Category Archives: Holy / Set Apart

Consequences of Sin, Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Holy / Set Apart, Justice / Judgment, Purposeful / Intentional, Repenting from Sin, Share the Good News, Worthy of Fear / Reverence

We Are Called to Be Salt and Light; Do Not Cause Others to Stumble

We are called by our Lord, Yeshua (Jesus in Hebrew), to be both salt and light. Salt helps preserve food and adds flavor to it, makes it more enjoyable. Light allows us to see well and avoid traps and missteps. We are to be both of these things when we choose to submit to and model our lives after Yeshua.

Matthew 5:13-16

     13“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.

      14“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

If we, as disciples of Yeshua, fail to be salt and light, we have little or no purpose in this world. Our lives should reflect His teaching and His truth. We should lead others to Him by our example and our words. If we fail, and lead others astray, especially the children who are dependent on adults for so much, it is bad not only for those children, but for those who led them astray. God will hold us accountable for our influence on others, whether leading them to Him, or away from Him. We best pay attention and get it right.

Mark 9:42-50

     42“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea. 43“If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, 44[where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.] 45“If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell, 46[where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.] 47“If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell, 48where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.

      49“For everyone will be salted with fire. 50“Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

We are also warned in Mark 9 the importance of avoiding sin. Yeshua provides some dire sounding examples that probably shock most of us when we read them… better to cut off a hand, cut off a foot, poke out an eye… than to be cast into hell. This is not to say we should physically mutilate ourselves, but rather makes a serious point. Hell is a very bad place and it is forever once you are there. It is better to turn away from anything that leads you to sin and disobey God, even if it makes our life in this world more difficult or even downright harsh. This life is temporary. Do what you need to in order to stay away from sin and avoid leading others to sin.

Be the salt and the light to the world. There are eternal consequences for how we choose to live our lives… whether in obedience and faith or rejection and rebellion toward our heavenly Father. Choose wisely and then do not make excuses, for God will not listen to excuses when we face Him in judgment. We are either with Him wholeheartedly or we are against Him. There is no middle ground.

Revelation 3:15-16

      15‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. 16‘So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Faith / Trusting God, Holy / Set Apart, Parables

Do We Need to Understand the Process to Reap the Joy of the Harvest?

Jesus had a fascinating way of speaking in parables. For those whom Yahweh allowed to understand, the parables help enable understanding of the spiritual through comparison to the physical. Sometimes, He even points out to us that there are some things… ok, many things… which we do not need to understand, but rather we just need to accept them and trust God.

Mark 4:26-29

Parable of the Seed

      26And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; 27and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. 28“The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. 29“But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

We should consider the context of these verses. They follow immediately after the parable of the Sower and the Soils, in which the seed represents the word of God being shared with people. The people are represented by four soils, with different reactions to the seed… the word of God.

Yeshua shows us that we do not need to understand how the seed grows in order to benefit from it and enjoy the harvest of what it provides. Yes, we can study and pray to try to understand more about the kingdom of God and about how faith grows inside the righteous… but we do not need to understand the “how”. We can leave that to God. We are to plant the seed in others and help care for the seed that is planted in each of us, as individuals and as community, by prayer and study of the Bible daily and by fellowship with other true disciples of Yeshua.

Do not get distracted with “having to know” the “how”. Instead, focus on the role  Yeshua calls each of us to play in growing and honoring the kingdom of God.

As an added reflection, we can consider verse 29 a bit more so as not to overlook it. Yahweh makes the seed of faith grow inside of us. When the plant is now ready to harvest and use for His purposes, He does so. Of course, it is up to Yahweh to determine for each of us what it means to be ready to harvest based on what plans He has for us.

Shalom

Devotion by John in service to Christ

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, His Ways Are Not Our Ways, Holy / Set Apart, Is the Old Testament Relevant Today?, Traditions / Holidays

Celebrate Yahweh’s Holy Days

YHWH set forth some instructions for celebrating holy days. These are not largely taught or truly practiced in our culture today. We seem to have unlimited appetite for declaring a celebration or recognition day for almost anything under the sun, but we often fail to focus on celebrating what God instructs us to do. Many may point to Easter or Christmas, but in truth neither was instructed as celebration by our Father and both are steeped in deep pagan roots in much of how they are celebrated. Other’s include Halloween, St. Patrick’s Day, Presidents Day, Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Ground Hog Day, Read Across America Day… and we could go on. Some of these may be fine and worthwhile, but we should start first with the celebrations our Father has instructed us to recognize.

