ISAIAH 42
Chosen servant [Christ] verse 1- 4
BEHOLD MY SERVANT – whom I uphold
MINE elect – in whom MY soul delights
I have put MY SPIRIT upon HIM
HE shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles
HE shall not cry – not lift up – not cause HIS voice to be heard in the street
a bruised reed shall he not break
and smoking flax shall he not quench
HE shall bring forth judgment unto truth
HE shall not fail nor be discouraged
till he have set judgment in the earth
and the isles shall wait for HIS law
Chosen servant = Light verse 5- 7
Thus says God the LORD
HE that created the heavens and stretched them out
HE that spread forth the earth – and that which comes out of it
HE that gives breath unto the people upon it
and spirit to them that walk therein
I the LORD have called you in righteousness
and will hold YOUR hand – and will keep YOU
and give YOU for a covenant of the people
for a LIGHT of the Gentiles
To open the blind eyes
to bring out the prisoners from the prison
and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house
Chosen servant = LORD verse 8- 9
I am the LORD – that is MY name
and MY glory will I not give to another
neither MY praise to graven images
BEHOLD – the former things are come to pass
and new things do I declare
before they spring forth I tell you of them
Sing to the chosen servant who
brings victory verse 10- 12
Sing unto the LORD a new song – and HIS praise from the end of the earth
you that go down to the sea – and all that is therein
the isles – and the inhabitants thereof
Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice
the villages that Kedar doth inhabit
let the inhabitants of the rock sing
let them shout from the top of the mountains
let them give glory unto the LORD
and declare HIS praise in the islands
Chosen servant = guide verse 13- 17
The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man
HE shall stir up jealousy like a man of war – HE shall cry – yea roar
HE shall prevail against his enemies
I have long time held MY peace
I have been still – and refrained MYSELF
now will I cry now like a travailing woman
I will destroy and devour at once
I will make waste mountains and hills
and dry up all their herbs
I will make the rivers islands
and I will dry up the pools
I will bring the blind by the way that they knew not
I will lead them in paths that they have not known
I will make darkness light before them
and crooked things straight
These things will I do unto them
and not forsake them
They shall be turned back – they shall be greatly ashamed
that trust in graven images – that say to the molten images
You are our gods
Israel’s failure to listen to
Chosen servant verse 18- 20
Hear – you deaf – Look – you blind
that you may see
Who is blind but MY SERVANT? or deaf as MY messenger that I sent?
who is blind as HE that is perfect
and blind as the LORD’S SERVANT?
Seeing many things – but you observe not
open the ears – but he hears not
Children of Israel judged for
not listening verse 21- 22
The LORD is well-pleased for HIS righteousness’ sake
HE will magnify the law – and make it honorable
BUT this is a people robbed and spoiled
they are all of them snared in holes – and they are hid in prison houses
they are for a prey and none delivered
for a spoil – and none says RESTORE
Asking Israel to learn the lesson verse 23- 25
Who among you will give ear to this?
who will hearken and hear for the time to come?
Who gave Jacob for a spoil – and Israel to the robbers?
did not the LORD – HE against WHOM we have sinned?
for they would not walk in HIS ways
neither were they obedient unto HIS law
THEREFORE HE hath poured upon him the fury of HIS anger
and the strength of battle – and it hath set him on fire round about
yet he knew not – and it burned him – yet he laid it not to heart
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. (972 “elect” [bachiyr] means chosen, one preferred or selected, or best.
DEVOTION: Our assignment in Seminary was to write a paper on who we thought this verse was referring to. Was it referring to the Messiah or someone else? These passages dealt with a suffering servant. The problem was that usually there was a reference to the first and second coming of this servant.
This servant was chosen of God. HE was someone the LORD delighted in or was
pleased with. HE was one who was to bring forth judgment unto truth. HE was
One who would never fail.
When you study all the passages related to the “suffering servant” it seems that only one conclusion can be drawn. This is a prophecy regarding the coming of the Messiah. Each of the references were used by the authors of the Gospels to refer to Jesus Christ. HE was the only one that the Father stated that HE was well-pleased with to the disciples and to John the Baptist.
In the wisdom of God we find that before the foundation of the world HE had a plan to create our world. In HIS plan HE was going to create mankind. HE knew that they would fall into sin. HE knew that they would need a Savior. HE would send a Savior in the fullness of time to die on the cross for all the human of the world, but only those who would become followers of HIM would be able to apply the blood of Christ to their sins. Most people would reject HIS sacrifice. None will be able to say to the LORD on judgment day that HE didn’t give them an opportunity to become a follower of HIM. They didn’t think they needed HIM. They chose to worship false gods.
