Solomon tells us that “a happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing” (Proverbs 17:22, AMP ). God undoubtedly has a sense of humor; we need only look at some of the animals He created (it’s hard not to smile at the sight of a hippo, a monkey, or a puppy). Or think of some of the married couples you know: don’t you think God was smiling at the wedding as He looked ahead to the interaction of the wildly different personalities that will be living together?Posts Tagged ‘Isaiah’
peace: a matter of focus
Last time, I wrote about God’s perfect peace that comes to those who stay focused on Him. We find this wonderful promise of peace in Isaiah 26:3:
You keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on You,
because he trusts in You.
According to Isaiah, the key to keeping our minds stayed or fixed on God is to trust God. Sounds simple enough, and those of us who have been in church for long know we ought to trust God. This is one of those times, though, when it’s easier said than done. Circumstance gets in the way, and many things compete for our attention. My work is not going well: do I keep my mind fixed on that problem or on God? Money is tight, my child has a health problem, a tragedy has occurred to a close friend — the list goes on. As the commercial says, “Life comes at you fast.” And with each problem, we are tested in our focus.
And it really is a matter of focus. continue reading
peace, perfect peace
This entry is part 3 of 6 in the series peaceIn my previous posts, I’ve touched on the role of our thinking in regard to peace: the peace of Christ rules in our hearts when we submit our thoughts and feelings to peace (Colossians 3:15), and the peace that passes understanding can guard our hearts […]
“behold your God!”
If you’ve read my last two posts (here and here) on Isaiah 40, you may well have wondered why I totally ignored verses 9, 10, and 11. After telling us that we are all like grass before the Lord, Isaiah says,
Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with […]
a powerful, compassionate God
Friday, I wrote about the glorious promise of strength in Isaiah 40. As I noted then, the concluding promise of strength to walk, run, and rise up gets even better when put into the bigger context of the chapter. I backed up just a few verses to consider the contrast of the youth who faints with the strength that comes from God. But the picture Isaiah paints grows richer and fuller when we take the chapter as a whole.
It begins with the famous “Comfort my people” and continues with “speak tenderly to Jerusalem.” That sounds good. But then, as we move further, we find God’s greatness described in wonderful pictures and contrasted with the smallness, the weakness of man. We are told that “all flesh is grass” and that it dies under the breath of the Lord. And just so we don’t miss the point, Isaiah reiterates, “Surely the people are grass.”
A little later, we get a series of images that reinforce the magnitude of God and His power:… read the complete post
a promise of strength
The last few weeks have been pretty stressful for me, with money problems, the usual midterm grading frenzy, and assorted other irritants and situations that add up to a real possibility of losing my hope and my joy. This past weekend, as I realized that some of these situations weren’t going away with the end of October but would continue into November (and beyond!), I got rather discouraged. Then Wednesday night a friend gave me good — but hard — counsel, and I was reminded that I was in for the long haul. To put it another way, I wanted a leisurely walk around the block, but he told me I’m in a marathon.
I don’t like running.
Yesterday, though, I had a wonderful reminder of God’s faithfulness. In her broadcast, Joyce Meyer read from Isaiah 40, and I heard something I had never noticed before:…
Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version ®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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