Isaiah 42-43

43:18 “Forget the former things;
    do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing!
    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland.


As I read this I was thinking I should have my eyes open for the new things God is doing today in my life.  Not that we shouldn't study the old things he has done and we have documented.  But God is active today not just in bible times.  Yet I think lately I haven't been thinking about what is God doing in my life.  Back when we were teenagers and even moving forward when I was in many small groups that would be a discussion item.  Gina and I aren't in any small groups anymore, so I think I fail to take time to reflect.  I certainly don't feel like I'm having that conversation with God in prayer.  To be honest I feel like I've regressed.  Not in my faith, it is as strong as ever but in being intentional about seeking God's actions and direction in my life everyday.

definitely not what was getting the first pass through these chapters.  I wasn't getting much.  Is this right now God putting this in my mind asking me to to interact with him?

knut

I'll catch up

Just an update--I had to run to Waterloo to help my mom.  I took her to the ER on Friday the 17th for severe hip pain.  We are still trying to get things sorted out--i stayed with her for a week.  I got back home last night after running up to help her Sunday/Monday.  Keep her in your prayers for some healing of the pain.  We have yet to receive any real treatment of the root cause its been focused on pain relief. 

knut

Isaiah 41

13 13 For I am the Lord your God
    who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear;
    I will help you.

Nothing substantial today.  Just more of the same take that God is the ONE thing we can rely on.  Nothing in this world should give us cause to fret.  I also like the "between the lines" message here that God is talking to Israel. (or I take that to mean ME!)

tp

Isaiah 39-40

28 28 Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
    and his understanding no one can fathom.

General take today is that God is in control and everything we deem so important is just temporary.  I copied this verse just because I find it comforting to think about God knowing more than I can possibly understand.  I like that.  I'm glad my God is so far superior to me that I can't even grasp it.  And, he's on my team.

tp

Isaiah 38

You restored me to health
    and let me live.
17 17  Surely it was for my benefit
    that I suffered such anguish.

reaching today...

My take is to embrace the hardship just as much as the good times.  They are both useful to God in shaping us.  The furnace can great great pieces of iron!  But, that's really hard to see while your in it.

tp

Isaiah 34-37

Hezekiah’s Prayer

14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: 16 “Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 17 Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.

I just kept going today.  Reading past the normal 1 or 2 chapters.  I kept going until something hit me.  And here it is.

This prayer speaks to me because of his obvious dependence on God.  Not only in the spiritual aspect, but in the physical.  I love the fact that he lays out the letter, for God to see and read.  And then he has a conversation with him.  I love the "real-ness" of that.  He isn't having a silent conversation with God in his head......he isn't waiting until his alotted "prayer time."  He just lays it out....like he is having a conversation with someone.  

That's the connection I need to keep fostering.

tp

Isaiah 33

5-6 God is supremely esteemed. His center holds.
    Zion brims over with all that is just and right.
God keeps your days stable and secure—
    salvation, wisdom, and knowledge in surplus,
    and best of all, Zion’s treasure, Fear-of-God.

Stable and secure--i like that.  If I truly have my faith in him I really should have no worries.  But I am human--I do worry, I do think about the day a head and the next.  it is a weakness of mine.  But my weakness would be even greater if it were not for my faith in God as weak as it may be it has carried me through some scary times.  I just need to remember that fact, all of the time.

knut

Isaiah 31-32

I didn't pick out a specific verse this morning.  I tried to get a sense for what the chapters are saying to me, and how I can apply it.

In chapter 31, it says to me to not be reliant on the things of this world that feel like they can save me.  In this case, Isaiah is telling them not to rely on Egypt.  This would probably be the easy solution for them.  What is the easy solution for me?  Is it my 401k?  Is it the numbness that tv and social media provide?  I'm just thinking out loud here.
In chapter 32, God is telling me that things are always going to be like this.  Things are going to change.  He is going to change them.  Again, he is in control and it all moves according to his plan.  And in many examples, the opposite of what seems to be true.....will be true.  Don't get discouraged cause I feel small.  He's got me where he wants me.

I know, its a different take today.  But, I wasn't gripping any specific verses in these chapters.  Sometimes a new perspective is needed.

tp

Isaiah 30

18 18 Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;
    therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice.
    Blessed are all who wait for him!

This verse is tucked in the middle of all the "woes."  Most of the chapter reads of how God is going to punish for the behavior that speaks against him.  And then this verse pops in.  It's almost like, no matter what you do, and how bad you are....God still loves you and longs to forgive you.  His compassion is endless.

That's good news for those of us that continue to choose our own path.

tp

Isaiah 29

 13 The Lord says:

“These people come near to me with their mouth
    and honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
    is based on merely human rules they have been taught.[b]


It makes not difference what people think of me based on any show I might put on with my actions.  Its my heart God wants.  Don't just to the church rituals for an hour on Sunday, or say the right things to friends at the office.  Get into his Word.  Get into prayer.  Its my heart he wants.

knut

Isaiah 28

27-29 And at the harvest, the delicate herbs and spices,
    the dill and cumin, are treated delicately.
On the other hand, wheat is threshed and milled, but still not endlessly.
    The farmer knows how to treat each kind of grain.
He’s learned it all from God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
    who knows everything about when and how and where.


The Message was better for me today.  Just seeing the analogy here is helpful to reflect on the fact that God knows everything single detail about me.  He knows what buttons need pushing and what circumstances I can handle and those I can't.  I can and should trust him with ALL aspects of my life so that I make the most of the time he has given me here on earth before His harvest.

knut

Isaiah 27

27 In that day,

the Lord will punish with his sword—
    his fierce, great and powerful sword—
Leviathan the gliding serpent,
    Leviathan the coiling serpent;
he will slay the monster of the sea.

I was struggling to find anything today.  Searching the chapter for a nugget.  I Googled Leviathan and oddly Webster's dictionary came up first.  

Definition of leviathan

1aoften capitalized : a sea monster defeated by Yahweh in various scriptural accounts

b: a large sea animalthis leviathan of animals is the great Blue Whale— Weston LaBarre

2capitalized : the political stateespecially : a totalitarian state having a vast bureaucracy

3: something large or formidable

#2 seemed interesting given all of our current global turmoil some involving totalitarian governments.  Perhaps one of them is Leviathan and will be taken down by God.  I'm sure throughout history there has almost perpetually felt like there are days like it feels right now.  But maybe one of these times its the real deal this might be referring too?  But no one knows but God, so I won't be losing sleep over it.

knut

Isaiah 26

11 11 Lord, your hand is lifted high,
    but they do not see it.
Let them see your zeal for your people

I picked this verse today...cause it's my goal for 2020.  I want to see God's hand in the things around me.   2019 was a brutal year at the Parker house.  Sometime when we are together I will fill you in.  That tough year has caused me to be angry with God. (if i'm being totally honest)  It's not something I want.  I don't want to feel this way.  I want to get mentally and spiritually back on track.  

I want to see his hand in everything around me, and know that it's him.

HNY!

tp