The Opportunity

Isaiah 64

¹ Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down,
that the mountains would tremble before you!

² As when fire sets twigs ablaze
and causes water to boil,
come down to make your name known to your enemies
and cause the nations to quake before you!

³ For when you did awesome things that we did not expect,
you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.

⁴ Since ancient times no one has heard,
no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.

⁵ You come to the help of those who gladly do right,
who remember your ways.
But when we continued to sin against them,
you were angry.
How then can we be saved?

⁶ All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

⁷ No one calls on your name
or strives to lay hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us
and made us waste away because of our sins.

⁸ Yet, O LORD, you are our Father.
We are the clay, you are the potter;
we are all the work of your hand.

⁹ Do not be angry beyond measure, O LORD;
do not remember our sins forever.
Oh, look upon us, we pray,
for we are all your people.

¹⁰ Your sacred cities have become a desert;
even Zion is a desert, Jerusalem a desolation.

¹¹ Our holy and glorious temple, where our fathers praised you,
has been burned with fire,
and all that we treasured lies in ruins.

¹² After all this, O LORD, will you hold yourself back?
Will you keep silent and punish us beyond measure?

Isaiah 65

Judgment and Salvation

¹ "I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me;
I was found by those who did not seek me.
To a nation that did not call on my name,
I said, 'Here am I, here am I.'

² All day long I have held out my hands
to an obstinate people,
who walk in ways not good,
pursuing their own imaginations-

³ a people who continually provoke me
to my very face,
offering sacrifices in gardens
and burning incense on altars of brick;

⁴ who sit among the graves
and spend their nights keeping secret vigil;
who eat the flesh of pigs,
and whose pots hold broth of unclean meat;

⁵ who say, 'Keep away; don't come near me,
for I am too sacred for you!'
Such people are smoke in my nostrils,
a fire that keeps burning all day.

⁶ "See, it stands written before me:
I will not keep silent but will pay back in full;
I will pay it back into their laps-

⁷ both your sins and the sins of your fathers,"
says the LORD.
"Because they burned sacrifices on the mountains
and defied me on the hills,
I will measure into their laps
the full payment for their former deeds."

⁸ This is what the LORD says:
"As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes
and men say, 'Don't destroy it,
there is yet some good in it,'
so will I do in behalf of my servants;
I will not destroy them all.

⁹ I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,
and from Judah those who will possess my mountains;
my chosen people will inherit them,
and there will my servants live.

¹⁰ Sharon will become a pasture for flocks,
and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds,
for my people who seek me.

¹¹ "But as for you who forsake the LORD
and forget my holy mountain,
who spread a table for Fortune
and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,

¹² I will destine you for the sword,
and you will all bend down for the slaughter;
for I called but you did not answer,
I spoke but you did not listen.
You did evil in my sight
and chose what displeases me."

¹³ Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says:
"My servants will eat,
but you will go hungry;
my servants will drink,
but you will go thirsty;
my servants will rejoice,
but you will be put to shame.

¹⁴ My servants will sing
out of the joy of their hearts,
but you will cry out
from anguish of heart
and wail in brokenness of spirit.

¹⁵ You will leave your name
to my chosen ones as a curse;
the Sovereign LORD will put you to death,
but to his servants he will give another name.

¹⁶ Whoever invokes a blessing in the land
will do so by the God of truth;
he who takes an oath in the land
will swear by the God of truth.
For the past troubles will be forgotten
and hidden from my eyes.

New Heavens and a New Earth

¹⁷ "Behold, I will create
new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
nor will they come to mind.

¹⁸ But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight
and its people a joy.

¹⁹ I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying
will be heard in it no more.

²⁰ "Never again will there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not live out his years;
he who dies at a hundred
will be thought a mere youth;
he who fails to reach ^a]">[a] a hundred
will be considered accursed.

²¹ They will build houses and dwell in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

²² No longer will they build houses and others live in them,
or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,
so will be the days of my people;
my chosen ones will long enjoy
the works of their hands.

²³ They will not toil in vain
or bear children doomed to misfortune;
for they will be a people blessed by the LORD,
they and their descendants with them.

²⁴ Before they call I will answer;
while they are still speaking I will hear.

²⁵ The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox,
but dust will be the serpent's food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,"
says the LORD.

Footnotes:

1. Isaiah 65:20 Or / the sinner who reaches

Isaiah 63 (New International Version)

Isaiah 63

God's Day of Vengeance and Redemption

¹ Who is this coming from Edom,
from Bozrah, with his garments stained crimson?
Who is this, robed in splendor,
striding forward in the greatness of his strength?
"It is I, speaking in righteousness,
mighty to save."

