Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Isaiah 17:8

Copyright Ó 2014 J. Neely
Isaiah 17:8ues

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.