Holiness Up Close and Personal

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the LORD sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim...And one cried to another and said: Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!' Isaiah 6:1-3

The king was dead and his throne was empty. No one knew what his son would be like, whether he would be a good king or a bad one.

In that vacuum of security, God gave Isaiah a vision in which He made a clear statement: I am on my throne. In that vision, there are four things Isaiah saw that are important for us to see as well.

First, Isaiah saw God's majesty. The moment we see God's majesty is the deciding moment. God is no longer just the big man upstairs or some higher power. He is now a majestic God who is worthy of me deciding today that He is to become the purpose of my life. This comes down to our heart, where we choose to desire for ourselves to experience His majesty in an up close and personal way.

Second, Isaiah saw his inabilities. He saw how amazing God is and immediately knew the depth of his weakness in comparison. The reality is that you can't be saved until you admit your need for it. And honestly, you could be the best in the world at something, yet partnering with God in it will still make you better. Just ask Peter, who in Luke 5 saw Jesus transform a wasted night of fishing into a catch so big that it began sinking two ships.

Third, Isaiah saw the depth of his sin and iniquity. It was only when he saw his sin, so wretched that he was convinced he would die there in God's presence, that God could send the angel to cleanse him with the coal. We cannot live a holy life until we see our sinfulness, because only then can we repent and turn to God for Him to make us holy.

Fourth, Isaiah saw his availability. If God showed Himself to you in the same way He showed up to Isaiah, and He said, Whom shall I send, who will go for me? you would say, Send me. It's amazing that God would use the likes of us, but when we have seen the first three things today, we cannot answer with anything else but, Send me. Whatever God asks of us, our answer will always be yes.

Ask God to give you this revelation today, and whenever He calls, say yes.

Prayer Lord God,

I can't possibly imagine how majestic You are, so I need You to show Yourself to me. Please capture my heart with a vision of Your majesty so that I will always say, Yes, I will go. Send me.

Amen

The Be-Ready Attitudes

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

Ready or not, here He comes! Jesus is coming soon, whether we are ready to meet Him or not.

This is a message that we have heard for a long time, and maybe you are thinking, Yeah,

I've heard that before and I haven't seen anything yet. Why should it matter to me?

It should matter to you because of the heart behind Jesus' delay. It is not like Jesus is truant on His promise to return. He did not forget His word. He did not get lazy in the paradise of Heaven.

No, the truth is that Jesus is waiting to come again for the same reason that He came the first time-He loves us. His love caused Him to come into the world to save the world from sin and death; He waits now so that more people can experience His salvation.

He eagerly anticipates His return, longing for the day when we shall see Him face to face. But for the sake of those who are still lost, he waits ever so patiently, so that yet one more might come to repentance.

What if Jesus did come today? Are you right with God? Are you ready to stand before God face to face, or have you let your heart grow cold?

God can give you His saving love right now. Let's get right with Him. Let's get ready.

Prayer Lord Jesus,

Thank You that You love this world. Teach me to keep myself ready to meet You face to face!

Amen

Crossing the Finish Line

So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory.' ...But thanks be to God, who give us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:54,57

Icould really go for some rest right now, couldn't you?

There are so many things in life that demand our attention, stress us out, make us worry, and just one thing at a time, wear on us until we are exhausted. Even our vacations wear us out and we need a break from our break!

With all these things stressing us out, leaving us in need of rest, we are living restless lives.

And my question for us today is, are we restless for the right things?

I ask because, when I look around me, all I see is people freaking out over the things of this world-things that will need replaced, become obsolete in a matter of months, increase the stress of maintenance on their lives, and are ultimately useless where eternity is concerned. And where eternity is concerned is where we should be restless; we should be concerned about eternity and nothing else. What are you doing now that will matter forever? It's great if your investments will carry you all the way from retirement until your death, but then what? What will carry you from your death into the forever of eternity? What stock market or invest-

ment portfolio will help you then?

The only thing that can help us in eternity is Jesus. His investment in us opens the way for us to Heaven, and our investment of faith in Him pulls the benefit of His sacrifice into our lives.

