Thursday, January 31,
2013, 7:00 a.m. – the Lord Jesus put these Glad songs in my mind early this morning:
And This is Love/God
So Loved the World / Glad / Acapella Project
And this is Love, not
that I have first loved You
And this is Love, that
You have first loved me
And You gave up Your
life
One perfect sacrifice…
God so loved the world
He gave His only Son
To face the death that
we deserved and overcome
And everyone who hears
His word and believes
The promise that he’s
heard will never die, will never die…
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Isaiah 33 (quoting some verses in the
NIV 1984). http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2033&version=NIV1984
O Traitor
“Woe to you, O
traitor,
you who have not been betrayed!
When you stop
destroying,
you will be destroyed;
when you stop
betraying,
you will be betrayed.”
This is evidently speaking of Assyria as God’s instrument of
judgment against his people, which God then judged for its traitorous and
destructive acts. In the gospels in the New Testament we have another picture
of a traitor, Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus Christ, his Lord, over to
death on a cross. He is a picture of the antichrist, as well as were the Jews
who deliberated in beating and in crucifying our Lord. And, then in the book of
Revelation we have a description of another traitor, in particular as described
in chapter 13. I believe Assyria is also a prototype, so to speak, of the final
betrayer on the earth. God will allow him to have authority for a time, times
and half a time, and then God will judge him (them).
When God visits his people again in judgment, they will not
be the Jews this time, for they ceased to be God’s chosen people when they, as
a nation, rejected Jesus Christ as their Messiah, God and Lord. The Jews are
now numbered among the Gentiles as those who are of the slave woman, Hagar, and
now the children of promise (of the promised seed Jesus Christ) are those who
have put their faith and trust solely in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
Yet, just as the Jews rebelled against God, became idolatrous and adulterous in
their relationship with their Lord, forgot their God, and became complacent and
unconcerned with their spiritual condition, the church of today, overall, is
experiencing much the same, in particular here in America, though I don’t
really know other nations. And, God will judge her just like he did Israel (see
Revelation 2-3 and read Isaiah, as much is Messianic).
When the lukewarm and/or rebellious church, and the nations
are judged in these final days on the earth, the people will feel betrayed, so
there is going to be a level of broken trust. I believe in America that our
leaders will break and have already broken trust with the American people, they
will betray their own, they will turn their hands and backs against us, and they
will turn and have already turned us over to our enemies. The evidence of this
is everywhere if we will just open our eyes and pray that the Lord will show us
the truth. Not only at the great and massive devastation and loss of life will
the people mourn and wail, but also they will mourn because they trusted in those
who turned against them.
O Lord, Be Gracious
“O Lord, be gracious
to us;
we long for you.
Be our strength every
morning,
our salvation in time of distress.”
There will be a cry among the people for the mercy of God
when judgment falls. There will be many lukewarm Christian who will fall on his
or her knees in repentance and in humility, calling on God to be gracious, and
in longing for their Lord and for his salvation. As well, I believe the scriptures
teach, particularly here in Isaiah, that people from all nations will flock to
Jesus Christ, to the gospel of Christ, the cross of Christ, to salvation and to
the kingdom of God, i.e. to Mt. Zion and to Jerusalem (not physical but
spiritual).
“The Lord is exalted,
for he dwells on high;
he will fill Zion with justice and
righteousness.
He will be the sure foundation for your times,
a rich store of salvation and wisdom and
knowledge;
the fear of the Lord is the key to this
treasure.”
The Lord will be exalted in that day for he will show
himself holy, just and merciful through judgment and through his salvation. Many
of those who failed to acknowledge him and to obey him and to honor him as the
holy God that he is will have their eyes opened and they will fall down and
worship him. The Lord Jesus will fill his people with justice and righteousness
and he will be their sure foundation for their times in which they live. In
other words, when God visits us in judgment, the church will be revived and
many will come to Jesus; the church will be filled with the Spirit of God, and they
will put their trust solely in God for their support, help, and strength, and
for all that they need to make it through each day, for the saints of God will
suffer most severe persecution during these times.
The key to this treasured relationship with Jesus Christ,
and to possessing this sure foundation,
and this rich store of salvation, wisdom and knowledge is the fear of the Lord.
