Isaiah

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2 Kings 20:1 Are You Ready To Die?

In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.” 2 Kings 20:1

For most people they do not want to think about the concept of death. Thinking about death brings about fear for many because they do not know what to expect. Very few people are ready to die and would be very terrified if they knew exactly when they would be dying. They live only in the moment.

King Hezekiah had become ill and was near death. Isaiah told him that God said he would die, so he must get his house put in order.

All over the world there are people who have sickness that are leading to death. They have received the report from the doctor that they are going to die and there is nothing more than can be done to stop it.

At the moment they receive this information, many will begin to get their things in order to be ready to die. Focus is often placed upon getting a will put in place and saying final goodbyes to family and friends. Some will turn to God during this time and strive to get right with God.

Doing all of this works for those that have advance notice of death. However, there are also many people who leave in the morning and die that day due to a sudden accident or health problem. They have no notice and no extra time to prepare for death.

Believers must be ready at all times for death. Life must be lived believing in the work of Jesus and repenting of all sin, striving to live a life of holiness in the righteousness of Jesus.

You may have some sickness that is revealing you may die soon, or you may not. Either way there is coming a day in which you will die.

Instead of going through life as though you may never die, live for God. Keep your house in order that you are ready to die and be with God for eternity.

Jesus has provided the way to have eternal life, but you must accept it and live in it. Do not allow your house to be messy and unprepared for death.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will be ready to die and meet with God; that you will live life following God’s ways; that God will strengthen you to turn from sin and live for Him; and that you will face death with a joy of getting to be with God for eternity.

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2 Kings 19:6 Do Not Believe

Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard–those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.” 2 Kings 19:6

The enemy of any people group or of a nation will always strive to spread false truths to bring down the morale of the people and raise up more fear. Whenever people begin to fear, they become more vulnerable and can be more easily overcome or swayed to a different way of thinking and acting.

Hezekiah was terrified at the threats of Sennacherib. Isaiah told him that God said to not be afraid of the words Sennacherib spoke against Him.

Every believer has enemies that are trying to tear them down and overcome them with fear. The world threatens believers on a regular basis in many different ways. Their desire is to cause the believer to fear and give into their ways.

Although the world appears to be tough and powerful, they are nothing in the eyes of God. No one can overcome the power and authority of God in the life of one who believes and follows Him with all of his heart.

God has a plan for all of His people, the believers and the world cannot overcome that plan. At most the world can take the physical life of a believer, but then he is promoted into eternity with God.

Instead of believing the threats of the world, believers must turn to God and believe His word in their lives. When Jesus rose from the dead, He had overcome the worst that the world can throw at a believer.

God speaks truth while the world is speaking lying threats and fear. Do not fear the lies but believe God’s truth.

As a believer there will be some in the world who will threaten you in various ways. The world does not want you to believe in and follow God and will do whatever it takes to break you down.

Do not allow yourself to be overcome with fear, but trust in the Lord your God who has overcome death defeating the enemy. Do not believe the lies that the world is speaking in blasphemy against God to cause you to fear.

Know that Jesus is with you, and He has overcome death. The enemy cannot defeat God nor you.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as Lord and Savior; that you will know the power God has; that you will believe God’s words; that God will strengthen you to not believe the threats of the world; that you will have peace in following God; and that God will defeat your enemies.

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Luke 3:4 A Voice Calling

As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “A Voice of one calling in the wilderness, Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.” Luke 3:4

Preparations are always made for important people’s arrival. They want everyone to be aware that someone of high importance is coming. There is also the desire that everyone give the proper honor to the one arriving.

For each important person, what needs to be done in preparation is different for each one. Some require much more, while others will require less. It is dependent upon the level of importance for each.

Talking of John the Baptist, Luke quotes from Isaiah about one calling out in the wilderness the need to make a way for the Lord’s arrival. This quote comes from Isaiah 40:3-5.

Even though John the Baptist was talking about the first arrival of Jesus, the call can, and needs to be, still be made. Jesus can still be making the first appearance into the lives of people all over the world.

The majority of the world has still yet to have heard about Jesus. Out of those who have heard, most have not accepted or made a way for Him. Most of the world is still rejecting Jesus.

There is also those in the church who have accepted Christ, but have not really made straight paths for Him. They have chosen to accept Christ, but not really live their lives for Him, staying in a sinful lifestyle.

Every person needs to make a straight path for Jesus. They must open their hearts and lives up to His reign and control. The challenge is not everyone knows this.

Every believer must be willing to be the voice calling in the wilderness of the world. They must be willing to point people to Jesus and encourage people to make a straight path for Him in their lives.

Starting with your own life, you must make a path for God in your life. Allow God to reign as absolute authority over all you say, think or do.

Once you have begun to do that, then you must be a voice calling in the wilderness. Give others a chance to know Jesus by being His witness in this dark world. Do not keep the information to yourself, but call it out for others to hear and respond.

Are you a voice calling in the wilderness?

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Savior; that you will give Jesus complete authority in your life; that you will be a witness of Jesus to others; and that you will be a voice calling in the wilderness of this world.

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The Fruit Of The Spirit: Kindness

Kindness word

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23

Over the last several weeks I have looked at the fruit of the Spirit–love, joy, peace and patience. Today I will be looking at kindness.

Kindness is the act of meeting the needs of someone else. It is not being harsh with other people.