The first in Leviticus 23 is familiar… the Sabbath day of rest. Many of us are familiar with it, but most do not actually recognize it anymore. It has become just another busy day for most. They may have a day off their normal job (though many do not), but the day then becomes a busy day for chores and responsibilities at home.  I can tell you though, as one who was there and has now embraced Sabbath with my family, God has some really good ideas! A day of rest to focus on God and family rather than just another day to work is fabulous and has opened up time for me with God and with my family and just to pause and reflect from a busy week.

Celebrating Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are great ways of ensuring we take time to reflect on and give thanks for our Passover lamb, Jesus, and to better understand how the Old Testament (Passover in Egypt) foreshadows the sacrifice of Jesus we are familiar with in the New Testament. Once again we see God’s focus for additional Sabbath rest days. It is an important concept for Him. We are called to rest at times, rather than run busily here and there during holidays as many do…often getting distracted in busyness from the intent of the holiday.

Counting 50 days… Pentecost.  We can again see the foreshadowing of the New Testament in the Old. We can give thanks to God for His provision as with harvest and again for providing us the Helper in the Holy Spirit, who came on Pentecost to the gathered believers in a powerful way as documented in Acts, after Christ returned to heaven. Our Father also reminds us that His provision is bountiful enough to share with others… hence the reminder not to harvest everything in verse 22.

We are called again to a Sabbath day of rest for Feast of Trumpets, and as we continue further in Leviticus we will come next to the Feast of Atonement as the subject of an article another day.

Leviticus 23:1-25

     1The LORD spoke again to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘The LORD’S appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations—My appointed times are these:

      3‘For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a sabbath to the LORD in all your dwellings.

      4‘These are the appointed times of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at the times appointed for them. 5‘In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight is the LORD’S Passover. 6‘Then on the fifteenth day of the same month there is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. 7‘On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work. 8‘But for seven days you shall present an offering by fire to the LORD. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work.’”

      9Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 10“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. 11‘He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12‘Now on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb one year old without defect for a burnt offering to the LORD. 13‘Its grain offering shall then be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire to the LORD for a soothing aroma, with its drink offering, a fourth of a hin of wine. 14‘Until this same day, until you have brought in the offering of your God, you shall eat neither bread nor roasted grain nor new growth. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.

      15‘You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete sabbaths. 16‘You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the LORD. 17‘You shall bring in from your dwelling places two loaves of bread for a wave offering, made of two-tenths of an ephah; they shall be of a fine flour, baked with leaven as first fruits to the LORD. 18‘Along with the bread you shall present seven one year old male lambs without defect, and a bull of the herd and two rams; they are to be a burnt offering to the LORD, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the LORD. 19‘You shall also offer one male goat for a sin offering and two male lambs one year old for a sacrifice of peace offerings. 20‘The priest shall then wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering with two lambs before the LORD; they are to be holy to the LORD for the priest. 21‘On this same day you shall make a proclamation as well; you are to have a holy convocation. You shall do no laborious work. It is to be a perpetual statute in all your dwelling places throughout your generations.

      22‘When you reap the harvest of your land, moreover, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field nor gather the gleaning of your harvest; you are to leave them for the needy and the alien. I am the LORD your God.’”

      23Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 24“Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month on the first of the month you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. 25‘You shall not do any laborious work, but you shall present an offering by fire to the LORD.’”

There is so much to study and celebrate laid out in this scripture, but to truly understand it and appreciate it, we each need to take time in prayer and study to seek to learn more about these festivals our Lord has instructed us to participate in. I encourage each of you to begin on this journey, as I have over the past few years. Do not try to get it all in one step. Pray, seek, study, and try to implement in steps. I have found this to greatly enrich my relationship with the Lord as I submit to and seek His instruction rather than just “going along with what everyone else expects you to do with the broad spectrum of holidays defined by man.

To study more on this topic, please review our category of posts relating to Holidays/Traditions (scroll down to move from one post to another) and consider the following.

