Our Refuge And Strength

Psalm 46 KJV; Reformation Sunday; Humankind's actions are harmful to one another; but, God is our refuge and strength. The Lord of hosts is with us.

What A Vision!

In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.

Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:

                                                          

And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. 

                                                                          (Isa 6:1-8 KJV)

Who will go? With a vision like Isaiah had of the Lord I'm thinking that we would all go if we saw the same! 

But, we don't get to have the same vision Isaiah had so who will go? Who will bring the message of the Kingdom of God through Jesus Christ to the world? Oh, yes... that would be the clergy. But, not just the clergy. Every single person who knows the truth who is Jesus the Christ will bring the truth to others. We do this because we know the awesomeness of God and we want to share it.  We know the great love that Jesus has for us; a love so great he was willing to die for us. And... because his love so overwhelms us we cannot do anything but share the knowledge of his love with others. 

The presence of God Almighty in Isaiah's vision overwhelmed him so much that he was willing to do whatever God asked of him. The presence of God in our lives will do the same. Once you know this God who loves you your love for him will overflow and you will go wherever he sends you. Everything else will take second place. When God asks you to go you will go. If at first you say no and this is most likely going to happen, be aware. He will keep on asking. He never gives up on us.

Isaiah's vision was tremendous. Here is a tremendous picture to consider:  A child born in a manger grew up. This innocent man was persecuted, tortured, and hung on a cross to die for our sins. He was found guilty. We were acquitted so that we could receive the inheritance of eternal life in our Father's house; in the Kingdom of God where Jesus reigns! Now, that is a vision to keep focused on!

When he calls you to deliver this message of the Kingdom; will you go?

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Thy Maker Is Thine Husband

Rev 2:4

Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.

For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.

For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God. 

                                                                            (Isa 54:4-5 KJV)

Our Creator, our Father, our Husband; our God has many relationships with us. He is intimately close to all of His Children. 

His bride is the church. Like a husband should; the Lord is always there to support his bride whether it is the church as a whole or the individual. It can give the desolate comfort in knowing that although they have been betrayed or deserted by their spouse; our Maker who is our husband will never leave us. He loves us more than is humanly possibly. He is and should always be our first love. Anything less is idolatry. It is adultery to love anything more than Him.

Rejoice! For there is no more wonderous a relationship that we could possibly have than the one that we have with our Creator, our Father, our husband who is the God of all the earth.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Whom Will Go?

In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.

Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:

And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. 

                                                                                                     (Isa 6:1-8 KJV)

"Whom shall I send." In his vision, the Lord spoke to Isaiah, "Whom Shall I send?" Who indeed? Isaiah responded that he would be sent. What about us? What about you? Will you go and share the good news of the Kingdom through Jesus? Will you tell your neighbor, even your enemy, that there is one who loves them so much he was willing to die that they might live in the presence of God for all of eternity? Will you tell them that their sins have been purged by his own blood?

Do you love Jesus as he loves you? And, if you do will you feed his sheep even as Jesus told Peter if he loved him he should feed his sheep? (John 21:15-17)

There are many ways to feed his sheep. We can spiritually feed others by sharing the good news of our salvation through Jesus with others. We can physically feed those who are hungry. We can aid anyone in physical, spiritual, or emotional need. The question is though: can the Lord send you to feed His sheep? 

Whom shall the Lord send? Will you go? Will you answer "send me?"

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Praise The Lord!

    

       Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord from the heavens;
    praise him in the heights above.
Praise him, all his angels;
    praise him, all his heavenly hosts.
Praise him, sun and moon;
    praise him, all you shining stars.
Praise him, you highest heavens
    and you waters above the skies.

Let them praise the name of the Lord,
    for at his command they were created,
and he established them for ever and ever—
    he issued a decree that will never pass away.

Praise the Lord from the earth,
    you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
    stormy winds that do his bidding,
you mountains and all hills,
    fruit trees and all cedars,
wild animals and all cattle,
    small creatures and flying birds,
kings of the earth and all nations,
    you princes and all rulers on earth,
young men and women,
    old men and children.

Let them praise the name of the Lord,
    for his name alone is exalted;
    his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.
And he has raised up for his people a horn,
    the praise of all his faithful servants,
    of Israel, the people close to his heart.

Praise the Lord.

                                                           Psalm 148 (NIV)

All of God's creation praises the Lord! That is what this Psalm of David's reminds us. 

There are a few things that we have in common with all of His creation. For starters, the LORD created everything upon the earth and in the heavens above the earth. We are all God's creation. With creation, we bow down and praise the LORD!  With all of earthly creation and all the heavenly host, we praise the LORD!

Thanks be to God for His whole creation!

God's Peace - Pr. J

Holy, Holy, Holy is God Almighty

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” (Isaiah 6:1-5 NIV)

Holy, holy, holy is God Almighty! The whole earth is full of his glory! Talk about shock and awe! Can you imagine having a vision similar to Isaiah's? To come into the presence of God in such a manner; to see His full glory! I believe it would be the most earth shattering experience possible. All of a sudden we would realize that we, who can be so full of ourselves at times, are nothing. God is everything. And, that God who is everything cares about us so much He would bring us into His Holy presence.

I can only begin to imagine what it would be like to see a vision of God in this manner. But, I know that one day I won't have to imagine because I will truly experience God in this manner. One day I will see Him with my own eyes and not just with the eyes of faith and I am quite sure that I will be as awestruck as Isaiah.

Holy, holy, holy is God Almighty! When we come into the presence of God to pray; to speak with Him; and maybe even more importantly; to listen to Him, maybe we ought to more deeply consider that we are truly in the presence of Almighty God and maybe just a little more awe; a little more respect, might be called for. Just maybe we ought to remember that we are in the presence of the King of kings!

May God bless us with a greater understanding of our sinful natures and of His holiness so that we might worship Him with respect and adoration. 

God's Peace - Pr. J

All Things Shall Praise The LORD!

           

               Praise the LORD you great sea creatures!

                                (Manatee - Blue Springs State Park, FL)

         Praise the Lord.

         Praise the Lord from the heavens;

praise him in the heights above.

Praise him, all his angels;

praise him, all his heavenly hosts.

Praise him, sun and moon;

praise him, all you shining stars.

Praise him, you highest heavens

and you waters above the skies.

Let them praise the name of the Lord,

for at his command they were created,

and he established them for ever and ever—

he issued a decree that will never pass away.

Praise the Lord from the earth,

you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,

lightning and hail, snow and clouds,

stormy winds that do his bidding,

you mountains and all hills,

fruit trees and all cedars,

wild animals and all cattle,

small creatures and flying birds,

kings of the earth and all nations,

you princes and all rulers on earth,

young men and women,

old men and children.

Let them praise the name of the Lord,

for his name alone is exalted;

his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.

And he has raised up for his people a horn,

the praise of all his faithful servants,

of Israel, the people close to his heart.

Praise the Lord.

Psalm 148 NIV

God's Peace - Pr. J