Our Inscrutable And Surprising God - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Isaiah 64:4,

"Since ancient times no one has heard,
    no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
    who acts on behalf of those who wait for him."

Paul quoted this verse in speaking of God's wisdom some seven centuries later in 1 Corinthians 2:9, "We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we declare God's wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
However, as it is written:
'What no eye has seen,
    what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived"—
    the things God has prepared for those who love him—
these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.'"

Our God is unique. He does unexpected things, as Isaiah points out in verse 3, "For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you." He is inscrutable and unpredictable in his own purposes. He does things that are mysterious, and not readily understood.

Because our God is enigmatic, there are those things which are simply fascinating to muse upon. Consider John's observation, "Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." 1 John 3:2. Because we know that God "acts on behalf of those who wait for him", what he has in store for us for all eternity is beyond our wildest imagination!

I'm sure you can think of other things to muse upon considering the inscrutability of God and his passion for us!

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!

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The Kindness Of God Is A Wonder! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Isaiah 63:7-9,

"I will tell of the kindnesses of the Lord,
    the deeds for which he is to be praised,
    according to all the Lord has done for us—
yes, the many good things
    he has done for Israel,
    according to his compassion and many kindnesses.
He said, 'Surely they are my people,
    children who will be true to me';
    and so he became their Savior.
In all their distress he too was distressed,
    and the angel of his presence saved them.
In his love and mercy he redeemed them;
    he lifted them up and carried them
    all the days of old."
 
As the prophet tells of the wonderful things the Lord has done for Israel, he focuses on his kindness.

Kindness is one of the preeminent qualities of our God. As I think about this quality that marks his personality, I think of how wonderful a God he is.

What would he be like if his personality was not permeated with kindness? What a frightful thought!  But that is not the case. His kindness is expressed in his compassion as the above text says.

So strong is his compassion that as Israel was distressed in their past captivity in Egypt (if I'm reading this right), so he was distressed as well!

To think that when God's people feel pain, hurt, hardship, distress – our God does as well. It is an amazing testimony to his empathy and kindness to us today, as his people - expressed in his compassion for us.

Here is what brought Jesus Christ into the world to save us, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son…"

What a God of wonder!

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!

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The Bride Of The Lord - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Isaiah 62:5,

"As a young man marries a young woman,
    so will your Builder marry you;
as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,
    so will your God rejoice over you."

This verse is addressed to Zion. However, its ultimate fulfillment extends well beyond Jerusalem and the people of Israel. As Paul reminds us, "...it is not the children by physical descent who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring." Romans 9:8. It is all peoples of the earth who embrace God as Abraham did that will become his "bride." Paul says in Romans 4:11-12, "He [Abraham] is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised."

The Lord rejoices over us, all of us who have embraced him, just as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride!

We read of us as his bride in Revelation 19:6-8, where a great multitude rejoices,
"Hallelujah!
    For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and be glad
    and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
    and his bride has made herself ready.
Fine linen, bright and clean,
    was given her to wear."

As a fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy we read, "I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death" or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.'" Revelation 21:2-4.

Just astonishing!

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!

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A Very Favorable Day! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Isaiah 61:1-2a,

"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor..."

Jesus read this passage from a scroll of Isaiah some seven hundred years later, at the synagogue in Nazareth and applied it to himself:
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
     to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Lule 4:18-19.

In Luke's gospel, this takes place just after his baptism by John and his forty day fast in the wilderness where he was tempted by the devil. The reaction of the people in the synagogue was anger and hostility after he pointed out to them that prophets are not accepted in their hometowns. They were so angry they drove him out of town and took him to a cliff where they intended to throw him off. We are simply told he walked right through the crowd and "went on his way."

That "good news" he was sent to proclaim to the poor was in conjunction with the atonement he made of himself when he died on that cross. Since his death, burial, resurrection and ascension into heaven, his good news, the gospel, has been at work among all mankind. As the passage in Isaiah says, he was sent by God, with the Holy Spirit upon him. He has set himself to make a people for himself.

The good news includes encouragement for the brokenhearted, freedom for us all, as we are all captives of sin. He removes the veil of the "thick darkness" that obscures the vision of all of us sinners and he releases us from God's judgment of eternal death to bring us eternal life. All he asks of us is to embrace him in faith!

