Tag Archive | peace

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 199

Jul18

Day 199 – Reading – Isaiah 23 – 27

Read today’s Scriptures.  (Yes, they are hard to understand!)

Isaiah 23.

This “oracle” is directed at Tyre and Sidon (modern-day Lebanon). They were famous for their ships and shipping industry, as far west as Tarshish (modern-day Spain). The King of this country assisted Solomon in supplying building materials for his palace and the Temple of the LORD.  Later, relations were broken.

Now Isaiah predicts doom for these proud people. “The LORD of hosts has purposed it, to defile the pompous pride of all glory, to dishonor all the honored of the earth.”

“In that day, Trye will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of one king.”   

“At the end of seventy years, the LORD will visit Tyre…. Her merchandise and wages will be holy to the LORD. It will not be stored or hoarded, but her merchandise will supply abundant food and fine clothing for those who dwell before the LORD.”   Tyre’s sinful gain was to support Judah when they returned.

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Isaiah 24.

The horrific judgments in this chapter, against the WHOLE WORLD, reflect the tribulations as described in Revelation 6+.  The LORD God is to deal with the whole earth MORE SEVERELY than He did at the Tower of Babel and Noah’s Flood!

  • “Behold, the LORD will empty the earth and make it desolate, and He will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.
  • “The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered; for the LORD has spoken this word.
  • “The earth is utterly broken, the earth is split apart, the earth is violently shaken.
  • The earth staggers like a drunken man; it sways like a hut.

And the PEOPLE of the earth languish. The inhabitants of the earth are scorched, and few men are left.  WHY??

  • Because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the EVERLASTING COVENANT.

What is “the everlasting covenant?”  See Genesis 17:7, 13, & 19 and 1 Chronicles 16:15-17.

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Isaiah 25.

Isaiah now praises the LORD for the wonderful things He’s planned (judgment and future restoration).

  • “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.”
  • “It will be said on that day, ‘Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him, that He might save us.  This is the LORD, we have waited for Him; let us be glad and rejoice in His salvation.'”

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Isaiah 26.

The prophet continues praise for that day of final restoration.

  • “In that day, this song will be sung in the land of Judah. ‘Open the gates, that the righteous nation that KEEPS faith may enter in.”
  • “You keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.
  • “Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.”
  • “The path of the righteous is level; You make level the way of the righteous.
  • “O LORD, You will ordain peace for us, for You have indeed done for us all our works. (“It is finished,” said Jesus.)

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Isaiah 27.

And then that great promise of the final destruction of that Great Serpent, Satan…

  • “In that day, the LORD, with His hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the DRAGON that is in the sea.

And then there is ANOTHER VINEYARD SONG.  How different this one is from the sad tale of a wasted one in Isaiah 5:1-7.  This one is called “a pleasant vineyard.”

  • “In days to come Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots, and fill the whole world with fruit.”  (In Messiah’s kingdom)
  • “In that day from the river Euphrates to the Brook of Egypt the LORD will thresh out the grain, and you will be gleaned one by one, O people of Israel.  (Matthew 24:31)
  • “In that day a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt will come and worship the LORD on the holy mountain at Jerusalem”

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(Promises of the horrors of Revelation, and the promises of the beautiful restoration of Israel in the Millennian Kingdom.  God can be trusted to fulfill each … in detail.  I believe the “beginning of sorrows”
has, or is about to start.   LORD, Thank you for your word that tells us to PERSEVERE to the end… the glorious end.)

They that Wait for the Lord…

May6

FranticTo do listRecently my life has gotten very busy and stressed.  My calendar is full, my daily schedule seems impossible, and my “to do” list goes on for pages.

I’m anxious about the deadlines that I and others have set for me, and find myself biting my lip as once again what I’m working on just won’t go right!

Frantic womanI’m frustrated and irritable. I snap at the ones I love, who by the way are only trying to help. I feel like (and often do) scream to myself.  My head aches, my nerves are jittery, and I long for a nap.

Ever feel that way?

 

The only peace of my day comes from my early morning times of devotions with the Lord. In these, He focuses my mind on things above, on things that really count – things that HE wants done. He quiets my mind and helps me to prioritize my tasks for the day (if I will only follow through!).

Here are some verses He’s led me to in these mornings with Him. These will go at the top of my “to do” list.

Psalm 37:7 – Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him.

Psalm 62:5 – “For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from Him.”

Lamentations 3:24 –“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him. 

Psalm 46:10 – “Be still and know that I am the LORD.”

Psalm 37:34 – Wait for the LORD, and keep His way.

Psalm 40:1 – “I waited patiently for the LORD; He inclined to me and heard my cry.”

 Psalm 5:3 – “O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice!”

  Zephaniah 3:17b – The LORD your God is in your midst…He will quiet you by His love.

Psalm 131:2 – “I have calmed and quieted my soul.”

Isaiah 30:15b – Thus said the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, “…in quietness and rest shall be your strength.”

Isaiah 40:31 – They who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Lamentations 3:25-26 – The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.  It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

Psalm 27:14 – Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage. Wait for the LORD.

 

 

 

 

Praising God’s Faithfulness!

Oct17

My soul magnifies You, O Lord!

Hymn.faithfulnessGreat is thy faithfulness, O God, my Father. There is no shadow of turning with thee.

You change not! You are always here with me. You never leave me or forsake me. You hear my heartbeat and my prayer; You know my woeful complaint, my soul’s anguish, my bitter regret, and my good and sinful desires.

You are with me always wherever I go in body or mind. Whenever I kneel to pray or walk stubbornly away, silent and rebellious, You somehow are by my side. If I am sorrowfully penitent or selfishly proud, grievously sick or full of vitality, there You are!

I am your child!

Oh, the privilege of this! The awesome awareness of this! How unworthy I am to walk, stand, sit, or lie down in your presence!

I stray as a willful child (or a mindless pet on a leach sniffing out possibilities for delight). Why do I DO that? When I could be abiding in Your presence always – each second of my life? O God, my Father, make me more like You, more like Jesus.

More heart’s love and obedience. More fear and humility and confession. More following exactly in your steps, never wavering. More heart’s desire to serve You in “your courts,” in far fields, in prisons (even of my own making), in sickness, sorrow, and death. O to be always content in the circle of Your will!

More like You!  More pleasure to You. More glory for You.

Your compassions, they fail not. May I be half as unwavering in my devotion and love to You.

As you have been — O Alpha and Omega, First and Last, the One who was, is, and will be, the same yesterday, today and forever — You forever will be!

O great (and wondrous and awesome) is Your faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I SEE!  All I have needed Your hand has provided — for my  life and godliness: (1. pardon for sin, 2. peace that endures, 3. Your presence, 4. comfort and encouragement, 5. guidance, 6. strength, 7. bright hope for tomorrow). Blessings all mine with TEN THOUSAND beside.

Manifold witness to Your great faithfulness, Your grace,  mercy,  compassion, forgiveness, and love, are everywhere I look — above, below, around, and inside.

O God, my Savior and Redeemer….may I have such faithfulness to You!

“You are with me continually. You hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel. And afterward — after this life –You will receive me to glory.” ~~~ from Psalm 73

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With appreciation to the Word of God – Lamentations 3:23 – and thanks and acknowledgments to lyrics writer Thomas Chisholm and composer William M. Runyan for the hymn “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” 1925