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Daily Bible thoughts 636: Wednesday 11th June 2014:

Isaiah 11:1-9                                                                                                                                                                                        How did Jesus fulfil His ministry in the world? The answer is, He was totally dependent on the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:18). That reliance on the Spirit’s anointing was prophesied by Isaiah centuries before Jesus came (1-3a). Jesse was David’s father. After the fall of Jerusalem, the house of David did indeed become a ”stump” (1). It was seemingly dead. There was no nation to rule, no throne to sit on and no power to wield. Yet Isaiah could see that this stump was not completely dead, but would one day produce a ”shoot”. If you remember, Isaiah had previously spoken about the ”Branch of the LORD and about the ”stump” that would become a ”holy seed” (Isaiah 4:2; 6:13). In those verses Isaiah was thinking mainly about the remnant of Judah, the faithful Jews who would return to Jerusalem from Babylonian exile. But here he sees the emergence from among the Jews, of an individual, the Messiah, in the more distant future. God’s Spirit will ‘‘rest’’ on Him and equip Him for ministry. (The idea of resting might well suggest a sense of ease and comfort about coming on Jesus. There was nothing in the Lord to drive away the sensitive, dove-like Spirit of God. He could feel at home with Him.)

Even as God’s Son, Jesus delighted ”in the fear of the LORD”(3a). He spent His life in ”reverent submission” to God (Hebs.5:7, 8; see also Mark 14:36). The Spirit of God will be glad to inspire such an attitude in you and me. I know that I need everything the Spirit of God brought to Jesus. When the Messiah comes, He will not deal with people superficially. He will rule with justice, protecting the poor and needy and punishing the wicked (3b-5). The anointing of the Spirit will give a man a fiery concern for justice, along with the ability to see beyond the surface of things.  The Messiah is ruling now in one sense, but Isaiah seems to be looking way beyond the current church age to a time when Christ’s Kingdom will be fully established over all the earth (6-9). These verses clearly look to a future Messianic Kingdom in which hostility and killing will come to an end, even among the animals. The great predatory beasts will recognise the rule of mankind over all living creatures (Gen.1:28), so that even a ”little child” will be able to ”lead them” (6). Isaiah seems to see a restoration of the Garden of Eden in which there will be perfect harmony. What a day it will be when The whole earth will be brimming with knowing God-Alive, a living knowledge of God ocean-deep, ocean-wide. The Message.

So, God would fell the mighty trees of Assyria (10:33, 34), but from a ”stump” bring about His eternal purposes in the world. Let’s not despise the day of small things

Prayer: I ask just this, Lord, that I will not look down on things that you are in, just because they appear small at the moment. Little is much when you are in it.

 

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Daily Bible thoughts 633: Friday 6th June 2014:

 Proverbs 22:1-6

It seems nearly everyone wants to win the lottery. Some of those people even do the lottery!! But there are things that matter more than money (1; see 2 Corinthians 8:18). Our culture prizes cash too highly. ”A sterling reputation is better than striking it rich; a gracious spirit is better than money in the bank.” The Message.  (2) A couple of days ago we were thinking about how Paul wanted there to be a level playing field in the church (2 Corinthians 8: 13-15). Here Proverbs makes the point that ”The rich and the poor shake hands as equals – GOD made them both!” There are practical implications for us in that very point and they should have a bearing on our giving and sharing. Let’s treat everyone with dignity and charity, knowing that they are made in the image of God.

”A prudent person sees trouble coming and ducks; a simpleton walks in blindly and is clobbered.” The Message. With wisdom there comes foresight (3). You have radar that picks up the planes flying towards you before they open fire and drop their bombs. But there are those who remain blissfully unaware of what is coming their way until they hear the roar of aircraft overhead and the sounds of explosions all around them.

The best and most rewarding life anyone can live is one of humbly walking before God and worshipping Him and honouring Him in all things (4; see 1:7; 3:1-4; 15:33; 21:21).

(5) is similar to (3). To live in the humble fear of God will mean avoiding dangers to your soul. You will keep your distance from whatever looks like sin or is likely to lead to it. ”The perverse travel a dangerous road, potholed and mud-slick; if you know what’s good for you, stay clear of it.” The Message.

