I heart AMPLIFIED

Isaiah 26

I hope you read this entire passage. The Amplified Version really explains some words & concepts in a neat way. But if not the whole passage, at least check out the bolded verses! :) 

1 In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; [the Lord] sets up salvation as walls and bulwarks.

2 Open the gates, that the [uncompromisingly] righteous nation which keeps her faith and her troth [with God] may enter in.

3 You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You.

4 So trust in the Lord (commit yourself to Him, lean on Him, hope confidently in Him) forever; for the Lord God is an everlasting Rock [the Rock of Ages].

5 For He has brought down the inhabitants of the height, the lofty city; He lays it low, lays it low to the ground; He brings it even to the dust.

6 The foot has trampled it down—even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy.

7 The way of the [consistently] righteous (those living in moral and spiritual rectitude in every area and relationship of their lives) is level and straight; You, O [Lord], Who are upright, direct aright and make level the path of the [uncompromisingly] just and righteous.

8 Yes, in the path of Your judgments, O Lord, we wait [expectantly] for You; our heartfelt desire is for Your name and for the remembrance of You.

9 My soul yearns for You [O Lord] in the night, yes, my spirit within me seeks You earnestly; for [only] when Your judgments are in the earth will the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God).

10 Though favor is shown to the wicked, yet they do not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness they deal perversely and refuse to see the majesty of the Lord.

11 Though Your hand is lifted high to strike, Lord, they do not see it. Let them see Your zeal for Your people and be ashamed; yes, let the fire reserved for Your enemies consume them.

12 Lord, You will ordain peace (God’s favor and blessings, both temporal and spiritual) for us, for You have also wrought in us and for us all our works.

13 O Lord, our God, other masters besides You have ruled over us, but we will acknowledge and mention Your name only.

14 They [the former tyrant masters] are dead, they shall not live and reappear; they are powerless ghosts, they shall not rise and come back. Therefore You have visited and made an end of them and caused every memory of them [every trace of their supremacy] to perish.

15 You have increased the nation, O Lord; You have increased the nation. You are glorified; You have enlarged all the borders of the land.

16 Lord, when they were in trouble and distress, they sought and visited You; they poured out a prayerful whisper when Your chastening was upon them.

17 As a woman with child drawing near the time of her delivery is in pain and writhes and cries out in her pangs, so we have been before You (at Your presence), O Lord.

18 We have been with child, we have been writhing and in pain; we have, as it were, brought forth [only] wind. We have not wrought any deliverance in the earth, and the inhabitants of the world [of Israel] have not yet been born.

19 Your dead shall live [O Lord]; the bodies of our dead [saints] shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For Your dew [O Lord] is a dew of [sparkling] light [heavenly, supernatural dew]; and the earth shall cast forth the dead [to life again; for on the land of the shades of the dead You will let Your dew fall].

20 Come, my people, enter your chambers and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the [Lord’s] wrath is past.

21 For behold, the Lord is coming out of His place [heaven] to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; the earth also will disclose the blood shed upon her and will no longer cover her slain and conceal her guilt.

Guest Blogger! :)

This is from one of my very best friends, Mary. God brought us together freshmen year at Dordt and we've been friends every since. We like to call each other teammates :) I'm uber thankful for who Mary is in my life. Every once in a while, we'll go through books of the Bible together and write each other about what we've learned. I told Mary I was doing this Isaiah thing on my blog and told her she can contribute--so here it is! :) Get excited, folks!

I learned from my big book of commentary that Isaiah lived during the time that Israel was in exile. It said that Isaiah was confronting the king of Israel on ‘ the difficult issue of the choice between a quiet faith and a desperate alliance.’ Basically, Israel was deciding to take the path that God didn’t want them to take… instead of trusting Him, they were deciding to take things into their own hands by aligning with other countries.

God basically says in verse 2 that He raised them, gave them everything— ‘I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me… Israel does not know, my people do not understand.’

V5-‘ Your whole head is infused, your whole heart afflicted.’ God says that their whole selves were affected by this disobedience. I think that’s true in general. When we decide to pursue our own dreams or comforts instead of God’s truth, our whole selves are afflicted.

I also learned from my big commentary book that Isaiah means ‘Yahweh is Salvation.’ I love that in the Bible, their names usually mean something… how fitting for Isaiah, who brought the good news way before his time that Yahweh would be salvation for his people.

So in verses 5-8, it talks about how Judah is nearly wiped out. But then in verse 9, God is still faithful… Zion would have been gone if it weren’t for God being faithful and saving a remnant.

And here’s where I thought it got pretty specific and kind of intense. In verse 12, “Who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts?” God, that I may not trample your courts! And then verse 15, “Your hands are full of blood,” Again, God, show me if my hands are full of blood! I don’t want to put eternal lives at stake by my ‘need’ to protect myself, or make myself comfortable.

