fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383 
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Post by fearnot on Oct 23, 2024 19:01:46 GMT -5
Well there is that Cindy!
My timing is never the right timing
since I don't know a zillion trillion billion ,
other things the Lord knows.
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Post by Cindy on Oct 25, 2024 10:11:50 GMT -5
Yep, me too Barbara!
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
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Post by fearnot on Oct 29, 2024 11:07:43 GMT -5
"You will winnow them,
and the wind will carry them away,
And the storm will scatter them;
But you will rejoice in the LORD,
You will boast in the Holy One of Israel.
Isaiah 41:16
This is in the future,
when Israel will crush and scatter her enemies.
I think we are seeing a hint of it,
even now in our day.
"The poor and needy are seeking water,
but there is none,
And their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the LORD, will answer them Myself;
As the God of Israel I will not abandon them.
Being thirsty is often not only a physical need,
of life giving water,
but even more so, of a spiritual need.
God can provide for both kinds of needs,
by His Divine mercy and compassion.
In a way, being in this difficult,
and near life threatening condition,
can be seen as a mercy in itself,
because then,
people turn to the only True and living hope,
God!
When people are rich in this world,
they often forget God. They don't see a need for God.
Jesus said to his disciples,
“Truly, I say to you,
only with difficulty will a rich person
enter the kingdom of heaven.
Again I tell you,
it is easier for a camel to go through
the eye of a needle
than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
Matthew 19:23, 24
How easy is it for a camel
to go thru the eye of a needle?
It is impossible!
However, Jesus did add some hope:
Jesus looked at them and said,
“With man this is impossible,
but with God all things are possible
Matthew 19:26
God promises not to abandon them.
People often feel 'abandoned' when
they are poor.
They think God has blessed the rich!
However, this is seldom the case.
It is the rich, that are often in the most
precarious position!
In our day, just look at the lives
of many of the rich and famous.
How many are into drugs, all manner of sexual sins,
drink like fishes, and on and on.
Jesus said this:
36 For what does it profit a man
to gain the whole world
and forfeit his soul?
37 For what can a man give
in return for his soul?
Mark 8:36,37
On the other hand,
this is what God will do.
"I will open rivers on the bare heights,
And springs in the midst of the valleys;
I will make the wilderness a pool of water,
And the dry land fountains of water.
Isaiah 41:18
God can (and does) continue to provide,
and He sometimes does it with miracles,
both back then, now and in the future.
Done for Today
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Post by Cindy on Oct 31, 2024 10:50:00 GMT -5
Amen! Thank you Barbara!
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
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Post by fearnot on Nov 11, 2024 16:36:11 GMT -5
"I will put the cedar in the wilderness,
The acacia, the myrtle, and the olive tree;
I will place the juniper in the desert,
Together with the elm tree and the cypress,
Isaiah 41:19
For some reason this makes me think of the environmentalists of today.
God intends to redeem nature for a time
but also...this earth is expendable
because He will eventually end this universe and create a whole new one.
But in this verse at the time,
he will not only provide water, etc.
but beautiful shade trees....
abundant mercies and comforts.
This ought to silence their fears,
and foster more faith...
their God is an all sufficient God!
And God basically says so in this next verse:
So that they may see and recognize,
And consider and gain insight as well,
That the hand of the LORD has done this,
And the Holy One of Israel has created it.
Isaiah 41:20
Since God has supplied their needs,
they could count on His being able to do even greater miracles!
If such restoration is easy for the Lord,
other greater miracles are also!
If we start looking at our personal lives,
I think we will see that God
has done many miracles in our lives as well...
But if not,
( or we don't see it yet)
He may just be planning many big ones for us!
But be assured,
no wood, silver or golden image/idol
can do anything...
"I am the LORD,
and there is no one else;
There is no God except Me.
Isaiah 45:5
In fact,
in the next few verses
God is going to address that issue.
Done for today
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Post by oliverwithatwist on Nov 12, 2024 15:10:17 GMT -5
I am positive we will be beyond shocked and amazed at how beautiful and peaceful the new heaven and earth will be!
I and very humbly and prayerfully looking forward to that glorious day.
This world is so ugly and evil.
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
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Post by fearnot on Nov 12, 2024 16:21:57 GMT -5
I agree Oliver!!! :(
But it does prove God's Word is THE truth!!!
