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timewithgod.blog-city.com — September 2008
Isaiah 43 -- Yes, God Speaks Directly To YOU
I've seen over and over how passages in the Bible are, for lack of a better term, holographic -- that is, they can apply equally well to different periods of time. My commentary will often make note of verses that on the face of it apply to
I've seen over and over how passages in the Bible are, for lack of a better term, holographic -- that is, they can apply equally well to different periods of time. My commentary will often make note of verses that on the face of it apply to Moses or some other Old Testament saint, and then it will point out how the passage will also apply to Christ.
I often find myself overjoyed when I find passages that are personally holographic -- they also describe what God has done in my life! And Isaiah 43 has to be one of my favorites! I hear God speaking to me, as well as my boys, here:
"He created you .... He formed you.... He says, 'Don't be afraid, because I have SAVED you. I have called you by name, and you are mine."
God did this for me, and years later, He did this for my boys! I thought, too, of those moments in the National Adoption Center in Kiev, Ukraine, when God so vividly told me not to be afraid, and those unforgettable moments when He called my sons by name, so that I would know they were the ones to be mine; and the times a few days later when I called them by their American names to make them mine.
I remember so very well, years ago, when I read verse 2-6 unholographically. I was looking at them from a Gentile perspective, and seeing them written to the Jewish people. I remember being angry with God for giving "my" people as a ransom for "them" and how unfair that was. Satan even used that to drive a wedge between God and me for a time.
But now, over the years I've circled and underlined and highlighted so much that the page has to weigh double what it once did:
"I, the Lord, am your God, .... your Savior. I gave..... to pay for you, and I gave ... to make you mine. Because you are precious to me, because I give you honor and love you, I will give other people in your place (His Son, Jesus) ... to save your life .... Don't be afraid, because I am WITH you. I WILL BRING your children from the east (Ukraine) and GATHER you (plural) from the west (my trips to get them). I will tell the north: "Give my people to Me (Ukraine is farther north than Texas). Bring My sons from far away... Bring to Me all the people who are mine, whom I MADE for MY glory, when I formed and made them."
"You are My witnesses (plural) and the servant (singular) I chose (to go get them). I chose YOU so you would know and believe Me, so you would understand that I am the true God (it happened!)."
"The Lord says, 'Forget what happened before, and do not think about the past. Look at the new things I am going to do. It is already happening. Don't you see it? I will make a road in the desert (He brought me out of my spiritual desert and set me on a path) and rivers in the dry land (my sons are streams of blessings to what was once my parched soul)."
And as sample to everyone reading this, here's His holographic word for you:
He says, "I, I am the One who forgives ALL your sins, for MY sake; I WILL NOT REMEMBER your sins."
Thank You, Father! Help me to show my sons how You spoke about them thousands of years ago, so that You can speak to them again and again, so that they will hear and listen. You knew us BEFORE You created the world. What a might God You are!
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
Isaiah 44-45 A Little Knowledge Is A Dangerous Thing
God boldly shows the ignorance we as humans display when we even dare think that we know what we're doing. How can we dare to believe that our knowledge is the end-all, be-all of our existence? Yet I've been foolish enough to find
God boldly shows the ignorance we as humans display when we even dare think that we know what we're doing. How can we dare to believe that our knowledge is the end-all, be-all of our existence? Yet I've been foolish enough to find myself in exactly that trap before.
Satan has a remarkable ability to amplify our own hubris, and he encourages us to believe better and better things about ourselves, but God sets us straight here. For instance, the idol maker cuts down a tree and divides up the wood -- part for heat, part for cooking, and the rest to make a "god" with. How ignorant!
We don't make idols like that anymore, but I've seen the New Age movement tell people that "we are all gods and just don't know it yet", and through various methods we can intellectually achieve what we have not yet become.
God cuts to the chase in verse 20: "He doesn't know what he is doing; his confused mind leads him the wrong way. He CANNOT save HIMSELF."
He continues in verse 25: "I make fools of those who do magic. I confuse even wise men; they think they know much, but I make them look foolish."
Proverbs 1:7 says, "Knowledge begins with respect for the Lord..." Without that respect, all of our wisdom will amount to nothing.
Father, I was such a fool back then, falling hook, line, and sinker for the lies of Satan, thinking that I had it all figured out. But You were right and I was wrong. Help me never again to make such a fool of myself. Thank You for teaching me to respect You.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
Isaiah 46-48 If Only I Had ...
