Isaiah 17:8
8 And he shall not look [sha`ah] to the altars [mizbeach],
the work [ma`aseh] of his hands [yad], neither shall respect [ra'ah] that which his fingers ['etsba`] have made [`asah], either
the groves ['asherah], or the images [chamman]. KJV-Interlinear
8 And he will not have regard for
the altars, the work of his hands, Nor will he look to that which his fingers
have made, Even the Asherim and incense stands. NASB
When you are surrounded
with disaster, real disaster, the kind that gives you no options and no way
out, then and only then, for many, the subject of Christ enters into their
heads. Their false gods, false religions,
vain attitudes, arrogant pretense, their accomplishments, property, social
status, and even their priorities will fade into unimportance.
All respect and
opinions regarding the things of this world will be changed into guilt and
sorrow.
Those who should have
been important to us, but who we rejected and even tried to destroy, the things
that we made important in our lives, our priorities and goals and plans that
occupied all of our thoughts, will change and flood into our minds with sorrow
and guilt and the reality of a wasted life.
These things will always
occur sooner or later in everyone's life, because in everyone's life there will
always be a final disaster from which we will never recover. That finality may be your death, or some
other less permanent event, but it does not have to be that way.
God has given us all doctrine. Which when we learn it, will pave the way to
a far better orientation to life.
Doctrine will never end
all problems. This is the devils world
and problems are an integral part of this world. The world will throw all sorts of problems at
you, in an attempt to derail your entire life, if you let it.
But doctrine can
establish a foundation within your soul that replaces an empty soul, with a
powerful soul containing a fortress, temple, mansion, faith and spiritual muscle
beyond imagination. The world cannot
touch that which is resident within your soul.
All you have to do is
learn doctrine. And you learn it by
pursuing a daily study while in fellowship.
And this will replace the anxieties of life, with confidence.
Remember, our life in
this world is temporary and nothing more.
We are here in order to prepare for the next and eternal life. One
without end. It is far more important to
focus on the prerequisites of eternity, than on the things of this world today.
While in this life we
have a responsibility to ourselves, to prepare and complete ourselves for
eternity, but we also have a responsibility to others to help them in the right
direction and not to hinder anyone through greedy or petty or arrogant activity.
God alone can
promote. No one can promote themselves
at the expense of someone else. That effort
only leads to certain self-disaster.
But everyone can
position themselves for Gods promotion, by advancing in the proper way, to spiritual
maturity. A far, far better achievement
for ones entire life.
