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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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The Greatness of God

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The Greatness of Our God Isaiah 36-40 “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and marked off the heavens by the span, and calculated the dust of the earth by the measure, and weighed the mountains in a balance and the hills in a pair of scales?                   How does the finite grasp the infinite? How can we who are nothing more than a speck on a plant that is a speck in the Milky Way, which is nothing more than a speck in the vastness of the cosmos? One of the audacities of humanity is that we elevate our importance, power, and influence to the point that we believe we can control our own destiny, determine our own morality, and even save the planet from any impending disaster. In the arrogance of our thinking, we believe that God should conform to what we think, and we create God in our image. So, how does the finite grasp the infinite? By making the infinite finite. We confor...
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When a Nation Descends into Turmoil

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When a Nation Descends into Turmoil Isaiah 26-40. “But they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the Lord?”                   When we read of the prophetic announcements that will come upon Israel, Judah, and the surrounding nations, it often seems as if God is describing our country today. Daily, we pick up the news and see reports of conflict in the streets of Minnesota and across our county. People are looking to politicians (both Democrat and Republican) to solve our nation's problems and provide a moral foundation for society. The same was true of Israel during Isaiah's time. Israel was caught between two superpowers vying for control. The Assyrians to the north and Egypt to the south. Israel was not only between these two nations but also controlled the territory separating them. The nation that controlled Israel held the key territory between these superpowers. Like today, there w...
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