The four words that signal the existence of regret: "If Only I Had..." They speak of dashed hopes and dreams unfulfilled. And when we hear them from others, our hearts are saddened for them.How much more they should mean t
The four words that signal the existence of regret: "If Only I Had..." They speak of dashed hopes and dreams unfulfilled. And when we hear them from others, our hearts are saddened for them.
How much more they should mean to us when we hear them from God Himself: (48:18) "If only you had obeyed Me...."
They're always followed with what was lost, and here God speaks to the whole human race:
"If only you had obeyed Me, you would have had....
....... peace like a full-flowing river.
....... Good things would have flowed to you like the waves of the sea.
....... You would have had many children......"
And God cuts to the chase in verse 22: "There is no peace for evil people."
I suppose that we just can't stand the thought of peace and prosperity. It must just gall us to have to submit ourselves to the will of another to obtain it. We settle for being orphans clutching a broken toy when we could be children of the King.
Father, I'm sorry that time after time I find myself clutching my pitiful independence rather than remaining in You arms. I read of Your love for me in 46:3-4:
"I have carried you since you were born; I have taken care of you from your birth. Even when you are old, I will be the same. Even when your hair has turned gray, I will take care of you. I made you and will take care of you. I will carry you and save you."
Keep me in Your arms, Father. When I struggle in my ignorance and sin to break free, don't let me. Keep me right beside You, even when I resist. I'd rather not have my free will than to separate myself from You, yet still I find myself doing just that. Thank You for Your faithfulness even when I sin.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
Isaiah 49 -- MY Name Is On God's Lips, His Mind, And His Hand!
With all the references to Christ here, I couldn't help but think of our divine command to be like Him. If we will finally take in the fact that God's plan for us is to glorify Him, then we too should see ourselves mentioned in these ve
With all the references to Christ here, I couldn't help but think of our divine command to be like Him. If we will finally take in the fact that God's plan for us is to glorify Him, then we too should see ourselves mentioned in these verses:
"Before I was born, the Lord called me to serve Him. The Lord named me while I was still in my mother's body .... He hid me in the shadow of His hand .... He told me, '....You are My servant. I will show My glory through you.' .... The Lord made me in the body of my mother to be His servant..... The Lord will honor me, and I will get my strength from my God......The Lord who saves you is the Holy One of Israel .... The Lord can be trusted. He is the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you. 'I will not forget you. See, I have written your name on My hand.' "
Father, I thank You for giving me life, and for having a plan for my life that is meant to glorify You. Please guide me to not deviate from that plan. It's an awesome thing to know that You've written my name on Your hand! I love You!
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
Isaiah 50 -- Being DETERMINED
Our hearts are where God wants to feel at home. Sadly, verse 2 describes how He feels when we reject Him: "I came home and found no one there. I called, but no one answered."Contrast that with how God's servants should
Our hearts are where God wants to feel at home. Sadly, verse 2 describes how He feels when we reject Him: "I came home and found no one there. I called, but no one answered."
Contrast that with how God's servants should respond: "The Lord God gave me the ability to teach so that I know what to say to make the weak strong. Every morning He wakes me. He teaches me to listen like a student. The Lord God helps me learn, and I have not turned against Him nor stopped following Him. The Lord helps me, so I will not be ashamed. I will be DETERMINED, and I know I will not be disgraced."
We can't be determined without His help. But that determination is what it takes to face Satan's daily onslaught without giving up.
Since so much here clearly speaks of Jesus, it's only right that we try to mirror His life in ours.
Father, I thank You for changing me from a night person to a morning person all those years ago. Thanks for waking me up each morning to hear Your word. Please continue to help me as I teach, for I want the words to be Yours and not mine. I want to never turn against You or stop following You. Help me to be determined in all that I do, never wavering from the path You've set for me.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
Isaiah 51 -- Not Just Any Old Rock
Over and over we are told her to listen to what God is saying, to pay attention to it, and to hear what He says. Those who try to live right and follow the Lord are told,"Look at the rock from which you were cut; look at the stone quarry f
Over and over we are told her to listen to what God is saying, to pay attention to it, and to hear what He says. Those who try to live right and follow the Lord are told,"Look at the rock from which you were cut; look at the stone quarry from which you were dug." God then mentions Abraham, the common spiritual ancestor of all of us, and says, "Abraham had no children when I called hi, but I blessed him and gave him many descendants." That's us. So the Lord will comfort us.
