A Rebellious Nation

Isaiah 1

New International Version (NIV)

1 The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

A Rebellious Nation

² Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth!
For the Lord has spoken:
“I reared children and brought them up,
but they have rebelled against me.
³ The ox knows its master,
the donkey its owner’s manger,
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand.”

⁴ Woe to the sinful nation,
a people whose guilt is great,
a brood of evildoers,
children given to corruption!
They have forsaken the Lord;
they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.

⁵ Why should you be beaten anymore?
Why do you persist in rebellion?
Your whole head is injured,
your whole heart afflicted.
⁶ From the sole of your foot to the top of your head
there is no soundness—
only wounds and welts
and open sores,
not cleansed or bandaged
or soothed with olive oil.

⁷ Your country is desolate,
your cities burned with fire;
your fields are being stripped by foreigners
right before you, laid waste as when overthrown by strangers.
⁸ Daughter Zion is left
like a shelter in a vineyard,
like a hut in a cucumber field,
like a city under siege.
⁹ Unless the Lord Almighty
had left us some survivors,
we would have become like Sodom,
we would have been like Gomorrah.

¹⁰ Hear the word of the Lord,
you rulers of Sodom;
listen to the instruction of our God,
you people of Gomorrah!
¹¹ “The multitude of your sacrifices—
what are they to me?” says the Lord.
“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
of rams and the fat of fattened animals;
I have no pleasure
in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
¹² When you come to appear before me,
who has asked this of you,
this trampling of my courts?
¹³ Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—
I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.¹⁴ Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals
I hate with all my being.
They have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.
¹⁵ When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I hide my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
I am not listening.

Your hands are full of blood!

¹⁶ Wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds out of my sight;
stop doing wrong.¹⁷ Learn to do right; seek justice.
Defend the oppressed.^[a]
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow.

¹⁸ “Come now, let us settle the matter,”
says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.
¹⁹ If you are willing and obedient,
you will eat the good things of the land;
²⁰ but if you resist and rebel,
you will be devoured by the sword.”For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

²¹ See how the faithful city
has become a prostitute!
She once was full of justice;
righteousness used to dwell in her—
but now murderers!²² Your silver has become dross,
your choice wine is diluted with water.
²³ Your rulers are rebels, partners with thieves;they all love bribes
and chase after gifts.
They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow’s case does not come before them.

24 Therefore the Lord, the Lord Almighty,
the Mighty One of Israel, declares:
“Ah! I will vent my wrath on my foes
and avenge myself on my enemies.
25 I will turn my hand against you;
    I will thoroughly purge away your dross
and remove all your impurities.26 I will restore your leaders as in days of old,
your rulers as at the beginning.
Afterward you will be called
the City of Righteousness,
the Faithful City.”

²⁷ Zion will be delivered with justice,
her penitent ones with righteousness.
²⁸ But rebels and sinners will both be broken,
and those who forsake the Lord will perish.

²⁹ “You will be ashamed because of the sacred oaks
in which you have delighted;
you will be disgraced because of the gardens
that you have chosen.
³⁰ You will be like an oak with fading leaves,
like a garden without water.
³¹ The mighty man will become tinder
and his work a spark;
both will burn together,
with no one to quench the fire.”

 

 

Lord, I fear for America. I fear for the future of this nation and for the generations to come. I fear Your wrath, however deserved it may be on this perverse country. Most of all, I fear You have hidden Your eyes from us and will not listen to our prayers just as these verses say. I fear You have turned Your back on the country that in large part turned its back on You. I'm so sorry that America has turned its back on You. Please have mercy on Your faithful servants. Protect us from the terrible leadership and the immoral citizens who elected that leadership, forsaking your teachings blatantly. I pray for mercy and protection today for all of my fellow Christians living in the midst of this corruption. Help us find strength, hope, and direction in You when society shuns us, persecutes us, and strips away our rights to worship. Help us live in peace, not fear. In Your Son's precious and holy name I pray, Amen.

To the work..

