Our intensely passionate God - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Jeremiah 19:7,9,

"I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, at the hands of those who want to kill them, and I will give their carcasses as food to the birds and the wild animals... I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another's flesh because their enemies will press the siege so hard against them to destroy them."

Who is going to cause this misery on God's own people? Who is it that is going to cause them to be slaughtered by their enemies? Who is it that is going to bring such horrific circumstances their way that they eat their own children?

God prophesied it through Jeremiah and that is exactly what happened. The Israelites had abandoned God and turned to the worship of make-believe idols. Now, God brings his judgment against his own people.

Some today have a notion that God is a lovey dovey Santa Claus figure. Without reading and understanding and fearlessly facing the truth God gives us, we might all have this false notion of him.

Yes, God so loved the world that he sent his own Son to die on our behalf. However, he is also the very same God who will cast all who fail to place their faith in him into a fiery lake of burning sulfur.

Our God is filled with what we might conceive as an unbridled passion. I don't mean to imply that God does not control himself - he doesn't need to. The reality is that God is intensely passionate in both his love and in his sense and expression of justice.

How thankful I am, that through the love of God, I will escape the judgment of God. He sent his Son for me, paying the penalty for my sins and now I occupy the happy place of being a member of his family. In fact, he want us all. How do I know that? "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." 2 Peter 3:9. Also, "This [prayer] is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." 1 Timothy 2:3.

He wants us with a level of passion that only he possesses.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

trevor.fisk@gmail.com

The theological "black box" - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Jeremiah 13:11,

"'For as a belt is bound around the waist, so I bound all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah to me,' declares the Lord, 'to be my people for my renown and praise and honor. But they have not listened.'"

I am such a jerk, that I have to admit I find it amusing when some theological type resorts to a comment such as, "We just can't know this side of glory, as the Lord, in the counsel of his sovereign wisdom has not disclosed it to us" as they are challenged by some question that points to an incoherence in what they are advocating. Other lofty terms are employed as well, "In the redemptive will of God, he has not chosen to disclose to us..."

Most of the time a simple "I don't know" would suffice and would certainly be much more palatable, much more believable. After all, God is transcendent and there should be those things we just don't know and can't know.

The trick is knowing when someone is hiding behind this ploy, using it to duck the hard questions. There is an entire theological school popular in our day that resorts to this for its very survival. It can't even answer the most basic of questions, such as why one person is saved and another not. I have to say, the Lord in his Word is loud and clear on that answer. The problem is the truthful and knowable answer to that very question renders the theology completely incoherent.

I think at times the theological "black box" as described above is employed to cover for a failure of doing the heavy lifting of reading and studying the Scriptures or not thinking through the position, or, in fact, that the theological position being advocated really is incoherent - it simply doesn't square with the Scriptures.

Here is a very simple question that many have not figured out: Why did God chose Israel as his own covenant people? Why are the Jews God's chosen people?

Don't know? We don't have to resort to the "black box." Read Genesis 15:6.

What was God's intention for having a chosen people? We don't have to resort to the "black box." Read the above verse, Jeremiah 13:11. Read also Romans 9:4-5 for some further information. (I'll bet you know other passages that answer that question as well.) These are the kinds of verses that may keep us from having to resort to the "theological black box."

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

trevor.fisk@gmail.com

On being "given over" by God to sin - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Jeremiah 7:21,

"This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves!"

This frightening message from the Lord was directed toward his own people who had substituted their own religious observances and idol worship, displacing what God asked of them when he made his covenant with them at Mt. Sinai. The Israelites did this in order to pursue what they thought best as opposed to what God told them.

Israel's utter disregard for what the Lord asked of them, their disregard for the covenant they had entered into with God placed them in the horrifying position of being "given over" by him. God gave them over, told them to "Go ahead" and pursue their religious exercises (which, by the way, included the sacrificing of their own children in fire to these imagined idols.)

Being "given over" by God communicates an horrific certainty of God's judgement. We read of God "giving over" those who will suffer due to their rejection of him:

"Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another." Romans 1:22-24.

