Isaiah

Isaiah 60:1-63:14

“The glory of Lebanon will be yours – the forests of cypress, fir and pine – to beautify My sanctuary.” Isaiah 60:13

The majority of the miracles described in the New Testament are miracles of people set free from bondage of one form or another. Miracles of debilitating illnesses healed, evil spirits cast out, and sins forgiven. The life of the afflicted individual changed FOREVER. God’s involvement in His people’s lives gets much more intimate as you segue from the Old Testament to the New Testament.

This intimate involvement is proved very precisely by what happened to a curtain in the temple on the day Jesus died. Up until that moment God’s presence filled a room in the temple known as the Holy of Holies. As a shield to that room there was a curtain. No one was allowed behind that curtain. Only after many many ceremonies and ritual cleansings was the high priest even allowed behind it and that was only once a year! Since the presence of the LORD God filled that room behind the curtain, for anyone to enter His presence unprepared would have killed them.

According to Mark’s gospel, at the moment of Jesus’ death the curtain that separated God from the rest of the world was torn in two. God had made a way for EVERYONE to come to Him and NOT die instantly. Up to that point in history very few people knew what God’s voice actually sounded like. Only a handful of them had ever talked to Him in person. When Jesus died He made a way for us enter the Holy of Holies without fear of death. Because of Jesus and His willing sacrifice we can go to God on a PERSONAL level. He is no longer this BIG unapproachable God, He is intimate and loving and wonderful and caring. He always was before but He couldn’t fully show us Himself in such an intimate way. If someone needed to ask for forgiveness they had to go to the priests in the temple and offer an animal sacrifice. They performed the rituals required of them and they left. The priests would accept the sacrifices on behalf of the Lord. The individual that had sinned would never be able to enter into the Lord’s presence to ask for forgiveness personally.

When you choose to accept Jesus’ sacrifice of love, the gift of salvation, you get to cut out the middle man! God goes from being an unapproachable God living in a box in a temple to taking up residence in your heart; YOU become the Holy of Holies, your body! Yes, really! He lives in you and through you every day.

In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Paul says: “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price.” My darling friend, YOU are that temple He beautifies daily. You are the one He loves so desperately. Don’t believe me? Just spend a few minutes reading the Song of Solomon! That whole book is about the kind of relationship Jesus wants to have with you, His Beloved Bride, beautiful in every way.

No matter what the commercials say, no matter what your mom says, or the lady who does your hair and tells you you should dye it, you ARE beautiful. You are a priceless masterpiece created by the One and only Master Himself. You are a prime example of imperfection made perfect in Him. You are glorious within. You are fearfully and wonderfully made by a God who adores you and simply, truly can not take His eyes off your beauty. Trust me on this one my friend, you are simply adorable!

Isaiah 56:9-59:21

“For I will not fight against you forever; I will not always be angry. If I were, all people would pass away- all the souls I have made.” Isaiah 57:16

This verse captivated me from moment one. I don’t remember ever having read it before, although I must have. But that’s why I read a different translation this year. Reading things in a different translation has a way of helping you see things in a different light.

I got so excited about this verse because while I had heard (and LOVE) songs that sing about God not being mad at you and I’ve gone through the progression of verses that explain how He poured ALL His wrath out on Jesus at the cross, leaving none for us. I don’t remember ever seeing it put so precisely in so few words. God’s not angry with you. This verse says it plain as day, “I will not always be angry. If I were, all people would pass away.” If God had held on to His anger then none of us would ever see heaven. Ever. But that’s not who He is and that’s not His plan. This verse proves that. Long before Jesus was born, and even longer before He was crucified, God the Father spoke these words to Isaiah the prophet foretelling precisely what His plan was. God planned to pour out the entirety of His wrath on Jesus at the cross causing Him to say, “My God, My God why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46 & Psalm 22) Did you know, that in that very moment where Jesus is taking all of our sins upon Himself, it is the ONLY place where Jesus doesn’t refer to God as “Father”, but as “God”. Jesus called Him “God” so that in every moment thereafter we could call Him “Abba” (which translates to the Aramaic equivalent of “Daddy”).

It seems like every time I turn the car on at some point in my drive I will hear Mercy Me’s song, “Greater”.

The lyrics are just so powerful! They PERFECTLY describe how I feel, the struggles, the doubts and fears, the GRACE! The fire of God’s anger has been completely extinguished by the flood of Grace through the cross! No matter how badly I lose the battle of today, it doesn’t matter!!! The cross has already won the war!!! 😀 Praise God! It’s not about ME!