² Why are your garments red,
like those of one treading the winepress?

³ "I have trodden the winepress alone;
from the nations no one was with me.
I trampled them in my anger
and trod them down in my wrath;
their blood spattered my garments,
and I stained all my clothing.

⁴ For the day of vengeance was in my heart,
and the year of my redemption has come.

⁵ I looked, but there was no one to help,
I was appalled that no one gave support;
so my own arm worked salvation for me,
and my own wrath sustained me.

⁶ I trampled the nations in my anger;
in my wrath I made them drunk
and poured their blood on the ground."

Praise and Prayer

⁷ I will tell of the kindnesses of the LORD,
the deeds for which he is to be praised,
according to all the LORD has done for us—
yes, the many good things he has done
for the house of Israel,
according to his compassion and many kindnesses.

⁸ He said, "Surely they are my people,
sons who will not be false to me";
and so he became their Savior.

⁹ In all their distress he too was distressed,
and the angel of his presence saved them.
In his love and mercy he redeemed them;
he lifted them up and carried them
all the days of old.

¹⁰ Yet they rebelled
and grieved his Holy Spirit.
So he turned and became their enemy
and he himself fought against them.

¹¹ Then his people recalled the days of old,
the days of Moses and his people—
where is he who brought them through the sea,
with the shepherd of his flock?
Where is he who set
his Holy Spirit among them,

¹² who sent his glorious arm of power
to be at Moses' right hand,
who divided the waters before them,
to gain for himself everlasting renown,

¹³ who led them through the depths?
Like a horse in open country,
they did not stumble;

¹⁴ like cattle that go down to the plain,
they were given rest by the Spirit of the LORD.
This is how you guided your people
to make for yourself a glorious name.

¹⁵ Look down from heaven and see
from your lofty throne, holy and glorious.
Where are your zeal and your might?
Your tenderness and compassion are withheld from us.

¹⁶ But you are our Father,
though Abraham does not know us
or Israel acknowledge us;
you, O LORD, are our Father,
our Redeemer from of old is your name.

¹⁷ Why, O LORD, do you make us wander from your ways
and harden our hearts so we do not revere you?
Return for the sake of your servants,
the tribes that are your inheritance.

¹⁸ For a little while your people possessed your holy place,
but now our enemies have trampled down your sanctuary.

¹⁹ We are yours from of old;
but you have not ruled over them,
they have not been called by your name.

Footnotes:

1. Isaiah 63:11 Or But may he recall
2. Isaiah 63:19 Or We are like those you have never ruled, / like those never called by your name

Count It All Joy

When business is slow, count it all joys.

I know God is supplying all of my needs.

#421 Be Glad Continually

What is wrong with the birds the leaders will think,

THE ANSWER

The clouds are not going to be dark forever, don't let a few clouds sour your life.

The reign falls on the just and the unjust.

JAMES 1:2 Count it all joy when you fall into trials.

When you lose your joy you lose your strength.

1 Thessalonians 5:16 says, "Be happy in your faith, glad-hearted, continually and always."

An Understanding Of Forces Which Have Shaped The 20th Century

Right off the bat of in this video they jump into an EXCELLENT historian Carol Quigely. If you doubt the NWO at all download a copy of "Tragedy and hope" this book will tell you about the anglo american banking elites trying to take control of the world.

Just make sure you have time and patience since the book talks about LOTS of other stuff as well.

Repentance

The Bible tells us, "...God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent," (Acts 17:30). But, what is repentance according to the Bible? Biblically, it can mean anything from sincere regret to altered behavior that results in a moral change. God desires that we repent. He desires that our behavior, deeds, and words be molded to the image of His Son. As Jesus said, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," (Matt. 4:17). Okay, so we are supposed to repent, But repent from what? What is it we are supposed to stop doing? What are we to change?

