Isaiah 9:19-21
“Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts the land is scorched,
and the people are like fuel for the fire; no one spares another. They slice
meat on the right, but are still hungry, and they devour on the left, but are
not satisfied; each devours the flesh of his own arm, Manasseh devours Ephraim,
and Ephraim devours Manasseh; together they are against Judah. For all this his
anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.” (Isaiah 9:19-21 ESV)
Have you wondered what is
going on in the hearts of those who go by the name Christian, could it be we no
longer look to God’s word to be a light to our feet and a light to our path? Have we advanced so much in our knowledge,
with our busyness of church programs, Bible studies, and good stuff, that God’s
word no longer is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path? God has not promised a spotlight to
illuminate the path for a great distance, but to keep our feet from tripping
over and missing the wonders of our Father in heaven. For Jesus has told us the path is not wide,
it is very narrow and it is not a free ride like salvation, for Salvation is
for whosoever will receive the price Jesus paid for sin, and that is grace, and
God will provide the faith if one will only ask. But the path is for followers of Christ, and
the light is for one step at a time, it is called dependence. Jesus never promised a trouble free path,
only enough light to guide you, and that is why Isaiah 9:19-21, jumped off the
page today, why are we the Church so angry, so frightened and unsatisfied?
What happened in the day
of Isaiah are the natural consequences of wickedness, and the devastation it
brings on a nation. But we would be
foolish to not also see the hand of God, there is a divine anger being released
against these chosen people of God. And
we see how sin has divided brothers and breaks up human relationships. We see the results of greed and how it
consumes any and all that gets into its way.
The people of Isaiah’s time let their hunger turn on themselves. And two tribes who came from the same father
turned against each other, and then against Judah.
I enjoy listening to a
young man named Andy Stanley, he can be found on Day Star T.V. network, and
what I like is that he is very different from most preachers in the way he
teaches the Scripture. My pastor Ray
Still and Andy have both addressed what I believe is the problem, we
Christian’s need a doctor because we all have a common disease, it is called
sin, we are sick, we have been contaminated by the culture we live in and do
not even know when we left the path, the narrow path, the one Jesus said few
will find, for broad is the path to destruction.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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