Here are a few resources where you can learn more about the Moedim, the Creator’s calendar (often called the “Jewish” calendar).

I encourage you to invest time studying this topic and do not dismiss it. I have found it to be powerful in transforming the focus of our celebrations off of ourselves and rightly focused toward our Creator and Savior!

I invite you to pray with me:

Father, please open my eyes to Your wonderful ways. Give me discernment and courage to transform my life to follow Your instructions over the traditions of men or even more specifically my family. Lead Your people in the restoration of Your ways. Help us find joy and peace as we live more and more according to Your instruction. Amen. 

Shalom

Devotion by John, in service to Christ

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Holy / Set Apart, Purposeful / Intentional, Teachable, Traditions / Holidays, Worldliness

Should A Christian Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?

St. Patrick’s day, like so many celebrations in our culture today, has a blend of Christian roots and pagan traditions all mixed together.

Starting with the name, we should consider St. Patrick. Put aside for a moment the Catholic church’s definition of “saint” and the discussion about it’s inconsistency with the Biblical use of the term saint. By all accounts, Patrick was a missionary to Ireland for Christ who had great impact. He overcame great adversity in His life by turning toward the Lord instead of away from Him during trials and difficulty. St. Patrick’s day is supposedly celebrated annually to commemorate Patrick on the anniversary of his death.

To this end it would seem there are some aspects of this holiday that one could certainly focus on that have some merit. However, reflect broadly on how the holiday is actually celebrated. What are the symbols you think of most about St. Patrick’s day today? pinching someone if they are not wearing green, dying a lake green, dying beer green, leprechauns, gold at the end of the rainbow, shamrocks for “luck”? How about the big parade? None of these are Christian in any way or point to Christ or to Patrick’s missionary work. Once again, cultural populism and pagan traditions have overshadowed by far a holiday which men have tried to establish to celebrate God’s work. This is quite common in particular with holidays established by the Catholic church as they have a pattern of allowing pagan traditions into the Christian celebrations to help encourage non believers to participate. In other words, this was never a “Christian” holiday. It was a pagan holiday which the Catholic church adopted and tried to blend in Christianity. With a little easy research this is obvious not only in regard to St. Patrick’s day but also Valentine’s day and especially Christmas and Easter.

God does not want us to worship or celebrate the way the pagans do. If you want to recognize or “celebrate” St. Patrick’s day in a way that honors Christ and our relationship with Him, then I suggest making sure you focus on the missionary work of Patrick and God’s work through Him to reach a lost people and deliberately fade the other traditions to the background.

I personally recommend avoiding these activities or holidays where they are mixed and mingled with the world’s views and instead focus on the Biblical holy days or appointed times that YHWH describes in Leviticus 23 and may other places. These are the holy days that Yeshua and His disciples celebrated rather than all the ones where Christians have tried to push a Christian message into a pagan holiday. It is like adding chocolate to milk… it is very hard to separate once they have been blended. Additionally, if you were going to put effort into honoring God with a celebration or holiday, why not start with the ones He created, the Moedim? Why start with one that is built on a shaky foundation, like St. Patrick’s Day, where it has always really been something other than Christian? Part of being holy is being set apart and separate from the world for God’s use.

I would encourage you to consider learning more about Yahweh’s appointed times, or holy days. Consider our short teaching on Celebrating God’s Holy Days, which also contains links to ministries that can help you with further study in this area.

As always, pray for the Spirit to lead you and then expect His answer and listen for it. And ask yourself in all you do… does this honor Christ or distract from His message? Another good question would be “What did Jesus do (or not do)?” This is even better at times than the hypothetical “What would Jesus do?” As an example, we clearly see that Jesus and His disciples observed the Moedim. They did not observe pagan festivals or celebrations and blend with them to try to make them acceptable.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Adultery / Sex Outside Marriage, Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Holy / Set Apart, Homosexual Behavior, Self Control, Worldliness

Flee Sexual Immorality; Our Body Is for the LORD

Today we reflect on a simple, but profound principle in God’s word. Do not read this quickly. Dwell on it. It is more than just taking good care of our body physically. Our bodies belong to the Lord. They are not made for immorality. The body is for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. Let us not abuse what God has given us with immorality and sin.