The LORD states that HE will not share HIS glory with anyone or anything else. Lifelong worship given to false idols would never be forgiven. Those who practiced this form of religion were going to spend eternity in the company of the devil and his angels in the lake of fire.
We need to understand that God predicted the coming of HIS Son to die on the cross back in Genesis chapter three. And HE continued to give us information all the way to the point of HIS first coming.
HE is coming again. We need to be ready and prepare as many people as we can talk to about HIS coming. Our warning might not be heeded but when they stand before the Great White Throne judgment they will have no excuse.
CHALLENGE: Our LORD suffered during HIS first coming to this earth. We are going to suffer if we are faithful to our witness to HIM while we are here on this earth. That is a promise from the word of God.
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 5 Thus says God the LORD, HE that created the heavens, and stretched them out HE that spread forth the earth, and that which comes out of it; HE that gives breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein. (5397 “breath” [nashamah] means inspiration, living being, the air that is inhaled and exhaled in respiration, sometimes of the actuating principle of life, or inner-most part of a person that can respond to God.
DEVOTION: The ONE TRUE GOD of the universe is the ONE who created it in the beginning. HE created the world in six literal twenty-four hour periods. Each day had a morning and an evening. HE created man and woman on the sixth day and saw that HE created as very good.
HE knew before the foundation of the world that Adam and Eve would sin. HE knew at the same time that the second person of the Godhead would have to come and die on the cross for the sins of every individual who would be born. Every individual would have an opportunity to become a believer. No human being would be able to say to HIM “I didn’t have a chance to become a believer.”
So we find that the LORD gives every human being the ability to breathe when they are born. HE gives can take that breathe away at any time. This chapter also states that the LORD is longsuffering with people. The New Testament tells us that everyone has enough opportunities to make the decision to follow the LORD but that most will refuse because of the lifestyle change that is necessary to be a genuine believer.
God gave all of the children of Israel time to follow HIM but most of them choose to worship false gods that were made with their own hands. This practice has continued to this day. The gods of this world today may be different than those of the children of Israel.
We have to thank the LORD for every time we inhale and exhale and yet we think that it just happens. The Holy Spirit gives each individual a chance to become a follower of Jesus Christ and spend eternity in heaven. The place God has created for all those who make that profession of faith genuinely.
CHALLENGE: The next time we inhale and exhale we should all thank the LORD for each breathe. It may be our last and we will face eternity with the decisions we made. Who are you worshiping?
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
:22 But this is a people robbed and plundered; all of them are snared in holes, and they are hidden in prison houses; They are for prey, and no one delivers; for plunder, and no one says, “Restore!” The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982). שׁוּב [shuwb /shoob/] – to bring back. 1B2 to restore, refresh, repair
DEVOTION: Our world today is reeling with refugees seeking asylum in many different countries and the confusion that is resulting! Countries closing their borders and citizens frightened by all the media and news reports. Confusion, chaos and social unrest is rampant! This was true in Israel’s day as the Lord reminded them of the results that came as individuals were deaf, blind and unresponsive to the Lord’s warnings. Israel had many chances to turn to the Lord and they refused. People had been warned by prophets and by the word of God. Their failure to heed resulted in homelessness, poverty and unrest.
Our world is reeling in a similar situation as cultures and nations are uprooted and displaced. Why? The opportunities that the Lord had presented to people and cultures to hear and respond to the message of the Gospel has gone unheard. Where once a strong church and message was present today anarchy and confusion is present. Civil unrest and hostile forces exist where at one time law was upheld and righteousness was exalted.
God is not mocked and His word is true! Christ warned that we would hear of wars and rumors of war. Nations will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows… And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. (Matt.24:6-12)
Our world is desperate and desperately in need of prayer by believers committed to the Lord!
CHALLENGE: Today take time to pray for the displaced and uprooted people of our world. Then ask the Lord to “Restore” them to Himself.
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: 25 Therefore he has poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it has set him fire round about, yet he knew not, and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart. (3820 “heart” [leb] means one’s inner self, disposition, determination, the locus of a person’s thoughts (mind), volition, emotions, and knowledge of right from wrong(conscience) understood as the heart)
DEVOTION: The children of Israel were not being obedient to the LORD. HE had given them the Ten Commandments to follow. HE had given them a Temple to worship in. HE had given them spiritual leaders to help them in their worship. HE had given them kings to rule over them.
