Isaiah 43-45: Do You Not Perceive It?

“Forget the former things;
   do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
   Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
   and streams in the wasteland. - Is 43:18-19 NIV

Ever so faintly in this dry and barren desert where we live, we sense a whisper of promise.  There is a refreshing breeze out there somewhere, waiting to make itself known.  We can't see it but we know it is coming.  It will rustle the dry leaves, it will blow over the parched ground, it will bring the refreshing rain that is has been missing for so long.  We will turn our faces towards it like a long lost friend.  We will greet it with outstretched arms and laughter.

Forget the former things, all that has transpired in our lives and in the lives of those throughout the centuries.  Forget all the nations that have risen and fallen since the beginning of time.  God will save, he will draw his creation to him.  The streams will flow, the desert will become a watered garden.  Even now it springs up.  Do you not perceive it?

2010 Post - Isaiah 43-44:  There Is No Other

Isaiah 41-42: Upheld by His Right Hand

 “But you, O Israel, my servant,
   Jacob, whom I have chosen,
   you descendants of Abraham my friend,
I took you from the ends of the earth,
   from its farthest corners I called you.
I said, ‘You are my servant’;
   I have chosen you and have not rejected you.
So do not fear, for I am with you;
   do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
   I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. - Is. 41:8-10 NIV

This is not how we usually see ourselves:  being upheld by the right hand of God.  Most of the time, we think the whole world is against us, against those who claim the be adopted children of God.  Persecuted, we have been and will continue to be.  In every generation, there are those who have given their lives for their faith, but that doesn't change the fact that we have been chosen by God and have never been rejected. 

No matter the circumstance, we have no reason to fear or be dismayed.  Nothing of true value can be taken away from us.  Nothing can destroy us.  God will uphold us in righteousness.  He will uphold us with his right hand.

2010 Post - Isaiah 41-42:  God Declares a New Thing

Isaiah 39-40: Teach Us To Wait

Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God”?
Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. - Is 40: 27-31 NIV

Who hasn't felt weary at some point in time? Who hasn't thought that they could go on no longer?  Perhaps we all haven't crouched in a corner, knees so week they could not longer carry us, bent over in pain from crying too many tears.  Perhaps we haven't all knelt and cried for deliverance.  Perhaps we haven't all held the hand of a dying loved one or sat in a hospital waiting room dreading to hear the news we knew was coming.  If we haven't experienced those things yet, it's because we haven't lived long enough.  None of us have lives that are exempt from pain.  None of us have lives of perfect strength.  God sees it all, he knows it all and he never grows weary unlike his creation. 

Even young people get weary, even they stumble and fall; but those that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength.  Waiting, that's the thing we need to know how to do well. Teach us Lord to wait.

2010 Post - Isaiah 39-40:  The God of All Comfort

Isaiah 36-38: He Has, He Does and He Will

In your love you kept me
   from the pit of destruction;
you have put all my sins
   behind your back.
For the grave cannot praise you,
   death cannot sing your praise;
those who go down to the pit
   cannot hope for your faithfulness.
The living, the living—they praise you,
   as I am doing today;
fathers tell their children
   about your faithfulness.
The LORD will save me,
   and we will sing with stringed instruments
all the days of our lives
   in the temple of the LORD. - Is 38:17-20 NIV

Some day the grave will be the final answer to all of our questions and supplications.  However, just as it was for Hezekiah, God intervenes in our 'now' as well.  It is not just for the future that God has put all of our sins behind his back.  It is for the here and now.  It is for the here and now that he frees us from our enemies and delivers us from all that would destroy us.  The Lord has saved us.  Not only has he taken our sins and hidden them behind his back, but we often forget how many times he has delivered us from the pit of destruction in this life.  The Lord is saving us in this very instant.  We have no conception of all the forces hovering around us that, at any second, would tear us down if it were not for his hedge around us right now.  The Lord will save us.  He will rescue us in our days to come and he will save us for eternity.  Just like in the fairy tales, we have been captivated by him and we will live happily ever after.  We have every right to sing "all the days of our lives in the temple of the Lord."