Just as Abraham's faith made him right with God, so too will our faith in Christ comfort us, He's saying. Faith is that rock from which we were cut. It is the rock-solid quarry from which we were dug.
There's a lot of potential in a quarried rock. Under a chisel in the hands of an artist, it can become a beautiful statue. Yet if it refuses to yield to those precise cuts, it will become nothing more than pavement for a footpath. So which rock will we be? Will we listen, hear, and pay attention to the Lord? We have the potential and we are in the hands of a Master carver. But will we yield?
Father, thank You for giving me the solid foundation I needed. Thank You for knocking off my rough edges. Yes, it did hurt at the time, but without Your touch, I'd never have been able to realize my potential up to now. Don't lay the chisel down, Father. Keep chiseling. Make me more like You!
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
Isaiah 52-53 -- A Cell Phone Object Lesson
The other day Josh was in band and the band director's cell phone rang. He was very near Josh, and the ringtone was the same as Josh's. knowing his phone was turned off but still worried that somehow it might have gotten turned on
The other day Josh was in band and the band director's cell phone rang. He was very near Josh, and the ringtone was the same as Josh's. knowing his phone was turned off but still worried that somehow it might have gotten turned on and might be ringing, Josh pulled it out to check and turn if off if need be.
Sure enough, it was off, and he said a silent thank-you that he had not caused a disruption. His principal happened to be nearby, and seeing the phone out, she took it from him. According to Josh, seeing it off, she must have believed it had actually been on, and she turned it on. Seeing a voice message waiting, she confiscated the phone.
Having been taught not to argue with teachers, Josh didn't object. I don't know what went through his mind the rest of that day until he could get home and call me to tell me about it. I didn't get upset, but simply told him I would pay the price. I drove to the school, paid the $15 "ransom" and retrieved his phone. Neither of us complained. We simply took the punishment, unjust as it seemed.
A lot of that rings true here (no pun intended) in the very best preview of Jesus' life in the Old Testament: "But He took our suffering on Him and felt our pain for us....But He was wounded for the wrong we did; He was crushed for the evil we did. The punishment, which made us well, was given to him, and we are healed because of His wounds....He was beaten down and punished, but He didn't say a word..... He never opened His mouth."
Father, I thank You for an object lesson that helped Josh understand (and reminded me, too, of) Your Son's willing death for us thought He was not guilty. Continue to help us reflect His life through the way we react in our lives. What a Savior You GAVE for us!
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
Isaiah 54 -- What It Feels Like When God Restores
Chapter 54 supposedly describes Israel both following the return from Babylonian captivity and following the Second Advent of Christ, so much of this is still future.But I looked at it as God's message to me today, for the last verse says His ser
Chapter 54 supposedly describes Israel both following the return from Babylonian captivity and following the Second Advent of Christ, so much of this is still future.
But I looked at it as God's message to me today, for the last verse says His servants will receive this. The words are stunning to hear, and they cause me to draw nearer to Him as a result:
Don't be afraid, because you will not be ashamed. Don't be embarrassed, because you will not be disgraced. You will forget the shame you felt earlier; you will not remember the shame you felt .... The God who MADE you is like your husband. His name is the Lord All-Powerful. The Holy One of Israel is the One who saves you. He is called the God of all the earth .... "The Lord called you to be His," says your God. God says, "I left you for a short time, but with great kindness I will bring you back again. I became very angry and hid from you for a time, but I will show you mercy with kindness FOREVER," says the Lord who saves you... "I promise I will not be angry with you or punish you again. The mountains may disappear, and the hills may come to an end, but My love will never disappear; My promise of peace will not come to an end," says the Lord who shows mercy to you...."I will rebuild you....All your children will be taught by the Lord, and they will have much peace. I will build you using fairness. You will be safe from those who would hurt you, so you will have nothing to fear. Nothing will come to make you afraid. I will not send anyone to attack you, and you will defeat those who do attack you.... No weapon that is used against you will defeat you. You will show that those who speak against you are wrong. These are the good things MY SERVANTS receive. Their victory comes from Me," says the Lord.