The problem was that the further they were away from the captivity in Egypt, the further they drifted from the LORD. HE had sent many warnings their way but they didn’t listen to HIS prophets and priests that were obedient to HIM.
It was a time of judgment that Isaiah was sharing with the people but they didn’t want to hear his warnings. They wanted to continue in their sin and think that the LORD was just going to forgive them without any punishment. They were wrong!
Today we find that even in the church there has come a time period when people enter the church, they are looking to be entertained rather then challenged to be better servants. They seem to want to sit, sock and sour rather then to serve.
God has always wanted HIS servants to worship HIM in spirit and in truth. HE has wanted them to be a witness to HIS love and judgment. HE has wanted them to serve HIM joyfully.
This was not happening in the days of Isaiah and it is not happening today. Too many believers are not reading their Bible and praying on a daily basis. Too many believers are not willing to witness for the LORD to their neighbors and friends. Again, we use the word “believer” loosely because they may not even be genuine believers.
Just because they go to church each Sunday and give an offering to the LORD doesn’t mean that they are individuals who love the LORD with all their heart and soul and body.
Judgment comes every time those who claim to be followers of the LORD are not genuinely following the LORD day to day or week to week.
Again we are not trying to condemn but to challenge those who claim to be followers of Jesus to have a revival in their heart to the point that they are going to turn from sin and serve HIM with their body, soul and spirit on a daily basis. This is what the LORD wants and it should be what we want for all those who claim to be followers of the LORD.
CHALLENGE: Is this your prayer for your life and for the lives of those you love? If it is start with yourself and work out to your family and then to your friends to be an encourager. Remember none of us is perfect but we are forgiven if we have trusted Christ!!
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DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
Glory to the LORD verse 8, 12
Praise verse 8, 10, 12
Sing a new song verse 10
Lift up voices verse 11
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DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
Law verse 4, 21, 24
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
Mine elect verse 1
Delights in elect verse 1
God – Elohim (Creator, Sovereign) verse 5
LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal) verse 5, 6, 8, 10, 12,
13, 19, 21, 24
God the LORD verse 5
Creator verse 5
Gives life verse 5
Glory of the LORD verse 8
HE shall go forth as a might man verse 13
HE shall stir up jealousy verse 13
HE shall prevail against HIS enemies verse 13
Longsuffering of the LORD verse 14
LORD doesn’t forsake HIS people verse 16
LORD’s servant verse 19
LORD is well pleased verse 21
HIS righteousness verse 21
HE will magnify the law verse 21
HE will make the law honorable verse 21
Fury of HIS anger verse 25
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)
SERVANT of the LORD verse 1, 19
Judgment verse 1, 3, 4
Truth verse 3
Not fail verse 4
Not be discouraged verse 4
Law verse 4
Open blind eyes verse 7
Bring out prisoners verse 7
New things declared verse 9
Mighty man verse 13
Man of war verse 13
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
MY Spirit verse 1
Spirit verse 5
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Gentiles verse 1, 6
Prisoners verse 7
Enemies verse 13
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Sit in darkness verse 7
Graven images (trust in) verse 8, 17
Molten images verse 17
False gods verse 17
Worship false gods verse 17
Robbed verse 22, 24
Spoiled verse 22
Snared verse 22
Sinned verse 24
Not walked right verse 24
Nor obedient to the LORD verse 24
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Servant verse 1, 19
Elect verse 1
Delight verse 1
Gift of the Holy Spirit verse 1
Truth verse 3
Walk in the Spirit verse 5
Called verse 6
Righteousness verse 6
Presence of the LORD verse 6
Covenant verse 6
Open blind eyes verse 7
Bring out prisoners from the prison verse 7
Sing verse 10, 11
Praise verse 10, 12
Give glory unto the LORD verse 12
Turned back verse 17
Ashamed verse 17
Ability give to hear and see verse 18, 23
Messenger of the LORD verse 19
Cry to the LORD: Restore verse 22
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Kedar verse 11
Jacob verse 24
Israel verse 24
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
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DONATIONS:
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QUOTES regarding passage
