Today's Readings and Stuff -- Tuesday, 04 September 2018

Happy Tuesday.  Most  people are back to work today, the 3-day (or so) weekend behind them.

Wife's on the phone, trying to re-schedule some doctor appointments to when we have money for co-pays (and gas).  30th wedding anniversary is next Monday and it won't involve trips to Europe or big family gatherings.  Probably just the two of us and a cupcake.  But we have each other, and that is worth a lot.  We know too many who won't have that.  She's such a blessing to me, and to many others over the years.


A bit of a different song of the day.  God On The Mountain.   I've long enjoyed Lynda Randle who sang this, and the text is worth noting.  No, it's not "high church", but it's a plain and honest statement of the faith we have, that the Lord never leaves us.  No matter what.

Life is easy, when you're up on the mountain

And you've got peace of mind, like you've never known

But things change, when you're down in the valley

Don't lose faith, for you're never alone

For the God on the mountain, is still God in the valley

When things go wrong, He'll make them right

And the God of the good times

Is still God in the bad times

The God of the day is still God in the night

You talk of faith when you’re up on the mountain

Oh, but the talk comes easy when life's at its best

Now it’s down in the valleys, of trials and temptations

That's where your faith, is really put to the test

But, please, watch all of this.  Farther Along with Joni Eareackson Tada.  This is a testimony!



========================================
Today, chapters 9 and 10 in Isaiah.  You may recognize some of these verses as being prophetic of the coming Christ. They are.  Isaiah had quite a mission.


Isaiah 9

1Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.of the nations: or, populous

2The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.

3Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.not: or, to him

4For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian.For…: or, When thou brakest

5For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.For…: or, When the whole battle of the warrior was, etc.but…: or, and it was, etc.fuel: Heb. meat

6For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

7Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

8The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel.

9And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart,

10The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.

11Therefore the Lord shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together;join: Heb. mingle

12The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.open: Heb. whole

13For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the Lord of hosts.

14Therefore the Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day.

15The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.

16For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.the leaders: or, they that call them blessedled of: or, called blessed ofdestroyed: Heb. swallowed up

17Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.folly: or, villany

18For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke.

19Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother.fuel: Heb. meat

20And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm:snatch: Heb. cut

21Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

Isaiah 10

1Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;that write…: or, to the writers that write grievousness

2To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!

3And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?

4Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

5O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.O…: or, Woe to the Assyrian: Heb. Asshurand: or, though

6I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.tread…: Heb. lay them a treading

7Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.

8For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings?

9Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus?

10As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria;

11Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?

12Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.punish: Heb. visit uponstout…: Heb. greatness of the heart

13For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man:a valiant…: or, many people

14And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.

15Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.the rod…: or, a rod should shake them that lift it upitself, as if…: or, that which is not wood

16Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire.

17And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day;

18And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when a standardbearer fainteth.both…: Heb. from the soul, and even to the flesh

19And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them.few: Heb. number

20And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

21The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.

22For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness.of them: Heb. in, or, among, etc.with: or, in

23For the Lord God of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the land.

24Therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt.and shall…: or, but he shall lift up his staff for

25For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction.

26And the Lord of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and as his rod was upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt.

27And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.be taken…: Heb. remove

28He is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron; at Michmash he hath laid up his carriages:

29They are gone over the passage: they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled.

30Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim: cause it to be heard unto Laish, O poor Anathoth.Lift…: Heb. Cry shrill with

31Madmenah is removed; the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee.

32As yet shall he remain at Nob that day: he shall shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.

33Behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled.

34And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.

============================================

Today,chapter 6 in the Proverbs.  I've taken this from the New King James translation, I think it's more readable and uses words more understandable these days, due to the changes over the last 400 years.

Proverbs 6

Dangerous Promises

1My son, Prov. 11:15if you become surety for your friend,

If you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger,

2You are snared by the words of your mouth;

You are taken by the words of your mouth.

3So do this, my son, and deliver yourself;

For you have come into the hand of your friend:

Go and humble yourself;

Plead with your friend.

4Ps. 132:4Give no sleep to your eyes,

Nor slumber to your eyelids.

5Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of thehunter,

And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

The Folly of Indolence

6Job 12:7Go to the ant, you sluggard!

Consider her ways and be wise,

7Which, having no captain,

Overseer or ruler,

8Provides her supplies in the summer,

And gathers her food in the harvest.

9Prov. 24:33, 34How long will you slumber, O sluggard?

When will you rise from your sleep?

10A little sleep, a little slumber,

A little folding of the hands to sleep—

11Prov. 10:4So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler,

And your need like an armed man.

The Wicked Man

12A worthless person, a wicked man,

Walks with a perverse mouth;

13Job 15:12; Ps. 35:19; Prov. 10:10He winks with his eyes,

He shuffles his feet,

He points with his fingers;

14Perversity is in his heart,

Prov. 3:29; Mic. 2:1He devises evil continually,

Prov. 6:19He sows discord.

15Therefore his calamity shall come Prov. 24:22; Is. 30:13; 1 Thess. 5:3suddenly;

Suddenly he shall Jer. 19:11be broken 2 Chr. 36:16without remedy.

16These six things the Lord hates,

Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:

17Ps. 101:5; Prov. 21:4A proud look,

Ps. 120:2; Prov. 12:22A lying tongue,

Deut. 19:10; Prov. 28:17; Is. 1:15Hands that shed innocent blood,

18Gen. 6:5; Ps. 36:4; Prov. 24:2; Jer. 18:18; Mark 14:1, 43–46A heart that devises wicked plans,

2 Kin. 5:20–27; Is. 59:7; Rom. 3:15Feet that are swift in running to evil,

19Ps. 27:12; Prov. 19:5, 9; Matt. 26:59–66A false witness who speaks lies,

And one who Prov. 6:14; 1 Cor. 1:11–13; (Jude 3, 4, 16–19)sows discord among brethren.

Beware of Adultery

20Eph. 6:1My son, keep your father’s command,

And do not forsake the law of your mother.

21Prov. 3:3Bind them continually upon your heart;

Tie them around your neck.

22(Prov. 3:23)When you roam, they will lead you;

When you sleep, Prov. 2:11they will keep you;

And when you awake, they will speak with you.

23Ps. 19:8; 2 Pet. 1:19For the commandment is a lamp,

And the law a light;

Reproofs of instruction are the way of life,

24Prov. 2:16To keep you from the evil woman,

From the flattering tongue of a seductress.

25Matt. 5:28Do not lust after her beauty in your heart,

Nor let her allure you with her eyelids.

26For Prov. 29:3by means of a harlot

A man is reduced to a crust of bread;

Gen. 39:14And an adulteress will Ezek. 13:18prey upon his precious life.

27Can a man take fire to his bosom,

And his clothes not be burned?

28Can one walk on hot coals,

And his feet not be seared?

29So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife;

Whoever touches her shall not be innocent.

30People do not despise a thief

If he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving.

31Yet when he is found, Ex. 22:1–4he must restore sevenfold;

He may have to give up all the substance of his house.

32Whoever commits adultery with a woman Prov. 7:7lacks understanding;

He who does so destroys his own soul.

33Wounds and dishonor he will get,

And his reproach will not be wiped away.

34For Prov. 27:4; Song 8:6jealousy is a husband’s fury;

Therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.

35He will accept no recompense,

Nor will he be appeased though you give many gifts.

============================================

Our passage here is one that we could, and should, chew over every phrase.  I think we could spend weeks on verse 5 alone, and not exhaust it.  And probably should do so.  Do we have the mind of Christ?  Always?  Perhaps you do, but I fall far short.


Phillipians 2

1If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,

2Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

3Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

4Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

5Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

6Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

7But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

8And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

9Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:

10That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

11And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

12Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

13For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

14Do all things without murmurings and disputings:

15That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

16Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.

17Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.

18For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me.

19But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state.

20For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state.

21For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's.

22But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel.

23Him therefore I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me.

24But I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly.

25Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labour, and fellowsoldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants.

26For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick.

27For indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.

28I sent him therefore the more carefully, that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful.

29Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness; and hold such in reputation:

30Because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death, not regarding his life, to supply your lack of service toward me.