Graves' This and That

    Have you ever noticed that the object you purchased which you thought would thrill your heart has instead been a great disappointment?  In reading Isaiah 55, a question is put forth by Isaiah: "Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?"  In contrast, Isaiah mentions several thoughts which will bring satisfaction:  Come to the Lord as Savior and Lord in salvation.  To make that choice requires no money, and the invitation is an open invite...ya'll come! It requires a willingness to receive the invitation. Coming to Him, we can experience our soul, (mind, will, and emotions) to be nourished and nurtured.  His thoughts and ways are the highest in quality for our spiritual welfare, and we can align our mindset to His purposes for us. His every spoken or written Word will accomplish what He has purposed.  Promise made; Promise kept!  Our obedience to His Word is encouraged.   The result of r...

    I have not seen some of the "precious ruins" of great architecture of the ages, but I have seen some of what I have perceived as "ruins" from my own life. As I am finishing up my reading of Isaiah, I saw these verses and thought of my "ruins"... "The Lord will surely comfort Zion (I put my name in the place of Zion) and will look with compassion on all her ruins; HE will make her deserts like the garden of the Lord.  Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing." Isaiah 51:3.  I also saw the passage marked with a date asking the Lord to make my "ruins" a garden.   I usually have a "saying" about some of the events of my life and when I eyeball what I perceive as a ruin or a mess, (hot or cold!) I have applied the truth of Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." Of course ALL in HIS pur...

Reading from Isaiah 43 and 44, I found two verses which are great reminders to those of us who seem to have a sensitive conscience:  "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions , for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more."  Isa. 43:25 and Isaiah 44:22, "I have swept away your offenses (transgressions) like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist.  Return to me, for I have redeemed you."  Here are my thoughts after digging around for the Hebrew of some words to allow the verses to be more personal.  1.  Blots :  to stoke, or rub, wipe, abolish, erase. 2.  Transgressions :  pesha, rebellion especially refusal to respond to rightful authority. 3.  Remember :  mention, with intention will not remember. 4.  Sins : chattah: habitual sins. 5.  Swept away :  blot, abolish, wipe, erase. 6.  Redeemed :  to buy back(from a slave block).  My Lord God has erased my rebellion for His sak...

  There is a consistent truth that runs through-out God's Word...we humans are most needy!  Over the years, I have felt ashamed that I am so needy.  I have holed up in the Psalms off and on for years, and I have FINALLY begun to notice that the psalmists with all their physical and mental assets were NEEDY!  Do a quick accounting looking over the Psalms and you will find that many of them are about praise and thanksgiving, but most of them are about a care, a need, wondering if God was hearing their prayer, desperate cries of alarm, distress, and pleas to defend the psalmist against his foes. Aha!  2 Corinthians 12:8-9, Paul's thorn in the flesh, "Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.  But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness."  Why do I need to pray?  Because I AM needy and it is my agreement with the Lord God that I need HIM desperately to intervene and it is my choice to...

  Israel is returning from Babylonian captivity and God has a message for them by way of Isaiah.  In Isaiah 40, God asks several questions for Israel to consider. " Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand?  Who has held the dust of the earth in a bucket?  Who has understood the mind of the Lord or instructed Him as His counselor?  Whom did the Lord consult....?  Who taught Him the right way?  Who has taught Him knowledge?  Who showed Him the path of understanding?"   HE desires that Israel might acknowledge and worship HIM rather than the work of their hands.    " To whom, then will you compare God?  What image will you compare Him to?"  In reading Isaiah and the New Testament, one can easily see that Israel just didn't  "get" it.  I perceive that these are very valid questions that we need to inquire of ourselves.  It is very obvious that our God is peerless!  No one or the work of ou...

  There are a couple (that I will mention) of material things that escape my attention occasionally:  my phone and my keys!  Age is not always the blame either!  I find that the culprit is usually my carelessness for not paying attention to where I place the items.   Today, as I was reading in Isaiah 33, verses 5-6 caught my eye: "The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high; He will fill Zion with justice and righteousness.  He will be the sure foundation for your times , a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure."     Just from a very simplistic observation of "the times" I see some of the foundations which we as American Christ followers have long treasured becoming more and more elusive. I see red flags reminding me that even though it may appear that evil is having a hay-day, Almighty God knows exactly what HE is doing and allowing, and my superior option is to TRUST HIM...