5. God here is hā’ēl. The word ’ēl is God transcendent (40:18). The addition of the definite article (hā) is for emphasis: ‘he who is indeed the true transcendent God’. Lord, as the capital letters indicate, is ‘Yahweh’, the God who revealed himself to Israel (Exod. 3:15). In 40:12ff., the truth of God the Creator was turned to the exclusive comfort of Israel (40:27–31), but the Creator of all cannot forget the ‘all’ he has created. The saving mercies he revealed to Israel are for his whole world. The verbs created … stretched … spread … gives are in Hebrew all participles expressing the unchanging relationship between the Lord and his world. He, who in the beginning created, continues in creative care and dominance; heavens and earth are maintained in place by his constant activity; all life comes from him. Created: see 4:5. All that comes … breath … life (‘spirit’) are respectively productivity, life itself, and vitality or personal ability. The ‘life’ of the natural world, just as much as the life of humans, is the constantly ministered life of God. Life is not inherent in the soil, nor is human life the product of a self-existing evolutionary surge, but the direct gift of the Creator. It is not held in perpetuity but is enjoyed by the faithfulness of his continuing ‘giving’. (Motyer, J. A. (1999). Isaiah: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 20, p. 294). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)
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42:5–7. The Lord promised to assist the Servant in His mission, which God can do because He is the Creator (cf. 40:12–14, 26). He created the immense heavens and the earth (cf. 44:24; 45:12, 18; 48:13; 51:13, 16) and life in it, including man, giving him breath. Speaking to His Servant (42:6–7) God assured Him that He had been called to perform the will of God. To be called … in righteousness (as Cyrus also would be, 41:2), meant to be responsible to do God’s righteous will. Of course the Messiah, unlike Cyrus, lived a righteous life (for He is God). Because the Lord would take hold of the Servant’s hand the Messiah would have the power to carry out God’s will.
Also the Servant was assured that He would be a covenant for the people (cf. 49:8). He would fulfill God’s covenant promises to Israel, and would also be a light (cf. 42:16; Luke 1:79) for the Gentiles (cf. Isa. 49:6). Spiritually unredeemed Israel and the Gentiles are blind, and they are captives … in darkness. Though Cyrus would be the servant to release Jewish captives from exile, the Messiah gives spiritual release (cf. 61:1; John 8:32; Col. 1:13), sight (cf. John 9:39–41), and light (cf. John 8:12) to those who trust Him. (On eyes being opened; cf. Isa. 32:3; 35:5.) This spiritual salvation to both Jews and Gentiles will eventuate in the glorious messianic kingdom. (Martin, J. A. (1985). Isaiah. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, pp. 1095–1096). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
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God’s Servant Messiah (Isa. 42). Isaiah 42:1–7 is the first of four “Servant Songs” in Isaiah, referring to God’s Servant, the Messiah. The others are 49:1–6; 50:1–11; and 52:13–53:12. Contrast “Behold, they [the idols] are all vanity” (41:29) with “Behold My Servant” (42:1). Matthew 12:14–21 applies these words to the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. He could have destroyed His enemies (the reed and flax), but He was patient and merciful. The Father delights in His Son, (Matt. 3:17; 17:5).
It is through the ministry of the Servant that God will accomplish His great plan of salvation for this world. God chose Him, God upheld Him, and God enabled Him to succeed in His mission. Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, one day there will be a glorious kingdom; and God will “bring justice to the nations” (Isa. 42:1, NIV). Jesus Christ is “the light of the world” (John 8:12), and that includes the Gentiles (Isa. 42:6; Acts 13:47–48; Luke 1:79). Isaiah 42:7 refers to the nation’s deliverance from Babylon (29:18; 32:3; 35:5) as well as to the sinner’s deliverance from condemnation (61:1–3; Luke 4:18–19). (Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). Be Comforted (p. 116). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
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42:5 Thus says God the Lord, Who created … walk in it. Here God spoke directly to the Messiah, identified as “You” (v. 6). God’s role as Creator of the universe (cf. 40:21, 22) is the basis of certainty for the fulfilling of His will by His Servant the Messiah. (MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Is 42:5). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.)
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This passage is definitely applied to our Lord in Matthew 12:17–21: “He shall not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax.” Wherever there is the least evidence of the heart’s desire to turn to God, He quickens and encourages it and leads on into full assurance of faith at last. These things characterized the Lord’s ministry here. How far different from us! We are apt to go to extremes; either we do not like to talk to any one about their souls or do any personal work; we pay no attention, no matter what people may say or do, except to preach to them from the platform, or else we are inclined to be very obtrusive and self-assertive and do many things that are hardly in keeping with that Christian culture which we ought to manifest.
