Scripture

“Is not My word like a fire?” says the LORD,
“And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?

~Jeremiah 23:29, NKJV

Quote

There is no greater vanity than pretending to be humble.

~Ya’akov

 

When I went to Grace Point, I thought I would be there for a few months at most but I think we are on our sixth year and mid-way through those six years I realized that I needed to stop preaching my favorite passages and do a survey of the Bible. I do not have time to preach through it. I did that once and it took over twenty-eight years and I don’t have twenty-eight years. I started in Genesis some four years ago and now I am finishing up Isaiah. My habit is to read in advance and highlight the passages that stand out. Isaiah 64 did not stand out at first or second reading so I decided to go to Isaiah 65:17 and conclude with a message on heaven. But providentially, I went back and reread the last ten chapters and this time Isaiah sixty-four got my full attention. I read this passage in a dozen different translations and the sparks began to fly. I was wowed and awed by the personal conviction the passage was producing in me. My first reading of the New American commentary didn’t seem to be all that helpful, but I slept on it and came back the next day and started all over: this time it was different, the word came to life and I worshiped. I don’t know who the petitioner is in Isaiah 64, perhaps it was Isaiah himself but I do know this, he prayed the prayer of my heart.

I love reading prayers and each time I read this prayer, my spirit said “Amen.” There is nothing is this prayer that I disagree with. We need an intervention from heaven. We need the holy consuming fire of God to fall. We have sinned and we keep on sinning. We are so depraved that our goodness is sin. The Jews that Isaiah is referring to in this passage fasted, but as he tells them in chapter fifty-eight, their fasting was sin. They did it for selfish reasons. They were faking humility which is repulsive to God and man. There is no greater vanity than to pretend to be humble. These same Jews were oppressing fellow Jews. Defrauding them of their wages. Enslaving those who could not pay on time. They did not understand that a true fast involves repentance. If you are not repenting, you are not fasting. Their self-righteousness was a stench in God’s nostrils. Their hypocrisy made God sick. Their righteousness was as filthy as menstraul rags. They were upset with God because He had allowed the Babylonians to destroy their temple, but there was no confession of guilt on their part.

Isaiah 64:7 {NLT} is the verse that refused to let me pass on to chapter 65, Yet no one calls on Your name or pleads with You for mercy. Therefore, You have turned away from us and turned us over to our sins. This verse really caught my attention due to what John MacArthur said a year or so ago: “America is under God’s judgment. It has already began. He has given us over to our sin.” I hope John is wrong but the evidence is in his favor. It is my firm conviction that only one thing can save us; a spark {fire} from heaven. A divine intervention. We desperately need REVIVAL. We cannot survive any other way. I don’t know about you but I am confessing my sins and begging God for mercy.

Extra

I park my trailers in back to keep folks from stealing them but it is too wet to go to the back. We need a little sunshine so I can cut this rye grass in our yard. It is 8 inches high in places. I went to Toyota Field last night to see Cameron Mizel from Hartselle play {University of Alabama baseball} and he didn’t get to play a lick. I had been once before to see Landon when he was a senior. It is another card only park. I will not be back. I hate where this thing is going. I am deeply opposed to a cashless society. Oh well, my promotion is coming soon and I will not have to worry about it.

Have a great day and thanks for reading the blog.

I am listening on audible to George MacDonald “Getting To Know Jesus,” and it is tough. I read Hebrews 4 in the Passion this morning and it is absolutely wonderful. If you have a passion bible, checkout Hebrews 4.