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Today’s reading is from Isaiah 52, where the prophet Isaiah spoke of God’s redemption of the Jewish people after years of oppression.

Pain, suffering, oppression, strife, and difficulties in this life are challenging to understand.  I write about this topic often as my studies of the Bible lead me to find meaning and understanding to make sense of difficult times.  I don’t question God, by any means, but challenges do cause me to ask questions and attempt to find meaning.  The Jewish people turned away from God in different generations, defied His commands, and He punished them.  It is difficult to comprehend why God would cause pain and such severe punishment to the Jewish people.

As a parents, we want what is best for our children.  We provide guidance to help them choose the right path in life. We do our best to have patience, allow them to make their own decisions, and live with the consequences.  Sometimes, our children make bad choices.  Sometimes those choices cause minor issues. Unfortunately, their choices can come with major consequences as well.  Depending on their age, we as parents are forced to deliver discipline, which is ultimately painful for them and us, or discipline can come others involved in their life.

There should be no doubt that God tests us in our lives. We can see time and time again that God brings challenges into our lives to validate our faith and increase our trust in Him. There are times when God provides discipline in our lives based on our actions and poor choices, just like we do as parents.  Here are a couple of verses that speaks to how we should view life’s trials.

1 Peter 1:6-7 – 6 In this you greatly rejoice, through now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials. 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more previous than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 – 9 And he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in the infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak then I am strong.

Do you feel strong in times of trouble? My first reaction, unfortunately, is resentment, anger, questioning the reason, and attempting to solve the problem. What I fail to realize is that the testing of my faith is an opportunity to build resilience.  I have the opportunity to focus on God’s Word, as the potential reasons and meaning may not be known now or is this life, but I must trust God’s plan and purpose for my life is perfect.  This is difficult and something I work on each day.

James, Jesus’s half-brother, said in James 1:2, “Consider it pure joy my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.”

We must rely on the promise that all this world’s trials and troubles are building us up for a perfect purpose and our benefit, which ultimately strengthens our faith and bring us closer to Him.

Today’s Reading:  Isaiah 40

This week my son and I attended Freshman Orientation at the University of Missouri.  Since this is my oldest child, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.  After check in, their first item of business was to send the parents to one location and the students to another.  I’d say about half of the auditorium was filled with rookie parents like me – parents who were sending their first child to college.  Opening remarks were given by the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs / the Dean of Students, who designed his entire 15 minute message to give parents comfort.  After watching over and protecting these kids for the last 18 years, he wanted to give us confidence that Mizzou had all the right resources to help our kids be successful as we launched them into adulthood.

In much the same way, Isaiah 40 is all about comfort.  Through the prophet Isaiah, God’s message was aimed at giving his people confidence that he would take care of them, that he alone was all they needed.

Comfort, comfort my people, says your 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 (Isaiah 40:1, 28-31).

Am I comfortable sending my 18 year old on his own to a university with 30,000 other students?  I am, but not necessarily because the university has all the right resources he needs to be successful.  But rather because he and I both put our faith in the one true God who provides all we need.

Today’s Reading : Isaiah 25:1-9

Isaiah 25:8-9

 He will swallow up death forever;

and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,

    and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,

    for the Lord has spoken.

It will be said on that day,

    “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.

    This is the Lord; we have waited for him;

    let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

 

With summer in full swing, we have enrolled the kids in the summer reading program. One of the books that the girls love to read is Dr. Seuss, “ Oh, the places that you go”. This outlines the different places that you can go throughout your life. While summer is ramping up, we also have more time to be out and chat with friends and strangers, “Oh, the conversations you can have” .

Every day there’s so many conversations that we have with each other. There are conversations we have with our kids. Their conversations that we have with our spouses. There are conversations that we have with our relatives. There are conversations that we have with our colleagues. There are conversations that we have with strangers, otherwise known as unknown acquaintances. Of these conversations, one of the subjects that has come up in the past several weeks has been:  What happens in the afterlife or when we pass away?

It’s interesting when we have conversations with our kids and the thought process that they have about certain things. My youngest child brought up the topic of Heaven a couple days ago. It’s really interesting how they come up with the topic, but we just listen and talk with them. When she was describing Heaven, she said that she remembered it before she was born. She remembers sliding down a slide. She also remembers how she remembers Ruby, her sister playing with her in Heaven.  This conversation has me really thinking about eternal life.

Just a couple days ago, I was talking to a random person and we were talking about how amazing God is and how infinite his presence is. We spoke about how God has created time for us, in order that we are able to grasp a little of the infinite knowledge that he has available to us. But God is outside of time. God made time. If God made time, then when we are with him we are outside of time. Take a moment to think about this. When we pass away from our earthly vessels, we are physically with God. In that instant we are there with Him and His glory. In that instant we are outside of time. When we think about our loved ones who have passed away, they are instantly there with God in that moment. And when we transition to Heaven, it would only be like a second or a moment has passed for them, but for us it may be 20,30, 40, or 100 years later.

These conversations and our readings from today from Isaiah Chapter 25: 1-9, all show how God is in control of all things. God swallows up death and destruction.  God replaces all of the pain and hurt that we go through on a continuous basis with Grace and Mercy.