(6; see Deut.6:7; Eph.6:4) It has often been said that parents have six years to help form a child’s character, and after that it may be too late. Of course, as someone rightly pointed out, with God it is never ”too late”. He can break into any person’s life at any age. But it is the duty of parents to do all they can, with God’s help, to launch their children into life well. This often quoted statement in Proverbs should not be regarded as an absolute promise, but rather as an expectation. Our children are not robots. It is possible for them to turn away or backslide. Most promises in the Bible are contingent on our faith and obedience, and this applies to children as well.

Prayer: I pray for all Christian parents to be given the wisdom and courage to train their children in the ways that please God.

 

 

 

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Daily Bible thoughts 630: Tuesday 3rd June 2014:

2 Corinthians 8:1-7

There are times when we need to communicate good news to fellow Christians so that it will be an example and an encouragement to them. Let’s learn to tell each other true stories that will help to promote godliness. Paul had something to tell the Corinthians about the ”grace of giving”. Giving is a mark of God’s grace (1). It is a sure sign that He is at work. Wherever there is a work of God you find generosity of heart and action among God’s people. As the Baptist pastor, William Still , said when there is a deep work of the Word and the Spirit in a local church, the people of God ”will delve deeper into their pockets without anyone telling them, and the offerings will swell, and the question on everyone’s heart and mind will be: Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” Letters of William Still, p.77. In (2; see Luke 21:4) you find a combination of ideas that you would not expect to see hanging out together: ”severe trial…extreme poverty…overflowing joy…rich generosity.” It undoubtedly took ”the grace that God has given” (1; see also 6, 7) to bring about such an outcome. ”Fierce troubles came down on the people of those churches, pushing them to the very limit. The trial exposed their true colors: They were incredibly happy, though desperately poor.” The Message. This giving was supernatural and miraculous. It certainly was an expression of God’s grace. They gave more than they could afford (3). No wonder Paul wanted the Corinthians to hear about them. He wanted to spur them on to ”love and good deeds.” (Hebrews 10:24). 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9 deal with the offering Paul was taking for the needy believers in Judea. The Corinthian church had signed up to help, but they had been dragging their feet (6, 7). Paul used this powerful (and true) ‘sermon illustration’ in order to re-motivate them. We can all be challenged and inspired by hearing about good things other Christians are doing, and we regularly need to be.

How we need to see giving as a ”privilege” (4). F.B. Meyer suggests one reason why Christians don’t give as they should is due to a mistrust of God, and a fear that one day the supplies may run dry. And then what? ”Probably there is no greater test of our true religion than our behaviour in giving. How few, comparatively, give in proportion to their income! How few give systematically! How few have learnt the joy and luxury of giving, so that they abound therein!” Great verses through the Bible, p428.
The key to becoming a generous believer is self-surrender to the Lord Jesus. Put yourself in the offering bag! Stand on the collection plate!! You won’t give your substance if you don’t first give yourself (5). If you’ve responded as you should to the Lordship of Jesus, you will see that everything you have is His, and you will want to use it as He directs. ”What explains it was that they had first given themselves unreservedly to God and to us. The other giving simply flowed out of the purposes of God working in their lives.” The Message. ”Pray day and night that you may abound in this grace also; and then, in faith that God is answering your prayer, begin to do violence to your churlish, niggard nature. What though it protest – Give!” F.B.Meyer: Great verses through the Bible, p.429.

Prayer: Lord help me to slay everything that belongs to my old nature, including the fear of lack, and the selfish desire to grip tightly to what isn’t mine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Daily Bible thoughts 629: Monday 2nd June 2014:

 Isaiah 10:5-19

God was going to use the Assyrian superpower (5-11) to punish a ‘‘godless nation” (Judah). Judah was ”full of idols” (2:8; see 11). ”God is going to send the Assyrians to loot and plunder Judah and to trample its people down like mud in the streets! The people of Judah had become like salt that has lost its saltiness and is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled by men (Matthew 5:13).” Tom Hale: The Applied Old Testament Commentary, p.1008. The Assyrians, for their part, were proud and arrogant and did not see themselves as the instruments of God; they did not view themselves as ‘His'(5). They were out to get power and glory for themselves. They planned to conquer as many nations as they could (7) and boasted of their great success (8-10). ”But Assyria has another agenda; he has something else in mind. He’s out to destroy utterly, to stamp out as many nations as he can.” The Message. (7)

