Monday, May 30, 2022

today's meditation (Is.8) Consulting the Bible

(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)

(Isaiah 8:1-22)  Then the Lord said to me, “Take for yourself a large tablet and write on it in ordinary letters: Maher-shalal-hash-baz. 2 And I will take to Myself faithful witnesses for testimony, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.” 3 So I approached the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. Then the Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz; 4 for before the boy knows how to cry out ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”

5   Again the Lord spoke to me further, saying,

6   “Inasmuch as these people have rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah 
     And rejoice in Rezin and the son of Remaliah;

7   Now therefore, behold, the Lord is about to bring on them the strong and abundant waters of the Euphrates River,
     That is, the king of Assyria and all his glory;
     And it will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks.
8   Then it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass through,
     It will reach as far as the neck;
     And the spread of its wings will fill the expanse of your land, Immanuel.

9   “Be broken, you peoples, and be shattered;
     And listen, all remote places of the earth.
     Get ready, yet be shattered;
     Get ready, yet be shattered.
10 Devise a plan, but it will fail;
     State a proposal, but it will not stand,
     For God is with us.”

11 For so 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!’
     Regarding everything 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 armies whom you are to regard as holy.
     And He shall be your fear,
     And He shall be your dread.
14 Then He will become a sanctuary;
     But to both houses of Israel, He will be a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense,
     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 be snared and caught.”

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

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

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
Behold - take note - there is only anguish and darkness without God and without loving His word. If you think that you can fend for yourself against God or without God, you will fail. Listen and be ready!  The only way to escape God's wrath is to have a broken heart, which is to humbly look to Him for His salvation and His guidance.
Do not be like the world and think that it will be helpful to consult the dead!  Jesus died on the cross for all our sins, and then He rose again to have victory over death... so that we can have victory over death - when we believe in Him.  Why would we not want to consult the living God who is all-knowing!!!  Why would we not want to consult His word, the Bible, for every aspect of life?

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