Passage: The Lord spoke to me with His strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people. He said:
"Do not call conspiracy everything that these people call conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, He is the one you are to fear, He is the one your are to dread, and He will be a sanctuary; but for both houses of Israel He will be a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem He will be a trap and a snare. Many of them will stumble; they will fall and be broken, they will be snared and captured."
Bind up the testimony and seal up the law among my disciples. I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob. I will put my trust in Him.
Here I am, and the children the Lord has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the Lord Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion.
Journal: The words of the Lord to Isaiah should be heeded by each of us. God's chosen prophet to Judah during this crisis, as far as our study of God's word reveals, has been faithful to God's calling. Yet, God is careful to sternly warn His prophet to avoid being snared by the thorny undergrowth of life. ("The Lord spoke to me with His strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people.")
Why this warning to an apparently faithful servant? Isaiah, like you and me, is a man prone to sin. Isaiah, like you and me, is capable of committing any and all sin. Isaiah, like you and me, must maintain a vertical focus to avoid a horizontal failure. Quoting J.C. Ryle, "The best of men are only men at their best." A common trait we all have is that, at one time or another, we will reject God and we will let each other down. Thus it is important, once we become entangled in that thorny underbrush of sinfulness, to call on our redeemer. Ask first for avoidance. If in failure, ask for deliverance. Upon deliverance, rejoice with thanksgiving. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
John Dee Spicer
Arkivi i blogut
About Me
I started the Daily Journal in 2000. I sent it as an email to a few friends (it was a round number, either 10 or 20, I can't remember exactly). It has grown over the years, primarily due to those original few forwarding it to others. During this time, I have journaled through Genesis, selected Psalms, the Gospel of John, Acts, Romans, Galatians, Hebrews, and Peter's letters. (These are the books I can remember for sure this morning, anyway.) I don't have seminary training and don't claim to have special wisdom. Rather, I simply desire that others develop a love for God's word. There is only one interpretation for any Bible passage, and I will rely on the wisdom of scholars through the ages (at least those at my disposal) to help with that one interpretation. I will also attempt some practical application. Somewhere along the way I started sharing some funny things my kids would say, and this became known as "Heard 'Round the House." I will continue to share these priceless nuggets as my kids provide material. The "Daily" Journal is a bit of a misnomer, since I only do it Monday through Thursday. I don't do it on Friday because I attend a 6 am Bible Study. I don't do it on the weekends because so many received it at work (I may revise this approach since I have gone to the "Blog" format). I do read my Bible on a daily basis, and strongly recommend a chronilogical daily Bible - you will read the Bible completely each year, and the events unfold in a historical fashion.