So, once Assyria had been used to punish Judah, Assyria itself would be punished (12). God was going to deal with them for the pride that said: ”I’ve done all this by myself. I know more than anyone. I’ve wiped out the boundaries of whole countries. I’ve walked in and taken anything I wanted. I charged in like a bull and toppled their kings from their thrones. I reached out my hand and took all that they treasured as easily as a boy taking a bird’s eggs from a nest. Like a farmer gathering eggs from the henhouse, I gathered the world in my basket, And no one so much as fluttered a wing or squawked or even chirped.” The Message. (13, 14).

Verse 15 is surely the key question in this section. It is folly for a tool to suppose it is greater than the one using it. In fact that would never happen. It’s like a pot thinking it is greater than the potter (Ro.9:20, 21). ”This thought underlays the apostle’s reply to those who magnified him against Apollos or Cephas. What are we, he cries, but ministers through whom ye believed, even as God granted to each of us? We are only instruments of God’s husbandry, implements through which He fulfils his plans (1 Cor.3). It dates an era in the life, when we cease to work for God, and allow God to work through us. Thoughts like these correct alike pride and despondency. Pride, because whatever is the result of our work, we can no more take the credit of it than the pen that wrote the ”Paradise Lost” could take to itself the credit of its production. At the best, it is not you, but the grace of God that was with you. You are only a pipe in the organ, but the breath that educed your music was divine. And in despondency it is very helpful to remember that if we are nothing, God is all-sufficient; if we have failed, it is the more needful for Him to exert more power. Throw back the responsibility of all results on God. Only see to it that you are a polished shaft, an unblunted saw, and leave Him to do through you what He will.” F.B.Meyer: Great verses through the Bible, p.272. If God uses you it doesn’t do to boast.

In (16-19) Isaiah describes the punishment to come to Assyria. A ”wasting disease” will kill his troops (16). This happened. They died of a plague during the siege of Jerusalem in 701 B.C. King Sennacherib of Assyria later died by the hand of his own sons        (2 Kings 19:20, 32-37). In Isaiah’s day flaming torches were used for both light and heat. God is a ‘light’ of salvation’ to those who trust Him, but He is a ‘fire’ of judgment to those who don’t. This is similar to Isaiah’s earlier teaching about God being a rock of protection to some but a stone of stumbling to others (8:13-15). The Assyrian empire was to fall ”in a single day’’ (17). It’s thought likely that Isaiah is referring to the fall of the capital city, Nineveh, in 612 B.C., about a hundred years after Isaiah wrote these words.

Prayer: ‘’I will not boast in anything, no gifts, no power, no wisdom.’’

 

 

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Daily Bible thoughts 628: Friday 30th May 2014:

Isaiah 10: 1-4

How we treat others is a matter of great importance to God, and it will be taken into account in the judgment!                                  This is the final part of the message to Israel that we began to listen to yesterday. It begins at 9:8 and concludes at 10:4. It is a stinging message; direct and hard on the ear. This last section deals with some of the evil practices of the people. It is important to remember that God hates injustice. He is burning with anger over the oppression of the poor and helpless by the rich and powerful, and, we need to ensure that we are never complicit with such conduct. God states clearly that a ”day of reckoning” is coming upon these unjust people (3), and they will either become ”captives” or ”fall among the slain” (4). Even then, God will not be finished with them (4b). Perhaps that is indicating that beyond any preliminary, and terrible, judgment that may be visited upon them in this world, there is still the final judgment to come.

”Doom to you who legislate evil, who make laws that make victims – Laws that make misery for the poor, that rob my destitute people of dignity, Exploiting defenseless widows, taking advantage of homeless children. What will you have to say on Judgment Day, when Doomsday arrives out of the blue? Who will you get to help you? What good will your money do you? A sorry sight you’ll be then, huddled with the prisoners, or just some corpses stacked in the street.” The Message.