I've been working so much lately that I'm just flat exhausted when I get home and haven't spent any time on the computer in the past month!! I feel bad for not posting during this transition, but I know the Lord understand that when I have 5 minutes of down time, it's better spent on rest and reading my Bible or devotionals. My energy has been drained, and I'm struggling just to keep my strength replenished!

I want to share this song with all of you. It's been great strength for me knowing that I am working towards goals for my family that will give us more opportunities to serve God. In all that I do, I praise His name and give Him the glory. Now, enough of a break. Back to work!! :-)


To the work! To the work! We are servants of God;
Let us follow the path that our Master has trod;
With the balm of His counsel our strength to renew,
Let us do with our might what our hands find to do.

To the work! To the work! Let the hungry be fed;
To the fountain of life let the weary be led;
In the cross and its banner our glory shall be,
While we herald the tidings, “Salvation is free!”

To the work! To the work! There is labor for all;
For the kingdom of darkness and error shall fall;
And the love of our Father exalted shall be,
In the loud swelling chorus, “Salvation is free!”

To the work! To the work! In the strength of the Lord,
And a robe and a crown shall our labor reward,
When the home of the faithful our dwelling shall be,
And we shout with the ransomed, “Salvation is free!”

Toiling on, toiling on
Toiling on, toiling on
Let us hope and trust,
Let us watch and pray,
And labor til the Master comes.

Whoever has ears...

Please take a minute to read this article, which reports of an anti-bullying conference for high school students that turned out to be a Bible-bashing during which many students walked out. I cannot understand why society chooses to be tolerant of everyone's beliefs and lifestyles except those of Christians. It is wrong. The article says the host of the conference didn't even apologize to the students; instead, the host claimed that as journalists the students would have to listen to things they didn't agree with, but this is way beyond a difference of opinion. This is someone bullying Christian teens while other teens cheer him on. Terrible.

http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/anti-bullying-speaker-curses-mocks-christian-teens.html

I've also read recently about a pastor in Arizona who has been PUT IN JAIL for holding Bible Study in his home. The officals claim that his Bible Study makes his home a place of worship, which violates zoning laws.

This persecution of Christians is the result of too much tolerance on the part of Christian Americans. Over the years, we have stood by and allowed our beliefs to be compromised, and our reward is to now be persecuted in our own "Christian" nation.

I challenge you to read Revelation chapters 2 and 3, the messages to the churches. Here are a few excerpts that should really hit home:

Revelation 2
⁴ Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. ⁵ Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

¹⁰ Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.

²⁰ Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. ²¹ I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. ²² So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. ²³ I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.


Revelation 3
I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. ² Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. ³ Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.

¹⁰ Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. ¹¹ I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 

¹⁵ I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! ¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷ You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 

These passages are taken from the messages to the seven churches. Repeated throughout these two chapters is the phrase, "Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches."

I pray that we hear and take to heart what He is saying to us today.

Sleep

I start my new job in the morning, and I would greatly appreciate your prayers over the next two weeks. With Aaron out of state with military training, I'm having trouble sleeping, which leads to headaches all throughout the day. Sleep deprivation + headaches + new job is a formula for stress, something I don't want to allow back in my life. So, please pray that I will get the rest I need during this time of change not only to handle what the days bring, but to make the impact God wants me to make, also.

Please pray for Aaron and his unit while they are away. I'm not sure what his sleeping conditions will be (likely a tent with no air conditioning), and he doesn't sleep well with noise, which always causes problems while he's away with the Guard because some of the men stay up talking or have music blaring all night. He and the other soldiers need their rest to get them through two weeks of training, so I pray his sleeping conditions will be inducive to rest.

It's amazing how sleep can affect our lives. With me, it affects my mood, my focus, my energy, my thoughts. We need our rest to perform our best for God throughout the day.

Psalm 4:8

In peace I will both lie down and sleep,

For You alone, O Lord, make me to dwell in safety.

Bedtime Prayer

Now I lay me down to sleep.
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
May angels guard me through the night
and keep me safe till morning light.
Thank you, Jesus, for this day.
In your precious name I pray,
Amen.