August 2020 – Page 3 of 3 – Sonshine's Journal

August 10, 2020

“From Womb to Tomb”

Isaiah 46 Never fear my precious senior saints; God has it all taken care of. He promises that He will carry us from birth to the grave. He has made us just as the psalmist said in [Ps 139:15] “my bones were not hidden from you when I was made in secret and sewed together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw me when I was inside the womb. All the days ordained for me were recorded in your scroll before one of them came into existence”

Remember this wise counsel from the pen of the psalmist: The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree,
He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the LORD Shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing. [Psalm 92:14]

No matter where you are on life’s continuum, know this truth: there will never come a time when you don’t need to depend upon God and there will never come a time when He is in need of being cared for by us for He is the true, eternal and holy God. “I am God and there is none like me.” Job described him as unchangeable and so He is. “But he is unchangeable, and who can change him? Whatever he has desired, he does.” [Job 23:13]

August 9, 2020

Who is God to you?

Isaiah 43 to 45 God is our Protector

I am God, and there is no one else. He alone is God. It is because He is God, He will and can protect us. Whether it is water as in the Red Sea or the fiery furnace as the Three Hebrew Children faced in Babylon, God was there, and He will be there for you. Hagar faced loneliness and fear of the unknown but came to understand He is “El Roi,” the God who sees me. Just as a parent holds the hand of a child God is holding on to yours with His loving hand of protection.

But, it isn’t just fire or water. We can trust that wherever we are, God is there. Isaiah wanted the children of Israel to know this truth: “When you pass through the waters, I am with you; when you pass through the streams, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk in the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not harm you.” [Is 43:2]

Has the enemy come to frighten you and to demoralize you? These examples should be in your memory arsenal. Remember, the Holy One of Israel is by your side protecting you. You are never alone as you trod this earthly land; God is with you, and He promises: you will hear a word spoken behind you; “this is the way, walk in it, whether you are heading to the right or left.” [Is 30:21]

August 7, 2020

Watch Your Heart

Isaiah38-39 The Pride of Self-Salvation

Hezekiah had been blessed twice over because he had humbled himself before the Lord. He had spent time in prayer and rejoicing when he and Jerusalem were delivered. Yet when the Babylonians arrived to offer their greetings upon his recovery, instead of giving God the glory he revels in his earthly wealth. Reminds us of Nebuchadnezzar!

How true it is that when we are in a trial we seek God and His provision, but when He blesses us and the trial is past we often fail to guard our hearts against the next trial that may come our way. Isaiah doesn’t fill in the blanks but the Chronicler does. God left Hezekiah alone to test him, in order to know his true motives. [2 Chr 32:31].

Hezekiah’s root problem was pride just as it has been for many. It often is revealed in how we respond to flattery and smooth words. Because our eyes are on the earthly and not the heavenly; we are not discerning. We need to pray every day that God will give us a discerning heart to see and understand the stumbling stones in our path lest we fall like Hezekiah.

Prov 4:23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Pro 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

August 6, 2020

“Checkmate”

Isaiah 36-37 In the 1930’s Al Capone ruled Chicago. He taunted those who did not want to pay him for protection, and if they didn’t, he took note and sent his thugs to “take care of the problem.” Sennacherib was the Capone Hezekiah faced. His thugs were Rabshakeh and his contingent. They mocked God and repeated “Capone/Sennacherib’s” words: “what is your source of confidence….in whom are you trusting.” Capone thought he could play the game of chess with Hezekiah. They surmised that Hezekiah would then be shaking in his boots and succumb to their threats as he had done previously. Hezekiah’s advisors Eliakim and Hilkiah indeed returned to Hezekiah with their clothes torn as a sign they were demoralized just as Rabshekah had hoped.

In the last encounter, Hezekiah did not entrust himself to the Lord. We see that this time Hezekiah went up to the temple and laid the letter before the Lord. The prophet Isaiah told Hezekiah that he would put hooks in the jaws of this “Capone” and send him packing back to his home country because Hezekiah sought God’s help.

God gave Hezekiah three principles that teach us truths about living in a “Capone” world. [Is 37:31]: remain steadfast—Paul said much the same in [1 Cor 15: 58], “be ye steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.” Secondly, take root where you are and remain firm in your faith; [Col 2:7]. Thirdly bear fruit that proves your repentance; [Matt 3:8.]

Checkmate: God will have the last move.

August 5, 2020

Trust in Horses/Chariots or God?