Isaiah 36-38:  The Zeal of the Lord

Isaiah 33-35: Lord be Gracious to Us

 O LORD, be gracious to us;
   we long for you.
Be our strength every morning,
   our salvation in time of distress. - Is 33:2 NIV

How many of us can truthfully say that we long for the Lord, that he is the one we rely on for our strength above any other, that he is the one we call on in the morning?  Most of us have another view.  We see strength in numbers, whether it is the size of our army or our bank account, if we're truthful, that's what we're relying on.  God's grace, what is that?  Grace is a weak thing, a thing of beauty perhaps, but not of strength.  Grace is not something we run after, not something we seek although it is the thing we need most.  We need God's eye of favor, his love and mercy, more than anything else.  Whether we realize it or not, God's grace is the thing that gives us life, that gives us salvation, that keeps us from falling. It's a free gift, given to all who come to the conclusion that they cannot do it by their own power.

Strengthen the feeble hands,
   steady the knees that give way;
say to those with fearful hearts,
   “Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
   he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
   he will come to save you.” - Is 35:3-4 NIV

To those that call, God will be gracious, he will be their strength, their salvation.

2010 Post - Isaiah 33-35:  The Redeemed of the Lord

Isaiah 30-32: Peace and Quietness and Confidence

 The fortress will be abandoned,
   the noisy city deserted;
citadel and watchtower will become a wasteland forever,
   the delight of donkeys, a pasture for flocks,
till the Spirit is poured upon us from on high,
   and the desert becomes a fertile field,
   and the fertile field seems like a forest.
Justice will dwell in the desert
   and righteousness live in the fertile field.
The fruit of righteousness will be peace;
   the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever. - Is. 32:14-17 NIV

All of our fortresses, our strong towers, all of the things we trust in will never be enough.  They can never be enough to protect us.  We live with a false assumption if we think that any thing made by man can protect us or sustain us.  That is why, despite living in a world of incredible technology, even those that would consider themselves the most peaceful cannot protect themselves from the havoc of a lone mad gunman.  We cannot save our children.  We cannot save ourselves. 

Until....until some day the Spirit is poured upon us from on high.  Then, even the desert, where criminals and and crazy mad men hide, will be filled with justice.  Then, we will have what we all are hoping for, but cannot find, peace.  Then we will not have to fear or build up our citadels and watchtowers to keep us safe from our enemies.  We will have peace....peace and quietness and confidence forever.

2010 Post  Isaiah 30-32:  What Matters Most

Isaiah 27-29: We Are the Potter's

 Woe to those who go to great depths
   to hide their plans from the LORD,
who do their work in darkness and think,
   “Who sees us? Who will know?”
You turn things upside down,
   as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!
Shall what is formed say to him who formed it,
   “He did not make me”?
Can the pot say of the potter,
   “He knows nothing”?  - Is. 29:15-16 NIV

Woe to all of us.  Woe to those who would call ourselves people of faith and woe to those who do not.  Woe to all of us.  We all think we can hide things from God that he can't see or doesn't see or know, when he knows all.  We've built up layers and layers of technology, information, business, entertainment, and possessions that keep us amused and isolated from each other and from God.  God is a word we use either casually or in vain, but our lives would seldom indicate that his existence is of any importance. 

In truth, we are nothing without him.  We're just a lump of clay that has no form or purpose without the potter.  We cannot make ourselves; there are no self-made men.  Most of us have let ourselves be molded by other things than our creator.  Most of us are not the beautiful useful vessels we could have been in the potters hand.  And we think that God doesn't notice or care when in truth he sees it all.  Whether we acknowledge it or not, we are the potter's creation and possession.  We belong to him.

