Friday Reflections

From Isaiah 53.  Verse 5 went through my head not too long after I woke up this morning. This prompted a revisiting of the passage.

3 He is despised and rejected of men; a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.
4 Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

Then, I saw this:

Some thoughts to ponder today.

Parallel Passages (Celebrate the Victory!)

We are currently memorizing this Psalm.  Due to the fact that this passage uses so few words to proclaim so much truth, I color-coded it for easier reference.

A Psalm.

1Oh sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and His holy arm have worked salvation for Him.
 2The LORD has made known His salvation; He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.
3 He has remembered His steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

4 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises!

Psalm 98:1-4 (ESV*)

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 And He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore His arm brought salvation unto Him; and His righteousness, it sustained Him. Isaiah 59:16 (KJV*)

 The LORD hath sworn by His right hand, and by the arm of His strength, Surely I will no more give thy corn to be meat for thine enemies; and the sons of the stranger shall not drink thy wine, for the which thou hast laboured:
 But they that have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the LORD; and they that have brought it together shall drink it in the courts of My holiness.
 Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people.
  Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him.
 And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken. Isaiah 62:8-12 (KJV*)

 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
 Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
 To declare, I say, at this time His righteousness: that He might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

Romans 3:21 (KJV*)

 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ,
 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.
This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Ephesians 3:4-6 (ESV*)

As Paul wrote to the Romans, we all need to be rescued from the death to which humanity has been subjected.

Salvation is the work of God alone.

He keeps His promises. 

He has thrown open the offer to Jews and gentiles (nations) alike. And He desires for all to be saved and come to knowledge of His Truth (1 Timothy 2:4-6)

We now have access to our Maker through faith in the atoning life, death and triumph of our Lord Jesus Christ!

This is stunningly Good News!!!

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*Wording is identical to the versions cited.  I have supplied capitalization to pronouns which reference God.

Parallel Passages (Above All)

 Who gave Him charge over the earth, and who laid on Him the whole world?
 If He should set His heart to it and gather to Himself His spirit and His breath,
 all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust.

Job 34:13-15 (ESV*)

 Who has first given to Me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine.  (Jehovah God)

Job 41:11 (ESV*)

 A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,
 for He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.

Psalm 24:1-2 (ESV*)

 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways!  ”For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor?” 

 ”Or who has given a gift to Him that he might be repaid?” 

 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen.

Romans 11:33-36 (ESV*)

We’ve been really busy the past few months and I’ve had to step back and reorganize some priorities.  Additionally, it has been necessary to spend some time working on developing a “meek and quiet” spirit–not an easy assignment for someone of my “natural” temperament.  While receiving my attitude adjustment, something that has frequently been brought to my attention is Scripture’s emphasis on the immensity and transcendence of our Creator.  This was not “unknown” to me, but rather, something I tend to forget when I allow myself to be tyrannized by more immediate concerns.

Regardless of which translation I read, His power, knowledge and attention to every minute detail of our existence is proclaimed throughout the pages of the Holy Bible.  He is awesome and most worthy of all our praise; and we do well to acknowledge Him first in everything!

He is beyond our ability to fully comprehend, but there’s more to the picture! Hopefully I’ll be able to return and offer another exciting bit He’s given me to consider.

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* Quotes are from ESV, but I took the liberty of capitalizing pronouns which refer to God, as I believe is appropriate.

Not Forsaken

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Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me. 
 In My Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 
 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. 
 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

John 14:1-4

 

  These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace.

In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. 

John 16:33

I had a pretty severe case of pneumonia this past month.  And, I didn’t realize the danger it posed until my breathing became so labored it felt as though I was drowning.  If things had continued unchecked, it could have cost me my life.  So, I am grateful for the Lord’s care even in my state of foolish ignorance.

Sometimes, life’s prospects appear to be quite bleak.  The human experience is automatically attended by a certain amount of unpleasantness–whether it be in the form of illness, poverty, war, loss of loved ones or employment, or oppressive rulers.  Suffering souls can feel as though they are drowning in a sea of despair.

Jesus did not candy-coat the reality that His friends would suffer intensively for their choice to follow Him.  Yet, He reassured them  that He has already won the greatest battle on our behalf.  This ought to provide a tremendous amount of encouragement to believers today who deal with any number of difficulties.

Regardless of the circumstances, we can be at peace, knowing our lives are in good hands.

Parallel Passages: The Name that Saves

 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee;
 Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion;
 Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice; Selah.

Psalm 20:1-3 (KJV)

 

 I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?
 But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!
 Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:

~Jesus (Luke 12:49-51 KJV) 

Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.
 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

~Acts 4:10-12

Currently, the younger children and I are working to memorize Psalm 20.  The underlined portion of the first verse kept sticking in my mind.

I’m just thinking out loud, here, but the Psalmist’s reference to the day of trouble sounds a lot like the “fire” Jesus said He came to kindle on the earth..(Satan has been judged: John 16:7-11). This inevitably leads to interpersonal strife which believers experience  from worldly opposition.

The name of God defends…the name… OH!!!  The Name!  Peter’s Spirit-inspired sermon identifies the Name.

Salvation comes only through Christ Jesus, Messiah; the precious Lamb of God. He alone can save us from sharing the fate of the “prince of the world”.