Isaiah 9

What thoughts from Monday night's study have stayed with you?

I was really struck with something we briefly touched on at the end of our study. Jessica brought up verse 18 about the imagery of wickedness. And so we began to focus on the end of chapter 9. Verse 19 says "By the wrath of the LORD Almighty the land will be scorched..."
Josh then pointed out that all of the wrath and anger described there, and everywhere in the Word, was poured out on Jesus on the cross.
Wow. Of course, I already have this knowledge, but I never thought about it this way....
God's wrath is written about and recorded many times in the Word, so it suddenly seemed like a concept that was more tangible.
My thoughts keep drifting back to this...it's amazing how many times you can consider the cross (and even anything about our Lord -- His grace, His love, etc, etc) in a fresh way with different insight. The discussion last night made the sacrifice on the cross seem somehow even more powerful and real to me, which I'm almost ashamed to confess. Shouldn't Christ's crucifixion always have been extremely powerful and real to me??

(p.s. i wrote this in the midst of initial contractions!! Perhaps baby will be arriving tonight???)

Holy!

"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory"! isaiah 6:3

Someone once told me that "holy" is the only word repeated three times consecutively, as it is above, in the entire Bible. The emphasis is on a HOLY GOD. We have a holy God! And how amazing that with such a holy God we can approach His throne with confidence... we don't have to be like Isaiah who felt unworthy to be in His presence -- because of the redemptive work of Christ, as this passage in Hebrews attests (don't you love Hebrews?):
"Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. "
so cool! and while reading this, I remembered that last spring in minichurch we sought to challenge each other with the next verse:
"And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds."
(by the way this is all from Hebrews 10:19-24)

Let's take this to heart this fall.

...see y'all on Sunday!! (as the J&A would say! hee hee!)

Men's Retreat

Pray for Joel, Josh and all the guys going on the men's retreat.....