Right now in my daily reading, I am in Isaiah. I would have to say that, this is not my favorite book. I have read through chapter 19. "But even then the LORD's anger will not be satisfied. His fist is still poised to strike." This verse stood out to me, mainly because it is repeated several times. The LORD uses people to accomplish what He desires. Then because of that person's pride and arrogance, He destroys them as well. He is not given the glory for their accomplishments. They say, "By my power... By my own strength... By my greatness..." God hates this kind of attitude. "The LORD has rightly decided to destroy His people. Yes, the LORD, the LORD Almighty, has already decided to consume them." This is the part of God that no one likes to think about. This is the part of all of us that does not rejoice in Him. We do not want to think about His judgement, His rath. As we look at God we must look at all of Him. He is not Santa Clause. He has rules and He does expect us to revere Him as LORD.
In all of this rath and judgment that He deliverse, right in the middle of His display of great power, I can find peace. I can find peace because He is more than one part. He is a Triune being. I am so thankful He has more than one side. Isaiah 11, "A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD - and He will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what He sees with His eyes, or decide by what He hears with His ears; but with righteousness He will judge the needy, with justice He will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth; with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be His belt and faithfulness the sash around His waist."
I am so thankful for this. I am thakful, because even though I did not deserve it, He saved me. But please listen to the warnings. We like to focus on His grace and generosity, but He does have another side. Please listen to His warning. We need to open our eyes to the truth. Do I, do you worship Him? Is He really our God? All we need to do is to look at how we live our lives. For if He is really our God then we will do everything in our power to obey Him.
Isaiah 12, "In that day you will say: 'I will praise You, O LORD. Although You were angry with me, Your anger has turned away and You have comforted me. Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation.'With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. In that day you will say: 'Give thanks to the LORD, call on His name; make known among the nations what He has done, and proclaim that His name is exalted. Sing to the LORD, for He has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.'" We must look at all the sides of the LORD. What part of Him will you see?
No comments:
Post a Comment