     Israel expresses her dismay, " But Zion said, 'The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.  Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?  Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.  Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me."  Isaiah 49:14-16  Engraving was practiced by the ancients so this was not a new expression to the people of that day.  The engraving was done by burning or puncturing a memento or figure on the hand, arms, etc.  It was usually colored by rubbing in henna, indigo, or some other colored substance.  Imagine with me as the Lord, Himself, speaks to Israel, "I have you engraved on the palms of my hands..."  To further show His remembrance of you and me, the nail print would certainly leave a further assurance of His remembrance.   What love, not just shown with verbal e...

  As I was reading this morning in Isaiah, I came to a promise, which I know, but I can become a practicing atheist in application of the truth at times.  " You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast (leans or props) because he trusts in You.  Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal."  Isaiah 26:3-4.  Sometimes, when circumstances press hard, I am sadly appalled on what I have a tendency to lean.  I usually have to begin pushing aside all the trash heap of what I have tried to lean on and has already failed me : ability, intelligence, my own understanding, possessions, emotions, insecurities, other humans...can be an exhaustive list. I wished that I could learn ONCE AND FOR ALL, but Father God has a way of allowing circumstances to reveal to me whether I have leaned that truth or not.  I focus on several words in the promise:   keep:  guard, watch steadfast: LEAN UPON perfect peace: peace ...

  My reading has diverted me from Isaiah, at the present, to Micah, a contemporary of Isaiah.  Micah was a prophet in Israel, ministering in 742 BC,  yet his prophecies are addressed to Israel and Judah.  I will return to Isaiah again. Micah has several nuggets of value, but I will focus on the largest nugget of gold.  It is found in Micah 7:18 -19, "Who is a God like you, who pardons sins and forgives the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance?  You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.  You will again have compassion on us; You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depth of the sea." What a rich truth and reassurance of God's love and forgiveness...GRACE!  I wondered the highest and the lowest of the earth?  Mariana's Trench in the western Pacific Ocean is 36, 037 feet deep or about 7 miles deep.  The highest point on the Earth is Mount Everest which is 29,027 feet above sea level....

      Isaiah is one of my heroes in Scripture.  I decided for today to light on Isaiah 9.  He has a message for Judah, which is not one that everyone will be desirous to hear.  In the midst of hearing from God about His judgment for sin on Judah, God opens a wider door on His message for Isaiah, and in the midst of gloom and distress, the spirit of hope and His grace shine brilliantly.  Isaiah is speaking to northern Judah, specifically Galilee,  where the major hit of the Assyrian invasions have been focused.  Look at his prophesy which was 700 years before Christ was born: " The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; so those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned."  Galilee was also the area where the majority of the ministry of Jesus took place.  God certainly had a special blessing for this seemingly insignificant land!  Verses 6-8 is the prophesy which pertains to the Chris...

      There are several observations that I make as I read the Major and Minor Prophet Books in Scripture:  Many of the prophets had visions, some with sight and sound; their prophesies were both for then and the future; and their great grief over the message that they had to deliver to Israel or Judah in order to remain true to their calling by God.  Thrown into the mix of God's wrath and judgment on sin which infected the people and their heart and lifestyle, we see GRACE.  Grace as God reveals to the prophet how He is going to restore and gather the enslaved people back to Israel and Judah. Grace in His plan of correction and discipline as He always includes a reminder of the coming Messiah.   The people went out of their homeland in slavery, in great numbers, but will come back to their homeland as a remnant. Please see the grace of the Lord as He has been long-suffering and patient with the people.  Father God has been gracious enough...

  In my time in the Word and with the Lord this morning, there are several decisions that need to be made. As I was mulling over the decisions and asking the Holy Spirit to give His counsel, which is one of His best "job assignments", He went rogue on me and left the request at hand.  He moved to fingering me about always wanting and trying to be Right.  In defense, I could claim my position as an only child and having no one else to push blame on and hating pain and correction, so I just chose to try to do right. In trying to be right and do right, I could escape a spanking,  a forfeit of something special, or a lecture!  Goodness, I dreaded the lectures.  Too bad I didn't remember that fact when I corrected three sons!   The COUNSELOR brought it to my attention that it was NOT about my being an only child and hating pain, but rather about my pride and always wanting to be right and do right, ie, vindication and performance!  That fragrance ha...