This passage helped me greatly when I was a young man. I began my ministry as a Salvation Army officer, and sixty years ago the Salvation Army was a mighty power for good in this country. We used to march the streets of San Francisco in processions of over 1,000, with two or three brass bands, and we won hundreds of souls to Christ, but little by little the organization got away from soul-seeking. It dwindled down from that, and now it is almost merely a great charitable organization. But we were inclined, perhaps, to go to too great extremes in our intense earnestness, and to do things that possibly were not wise. Instead of impressing people for God, it made them think we were unbalanced impressions of ourselves. Personally I was so under the power of legality that I felt guilty if I rode in a street car without immediately rising to give my testimony.
As soon as we left the corner I would get to my feet and say, “Friends, I want to give my testimony for Jesus Christ, and I want to tell you how God saved me.” The conductor would come and say, “Sit down. We didn’t ask you to come in here to conduct a church service.”
Then I was rather rude to him. I said, “Well, I’ll sit down if you say so, but you’ll have to answer at the judgment-bar of God for preventing these people from hearing the gospel.”
I would do the same thing in a railroad train. As soon as we got away from the station, I faced the passengers and began to give my testimony. I felt I had to do it, or be responsible for their souls. I did not realize that this was rude.
The last time that I got up in a railroad train in this way I had just started when a Roman Catholic priest jumped to his feet and said, “What’s this? What’s this? Do I have to be insulted in this train? Do I have to sit in a Protestant service? Call the conductor!”
The conductor came and said, “Young man, you can’t do this—you’ve no right to interfere with other people’s religion when you’re riding on a railroad train.” And so I had to sit down.
It bothered me. The devil either tries to keep you quiet or makes you think you must do what is unreasonable. What delivered me at last and showed me there was a golden mean between indifference and rudeness was this very passage.
What does it say of the Lord? “He shall not strive nor cry, neither shall His voice be heard in the street.” He went through His service here for God in such a restful, quiet way. When people came to Him and wanted to know how to get eternal life, how to be saved, He was always ready to meet them, and He sought out the lost, like the woman at Sychar’s well, but you never find Him doing anything boisterous or uncouth. He was truly “God’s gentleman.”
When I first saw that expression applied to Him I was rather startled. I picked up a little volume, an old History of the World, in London some years ago, published early in 1600. When it came down to the days of the Roman Empire and Augustus Caesar, it said, “In his days, there was born in Bethlehem of Judea that goodly gentleman, Jesus Christ.” As I meditated on that, I thought, why should not that epithet be applied to Him?
What is a gentleman? A gentle man, a gracious man. Jesus was all that—always gentle and gracious. Even when rebuking sin sternly He never did anything that was boisterous or made Him seem uncouth. (Ironside, H. A. (1952). Expository notes on the prophet Isaiah. (pp. 248–251). Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers.)
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Ver. 5. Fear not, for I am with thee, &c.] With thy ministers that preach the everlasting Gospel, to make it effectual to the conversion of many everywhere, as well as to bear thee up under all trials, and to cause thee to stand against all opposition: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; which is to be understood not literally of the return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity; for these several quarters, east, west, north, and south, will hardly agree with that, though it may be supposed they were scattered in several countries; but spiritually of the gathering in of God’s elect, whether Jews or Gentiles, which were scattered abroad throughout the world, called the seed of the church, because born to her, and brought up in her, and of which she consists; and therefore she herself is said to be gathered, converts being brought in from all quarters; from the east, even from India, where the Apostle Thomas is said to preach the Gospel, and from other eastern countries; and from the west, from the European nations, good part of which lay west of Judea. Our Lord seems to have respect to this passage in Matt. 8:12. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 5, pp. 246–247). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
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FROM MY READING:
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
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If we fail to be quiet enough to hear all that the Spirit is saying, we will be in danger of discovering our desire for God and never discovering His desire for us. When that happens, the Christian come as close as he ever will to hell. (p. 101)
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Too may churches try to re-create the felt intensity of physical pleasure and call it worship. Their efforts properly stir our senses but never reach our spirits. (p. 109)
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We have no technique in our arsenal of spiritual disciplines that can persuade God to schedule an appearance. God has no booking agent/ There is nothing we can do to make Him show up. (p. 110) (Shattered Dreams by Larry Crabb)
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THE RIGHT WAY AND THE WRONG WAY TO PRAY
Then they took away the stone…. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, “Father….”
John 11:41
Sometimes our whole idea of prayer is false. All too often we think of prayer only as guidance and requests. Now if you were to put that into practice in human relationships you would regard it as insulting. No, the thing the saint wants to know above everything else is that all is well between his soul and the Father. There is nothing the saint delights in more than to know God as his Father. He likes to maintain the contact and communion, to assure his heart before God and in the presence of God. The saint is in this difficult world; there are temptations from the outside, and the whole world is against him, and the saint is tired—sometimes he almost despairs. So he goes to God immediately, not to ask this or that but just to make certain that all is well there, that the contact is unbroken and perfect, that he can assure his heart and know that all is well.
