Isaiah 59

"He put on righteousness as his breastplate and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak. According to what they have done, so will he repay wrath to his enemies and retribution to his foes; he will repay the islands their due." 

Isaiah 59:17 (NIV)

Isaiah 59 reveals that the real enemy of the penitent people of God is sin. Iniquities, sin, offenses, injustice, unrighteousness, deceit, and evil paths destroy us and our families. God has acted against human enemies; He has delivered Israel from Egypt, and will deliver them from Babylon, and yet the real issue is within those who seek to follow God, who seek to live in His ways of holiness and righteousness - the real issue is SIN! Only God can deal with this issue. He could destroy everyone and everything, but in His grace and compassion, the LORD becomes a might Warrior. He protects Himself with righteousness and salvation, as He strides unto the earth. He dresses Himself in vengeance and zeal for His glory and for righteousness. He will wipe out sin and all who align themselves with sin. He will redeem all who repent of their sin and turn to Him for healing cleansing. Then in the most amazing conclusion to this prophecy, God Himself will not depart from those whom He has entered. They will be His forever and their mouths and their lives will declare the glory and wonder of the LORD. 

Here we are in 2013, inheritors of this great prophecy, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, servants of the Divine Warrior, possessors of the Spirit of God. Friend, does your life and your mouth declare praise to His glorious grace? Or are we this day defeated by sin? Jesus came to set us free to live in righteousness and salvation. May we repent and turn to our Divine Warrior for freedom from sin this day! 

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Psalm 111

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise." 

Psalm 111:10 (NIV) 

From the time I was 15 years old until I was 41, it was my practice to read a different chapter of Proverbs every morning as my starting point every day. One of the side effects of this exposure to Proverbs has been that I love to debate with my Christian friends on what the "fear" of the LORD is. In hindsight, that time would have been better spent discussing the evidences that we fear the LORD rather than trying to define an English word! This is how the wisdom literature approaches it. David, Solomon and others describe the actions of a person who fears the LORD and the fruit that they receive from their righteousness in their lives. They don't spend any time debating whether fear means respect or terror. This Psalm tells us that those who fear the LORD follow His precepts. They follow the spirit of the Law, not just the letter. They understand that what God tells us to do, the behaviours He instructs His children to follow, are for our good and will bring the fruit of righteousness in our lives. It is a matter of faith, really; the faith to believe in the character of God and the faith to trust Him and obey His instructions for our situation. A person who fears the LORD praises Him now for His instructions and will praise Him forever! For who is like our LORD who takes the time and expends the energy to make sure that His children receive the Words of life? He alone is to be praised. May we put the words of this blessed song into our hearts today: 

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,

What a glory He sheds on our way! 

While we do His good will, He abides with us still, 

And with all who will trust and obey. 

Trust and obey, for there's no other way 

To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. 

Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies, 

But His smile quickly drives it away; 

Not a doubt for a fear, not a sigh nor a tear, 

Can abide while we trust and obey. 

Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share, 

But our toil He doth richly repay; 

Not a grief or a loss, not a frown or a cross, 

But is blessed if we trust and obey. 

But we never can prove the delights of His love

Until all on the altar we lay; 

For the favor He shows, for the joy He bestows, 

Are for them who will trust and obey. 

Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet, 

Or we'll walk by His side in the way; 

What He says we will do, where He sends we will go; 

Never fear, only trust and obey. 

{Words: John Sammis, 1887. Music: Daniel Towner.}

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Matthew 7:21-29

"From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I." 

Psalm 61:2

Oh friend, how are you this day? Is your soul longing for the salvation of the LORD? Are you longing for God to miraculously move into your situation and bring relief to you? Do your heart grow faint within you? David was there and his prayer was that the LORD would lead him to the rock that is higher than him. We can explain this away physically, by talking about warfare in David's age and the importance of a firm place to stand to wield his weapons and the importance of high ground in hand to hand combat. But if we stop there and don't think of the SPIRITUAL significance of the ROCK, we will have missed the life giving message of the Holy Spirit. 

