"Stuff Mart"

Isaiah 23:3 "You were the merchandise mart of the world"

My title is from a veggie tales movie that I watch with my granddaugher. Instead of saying Wall Mart it sings "Stuff Stuff, Mart Mart...Stuff Mart." And finishes with "Happiness waits at the stuff Mart! All you need is lots...more...stuff!" Of course, Veggie Tales isn't pushing that..."For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." 1 Timothy 6:10 ....if you watch the whole movie you will find that true happiness comes in knowing and building your life on Jesus Christ. AMEN!

Money will come and go, material things will break and thieves will steal and kingdoms will be shaken and fall. "The LORD holds out his hand over the seas. He shakes the kingdoms of the earth." Isaiah 23:11

But we have a kingdom that is an everlasting kingdom--of righteousness and life. May we NOT be impressed or trust in so-called human greatness or wealth, for they will all fail. Instead may we be impressed by the One who holds all things in His hands...the One who brings blessings and brings judgment too.

Standing in Him,

Sharon

"Burden Me"

Isaiah 21:1 amplified version: "The Mournful, inspired prediction, a burden to be lifted up, concerning the Desert of the Sea"

Throughout this chapter we see Isaiah burdened by what he sees in this vision. Descriptive words like mournful, hard, grievous, anguish, pained, dismayed......are used to describe what he is feeling as he sees the coming judgment on those around him.

In verse 11 & 12 we read that the watchmen is being asked "how long with this darkness last...when will the morning come?" Have you ever been up all night wondering how much longer does this night have to last before the daylight comes?

"Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness; He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous." Psalm 112:4

Our world today is living in such darkness. Do you and I see the lostness? Do we see the darkness of our world? Is there a burden? Are we broken hearted, grieved over the lostness and the coming judgment...like Isaiah was?

Though we agree that God's judgment is always right...we need to pray

that our hearts will always remain soft so that we will respond with prayer rather than indifference.

"Burden Me" by Jeremy Camp says it well: Burden me with the weight that you love me, Burden me with your plan, Burden me with the message that you've given me, Burden me here I am. All these faces right in front of me, I have a sense of urgency to bring the truth to this broken generation on their knees, so I ask you, so I pray...Burden Me.

Burdened,

Sharon

"Building an Altar in Your Heart"

Isaiah 19:19a "In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the heart of Egypt..."

Altars always grab my attention in Scripture...they fascinate me. The altar is the meeting place with God, It's where you climb Mt. Moriah and give your Isaacs up to God, it is a place of sacrifice, (death to self) it is a place of consecration.

Scripture tells us that wherever Abraham went he built altars to the LORD--and there he would worship Him (Genesis 12:7,8; 13:18). I especially love the altars that Abraham built because they were plain. He used raw stones that weren't touched by man...they weren't cut or shaped--to represent a yielding to God's strength and not trusting in his own abilities. (Exodus 20:25).

The New Testament teaches us in Hebrews 13:10 that we have an altar which is Christ! Through Jesus' blood we have access at any time to God. Egypt--in that day--will build an altar to God. Our question for today is ~ Have we built an altar? Have we offered ourselves as a sacrifice to God? Are we maintaining that altar - daily renewing our DEDICATION to the LORD. Consecrating our heart to Him alone.

Blessings on your day,

Sharon

"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."

"Empty Pursuits"

Isaiah 5:8 "Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field..."

"It's been said that most people don't know what they want, but it is something different from what they have."

While this chapter speaks of the pursuit of bigger, better and more...homes, land, parties, drinking...God's children can also be distracted by seeking to do more ministries. Instead of seeking to be more like Christ...we seek to do more for Christ...which is really NOT for the LORD at all...but the search for significance.

"Empty pursuits" are Satan's most effective tool to distract God's people. If we are looking for significance and satisfaction in the pursuits of life, we are in for a rude disappointment. Purpose and meaning can never be found in the pursuit of things; they are found only in God himself.

We aren't called to pursue the American Dream...we are called to pursue God. Abraham, a very ordinary man became an extraordinary man for one pivotal reason: he pursued God in a life of obedient faith, not knowing where that decision would take him.

May you Father be our pursuit, our obsession.

Blessings,

Sharon