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Where do we turn for truth?

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Where do we turn for truth? Jeremiah 6-10 “Thus says the Lord, ‘Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.”                   Where do we turn to discover truth in a confused culture? The age of information has become the age of deception, in which the greatest deceiver is ourselves, as we find the information that supports and affirms what we want to believe. But this is not a new phenomenon. In the time of Jeremiah, the people were still giving lip service to God, but they were redefining God and his law to fit their own sinful desires. When we read through the prophets in general and Jeremiah in particular, w...
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An Accident or Divine Design

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An Accident or Divine Design Jeremiah 1-5 “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”                   Are we the product of chance or the work of a divine designer? This is the question our culture wrestles with. For many, we are the product of change, the result of a chance evolutionary process, and so an unborn baby is nothing more than a blob of tissue that forms by chance. Because we are the product of evolution, there is no guarantee that we will be formed correctly in the womb. If we are nothing more than the product of chance, then our physical bodies may not align with our true identity. Mother Nature is fickle and arbitrary, and the development of our bodies may not be in line with our internal identity. In a natural world governed by chance, mistakes happen. As a result, the unborn are devalued...
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When God is Afflicted

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When God is Afflicted Isaiah 61-66 “In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them; In His love and His mercy He redeemed them, and He lifted them and carried them all the days of old.”                   The statement seems unbelievable. We see God as an infinitely powerful being who is so far exalted above the earth that He is beyond our understanding. He is the mighty God who controls the universe and encompasses the totality of infinity. There is no limit to His being, His presence, and His power. It is both shocking and wonderful that He would look upon the affairs of man and notice what happens on this tiny speck in the vastness of the heavens. As we reach the end of the book of Isaiah, in 61:1-9, we find Isaiah empowered to proclaim good news to the afflicted and to bring healing to those with broken hearts. In verse 1, we see that the Holy Spirit has come ...
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What is Your Attitude Towards Church

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What is Your Attitude Towards Church Isaiah 56-60 “If because of the Sabbath, you turn your foot from doing your own pleasure on My holy Day, and call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and honor it, desisting form your own ways, from seeking your own pleasure and speaking your own word, then you will take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (58:13-14).                   It is not about the day; it is about the attitude and priority we give to the day. We affirm the importance of all ten commandments—except one: the command to keep the Sabbath day holy. It is true that the Sabbath day, as a legalistic requirement, was removed at the cross. No place in the New Testament do we find the early church maintaining the legal requirement to observ...
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The Divine Invitation

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The Divine Invitation Isaiah 51-55 “Isaiah 55:8-9                   The pride of humanity is the belief that God conforms to our image and our thinking. We pick and choose which parts of the Bible and attributes of God we find acceptable, but we deny and reject those we find uncomfortable and threatening. We readily confess the love of God but deny the justice and righteousness of God. We set ourselves above God by conforming Him to us, as if He were accountable to us.  In this section of Isaiah, we find God's message of salvation and the coming of the suffering servant who will bring salvation through His redemptive sacrifice. Isaiah 53, one of the more familiar passages, foretells the suffering servant who will come. In these words, we see the wonder of Christ's redemptive work as He takes upon Himself the depth of our sin so that we might obtain forgiveness. In vivid detail, Isaiah foretell...
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The Audacity of Man and Supremacy of God

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The Audacity of Man and the Supremacy of God Isaiah 46-50 “I am God, and there is no one like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My purpose will be established and I will accomplish all My good pleasure; calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of My purpose from a far country. Truly, I have spoken; truly, I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it.” (46:9-11).                   The audacity of man is to think that we can conform God to our perspective and that we can be the masters of our own destiny. Israel, like us, had turned their back on God to pursue the gods of their own making. Rather than conform to the character and standard of God, they created their own idols. When we look at all the religions today, they focus upon the teachings of a man and worship one who lived and died. We find them app...
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The Folly of Fear

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The Folly of Fear Isaiah 41-45 “Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”                   It is easy to fall into the trap of fear. As we look into the future, it appears uncertain and unknowable, and what we cannot perceive or control becomes a source of fear and anxiety. When we observe world events and the turmoil in our own country, it’s natural to feel apprehensive and fearful. But our fear isn’t only about the direction of our country; we also worry about what the future holds for ourselves and our families. Every day, we are reminded that we do not control the events of life or the circumstances we face. Each year, Chapman University conducts a survey of what Americans fear most. The top ten fears of 2025 are: 1. Corrupt government officials, 2. P...
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