”What will you do on the day of reckoning…To whom will you run for help?” (3; see Job 31:14). These are big and important questions. Only those who are trusting in Christ for salvation can give the right answer. Every other supposed refuge will prove illusory on that day. There are many people who hope to shelter under ‘rocks’ that are like the sort you find on a stage set.           They might look good from a distance, but the truth is they are flimsy and not the real thing.

”Where will you leave your riches? (3b). One thing is for sure, you will leave them. Two ladies were talking about a wealthy man who had died. ‘How much did he leave?’ asked one. ‘Everything!’ replied the other. Everyone does. There are ‘no pockets in a shroud.’ Remember the story told by Jesus about the rich fool (Lk.12:13-21) and his words about the shrewd manager: ”I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.” (Lk.16:9). What good is our wealth if we are not ready to meet God? What use is it if we do not steward it as He dictates?

Prayer: Lord, everyone I will meet today bears your image. Help me to see you in them and treat them as I should.

 

 

 

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Daily Bible thoughts 623: Friday 23rd May 2014:

 Isaiah 8:1-10

There is a natural flowing on from chapter 7 in the Lord’s instructions to Isaiah (1, 2). They relate to the impending Assyrian attacks on both Israel and Judah. God told Isaiah to prepare a legal document and write on it the name of his next son to be born:       ”Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz”. It means ”quick to the plunder, swift to the spoil.” Like the name of Isaiah’s first son (7:3), it is symbolic. It refers to the destruction that was about to be unleashed by the invading Assyrians. (Just an additional thought: God still uses ”ordinary” pens to write His story. He delights to use ordinary things; ordinary people so that He gets all the glory).

In (3, 4) he describes his marriage to a ”prophetess”. Afterward, she gave birth to his second son. It is assumed that his first wife died. The Lord told Isaiah that before the boy had learned to talk, the Assyrians would capture both Damascus (the capital of Syria) and Samaria (the capital of the northern kingdom, Israel). In considering this remember the words in 7:4-9.

In (5-8) the prophet, as he so often does, switches from matter of fact prose to beautiful poetic language. The                           ”waters of Shiloah” (6a) were Jerusalem’s water supply. Here they symbolise the Lord’s preserving, sustaining power, which Ahaz and his people rejected in favour of looking to the king of Assyria for help. (See 7:2 and what comes after. They were faced with a clear choice between panic and peace.) The people of Judah were rejoicing over the downfall of the kings of Syria and Israel respectively (6b), but soon they would find themselves steamrollered by Assyria. The victory over these two gave Assyria a clear path to Israel. Indeed, the ”floodwaters” (7) would reach up to Judah’s ”neck” (8). That is, all of Judah except Jerusalem would be captured (see 2 Kings 18:13). All would seem lost, except for one thing; God would still be with a faithful remnant of His people:        ”O Immanuel” (8b).

The thought of ”Immanuel” leads Isaiah to look beyond the gloomy immediate future to a triumphant distant future, when all Judah’s enemies will be defeated; not only Israel and Syria close by, but also ”distant lands” such as Assyria and Babylon (9). These enemies will not be able to conquer God’s faithful remnant for, says Isaiah, ”God is with us” (10). This eventually happened. One by one Judah’s enemies fell and the exiled remnant returned to rebuild in the land. But this deliverance was but a foreshadowing of a far greater deliverance yet to come: the deliverance of God’s people from sin, Satan and death, through the real ”Immanuel”, the Lord Jesus Christ.                                                                                                                                                                                     Today we face the same choice as the people in Isaiah’s day. We can choose fear, or we can choose God’s ”gently flowing” peaceful provision. May He help us this day to choose wisely.

Prayer: Help me Lord to not live another day in panic, anxiety and stress when my ‘inheritance’ is Jesus’ own peace.

 

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Daily Bible Notes 622: Thursday 22nd May 2014:

Psalm 105:23-36

In these verses the psalmist deals with the 400 year period the Israelites were in Egypt, and he sees God’s overarching sovereignty in it. Being a different people in the world’s culture needn’t work against us (23). In this strange and often threatening environment, we can flourish and grow (Remember verse 12, and consider what a change God can make). We may be ”aliens and strangers in the world” (1 Peter 2:11) but that should not be seen as a drawback. If God is on our side, who will be against us (Rom. 8:31)?God gives the growth (1Cor.3:6, 7).