"They exchanged the truth about God for a lie,and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error." Romans 1:25-27.

"Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy." Romans 1:28-31.

As we are told by the writer of Hebrews, I am reminded that, "It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Hebrews 10:31.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Destruction of the beautiful and delicate - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him and what came to my heart and mind in Jeremiah 6:2,

"I will destroy Daughter Zion, so beautiful and delicate."

This destruction of a city characterized as "beautiful and delicate"
seems so wrong. Who is it that is going to bring this destruction? Is
it the devil? Is it ISIS? Palistiian terrorists? Who could possibly
want to destroy a thing of beauty? A thing so "delicate" as the city
of Jerusalem, the city that was home to God's own people?

God announced he was going to destroy his own people, and do it right
within the city found to be so beautiful and delicate by God himself!

What does this tell me about God? From the book of Jeremiah we find
the cause of God's destruction of Jerusalem was due to the sinful
rebellion of God's own who populated the city. God's judgment of his
own people, of the city of beauty and so delicate tells me that
nothing can stop God's justice from being expressed. Nothing.

Jesus Christ told Nicodemus that God so loved the world that he sent
his Son into it. Will God's love prevent him from exercising his
judgment against any and all who sin? Not in the slightest. What we
find is that our Creator expresses both love and justice. Not only
love and not only justice. And, not just a little of each but a
god-sized truckload of both. We read in Jeremiah 9:24, "'Let the one
who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know
me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and
righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,' declares the Lord."

How can God express both love and justice at the same time? As I
picture in my mind Jesus Christ, God's own Son, hanging on that
miserable cross suffering intensely, I see God's justice expressed
against all the sins of all mankind for all time. The scene is one of
thorough and complete justice as Jesus suffered for our sins. It is
also a scene of thorough and complete love as God's Son willingly
suffered his Father's wrath, his justice, that we might find
forgiveness of our sins. He hung there suffering for each and every
sin, for each and every one of us.

All sin will be paid for. Don't be fooled by the notion, "I can't
believe a God of love would..." Believe it! Look at the cross and
understand, look at Jerusalem and understand. Although all sins for
all people have been paid for, that payment will only accrue to the
accounts of those who have embraced Jesus Christ in faith. All others
will surely be cast into that lake of fire we read about in Revelation
20.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to
hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send
me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are
receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just
respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

trevor.fisk@gmail.com

The insanity of it all - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Jeremiah 5:30-31,

"A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?"

What an indictment! What an observation!

Prophets are to communicate to the folks what the Lord wants them to hear. If the prophets prophesy lies, then not only are the folks not getting from the Lord what the Lord intends them have, they are being given bad direction, bad information, a wrong understanding of God.

Priests are to represent the folks to the Lord, to approach the Lord on their behalf. If the priests rule by their own authority, then not only are the folks not being represented to God, the response the folks get back is what the corrupt priest wants - not what the Lord wants.

And... "my people love it this way"! How astounding! The sinful rebellion of God's own people had led them to a point where they wanted bad information and a faulty understanding of God, they preferred a wicked and deceitful person, rather than God himself, to respond to their cares and concerns!

How utterly deranged is that? And, yet, it goes on all the time in churches today, in our culture today, all around us today. The embrace of homosexuality as an acceptable alternative, the murder of unborn babies, the mindless rush to seize Darwinism, Progressiveism, Humanism, anything and everything to keep us from having to face the reality that we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.

The insane part of this all is the question asked at the end of verse 31, "what will you do in the end?" This life is temporary, this life will only support things for a very short period... and then comes the time we all have to give an account of ourselves to God. How do people persist in a self-imposed delusion, loving it that way, when the very life that provides the opportunity to live that way evaporates? Where will they be left?

