"Grab What is Precious and Flee"

Isaiah 15:7 "Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have laid up, they carry away to the brook of the willows."

This verse gives us some insight into what is important to the people of Moab.

Imagine, that you are living in a land that is flooding, so many have died that the waters are full of blood...What would you grab as you flee in an attempt to escape the destruction? What we grab first, what we hold onto, is what's most precious to us.

Jeremiah 48 tells us that Moab has had an easy life from their youth and that they "had settled on their lees, they had not been emptied from vessel to vessel, nor gone into captivity: therefore his taste remains in him, his scent has not changed."

The natural man is concerned about "what shall we eat, what shall we drink, what shall we wear?" His taste is for the things of this world. The people of Moab desired fleshly things and they had set their heart on fleshly goals. Even when they are running for their lives...they grab and hold onto their possessions. Because that's where they find their security...they have trusted in their wealth and strength, in their works and in their treasures and they even risk their lives to grab it as they flee.

"And their scent has not changed"...they still smell as bad as ever.

But the gospel of Jesus Christ changes people. The gospel of Jesus Christ purifies. We use to think like the world and smell like the world too...but we no longer hunger and thirst after the things of this world Matthew 5:6 Blessed [are] they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." And we don't smell like the world either

2 Corinthians 2:16a "For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved..."

Standing in Him,

Sharon

"Breaking Out in Song"

Isaiah 14

:7 "The whole earth is at rest and is quiet: 

they break forth into singing."

This spontaneous singing reminded me of the story that Pastor Chuck Smith shares about those early times when he had first started Calvary Chapel. The church was down to about 7 or 8 people...they were all relatives... and finances where very slim. He was worried about how to pay the bills and considered

quiting and going back to his old job the one he had before he became a pastor.

Then the mail came and there was a check for exactly what he needed. And he spontaneously started dancing in the kitchen...praising the LORD. But then he

heard the Holy Spirit say to his heart...why didn't you dance before you received 

the check....did you think I wouldn't take care of you? Have I not always taken 

care of you?

In times of difficulty it may seem that God has forgotten us--though more than 

likely --we have began to doubt and have forgotten Him.  

How do we get back to 

that place of singing praise to the LORD?

The first part of this verse 

gives us a way to be able to break out in song (or dance) no matter the circumstances of our life. It's found in the word "rest" which is the Hebrew word nuwach ---it means to set oneself down and rest. The Arabic meaning says it like this: "to kneel down like a camel"

We need to go before the LORD, kneel down and rest in His presence...and stay there and allow Him to remind us of How He cares for us, remind us of How He has always taken care of us...when we remember He has saved us, delivered us and will deliver us...we will burst out with song and maybe dancing too.

Blessings,

Sharon

Happy Valentine's Day

"For God so LoVed the world,

.......That He gAve

............His onLy

...........BegottEn

.................SoN

.....................That whosoever

.....Believeth In Him

.......Should Not perish,

....But have Everlasting life."