Isaiah 7

14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you[c] a sign: The virgin[d] will conceive and give birth to a son, and[e] will call him Immanuel.[f] 15 He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right,

No great take-away this morning.  Just love this verse and the prediction of a savior.  It all fits together, like pieces of a puzzle put together over thousands of years.  
Pretty amazing!

tp

Isaiah 6

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

I would love to say that is me.  I would love to be burning with desire to serve God that I shout 'Send Me!'  into whatever situation he needs me to serve.  I think reality is I have a much more cautious approach---let me analyze the situation for a moment.   Yes ok, this seems ok not too much risk or overly difficult and within my comfort zone--yes I'll do it. 

Too be candid I don't see myself changing clear to Here am I. Send Me!, but maybe I can move on the spectrum closer to that end.

knut

Isaiah 5

8-10 Doom to you who buy up all the houses
    and grab all the land for yourselves—
Evicting the old owners,
    posting no trespassing signs,
Taking over the country,
    leaving everyone homeless and landless.
I overheard God-of-the-Angel-Armies say:
“Those mighty houses will end up empty.
    Those extravagant estates will be deserted.
A ten-acre vineyard will produce a pint of wine,
    a fifty-pound sack of seed, a quart of grain.”

For me I see a reminder not to get caught up in treasures of this world.  For me its not so grand as this verse, I'm not creating a kingdom.  But at the same time I'm not out helping the homeless and the landless.  So if I'm not with them am I against them?  Am I using God's gifts to me to help others?  Maybe not the point of this chapter but it came to my mind.

knut

Isaiah 4

2 In that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel.

Just makes me think about how God can give a fresh start to anyone who turns their life over to him.  

knut  

Isaiah 3

12 12  Skinny kids terrorize my people.

uh-oh!  I'm in trouble.

The Master will fix it so those Zion women
    will all turn bald

I'm feeling a little persecuted today!

All this bad stuff happening.....just because the people are not living in accordance with God.  Pretty simple lesson, I think.

tp

Isaiah 2

God, you’ve walked out on your family Jacob
    because their world is full of hokey religion,
Philistine witchcraft, and pagan hocus-pocus,
    a world rolling in wealth,
Stuffed with things,
    no end to its machines and gadgets,
And gods—gods of all sorts and sizes.
    These people make their own gods and worship what they make.
A degenerate race, facedown in the gutter.
    Don’t bother with them! They’re not worth forgiving!

Holy bananas!  Was this written a couple of thousand years ago.....or was it written yesterday?!  Are we really still dealing with EXACTLY the same things?  All the wealth, all the gadgets.....that is us!  
I completely agree that we are "worth forgiving."  Fortunately, my forgiveness isn't based on my performance.  Its based on my acknowledgment that I need it!

tp out

Isaiah 1

13-17 “Quit your worship charades.
    I can’t stand your trivial religious games:
Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings—
    meetings, meetings, meetings—I can’t stand one more!
Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them!
    You’ve worn me out!
I’m sick of your religion, religion, religion,
    while you go right on sinning.
When you put on your next prayer-performance,
    I’ll be looking the other way.
No matter how long or loud or often you pray,
    I’ll not be listening.
And do you know why? Because you’ve been tearing
    people to pieces, and your hands are bloody.
Go home and wash up.
    Clean up your act.
Sweep your lives clean of your evildoings
    so I don’t have to look at them any longer.
Say no to wrong.
    Learn to do good.
Work for justice.
    Help the down-and-out.
Stand up for the homeless.
    Go to bat for the defenseless.

I know this a LOT to copy/paste, but I really like it.  It speaks to me in a way that I've been feeling lately.  I think people, in general, are sick of religion.  We need to get back to relationship with God.  Maybe I'm talking to myself here!  Sometimes that's hard and it doesn't come easy.  It requires a lot more work.  But, if you stay in the "religion" camp too long, it becomes hollow.

peace, out