The world is always looking for people to be kind. Everyone wants others to be kind to them, to not hurt them or do anything wrong to them. However, many people are not really that kind to others. Harsh words are said. Lying to others occurs. Cheating on others occurs. Violence and abuse is rampant. Hatred abounds.

The believer, the follower of Jesus is to be different.

Throughout the bible many people requested of others to be shown kindness. They did not want to be harmed in any way. There were some that did show kindness.

Naomi exclaimed that Boaz had shown great kindness when he provided food for Ruth.

Wheat field

In 2 Chronicles 2, David gave honor to the men from Jabesh Gilead for their kindness in burying Saul after he was killed. This honor was given when the kindness was shown to his enemy, who was out to kill him.

David later wants to show kindness to anyone who was left from the house of Saul, his enemy. He understood God’s kindness to him and wanted to pass that on to others. The interesting thing with David is that he is showing kindness to the family of his mortal enemy. As king, he had the right to destroy all of Saul’s family line, but he chose instead to show God’s kindness.

“In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord your Redeemer. Isaiah 54:8

Isaiah quotes God in talking about His kindness. God was angry with Israel for rebelling against Him and following false gods, but He chose instead to be kind to them with compassion, giving them what they really needed.

Person sitting by road

Years later Jesus gives a parable about the good Samaritan in Luke 10:29-37. This man showed kindness to the enemy. He had the man given right to ignore the man on the side of the road, but chose to help him instead. He not only helped him in the short term of getting him to the hospital, but took care of all of his expenses.

Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? Romans 2:4

Paul points out the value of God’s kindness. It is because of His great kindness that one is led to Him to repent. God is not a God who just judges harshly and condemns everyone. God wants to save people. He wants a relationship with people. If He were not kind, then we would never have a chance to be saved. We would be afraid to repent, because we would fear harsh judgment.

Romans 2_4

Let a righteous man strike me–that is kindness; let him rebuke me–that is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it, for my prayer will still be against the deeds of evildoers. Psalm 141:5

Most people take offense at a rebuke, but David had a different thought on what a rebuke may look like. A rebuke is a harsh condemning of an action or word and is thus usually hated. He saw a rebuke from a righteous (believer) person as good. He saw a rebuke as an act of kindness. This rebuke would cause him to refocus back onto God and check himself in his actions and words. Not giving a rebuke would be to allow a person to continue to live in sin or in a wrong way. Kindness will point Him towards God and His word.

Colossians 3_12

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Colossians 3:12

The final verse I want to look at is written by Paul in Colossians. He tells the Colossian church to clothe themselves with kindness. This should be a mark of the believer.

There are many more examples of the kindness of Jesus shown in the gospels. He was kind to the blind, the lame, the lepers, the drunkards, the adulterers, and sinners. The only people Jesus was not very kind to were those who claimed to know God, but went against God in what they did and taught.

Every day you will have plenty of opportunities to show kindness to others. It could be in the checkout lane at the store, at a gas station, driving down the road, passing by a person on the sidewalk or many other places and situations.

You will have many people who are enemies to you. They will harm you either physically or emotionally with words. When this occurs you will have a choice to either retaliate in anger and vengeance or to return their harm with the kindness and love of God.

Open brown door

Being a believer you will have God’s Holy Spirit in you. With His Holy Spirit in you, you should be displaying His kindness towards everyone. This is another fruit of the Spirit.

If you examine your life and find you are lacking in the area of kindness, seek God for help. Examine how God has shown you kindness and then become more like Jesus in showing kindness towards others. Let your life be marked by one as having kindness towards everyone.

The fruit of the Spirit continues to grow from each one to the next. As you have God’s love showing in your life, you will have His joy, which will bring about His peace, which will bring about His forbearance/patience, which will bring about His kindness in your life. These are the first four fruits that should be evident in your life when you are following Jesus and are filled with His Holy Spirit.

Thank you for continuing on this journey of looking at the fruit of the Spirit. Next week I will continue on with looking at goodness.

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Isaiah 66:1-2 Where To Build God’s House?

This is what the LORD says: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?” declares the LORD. Isaiah 66:1

There are times that it is difficult to purchase a person a birthday gift. They seem to have everything that they could possibly want. Looking at wealthy people, this even seems more so. Getting a gift for someone who has all they desire can be quite a challenge. A lot of it will depend upon the heart of the person. What does a person get the person who has everything that they want?

Most people do not have the problem of having so much that there is nothing left to possibly want. Nearly every person can think of several things that they desire. Most of those things will most likely be physical things, while some will also be non-physical things, such as peace, joy, happiness, or health.

One thing that many people will like, but not necessarily ask for is something hand-made or time with that person. This shows something that was made and given from the heart.

God is the one who has made the heavens and the earth. Since He has made everything that exists, He also owns it. Now God is looking for something. He is looking for a place to rest. This shows His heart’s real desire.

As a human being, you may wonder what can you give God, since He owns it all already. God created you to have fellowship with you. He wants to sit down and rest with you. Even though God made everything there is, He wants a place to rest and be still.

The place He desires is in you. It is in your heart and life. God wants to spend time with you. Of all the things that you can give God, this is the only one that God does not already have. God made your heart, but gave it to you. Now it is your turn to give it back to Him.

Allow God to make your heart His temple. This will be the best house and gift God can ever have.

Will you build a house for God today?

I pray today that you will dedicate your heart to God; that God will find a place to rest in your life; that your heart will be a welcome spot for God to live; and that you will know God’s presence in your life.