2010 Post - Isaiah 27-29:  A Sure Foundation -

Isaiah 24-26:The Shroud that Covers Nations

 On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare
   a feast of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine—
   the best of meats and the finest of wines.
On this mountain he will destroy
   the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations;
he will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears
   from all faces;
he will remove the disgrace of his people
   from all the earth.
            The LORD has spoken. - Isaiah 24-26 NIV

Most of the time we don't realize that we're living under a cloud, a covering of sin and disgrace that enfolds us as surely as a shroud covers those who are entombed.  We are entombed, we are the living dead.  We think this life is all there is.  We grasp and claw at anything that will give us life, provide us air but it is all fleeting.  Even the most perfect things, loving families, good health, a comfortable living and promising futures fall to completely satisfy.  Perhaps this is not the way life was supposed to be, certainly it is not the way it will be someday.

Someday, our creator, the only one with the power to do so, will wipe away all tears, He will separate us once and for all from the sin and death that haunts us all .  He will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations.

2010 Post - Isaiah 24-26:  Perfect Peace

Isaiah 21-23: Ask and Come Back Yet Again

 “Watchman, what is left of the night?
   Watchman, what is left of the night?”
The watchman replies,
   “Morning is coming, but also the night.
If you would ask, then ask;
   and come back yet again.” - Is. 21:11-12

Often, we do find ourselves asking:  "What is left of the night?"  When will this all be over?  When will the wars and revelry, springtime and harvest, new birth and old age, life and death, goodness and evil, when will it end?  When will we see the morning, if morning ever comes?  The cycle spirals, never upward, only down. We look and look but there seems to be no end.  The only answer to our question is 'ask and come back yet again.'

And therein lies the answer. Life is not in the answer, it is in the question.  Life is in the search.  We will know the answer when we see it, but until then, there are still crops to plant, babies to birth, wars to fight, all without answers, only with anticipation.  What is left of the night?  Will morning ever come?  Ask the questions, the answers may be more than we want or need to know.  Ask the questions, then live your life.

2010 Post - Isaiah 21-23:  Morning Comes

Isaiah 17-20: Parched and Dead

You have forgotten God your Savior;
   you have not remembered the Rock, your fortress.
Therefore, though you set out the finest plants
   and plant imported vines,
though on the day you set them out, you make them grow,
   and on the morning when you plant them, you bring them to bud,
yet the harvest will be as nothing
   in the day of disease and incurable pain. - Is. 17:10-11 NIV

Oh, my garden.  In this summer of searing heat, it has withered away.  All the anticipation of an abundant harvest has come to nothing. What started out with such promise has become a wasteland.  It's a reminder of how dependent we are on God.  All of our plantings, our harvests, even our fruitfulness are totally dependent on him.  That applies to gardens, to any work of our hands, even to nations and governments.  No matter how they were created, no matter how great the promise, they all wither away without the hand of God.  Those who remember him are blessed, those who do not are forgotten and left to their own devices.  Nothing, no amount of water poured on the parched ground of my garden will cause it to flourish.  Nothing can restore any of us once the life giving hand of God has been removed.  All that will be left is parched and dead.

2010 Post - Isaiah 17-20:  The Mystery of Prophecy

Isaiah 14-16: Thy Kingdom Come

The oppressor will come to an end,
   and destruction will cease;
   the aggressor will vanish from the land.
In love a throne will be established;
   in faithfulness a man will sit on it—
   one from the house of David—
one who in judging seeks justice
   and speeds the cause of righteousness. - Is. 16:4-5

Lest we think any situation is without hope, a promise stands.  All of our known world may crumble.  Everything we have known, our way of life, our prosperity may disappear, but that is not the end of the story.  This is God's story after all, not our own.  What he has begun, what he began with creation, will come to pass.  Restoration will come to the world of harmony that began in the garden and met it's demise at the hand of one who swore: 
I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne
   above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
   on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.
I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
   I will make myself like the Most High.”  - Is. 14:13-14 NIV


Someday, all the things we fear and dread will be no more.  The one behind all of the sorrow and chaos will be chained and the earth will be claimed by it's rightful owner, one who seeks justice and righteousness.  One who's kingdom will be established in love. Maranatha, Lord Jesus, thy kingdom come.