Insane, isn't it? "'As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.'" So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God." Romans 14:11-12.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

trevor.fisk@gmail.com

The intensity of God - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Jeremiah 3:1-5,

"'If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and marries another man, should he return to her again? Would not the land be completely defiled? But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers— would you now return to me?' declares the Lord. 'Look up to the barren heights and see. Is there any place where you have not been ravished? By the roadside you sat waiting for lovers, sat like a nomad in the desert. You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness. Therefore the showers have been withheld, and no spring rains have fallen. Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to blush with shame. Have you not just called to me: "My Father, my friend from my youth, will you always be angry? Will your wrath continue forever?" This is how you talk, but you do all the evil you can.'"

This accusation by the Lord against the people of Israel displays an intensity of emotion. It is the intensity of a man wronged by his wife who left him and ran off to prostitute herself.

What I don't see here is the sterility of theology. What I don't see here is an academic discussion of the attributes of God. What I don't see here is the infertile and impotent recitation of the liturgy of a Sunday morning "service". What I don't see here are the vestments of clergy, the trappings of proper utensils and accouterments of religious exercises performed. I don't see church membership rolls and business meetings and "ministries" to cover every possible diverse demographic imaginable.

What I do see here is our God, caught in the intensity of emotion that most never bother to notice. An intensity that only real life, where unfaithfulness breaks the heart, can produce.

Our God has a heart. A big god-sized heart that harbors big god-sized emotions. Real emotions at an intensity we can only be stunned by.

After all, what kind of passion drives our God to send his Son into the world to die an horrific death to pay for our sins? How could that intensity of love for us be measured? Certainly it is at least equal to the suffering our Lord experienced on that cross.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Be forewarned! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Jeremiah 2:11-13,

"'Has a nation ever changed its gods? (Yet they are not gods at all.) But my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols. Be appalled at this, you heavens, and shudder with great horror,' declares the Lord. 'My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.'"

Not only had Israel abandoned her God, but she replaced him with counterfeit gods. The appropriate reaction to this is an appalled shuddering with great horror! Any counterfeit to God is worse than worthless, it brings God's terrifying judgment.

I am reminded of Paul's comment in Romans 1:21-23, "For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles."

The result of Paul's observation is that God gave people over to their perverted and darkened hearts. Now, only a horrifying event awaits them, an event with no end. A future event that is certain to come to pass that lurks in the fearful dark of mankind's worst nightmare: "Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire." Revelation 20:15. And, "But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." Revelation 21:8.

Woe to the man or woman who exchanges God in their hearts for a counterfeit! "It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Hebrews 10:31. Anything we embrace in our hearts that supplants God is a counterfeit of him.

How thankful I am that Jesus Christ has made a way for me into God's family! How wonderful to hear Jesus' words, "Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live." John 5:24-25.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

trevor.fisk@gmail.com

God's reward comes in a person - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Isaiah 62:11-12,

"The Lord has made proclamation to the ends of the earth: 'Say to Daughter Zion, "See, your Savior comes! See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him."' They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the Lord; and you will be called Sought After, the City No Longer Deserted."

The exaltation of Zion takes place when her Savior comes to her, ushering in a new age. 

As he comes, he brings his reward with him. I am reminded of Revelation 22:12-13, "Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End."

What I note is salvation, our reward from God, eternal life lived in the pleasures found at the right hand of God, in his river of delights, comes in a person, Jesus Christ. It is not brought by a church, a temple, a religion, a government, an institution, a theology or a dogma: it comes in a person, Jesus Christ. It doesn't come through a college degree, the right job, the right spouse, the newest toys, money or the latest technology: it comes in a person, Jesus Christ.

Look at all the pronouns used to point to the source of the reward that comes when Zion finally is exalted as the city of God: "His reward is with him", "His recompense accompanies him" These reference our "Savior". This Savior is identified in Revelation 22 where he speaks and all the pronouns turn to first person: "I am coming soon", My reward is with me", I will give to each", I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End". These pronouns all refer to the person Jesus Christ.

