Malachi 1 ~ “Great is the Lord beyond the border of Israel!”

Malachi 1

1 The oracle of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.[My Messenger]

2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob's brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob 3 but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.” 4 If Edom says, “We are shattered but we will rebuild the ruins,” the Lord of hosts says, “They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called ‘the wicked country,’ and ‘the people with whom the Lord is angry forever.’” 5 Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, “Great is the Lord beyond the border of Israel!”


Malachi is found in 445 and 432 B.C. He is a contemporary of prophets Zechariah and Haggai - close in historical time periods. Malachi is very familiar with Ezra and Nehemiah. The Targum reads, "by the hand of my angel, whose name is called Ezra the scribe."

I wondered why Nehemiah and Ezra were not considered to be prophets rebuilding the Second Temple - but they focused on rules of etiquette and genealogy - excluding the Samaritans like Elisha. Excluding those who lost their genealogy.

The LORD restores the Temple Tools of Moses, but not the Ark of the Covenant - the Mercy Seat of the Lord. Hidden by the Prophet Jeremiah.

2 Maccabees 2:4-62
One finds in the records that the prophet Jeremiah ordered those who were being deported to take some of the fire, as has been mentioned, 2 and that the prophet, after giving them the law, instructed those who were being deported not to forget the commandments of the Lord, or to be led astray in their thoughts on seeing the gold and silver statues and their adornment. 3 And with other similar words he exhorted them that the law should not depart from their hearts.

4 It was also in the same document that the prophet, having received an oracle, ordered that the tent and the ark should follow with him, and that he went out to the mountain where Moses had gone up and had seen the inheritance of God. 5 Jeremiah came and found a cave-dwelling, and he brought there the tent and the ark and the altar of incense; then he sealed up the entrance. 6 Some of those who followed him came up intending to mark the way, but could not find it. 7 When Jeremiah learned of it, he rebuked them and declared: "The place shall remain unknown until God gathers his people together again and shows his mercy. 8 Then the Lord will disclose these things, and the glory of the Lord and the cloud will appear, as they were shown in the case of Moses, and as Solomon asked that the place should be specially consecrated.

And now entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With such a gift from your hand, will he show favor to any of you? says the Lord of hosts. 10 Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand. 11 For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be[b] great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. 12 But you profane it when you say that the Lord's table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food may be despised. 13 But you say, ‘What a weariness this is,’ and you snort at it, says the Lord of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the Lord. 14 Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations.

We celebrate Hanukkah thanks the wonders and miracles of God found in the Aramaic books of the Bible including Maccabees.


Malachi tells us Jesus will go beyond the borders of Israel. God said He came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. He surely did not say the Ark of the Covenant. Jesus arrived when the Holy of Holies was perhaps empty. We are not privileged to know what one priest saw when he entered the Holy of Holies. The Ark is not recorded among the Temple Tools returned from the exile.

Jesus fills the Holy of Holies tearing the veil as He departs to create a new Heaven. However His arrival brings true nobility from afar.

Isaiah 60

1 "Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.
2 See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the LORD rises upon you
and his glory appears over you.

3 Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

4 "Lift up your eyes and look about you:
All assemble and come to you;
your sons come from afar,
and your daughters are carried on the arm.

5 Then you will look and be radiant,
your heart will throb and swell with joy;
the wealth on the seas will be brought to you,
to you the riches of the nations will come.

6 Herds of camels will cover your land,
young camels of Midian and Ephah.
And all from Sheba will come,
bearing gold and incense
and proclaiming the praise of the LORD.

Remember singing We Three Kings from Orient are. No. Nada. Maybe.

~ Wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?" Matthew 2:1-12

They were from the East and followed the brightness of the star. Isaiah, in chapter 60, agrees & may tell us more than Matthew 2. Nations came to the brightness of Jesus, the nations mentioned are Midian, Ephah and Sheba - these are all the descendants of Abraham. Jesus is pulling us together. Even at His birth, His Story is being told. 

I love the beauty Isaiah uses describing the mystery of Godliness.