2010 Post - Isaiah 14-16:  The Fall of Pride

Isaiah 11-13: The Nation Building Hand of God

In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt,from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea.
He will raise a banner for the nations
   and gather the exiles of Israel;
he will assemble the scattered people of Judah
   from the four quarters of the earth.
Ephraim’s jealousy will vanish,
   and Judah’s enemies will be cut off; - Is. 11:11-13 NIV

A good majority of the people feel that Israel is a problem and quite a few of them think they have the answer.  Diplomats, politicians, rulers of nations, peacekeepers; they all think they know what should be done to solve the Palestinian problem.  It's never an Israeli problem, as if their children were never taken hostage or murdered, it's a Palestinian problem. I understand the Palestinian desire to have a place they could call their own, but they have never been forced from country to country or exterminated as the Jewish people have been. The Palestinians have lived in that land while various nations and kingdoms have controlled them through the centuries.  They have relied and survived on the infrastructure of the occupying nations, while the Jews were driven out. 

How you view the Palestinian situation depends on the God you follow.  If you follow the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, you remember the promise made by God that they would have a land of their own.  Unlike the Europeans and later people from all the other continents, who usurped the land once belonging to the native Indians in the Americas, Israel's roots go back in that land to a time before there were any nations: a time when there were only roving bands of nomads who called few places home.  Most of them, like Abraham, moved from place to place depending on the availability of food and water for their cattle and themselves.

All that changed when God promised the land to Abraham and his descendants and will change some day in the future as well.  God will gather all of the exiles of Israel and they will return.   The return has started, a nation has been built.  Someday Judah's enemies will be cut off as well.  It won't be at the hand of any diplomat or peacekeeper.  It will be the nation building hand of God.

2010 Post - Isaiah 11-13:  Reclaiming a Remnant

Isaiah 9-10: Prophetiic Words?

What would Isaiah's prophecies be if he lived in our day?   What would God be telling him about his people?  Even more important, would we listen to and heed the words of a prophet like Isaiah?  Would we realize that it is the Lord we should be fearing, the Lord that is bringing all of the calamities against us, that those we blame are God's tools, that it is we ourselves who are to blame for everything that strikes at our security, at the way we live.

But the people have not returned to him who struck them,
   nor have they sought the LORD Almighty.
So the LORD will cut off from Israel both head and tail,
   both palm branch and reed in a single day;
the elders and prominent men are the head,
   the prophets who teach lies are the tail.
Those who guide this people mislead them,
   and those who are guided are led astray.
Therefore the Lord will take no pleasure in the young men,
   nor will he pity the fatherless and widows,
for everyone is ungodly and wicked,
   every mouth speaks vileness.
Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
   his hand is still upraised.  - IS 9:13-17 NIV

I am not a prophet, but I can see it is not going to get any better.  You can't blame it on the government, on society, the media or anything else.  It is our fault, God's people, those who would call ourselves by his name, we are the ones that need to turn to him in repentance and even anguish for what has happened to our nation and even the entire world.  We are the ones who have not done what he called us to do, we have not been what he created us to be.  We are all so caught up in being the center of our own existence that we have failed miserably at being the children of God. 



2010 Post - Isaiah 9-10:  Unlimited Government

Isaiah 6-8: Wait on the Lord

The LORD spoke to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people. He said:
“Do not call conspiracy
   everything that these people call conspiracy;
do not fear what they fear,
   and do not dread it.
The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,
   he is the one you are to fear,
   he is the one you are to dread,
and he will be a sanctuary;  - Is. 8:12-14 NIV

When you have seen God Almighty, as Isaiah saw him, high and lifted up, surrounded by seraphs calling to each other:   “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;   the whole earth is full of his glory.” it changes your perspective.  Then you can look at empires crumbling, rulers being overthrown, earthquakes, fires, floods and disasters of every kind without fearing what is to come.  When you fear God, he becomes a sanctuary from all the other dreads and fears that others experience.  The phrase 'wait on the Lord' is repeated over and over throughout the Old Testament.  Wait instead of letting your thoughts and dreads rush ahead of his plans.  Wait on the Lord.  Before you take matters into your own hands, wait.
Bind up the testimony
   and seal up the law among my disciples.
I will wait for the LORD,
   who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob. I will put my trust in him. - Is. 8:16-17 NIV

