I invite you today to read together with me my daily verses and God's Word.
Thursday, July 16
Psalm 86:1-10
Isaiah 38:1-40:5; Philippians 1:12-22
O Lord of hosts, happy is everyone who trusts in you. Psalm 84:12
MSG 10-12 One day spent in your house, this beautiful place of worship,
beats thousands spent on Greek island beaches.
I'd rather scrub floors in the house of my God
than be honored as a guest in the palace of sin.
All sunshine and sovereign is God,
generous in gifts and glory.
He doesn't scrimp with his traveling companions.
It's smooth sailing all the way with God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
Jesus said, "There is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents
or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not get back very much
more in this age, and in the age to come eternal life." Luke 18:29-30
MSG 29-30"Yes," said Jesus, "and you won't regret it. No one who has sacrificed home, spouse, brothers and sisters, parents, children—whatever—will lose out. It will all come back multiplied many times over in your lifetime. And then the bonus of eternal life!"
O faithful One, today may we renew our trust in you to be our guide and help
through the day. When other forces attempt to pull us away, remind us that there
is no person or thing that will ever sustain us and bring us hope and joy except
for you. Amen.
Readings above
" The psalm of David"
His prayers are always touching my heart...,when i don't know how to put my feelings and emotions in prayer to God..I take those psalms and start praying them...... and to use the words of the message is like having an in-dept conversation with the Lord.......amazing! At the end of those psalms i found my own words and start praying on my own......If your experience is not yet like this try it out......
Psalm 86
A David Psalm
1-7 Bend an ear, God; answer me. I'm one miserable wretch!
Keep me safe—haven't I lived a good life?
Help your servant—I'm depending on you!
You're my God; have mercy on me.
I count on you from morning to night.
Give your servant a happy life;
I put myself in your hands!
You're well-known as good and forgiving,
bighearted to all who ask for help.
Pay attention, God, to my prayer;
bend down and listen to my cry for help.
Every time I'm in trouble I call on you,
confident that you'll answer.
8-10 There's no one quite like you among the gods, O Lord,
and nothing to compare with your works.
All the nations you made are on their way,
ready to give honor to you, O Lord,
Ready to put your beauty on display,
parading your greatness,
And the great things you do—
God, you're the one, there's no one but you! Isaiah 38
Time Spent in Death's Waiting Room by Hezekiah !!
9-15This is what Hezekiah king of Judah wrote after he'd been sick and then recovered from his sickness:
In the very prime of life
I have to leave.
Whatever time I have left
is spent in death's waiting room.
No more glimpses of God
in the land of the living,
No more meetings with my neighbors,
no more rubbing shoulders with friends.
This body I inhabit is taken down
and packed away like a camper's tent.
Like a weaver, I've rolled up the carpet of my life
as God cuts me free of the loom
And at day's end sweeps up the scraps and pieces.
I cry for help until morning.
Like a lion, God pummels and pounds me,
relentlessly finishing me off.
I squawk like a doomed hen,
moan like a dove.
My eyes ache from looking up for help:
"Master, I'm in trouble! Get me out of this!"
But what's the use? God himself gave me the word.
He's done it to me.
I can't sleep—
I'm that upset, that troubled.
16-19O Master, these are the conditions in which people live,
and yes, in these very conditions my spirit is still alive—
fully recovered with a fresh infusion of life!
It seems it was good for me
to go through all those troubles.
Throughout them all you held tight to my lifeline.
You never let me tumble over the edge into nothing.
But my sins you let go of,
threw them over your shoulder—good riddance!
The dead don't thank you,
and choirs don't sing praises from the morgue.
Those buried six feet under
don't witness to your faithful ways.
It's the living—live men, live women—who thank you,
just as I'm doing right now.
Parents give their children
full reports on your faithful ways.
20God saves and will save me.
As fiddles and mandolins strike up the tunes,
We'll sing, oh we'll sing, sing,
for the rest of our lives in the Sanctuary of God.
21-22Isaiah had said, "Prepare a poultice of figs and put it on the boil so he may recover."
Hezekiah had said, "What is my cue that it's all right to enter again the Sanctuary of God?"
What an experience he had.....God send Isaiah to tell him that He heard his prayer.....He promises him more years and no death and ALSO tell him how he can know this message from Isaiah is genuine........This is so God he works out details and made himself known to you....he knows what is best,when it is best and how to reveal himself to us...To everyone differently...Amazing when you take a moment to think about this.......
How does the story goes further i will go on and read but ,when i read
Isaiah 39
There Will Be Nothing Left
1 Sometime later, King Merodach-baladan son of Baladan of Babylon sent messengers with greetings and a gift to Hezekiah. He had heard that Hezekiah had been sick and was now well. 2Hezekiah received the messengers warmly. He took them on a tour of his royal precincts, proudly showing them all his treasures: silver, gold, spices, expensive oils, all his weapons—everything out on display. There was nothing in his house or kingdom that Hezekiah didn't show them.
3Later the prophet Isaiah showed up. He asked Hezekiah, "What were these men up to? What did they say? And where did they come from?"
Hezekiah said, "They came from a long way off, from Babylon."
4"And what did they see in your palace?"
"Everything," said Hezekiah. "I showed them the works, opened all the doors and impressed them with it all."
5-7Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Now listen to this Message from God-ofthe-Angel-Armies: I have to warn you, the time is coming when everything in this palace, along with everything your ancestors accumulated before you, will be hauled off to Babylon. God says that there will be nothing left. Nothing. And not only your things but your sons. Some of your sons will be taken into exile, ending up as eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon."
8Hezekiah replied to Isaiah, "Good. If God says so, it's good." Within himself he was thinking, "But surely nothing bad will happen in my lifetime. I'll enjoy peace and stability as long as I live."
His attitude...his response afther the blessing of healing and longer life disappoints me !! How would God look down at his child who He send mesengers to proves himself answer his prayer save him from death.....How God feels about that....Is God not disappointed also...or did He know how Hezkiah would take his healing and blessing in a selfish way..........maybe for granted ...maybe even forget what God did to him???
The thought crossed my mind that how i see clearly how his response or way of living had to be .....Praising God ...giving testimony the rest of his life....Not only wanting to have the attention on himself...!!
Is how i find my attitude and response must be and i caught myself also showing the bad atitude or forget to praise God with EVERYTHING big or small!!
I praise God now, this moment TODAY with the lessons i learn in the stories in the bible....!!
God blesses us ...and believe THE BEST of us no matter he knows, there is always a chance we will dissappoint Him.........Along the way He disciplines us,frequently uses though LOVE to bring out the best.......,and the way is always open to repent to turn a page of our life and write an fresh page........
Thank You Lord thank you Father for all the blessings in my life...,for your protection,for the day you re giving me to Life
Forgive me and others for all our transgressions........for all the times we grieve and disappoint you....
Thank you for seing us through your son Jesus Christ, picking us up ...dusting us of and shine us up to become shining light in this world! Lead us guide us discipline us for always and always Amen
Isaiah 40
Messages of Comfort
Prepare for God's Arrival
1-2 "Comfort, oh comfort my people,"
says your God.
"Speak softly and tenderly to Jerusalem,
but also make it very clear
That she has served her sentence,
that her sin is taken care of—forgiven!
She's been punished enough and more than enough,
and now it's over and done with." 3-5Thunder in the desert!
"Prepare for God's arrival!
Make the road straight and smooth,
a highway fit for our God.
Fill in the valleys,
level off the hills,
Smooth out the ruts,
clear out the rocks.
Then God's bright glory will shine
and everyone will see it.
Yes. Just as God has said."