So it was in that ”alien” place that God gave huge population growth to His people, which was a matter of grave concern to the Egyptians (Ex.1:6-10). They oppressed the children of Israel until God raised up a deliverer (24-26). ” God gave his people lots of babies; soon their numbers alarmed their foes.” The Message. It was in that self-same place that God performed His miracles through Moses and Aaron. ”They worked marvels in that spiritual wasteland, miracles in the Land of Ham.’’ Once, in this passage we read about what ”They” did (27). But even there ”They performed his miraculous signs…his wonders… Thereafter the emphasis is repeatedly on ”He” (7 times in 28 -36 in the NIV. See also ”his” in 28) God was the One who struck the Egyptians with plagues (In 26-36 eight of the ten plagues are mentioned), and they finally caused Pharaoh to free the Israelites from bondage (Exodus chapters 7-11).

In the New Bible Commentary, Alec Motyer makes the point that the people of Israel did not enter Egypt due to any sin on their part, but by God’s command and under His promise (Gn.46:3, 4). Nor was it for any sin of their own that they experienced Egyptian hostility. Indeed (25) it was by an act of God! Here is the mystery of divine providence. His thoughts and ways are not ours, but higher (Is.55:8). But how marvellous His ways are (Rom.11:33-36)! He brought them into an atmosphere of intimidation, danger and pressure, and there He revealed His great power. God always, it seems, has a man or woman ready when a job needs to be done. He waits to hear you say: ”Here am I! Send me!” (Is.6:8)

Some people argue that we now live in a ‘post-Christian’ culture. There is a growing indifference on the part of many, and even antagonism, and a shrug of the shoulders that says, ‘This is just irrelevant to me.’ But let us take heart, for if God could do such a mighty work in Egypt, He can do it here in our day. He is the same God for all time, and eternity. Nothing will ever change Him.

Prayer: Thank you Almighty Lord that you still show your wonders in ‘Egypt’.

 

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Daily Bible thoughts 619: Monday 19th May 2014:

Isaiah 7:10-25

It’s interesting how people can employ pious language to try to cover over sin. They might be able to fool some(at least for part of the time) but not God. That’s what Ahaz did. He came across all spiritual (10 -12). He couldn’t possibly ”put the LORD to the test.” But it is not testing God to do as he says. The problem was that Ahaz didn’t want his faith in God bolstering. He had already decided to look to Assyria for help. Isaiah saw right through the disguise he wore. You can’t hide from God. ”It’s bad enough that you make people tired with your pious, timid, hypocrisies, but now you’re making God tired.” The Message

Isaiah rebuked Ahaz for disregarding God’s Word (13) and told him he was going to get a sign whether he liked it or not (14)! As with much Old Testament prophecy, this sign must be understood on two levels. First of all it related to the situation in Isaiah’s own day.   A virgin (the word in Hebrew means an unmarried woman) would at some point in the near future give birth to a son, and name him ‘Immanuel’, which means ‘God with us.’ That name was meant to convince the king that God would be with him as long as he trusted in God, not Egypt. It’s important to say that this woman was a virgin at the time Isaiah gave the prophecy, but not necessarily at the time she became pregnant. Isaiah said that before he was twelve years old (the time at which a Jewish boy was expected to reject the wrong and choose the right) ”the threat of war will be over. Relax, those two kings that have you so worried will be out of the picture. (16) The Message. However, because Ahaz refused to trust God there would be an unwanted corollary to this (17). There would be bad news (in fact, the very worst news) following on from good news (see also 18-25). Deep humiliation lay ahead: verse 20. Ahaz thought he had ‘’hired’’ this ‘’razor’’, but soon it was going to be used on him. The destruction of farmyards and vineyards would fulfil one of Isaiah’s earlier prophecies: 5:5,6).

However, this ‘Immanuel’ in Isaiah’s time was a preview of One to come who would be conceived by an actual virgin (Matt.1:20), One who would truly fulfill the meaning of His Name: ‘God with us.’ We know this because the Holy Spirit inspired the New Testament writer Matthew to tell us about it (Matt.1:22, 23). Isaiah himself may not have known that he was prophesying about a Messiah whose birth was still seven hundred years away, but the Holy Spirit knew the full meaning and implications of Isaiah’s prophecy. It is noteworthy that Isaiah gave this sign not just to Ahaz but to the ”house of David” (13), the very house from which the Christ would come to save His people ”from their sins” (Matt.1:21) and not just from physical threats such as the one posed by Pekah and Rezin.

