Good morning, all!
Father, we know that our strength can only be found in You and by listening to Your word. When you speak mountains move, seas are dried up and the world itself is stopped. Lord speak to us today, give us the strength to face the day and follow Your voice, Amen.
Isaiah 30
12 Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:
The One who truly knows what is true and right, since you don’t like what I have to say you choose instead to injure one another and believe lies and refuse to change:
13 Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.
Your sin will break you and cause you to fall, like the swelling of your HIGH walls they will come crashing down suddenly upon you.
14 And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters’ vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water [withal] out of the pit.
God will break it just like a potter that breaks a vessel, it will be broken into pieces, and He will not spare it, and no piece will be large enough to hold fire or water.
15 For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.
Again, the Lord speaks after the breaking, the One true and right, RETURN and REST and you will be saved, be QUIET and CONFIDENT and you will be strong BUT you would NOT listen to ME.
Bottom line
What is the opposite of being strong? Yeah, being weak. So, what makes us weak in the eyes of the Lord? Pretty simple when we read this passage, there is NO way on God’s green earth we will find any strength if we don’t listen to God. His word is pretty clear to me, we are to love and forgive people DON’T trust our finicky feelings because they will lead us astray. We trust instead in oppressing one another instead of showing mercy and we trust in perverseness…we TWIST God’s word to suit our situation in life to justify why we don’t have to obey God…what? Just me? He said My sheep hear my voice NOT the bull headed one, they are deaf. Now God’s well aware of how we treat one another and just because His judgment isn’t immediately…I mean He is longsuffering after all but He isn’t blind, eventually the Potter will BREAK that vessel because it’s worthless, it’s WEAK…it holds NO mercy and truth and so the Potter can’t use it. Did you notice how it gets broken? It’s walls SWELL…hmm…you think when God says the wall is SWELLING out, He’s not speaking of an actual wall but rather the swelling of our pride within us? The biggest enemy that stops us from forgiving one another is PRIDE, why else would God break the clay pot?
[Pro 16:18 KJV] Pride [goeth] before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. What if the only thing God wants from us is to forgive one another? I mean what father would be happy when his children are at odds with each other? Did you notice what makes us strong? Quietness. You know what screams the loudest inside our heads? Pride, it screams how dare you? Who do you think you are? There are six things the Lord hates according to Proverbs, you know the first one? A PROUD look, you suppose it’s first for a reason? When you think of the life of Jesus Christ, do you consider Him strong? Of course He bore the weight of the world on His shoulders, maybe we can learn from Him? Mathew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you and LEARN from me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls. What made Jesus strong? Meekness and LOWLY in heart. This is what God is calling out with the people of Israel, instead of listening to God they choose to oppress one another and twist God’s word to suit their lifestyle instead of CHANGING it…and ye would NOT. Would not what?
[Mat 23:37 KJV] 37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, [thou] that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under [her] wings, and ye would not! Instead of coming under the protection of the shadow of God we run in opposite direction and kill the prophets, how? The prophets told us to have mercy, but we kill their words because we choose to be critical of one another and then we stone the people God has placed in our life when we choose to throw condemnation their way. God wants to gather His children TOGETHER, but we choose division and separation instead…ye would NOT…LISTEN to God. I mean do we really think we can be strong and ignore God? So how do we regain our strength? Pretty simple He said RETURN, we turn our hearts back to God…notice He said return, go back to your origin, your roots…His name is Jesus Christ.
Point to Ponder
Remember getting a new pair of sneakers when you were a kid? You ran faster! [Deu 33:25 KJV] Thy shoes [shall be] iron and brass; and as thy days, [so shall] thy strength [be]. When you leave the house, this morning makes sure you lace up the iron and brass…mercy and truth…you’ll be a whole lot stronger to handle the day!
Let’s all be strong in Christ, In Him Phil
Faith – Family – Friends