God gives them a command—wash, and make yourselves clean.

Verse 17, “Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.”

God cares so much about the fatherless, the case of the widow, that He is willing to hand over his people to the Babylonians because of it. This is serious stuff. “Your hands are full of blood.” He holds them responsible for those lives that they didn’t stand up for… so really, when you think about it, it’s not about what they DID that was evil, it was about what they DIDN’T DO. They didn’t defend the cause of the fatherless, or encourage the oppressed.

Now this next verse to me sounds more like a reprimand than it did before… “Let us reason together {Let’s argue our case according to the big commentary book.} Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow.”

It’s like God’s saying—"Don’t throw this away, just for your comfort! I have salvation waiting for you. Are you willing to be obedient? Then follow me! Come and have your sins washed away."

Then it continues to go on about how the Faithful City no longer is full of justice.

But God has hope for this city… He wants to renew His people.

V26, “Afterward you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City.” He says, one day you’ll be ashamed of what you’ve done here. You’ll understand what I do… you’ll understand because NONE of this lasts (i.e.; the sacred oaks in which you have delighted—that oak has fading leaves).

So essentially, this scared me a little… because this still goes on now. We still prefer our comforts, our ways of living over God’s decision making. But I think that what we don’t understand sometimes is that those decisions put blood on our hands. This scared me… I know there’s grace for these things, but again, it makes me ask… God, whose blood is on my hands? Whose eternal life is affected because I chose to ignore your voice?

I don’t know. Maybe this is an inaccurate belief, but it at least shows how much it matters to God… to forsake justice and the oppressed is to ignore one of the things that matters most to God.

Surely, Certainly, Without a Doubt

Every other Monday night, I attend a Bible study with other local young adults. I'm really thankful for it. We just finished up a series on Jesus as the Perfect Leadership model. You can check out the lessons HERE. if you're interested.

One of the things that came up this past week at Bible Study was Jesus' temptation in the wilderness. This was also mentioned in the message I heard at HOME's Ignite service two days before, so I felt like God was highlighting this for me.

So get this--out of all the ways that Satan chooses to tempt Jesus, he thinks an attack on His identity is His best route to take. Two out of the three times, Satan says "If you are the Son of God...? In other words, he's asking Jesus if He's sure of who He is. If you really think about that, doesn't that seem like a ridiculous thing to try to make Jesus question? But we all know how crafty Satan can be, so if he really thought that was the best tactic, then what's to say that Satan won't also try the same on us?

Take a moment to think about how many times Satan makes you forget the heart-knowledge you have of your identity as a dearly beloved, holy, child of God. Sure, we know that in our heads but our heart is really what drives what we do & how we live. If we truly, fully believed our identity, I think it's safe to say that a lot of our lifestyles and every day choices would be quite different. I know mine would!

So in Bible study we talked about that a little and then took it a step further to say that Satan's overall tactic is to make you question if God really said that--whatever "that" may be. Think about Satan's first encounter with Eve in the Garden of Eden. He says "Did God really say you can't eat that fruit?" I can just think of how often Satan inserts that question in my mind AND heart!

"Did God really say that He has good and perfect plans for you?"
"Did God really say that He'll work all things together for the good of those who love Him?"
"Did God really say that you can come to His throne confidently & with boldness?"
"Did God really say that you are saved and made righteous by grace alone; that nothing you do will change anything of how He sees you?"
"Did God really say that He cares deeply for you and wants you to cast every care on Him?"
"Did God really say that He's proud of you no matter what & really delights in your heart?"
"Did God really say that His thoughts about you are precious and the sum of them is vast?"
"Did God really say that [insert sin] is really a sin?"
"Did God really say that He wants you to give up everything and follow Him?"

I could go on and on! But I think you get the picture. This is where I decided that my stubborn strong-willed tendency comes in handy. I can take that negative nature of mine and use it for good against Satan. When Jesus was tempted, He immediately put down each of Satan's attacks with Scripture--nothing else. It's not called the Sword for nothing! This is the one piece of our spiritual armor that is used for offense. Take advantage of this gift we have to stubbornly fight against every question Satan tries to throw our way!

And to put a bookend on the "highlighting" of this topic this past week, yesterday I read the following in the book Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning: "Tangible reassurances, however valuable they may be, cannot create trust, sustain it, or guarantee any certainty of its presence...When the craving for reassurances is stifled, trust happens."

I don't know about you, but as for me & Brennan Manning--we long to be reassured. My love language is definitely words of affirmation--I love to be assured & reassured that people (and, most of all, God) appreciate & understand me. But I also agree with Manning that those reassurances, no matter how consoling they may be for the moment, do not build trust--in the people in my life or in God. It's the times when I am questioning if I really am appreciated, if God really notices me or has plans for me, you name it!--that I need to stubbornly get past those questions and use my Sword to say "Yes!"--that's when trust is built. That's when it has nothing to do with my wishy-washy feelings but with the firm confidence that God is faithful, unchanging, full of truth and never goes back on His word.