”Be quiet! God will fight for you. Be not dismayed; God’s purpose cannot be overthrown. Let not thine heart be faint. Lo, a virgin has borne a Son, whose name is Immanuel – God with us. ”Fear not: I bring you glad tidings of great joy. To you is born a Saviour.” God Incarnate is the end of fear; and the heart that realizes that He is in the midst, that takes heed to the assurance of his loving presence, will be quiet in the midst of alarm.” F.B.Meyer: Great verses through the Bible, p.272.

Prayer: Lord, whatever today holds, may I never lose sight of the truth that you are with me in every circumstance.

 

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Daily Bible thoughts 617: Thursday 15th May 2014:

Isaiah 6:9 -13

When God called me to the ministry, the hope burned in my heart of seeing towns and cities transformed and people changed. It still does. Since I became a pastor in 1978 I have been privileged to watch many people turn to Christ. There is no joy in the world like it. At the same time, I have often been disappointed not to see the big results I so longed for. But I feel blessed to have experienced what I have, and I trust that many prayers which currently seem unanswered will come to fruition in God’s good time. I am thankful that I have always had hope. But imagine a calling where you know from the beginning that you’re going to spend years preaching and not be outwardly successful. By and large people are not going to respond well to what you have to say from God. You won’t be going to any conferences to share the secrets of your success. That, effectively, was what Isaiah was facing. ”Make these people blockheads, with fingers in their ears and blindfolds on their eyes, So they won’t see a thing, won’t hear a word, So they won’t have a clue about what’s going on and, yes, so they won’t turn around and be made whole.” The Message.

At face value, you could take (9, 10) to mean that God doesn’t want the people to turn back to Him. But we know that could not be the case. However, Isaiah was being told that these people had now passed the point of no return. Ever since Solomon’s day, the people of Israel especially, but also those in Judea, had become steadily more idolatrous and disobedient. Because of this persistent, obstinate disobedience, their hearts had become ”calloused” or hardened. Once people get to that point God gives them over to their own ways (Rom.1:24, 26, 28) and lets them experience the judgment they have opted for. But he does this only after many warnings and much pleading for them to return. His patience is so great. He is willing to forgive if people come to their senses and repent. But there comes a moment when the door of the ‘ark’ closes. It is too late to come back to God. For the people of Judah that time had come. They had lived through the years of opportunity. Their hearts were calcified and Isaiah would get no change out of them. His preaching would only drive their feet more firmly into the ground. That would be its effect.

The result would inevitably be the calamitous outcome we’ve already seen several times in this book (11, 12). What an unpopular message Isaiah had to give! No wonder the people finally killed him under the reign of Manasseh.

Yet even for Isaiah there was a message of hope. A tiny remnant of faithful Israelites, a ”holy seed’’, would survive and be restored to the land. They would be like a shoot springing up from a dead stump. In this way God’s ancient promise to Abraham would be fulfilled (see Gen.17:3-7; 22:17, 18). For God’s true ”seed” to grow and flourish, the old plants of wickedness had to be destroyed; the ground had to be cleared for new growth. (The principle of life coming from death is found throughout the Bible.) Out of this ”holy seed” Jesus the Messiah would ultimately come.) After writing these words my wife came into the office and pointed out that what we thought was a dry, dead clematis stump is now showing vibrant shoots. I’ve just been to have a look at it and it is truly amazing growth. What God does in a garden; what He does again and again in nature, He was going to do in this devastated land. With the benefit of hindsight we now know that He has done it.

In spite of Isaiah not having a good response in his day, he has become one of the biggest names in the Bible. He has left us a book that is widely read and preached in public services: one of the best-loved in all Scripture. At its heart it is a book which so remarkably points us to Christ. So if your ministry doesn’t seem all that remarkable in the short term, try to take the long view. Who knows what God might do with it.

Prayer: Lord give me the faith and patience to persevere through unpromising days.

 

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