2010 Post - Isaiah 6-8 :  Sanctuary or Stumbling Block

Isaiah 3-5: The Vineyard of the Lord

The LORD takes his place in court;
   he rises to judge the people.
The LORD enters into judgment
   against the elders and leaders of his people:
“It is you who have ruined my vineyard;
   the plunder from the poor is in your houses.
What do you mean by crushing my people
   and grinding the faces of the poor?” - Is. 3:13-15 NIV

It's hard for me to read these chapters without thinking of all the televangelists and mega-churches that have built their empires on the tithes and gifts of many people of few means.  People with generous hearts who wanted to follow after God, and some who wanted the health and prosperity that was promised to follow, have given to the few so that they could build their magnificent sanctuaries, mansions, and technological infrastructures to perpetuate their own glory, seldom the Lord's.  It's easy to think that these words were pronounced against politicians and aristocrats, but it is his people, the house of Israel that is being chastised and it is his church, today that must look at themselves and see what we have wrought.

The vineyard of the LORD Almighty
   is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah
   are the garden of his delight.
And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed;
   for righteousness, but heard cries of distress. - Is. 5:7 NIV

The vineyard of the Lord has been abused for all it's worth.  It has been trampled and plundered until it no longer produces the wine that gladdens the heart.  Perhaps somewhere a vineyard is being planted where the grapes will be tended with love and care; loved for themselves, not the profit they can produce.

2010 Post - Isaiah 3-5:  Tell the Righteous

Isaiah 1-2: Stop Trusting in Man

Stop trusting in man,
   who has but a breath in his nostrils.
Of what account is he? - Isaiah 2:22 NIV

We may have 'In God We Trust' written on our coins and currency, but he's quite low on the list of what we really put our trust in if he's there at all.  The government, the monetary policy, political parties, the president, our job, our employer, our bank account, our 401Ks, technology, the internet, the weatherman, the nightly news, the drudgereport, televangelists, our friends and family, any and all of these are our source rather than the one that our money and our words would purport to trust in.

All of these things we trust in are nothing, can do nothing can promise nothing.  As Isaiah says:  Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?

2010 Post - Isaiah 1-2:  Let us Reason

Song of Solomon: His Banner Over Me

He has taken me to the banquet hall,
   and his banner over me is love. - Song of Solomon 2:2 NIV

Would we live different lives if we really knew how much God loves us, how beautiful we are to him, how precious?  Would we stop beating ourselves up for our failings and concentrate instead on how lovely he is?  If only we would see God through the eyes of love and be convinced that he sees us that way as well.  What a weight would be lifted, what a remarkable gift of freedom we would receive.  Of course, it's all been promised to us, it's there for the taking.  The banquet hall is open and draped with the banners of his love.  We just have to enter.

Ecclesiastes 10-12: Just Cast

 Cast your bread upon the waters,
   for after many days you will find it again.
Give portions to seven, yes to eight,
   for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.
 If clouds are full of water,
   they pour rain upon the earth.
Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north,
   in the place where it falls, there will it lie.
Whoever watches the wind will not plant;
   whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.
 As you do not know the path of the wind,
   or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb,
so you cannot understand the work of God,
   the Maker of all things. - Eccl. 11:1-5 NIV

I love these words from Solomon although I often choose to go another route...to live a calculated life, one that considers each movement in anticipation of it's result.  These words call for a spontaneous life; for one of reckless abandonment and lavish generosity.   How different our lives would be if we lived that way.  Not the end result, that is all in God's hands, but our efforts would be a lot freer, our worries non-existent and our minds a lot less cluttered.  In essence, we would live like children which is just what Jesus told us to be. 

In these days, when we hear from every side how cautious we are to be, we need to consider what would happen if we cast our bread upon the waters   What part of everything doesn't have to be calculated or perfect do we not understand?  What if we let go and let God?  Cast, just cast!