Once this issue is settled in our lives, it is amazing how much of our restlessness disappears. All of a sudden, we are not striving for the things of this world anymore and where eternity is concerned, we are resting in the finished work of Jesus.

Even the sting of death has been dealt with so that the only thing that keeps us restless now is thinking of how to please our Savior.

But having eternity settled and a Savior who loves me, now there's something that gives me rest no matter what is happening around me.

Prayer Lord Jesus,

Thank You for conquering death for me! Thank You that I can rest in what You have done for me and not worry about anything else that I see going on around me. Please fill me with Your rest and peace as I live for You today and everyday!

Amen

The Losses of Lawsuits

If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? ...Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated? 1 Corinthians 6:4,7

I get this question probably every day. Can I sue him? Can a Christian sue another Christian?

Um, did you read the verses today? The obvious answer from scripture is no. I mean, you couldn't have a clearer answer. No!

Here's the deal, both sides lose before a verdict is ever read when you sue your brother or sister in Christ. Did you hear what Paul said? It is already an utter failure for you. How would you like to stand before God on that one someday-an utter failure!

Well how about this one, pastor-can a Christian company sue another Christian company?

Give me a break. As if what applies to the one doesn't apply to the one hundred? The Christian company has a witness to uphold the same way an individual does.

Alright, well, can a Christian sue a non-Christian? Because I've got a claim, man, and I know I could win. I'll even tithe off the winnings.

You know, the Bible doesn't say. But I'll tell you what it does say. The Bible says, if you're only going to do good to those who love you, then what's the point? Even unbelievers do that. We're set apart, proving that we are of Christ Jesus, when we love our enemies and do good to those who persecute us.

Even if you're legally right and you would win your case in the end, so what? It's no win in the end. The greater honor is for you to witness by offering the forgiveness and fellowship of Christ. Get this-we're actually called not only to forgiveness and love, but to kindness. If it were me, I'd show love to all, especially to the ones who are hardest to love, whether they're a believer or not.

The only time I see biblical justification for a lawsuit is defending yourself if someone sues you, and then you'd better get yourself some good counsel. But let me say this, your interests in that court are first about protecting and demonstrating your witness for Christ, then about making sure you receive justice.

The heart of God loves even at the cost of self. Let's do the same.

Prayer Lord Jesus,

When I did You wrong, You didn't sue me; You died for me. How can I not do the same thing? But sometimes it's hard because I've been hurt, sometimes I've lost a lot. I trust You to give me justice, to heal my hurts, and to provide all my needs as I forgive those who've done me wrong.

Amen

Refined

Woe to the rebellious children,' says the LORD, Who take counsel, but not of Me, and who devise plans, but not of My Spirit, that they may add sin to sin; who walk to go down to Egypt, and have not asked My advice, to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt!' Isaiah 30:1-2

You've got some options. You can choose: Carelessly or Carefully.

Unwisely or Understanding God's will.

To be filled with the spirit of the world or to be filled with the Spirit of God.

Those are your choices today, and I can tell you how you are going to choose which option to follow. You will make your decision with one word: Submission.

You might not like the word submission, or the idea of anything remotely like submission, but you do it every day without even noticing. Today, you will choose to submit to something. And speaking directly to wives, this leads us to three priorities concerning your role in your marriage.

First, it leads you to submit to Christ. This is first and foremost the highest priority in your life.

Second, it leads you to submit to the authority that God has placed over you as a wife. Ephesians 5:22-23 makes this clear, saying, Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is the head of the church. If you don't like it, I still can't change it for you-it's God's Word, and it will never change no matter how much you protest.

Third, it leads you to submit to God's Word and the biblical picture for your marriage. God designed marriage, so it just might make sense to follow His plan for it.

Almost no one likes the idea of submission, at least not until they understand the fruit it brings to our lives. Because the fruit is that we are not alone, someone above us is pulling for us, using their position to bring us into everything God has planned for us. A door of blessing and provision is open to us, propelling us into our callings.