Blessed Be God our Savior and His Son Jesus Christ.

Amen.

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Zechariah 2: 10-13 ~ for He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling.

Venite Adoramus - Come let us Adore Him, Christ the Lord! Jesus born to  
The Tribe of Judah,  Revelation 5:5
Lord & Savior Jesus Christ. II Peter 2: 20

Flash Mob: The U.S. Air Force Band at the Smithsonian Dec 5, 2013

Zechariah 2: 10-13

Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion; for lo, I come and I will dwell in the midst of you, says the LORD.  And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell in the midst of you, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.; And the LORD will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem." Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD; for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.

To what shall we ascend - the hope we will again have Freedoms? Freedom of Speech?

To what shall we ascend?  The original Nativity probably looked the same, having these stairs of ascent.

To ascend to Wonder what Jesus' Nativity looked like?

O Little Town of Bethlehem -

Did you dream of a white Christmas
Just like the ones we used to know
Where the treetops glisten
and children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow

Treetops were beginning to glisten at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem this week.

Shepherds still abide in the fields hearing the Good News that Gabriel - who Stands in the Presence of God told Mary -

 Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Luke 1:30-33

Luke 2:

 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

A Phenomena repeats today, Diamond Dust probably honors this inexplicable mystery of Faith as Love became flesh dwelling among us.

1 Timothy 3:16
Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:
He was manifested in the flesh,
Vindicated by the Spirit,
Seen by angels,
Proclaimed among the nations,
Believed on in the world,
Taken up in Glory.

And God saw that it was good.

Luke 2

Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

What then shall we ascend to, finding a place for Jesus?

"I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach!"

What then shall we ascend to?

It was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!

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John 1:14 ~ the Word became flesh and lived among us

JESUS CHRIST:
OUR NEXT DOOR SAVIOR
By Max Lucado

"There’s something wrong with this picture."
Remember those handouts in elementary school? The teacher would pass out drawings with the question at the bottom, "What’s wrong with this picture?" We’d look closely for something that didn’t fit. A barnyard scene with a piano near the water trough. A classroom with a pirate seated on the back row. An astronaut on the moon with a pay phone in the back-ground. We’d ponder the picture and point to the piano or pirate or pay phone and say, "This doesn’t fit." Something is out of place. Something is absurd. Pianos don’t go in barnyards. Pirates don’t sit in classrooms. Pay phones aren’t found on the moon and God doesn’t nurse from Mary’s breast or sleep in Peter’s boat.

But according to the Bible he did both! He did God things and man things. He is all God and all man.

"For in Christ there is all of God in a human body." (Colossians 2:9 LB)

Jesus was not a God-like man, nor a man-like God. He was God-man. And because he was, we are left with these scratch-your-head, double-blink, what’s-wrong-with-this-picture moments: Mary changing God’s diaper. A 12-year-old Jesus stumping religious scholars. Ex-lepers hugging kids. The formerly blind taking art classes.

Wine where there was water. The crippled sponsoring the town dance. A sack lunch
satisfying five thousand tummies.

And, most of all, a grave: guarded by soldiers, sealed by a rock, yet vacated by a three-day dead man. John has a word for such moments: "Glory."

"The Word became flesh and lived for a while among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son...." ( John. 1:14)

My prayer is that we, over the next few months, might see the same. For the balance of the year we plan to use our Sunday morning lessons to journey through the life of Jesus.

Beginning with Jesus in pre-birth continuing on to Jesus at his promised return. We’ll pause along the way at the "glory moments." Those occasions where Jesus’ humanity and divinity converge, those conjunctions of diverse sources where the majestic intertwines with the mundane and we are left open-mouthed.

In fact, God being our helper, open mouths will be the first-fruit of such a quest. If his claims are true, he is the single most important person who has ever lived. No one comes close. He is not at the head of the parade; he is the parade. He’s not the main event; he’s the only event. He’s not the MVP; he is the entire league. And—this is important—he does not just answer prayers, he is reason for faith.

The reward of Christianity is Christ.

Philippians 3:8 (New International Version)
8What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.

