I'm convinced that’s why the psalmist prays, “Oh that my actions would consistently reflect your decrees!”

May that declaration reflect my heart, as well!

***