Father, David's words ring out in my heart right now: "Who am I that You should do this for me?" Father, I have strayed from You, and I've known a time when You hid Yourself from me due to my rebellion against You. Yet You did, in Your love, restore me. You brought me back with Your great kindness. You called me to be Yours. Father, I remember all too well those dark times when Your face was hidden from me. I know I deserve it, and seeing it all now from this side, I don't ever want to go their again. The loss of fellowship with You is too great a price to ever pay! Keep me close, Father. Help me to be repelled by anything that threatens to draw me away from You ever again.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
Isaiah 55 -- What My Soul NEEDS
Our minds and our emotions are intertwined with our souls, and as humans infected with the "sin" virus, we are ever so susceptible to wanting pleasure of any kind. That "want" is caused in large part by the God-shaped hole i
Our minds and our emotions are intertwined with our souls, and as humans infected with the "sin" virus, we are ever so susceptible to wanting pleasure of any kind. That "want" is caused in large part by the God-shaped hole in our hearts that we misguidedly try to fill with anything we can find that we think will take away the ache caused by the existence of that hole.
God says it here: "All you who are thirsty, come and drink." He isn't talking about physical thirst. This is deep soul-thirst -- my commentary described it as "a consciousness of NEED". God even talks about how we try to fill this need using all the wrong things: "Why spend your money on something that is not REAL food? Why work for something that doesn't really SATISFY you?"
He doesn't just leave us hanging with those questions. He provides answers:
"Listen closely to Me and you will eat what is good, your soul will enjoy the rich food that satisfies. Come to me and LISTEN; listen to Me SO YOU MAY LIVE. I will make an agreement with you that will last forever."
Again, He's not giving us eating advice. This is soul food. If we take in what His word tells us about how to live, we'll continue to draw close to Him, and the hunger in our souls will be satisfied.
He knows we're already hungry, yet He sees our reluctance to receive what we need: "Look for the Lord before it's too late, .... call to Him while He is near....stop doing wrong....stop your evil thoughts... return to the Lord."
Lest we think we've got it all figured out and know absolutely what is best for us, He lets us know: "My thoughts are not like your thoughts. Your ways are not like My ways... My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts .... My words make things HAPPEN." (That's in extreme contrast to our thoughts, which cannot even be detected just a few inches from outside our brains!)
Father, how often all of us like to think that we've figured out exactly what we need to fill the longing in our souls. Whether it's sinful pleasures or possessions or people, it's like filling our hearts with Styrofoam -- the space may no longer be empty, but we are left totally unsatisfied. "Our hearts will not find rest until they rest in You," Augustine said.
Father, I often find myself doing what my commentary says that Israel was doing -- wasting its energy and resources in its alienation from You. Verse 7 says that it starts with our evil thoughts. Please help me to nip such thoughts in the bud before they can be acted upon. Help me instead to use the resources You've given me in ways that honor YOU and fulfill Your plans for others.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
Isaiah 56-57 -- God Of Those Who've Messed Up
Interspersed throughout these chapters I found plenty to indicate how much God desires to be known as the God of those who've messed up. Whereas the Jews had prided themselves on being God's set-apart people, here God says that He will
Interspersed throughout these chapters I found plenty to indicate how much God desires to be known as the God of those who've messed up. Whereas the Jews had prided themselves on being God's set-apart people, here God says that He will accept all those who had previously been unable to worship in His Temple.
He specifically mentions foreigners (non-Jews) and eunuchs (ritually unclean), saying, "If they do what I want, I will make their names remembered within My Temple and its walls ... I will give them a name that will last forever ... that will never be forgotten." That's a far cry from being shunned!
We will be able, it says, to join the Lord, to worship Him, and love Him, and serve Him. God continues, "I will bring these people to My holy mountain and give them joy in My house of prayer. The offerings and sacrifices they place on My altar will please Me, because My Temple will be called a house of prayer for people from ALL nations."
To those who aren't quite ready to give up and let God take control, He says, "Whom were you so afraid of that you lied to Me? You have not remembered Me or even thought about me. I have been quiet for a long time. Is that why you aren't afraid of Me? .... When you cry out for help, let the gods you have gathered help you .... but the person who depends on ME will receive the land and own My holy mountain."
He says, "I live in a high and holy place, but I also live with people who are sad and humble. I give new life to those who are humble and to those whose hearts are broken. I will not accuse forever, nor will I always be angry ... I have seen what they have done, but I WILL heal them. I will guide them and comfort them and those who felt sad for them. They will all praise Me. I will give peace, REAL peace.... and I will heal them."
Father, this sounds like you wrote it just for me and have been at work on me for so many years! I was a real mess-up, but You sought me and bought me with Your precious Son's life. Thank You for caring so much for someone who was trying his dead-level best to not love You. Your love is amazing!
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
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