2010 Post - Ecclesiastes 10-12:  The End of the Matter

Eccliastes 8-9: Wisdom is Hope

Who is like the wise man?
   Who knows the explanation of things?
Wisdom brightens a man’s face
   and changes its hard appearance. - Ecclesiastes 8:1 NIV

I have been struggling to understand a few things over the last month.  The more I try to understand, the more confused my mind seems to get.  It goes round and round caught up in one direction or the other, like being tossed around in a whirlpool from which there is no release.  As all this has been happening, my physical self has suffered as well.  Things have been going on with my body that I can't understand as well.  Down and down I seem to go.  I don't have to tell anyone what is going on, my face lays it all out in front for all to see.  It's a tired face.

But even in the midst of all of the confusion, occasionally a revelation dawns and my face lights up.  Even if it is only for a fleeting moment, I come alive.  There is hope.  There may be an end, a way out of this morass and just that hope brightens my mood and my countenance.  Wisdom, the one thing that we cannot get on our own.  It is the great mystery that comes from God, revelation of things our mind cannot conceive, cannot even imagine.  It is is what brightens a mans face.  Wisdom is hope.

2010 Post - Ecclesiastes 8-9:  This is the Day

Ecclesiastes 5-7: Guard your Steps, Guard your Mouth

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.

Do not be quick with your mouth,
   do not be hasty in your heart
   to utter anything before God.
God is in heaven
   and you are on earth,
   so let your words be few.
As a dream comes when there are many cares,
   so the speech of a fool when there are many words. - Eccl. 5:1-3 NIV

Many of us are too hasty, too forward when it comes to approaching God.  We aren't Moses approaching the burning bush with fear and trembling, or Isaiah who saw the Lord sitting on a throne and all he could say was, 'Woe is me, I am ruined.'.

Now, we approach God as if he was our next-door neighbor, and we are wanting to borrow a cup of sugar.  We have forgotten the awe with which even his own son approached him:  "Our Father, which art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy Name."  Hallowed!  That means holy, that means lifted up, that means sacred.  There are still those who bow their heads and fold their hands, and even some who fall on their knees before God, but for the most part, we are a generation that approaches God in our pajamas or ragged jeans, throwing out our daily requests as if we were leaving a list for the milkman to leave on his next visit.  And we wonder why our live are as mundane as the way we approach God.  Perhaps if we guarded our steps and guarded our mouths as we approached God, he would guard our ways.

2010 Post - Ecclesiastes 5-7:  Don't Do It

Ecclesiastes 3-4: Eternity

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. - Eccl.3:11-12 NIV

Some of us, no matter how long we live, seem unable to grasp this concept.  That God makes everything beautiful in it's time, but that beauty cannot all be embraced during this lifetime.  It is only in eternity, only when we cross the vast chasm that separates us from our creator, that we will see the true reality...that we will truly live.  As the Apostle Paul said, we only see in part; even our prophecy is in part.  There is no way we can see or describe what lies ahead.  Occasionally, our spirits may get a taste, a breeze blowing in our direction for a whisper of time, but for the most part, we wander around in this time thinking that this is all there is, and if this is all there is then we must get more of it.

And so we miss the one thing that would make this time on earth more palatable:  being happy and doing good while we're here.  Simple, yet we all have such a difficult time doing just that.  Being happy, doing good.  Perhaps if we could be content with that for just one day, we might glimpse the eternity that God has set in the hearts of men.

2010 Post - Ecclesiastes 3-4:  In His Time

Ecclesiastes 1-2: Chasing after the Wind

What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.
A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, ²⁵ for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. -Prov. 2:22-26 NIV

I'm still thinking about the "Housewives" from the various cities and all of the other 'celebrities' on the television networks that flaunt their wealth and influence  Do they really take themselves seriously or do they realize that they are merely chasing after the wind.  Do they feel comfort at the end of a day when they survey all they have amassed?  Are they too busy with all of their dinners and parties to realize that it is all meaningless?

The more important question, I guess, is do we find ourselves envious of them?  Do we think if we had all that wealth, power, and influence we would be happier?  It's chasing the wind.  It's storing up something that has no worth.  It is, as the wise king said, vanity, vanity.