Sin is breaking God's law. The Law of God is best exemplified in the Ten Commandments which is a reflection of the perfect, holy, and pure nature of God's character. God cannot lie, or steal, or bear false witness because these things are against His nature. God is good. Therefore, the Law is good and it is the standard of moral perfection. But we, on the other hand, are fallen creatures who cannot keep the law perfectly. Those of use who are redeemed constantly fight with our fleshly desires (1 Peter 2:11) in an effort to obey God and be conformed to His holiness: "Be holy for I am holy," (1 Pet. 1:16). That is, we continually fight against our natural tendency to do that which is often contrary to God's will. This is why Paul said in Rom. 7:19, "For the good that I wish, I do not do; but I practice the very evil that I do not wish." So, we are to repent of any and all things contrary to God's revealed word which means we need to study the Bible so we might be better conformed to what He desires. We also need to face the reality that even though we Christians are redeemed, we are still battling our sins and, unfortunately, we fail too often to live up to the standard of God's holy perfection. This is why we need Jesus.

Jesus is the One who stood in our place and fulfilled all of the Law of God perfectly. He never sinned (1 Pet. 2:22). When we become Christians, the righteousness of Jesus is imputed to us; that is, it is reckoned to our account so that God sees us as being righteous because of the work of Christ. This means that our repentance from our sins is not without purpose or value. You see, we know too well that we repent of sins that we commit over and over again. But we must ask how can God forgive us if we have asked for forgiveness for a sin(s) and yet we continue to fall back into it? Does not our failure condemn us and prove that we have not repented? Not at all. Jesus bore all our sins in His body (1 Pet. 2:24), not just some of them, not just the ones we are able to repent of, but also the ones that we struggle with and continually fight against. The important truth is that we are not redeemed by our efforts at holiness and we do not maintain salvation by repenting and not sinning. All our hope and security is in Jesus and He loves us and forgives us as often as we need it. Of course, this does not mean that it is okay to sin just so we can be forgiven (Rom. 6:1-2). But it does mean that we are secure and free in Christ to not have to beat ourselves up in our efforts to please Him.

Beware of a pitfall. Sometimes, penance is part of our problem. Penance is a repayment, a way of fixing a wrong. Sometimes we try and make things right with God through an effort or self inflicted guilt. Of course, there is nothing wrong with making things right with someone you've sinned against and guilt is the right response to a wrong deed. But, there is absolutely no penance that we can do that can ever please God in anyway. If there were, then Jesus would not have needed to die for our sins (Gal. 2:21). The simple truth is that if we try and do something to suffer in order to make ourselves right with God, we are insulting God and the very work of Christ on the cross by attempting to please God by our works. This must be avoided at all costs. Let me restate this yet again. Penance is sinful when it is aimed at making ourselves right with God. The only way we can be right with God is by throwing ourselves at the cross and asking forgiveness from the Lord Himself.

Do you have sins you need to repent of? Are there some old habits, some new sins, some people you're not reconciled with, or something else that is contrary to God's word that you have not turned from? If so, then confess it to God and repent. Don't try and please God through your efforts to make up for a sin against Him. Please God by completely and totally relying on Jesus -- and turning from your sins. You need to know that God is there to forgive you and to love you. He is good and kind and patient with you. "Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?" (Rom. 2:4, NASB).

Repentance is a holy command of God. It is something He can give to you (2 Tim. 2:5) through the grace of His Son Jesus. Seek God's holiness and turn from that which is unholy.

Humility

This isn't to sway you impress you but to show you what I am trying to prove to people.

This stuff isn't fake those who haven't ventured in life or have, God is all forgiving.

I promise you the devil is the biggest deciever, please read the book of life, believe in God it is full of promise and truth!

When a world is full of fakes and Bologna you need truth!

Are you humble? I have a friend who jokingly says, "I'm proud of my humility." The funny thing is that he actually is one of the more humble men I know. He and I both realize that humility is no joke. It is a hard thing to master. If I say I am humble, then am I humble? If I think I'm humble, am I? Or what if I say, "In my humble opinion, I'm not very humble," then what do I do?

What is humility? Biblically there are several facets to humility, but I want to focus on that aspect that deals with our relation to God. Therefore, humility is the right understanding of who you are before God. Notice, I did not say it means that you have to hate yourself, or call yourself names, or say you aren't worth anything, etc. Humility is that quality of a Christian that demonstrates a right relationship and position before God. This demonstration is manifested in attitude, words, and deeds. John the Baptist was humble: "And he was preaching, and saying, "After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals," (Mark 1:7). He knew who he was in relation to Jesus. Remember the parable of the tax gather in Luke 18:9-14 where he said, "Lord have mercy on me a sinner"? Jesus called him humble. He knew that before God, he was a sinner.

How about you? Are you humble before your Lord -- don't answer. Instead, think of who Jesus is, His holiness, His greatness, His majesty, His love, His sacrifice, etc. And remember that Jesus humbled Himself by becoming one of us, "And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross," (Phil. 2:8). Then, ask yourself if you are humble or not.