And then when I read verses throughout Isaiah like 14:24 that say "Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will happen," I can know without a doubt, that it will happen. God has proven to me in my personal experiences that He certainly fulfills every promise. In return, I can surely trust that each promise in Isaiah, and the rest of the Bible, is no different.

No matter what happens in the end times. No matter how much more broken the world becomes. No matter what world leaders do. No matter how confusing His actions--or lack of actions--may appear at the time--I know that I will be able to say "Surely, Jesus will come back. Certainly, He will bring justice. Without a doubt, He has perfect plans. I don't need anymore reassurances. I really, really trust Him."

Jehovah Nissi

Is. 11:10--In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to Him and His resting place will be glorious.
For more about God as our banner, go HERE or HERE (particularly the final paragraph in both links)

By the way, this is again a promise yet to be fulfilled. Verse 11 talks about the Lord reaching out His hand a second time--as in the second coming. I hope that all this is convincing you that God really does have a special plan for the remnant of Israel. But don't just take my word for it--study into it yourself and ask Holy Spirit for revelation and understanding.

Chapter 12 is, of course, a wonderful Song of Praise for any believer to sing to the Lord, but it is also a specific promise of what will come from the mouths of the Jews in that day. The Jews will finally be shouting aloud and singing for joy because great is the Holy One of Israel among them--and they recognize it!! :)

Chapter 13 is also real stuff that is promised to come. In other parts of the Bible, the end times is described as a great & terrible day. Chapter 13 certainly lists off reasons why it will be terrible. God's righteous judgment will come.

But chapter 14 lists off one of the many reasons why it will be great, as well! And again, as God's partners in intercession, we can join in crying out for both chapter 13 & 14 to come true. Because we do want evil to be punished, and we do want the Lord to have compassion on Jacob, to once again choose Israel and to settle them in their own land. (14:1) See? The Lord is graciously telling you what to pray for--now it's up to you to actually ask.

Alons Heritage Photos

This summer I took a bunch of my grandparents photo albums and scanned them into the computer. The project got set to the side for a while, but I've been looking through them again and getting them ready for an album. I just wanted to share a few of my favorites. I just think they look like they came right out of some history book. They're just so classic & vintage. I love this stuff!

Here's my Grandpa Alons. I love the hat on his knee. And the look on his face. :) 

This is my grandpa Alons on the left with his sister on the horse and probably another cousin.

Farmers enjoying lunch break. 

My grandma is in the shadow taking a picture of her brother & dad. Notice how she's holding the camera at her stomach. 

I think my grandma Alons is the one standing in the middle.

This is my grandma's dad & brothers. 

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

Sorry I'm not nearly as reliable as your advent devotional book. I still hope that Holy Spirit is using this to give you a fresh revelation into God's purpose and plans for the Jews. You could also check out Romans 9-11 for more!

Isaiah 7:14 gives a promise that has been fulfilled. It's a well-known and quoted verse.
The next few chapters talk about God using Assyria for His purposes with Israel. I love 10:13 that says it's all according to God's strength and wisdom and understanding. He always, always, always has a purpose for everything He does. Always. :)

I think that 8:17 is a verse that is still going on, because, for the most part, the Lord is still hiding His face from the descendants of Jacob. But just like Isaiah, we can say that we will wait for Him and put our trust in Him.
Jesus told the Jews that they would not see Him again until they recognize who He is--the Messiah! (Matt 23:37-39) There are many Messianic Jews that the Lord is no longer hiding His face from, but I believe that a great revelation is coming to the Jews of who the Messiah is. What better thing to pray for during Advent than that the Jews would come to be gathered as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings and finally say "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" ??

Isaiah 9 also has a very well-known and quoted passage. Take note of the verb-tenses used throughout it though. Sometimes it's 'is' but mostly it's 'will be'. I think that means this is a combination of fulfilled promises and ones still to come.
For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the greatness of his government and peace
    there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
    and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
    with justice and righteousness
    from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
    will accomplish this.

You could say that it was all yet to come when this book was written by Isaiah, which is certainly true. But why would they use the present tense for Jesus being born and future tense for the other promises? I think this passage is to be read with the tenses when the child has been born and the son has been given. But the government is not fully on His shoulders yet. The prince of this world still stands in the way. Jesus is not yet called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace fully. He is not reigning on David's throne yet, but there will be no end to the greatness or increase of His government and peace.

Again, this is something to pray into. Thank God that the government we have today is not as good as it gets. Remember, God really wants you to partner with Him in intercession. Ask Him to come back and reign on David's throne with justice and righteousness forever. Ask Him to reveal Himself fully as the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace to both yourself personally, the Jews, and the world.