In reading the Bible through, I have chosen for several years to use a plan of reading chronologically.  I understand that the reading may not be the exact time of the event, but the plan is usually set up on far better knowledge of the timing of events than my pay grade and my meager ability to do the digging for the information.  I am always amazed at the reading how it may have been written a few thousand years ago, yet it still speaks to 2017.  My plan has placed me in Isaiah for several chapters, and then it has thrown me into Amos.  Amos is the prophet during the reign of Jeroboam in Israel and Uzziah in Judah.  Amos is the prophet to Israel at this time, 760 BC.  He is a farmer and a sheep herder by profession, but God has raised him up to deliver His message to Israel.  He also was given visions. In chapter 7:1, Jehovah Adonai speaks to Amos.  He saw the Lord standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb.  He is holding a p...

      Isaiah has ministered during the reign of kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, and Manasseh.  He served Judah and Israel for some 60 years.  Presently the year is 735 and Ahaz is now king of Judah.  Tragically, he was one of the most wicked of Judah.   In chapter 7, Ahaz is all in a tizz because the king of Israel and the king of Aram are preparing to come against him in warfare.  Isaiah has been given a message by the Lord to give to Ahaz.  "Be careful, keep calm, and don't be afraid.  Do not lose heart...." Sovereign Lord speaks to Ahaz and his people who have been terribly frightened shaking like leaves in the wind. Very simply, Sovereign Lord speaks, " It will not take place, it will not happen..." The Sovereign Lord concludes with this statement to Ahaz, " If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all."  Just know, Ahaz did not stand firmly, for he later aligns with Assyria, and it w...

    The year is about 740 BC, King Uzziah has died.  Even though Uzziah was a successful king, and Judah has known great economic blessings, the people have become "fat and sassy" in their affluence and corrupt in affairs with their own people. Of course, as the hearts of Judah have become more susceptible to greed and corruption, so has their devotion to the Jehovah God.   In the sixth chapter, Isaiah enters the temple for worship.  He seems to be given a vision of sights and sounds (I have not experienced that phenomenon, but several of the prophets of Scripture have that ability.).  Note what Isaiah sees:  The Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted.  Several thoughts come to my mind for me to grasp and hang on to.  The Lord seated ....not pacing, wringing His hands, and not in a quandary about His course of action. He is authority and ruler.  He is in control, regardless of what life feels like or look like!  He can handle...

Every time I sign a document, I pause and  consider my different names/signatures/titles I have used in the seasons of  my life:  as a child, first marriage license, college graduation, teaching certificate, renewed teaching certificate, second marriage license, income tax, and passport signatures.  As I work through the Old Testament, I am taken by the different signatures of God.  The myriads of ways that God expresses Himself to us in Scripture.  It is His desire that we know Him personally and intimately.   Isaiah uses several of God's titles as He expresses Himself in Isaiah 1.  We see Lord, Jehovah, Holy One Jehovah Kadosh , Lord of Hosts, Jehovah Saboath , and Avir Yisra`el .   As I see His names in reading this chapter, my heart and mind quickly run to Jehovah Saboath.   I always applaud heroes and their willingness to stand alone, sometimes, in the fight of life.   With the eyes of my heart, I can SEE Jehovah Saboath, ...

        For now, I will be reading and camping out in Isaiah.  Isaiah's name means Salvation of the the Lord.  He was a prophet in Judah and God used him as His mouthpiece to speak and to influence four kings of Judah: Uzziah, Jothan, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.  His ministry began about 740 BC.  It seems that God always has a prophet, a woman or man that He chooses to be His message bearer to His people.  Our Lord desires to make known His Word, His Will, and His purpose to a people.  Presently, I am not seeing one specific person speaking for "such a time as this", rather, we are seeing and hearing many men of God speak.  As we listen, we must discern the message being aligned with the inerrant and infallible Word of God.  Methods change, but the message has already been settled in the Heavens. (Psalm 119:89).  As i worked through Isaiah 1, I thought, "Isaiah must have 2017 and the USA in view!"   Isa...