That is what our Lord is doing in John 17, and that is the thing that stands out most frequently in that prayer. Our Lord is assuring His own human heart in the presence of His Father. He did this also when He was raising Lazarus from the dead; indeed He puts it in words for us: “Then they took away the stone….And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, ‘Father’”—He is praying—“‘I thank thee that thou hast heard me’”—always He is assured in His heart—“‘And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people….’” (John 11:41-42). He just turns to God. He knows all is well, but He is assuring His heart in the presence of God. Let me put it like this: The saints always prayed to God, and our Lord supremely did so, because they believed in God’s power, because they believed in God’s ability to help, and, above all, because they believed in God’s willingness and readiness to help.
A Thought to Ponder: Our Lord is assuring His own human heart in the presence of His Father. (From Saved in Eternity, p. 32, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
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The plagues against Pharaoh and Egypt begin.
INSIGHT
In this chapter, as the Lord speaks to Moses, we read the remarkable words, “See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh” (Exodus 7:1). To the world, God’s children often stand in the place of God. We are the only Bible they will read-all of Jesus they will see.
It is vital that we represent the Lord accurately. Of course, no mortal man can do so in any complete sense, but in a representative sense we must. It does not mean we must be perfect, but it does mean we are to give those around us a glimpse of who Jesus really is.
Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Commit yourself to Christlikeness and believe that the Lord will multiply your life as others see Him in you.
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NEW YORK GOVERNOR CELEBRATES NEW ABORTION LAW THAT ALLOWS THE MURDER OF BABIES UP UNTIL BIRTH (Friday Church News Notes, February 1, 2019, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The following is excerpted from “NY Governor Cuomo Celebrates,” The Daily Wire, Jan. 23, 2019: “On Tuesday, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, delighted that the New York legislature passed the Reproductive Health Act which would allow mothers to kill (pardon me, abort) their babies up until birth, celebrated this legalized murder by ordering that the spire at One World Trade Center, the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, the Kosciuszko Bridge and the Alfred E. Smith Building in Albany all be lit in pink on Tuesday night. Cuomo chortled, ‘The Reproductive Health Act is a historic victory for New Yorkers and for our progressive values. In the face of a federal government intent on rolling back Roe v. Wade and women’s reproductive rights, I promised that we would enact this critical legislation within the first 30 days of the new session–and we got it done. I am directing that New York’s landmarks be lit in pink to celebrate this achievement and shine a bright light forward for the rest of the nation to follow.’ … Cuomo has been a long-standing champion of murdering the unborn and contemptuous of those people who are pro-life, saying they had ‘no place in the state of New York.’”
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I write you today to express my great alarm for this nation on many levels, especially related to a bill that was passed by the New York state legislature on January 22nd, the 46th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. The new law is called the “Reproductive Health Act,” although it has nothing to do with health care. It represents one of the most wicked and egregious assaults on humanity in our history. We gasp when we hear of concentration camps in Germany where 6 million Jews, Gypsies, and other “undesirables” were killed by Nazis in World War II. That chapter in history is still unthinkable. But, here in America? We claim to be one nation under God. Are we really going to commit infanticide on the youngest and most vulnerable among us? The answer is Yes! We have slaughtered more than 60 million babies to date, and the killing goes on.
In short, the New York legislature has now legalized the murder of tiny human beings from conception through nine months of a pregnancy. But now, the killing will continue even after birth. If the determination to murder a child is not successful and if he or she somehow enters the delivery room alive, an attendant or orderly can stand by idly while life ebbs away on a porcelain table. The New York law does not even require a licensed physician to oversee this dastardly procedure.
It is painful to consider the plight of a dying child, but we must. There is no one to hold this terrified and wounded baby, no one to comfort him, no one to nurse her, or warm her chilled body. He will never hear the voice of his mother whom he has been listening to for nine months. There is no love in the killing fields. The baby will die alone. All alone. And that makes me very angry. And sorrowful. And embarrassed to stand in the presence of the Creator. I don’t believe He will bless a nation that commits such atrocities.
We are sending you a recording of an interview on this subject between Todd Starnes of FOX News and myself. I hope it will motivate you to let your voice of outrage be heard
James Dobson, Ph.D.
James Dobson Family Institute
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