Isaiah 17:7-8 (KJV) Escapism and Divine Judgment

Isaiah 17:7-8 (KJV)

At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.

And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images.

 

Many People have what I think is an escapist attitude toward the things of the Spirit. Several have insisted to me lately that they do not believe in God, nor do they not believe in God. They think they are “true atheists,” having no agenda for or against God. One man recently told me that he was an agnostic. He did not know whether there is or is not a god, but he does not believe God exists. I assume he would deny it. But I think it’s because he, and those like him, don’t want to be held accountable for being anti-God, but neither do they wish at this time to be accountable to God.

 

Isaiah, in speaking about Damascus and Jacob in chapter seventeen, addresses opponents to God but from differing perspectives. Jacob, a term meant to describe the Northern kingdom of Israel, were blatant rebels against God. They had chosen to fight the clear plan of God. They knew it to be so, but they did not like what God had determined. Damascus, in Syria, on the other hand, could claim to be Gentiles. They had not rebelled against the God of Judah. They had never followed the God of Judah in the first place.

 

In either case, the result is the same. They would be judged by God. When the judgment was finished, they would utterly despise the work of their own hands and they, to a man, would look to their Maker, the true and living God of all men.

There is no escaping God.

·       A man can fight against God

·      A man can find his own way to worship God or

·       A man can pretend there is no God

 

There will be a day when each of those tactics will come to be despised by the very people employing them.

 

Best to look to God today.

 

#AccountabilityMatters #NoEscapeFromGod #FacingDivineJudgment #GodsCallToday #JudgmentDayReality #Isaiah

Escapism and Divine Judgment: From Rebellion to Recognition

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 6200 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

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Isaiah 17:7-8 (KJV) Escapism and Divine Judgment

 

Isaiah 15:5 (KJV) Preaching with Love

Isaiah 15:5 (KJV)

My heart shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives shall flee unto Zoar, an heifer of three years old: for by the mounting up of Luhith with weeping shall they go it up; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of destruction.

 

Consider the compassion of the prophet.

We are prone to think of the prophet as a harsh personality. Just about every time I’ve heard someone describe the gifts of the Spirit, nearly EVERYONE thinks they have the gift of prophecy because they are prone to “tell people off.” I think it’s a mischaracterization of the gift. The prophet Isaiah was pronouncing judgment upon Moab, but he did not enjoy the work.

Oh, for believers who love souls enough to preach truth but do it with a broken heart.

 

Consider the prophet as a man of God.

The prophet’s message is not his own. He has been called of God. His breaking heart is representative of the breaking heart of God. Lost souls shake their fists in the face of God and accuse Him of being brutal, cruel, or incapable of making things better. I see God as full of love and compassion. He loves us so much He refuses to handle us like animals. He offers to us an alternative far better than this world affords, and He weeps over the vast numbers of souls who choose to reject His grace while continuing to shake their fist in His face.

 

#CompassionateProphet #HeartfeltPreaching #PropheticLove #GodsCompassion #BrokenheartedMessenger #Isaiah 

Preaching with Love: God’s Brokenness for Souls

 

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 6200 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Isaiah 15:5 (KJV) Preaching with Love

Isaiah 14:27 (KJV) Secure in His Hands

Isaiah 14:27 (KJV)

For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?

 

Here is both a solid comfort and terrible fright.

What God has purposed can no man disannul.

 

What a great comfort!

Romans 8:38-39 (KJV)

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

John 10:27-29 (KJV)

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.

 

The salvation of the soul is in the hand of God. It’s not in me or anyone else to remove it. God has purposed,

Romans 10:9-13 (KJV)

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

 

There is no disannulling what God has purposed.

Romans 8:31 (KJV)

What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

 

On the other hand, this is immeasurably frightening.

The context of our passage is judgment.

·       The judgment of Israel

·       The judgment of Assyria

·       The Judgment of Judah and

·       The judgment of Babylon

And what God has purposed no man can turn back.

 

There is a judgment determined in man’s future. The day of the Lord is multifaceted, and it is not my intention to try to polish those facets today. What I would like to point out is that no matter how many and how loud the voices who object to this judgment, there is no man able to disannul it.

 

But there is the opportunity to be saved from it.

 

#ImmutablePurpose #EternalComfort #SecureInHisHand #JudgmentDayReality #SalvationOpportunity #Eschatology #Isaiah

Secure in His Hands: God's Unshakable Purpose

 

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 6200 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Isaiah 14:27 (KJV) Secure in His Hands

Revelation 7:16 (KJV) The Paradox of Pain

Revelation 7:16 (KJV)

They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.

One of the challenges men, even among those who claim to love Him, to follow Him, and to obey Him, make against God is that He allows suffering in this world. Suffering is an obvious and unarguable part of life. The lost world supposes that if God is real, He should prevent such suffering, especially among those that are His children.

The problem with such thinking is that it misdirects the source of trouble and takes a short-term approach to an answer.

They do not consider that the source of the suffering is on the shoulders of sinners - themselves.

Sickness and death may not be directly attributable to the individual, but it is attributable to the original sin. Sin is at fault and they, being sinners, would be highly offended if God were to force them to stop.

Further, they demand solutions in the immediate or at least the short term. 

Being opposed to God in the first place, they see no value in eternal rewards. This is shortsighted in that it should be obvious to them that they can’t possible live here forever. The promise of eternal life with eternal rewards must be appealing.

•        Both the believer and the unbeliever see the problem in suffering
•        Both the believer and the unbeliever see the brevity of life and the suddenness of death
•        Both the believer and the unbeliever seek solutions to these problems

The believer finds his solution in the hope of heaven. The unbeliever finds his solution in the hope that there is no life after death but only non-existence. Both positions are a type of support.

•        One of them has the universal inclination of mankind, the affirmation in the Bible, and the evidence of Christ’s resurrection. 
•        The other position has nothing by which to support itself but the adamant disdain for the first.

#SufferingAndTheologicalChallenge #SinnersAndSuffering #EternalHopeInSuffering #ShortsightedViewsOnEternalRewards #BelieverVsUnbelieverPerspectives #Revelation 

The Paradox of Pain: Short-Term Demands, Eternal Perspectives

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 6200 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Revelation 7:16 (KJV) The Paradox of Pain

 

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[1] Lost people chide Christians for needing a “crutch.” In fact both groups need some support. The lost just refuse to admit they have one.

Isaiah 12:3 (KJV) Eternal Riches

Isaiah 12:3 (KJV)

Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.

 

When once a soul has tasted the waters of salvation, he need never be concerned whether he is saved again. Salvation is an eternal benefit. Once having received it, it may never be lost.

That said, the benefits of salvation are endless.

      I think of the joys of meeting new believers during these years of my Christian sojourn
I think of the treasures of truth I’ve received day after day of time in the Word of God
I think of the pleasures to family with a testimony of salvation
I think of the miracles God has provided in answer to prayer
I think to the promises I learn in the Word of God

And none of these takes into consideration what awaits us in heaven.

 

Salvation is a once in a lifetime event.

But the waters from the well of salvation refresh the soul eternally.

 

#EternalSalvation #EndlessBenefits #JoyfulChristianJourney #TreasuresOfTruth #HeavenlyPromise #Isaiah #soteriology

Eternal Riches: The Endless Benefits of Salvation

 

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 6200 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Isaiah 12:3 (KJV) Eternal Riches