Stamina is needed in every area of our lives.  Working with students over the years, I find that they have little stamina in several subject areas. It is always a hassle as steps are implemented to begin the process of building stamina especially preparing them for the state mandated tests with their lengthy passages in reading or math problems which require more than one operation.   As an adult, I am constantly seeking to increase my physical stamina for the goal of a consistent 3 mile walk.  It requires that I rise earlier in the morning, before sunrise to beat the heat.   I also note that another major area that always needs "doing for a long period of time without getting tired or giving up" is in the area of my personal prayer life. I find that I am willing to be more consistent when life presses and squeezes against me.  Being desperate for His face and pleasure of time with Him has to become more important than seeking His hand of blessings and ...

  As most of you, we have some traditions which are reminders of sweet memories of our times together as family.  Every July 4th, some of our family gathers at a corner in our suburb so that we can watch the fireworks on display by surrounding burgs.  We usually enjoy eating David's Big Red ice cream and enjoy one another and the fireworks.  Tonight will be different, because David won't be there to save our place or to enjoy the Big Red ice cream.  However, it is with thanks  mixed with sadness, that I give to the Lord for allowing me to enjoy and to pray for David these 481/2 years. I run to Psalm 100 so that sadness and grief will not be my focus today! Psalm 100 is another work of an anonymous author.  He opens the Psalm with commands, you IS understood: Everyone shout for joy to the Lord (Jehovah). Worship the Lord gladly. Come before Him (facing Him) with joyful songs. Know that Jehovah is Elohim (Majestic, Peerless, One who stands by His...

We Texans have an accent that is so notably us and one of our "dead giveaways" of being a Texan is our colloquialism of the contraction of You all/Y'all and our many idioms and metaphors. As I looked over Psalm 95, my mind immediately pictured an invitation and the invite, Y'all come!  Psalm 95 is written by an anonymous author, yet certainly one who could get his "praise on" and be expressive in it.    He invites other worshipers to join him with singing and shouting to the Rock (Boulder) of our Salvation/deliverance. Our salvation and deliverance from sin are steadfast facts!  The paradigm certainly implodes the picture of quiet and staid worship.  I often wonder why we take on the attitude of non-visible emotion during congregational worship?  Note the emotions:  sing for joy, shout aloud, and exultation with music and song.  Can you just imagine the raised eyebrows of the other worshipers?  Please note this was audible!!  How do yo...

  Oh my goodness, the Psalm for today takes me back to 9th or 10th grade English and Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poem, "How Do I Love Thee?"  Let me count the ways. I   love thee   to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of being and ideal grace. I   love thee   to the level of every day's Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light. I   love thee   freely, as men strive for right.  I recall it was written to her husband, but this could be the heart of this anonymous author of this Psalm 116. The author expresses the whys of his love for the Lord.    Lord,(Jehovah, the covenant name of God, I AM,)I love You! You hear my voice when I cried for mercy. You listened to me. You saved me (delivered me) from an experience which could have been death, trouble, and sorrow. Jehovah,You are gracious and righteous. Elohim,You are full of compassion. You have protected simple-hearted me...

     I borrowed the title from Alexander Maclaron who was a Biblical commentator.  I thought of Emails of Prayers or Tweets of Prayers, but for Warrior, Shepherd, King David, I thought the arrows would be more appropriate as I work through Psalm 86 for today.  I can see in my mind's eye, David shooting these prayer arrows to God. Our 911 prayers which pierce darkness, straits, cares, desperation, or sinful attitudes, and personal attacks.  Today, it is with sadness and celebration for the death and life of my eldest son whose birthday is today.  A very ole hymn fragment comes to mind, "Where could I go, oh where could I go seeking a refuge for my soul?  Needing a friend to help me to the end, where could I go but to the Lord? Please visit Psalm 86 with me. This is a song, a prayer of  David.  What if our prayers were recorded for all posterity to see, to hear, or to get encouragement?  In his depths of despair, or heights o...