David refers to the LORD as his rock 19 different times in the Psalms; the rock that is higher than David is a SPIRITUAL rock! Our Lord Jesus taught us that the SPIRITUAL rock is the place of obedience. If we obey His Words, we build on the rock. David is pleading that God would lead him into obedience, into the place, that center place of being in God's good, pleasing and perfect will. Circumstances and situations are all beyond our control, even beyond our understanding; but there is a place of safety in the midst of all that is wrong around us. That place is the place of obedience. That place is the rock that is higher than I. 

Oh Father, take us to the rock. Bring us by your strong hand into that place of safety. 

"Back to the Rock", Petra, via YouTube

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James 3:13-18

"But wisdom is proved right by all her children." 

Luke 7:35 (NIV) 

How many choices have you faced already this day? How many decisions have you made? How many were wise and how many were foolish? Our Lord tells us that wisdom will become obvious over time. James gives us the components of the test for heavenly wisdom: 

Was the choice pure? 

Did the choice come from a desire for true peace? 

Did I consider the other person's needs as I chose? 

Am I being submissive to my Lord in this choice? 

Did mercy play the dominant part in my choice? 

Were any of the fruits of the Spirit evident in my decision? 

Would I have treated another person differently? 

Did my words or actions line up with my heart? 

All of our choices and decisions fall into two categories: foolish or wise. There are no neutral categories. All of our choices and decisions bear fruit and only those made in heavenly wisdom will bear the fruit of righteousness. 

Dear Heavenly Father, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Glorious Father, please give us the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that we may know You better. May we live in step with Your Spirit this day. 

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Psalm 1

"Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you." 

Exodus 20:12 (NIV)

Long life is universally desired. I wonder sometimes why we hold it up so high when our quality of life seems to diminish as we get older, but humans desire long life. It is presented in God's Word as a blessing from God bestowed upon those who live their lives in accordance with His Word, to the point that some of the Psalms wrestle with why God would allow wicked people to prosper and live long. Paul calls this 5th Commandment a promise; not a wise saying that "generally" comes true, BUT a PROMISE! That means that God Himself puts the full weight of His Name and His character behind it. 

Heathens teach karma; the Bible teaches that the One True God is not only the Creator of all things, but that He is the Sustainer of all things and is intimately involved with every detail of His creation. His plan for humans was that a man and a woman would join together in marriage; make love to each other and children would be born and fill the earth. How we treat our parents matters to God and He will bless those who honour their parents. May we choose to walk in the path of blessing today. 

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Matthew 15:1-13

"There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers; those who are pure in their own eyes and yet are not cleansed of their filth..."

Proverbs 30:11, 12 (NIV)

Oh friend, may we not be included in "they"! There are people who curse their father and don't bless their mothers, but may the children of God not be in that group. We sometimes think that the 5th commandment is for children under the age of 18 and yet, we know that the 10 Commandments were given to adults, and that anyone under 20 years of age were held accountable by God in the rebellion in the wilderness.

Our Lord is speaking to adults in Matthew 15 and His Words ring true today. How do we as adults treat our parents? Do we play games with ourselves and pretend that we are pleasing before God, even as we neglect and shun our parents? It may be that there is a history of abuse and it may be that your parents are a destructive force in your life. The Lord will guide us and show us what to do, if we truly are serious in pleasing Him in this matter of honouring those whom He chose to give birth and life to us. May we please our Lord by blessing our moms and honouring our dads this day. 

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1 Peter 3:1-6

"The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down." 

Proverbs 14:1 (NIV)

A wife has tremendous power! Solomon is not speaking here of a woman carpenter. No; he is describing two different types of wives and the power they have on the families are a part of. The wife builds or destroys the family. We immediately raise objection to this and insist that the man take the primary responsibility for all issues in a family. Okay, that is correct. The Bible actually teaches that the man has the primary responsibility. It is easy to see that in the story of Adam and Eve, Eve was deceived but Adam was held responsible, but what is also correct is the tremendous amount of power that the woman of the house has in her hands. How she acts, how she speaks, the attitude that she has, either builds her family or destroys it. Consider Sarah; we think of Abram's faith and Sarah's laughter. The Holy Spirit tells us in Hebrews 11:11 that it was her faith that brought about the birth of Isaac. The Holy Spirit also tells us in Genesis 21 that God acted towards Sarah and kept His promise to Sarah. Consider Hagar; the abandoned single mother who through faith, (she called out to God and He answered her) saved her son and raised him to be a great leader. May Parkdale be filled with wise women! 

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