-
Dreaming about what IS possible
2 In the days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house will be the highest of the mountains. It will be lifted above the hills; peoples will stream to it. 3 Many nations will go and say, “Come, let’s go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the house of Jacob’s God so that he may teach us his ways and we may walk…
-
The tenacity of prayer
Isa 60:22 22 The least will become a thousand, and the smallest a powerful people. I am the LORD; at the right moment, I will hurry it along. http://olivetree.com/b3/Isa.60.22.CEB We need a tenacity of prayer in our hearts that will birth the promises of God!
-
The Great Reversal I Long For
Now that the world hasn’t ended (again), maybe we could continue on with the actions we might want to take as the people of God. We need to live out Advent in our world. Christ has come. He makes the difference. 19 The poor will again find joy in the Lord, and the neediest of people will rejoice in the holy…
-
The Sure Thing
16 So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic. (Isaiah 28:16, NIV) What God lays down as a foundation is the sure thing. Israel had been dealing with any other way to…
-
I am Ruined!
5 I said, “Mourn for me; I’m ruined! I’m a man with unclean lips, and I live among a people with unclean lips. Yet I’ve seen the king, the Lord of heavenly forces!” (Isa. 6:5, CEB) Advent is the powerful story of Christ coming to us. It also needs to remind us of the state of our own affairs. We are…
-
Whatever you do, do NOT read the Advent passage today!
You can read the New Testament passage, the Gospel, maybe even the Psalms. But do NOT… I repeat… do NOT read that Isaiah 1:21-31 passage! Something is really wrong with whoever put THIS in an Advent reading! I find is SOOOO rude to have Advent and thinking about Christmas and the nice and neat stuff we see all around us,…
-
Knock off the fake worship!
The reading in Advent will usually get around to Isaiah and this year it dives right into Isaiah 1. To put it succinctly, God is not happy. As I work on the Sermon on the Mount and a “pro-life ethic,” I am drawn to the parallels here in Isaiah 1. A quote I posted from Craig Keener really drives at the…
-
The Freedom of the Kingdom
if you open your heart to the hungry, and provide abundantly for those who are afflicted, your light will shine in the darkness, and your gloom will be like the noon. (Isa. 58:10, CEB) When do we find freedom in our own lives? We all live broken lives in some way. Yet, in Christ, we have the opportunity to find…
-
The “Crushing” Beauty of the Savior
For this is what the high and exalted One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. (Isa. 57:15, NIV) We are to build up the road so…
-
Build up the road
And it will be said: “Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people.” (Isa. 57:14, NIV) Get rid of the obstacles. If I can get myself out of the way, it’s a good possibility people just may see the ravishing beauty of Jesus. I pray that in the lives of my…
Tag: Isaiah