Salvation is found in Jesus Christ and no where else. We come to a person and embrace that person in faith to earn our reward from God. That person is not Mohammed, that person is not Joseph Smith. That person is not Barack Obama and that person is not Vladimir Putin. That person is Jesus Christ.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

trevor.fisk@gmail.com

A new day is coming! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Isaiah 54:7-8,

"'For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back. In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,' says the Lord your Redeemer."

Here is a prophetic message to the people of Israel from God, during a dark period in her history. He acknowledges that his abandonment of Israel for a time (out of his anger over their rejection of him) will be followed by his "everlasting kindness" expressed in his restoration of the nation. In verse 10 the Lord speaks of his unfailing love for Israel and his compassion.

The setting for this restoration is not when the captivity of the remnant of Israel in Babylon is ended and they return to Palestine over two millenia ago. It is a yet future time from our view, when he will never rebuke Israel again, verse 9. The Lord declares, "no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you." Verse 17. It will be a time when Israel, as an expanded nation, will never again experience the judgment of God, but enjoy his blessings.

Paul speaks of this time in Romans 11:25-27, "Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written: 'The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.'"

This is the time when the kingdom of God will rule the earth for an eternity. Israel, together with all of the redeemed saints of the Lord will experience the blessings of God in the next age. 

In our day, when things look so bleak, a day when so many ask, "where is the Lord?" and face the future with anxiety and fear, this is truly good news! Something to celebrate and get excited about!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

trevor.fisk@gmail.com

A veil of darkness - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Isaiah 29:16,

"You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, 'You did not make me' Can the pot say to the potter, 'You know nothing'?"

As the Lord brings his indictment against Jerusalem, he observes the level of corruption of thinking, of reasoning the people have sunk to. "Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it "You did not make me" says it all. David observes this as well, "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good." Psalm 14:1.

How corrupt and how regressive as well, that those who reject God pretend they were not created by him (or that he even exists!) This reads like today's newspaper (does anyone read a newspaper any more?) How many today would tell God, "You know nothing!" Before a person can "evolve" on approving of same-sex marriage, don't we have to tell God he doesn't know anything? Before a person can embrace the slaughter of millions of helpless unborn babies, don't we have to tell God he doesn't know anything? Before a person claims that God did not create us, don't we have to tell him he doesn't know anything? Perhaps it is just easier for many to close their eyes to the proof all around us and simply tell God he doesn't exist!

Corrupt thinking! I see it referenced in Isaiah 9:2, "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned." Jesus, the "great light" entered into our world where people live and move in a darkness of both sin and corrupt thinking.

I see this corrupt thinking in 1 John 2:9-11 as well, "Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them."

This darkness represents the consequences of living a life in rebellion to God. What should be plain to see is not. What conclusions should be arrived at, those things consistent with truth are not because of this darkness.

I see this corrupt thinking, an inability to see truth, in 1 Corinthians 2:14, "The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit."

A shroud, a darkness has settled over all people who reject Jesus Christ. Their thinking has become corrupt and they are unable to discern truth, they are unable to distinguish between that which is true and that which is not.

There is no better example of this darkness than the "narrative" that is pushed by our pop culture, by the media, by our politicians and our religious leaders.

Where those of us who have embraced Jesus Christ in faith can be frustrated that so many can't seem to ascertain truth about so much, the befuddlement of our pop culture that has so many stumbling over what they cannot see is quite striking.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

trevor.fisk@gmail.com

God's stone - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Isaiah 28:16-17,

"See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic. I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line; hail will sweep away your refuge, the lie, and water will overflow your hiding place."

The rulers of the people of Jerusalem placed their trust in something other than the Lord, "We have entered into a covenant with death, with the realm of the dead we have made an agreement." Verse 15. Here is what they looked to for "when the overwhelming scourge sweeps by."

The problem is, of course, when we put our trust in anything but the Lord, we will only find ourselves swept away by "the overwhelming scourge." We need to embrace the tested and precious cornerstone that God lays in Zion.

Paul speaks of this stone in Romans 9:33, "See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame." This stone is Jesus Christ.