Isaiah 30/31 God speaks to His children through Isaiah: woe to you who makes alliances with those who are not My Sheep. You are a rebellious people who refuse to listen to the instruction of the Lord. You are saying we don’t want to hear any more about the Holy One of Israel. To the prophets, you say don’t prophesy to us what is right, speak to us of pleasant words, prophesy illusions. Does this not sound just like today?

2Ti 4:3 “For there will be a time when people will not tolerate sound teaching. Instead, following their own desires, they will accumulate teachers for themselves because they have an insatiable curiosity to hear new things.”

And so they will seek an alliance with “Egypt.” It is like God saying, what did you not learn after 430 yrs. of bondage? These are the very ones who held you captive, and only after ten plagues did they release you! Their gods did not save them, and they won’t save you. Why do you trust in them instead of the Holy One of Israel?

If you are like these to whom Isaiah was speaking, return to Him, and trust Him. He alone is God and will be gracious to you. He is waiting.

August 4, 2020

“Are We Fishers of Men?”

John 21 What do you do when you don’t know what to do? Do you chill out with food or binge on TV? For Peter, who had not a clue what was next, he returned to fishing, which is where our story picks up. It is familiar territory where life is simple. What is “the doing” for you?

The story unfolds in the early hours of the day when the sun is just creeping over the horizon. A voice almost sarcastically says, ‘you don’t have any fish, do you?’ Translation, what a wasted night you have had. But in obedience, just like before, the net is moved, and fish swim into the net. The disciple Jesus loved, a.k.a. John recognizes that this had to be the work of the Master. On the shore, the Master has prepared breakfast, but it isn’t until after breakfast that we see the whole purpose of this time together.

Jesus begins his work of restoration for Peter with three simple basic questions but with precise instructions. May we glean the instructions for ourselves.

Turning to Peter three times, He reminds him that He called him to be a fisher of men. That is our reminder too! Three times Jesus asks: Do you love me? Go and feed my lambs, shepherd my sheep, and feed my sheep. Jesus is saying my instructions are not to just any lambs, but “MY” lambs. Not just any sheep, but “MY” sheep. I am calling you and am leaving you to do “MY” work amongst the flock. Do you love me more than x, y, z?

Jesus asks us those same three questions. Feed/Shepherd/Feed the ones I have called, wrapped in my love, and kept from the enemy. Will you do that?

August 4, 2020

The Dragon will meet His Maker

Isaiah 27 In chapter 26, Isaiah said, “The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace because he trusts in You.” The key is trusting in God. We know that all through scripture, we are reminded that we are in a spiritual war with our enemy Satan. He has been at war since he left his habitation of the perfect heaven and began a war with God and His kingdom. Many have faced him as he has waged war and “won.” Won is put in quotes, for he may win a battle, but he has not won the war. He lost it at the cross when Jesus said: “it is finished!” [John 19:30]

Isaiah sees into the future when the war between God and Satan will come to a screeching halt. He will punish Leviathan, the fleeing serpent with his fierce and great and mighty sword. There is only one sword that can defeat Satan, and it is the Word of God. Paul referenced it in Ephesians 6, where he described our spiritual armor. Wherever the sword is the weapon of choice, he must yield to it. Jesus used it; Paul referenced it, and James said it.

“In that day,” God will be the victor! The dragon will deceive no more.

The time is coming when there will be no more war and only peace. It will be a perfect peace because the Word is victorious over any words that Leviathan whispers in our ear, shouts from the mountain top, or presents to us in whatever fashion he chooses.

He won’t win. Claim victory now!

August 3, 2020

The Still Small Voice of Comfort

Isaiah 25/26 Today some people are asking for prayer. Sometimes it is just a simple request. Each one who is reaching out is a heart that is hurting. We wonder what to say to encourage; we want to comfort, but our words seem trite. But, if we listen carefully, we may hear the still small voice as Elijah heard. It is the Holy Spirit graciously reminding us our Father “wilt keep [us] in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on [Him].” [Is 26:3] What a profound and comforting truth for in a time of uncertainty. There may be threats of the COVID in the news, but God is sovereign and in control. What a comfort to know God is a “protector for the needy in their distress.” Isaiah reminds us that we are to exalt the one who has worked wonders with perfect faithfulness. He alone is our shelter from the storms of life.

Frances Havergal captured this in “Like a River Glorious” last stanza:

Every joy or trial falleth from above; traced upon our dial by the Sun of love; we may trust Him fully, all for us to do; they who trust Him wholly find Him wholly true. Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest, finding as He promised perfect peace and rest.

When at a loss for words, try a hymn or a passage of scripture. Listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit.

These are the gracious words to comfort those who are hurting.