July 2022 – Sonshine's Journal

July 31, 2022July 31, 2022

What God has said, He will do

Is 13-15 There is hope…Keep Watching!

During Israel’s troubles, God sends Isaiah with a message of hope to the nation of Israel. They had been or were to be in bondage from Babylon due to their sins of complacency. God used Babylon to serve Him in disciplining them, but they went above and beyond what God had purposed. Yet, God, in His mercy, reaches down through his prophet to send a message of hope that the enemies of Babylon and Moab will be defeated. “The Lord will certainly have compassion on Jacob; he will again choose Israel as his special people and restore them to their land.”[Is 14:1]

When life throws a curve ball, and you feel defeated, keep looking to the One who controls the wind and waves. “He makes the winds his messengers and the flaming fire his attendant.” [Ps 104:4] He has spoken, and He has purposed. He will avenge the wrongs, and the leader who boasted of great things will find his place in the dust, not on a throne of exaltation. The enemy’s cities will no longer be a city of the rich and famous but a city for ostriches and owls.

When all seems lost, keep looking up!

July 30, 2022July 30, 2022

Keep Looking up

Isaiah 10-12 Do you feel the enemy, Satan, breathing down your neck? Fear not—our Sovereign God is in charge, and He will vanquish him who seeks our demise. God will go before us, behind us, beside us because He is greater than the enemy.

“The Messiah gave early notice that his kingdom was not of this world.” [Matt Henry] Soon and very soon, His kingdom will emerge out of heaven with a shout, and the dead in Christ shall arise, and then those left will join the heavenly throng to welcome our glorious Messiah. The Holy Spirit came upon Him as a dove and rested upon him as he came up out of the waters of the Jordan. The Spirit gave him extraordinary wisdom and the ability to execute plans in love and purity. His prayer was, “Your will not mine.” Is this how we pray? No matter the circumstances, is it God’s will that you desire and not your own?

His return in the clouds is something believers long to see because it will usher in peace for a thousand years. Until then, beloved, may you be found faithful and ready to hear His voice.

July 29, 2022July 29, 2022

Fear or Trust in God?

Isaiah 9 God’s Only Son

The prophet Isaiah lived and served under many kings, and most were ungodly like King Ahaz. They didn’t believe God as in the former times so when war was on the horizon they lived in fear. Yet, God sent Isaiah to the king to remind him that He was still on the throne and that He would take care of them if they were willing to believe and honor him. Luke accurately proved his point in the response of the Pharisees about the baptism of John: “If we say, from heaven, he will say, why did you not believe him?” [Luke 20:5] Prov 29:25 says, “The fear of man is a snare but he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted.” King Ahaz fell into the first category, and so Isaiah said, you will certainly see that fear unfold before you.

Why are we so stubborn to believe all that the Lord has said? Like Ahaz, when God says to ask for a sign, we waffle and often refuse. Like Ahaz, we refuse to believe even if God sends a prophet to us or even if Jesus Himself appears!

But, God will be undeterred, and He will give a sign, and it is a sign that Immanuel will come and He will save His people from their sins! Do we know, believe, and trust Him or are we trapped in our fears of the unknowns of tomorrow?

July 28, 2022July 28, 2022

God is calling; what will we answer?

Isaiah 4-6 Today, as in the time of Isaiah, what God condemns, the world celebrates. God called out a people group not because they were more numerous than all the other peoples but because they were “precious and special in His sight and He loved them.” [Is 43:4a] He set standards for them to be righteous. Later, King David would ask how they could remain pure and holy. His answer was to hide the Word in their heart so they might not sin against Him. [Ps 119:11 paraphrase]

God chose, and then He placed them in a vineyard with a protective wall about them, yet they produced sour grapes instead of purity and righteousness. So he removed the protection; the enemies came and took the finest to places far away. God allowed it to show them the fruit of rejection. He patiently waited for justice but only got disobedience. He waited for fairness but only got cries for help. They called “evil good and good evil.” What He condemned, they celebrated—so like today in our fallen world.

He called out, who will go and tell them and Isaiah was the lone voice who said I will go. I will proclaim the truth. If God called you to be His voice would you say like Isaiah: I will go?

July 27, 2022July 27, 2022

There is a godly remnant!

Isaiah 1-3 Headlines!

Are you encouraged or discouraged when reading today’s news headlines? Imagine being Isaiah and being called to be God’s living “newspaper reporter” to the kingdom of Judah. Isaiah was to report the news just as God revealed it, and he did. God noted that the kingdom had fallen far from the ideal and the God-given right to govern. They were like Sodom and Gomorrah, which God spew out of his mouth, much like He said he would do with the lukewarm church at Laodicea. Yet, in all of this, He revealed to Isaiah that there would be a faithful remnant of believers, which is even true today.

God had a word then, and He has the same word for us today: “Tell the innocent it will go well with them, for they will be rewarded for what they have done.” [Is 3:10]

This is an encouraging word in the midst of the sin-filled world. Be the remnant so you can hear, “well done thou good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord.” [Luke 19:17]

July 26, 2022July 26, 2022

Messiah Loves You!

