Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” —Jeremiah 1:4-5 The builder knew what he was going to do before he began the construction. Even before the building was completed he set it apart for special purposes. He then appointed the building to be the special place of relaxation for him and his family. This had been planned for years and now it had come to pass. The verses above make it very clear. It is the Lord God Almighty who forms…

Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them on the day of the wrath of the Lord. In the fire of his jealousy, all the earth shall be consumed; for a full and sudden end he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth. —Zephaniah 1:18 Climate change is going to destroy the earth! Or, is it global warming and the world is going to bake? Or were they right in the 1970’s that it was global cooling and we were going to freeze http://denisdutton.com/newsweek_coolingworld.pdf. One thing is for sure according to the verse above is that no amount of money will deliver mankind from…

The workers labored faithfully. —II Chronicles 34:12 When the boss was around they did their work as they were supposed to, but when the boss was not around they slacked and fooled around. They did not faithfully do their work when he was not directly overseeing them. They were slackers! What about us? Are we faithful in the work the Lord has given to us? Whether we are in school at any level or in the workplace, at home or among His people, the church, are we faithfully laboring for the Lord Jesus? The context of the verse above is when King Josiah sent workers to repair and restore the…

Behold, I am against you, declares the Lord of hosts… —Nahum 3:5 The recent targeting of conservative groups by the IRS illustrates how the powerless can be at the mercy of the powerful. In the case of the IRS, they used their power in a very abusive way. Anyone who gets a notice from them is truly concerned, especially when they are against those who do not line up with their values. Power— it can be used abusively or under control to carry out specific purposes. If the verse above there are words that nobody should want to hear the Lord say—“I am against you.” The Lord God Almighty does…

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” —Psalm 46:10 Wars, terrorism, nations coming against nations, crime and the lack of love around the world can unsettle a person or they just ignore what is going on because it does not directly affect them. Others see everything as impending doom and a crisis to be dealt with right now. The verse above encourages us just to stop and consider Who really is in control. Do you truly know that He is God and that He is Sovereign? Then you can experience a quietness and peace that…

But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit… —Isaiah 63:10 Parental hearts are grieved over the rebellion of a child. None but a parent can experience such pain as they observe their offspring making wrong choices which bring upon themselves the natural consequences of those choices. For a child to make the choice to live a worldly life instead of being a godly follower of Jesus is a heartache no godly parent wants to experience. Yet, it is quite possible for a follower of Jesus to grieve the Holy Spirit of God as well. We are told in Ephesians 4:29-32, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your…

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness… —Isaiah 61:10 Have I done enough good things to get to heaven? I hope so! I mean, I am not as bad as a lot of people who do much worse things than I have done. I have never killed anyone… Surely God will let me into heaven. I deserve to be there as much as anyone else. I truly hope He lets me in… I hope… I hope…I hope… I am glad to tell you that…

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. —Isaiah 55:10-11 In our area we average about 5 feet of snow each year and over 3 feet of rain, or so I read. Mount Washington averages over 21 feet of snow and over 9 feet of…

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. —Isaiah 53:4-6 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong…

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” —Isaiah 52:7 As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind— Isaiah 52:14 We don’t think of our feet too often, unless they are aching, but think of all they do. They carry the body’s weight around for a life-time. That’s a lot of miles! I read that the average person walks over 87,000 miles over their life span. Think of all…