You could even sing the song O Come, O Come Emmanuel as your prayer!
Come Emmanuel and please ransom  the captive Israel. 
Rejoice, rejoice! Because Emmanuel shall come to you, Israel! 

A Little Catch-Up : )

Soo Nationals week was a lot busier than I was expecting. I didn't have much time to read through Isaiah at all. So here's a major catch-up post. :)

I've linked all the verses to Bible Gateway for you to read in case you don't have a Bible handy. I hope you read them, but I really hope that you at least just take the time to read through each prayer I have here. To understand why, check out THIS POST.

Isaiah 2 

2:2-5--Establish the mountain of Your temple, Lord. Exalt it so high that all nations will stream to it. Draw ALL nations to Yourself, God. May they truly and fully come to know You as the One who will teach them Your ways so that they can walk in Your paths. May they want to walk in Your path. 

Bring peace & prosperity to this earth. Turn swords into plowshares--that no nation will ever go against another nation again, but rather a harvest will be reaped. 

2:17--Lord, You alone are worthy of being exalted. Bring low the arrogance of man and humble human pride. Let every human recognize they are nothing without You. You deserve all the glory. Let us be truly humbled and turn to You wholeheartedly for our every need. 

Isaiah 3:10--God, in the midst of all trials and persecution that the righteous endure, help them to believe this promise. Help them to fully believe that it will be well with them; that they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds.

Isaiah 4:2-6 God, make the Branch of the Lord beautiful and glorious to the survivors in Israel. Bring revelation to the Jews around the world that the Messiah has come, that God is with us! May the remnant be called holy. Wash away their stains with Your spirits of judgment and fire. Give them the shelter and refuge they will finally seek from You. 

Isaiah 5

God, we stand in the gap for the Israelites and repent of their unrighteousness. You delighted in them, Your vineyard, yet You yielded only bad fruit. You are indeed proved holy by Your righteous acts. 

And Lord, I repent of my own personal lack of yielding good fruit at times. Help me to constantly abide in You, for apart from You, I can do nothing. 

Isaiah 1

Already fulfilled:
Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. 1:18

Yet to come:
Afterward you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City. Zion will be delivered with justice, her penitent ones with righteousness. 1:26-27

Now pray into this with me! Here's an example to get ya started...
     Jesus, thank You for fulfilling Your promise that our sins are no longer red as scarlet but white as snow. Thank You for Your blood & sacrifice. Thank You for rescuing us! Thank You for coming to this earth in the most humble way. Thank You for showing us how to live & love & serve.
     And because of that blood, we can boldly come to You and intercede for Israel & for Zion. Come, Jesus, make the City of Jerusalem the City of Righteousness and the Faithful City. Come, Jesus, and deliver Zion with justice and righteousness. We ask you to continue to fulfill Your promises to Israel. Continue to rescue Your chosen nation. Reveal the Messiah to the Jews, that they may stop their searching for the One who has already come and is coming again! Amen.

Isaiah & Advent

Even though there are hundreds--probably thousands--of devotionals out there for this advent season, this year I've decided to simply read through the book of Isaiah. I think this book talks about Jesus coming more than any other--and not just His first one. From what I remember of reading through Isaiah before, there are a lot of prophecies made by Isaiah that have yet to be fulfilled.

So during this advent season, I'll be going through a few chapters a day and taking note of both the promises that have been fulfilled and the ones that are yet to come. But I won't stop there with just taking note of them. I'll go one step further and pray those promises right back to God.
Now why would I do something like that? I'm glad you asked! :)

You see, God wants His children to partner with Him in asking Him to bring forth His promises. Yes, they will happen without our asking on the one fact that God promised them, but should that stop us from interceding? We have an important and honorable role in stepping in and asking God to bring them forth.

This is where I think God's omnipotence can be given too much credit. Now hear me out: Yes, He is able to do all things. No, He doesn't need our help or intercession at all. But He sure does want it, and I think it saddens Him when His children think they don't need to ask for anything because it's all going to happen the way that He wants anyway. I really, truly believe that's not how it works. He moves according to our asking.

AND because He's such a very kind and helpful God, He's already told us what to pray for. Beyond that, I think God does it that way because He uses the "foolish things of the world to shame the wise." We aren't asking God for anything He hasn't already told us to ask for. We're not coming up with these fancy requests on our own. I mean, it is pretty foolish from a worldly point of view to sit there with our eyes closed, talking to "Someone," asking Him to bring forth promises that He wrote in a book thousands of years ago. But by doing it this way, it keeps us humble and all the glory goes to God! Goodness, what a wise God we serve, too! :)

Stay tuned for promises--fulfilled & yet to come--and prayers to pray with me to go along with them! :)