Peter speaks of this stone of God in 1 Peter 2:4-8 where he quotes both Isaiah 8:14 and Isaiah 28:16, "As you come to him [the Lord: Jesus Christ], the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says: 'See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.' Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, 'The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone' and, 'A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.' They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for."

The object of our faith, what it is we trust in, is all important when we find ourselves before God as our judge, who knows everything we have ever said, thought or done. If we have Jesus Christ as the object of our faith, when the horror of God's judgment comes, Jesus will be our advocate - he has already paid for our sins. 

If we trust in Mohammed, Joseph Smith, the federal government (with its "social safety net"), the Pope, the church we attend, some pastor or teacher, our spouse, a friend, a hero, technology, our own capabilities and performance, we will be very, very disappointed.

Jesus Christ, God's precious stone, is the one we are to trust in. He alone can be our ultimate refuge when the storms of adversity come our way.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Vindication and celebration! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Isaiah 25:9,

"Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation."

Here is what will be exclaimed on the day when the Lord's people extol him and celebrate their vindication for placing their faith in him. God's people place their faith in him and experience in a very practical way that he does not disappoint.

This celebration and these acknowledgments proclaimed by God's people will come on the day when they have inherited eternal life, when they have been freed from God's judgment (because of the payment for sin Jesus deposited in their account with the Father), when they experience freedom from illness and infirmity, when they find all sin eradicated (don't have to lock the doors anymore...), when they find true happiness and fulfillment in the life their Creator designed them for, when all tears are wiped away, when God "will remove his people's disgrace from all the earth."

That day approaches! Although we may face heavy weather ahead, although we may have many struggles, challenges and difficulties in this life, that day is coming when we will all celebrate the reward our Creator has for those who trust in him! That day is coming when we feast on the abundance of God's house, when we drink from river of his delights, Psalm 36:8. That day is coming when we will be filled with joy in his presence, when we will be filled with eternal pleasures at the right hand of the Lord, Psalm 16:11.

That day is coming and on that day we will celebrate our loving Lord and our vindication for trusting in him!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

trevor.fisk@gmail.com

The end of this world is coming! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him and what came to my heart and mind in Isaiah 24:1-3,

"See, the Lord is going to lay waste the earth and devastate it; he
will ruin its face and scatter its inhabitants— it will be the same
for priest as for people, for the master as for his servant, for the
mistress as for her servant, for seller as for buyer, for borrower as
for lender, for debtor as for creditor. The earth will be completely
laid waste and totally plundered. The Lord has spoken this word."

Here is a sobering prophecy: the earth is going to be devastated by
the Lord, utterly devastated. The finality of the Lord's action is
sealed with these words: "The Lord has spoken this word." It will
happen, period! The only question remains is: when?

Some refuse to accept this, but no matter... it is coming in full
certainty. In the face of the caricatures of whacky people carrying
sandwich signs, "The end is near!", the sophisticates of our day have
been prophesied by Peter, "They will say, 'Where is this "coming" he
promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has
since the beginning of creation.' But they deliberately forget that
long ago by God's word the heavens came into being and the earth was
formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of
that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present
heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of
judgment and destruction of the ungodly." 2 Peter 3:4-7.

The reason for the devastation of the earth is provided in verses 5
and 6 of Isaiah 24, "The earth is defiled by its people; they have
disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting
covenant. Therefore a curse consumes the earth; its people must bear
their guilt. Therefore earth's inhabitants are burned up, and very few
are left."

Peter brings the same news from the Lord, "The day of the Lord will
come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the
elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done
in it will be laid bare." 2 Peter 3:10. Also, in verse 12 we read,
"That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and
the elements will melt in the heat."

Peter goes on to ask a very practical question, "Since everything will
be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be?" Verse
11. He provides his own answer in verses 14, "So then, dear friends,
since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found
spotless, blameless and at peace with him."

The solution for this is stated very simply in Romans 10:9-10, "If you
declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart
that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with
your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your
mouth that you profess your faith and are saved."