1 Corinthians 6:9-20

9Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, 10nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor those habitually drunk, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

The Body Is the Lord’s

      12All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. 13Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both of them. Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. 14Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power. 15Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! 16Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, “THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.” 17But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. 18Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. 19Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

Do not think immorality is constrained to prostitutes as highlighted in the passage above. Immorality involves sexual activity other than between two people who are married in accordance with God’s word. This can take place between two who are not married (fornication), between one who is married with someone other than their spouse (adultery), between two people of the same gender (homosexuality), between close family members (incest), or involving animals (bestiality).  There are scriptures throughout the Bible to back up each of these as immoral and against God’s word.

Our bodies serve as temples for the Holy Spirit who is in us. We are not our own but have been bought with a price. Flee sin and glorify God in your body. Do not give up the kingdom of God for such sin.

9Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Consequences of Sin, Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Fear / Reverence for God, Grace / Forgiveness, Heaven and Hell, Holy / Set Apart, Holy Spirit / Ruach HaKodesh, Justice / Judgment, Obeying God, Rebuke Wrong Behavior, Repenting from Sin, Self Control, Wickedness / Evil, Worldliness

Rejecting God Has Serious Consequences

We can not simply claim to follow Christ and continue in sin, in direct rebellion against Him. Those who genuinely turn their lives to Christ will show it through their actions and attitudes. We will not be perfect. Certainly not. However, we will strive to turn away from sin rather than embrace and accept it. Our Father could not be more clear… those who continue in sin and rebellion against the Father will not inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11

      9Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

Take caution not to rationalize your sin. The world would have you believe that everyone will inherit the kingdom of God, regardless of sin and rebellion against the Father. God’s word could not be more clear. There are serious consequences for those who choose to remain in sin rather than repent and submit to Jesus as Lord.

Be encouraged. Our sins can be forgiven through Jesus. God has made a way for us to be reconciled to Him through Jesus.

Take a few minutes right now. Pray for God to help you overcome sin and rebellion against God through the Holy Spirit and submit to Him in obedience. Give thanks for Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross for our sins to be forgiven.

Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua (Hebrew for Jesus), be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Blessed, Holy / Set Apart, Interceding for Others, Joy / Happiness / Rejoicing, Learning To Pray Effectively, Satan, Seeking God, Spiritual Warfare

Yeshua’s Prayer for His Disciples… Important Insight on How to Pray

I found Yeshua’s prayer in John 17 for His disciples very moving. I encourage each of us to read it and apply the key points He highlights to our own prayer life for ourselves, our loved ones, and other followers of Christ.

Yeshua came to the Father in prayer for His disciples as He prepared to leave. We can learn much by reviewing and considering His words.

John 17:13-21

The Disciples in the World

     13“But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. 14“I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15“I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.16“They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. 18“As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19“For their sakes, I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.

      20“I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.

  • Yeshua wanted His disciples to have His joy made full in themselves
  • He gave us the instructions of YHWH to make our joy full. We can rightly conclude He intended for us to obey them, not just be aware of them.
  • Those who follow Yeshua, like Yeshua, are not “of the world”. The world will hate and reject us, usually more so as we stand and live more boldly for Christ. This does not mean every person will hate us, but one need only look around at newspapers for national and world events to see that followers of Christ are persecuted in varying degrees depending on where they are in the world. (I do not mean people who claim Christ and live like the world… the devil and the world love these folks.)
  • We need the Father’s help to protect us from Satan. Yes, he is a real adversary.
  • Sanctify means to be set apart as holy. Yeshua asks YHWH to make us holy through truth, or the word. Again, we can reasonably conclude He intends for us to live according to the word rather than the same way the world lives.
  • Here, Yeshua specifically calls out that He is praying not just for this specific group of men, but for all who believe in Him.
  • His desire is for us as His followers to be united. We can see this is not the case throughout the world. This can seem difficult at times because we are not called to accept false teaching, but we are called to unity. Many disagree on the true application of scripture creating division. We should allow room for debate where scripture permits, but some teachings are heretical and dangerous and need to be rejected. (e.g. The teaching that everyone who claims Yeshua in name pleases the Lord and goes to heaven even if they are without repentance and do not change their lives to match His instruction.)