The reward of seeing the Grand Canyon is not the T-shirt or the glass bubble with the snowflakes that fall when you shake it. The reward of the Grand Canyon is the Grand Canyon. The wide-eyed realization that you are a part of something ancient, splendid, and powerful. Something greater than you.

The reward of Christianity is Christ. Not money in the bank or a car in the garage or a healthy body or a better self image. Those are likely, yet secondary and tertiary fruits. But the first fruit, the cache, the treasure of faith is Him. Fellowship with Him. Walking with Him. Pondering Him. Exploring Him. The heart-stopping realization that in Him you are a part of something that is ancient, endless, unstoppable, and unfathomable.

And that He, who can dig the Grand Canyon with his pinkie, knows you and thinks you’re worth dying for. Christ is the reward of Christianity. Why else would Paul make Him his supreme desire?

Philippians 3:10
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
We ponder Christ to stir our awe.

We also study the incarnation to balance our faith. The title of the series may trouble you. Jesus: Our Next Door Savior is, for some, unsettling. Some are bugged by the "next door" part. To think that Jesus could be as human as the fellow you see changing his oil on Saturday morning? Some don’t like that. Others don’t mind the humanity; it’s the divinity they resist. Call him prophet, a teacher, a revolutionary, but a Savior? Don’t go that far. But we must. We must let him be all God and all man. All God so he can save you. All man so he can understand you. Dismiss either expression and you have to take issue with many passages of Scripture.

Hebrews 1:3
The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

John 8:58
"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!"

Paul urged Timothy to:

2 Timothy 2:8
Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel

See the confluence? "descendant of David" (next door) and "risen from the dead. (Savior).

Jesus: accessible enough to live next door. Mighty enough to be our Savior.
Such words can be said about no other person. He resists any effort to be lumped with
Buddha, Mohammed or Moses. He cannot claim what he claimed and be regarded as a good man or great prophet. He is either divine or deluded, God or godless. Any attempt to categorize him in between is inaccurate.

My prayer is that these lessons will lead all of us to state for the first or the thousandth
time, "I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God."

**** Extra note, Jesus isn’t just the guy next door, Jesus Christ promises to live in us and to dwell in us.

Deuteronomy 10:15
Yet the LORD set his affection on your forefathers and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations, as it is today.

1 Corinthians 3:16

Do you not know that you are God's Sanctuary, and that the Spirit of God has His home within you?

Romans 8:9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.

Corinthians 6:16 Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, "I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.

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Psalm 1 ~ like a tree

Psalm 1

Blessed is the man [a]
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law[b] of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

Footnotes:
a. Psalm 1:1 The singular Hebrew word for man (ish) is used here to portraying a godly person
b. Psalm 1:2 Or instruction


2011

We  had an incredible year for the trees here in the Houston area. Record drought. A stunning number of trees were still standing and dead as a doorbell. Being a gardener, a friend called me to show me her incredible composting skill.  Anyway, they called me to show me their patio tree, one of 3, shading their patio, died in the middle of the drought. It had been fertilized, watered and it just keeled over. It was the 'one' they relied upon for shade. "Why?" They asked.

I said my cousin worked for the Louisiana State Forestry Commission and when he visited he said record drought is Not record drought. It is just an event that has occurred again and again over the millenniums we have no record of. It is nature's way of making the forest - - - stronger.

But they said, "The tree had all the necessary things for life." I said," It's still the stress of the event of constant wind, constant heat and it got to the tree."

Psalm 1 is about hope and believing we can trust God. The acorns left by a 120 year old Oak left a tree. We are the tree that survived this year's drought. Life goes on. 

Some day, we will be the Christmas tree of  glory. 

In God's promises - all those lights of Christmas - are today - Jesus the Light - continue to shine.

2013 December

There is a Psalm saying one day tells its tale to the next. We finally have a pond filled with water. The trees are still in the glory of their fall color. Actually, this is rather phenomenal color. 

Change involves recognizing the times, living the emotions, allowing Jesus to fill our needs while admitting we have these times. This fall color and lush time is the realization that record drought is not here to stay - like the dire threats indicated. This is exactly how life works and God's plan.