Simple, straightforward and true. This world has a shelf life, and
when we hit that date, the world is going to be destroyed. The
destruction is going to come upon everyone at the time, and the only
refuge is to embrace Jesus Christ in faith.

Do so today and insure your place in God's kingdom, a place at his table!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to
hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send
me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are
receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just
respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Man's aspirations, God's plans - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Isaiah 23:8-9,

"Who planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose merchants are princes, whose traders are renowned in the earth?  The Lord Almighty planned it, to bring down her pride in all her splendor and to humble all who are renowned on the earth."

In the prophecy the Lord gave Isaiah concerning his coming judgment of Tyre, he wanted the hearers to understand that the destruction that was to come to Tyre was not happenstance or simply the aspirations of Assyria (and later, Alexander the great) but by the plan of God. Arrogance, as evidenced by the people of Tyre, coupled with a lack of appropriate humility always leads any people far removed from the plans of God and places them in the cross-hairs of his judgment.

The Scriptures teach us that God is the one who created the institution of nations among men, established their existence, and even determines the times and places they will exist. We read of these things in Acts 17:26-27, Romans 13:1-2, etc. His purpose for having mankind divided into nations is to pursue his unique methods of drawing people to himself. Without going into those unique methods here, it is enough to point out that when a nation drifts from its usefulness to God for the building his own kingdom of mankind, it can find itself subject to intervention by God.

The Lord makes an interesting observation of himself and his dealings with nations in Jeremiah 18:7-10, "If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it." See how active God is in the fortunes of nations!

Where we may feel the lives of nations, their rises, their falls, are due to the activities of mankind alone, often we find in Scripture that the activities of mankind can and do lead to God making his own plans as to the outcomes, the prospects of nations. Specifically, the Lord wanted all to know that what happened to Tyre was at the behest of his planning.

I think we all (I include myself in this number) may be astonished to learn of the many things that happen among nations at the planning of God himself. "From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us." Acts 17:26-27.

Tyre had its own aspirations. However, the Lord had his plans for Tyre. What mankind desires will always be subordinated to the plans of God.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Failing to run to safe haven - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Isaiah 22:5-11,

"The Lord, the Lord Almighty, has a day of tumult and trampling and terror in the Valley of Vision, a day of battering down walls and of crying out to the mountains... The Lord stripped away the defenses of Judah, and you looked in that day to the weapons in the Palace of the Forest. You saw that the walls of the City of David were broken through in many places; you stored up water in the Lower Pool. You counted the buildings in Jerusalem and tore down houses to strengthen the wall. You built a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the Old Pool, but you did not look to the One who made it, or have regard for the One who planned it long ago."

As the Lord brought enemies to destroy his own people for their turning from him, we read here that instead of turning to the Lord, instead of crying out for his mercy, his forgiveness, instead of calling to him for help from the advancing forces against them, they continued to ignore the Lord.

Just as their abandonment of the Lord brought his judgment of destruction upon them, so the people of Jerusalem, seeing danger headed their way, made their own preparations instead of looking to the Lord for his deliverance. Here is the ultimate expression of no faith in the Lord.

Often, throughout the Scriptures, we see the Lord bringing his judgment, coupled with the dire threat of disaster, to his people to draw them back to himself. He does it in the hope that the his people might recognize their plight and call out, reach out, to him for help and deliverance, that they may turn back to him.

Often, however, sinful man continues in his sinful ways, abandoning God, rejecting God, rebelling against him. Even with the threat of his judgment hanging over them, people will often ignore their only hope of salvation.

This was true in Isaiah's day and it is true today, as God's judgment looms over all people. Will they throw themselves at the feet of the Savior's mercy? Or continue to go their own way and rely on themselves as Israel did back then?

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Our frightful God! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Isaiah 21:2-4,

"A dire vision has been shown to me... At this my body is racked with pain, pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labor; I am staggered by what I hear, I am bewildered by what I see. My heart falters, fear makes me tremble; the twilight I longed for has become a horror to me."