Isaiah 49:1-51:23

“See, I have written your name on the palms of My hands.” Isaiah 49:16

My friends, I’m exhausted. Physically, mentally, spiritually you name it, I’m exhausted. So. I’m taking today off and taking a nap. Besides, yesterday I posted the video about spending more time reading your Bible, so today I’m giving you the opportunity to do so! 😀 Enjoy your alone time with Jesus my friends! I love you!

Isaiah 45:14-48:22

“Come closer, and listen to this. From the beginning I have told you plainly what would happen.” Isaiah 48:16

So, today I felt the Holy Spirit leading me to do something a little different. Something that, literally, has taken me ALL DAY LONG to work on. It ended up being at 20 minute video when it all was said and done. A twenty minute video that took, about 30 minutes to save the “rough draft” onto my computer, an hour and a half to save the final draft to my computer, and honestly, I’m not going to stay up to time how long the upload to YouTube takes! So, since I’m finishing it in the morning, this one is going to make it into your inboxes a little later than usual, but I pray that it will be worth it to you. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.

And so my Friends, without further ado, I give you my first (this year) Vlog, or video blog for those who know what that means.

Isaiah 43:1-45:13

“Some will say, ‘I belong to the LORD’; others will call themselves by the name of Jacob; still others will write on their hand, ‘The LORD’s,’ and will take the name Israel.” Isaiah 44:5

When I read today’s Word of the Day I was at work on break and this verse just jumped out at me! So much so that I had, and I mean HAD to do exactly what it said,

This picture is a little faded, I’ve washed my hands a “couple” times since then; try what feels like a million! (I’m a mom.) But every time I look at it, it makes me smile. I am Yaweh’s, I belong to Him. I am His beloved daughter, prized and dearly loved. I am favored and cherished and held in high esteem in His court. I’m His baby girl!

And it’s so nice to have all of that right in front of my face all day long because it’s literally written on my hand!

I love the Word of God! It is alive and active in me today!

So what do you think? Would you write the name of Yaweh on your hand and wear it all day long at work? Do you think I’m crazy? Maybe I am, but if I’m crazy, it’s for the LORD!

Isaiah 37:1-40:8

“Tell her that her sad days are gone…” Isaiah 40:2

Parenting is hard! I remember watching my daughter learn how to walk. I wanted so much to keep holding her hand to prevent her from falling, but I couldn’t. If I did so, I would succeed in keeping her from falling, but I would also be hindering her ability to walk on her own – which IS the ultimate goal. And so to achieve that ultimate goal I had to let go. I had to watch her struggle to take those steps on her own. I had to watch her fall over and over again, occasionally hurting herself – although not usually. I had to stand by and let her fall, BUT I was ALWAYS there to pick her back up again. If she cried, I was ALWAYS there to cheer her back up and let her know it was going to be ok. If she hurt herself, I was ALWAYS there to clean her up and make it all better. I was always there for her.

Just like Jesus is always here for you.

Stand firm Dear One! “Stand firm in your faith or you will not stand at all.” Isaiah 7:9 HCSB Stand firm and know that while you may not be able to feel Him in this moment that doesn’t mean that He’s not still there. A teacher is always quietest during the test. 😉

Hear this today my friend; by NO means does God’s silence equate an indifference to your struggle!!!!!

Trust me when I tell you that He is never more attentive to you than in those moments when He is testing you for “done-ness”. God is a master chef in the kitchen of life sticking His Almighty finger in the soup to see if it needs more salt. If God is testing you today, take heart that it’s not a matter of passing or failing the test. It’s a matter of God testing to see if you need more butter or salt, patience or joy. He’s not testing to see if you’ll do the “right” thing, He’s testing to see what He needs to do next to make YOU more like Jesus.

And maybe like Isaiah 40:2 says, He’s decided to turn down the heat a bit so that you don’t burn. I don’t know about you, but seeing those words penned to Jerusalem brought a prayer springing to my heart that begged for them to be for me today too. I want so much for the “sad days” to be gone! He does that you know; turn down the heat. He is such a wonderful Creator, I’m sure you’ll taste WONDERFUL when He’s all done making you!

Isaiah 33:1-36:22

“But the LORD says: ‘Now I will stand up. Now I will show my power and might.'” Isaiah 33:10