Romans 12:3 says, "For through the grace given to me I say to every man among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith," (NASB). God does not want us to think too highly of ourselves. Instead, he wants us to think soundly. Whenever I start getting prideful and begin thinking that I know a lot about the Bible, or how big my website is, or whatever else I can boast about, the Lord reminds me of how utterly pompous I really am. Does God need me to carry out His will on this earth? Nope. Does He need me to answer tough questions for people? Nope. Does He need me to "get things done"? Nope, not at all. He doesn't need me at all. That is why it is really amazing that He uses me in spite of what I am inside. Now, THAT is grace! Praise God! What I need to do is listen to Him, look to the cross, love God first, love my neighbor second, and not think more highly of myself than I ought. Oh Lord, I pray that you would fill my heart with humility as I look to your Son, that you would not let me think more highly of myself than I ought, and that I would love you and honor you.

We need to be humble for many reasons, but 1 Pet. 5:5 has a good one to focus on: "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble." I don't want God to oppose me. I suspect you don't want Him to oppose you either. It is good to be humble before people and to be thought of as nice and kind and not proud, but our humility before God is where we need to start, not with people. We need to start with our relationship with Him that can only come through a proper relationship with Jesus. We need to be humble before God and dependent up Him, seeking His will. Therefore, prayer, the place of dependence upon God, is the practice of humility before God. When we let our souls bask in the presence of God, we find out who we really are: sinners, saved by grace, and kept by His love. And, as Moses' face shined because of being in the presence of God, so too will your heart reflect the humility and love of Jesus as we spend time with Him in prayer. Seek Jesus and you will find perfect Humility.

The Fruit of the Spirit

Gal. 5:22-23 says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." Now, quick, without looking, how many fruit are there of the Spirit? Take a guess and then count to see if you got it right. Did you get it right? Did you get nine? If you did, you're wrong because there is only ONE fruit of the Spirit, that's right, just one. In Greek the word for "fruit" is "karpos" and it is in the singular. So, to translate this a little loosely, it could read like this. "But the single fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness, self-control..." This means that all of these graces listed are one group that go together as a unit.

Now, this little tidbit of information is important. First of all, notice that the fruit of the Spirit is just that, of the Spirit. It is not your fruit, but the fruit of the Spirit of God. This is because God is love (1 John 4:8) and He lives in the believer (John 14:23). This means that it is the work of God the Holy Spirit in you to bear this fruit. Of course, you cooperate with God in bearing this fruit and you absolutely need to seek to develop it, but it is God who is "...at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13). Of course, we know that it is God's good pleasure that you love and bear the fruit of love.

Second, if it is all one fruit, then all the nine things listed there are already yours in the Spirit of God. In other words, all nine things are really one thing that you have because the Holy Spirit indwells you -- if you are a Christian, that is. You see, if you are loving, then will you not have joy? If you are loving, will you not also have peace? If you are loving, will you not also be patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled? It could easily be said that love is the tree that bears the fruit of joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. If you have love, the love of God in your heart because of your belief and faith in Jesus and His sacrifice, then all the other graces listed there are yours too. You just need to develop them.

But, when you examine yourself you might notice that some of the fruit (speaking of individual aspects of love here) are not all that well developed. You might be kind and good, but need to work on your patience. You might have great joy and peace but need work on self-control and gentleness. None of us are perfect, and we all have areas of improvement. But, all Christians have the Spirit of God and therefore, they have the fruit of the Spirit of God in them. It is there, if only in developing form, but it is there.

Now, this is important. Why is it there? I want you to focus on this following point. The fruit of the Spirit of God is in you because, if you are a Christian, you have been bought with a price. You have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, God in flesh (john 1:1,14), who died on the cross for your sins (1 Pet. 2:24). It is only because of what Jesus did that you can ever hope to be good, or gentle, or kind, or patient, or loving, or anything. You cannot truly live these things without the Spirit of God in you.

Finally, it is by faith that you walk before God (Hab. 2:4). It is by faith that you seek the Lord and seek to manifest the love of His Spirit in you. It is important because the unbelievers need to see those graces working in you. They are an evidence of your conversion and a testimony of God's indwelling.

So, ask yourself if you are loving or trying to show love not only to God but also to people. Then, go back and count those fruit again. When you get to "one," stop and ask the Lord to develop that in your heart.