Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Great Quote from Dallas Willard

Here is a great quote from Dallas Willard in his book, Divine Conspiracy, which I think accurately describes how many modern "Christians" live.

P. 90 The idea of an all-encompassing, all-penetrating world of God, interactive at every point with our lives, where we can always be totally at home and safe

Read Isaiah with me

Over the last few weeks I have begun to preach from Isaiah. At the same time I have been reading through Isaiah in my personal time with the Lord. I generally only read one chapter a day, but I am finding it so rich. Isaiah has so many applicable lessons for me. If you come to Harvest, I want to encourage you to read it with me. Write out one (or more) lessons from each chapter.

Here are a few of my notes from the last couple of days.

Today, I read chapter 30
15 For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel,
“In returning and rest you shall be saved;
in quietness and in trust shall be your strength
(Isaiah 30:15 ESV)

I had just prayed for strength when I read this verse. I wrote this note:

Wow I just prayed this. Lord please be my strength. Let m me sit in quiet at your feet.

In chapter 29, this section struck me:

 13 And the Lord said:
“Because this people draw near with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
while their hearts are far from me,
and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
14 therefore, behold, I will again
do wonderful things with this people,
with wonder upon wonder;
and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”
15 Ah, you who hide deep from the Lord your counsel,
whose deeds are in the dark,
and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us
(Isaiah 29:13-15 ESV)

I wrote this in response:

Secrets from God

When we hide our hearts from God, He hides his message from us. Probably rather, when our hearts are far from Him, we won't even hear when He roars! Think of the dwarves in The Last Battle.
That is a reference to a C.S. Lewis book, The Last Battle, where some dwarves are brought into heaven but refuse to believe because the "won't be taken in."

In chapter 28 I read:

14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers,
who rule this people in Jerusalem!
15 Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
and with Sheol we have an agreement,
when the overwhelming whip passes through
it will not come to us,
for we have made lies our refuge,
and in falsehood we have taken shelter”;
16 therefore thus says the Lord God,
 “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion,
a stone, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:
‘Whoever believes will not be in haste
(Isaiah 28:14-16 ESV)

In response I wrote:

A standard
The leaders thought they could make up their own rules, but God had established a standard upon which they will be judged. The same is true now. We think we can make it up as we go along but we eventually run up against reality. 

What is God teaching daily?