Monday, July 9: Isaiah 7-9, Jude 1:1-13 by Pamela

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Isaiah 7-9, Jude 1:1-13

A few things stood out in today's readings:

From the OT:

4 Tell him to stop worrying. Tell him he doesn’t need to fear the fierce anger of those two burned-out embers, King Rezin of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah.

I am a worry-er so I can relate to being worry. However, aren't all problems just burned out embers to God??

14 All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin[f] will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).

Well, if there was a sign of something being impossible, a virgin conceiving would be impossible. However, all thing are possible with God even the prediction that this would happen 400 years in advance.

11 The Lord has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does. He said,

12 “Don’t call everything a conspiracy, like they do,
    and don’t live in dread of what frightens them.
13 Make the Lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life.
    He is the one you should fear.
He is the one who should make you tremble.
14     He will keep you safe.

Do not think like everyone else. That's a tough one. We are called to be different because we answer to a higher power. God is our shelter and refuge. 

[q]The people who walk in darkness
    will see a great light.
For those who live in a land of deep darkness,[r]
    a light will shine.

One day everyone will see God's light and understand His power. Everything will become clear but it will be too late for many.

For a child is born to us,
    a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
    And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor,[s] Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 His government and its peace
    will never end.

Fulfillment of this prophecy would take a long time but God's timing is perfect and His words are true no matter how long they take to be fulfilled. 

From the NT:

...urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people. 4 I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have denied our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

There are so many people claiming to live as Christ and yet pick and choose which part of the bible they choose to obey. Unfortunately this creates division and chaos and a misguided representation of God's truth and the need to repent from sin. 

But these people scoff at things they do not understand. Like unthinking animals, they do whatever their instincts tell them, and so they bring about their own destruction. 11 What sorrow awaits them! 

May we be motivated to speak the truth in LOVE to save people from their selfish choices so that they can be redeemed through Christ and have an eternal future in Heaven. 

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage: Isaiah 10-12, Jude 1:14-25