Saturday, July 05,
2014, 7:14 a.m. – the Lord Jesus put the song in mind, “I Do Not Seal My Lips.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I
read Isaiah 31:1-32:8 (NIV).
Mere Mortals
Woe
to those who go down to Egypt for help,
who rely on horses,
who
trust in the multitude of their chariots
and in the great strength of their
horsemen,
but
do not look to the Holy One of Israel,
or seek help from the Lord.
Yet
he too is wise and can bring disaster;
he does not take back his words.
He
will rise up against that wicked nation,
against those who help evildoers.
But
the Egyptians are mere mortals and not God;
their horses are flesh and not spirit.
When
the Lord stretches out his hand,
those who help will stumble,
those who are helped will fall;
all will perish together. ~ Is. 31:1-3
This is a warning against putting our trust in humans. Especially
we are being cautioned here against trusting in humans over and above our trust
in God. The humans we trust in may even be ourselves and in our own resources.
Sometimes we may get impatient with God and so we feel as though we need to
help God out, as though he needs our help. Oftentimes we, as humans, will look
to everything or to everyone else first, and God will be our last consult when
everything else fails. It may even be our normal course of action to
automatically turn to human resolutions and resources without even thought to
consult God. Oh, how sad! Why do we think, or where do we get the notion that
God should be our “backup” plan rather than him being our first call?
About five years ago now the Lord Jesus spoke to me about my
trust in medications. I would normally just turn to medicine every time I had
pain or a head cold or whatever. One of the medications I took about 20 years
ago ended up causing damage to me instead of helping me, but God healed me
about 12 years ago of that. I stopped taking all meds at that time, but
gradually I reintroduced some of them back into my system. Why? I don’t know.
Lack of trust in God I suspect. But then five years ago he spoke to me about
this again, and so I stopped taking all medicines, and so I pray through every
pain and sickness and trust the Lord Jesus, my great physician, for healing. Yesterday
was one of those days. I had fever, chills, extreme face pain, congestion, sore
throat, cough and dry heaves. Yet, I prayed it through and all that is left of
it today is congestion and cough, praise Jesus!
One of the biggest areas where this trust in humans over
trust in God is taking place is inside the institutional church. And, that is
really sad! So many are following the marketing schemes and business plans of
humans for how to build their churches rather than following God’s plan as laid
out for us in scripture. So many are teaching humanistic philosophies and
teachings over the word of God or mixed in with scripture, but as a twisting of
what the scriptures actually say. So many in the church are relying upon the
government, and upon books written by humans, to give support and/or direction
to the church in place of Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone (support and
foundation) of the church.
The warning here is that one day God will judge the people
of this earth, and then all of those things, people, buildings and organizations
in which we have placed our trust will disappear. All those humans in whom we
have trusted will vanish or be destroyed or will be brought down and then what
good will any of them be to us? What good will all those marketing schemes,
gimmicks, and entertainment be to the church then, which it now uses to bring
in large crowds of people into their buildings? How will we get our medications
then? What would happen in America if all of our electrical and cell power was
shut off, and we no longer had access to TV, cell phones, IPads, computers, movies,
and the like? I think it would be awesome! People would come out of their
homes, and they would no longer bury their faces in electronics or shut
themselves off from the world using headphones, but people would talk with each
other. I honestly think that would be a blessing for the church.
To Do Battle
This
is what the Lord says to me:
“As
a lion growls,
a great lion over its prey—
and
though a whole band of shepherds
is called together against it,
it
is not frightened by their shouts
or disturbed by their clamor—
so
the Lord Almighty will come down
to do battle on Mount Zion and on its
heights.
Like
birds hovering overhead,
the Lord Almighty will shield Jerusalem;
he
will shield it and deliver it,
he will ‘pass over’ it and will rescue it.”
Return,
you Israelites, to the One you have so greatly revolted against. For in that
day every one of you will reject the idols of silver and gold your sinful hands
have made. ~ Is. 31:4-6
God is going to bring judgment against his adulterous
church, but not to destroy her, but to save her. Through judgment he will rescue
her from those with whom she has committed adultery; from those who have
deceived and manipulated her, and who have gotten her to believe their lies. So
many people who claim to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives
have been duped by master manipulators who are within our government, media and
within the church. They so easily believe everything they read, see and hear as
though it is truth without ever checking it out to see if it is truth. Yet,
through judgment they will have their eyes opened, and they will reject all
those idols on which or on whom they have placed their trust, their dependency,
their hope, or their sense of happiness and pleasure. So, the call here is to
the church to return to Jesus Christ as her only hope.
They Stand
See,
a king will reign in righteousness
and rulers will rule with justice.
Each
one will be like a shelter from the wind
and a refuge from the storm,
like
streams of water in the desert
and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty
land.
Then
the eyes of those who see will no longer
be closed,
and the ears of those who hear will listen.
The
fearful heart will know and understand,
and the stammering tongue will be fluent
and clear.
No
longer will the fool be called noble
nor the scoundrel be highly respected.
For
fools speak folly,
their hearts are bent on evil:
They
practice ungodliness
and spread error concerning the Lord;
the
hungry they leave empty
and from the thirsty they withhold water.
Scoundrels
use wicked methods,
they make up evil schemes
to
destroy the poor with lies,
even when the plea of the needy is just.
But
the noble make noble plans,
and by noble deeds they stand. ~ Is. 32:1-8
In the day that Jesus Christ comes to judge the earth and
then to set up his kingdom reign upon the earth, all that is of the flesh will
be gone. There will be no more lies and deception. Amen! Those who have been
blinded by the lies and deceptions of our government, media and the
institutional church will have their eyes opened to see the truth. Those who
have followed the lies and who have rejected the truth will now see and hear
with spiritual eyes and ears. They will reject the lies and hold to the truth. We
will no longer have anything to fear, for no one will harm his or her neighbor.
All will live at peace with one another.
No longer will we exalt humans who lie, deceive and
manipulate us with their lies, while disguising and hiding their evil deeds. We
will give them no more honor and praise. We will no longer accept their lies
against the godly of this world, for the truth will be made known. Although I
have no desire to see judgment come and for people to be hurt and killed, I
long for the day when everyone’s eyes will be opened and when they will know
the truth and will no longer believe the lies, for what is worse? – Merciful judgment?
Or for the people of God to walk around this world following after the lies of
the enemy, deceived, and following after the gods of this world instead of
after the One and Only true God? With judgment the bride of Christ will make
herself ready for her husband, and with his return and reign she will now put
her complete and total trust in him, and he will be her only source of shelter,
refuge and satisfaction for all that she desires and needs. I look forward to
that day!
I Do Not Seal My Lips
/ An Original Work / January 13, 2014
Based off Psalms 37,
40
Do not fear when evil
man
Has success in all
their plans,
For like grass they’ll
wither soon.
They’ll be cut off
from the land.
Trust in the Lord and
He’ll give you peace.
Find your delight in
Him through all stress.
All of your ways
commit unto Him.
All your desires from
Him He’ll fulfill.
Wait for the Lord;
keep His way.
Delight in His Word
always.
He’ll be with you to
the end;
Life eternal found in
Him.
I waited patiently for
my Lord.
He turned to me, and
He heard my cry.
He set my feet on the
Solid Rock.
He gave to me a firm
place to stand.
Blessed are we, who
trust the Lord,
Who do not turn to
false gods.
Our desire’s to do
God’s will.
His word is within our
hearts.
I will proclaim
salvation to man.
You put a new song now
in my mouth.
I’ll not withhold your
love and your grace.
I’ll speak forevermore
of your truth.
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