2010 post - Ecclesiastes 1-2:  Meaningless, Meaningless

Proverbs 28-29: Never the Twain Shall Meet

The righteous detest the dishonest;
   the wicked detest the upright. - Prov. 29:27 NIV

Proverbs talks a lot about fools and wise men, the wicked and the upright, the wealthy and the poor, the rulers and the servants, the greedy and the generous, the ones never satisfied and those who are content.

I have to think long and hard about which side of the issue I would rather be on.  Do I really want to side with the poor and oppressed as opposed to those with wealth and influence?  Do I really want to be wise when a lot of the time my actions are more those of a fool?  Can I consider myself content and even blessed with what I have, or is there always something else that catches my eye?

Proverbs goes on and on and on and you begin to get the drift.  The only way to get through this life with any satisfaction is to be on what always appears to be the losing side.   There is no middle ground.

2010 Post - Proverbs 28-29:  Righteousness and Justice

Proverbs 30-31: A God Fearing Woman

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
   but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Give her the reward she has earned,
   and let her works bring her praise at the city gate. - Prov. 31:30-31 NIV

How different the Proverbs 31 woman is from today's housewife of Orange County, New York, New Jersey or wherever the flashy and shallow come from.  Today's housewives have yet to learn that 'charm is deceptive and, beauty is fleeting.' 

There is a way for a woman to be pleasing to the Lord.  It is not by sitting around eating bon bon's and gossiping all day.  According to Proverbs 31, a God fearing woman is industrious, often more industrious than her husband who is relegated to discussing the affairs of the world with the other men at the city gate while the wife is buying fields, planting vineyards, making profitable trades, spinning and weaving, and decorating her house.  A God fearing woman makes the 'housewives' of today look like the prostitutes they really are.  A God fearing woman is the one who will be rewarded in the end.

2010 Post - Proverbs 30-31:  Enough Said

Proverbs 26-27: Riches Do Not Endure Forever

 Be sure you know the condition of your flocks,
   give careful attention to your herds;
for riches do not endure forever,
   and a crown is not secure for all generations.
When the hay is removed and new growth appears
   and the grass from the hills is gathered in,
the lambs will provide you with clothing,
   and the goats with the price of a field.
You will have plenty of goats’ milk
   to feed you and your family
   and to nourish your servant girls. - Prov. 27:23-27 NIV

Most of us no longer have flocks of sheep, goats, or cattle that we tend, but we are tasked with tending those who provide for us.  It may be tending our parishioners, our patients, our students, or our employees, but they all require careful attention.  More than once, I have witnessed the folly when a businessman or owner suddenly realizes that he can grasp wealth or fame at the expense of those who are in his employ.  He rides to success on the backs of those who worked for him and leaves them behind when his goal is reached.  Whatever riches and success he may have gained at their expense will never satisfy as much as the loyalty and dedication of those who supported him when he was nothing.  Often, in spite of a great accumulation of wealth and power, those that climb to the top on the backs of others, find themselves left with nothing of value.  As the wise man says, riches do not endure forever.

2010 Post - Proverbs 26-27:  As Iron Sharpens Iron

Proverbs 22-25: A Wise Heart

 My son, if your heart is wise,
   then my heart will be glad;
my inmost being will rejoice
   when your lips speak what is right.
Do not let your heart envy sinners,
   but always be zealous for the fear of the LORD.
There is surely a future hope for you,
   and your hope will not be cut off. - Prov. 23:15-18 NIV


We don't often think of a wise heart.  We hear of strong hearts, of brave hearts, but seldom hear mention of a wise heart.  In the end, it is our heart that we are led by, often to our own detriment.  It is our heart that causes us to follow after the flashy but insignificant.  It is our hearts that lead us to covet what others have.  It is our hearts that deceive us into thinking that if it feels good, it must not be bad.

How different our lives would be if our hearts were wise; if they longed for truth and righteousness rather than a comfortable life and self-preservation.  If our hearts were wise, they would be zealous for God, rather than the things of the world.  If our hearts were wise, there would be hope.

