"You have trusted in your wickedness and have said, 'No one sees me.' Your wisdom and knowledge mislead you when you say to yourself, 'I am, and there is none besides me.' Disaster will come upon you, and you will not know how to conjure it away." Isaiah 47:10-11 NIV
The idea that God is watching you is not a popular concept these days. Interesting that even in Isaiah's time some people believed that they had no accountability to God. The phrase, "I am" often references God , the great I AM. "I am, and there is none besides me" could be paraphrased as, "I am my own god, and I will do whatever I want to please myself. There is no higher authority." The intellect, full of worldly wisdom and knowledge, is easily puffed up with a false sense of its worth. The pride that grows in that environment gladly casts off any notion of a sovereign God. But Isaiah warns that such an attitude will bring disaster and no manner of mental maneuvering will bring a solution to it.
How many times do I want to satisfy my own selfishness and pride? I pray that God will keep me mindful of his authority and love. His Lordship keeps me from disaster. His way is the way of truth, of love and of blessing.
Saturday, May 30, 2020
Friday, May 22, 2020
A Shaken World
"I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
With him at my right hand,
I will not be shaken." Psalm 16:8 NIV
Do a concordance search for the word "shaken" and several of the Psalms come up. A recurring theme of the steadiness of God in troubled times is apparent. With Covid-19 sweeping around the world, it does feel like the world is being shaken. Governments are rattled, people are fearing for their lives, and employment has done a somersault. The Psalmist has the solution for times like these and declares :"I keep my eyes always on the Lord." He is the rock and our salvation. He keeps us in the eye of the storm away from the furious winds of panic and despair. The harder we hang on to the world - afraid to lose our lives, our status, our health, the more we are shaken. If we hang on to the lifeline of faith in our Lord, we can soar far above the world even as we are still attached to it, and we will barely feel the violent shaking going on below.
I rejoice in the omnipotence of God who can shake up the world when it needs to be woken up. He will not let us wallow and die in our sins. I praise him for the Scriptures that He has given us so that we can see how He worked in history in the past. I pray that I will use this time of shaking to good purpose.
With him at my right hand,
I will not be shaken." Psalm 16:8 NIV
Do a concordance search for the word "shaken" and several of the Psalms come up. A recurring theme of the steadiness of God in troubled times is apparent. With Covid-19 sweeping around the world, it does feel like the world is being shaken. Governments are rattled, people are fearing for their lives, and employment has done a somersault. The Psalmist has the solution for times like these and declares :"I keep my eyes always on the Lord." He is the rock and our salvation. He keeps us in the eye of the storm away from the furious winds of panic and despair. The harder we hang on to the world - afraid to lose our lives, our status, our health, the more we are shaken. If we hang on to the lifeline of faith in our Lord, we can soar far above the world even as we are still attached to it, and we will barely feel the violent shaking going on below.
I rejoice in the omnipotence of God who can shake up the world when it needs to be woken up. He will not let us wallow and die in our sins. I praise him for the Scriptures that He has given us so that we can see how He worked in history in the past. I pray that I will use this time of shaking to good purpose.
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