THE PROMISE OF OUR LORD! The LORD of hosts has sworn: “As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand… This is the purpose that is purposed concerning the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations. For the LORD of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back? —Isaiah 14:24, 26-37             Don’t be discouraged! As our Lord has said,  “As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand.”  “What, then, shall we say in response to…

IN HIS HANDS Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it, or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it? —Isaiah 10:15 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 Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them. —Psalm 111:2 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever! —Psalm 111:10             When a person understands our Lord properly, thinks about Him properly and…

FAITH, TRUST AND ACTION! They have lyre and harp, tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts, but they do not regard the deeds of the LORD, or see the work of his hands. —Isaiah 5:12 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil… —Isaiah 5:20 If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all. —Isaiah 7:9             Faith… Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. —Hebrews 11:1 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. —Hebrews…

BEWARE OF THE COMING JUDGMENT! But rebels and sinners shall be broken together, and those who forsake the LORD shall be consumed. —Isaiah 1:28 Enter into the rock and hide in the dust from before the terror of the LORD, and from the splendor of his majesty.  The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day. For the LORD of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low. —Isaiah 2:10-12 In that day mankind will… enter the caverns…

GOD’S LOVING FAITHFULNESS TOWARD US For your steadfast love is great above the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth! —Psalm 108:4-5             I am so glad that our Lord God’s love is steadfast and does not waver when I mess up.  When your child fails, do you love him or her less?  Of courses not.  Steadfast love is not moved by anything.  Yes, I am so glad that our Lord’s love great and steadfast— unshakable, stubborn, resolute.  Not like some people, unfortunately, that say they love you but jump ship when something does not go…

MY LIFE IS IN HIS HANDS! Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the leader of my people, Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD, and I will add fifteen years to your life. —II Kings 20:5-6             Our Lord God Almighty can do whatever He desires.  Someone may be sick to the point of death, like Hezekiah.  Pray… our Lord heals and it just may be in His will to heal the sick person.  What our Lord did for…

BE AN ENCOURAGER, NOT A DISCOURAGER Blessed are they who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times! —Psalm 106:3 But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel. —Psalm 106:13  They angered him at the waters of Meribah, and it went ill with Moses on their account, for they made his spirit bitter, and he spoke rashly with his lips.  —Psalm 106:32-33             Would it not be a wondrous joy to be able to observe justice and do what is right “at all times!”  How unfortunate it is that man has a short memory and soon forgets.  Man forgets quickly what God has already done and then…

OUR LORD IS TO BE TOP PRIORITY! So these nations feared the LORD and also served their carved images. Their children did likewise, and their children’s children—as their fathers did, so they do to this day. —II Kings 17:41 Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually! —Psalm 105:4             Syncretism… It is nothing new.  It is the mixing of beliefs.  There have been those who “fear the Lord” but not to the point where they give up their gods.  They seek to worship both, but it cannot be done.  We are to “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and…

FEAR GOD’S COMING JUDGMENT, NOT MAN’S FEAR-MONGERING He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved. You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. At your rebuke they fled; at the sound of your thunder they took to flight. The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them. You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth. —Psalm 104:5-9             Those who are fear mongering over the concern that the earth will be flooded are liars and using fear to advance their agenda.  I can confidently,…

OUR MERCIFUL LORD He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its…