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RE Verse reading–Micah 1:1-6, 2:1-3, 3:1-8 (day three)  “They will cry out to the Lord, but He will not answer them”  (3:4)  It is a terrible story.  I Samuel tells it.  After years of warning, years of patient grace, the Lord stops answering Saul.  “When Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets”  (1 Samuel 28:6)  We understand the wisdom of God.  At some point, God must ACT in judgement.  More talking does no good.  Until we can be honest with ourselves, and with Him, there is nothing more to say.  Micah sees the same moment on the horizon for Judah.  It is a great mercy for the Lord to warn us against such a moment.  “Seek the Lord while He may be found” says Isaiah. (vs 55:6)  May the Lord use His word to give urgency and priority to the things of the Spirit.  While there is opportunity, we should act!

RE Verse reading–Micah 1:1-6, 2:1-3, 3:1-8 (day two)  “Then they will cry out to the Lord, but He will not answer them.  At that time He will hide His face from them because of the evil they have done”  (3:4)  It is a situation that the Bible describes with great fear.  God hides His face from us and our prayers.  At some terrible moment, He stops hearing us.  Until we are ready to deal with our sin, the conversation is over.  Isaiah saw the same moment.  “But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear”  (Isaiah 59:2)  The lesson?  None of us should take the privilege of prayer for granted.  “Seek for the Lord while He may be found, call on Him while He is near.  Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. . .and (the Lord) will abundantly pardon”  (Isaiah 55:6-7)

RE Verse reading–Micah 1:1-6, 2:1-3, 3:1-8 (day one)  “The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth. . .the vision he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.” (1:1)  Tradition has Micah (the 4th prophet in this fascinating series) as a man from a rural area with sensitivity to the sins of the cities of his day.  Perhaps we should be sensitive too–not just to sins but to the influence and opportunity that cities have.  Missiologists point to the deliberate focus of time and attention that Paul gave to the major cities of the Roman empire.  Jesus seemed especially concerned that Jerusalem rejected His message.  ( Luke 13:34)  As citizens of the 7th largest city in America ( arguably much larger in influence) we should be very aware of this focus.  In the Revelation, Jesus sends letters to the “angels” or pastors of city churches.  As we read Micah this week, may the Lord give us eyes to see San Antonio.  Ears to hear His message.

RE Verse reading–Isaiah 30:1-17, 31:1 (day seven)  “This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: ‘In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.’ ” (vs 15)  Ultimately, it is not sin that destroys a person or a nation.  It is stubbornness.  The Bible says, “there is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10)  Isaiah calls God, “the Holy ONE of Israel”.  So long as we will look to that ONE for help, there is a solution for sin, no matter how large or dark.  When we refuse, there ceases to be hope.  We will meet today around God’s hopeful/sad words.  In repentance and rest we can all find salvation.  In quietness and trust , strength.  When we stubbornly refuse, there is nothing that can be done.   May the Lord melt our stubborn hearts.  We need His salvation like never before.  I will see you in a few hours.–Don

RE Verse reading–Isaiah 30:1-17, 31:1 (day six)  “Woe. . .to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin.”  (30:1)  Sometimes trying to get better is a sin.  It doesn’t feel like it to us.  We don’t mean it as further rebellion, but an honest attempt to “walk a straight line” or “turn over a new leaf”.  From the perspective of Heaven, however, it looks like more of the same.  It is still us acting in independence from God, still us relying on our own strength, making our own decisions, refusing the union with God that is the essential solution for all problems.  When the people of Judah turned to Egypt, they were not trying to do something evil.  It was evil, nevertheless.  Romans 14:23 says “Whatever is not from faith is sin”.  Until we come to full (not partial) surrender, we will be heaping one sin on top of another.