To be a prophet of God was at times a very painful experience. Isaiah speaks of pain and pangs that seized him like a woman in labor. He staggered from what he saw and heard from the Lord. He trembled from fear and his heart faltered. The solace and rest he longed for at night eluded him as he was horrified. Not a fun occupation.

What strikes me, as I read of what Isaiah suffered in his reaction to the visions of the judgment God was going to bring on Babylon, is the terrifying reality of what God can and will do in his judgment of peoples.

Where some see God in only pastel colors, of a serene disposition and predisposed to only acts of kindness toward everyone, this simply is not how God reveals himself. He tells us in Jeremiah 9:24 that he not only exercises kindness, but also justice. His exercise of each can be overwhelming.

Listen to what Jesus told us, "I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him." Luke 12:4-5. The writer of Hebrews reminds us, "It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Hebrews 10:31.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Who are you relying on? - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Isaiah 20:6,

"In that day the people who live on this coast will say, 'See what has happened to those we relied on, those we fled to for help and deliverance from the king of Assyria! How then can we escape?'"

The Lord had Isaiah walk around stripped and barefoot as a sign of what was to come to Egypt, when the Lord would bring the Assyrians against them. I suspect many have fantasized on what it might have been like to be used by the Lord as one of his prophets. While I am sure many of us would be eager to do whatever it is the Lord would have us do, I'm pretty happy he hasn't called me for the job these ancient and wonderful saints of old performed for the Lord.

In any event, along with the visual of a barefoot and naked prophet (for three years!), symbolizing the coming judgment of God against Egypt and Cush, (who will have the king of the Assyrians lead the Egyptian captives into exile barefoot and naked), an eye-opening comment is quoted of those who sought their help from Egypt against Assyria. When Egypt falls, any help they may have received from Egypt will be gone.

Here is a timeless truth. When facing trouble, reliance upon help will only be as good and reliable as that help is. In life, wise people find their help in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. As a refuge and help, there is none that comes close. Certainly, on judgment day, there will be no help available at all, except the Son of God himself who gave himself as a ransom for many. On that day, Jesus Christ will stand in defense at the side of each who embraced him in faith.

Those who look to a nanny-state to provide for them, those who look to politicians to aid them, those who look to the culture and society and the world, those who look to other individuals for help, for deliverance, for escape, will all ultimately face the gravest disappointment!

The Lord is our strength, he is our refuge in times of trouble! He is the one who can help us in our need. Our greatest need will come the day we stand before the judgment of God.

The "progressives" (nothing progressive about this group), socialists, politicians, religious leaders and others claim to be the help we all need. Don't be deceived. Find your help in God alone!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Egypt's God, Assyria's God, my God! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 19:23-25,

"In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, 'Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.'"

As with the Lord's announcement of his judgement against Jerusalem and Judah followed with a future blessing in the next age, so in the Lord's announcement of his judgement against Egypt. A day will come when the people of Egypt will become God's people, a bright future to look forward to. The same will be true of the peoples of Assyria!

The reality of God being the God of all the peoples on planet earth is on display here. Where once, when only Israel was known as God's people, a day comes when peoples from all nations will be God's people. In Jesus Christ, where the gospel is to go out to all nations, all the peoples of the earth have opportunity to join God's kingdom. Jews and Gentiles alike. All people of the earth can be God's people.

Consistent with the revelation that all people are invited into God's kingdom, Assyria and Egypt, along with Israel will all, one day, embrace Jesus Christ as their Savior, and thereby become his people, "Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance." This looks forward toward the next age, when all the nations of the world become the nations of Jesus Christ. Where Egypt is yet among the family of nations today, Assyria is not, however, from this once world power, a people will emerge as the "handiwork" of the Lord.

Where would I be today if God had not included Gentiles in the target of his agenda of building his kingdom? Where would that leave me? Thanks be to God that in his love of all mankind, his mercy was extended even to me - someone so far removed from the people of God! And, how fascinating the world will be when a highway, the highway of God, will exist between Israel, Egypt to her south and Assyria to her north!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Trevor Fisk

trevor.fisk@gmail.com