I encourage you to pray and reflect on these verses as well as incorporate them into your own prayer life. Ask the Father to enlighten you on their full meaning and application for your life. Pray this prayer for your children or loved ones as well as other brothers and sisters in Christ.

Shalom

Devotion by John in service to Christ

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Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

All Powerful / King of All, Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Faith / Trusting God, Faithful, Holy / Set Apart, Protector / Deliverer, Seeking God, Strong in Our Weakness, Submitted / Servant

The LORD Is Sanctuary for the Believing Remnant

God always seems to sustain a righteous, believing remnant among His people. Even as the nation around them falls away from God, there are some who still seek Him and who still try to live according to His ways. The context in Isaiah is similar. The nation has fallen away from God. There is war. There is a believing remnant.

What is fascinating is that in verse 14 we see that God can at once be a sanctuary for His remnant and also a stone to strike or stumble over for the rest of the nation. There is reason to be encouraged and hopeful for the remnant. God will come. Wait for the LORD and eagerly seek Him.

Do not be drawn astray by the rest of the lost in your nation, even those who claim to follow the LORD. Seek the LORD and wait for Him. Hold fast to His instructions. Seek God and God alone for sanctuary.

Isaiah 8:9-22

A Believing Remnant

9“Be broken, O peoples, and be shattered;
And give ear, all remote places of the earth.
Gird yourselves, yet be shattered;
Gird yourselves, yet be shattered.

      10“Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted;
State a proposal, but it will not stand,
For God is with us.”

      11For thus the LORD spoke to me with mighty power and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,

      12“You are not to say, ‘It is a conspiracy!’
In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy,
And you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it.

      13“It is the LORD of hosts whom you should regard as holy.
And He shall be your fear,
And He shall be your dread.

      14“Then He shall become a sanctuary;
But to both the houses of Israel, a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over,
And a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

      15“Many will stumble over them,
Then they will fall and be broken;
They will even be snared and caught.”

      16Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. 17And I will wait for the LORD who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; I will even look eagerly for Him. 18Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.

      19When they say to you, “Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,” should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? 20To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. 21They will pass through the land hard-pressed and famished, and it will turn out that when they are hungry, they will be enraged and curse their king and their God as they face upward. 22Then they will look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be driven away into darkness.

I continue to be struck by how closely the book of Isaiah applies to our nation even today. Most of what was a godly nation are lost. Many claim God in name only. Those of us who find ourselves the seemingly small but faithful remnant, should not lose heart. Be encouraged. Seek the LORD earnestly and eagerly. Trust in His instructions while we wait and do not listen to the ways of the nation around us.

I invite you to pray with me:

Father, thank You for hope and encouragement for Your faithful remnant. We eagerly seek You. Please turn the people’s hearts to You, many for the first time. Raise up the righteous to lead and have positions of authority throughout our nation in government, business, healthcare, education, and absolutely in Your church. Enlighten the minds of the people to understand and apply Your word and Your truth in our lives. In the name of Yeshua, our Messiah, we pray. Amen

Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Compassionate, Faith / Trusting God, Fear / Reverence for God, Holy / Set Apart, Loving / Kind, Obeying God, Protector / Deliverer, Strong in Our Weakness, Through Prophets, Visions

God Provides Shelter and Refuge for the Righteous Remnant

We continue in Isaiah 4 to read about the vision from God through Isaiah for God’s people who have turned from His ways and blended with the world. To understand the full effect, I encourage you to read chapters 1-3 if you have not been reading along with us in the past few days. God’s judgment was forceful against His rebellious people. As we reach the conclusion of the vision here in chapter 4, we see some relief and hope for the remnant, which is declared holy, or set apart for God’s purpose and living according to God’s ways. Now, having purged the wickedness, He creates shelter and refuge for the remnant.

Isaiah 4

A Remnant Prepared

      1For seven women will take hold of one man in that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach!”

      2In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the adornment of the survivors of Israel. 3It will come about that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy—everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem. 4When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and purged the bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning, 5then the LORD will create over the whole area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, even smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy. 6There will be a shelter to give shade from the heat by day, and refuge and protection from the storm and the rain.