2010 Post - Proverbs 22-25:  When Evil Lurks

Proverbs 19-21: The Secret of Life

He who pursues righteousness and love
   finds life, prosperity and honor. - Prov. 21:21: NIV

We pursue many things, many of them with great success, but what do we really gain?  The most common definition of prosperity assumes financial wealth.  As we chase after that definition of prosperity, we often find it at the expense of honor and occasionally even our own lives.  Prosperity does not save us as this article yesterday attests:

The Salt Lake Tribune

First published Jul 04 2011 10:40AM 
Police are looking for a man who stole a dump truck from a construction company’s lot in Logan and drove it all the way to Salt Lake City, where he crashed it into a residence.

At about 11 p.m. Saturday, the man crashed the truck into a home at 984 W. Prosperity Drive, Salt Lake City police confirmed. No one was injured in the incident.

The man left a form of identification in the vehicle, but police did not immediately release his identity.

The dump truck was stolen from Spindler Construction, said Logan police Assistant Chief Jeff Curtis. When police inspected the lot, they found the man had taken a semitrailer and rammed it into the fence in the lot, disabling the vehicle. Police say he then took the dump truck, and drove away after running into the first truck.

The damage at the lot and the home is estimated to be several thousand dollars, police said.

“This is really unusual,” Curtis said. “People don’t usually go back into a yard like this to steal a second truck. Then, crashing it into a house is very strange.”

If prosperity is all we pursue, we may find ourselves being hit by the proverbial dump truck of misfortune when we least expect it.  Righteousness and love, there is no fault in that pursuit.  What calamity can rob us of the aftermath of a righteous life or a life filled with love.  If that is what we pursue, it cannot be lost.  It only gets lost when we pursue the end result rather than the true prize.

2010 Post - Proverbs 19-21:  In Our Own Home

Proverbs 9-12: What Comes Out of the Mouth

He who winks maliciously causes grief,
   and a chattering fool comes to ruin.
The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,
   but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked -Prov 10:10-11 NIV

Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning,
   but a rod is for the back of him who lacks judgment.
 Wise men store up knowledge,
   but the mouth of a fool invites ruin. Prov. 10:13-14 NIV

The lips of the righteous know what is fitting,
   but the mouth of the wicked only what is perverse.  - Prov. 10-32 NIV

Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted,
   but by the mouth of the wicked it is destroyed.
A man who lacks judgment derides his neighbor,
   but a man of understanding holds his tongue. - Prov. 11:11-12 NIV

Reckless words pierce like a sword,
   but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
Truthful lips endure forever,
   but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.  - Prov. 12: 18-19 NIV

The LORD detests lying lips,
   but he delights in men who are truthful.
 A prudent man keeps his knowledge to himself,
   but the heart of fools blurts out folly. - Prov 12:22-23 NIV

If we think that what we say doesn't matter, these verses should put that notion to rest.  'Nuff said.

2010 Post - Provers 9-12:  -It's Still the Same Old Story

Proverbs 10-12: Love Covers All Wrongs

Hatred stirs up dissension,
   but love covers over all wrongs. Prov. 10:3 NIV

What the wicked dreads will overtake him;
   what the righteous desire will be granted. Prov. 10:24

A kindhearted woman gains respect,
   but ruthless men gain only wealth. - Prov. 11:16

There are so many wise saying in proverbs, and we recognize each one of them as true, even if we seldom put them to practice in our lives.  The ones that jump out for me today have to do with the core issue of love.  What it means to lead a life guided by love instead of greed.  Most of the commentary we see today between either side of any spectrum is vitriolic.  It doesn't matter if the discussion is over politics,the economy, abortion, gay marriage, the environment, immigration, or even the president, there is nothing that can be construed as reasonable dialog any more.  Everyone is trying to protect their life as they know it, but it always ends up in tossing words of hate at each other. The result will be as the writer states, 'what the wicked dreads will over take him.  Until we can learn to love our neighbor and even our enemies and treat them with words of love rather than hate, nothing is going to get better.  Love covers all wrong.  It is the foundation for fixing all the worlds ills, it is the foundation of life.

2010 Post - Proverbs 10-12: Universal Truths