It is exactly as He said it would be.
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
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Post by fearnot on Nov 15, 2024 13:14:38 GMT -5
"Present your case," the LORD says.
"Bring forward your evidence,"
The King of Jacob says.
Isaiah 41:20
God challenges the idols
(and the markers and worshippers of the idols)
to present their case...
as in a court session.
As the King of Jacob
God is taking the cause of His people.
The case will be decided on things like:
Can they predict future events,
or perhaps they can explain the significance of past events;
but even more to the point,
can they actually do 'anything' at all,
either good or evil?
As demanded in this verse:
Let them bring them forward
and declare to us
what is going to take place;
As for the former events,
declare what they were,
So that we may consider them
and know their outcome.
Or announce to us what is coming;
Isaiah 41:22
God invited them to take up the challenge
and proclaim these things.
It is a given that God can,
and does do,
all of those things,
and so much more!!!
But can they do even these basic things
the ONE and ONLY God can do?
This is what supposedly
was a major preoccupation of idol gods....
divination..... was their main stay!
Not just an obscure ambiguous guess
and not just one event...
God predicts a plethora of events
right up to the end of this universe
when he will create a new Heaven and a new Earth!!!
But wood and silver, gold idols
( and the markers of such abominations)....
They don't even know the past!!
God continues to frame the way,
the basis on which,
they are to prove
themselves 'gods':
Declare the things that are going to come afterward,
So that we may know that you are gods;
Indeed, do good or evil,
that we may be afraid and fear together.
Isaiah 41:23
Note: God asks,
not just for one
'hopeful' guess,
but God asks:
Declare the 'things'...'
'things''
is in the plural!
The prediction of actual,
clear and concise future events,
is the highest evidence of omniscience!
ONLY God can know the future!
But further God asks them
to do ANYTHING...
Good or Evil
in order to show that the idols
were not dead, inactive and powerless
pieces of wood or silver,
But of course, they cannot and therefore are not 'gods' at all!!
God already knew they were absolutely dead pieces of wood
and therefore couldn't do anything!
So God's people had nothing to be afraid of!!
And here is God's pronouncement on the idols:
Behold, you are less than nothing,
And your work is less than nothing!
He who chooses you is an abomination.
Isaiah 41:24
The idols are not what their human makers claimed
the idols to be.( mostly lied about).
Even if they had been cast in gold!
They were an abomination.
The idols could not perform any of the challenges,
and therefore were completely useless at best,
but trusting in the idols was fatal,
for those who believed in them,
The idols were as good as 'nothing',
in fact, less than nothing,
because the followers of them,
were tragically on a path to Hell....
instead of the true God and His salvation.
Done for today
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Post by Cindy on Nov 19, 2024 11:03:55 GMT -5
Very true! Thanks Barbara, I appreciate all the work you put into this!
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
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Post by fearnot on Nov 19, 2024 18:16:50 GMT -5
As always, thank you so much for your encouragement Cindy!!!
Due to pain, sleepiness, and age etc.
I don't always manage to keep this up the way, I would like :(
But, I keep trying, and your words do help a ton!!!
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
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Post by fearnot on Nov 19, 2024 19:18:36 GMT -5
"I have put one from the north into motion,
and he has come;
From the rising of the sun he will call on My name;
And he will come upon rulers as upon mortar,
As the potter treads on clay."
Isaiah 41:25
This would be Cyrus of Persia...
proving God is able to predict future events!
But also that the idols had zero ability to predict the future.
And really, Just think of the world today,
and the predictions God has made about the end times
( not hundreds of years ahead but thousands!).
So Cyrus comes from the North where he is (was) then,
but from the rising of the sun ( east),
because that was where he was born.
He called upon the name of the Lord, when he restored
the Jews to their home land.
These oracles of God were not forgotten by the Jews,
while they were captive in Babylon, but shows idols
are useless and God is all knowing.
Who has declared this from the beginning,
that we might know?
Or from former times, that we may say, "He is right!"?
There was no one at all who declared,
There was no one at all who proclaimed,
There was no one at all who heard your words.
Isaiah 41:26
Not one of the soothsayers had predicted,
the birth, the character, and the conquests of Cyrus!
Are we getting the picture yet?
Again, God attacks dead, dumb, and useless idols!
no one hears their words, because they cannot speak!!
Done for Today!
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!!
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