We can certainly conclude in our day, as in Isaiah’s day, that the remnant will often suffer to some extent along with the wicked who dwell among them and dominate the nation in which they live. However, there is always hope for the remnant who remain faithful to the LORD.

Take 5 minutes (or more) and pray not only for yourself and your family, but also for God’s people among the community and nation in which you live. Pray further for the nation as a whole and the people in it to turn to God and repent of their wicked ways. Pray that the LORD would raise up righteous leaders and prepare the people to hear them. Pray that He would strike down, remove, or convert any wicked leaders who are leading the people and the nation down the wrong path. Pray that the eyes of the people would be opened to the wonderful ways of God and they would turn to Him and His ways with a passion that would sweep the nation. Pray for a return to holiness and godliness for Yahweh’s people through Yeshua. Pray in the name of our messiah, Yeshua.

Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ

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Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

All Powerful / King of All, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, Holy / Set Apart, Righteous, Through Prophets, Worthy of Fear / Reverence

In the Last Days… God’s Universal Reign

Isaiah 2 gives us a prophetic sneak peek at the last days. The house of the LORD will be established and raised above all else.  All nations will stream to it. Many will seek the LORD and His ways. The law will come forth from Zion. He will judge over the nations. Nations will turn away from war forever. Man will be humbled, and God alone will be exalted. Those that do not submit to Him will hide from His terror and majesty. What a joyous day for those that call Him LORD!

Isaiah 2

God’s Universal Reign

      1The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

      2Now it will come about that
In the last days
The mountain of the house of the LORD
Will be established as the chief of the mountains,
And will be raised above the hills;
And all the nations will stream to it.

      3And many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
That He may teach us concerning His ways
And that we may walk in His paths.”
For the law will go forth from Zion
And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

      4And He will judge between the nations,
And will render decisions for many peoples;
And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not lift up sword against nation,
And never again will they learn war.

      5Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.

      6For You have abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob,
Because they are filled with influences from the east,
And they are soothsayers like the Philistines,
And they strike bargains with the children of foreigners.

      7Their land has also been filled with silver and gold
And there is no end to their treasures;
Their land has also been filled with horses
And there is no end to their chariots.

      8Their land has also been filled with idols;
They worship the work of their hands,
That which their fingers have made.

      9So the common man has been humbled
And the man of importance has been abased,
But do not forgive them.

      10Enter the rock and hide in the dust
From the terror of the LORD and from the splendor of His majesty.

      11The proud look of man will be abased
And the loftiness of man will be humbled,
And the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.

A Day of Reckoning Coming

12For the LORD of hosts will have a day of reckoning
Against everyone who is proud and lofty
And against everyone who is lifted up,
That he may be abased.

      13And it will be against all the cedars of Lebanon that are lofty and lifted up,
Against all the oaks of Bashan,

      14Against all the lofty mountains,
Against all the hills that are lifted up,

      15Against every high tower,
Against every fortified wall,

      16Against all the ships of Tarshish
And against all the beautiful craft.

      17The pride of man will be humbled
And the loftiness of men will be abased;
And the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,

      18But the idols will completely vanish.

      19Men will go into caves of the rocks
And into holes of the ground
Before the terror of the LORD
And the splendor of His majesty,
When He arises to make the earth tremble.

      20In that day men will cast away to the moles and the bats
Their idols of silver and their idols of gold,
Which they made for themselves to worship,

      21In order to go into the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs
Before the terror of the LORD and the splendor of His majesty,
When He arises to make the earth tremble.

      22Stop regarding man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils;
For why should he be esteemed?

Prayerfully reflect on the scripture. Do not dismiss it. Consider the contrast to what we see today. Imagine the LORD reigning over all the nations in righteousness. Imagine no need for war. Imagine those that are against God are the ones who must hide. Let us give thanks to God for this hope-inspiring vision of the future. There is also much we can conclude from this vision. If the law will come forth when the LORD reigns in the end times, how can we logically assume that it is irrelevant today? or just take pieces and parts of it that we are interested in following because that is what our church or pastor says to do. We must embrace all of God’s word and seek to understand how to apply it!

Let us also see how Isaiah’s vision puts emphasis on the evil of idols and blending with influences from other nations and cultures that are separate from God. We are to be set apart!

Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ

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Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.