Submission to God's plan should never be the bars of a prison; it should be a catapult into our callings. Will you choose to submit to God today?

Prayer Lord Jesus,

Thank You for Your good plan for my life and marriage! I'm not sure I understand what Your Word says about submission yet, but I choose to trust You. I choose today to submit to You and to my husband, following Your plan for our marriage.

Amen

Avoiding the Toll Road of Divorce

I suppose therefore that this is good because of the present distress-that it is good for a man to remain as he is: Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But even if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Nevertheless such will have trouble in the flesh, but I would spare you. 1 Corinthians 7:26-28

What's holding your focus these days? What is your first thought in the morning and your last thought at night? What do you think about on the way home from work or after dinner as you head into your evening activities?

For a lot of people, it is whether they are married or single. For those who are married, they are thinking about the trouble their marriage is in, or how they can make each other happier, or what other things their house needs to be nicer, etc.

And for those who are single, they are consumed with the pursuit of a spouse. They choose their social events by whether other single people will be there. The first question in their mind when they meet a new person is whether that person might be The One. Their singleness consumes their thoughts and defines their identity.

This is not how our lives should be.

Paul writes to tell the church in Corinth these things and he advises them that they should not seek to change their relational status, whether married or single. Marriage is wonderful, but it is hard. And singleness has its own difficulties, but single people are free in many ways that married people are not.

He wants the Church to know that time is short and there are other things that need our attention. He does not want our marriage or our singleness to consume all our thoughts. He wants to lift that burden off our lives so that we can focus on things that really matter-like how we can serve Christ Jesus.

Don't be distracted, looking for ways to ditch your marriage. That's not right. And don't be distracted, consumed by serving your spouse. Don't be distracted by your singleness either, because God knows your needs and will give you your spouse as you serve Him!

Instead, look for ways you can serve God, both within the home and outside of it. Make that your priority and it will save your marriage from divorce, give your relationship purpose, and help keep you strong while you wait for God to give you your spouse.

Prayer Father God,

Thank You for being the strength of my (future) marriage! I choose now to set my focus on You and how to serve You. As I make You my first priority, I know that You will help me with everything else I need to do.

Amen

Redeemed

Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame; for you will forget the shame of your youth and will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore. For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth. Isaiah 54:4-5

There's a saying that goes, If you always do what you've always done, then you'll always get what you've always got.

It makes a lot of sense doesn't it? Unfortunately, so many of us approach life the opposite of this. We go through life until we run into trouble-our children are pulling away from us, our spouse is on edge around us, we keep losing our job-but once we hit that trouble, we don't change. Why?

The devil wants to whisper in our ears, Change is too hard. Change is too high of a hurdle. That thriving marriage, family, and life are just out of reach; I might as well quit trying. He will use all the shadow puppets he can to try to convince us that change is too big a deal, out of reach, impossible, and hopeless.

We must not buy these lies. Instead, we must recognize the truth that God is with us, always and all the time. Trusting in this reality, we can start asking helpful questions: Why isn't it working? Why aren't we happy? Why are we so unfulfilled? Who has convinced us that it can't work?

The truth is that God created marriage and said it was good. God would not have said it was good if it was a death trap full of pain, suffering, wounding, and hurt. He would not have said it was good if it was doomed to fail. No circumstance is beyond His reach to redeem and save!

You have a God today who wants to work miracles on your behalf.

Well, I've never done it that way, Bob, you say. Exactly! Where has what you've done before gotten you, and how do you think you'll get somewhere different?

It's already too late, I'm kicked out of the house. So were Adam and Eve, but you know what, God went with them because He wanted to redeem them and restore them to the Garden. Our verses for today are a promise made to barren women and hopeless fathers exiled as slaves to Babylon. It is a promise made to you.

Will you receive it?

Prayer Lord God,

Please come and be God over my marriage and family! Redeem and restore everything that is lost, broken, and looking hopeless. Show me a different way than I've tried before, a way that leads to Your mercy, love, and redemption.

Amen