Let them praise your great and awesome name— he is holy.
Psalms 99:3 NIV

Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his footstool; he is holy.
Psalms 99:5 NIV

Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy.
Psalms 99:9 NIV

Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
Proverbs 28:13 NIV

Praise and confession – 2 important parts of prayer that I have not been consistent or good at lately. Thank you Lord for the reminder. I will be on the beach in a couple days so I know that my praise will improve. Lord please bring me closer to you while I am on vacation. Forgive me for not making time to spend talking to you and properly examining my heart and coming before you in confession and repentance. Reveal to me my sins that I may confess and turn from them.

In that day you will say: “I will praise you, Lord. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me.
Isaiah 12:1 NIV

In that day you will say: “Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.”
Isaiah 12:4‭-‬6 NIV

And in Isaiah we see that even in our sin and weakness God will forgive and comfort us and we should praise and thank Him!

---

 

The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.
Isaiah 11:6 NIV

I just shared the story of creation, the fall and Noah with the youth group. After Noah gets out of the arc God says that all creatures on earth will fear man and He gave them the animals to eat as food. They no longer ate just from the plants. This brought about the discussion of the animals living at peace together with Adam and Eve in Edan. How cool it will be on the new earth when that peace is restored.

Come Lord Jesus!!

Enemies disguise themselves with their lips, but in their hearts they harbor deceit. Though their speech is charming do not believe them, for seven abominations fill their hearts.
Proverbs 26:25-25 NIV

I had to read twice today because the first time I got nothing. This time around I was reminded of what one the matriarchs of our church said in our small group on Wednesday. She was talking about how deceptive the devil is and how he makes things look and sound good. He is the root of all enemies. He speaks lies that are sprinkled with truths. He disguises the negative consequences and only presents what looks appealing. Be careful because if it looks too good to be true it surely is and it is probably being presented by an agent of the enemy. One who harbors deceit in their heart. Turn and run from it.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6 NIV

Jesus, Jesus, jesus!

And Saul approved of their killing him. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
Acts 8:1 NIV

I wonder about this. Did the apostles send everyone else away to keep them safe and they stayed together but lived in fear. Or did the others run away and the apostles stay because they were not afraid. At a youth group event last night the speaker talked about fear and used Matthew 14 where Peter gets out of the boat. He pointed out that Peter was bult different and so should we be. And when you are built different you believe different (who Jesus is and who you are. what God can do and what you can do). When you believe differently you behave differently. (you do things you would not do without faith) And when you behave differently you Battle differently. (battle with your faith and focus and it only takes a tiny amount of faith to move mountains)

You don’t have to put your faith in your ability to do something for God you just have to believe in God.

Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.
Acts 8:4 NIV

Even those who scattered were able to do things for God that those without faith would not do.

Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”
Acts 8:26 NIV

Here is another example of God telling someone to go. With very little detail. Why do they go? They are built differently because of their faith.

Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
Acts 8:35 NIV

All that he has to do is show up and God has everything in place so all he needs to do is show up and respond to what God is already doing. The Ethiopian was already reading exactly what he needed to be reading and the Holy Spirit gave Philip just what he needed to say.

To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.
Proverbs 21:3 NIV

Animal sacrifices are what was done to show repentance and ask for forgiveness for sins. Now thanks to Jesus we only need to confess in Jesus name to ask for forgiveness. However, this tells me that just as the animal sacrifice means nothing without the actions of repentance so my confession of sin means nothing unless I do what is right and just and turn from that sin. I need to practice what I preach. I have said “actions speak louder than words more than once.”

Lord may my actions match my words. Reveal to me my sins and areas of weakness that I need to confess and then show me the right and just path that I should follow. In Jesus Name AMEN.

Act 7 – I love the story telling review that Stephen tells.

‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’ “So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Harran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living.
Acts 7:3‭-‬4 NIV

This is one of the verses from Genesis that is used in the Experiencing God Bible Study by Henry Blackaby. I have participated in and lead the class many times. The lesson from this that has stuck with me so clearly is that God did not give Abraham a road map. He said go and I will show you.  When God says go we should go and trust Him to show us each step. If we sit and wait for all the directions we will never leave and never join Him where He is working.

God spoke to him in this way: ‘For four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come out of that country and worship me in this place.’
Acts 7:6‭-‬7 NIV

There was warning and prophecy about what was going to happen. Over and over again God gave them prophecy and over and over again they missed it they got it wrong. Only in hind site were they able to recognize the fulfillment and when it comes to Jesus some are still to caught up in their own understanding of the prophecy to see Jesus as the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies. We must remember that we too will not recognize the fulfillment of the prophecies of the end times. We too cannot understand the meaning behind it all. All that we need to know from it is that this time will end and Jesus will be victorious over evil and we win. There will be a time that we do not have to battle the evil of this world any longer and we can rest in the presence of our Saviour. This is where we can find our peace.

But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
Acts 7:55‭-‬56 NIV

And if our time comes before the end of days then we can still rejoice because we will still be in the presence of our Saviour. Oh to leave this world and be ushered into the next seeing Jesus standing at the right hand of God welcoming me into eternity. Stephen’s death would look like a painful and awful way to die from our worldly perspective but with his telling of what he saw he told us all, that there is no death that is awful when you are welcomed by the Lord.

When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? Consult God’s instruction and the testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.
Isaiah 8:19‭-‬20 NIV

I think back to before I surrendered my life to Jesus. If you would have asked me if I am a Chrisitan I would have said yes. If you would have asked me if I believe in Jesus I would have said yes. But There was a time when I thought it was entertaining to go to a psychic. I know that I didn’t believe in what they said but I went to them anyway. I did not turn to God and I did not feel convicted that I should not do this. I think there was a time after I gave my life to Christ that I had an opportunity to see a psychic again and I did feel the conviction and did not participate. This prompted some interest in a little more study into the bible and what it says about such things. It is very clear that all things of the occult are not from God and should be avoided. I much prefer to seek instruction from God. His word I do trust in. When you have the creator of all things speaking to you there is no need to seek answers anywhere else.

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
Isaiah 6:1-3

This always reminds me of a song. And when I sing it I have a picture of God from this description.

At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
Isaiah 6:3‭-‬7 NIV

I also have a picture in my mind of this. I remember when I studied this Cam pointed out that the coal that touched his lips was not what took his sin away, but it is the blood that poured down on the coals of the alter from the sacrifice that cleansed him. Just as it is Jesus blood poured out that takes away the guilt of our sin.

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
Isaiah 6:8 NIV

And this reminds me of another song. One that moves me for many reasons. Thank you Lord for bringing me to 2 of the songs that have had such a big impact on my relationship with you.

https://youtu.be/zJNiRC8y4bg

 

 

 

May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us— yes, establish the work of our hands.
Psalms 90:17 NIV

What a great daily prayer!

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.
Isaiah 5:20 NIV

Again speaking to the time of Sodom, the time we just read about in Isaiah and today. Woe!!!! How much evil is called good and good called evil!

Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight. Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks, who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent.
Isaiah 5:21‭-‬23 NIV

Those who are wise in their own eyes will see what they want to see and do what they want to do and say it is okay because only they decide what is right in their own eyes. It starts off with making right things that most people will call wrong. Drunkenness, taking bribes, and lying for the benefit of the guilty. Then it just continues to grow to where we are today.

Calling evil good and good evil. Such a sad and painful truth.