"Living with the Enemy"

Isaiah 29:5a, 6a(amp) "...And in an instant, suddenly, you shall

be visited and delivered by the Lord of hosts..."

The Lord of hosts, Jehovah, can deliver us--in an instant-- from all our enemies. The question is "who are our enemies?" We see in this chapter that there are outward enemies and inward enemies, as well.

The greatest enemy is not wine...for being drunk with wine is only a symptom of a deeper problem. Nor is our greatest problem with those who seek to make war against us. Our greatest enemy is our spiritual blindness, our spiritual deafness...unwillingness to read, hear (obey) the Word of God.

Isaiah 29:13 "And so the Lord says, "These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away."

This is a call for us to examine ourselves: 2 Corinthians 13:5 "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!"

The enemy is the sin that lives in us...that's why we are blind, deaf and poor. The only way to deal with sin, to be delivered from it...is to confess it to the LORD and repent...and in that day--deaf people will hear words read from a book, and blind people will see through the gloom and darkness. Those who are poor will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. Isaiah 29:18,19

The phrase "Holy One of Israel" is the Hebrew word "Yisra'el and is translated "God prevails." When we confess/repent from our sins, God will prevail in our hearts...we will be forgiven. We will be delivered from our blindness, deafness and our spiritual poverty and not only will we be changed, restored...but look what will happen around us:

"Those in error will then believe the truth, and those who constantly complain will accept instruction." Isaiah 29:24

Standing in Him,

Sharon

"Putting Down Roots"

"Isaiah 27:6  "The time is coming when my people will take root."

Being a backyard gardener, I've run into problems wit my plants dying on me because of root damage.  Sometimes the damage was caused by raccoons that come into my yard. They seem to love the roots that don't go too deep.  The little mask they wear hides the fact, that while cute, they can be very destructive.  They love to use their sharp claws to dig up and eat the roots of my favorite flowers.

At least you can see the raccoons coming...not so with the grub worms who invade my soil.  Everything on top looks great, the flowers are beautiful, leaves are green--then all of a sudden they die on you.  You can't se them from the outside, but these little pests are busy underneath the soil....chewing away at the roots.

Now weeds are different...you don't see them at first, but eventually they will begin to reveal themselves.  They love to wrap themselves around the roots of your plants so they can't receive any nutrients.  If you let them grow too big, they will grab ahold and squeeze until every last ounce of life is choked out of them.

We can see from the garden that roots need to be protected.  Spiritually, we need to protect our roots too.  The responsibility for how deep our roots go belongs to us.  God always provides sufficient water, but we must develop roots that go deep enough to absorb that water.  

How do we develop deep roots?  For a plant it happens naturally:  The sun dries the soil from the top down.  As the water begins to dry, the roots keep looking for it.  So they grow deeper, where the soil has not dried out yet.  The same is true for us.  When Bible reading or prayer times seems lifeless, instead of giving up, we need to press on...continuing to seek Him.  In our seeking, we must remember the Gardener.

"A Psalm of David, regarding a time when David was in the wilderness of Judah.  "Oh God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water."

He has promised He will always provide enough water for those that are His:  "I, the LORD, watch over it: I water it continually."  Isaiah 27:3  But we need to go looking for it.  These kind of spiritual roots don't learn to get by with less of God; they find God at a deeper level.

"May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love."  Ephesians 3:17b

Blessings,

Sharon
 

"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