RE Verse reading–Isaiah 30:1-17, 31:1 (day five)  “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help” (vs 31:1)  Hezekiah was a good king.  Very good compared to some.  The Bible reports with respect the instances of his faith, prayer and courage.  (read 2 Kings 19 as an example)  Most scholars believe, however, that Hezekiah supported the alliance with Egypt as a protection from Assyria.  It would have devastating results for his nation.  Can a good man make a bad decision?  Yes.  Nothing in our faith teaches us to become careless or over-confident.  “Let him who thinks he stand, take heed lest he fall”  (1 Corinthians 10:12)  Wise carpenters use to say “measure twice, cut once”.  Followers of Christ say “pray twice, decide once”.  May the Lord give us a healthy humility as we seek to stay in step with the Spirit.  “We should say, ‘If the Lord wills. . .we shall do this or that’ ” (James 4:15)  Careful, friends!  Even good men can make mistakes.

RE Verse reading–Isaiah 30:1-17, 31:1 (day five)  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding”  (Proverbs 3:5)  It was a terrifying, disorienting, liberating moment–the day I realized that what I felt and thought was not necessarily true.  I could not trust me!  I knew Proverbs 3, but I had never considered why I was to distrust my own understanding–because it was wrong!  Isaiah observed this mistake being made.  In vs 15, God lays out His plan for salvation but the people would “have none of it”.  Hearing the wisdom of God, they decided it was a foolish, unworkable plan and trusted themselves.  Talk about trading down!  Hmmmm, where have I seen this before?  It is the path of spiritual growth for all of us–learning to distrust ourselves and to deliberately trust the One who knows the way.  “The mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.”  (Romans 8:6)

RE Verse reading–Isaiah 30:1-17, 31:1 (day three)  “Are you so foolish?  Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”  (Galatians 3:3)  With Stephen Carrell’s departure, I am confronted with one of my most characteristic sins–overwork.  So much to do!  I am tempted to try in the power of the flesh what can only be accomplished by the Spirit of God.  It is the opposite of trust and therefore the opposite of power.  Will you pray for me?  Without the Spirit’s help (and a repentance that He has been teaching me for years) I will end up like the people of Isaiah’s day.  I will have plans that are not God’s and solutions that are not of the Spirit. ( See vs 1-2 in today’s reading)  Maybe you know something of this same struggle.  If so, I appreciate your prayers and promise mine for you as we follow the Mark 1:35- Savior into a busy and lost world.  Blessings, dear friends.

RE Verse reading–Isaiah 30:1-17, 31:1 (day two)  “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help. . . and do not. . .seek help from the Lord”  (31:1)  Why are we often reluctant to seek the Lord’s solutions to our problems?  Is it PRIDE?– a loyalty to self, a determination to “lean on our own understanding” even though the Scripture says we shouldn’t.  Is the problem a lack of PATIENCE? Agreed, waiting on the Lord is time consuming and stressful to the flesh.  But it is a “death to self” that leads to life!  Is the problem a PREFERENCE  we all  have for things that can be seen?  (horses, chariots, people and their approval)  What is it about the human heart that makes us slow to look for spiritual solutions to physical, relational, societal problems?  The answer goes to the very heart of our sin nature.  “All we like sheep have gone astray.  Each has turned to his own way”(Isaiah 53:6)  But why?

RE Verse reading–Isaiah 30:1-17, 31:1 (day one)  “Woe to the obstinate children. . .who go down to Egypt without consulting me”  (vs 1-2)  One of my favorite King David stories is found in 2 Samuel 5.  After he was proclaimed king, David was attacked by the Philistine army.  His spiritual wisdom was to inquire of the Lord. (vs 19)  Following the Lord’s instruction, the armies of Israel were successful in battle.  Weeks later, the Philistines attacked again.  David inquired of the Lord again. (vs 23) This time the answer was different but the outcome the same. In Isaiah’s day, the nation Judah had lost the wisdom of their ancestor–the commitment and patience to wait on the Lord.  Trusting their own solutions, they were defeated and ruined.  How foolish they were to not consult with the Lord!  “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all men generously. . .and it will be given to him.  But let him ask in faith. . .”  (James 1:5-6)