MY HEART’S FOCUS And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men. —Isaiah 29:13 “Ah, stubborn children,” declares the LORD, “who carry out a plan, but not mine.” —Isaiah 30:1 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. —Ephesians 6:5-6             Are you and I “doing the will of God from the heart?” …

HE SEES AND KNOWS EVERYTHING! Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans form the Lord, who do their work in darkness and think, “Who sees us?  Who will know?”  You turn things upside down, as if the potter where thought to be like the clay!  Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “He did not make me?”  Can the pot say of the potter, “He knows nothing?” —Isaiah 29:15-16             There are people who think they are hiding what they are doing, but our Lord knows.  These people do their work “in darkness and think, “Who sees us?  Who will know?”  How…

KEEP YOUR FOCUS! The earth lies defiled under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched, and few men are left. —Isaiah 24:5-6 He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is…

YOUR VALUE AND SIGNIFICANCE Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. —Ephesians 3:20-21             Do you feel small at times and insignificant?  That is the natural mind thinking!  If indeed you have called on Jesus to save you, then you are a child of God, belonging to the family of God.  Apart from Him we are small and insignificant.  Those who do not know Him surely puff themselves up to impress themselves or others…

GOD’S GREAT LOVE, MERCY AND GRACE! But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.  —Ephesians 2:4-5 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. —Ephesians 2:10             God is “rich in mercy.”  He does not condemn anyone who “calls on the Name of the Lord.  Instead, He saves them from their sin.  That is mercy.  Instead of condemning us to Hell forever, He saves us to a relationship with…

GOD’S HOLY SPIRIT GUARANTEES OUR INHERITANCE! In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. —Ephesians 1:13-14             These two verses are so rich with what happens to those who call on the Name of the Lord for salvation from sin to a relationship with God through Him.             First, we “heard the word of truth.”  Many people “hear” but don’t really “hear.”  They hear with their physical ears but what they hear does not…

JUDGMENT IS COMING! Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it. For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light. I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant, and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless. —Isaiah 13:9-11 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the…

DISCIPLES ARE TO MAKE DISCIPLES! They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. —Isaiah 11:9 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. —Habakkuk 2:14 “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” —Isaiah 12:2             “The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”  This is…

STANDING BY FAITH! If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all. —Isaiah 7:9 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined. —Isaiah 9:2; Matthew 4:16 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and…

YOU ARE SENT! And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” —Isaiah 6:8             When we understand at least some of what the glory of our Lord is, Who He is, then we will have the desire to do His will.  When He wants us to go, we will go and when He wants us to stay, we will stay.  We will be ready to be obedient to His desires because of Who He is, His love for us and our love for Him and people. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ODe4sGCKxc             Jesus said, “As…