Surely this is the day of the Lord's favor!

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!

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A Thick Darkness Is Penetrated! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Isaiah 60:1-3,

"Arise, shine, for your light has come,
    and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth
    and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you
    and his glory appears over you.
Nations will come to your light,
    and kings to the brightness of your dawn."

In a chapter that reveals the amazing glory that awaits God's people following this age, it begins with the removal of a "thick darkness." This "thick darkness" is a term that expresses a shroud that settled over the human race following the fall of mankind in the garden of Eden. Sin separated us from God and our sinful condition has created a veil or dark cover that prevents all of us from seeing and apprehending the Lord, the spiritual realm and spiritual truth.

This "thick darkness" is seen in John's writing, "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." 1 John 2:11.

This "thick darkness" motif is seen in Isaiah 9:2 where the coming of Jesus Christ was prophesied 700 years before he arrived, "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned." Matthew tells us Jesus came to dispel that "thick darkness" as he came as a light to the world, in his quote of this passage.. Matthew 4:15-16.

Jesus proclaimed, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." John 8:12.

How wonderful is that?!

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!

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Out Of His Love God Sends His Redeemer - Ruminating in the Word of God

Note: I will be on vacation all next week. Have a great next week and we'll see you all the following week!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Isaiah 59:2-8,

"… your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear… Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are evil thoughts; ruin and destruction mark their ways. The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks in them will know peace."
 
The Lord's indictment against his people is horrific. Paul quotes this passage and applies it to all mankind in Romans 3. What a bleak existence for mankind (at his own doing)! What a bleak world in which to live! Our sin separated us from God and "his face" is hidden from mankind. These are the opening verses to chapter 59 – but look at the close of the chapter:
 
"'The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,' declares the Lord. 'As for me, this is my covenant with them,' says the Lord. 'My Spirit, who is on you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of their descendants from this time on and forever,' says the Lord."
 
How astonishing that our God would send the "Redeemer" to such people as us! Can there be any greater cause for hearts full of appreciation? What a love shown to us, whose hearts are desperately wicked. What a love shown to us who deserve a much different outcome!

What a heart of love our Heavenly Father has!

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!

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Our God Wants Us To Draw Near To Him - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Isaiah 58:2,

"For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them."
 
The Lord brings an indictment against his people. They seem to seek God but their lives do not demonstrate it. They have sought the Lord through fasting, etc. but their lives manifested an inconsistency in their hearts. As this passage goes on to say, if the Lord's people would seek him with their hearts as demonstrated in their actions they would find joy in him and enjoy an inheritance from him.
 
As I think about this issue for us, folks in the church, and especially in my own life, I find what the Lord has done is remarkable. In Jeremiah 31:33 we read: "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the Lord. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people."
 
Our hearts, like the Jews in exile, are desperately wicked – subject to a sin nature we all have inherited from Adam. Jesus Christ said from within a man, out of his heart, comes all kinds of evil and wickedness. And so God determined he would pour his Holy Spirit into our hearts when we embrace Jesus Christ through faith. That old sin nature is still there, but now there is a new nature and as Paul tells us in Romans 8, we are controlled no longer by the sin nature but by the Holy Spirit.
 
At times we struggle with sin (I know I do) but the wonder of God is that if we draw near to God he will draw near to us. We are told to set our hearts and minds not on rules and laws against sin, but on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God (Colossians 3:1-2). Also, Hebrews 12:2-3, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." I know those I have encountered in my own life who set their hearts and minds on Jesus Christ and I have seen how they exude the fruit of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, kindness, gentleness, etc.
 
How wonderful our God would see fit to dwell within us through his Holy Spirit! How wonderful he will draw near to us if we draw near to him (James 4:8)! How wonderful we discover the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives as we draw near to him!
 
How sad we do not draw near to the Lord at times, we don't set our hearts and minds on Jesus Christ at times, as his word gathers dust on our coffee tables and he waits to hear from us.
 
Let's follow the writer of Hebrews admonition, Hebrews 10:19-25, "Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

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 reply and let me know.