The little oak seedling is still ready for planting.

I've finally realized life has seasons. We get so used to the Mississippi River of life pushing us in the same direction, we feel like life is on a permanent course. Life Does moves along just like the Mississippi River - looking calm and still - yet has deep waters and suddenly can change a lot. Knowing you are loved is the part that gets us through the whole adventure.

The objective of life is to know that Love created the universe. We are being pushed and pulled and prodded through life. Fight the good fight. The punches come because we aren't doing the comfy chair thing. Water flows to the sea, where it was created. We flow towards Love and pray to be the one who will recognize that Love - not the alligators, overcome us.

Let us be the grateful Children of God. Dwelling in HIS Grace. Amen.



John 1:

5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

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John 1 ~ the Light shines

A Country Church Christmas

John 1:1-14,17,29-35 ~ Today's New International Version

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, 'A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel."

32 Then John gave this testimony: "I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.' 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God's Chosen One."

35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!" 

 The Church of the Nativity Celebrates Christmas Day in Bethlehem - Link


This is is my favorite chapter of the Bible, John 1. The gospels written by Mark and John are sometimes compared without kindness, at Christmas, to the narrative of Jesus Christ's birth written beautifully in Luke and Matthew. Yet actually Mark speaks of a wilderness wanting to be tamed and John speaks of light coming out of darkness. Isn't this the deepest desire for Jesus Christ?

Christmas can bring forth all of our deepest longings. Matthew begins with an engagement, the most important choice in life. Luke begins with a barren priest. God addresses all of these concerns by reaching out to hear, to heal, to love and to care. For all of our seasons in life, God is part of them. Just as God watched, with love, each day of Jesus' life on earth, the Light continues to shine for us.

The Peace of God always be with you.

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Amos 7:1-9 ~ This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me

Amos 7:1-9


This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts after the king’s share had been harvested and just as the late crops were coming up. 2 When they had stripped the land clean, I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!”

3 So the Lord relented.

“This will not happen,” the Lord said.

4 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: The Sovereign Lord was calling for judgment by fire; it dried up the great deep and devoured the land. 5 Then I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!”

6 So the Lord relented.

“This will not happen either,” the Sovereign Lord said.

7 This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in his hand. 8 And the Lord asked me, “What do you see, Amos?”

“A plumb line,” I replied.

Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.

9 “The high places of Isaac will be destroyed
and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined;
with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.”



WAR?

  ~ Blessed are the merciful they shall obtain mercy.

Now we could do some parallels of God relenting (?) by letting Abram convince Him to have mercy and save lives. Which does, of course, speak to the type of heart God looks for. And why God called Abram.

Why would God go against Jeroboam? Jeroboam took down David's Israel and the split created Judah. He is not from David's line. Another Scripture repeat, God sent Jesus when David's house had fallen and outsiders claimed the Kingship of Judah.

Some people don't care for the Old Testament because war creates conflicts. People much prefer the New Testament. In the Old Testament,  God carries the sins of one generation to the next. Upsetting people thinking God wouldn't be so unkind. God's vision is much more far reaching than armchair observers see. In fact, His Word to the shepherd Amos was fulfilled. We all do God's Plan, it's up to us what we bring in attitudes and heart how we accomplish His Plans.

When mankind grandly invented Psychology 3,000 years later, we Still failed to see what God, in His wisdom was saying.

God's speaking mercifully in this Old Testament Scripture. Surely we can see the New Testament - and today - has war. Just as all of us Will Experience Jesus coming again as time ceases in this life, we will experience a personal Revelation and we will experience war.

 

So what - Wahhhhaaa - do we find in this more utopian Early Church? In our New Testament?

Oh, of course, there was war and upheaval when the emperors of Rome began to persecute Christians just sixteen years after Jesus died. This really is not spoken/recorded in the Early Church we learn about being built by the disciples and... yes and... importantly with Mary and the brothers of Christ and his sister-in-laws.