To fear the Lord means to reverence, respect, worship (with life and love), adore
and obey him; to show dedication, devotion, commitment, loyalty, fidelity,
steadfastness, and faithfulness to him. Do you know that when you, as an
American, place your hand over your heart and you pledge allegiance to the flag
and to the form of government of the USA that you are doing the same as what
God requires only for himself? Don’t believe me? Look up the word “allegiance”
in a dictionary and thesaurus. It is the same exact words. Our hearts and
allegiance and worship should be given only to one god, i.e. the One True God –
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, so pray about that and consider that the next time
you pledge allegiance to the US flag and government. “Woe to the US government,
O traitor!”
Call to Revival and
Salvation
“Who of us can dwell
with the consuming fire?
Who of us can dwell with everlasting
burning?”
He who walks
righteously
and speaks what is right,
who rejects gain from
extortion
and keeps his hand from accepting bribes,
who stops his ears
against plots of murder
and shuts his eyes against contemplating
evil—
this is the man who will dwell on the heights,
whose refuge will be the mountain fortress.
His bread will be
supplied,
and water will not fail him.”
Although this is certainly a call to respond to God’s acts
of judgments against his people, to acknowledge his power, and to humble ourselves
before God in repentance and faith, this is a call right now, even if we are
not presently under judgment, though many are, to see the Lord in all his
glory, strength and majesty, to fear and to honor him as holy, to humble
ourselves before him in repentance, and to put our trust solely in him and in
his salvation. If we are to stand in the judgment and to be counted among those
who have eternal life with God, then we must turn from our lives of sin,
rebellion, stubbornness, idolatry and spiritual adultery, we must allow God’s
Spirit to transform us in heart and mind, and we must accept and appropriate to
our lives the new lives Christ Jesus has provided for us to live and to walk in
his holiness and righteousness (see Acts 26:16-18; Eph. 4:17-24; Luke 9:23-24).
Hope for the Future
There the Lord will be
our Mighty One.
It will be like a place of broad rivers and
streams.
No galley with oars
will ride them,
no mighty ship will sail them.
For the Lord is our
judge,
the Lord is our lawgiver,
the Lord is our king;
it is he who will save us.…
No one living in Zion
will say, “I am ill”;
and the sins of those who dwell there will
be forgiven.
Yet, not all is bleak. Not only does God promise his
salvation through his Son Jesus Christ because of his great love for us and
because of his grace, but he will also provide us with the faith to believe and
to act as though we believe (faith proved genuine) by his grace, too, if we are
willing, humble, repentant and obedient. He asks that if we are to come to him
that we must deny (disallow) ourselves (sinful flesh and self-will), take up
our cross daily (die daily to sin and self) and follow (obey) him. His word
teaches us that the way we come to know Christ is by forsaking (putting off;
dying to) our old lives of sinful pleasure, by being transformed in heart and
mind and made into new creatures in Christ Jesus (the working of God’s Holy
Spirit), and by appropriating to our lives this new life in Christ, “created to
be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” This is the true fear of God!
Then, we are given the hope of eternity with God/Jesus in
glory. When Jesus Christ comes for his bride, we will go to be with him
forever. Following this time of judgment on the earth, the Lord Jesus will
reign on the earth as judge, King and Lord, and his saints will reign with him.
War will be no more. There will be no more sickness, sorrow or pain, for the
old order of things will have passed away and everything will become new. Our
enemies will be gone. All will be peaceful, and we will be secure in our sure
foundation. Oh, how I look forward to this day when I will be with my Lord
forever and I will be able to worship him with his saints in glory completely
free of all in this world that pulls at us continuously. That will be a
wonderful day! Praise Jesus! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah /
An Original Work / May 3, 2011
Hallelujah,
hallelujah!
He
is coming, hallelujah!
He’s
our Lord God
And
we love Him
For
He saved us from our sin.
He
is with us, hallelujah,
And
He loves us, hallelujah!
We
adore Him;
Give
our worship
To
our Lord God, King of kings.
He’s
our Savior, hallelujah!
He
provided our redemption;
Paid
our ransom;
We’re
forgiven;
In
His death He bore our sin.
He
is risen, hallelujah!
Conquered
death, hell, sin, in vict’ry;
Sent
His Spirit;
Lives
within us;
Cleansed
and purified within.
He
is coming, hallelujah,
To
receive us, hallelujah,
as
His pure bride
for
our wedding
to
our Lord God, priest and King!
Live
in vict’ry, hallelujah,
For
He freed you, hallelujah,
To
obey Him;
Turn
from your sin;
Walk
in fellowship with Him.
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