In this chapter of Isaiah and the accompanying chapters ,24-27, Isaiah  is shown the end of times in what is known as the “Isaiah apocalypse”. The confident thing that we have to see here is in the midst of all of destruction and devastation: God is still in control. In the end of everything God shows us that we are in the midst of his presence and fullness of his glory. Even before time was created, He understood the goodness and a grace that he was going to give us.

 Let us not be dismayed by the catastrophes, and the hurt, and the pain, and the isolation, and devastation that we may experience today. Because in the end God has it under control. He has a beautiful feast ready for all to enjoy. Oh, the places that we can go; Oh, the conversations that we can have…  to experience the joy of God.

Be Blessed

Today in Acts 8:26-40 we learn two things:

1-God has positioned each of us here for this moment.
2-God meets us where we are.

Philip was sent to meet with a man who was a high-ranking official in the Ethiopian government. This Ethiopian man had come to Jerusalem to worship. So God sent Philip to him to help him understand what he was reading in the book of Isaiah.

The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and walk along beside the carriage.” Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” The man relied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him.
Acts 8:29-31

Philip listened to the Holy Spirit and followed through. Something that I could definitely improve on.  He walked to the man’s carriage and shared the good news. Through Philip, God met this man where he was and brought him to where he needed to be. Philip was able to take the passage the man was reading and point to his need to be rescued. He was able to tell how Jesus perfectly filled that role for him, died and rose from the dead to conquer his sins and bring him to eternal life.

God does the same for you and me, he meets us where we are.

We need constant reminders that God meets us right where we are and that He has taken care of our sin.

God sends people into our lives, just as he sent Philip to stand by a carriage and interpret what the man was reading. God sends people into our lives with spiritual needs that must be met. He sends people in our families, in our jobs, in our neighborhoods who need to have someone explain to them what God has done. He often meets people where they are through you and me. You and I get to share God’s truths with those around us.

Today’s reading is Acts 8:4-25.

Maybe you’ve heard the analogy of Simon the Magician in Acts 8, comparing his witness of the miracles of faith to that of showing a toddler a masterful painting. You can explain the work put into it, the technique, the symbolism, and brilliance of the painting to the toddler, and the impact on history it’s had, but all they pay attention to is seeing your pointing to it, the smile on your face, and the positive tone of voice and feel good enjoy themselves. They hear you, they see the appreciation on your face & in your voice, but they don’t understand the truth or the meaning of what’s before them. 

Do you ever catch yourself seeing & hearing and finding amazement at the message, and not what it points to? A powerful sermon; someone’s moving testimony; your favorite hymn. Have you ever got caught up in the miracle as Simon did, without looking to the miracle it points to? Not that these works are not necessary in life,  but they mean so much more when you take into account the living God behind them. Even Simon could believe & proclaim God’s miraculous moving work, but Peter tells him in verses 21 & 22, “You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you.” We can see & be amazed, but without moved hearts made right before the Lord & a living faith in the One who saves, we have nothing. It’s like Jesus’s parable of the Sower in Luke 8, when Jesus describes those planted on the rocky soil: “[they] are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.” Without deep roots, a surface-level faith is sure to fall to the wayside when times get tough.

This is the essence of the warning Paul gives us in 1 Corinthians 15: “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.” Believing in vain being the key here – Simon’s belief in vain, at the spectacle and immediate benefit of God’s gifts, and not the awe at the God they revere. Scripture is clear to warn those who fall into this trap will “fall away”, when we know instead we must vigilantly focus on the meaning of the Cross, instead of merely the Cross itself. God’s salvation is an incredible gift, much greater than the songs we can sing, the leaders we can look up to, or the stories we can tell; it is the living faith in God’s word and our adoration of Him that is our true gift.

Do you recall a time you had to stand up in front of many important people and give a speech?  I remember giving a few speeches in college, where I researched my  information and then practiced it so many times I had it memorized.  I probably did not come across very convincing since I gave the speeches only because I had to for a grade.  

I recall a time probably 20 years ago when I gave my testimony to a group of women.  I was nervous and I am sure I stumbled over my words, but I knew that God would use my words and speak to the women I was speaking to.  I was filled with the Holy Spirit who helped me tell of God’s love and redemption in my life.  

Today we read of Stephen, the first martyr, in Acts 7:23-43.  Stephen was a man who was full of faith and the Holy Spirit.  He was full of grace.  He was doing miracles.  He was a man who was living out his faith and doing it with boldness.

Because of who Stephen was and his boldness performing signs and wonders, he grew great opposition from the Synagogue leaders, the Sanhedrin.  The Sanhedrin began to create false witnesses who claimed that Stephen had blasphemed God.  Because of this, Stephen had to stand before the court and give a long speech of Moses in the Old Testament and how it related to Jesus’work through his death and resurrection.  

Stephen could have turned away from these people, but he chose to stand in front of them in his faith and speek boldly to them.  He did not choose to turn from his faith or take the easy way out.  The Holy Spirit filled him with courage and wisdom to speak to the Sanhedrin.  Stephen did not know what the outcome would be, but he boldly proclaimed the Word of God.  

We have the same choice in our daily life.  We can stay “safe” and not say what we feel God prompting us to say to another.  Or, we can boldly profess Who Jesus is, what He has done in our lives, and tell of the Promise of Heaven.  

Be Bold-Speak Up