Attitudes and divisions leading to unhappiness - the kind of war and divisions we all know about in life. In this utopian early Church - we have the tote the law crowd. We have sexual misconduct. We have people obsessed with food and implications. We have disbelievers changing the Word to appeal to more people. We have discord over hospitality. And who is picked to do what service project.  And some of the women dressed like hussies. We could go on but these other divisions we speak of all the time.

Jesus said there would be discord. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against. Just like the beginning of the Second Temple when the the locals were thrown out in favor of the Chosen Ones returning from the Exile.

Discord is seen both in the New Testament and the Old Testament. This is the war we are familiar with.

No doubt but we are the people, And wisdom shall die with us. Why ! Heavens Martha ! The Church today is filled with Hypocrites ! Be Spiritual - just don't be Religious !!! 

Not exactly. God calls... not the Righteous, but ... Sinners.

Jesus is the Plumb Line. Carpenter's use this tool. God is sneaky like that. Carpenters. How did God see Family? Joseph looked like Jesus. Jesus was from a messy family. Shhhh blended. Un...planned pregnancy. And was Jesus - peaceful -

Matthew 13
53 When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there. 54 Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. 55 “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? 56 Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” 57 And they took offense at him.


Now see there, Joseph blended his Holy Family so well that people saw that Joseph looked like Jesus.

In War, World War I, the soldiers called a unanimous truce - and sang songs glorifying God. Did you ever wonder why we see so much change in the world? Not the Church. Jesus said and I tell you, you are Peter, and on this Rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell Shall Not Prevail Against It!

Telling. Can you imagine Jesus speaking matter-of-factly or non-chalantly about His Church...

I tell you - I Believe - Jesus Thundered about Rock and Prevailing!!!

Telling? That plumb line - where will YOU STAND. Where will you STAND WHEN YOU STAND FOR JESUS CHRIST? When that Plumb Line is Drawn - Will You Be In That Number???


 ~ Blessed are the merciful !!! They shall obtain mercy !!!

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Isaiah 40 ~ they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles

World-Class Christmas Lights in Medellin, Colombia

Isaiah 40

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord's hand
double for all her sins.

3 A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

6 A voice says, “Cry!”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.

9 Go on up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good news;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good news;
lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Behold your God!”
10 Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
11 He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms;
he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young.

12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
and weighed the mountains in scales
and the hills in a balance?
13 Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord,
or what man shows him his counsel?
14 Whom did he consult,
and who made him understand?
Who taught him the path of justice,
and taught him knowledge,
and showed him the way of understanding?
15 Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,
and are accounted as the dust on the scales;
behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust.
16 Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,
nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering.
17 All the nations are as nothing before him,
they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.

18 To whom then will you liken God,
or what likeness compare with him?
19 An idol! A craftsman casts it,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
and casts for it silver chains.
20 He who is too impoverished for an offering
chooses wood that will not rot;
he seeks out a skillful craftsman
to set up an idol that will not move.

21 Do you not know? Do you not hear?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;
23 who brings princes to nothing,
and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.

24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
when he blows on them, and they wither,
and the tempest carries them off like stubble.

25 To whom then will you compare me,
that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high and see:
who created these?
He who brings out their host by number,
calling them all by name,
by the greatness of his might,
and because he is strong in power
not one is missing.

27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
30 Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.

Christmas is a time of waiting. Advent is preparation for a baby who would be King Forever.

We become so used to our lives. And we forget to Look Up. What God plans for our lives... the places we haven't been, the people we have not met. The weddings yet to happen. The family yet to be born. Opportunities to come. Blessings. Not because we are so deserving; God in His willingness to bless.

The Scriptures record people to be self-centered. We believe we can corner life, put it within our boundaries. Manage everything. Easier to take the Mississippi River and believe man is in charge. Far better to be like Isaiah who cried out -

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 read one of the most popular and thought about verses in the Bible is:

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

How many of us believe it? Best to wait upon the LORD.

Luke 13:19
It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.

Hebrews 12:12 
Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.

Matthew 6:27
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

Luke 2:13-14
 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” 

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