SoS 5-8 The Groom/King comes to seek His bride, but she has not prepared herself for him. (One author said perhaps she has a headache 😉 )

As we read this, we are reminded of the parable of the ten virgins. Five were wise and collected oil for when the groom would come for her, but five were foolish, unprepared, and told to gather some for themselves. Their unpreparedness and delay cost them entrance into the king’s banquet. Everyone had been invited, but only the “five” who were prepared could enter and enjoy. He who delays is lost! Are we prepared? Is our lamp filled with the oil of the Holy Spirit?

In chapter eight, we find the protective brothers over their virgin sister lest she loses her virginity through rape. Yet where were the protective brothers for Dinah, daughter of Jacob? She not only lost it because of the brother’s lack of her care but also her foolish decision to enter Shechem unprotected. In the end, she brought shame to her family. Worse than that, the brothers took it upon themselves to avenge her rape and did so through murder. Just as the saying goes, two wrongs do not make a right! 🙁

Jesus is not only our Messiah King coming for us, but in the meantime, He is our protective brother. He is always there, but we must also desire His protection. Do we desire that, or do we foolishly seek to protect ourselves like Dinah did and fall into the wrong hands?

July 25, 2022July 25, 2022

His Banner over me is LOVE

Song of Solomon 1-

Just like we hang a banner outside to announce to passersby a home’s theme, God’s Banner, which reads “LOVE,” hangs over us to show that inside are those who belong to the Savior. How beautifully is the banner that reveals God’s untarnished and pure love for His own. Solomon, as the author, hangs his banner over the one for whom he loves and loves with tenderness and compassion. The words are reflected in the love the Savior has for the ones He calls. Long ago, Jeremiah wrote these words to the children of Israel and us today: “I have loved you with an everlasting love. That is why I have continued to be faithful to you.” [Jere 31:3] Again in the NT are these words: “But “when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared,” [Titus 3:4] and 1Jo 4:19 “We love because he loved us first.”

Treasure that love today as God pours it over you as His Banner to the world that you belong to Him.

July 24, 2022July 24, 2022

What are you searching for?

Eccl 10-12 Down through the ages, men have searched for many things; answers to health dilemmas or answers to why things happen, and searching for the meaning of life. King Solomon was given wisdom beyond what you or I have, yet even he searched for the meaning of many things in life. God gave him wisdom, yet even he concluded in the end that all his searching was futile and much about life was incomprehensible except to God. His conclusion to this matter was to “Fear God and keep his commandments because this is the whole duty of man.” [Eccl 12:13] And why should we do that? Solomon said that in the end, “God will evaluate every deed, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.” [Eccl 12:14]

So what are you searching for? Stop spinning your wheels searching and instead: study God’s inspired Word, which is profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. [2Tim 3:16] In this, make it your goal to “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” [2Tim 2:15]

July 23, 2022July 23, 2022

Are you sure of your destiny?

Eccl 7-9 Solomon has spent time observing, analyzing, and interpreting the data about the living and the dead. Bible.org author/pastor Bob Deffinbaugh once told me he would rather preach a funeral than a wedding because, at a funeral, hearts are softened to hear the gospel and challenge them to reconsider their destiny. Solomon would agree. “It is better to go to a funeral than a feast. For death is the destiny of every person, and the living should take this to heart.” Eccl 7:2 and then 7:3 follows: “Sorrow is better than laughter because sober reflection is good for the heart.”

We should take this under consideration as we daily see the lives of many leaving this earthly domain and entering either heaven or hell. This takes us back to Jesus’ teaching in Luke 16:19-31 and the destiny of the poor sickly man Lazarus and the rich pompous man. Each died, but only one went to Paradise, and it was Lazarus, not the rich man. He ended up in Torments or Hell. Jesus told his audience to consider their destiny just as Solomon told them.

Are you assured of your destiny if you died today?

July 22, 2022July 22, 2022

Do you have a true friend?

Eccl 4-6 How sweet it is!

Solomon continues in “drama-ville” with his topic of all is vanity. 🙁 However, as he is writing, he stops to note how sweet it is to have a friend! Yeah, Friends! 🙂 They help each other in a pinch and day-to-day life! He thought how sweet it is to have a friend to curl up beside you on a cold night, adding their body warmth to yours. And also, how sweet it is to have a friend who will stand in the gap against your enemy. We face the enemy Satan, who comes in to seek, kill and destroy. However, our Friend, Jesus, will come alongside and be that third strand in a cord that cannot be broken, and He can defeat our enemy! Think of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace. Jesus came in to defeat the enemy Nebuchadnezzar!

Jesus said, “I call you friends, I no longer call you slaves because the slave does not understand what his master is doing. But I have called you friends because I have revealed to you everything I heard from my Father.” [John 15:15]

It is my prayer that you know the True Friend, Jesus!