January 21 - Isaiah 15

Response to Yesterday's Comments
Great comments! Remember to keep in mind the difference between pride/arrogance and confidence. We are confident in God because He has our back and all results are in His hands. Pride and arrogance is something that arises apart from God. It's all about us. If it goes well, we praise ourselves. If it doesn't go well, we're hard on ourselves.
And the rich man and the camel through the eye of a needle is just saying that when we're so full of ourselves (pride, success, riches, me, me, me) then there's very little room for God. God can bless you with wealth but is that wealth for you or for God. If you're blessing others with the blessings God has given you then you acknowledge that all of this is from God. If you're thinking - no way, I worked hard for myself and this is my money -- then, well - I guess you really believe all of your success had nothing to do with God...
When I first started working giving my first paycheck and then tithing (before taxes) wasn't that hard. Consider giving $100 of $1000. Not bad. But when your tithe starts getting bigger as you make more money it might get harder to acknowledge that this is the Lord's money. So start now, with the little that we have.
So.. It doesn't have to be hard for the rich man.. but you can see why sometimes it is..


Notes on Isaiah 15
City Names? The cities mentioned in vv. 1-4 are in the northern part of Moab. The cities mentioned in vv. 5-8 are most likely in the southern part of Moab. Most of these cities are so ancient that many are unknown. And, also keep in mind that many nations referred to a city with their own name so everything wasn't as neat as today - Paris, New York, etc. (Oswalt, 224)

Most likely this progression of north to south probably points to their escape. They were probably pushed from the north to the south.

Again, we've come to another nation being destroyed. And, we're going to be at this for the next couple of chapters. So, what do we make of all of this?

Well, the Word of God is living and speaking into your life. It's not just something you eat and swallow to get your fill. The Word of God is like a nice savory piece of the most amazing food you've ever had. When you put it in your mouth you try to take in all of those flavors and then swallow. And then, you'll have something else that day and you'll think back to that amazing thing you had.. and you're like "hey, this reminds me of that thing I ate.." And then you try to think about what went into that, how would I make that.. etc. and then you crave it.. you long for that taste...
hehe.. I'm thinking of this amazing butternut squash soup I had at a recent teachers' dinner. mmm..

So God wants you to meditate upon His words day and night. It's like you keep thinking about it, praying about it, you journal about it.. and then at some moment.. maybe even 5 days later - it hits you. OMG that's what God was saying to me! OMG.. So, the Word of God isn't a McDonald's meal. You don't just scarf it down and wait for the next thing. Sometimes it has to just stay with you, linger (in a good way - not like the stuff that gives you a stomach ache) and then an OMG moment. really.. like an O My God - you are so amazing praise moment!

I want to share with you what my OMG moment was.. So I'm meditating on yesterday's passage like dude all these nations being destroyed - so depressing...
My husband who got a promotion at work got a raise.. and he was okay about it but not too ecstatic. Then he saw everyone else's salary numbers and thought - dude, I sooo got cheated. I should be making more.. And as I was praying over this - the day's Word came to me. Everyone else around him are really wealthy, making big bucks, wearing nice suits, driving nice cars... like a real sign of success - yet, what does all of that amount to really? And, my husband is like little Israel -- not all that powerful and small in stature.. but he has God. His co-workers actually make fun of him for giving his tithes to God. They really think he is foolish when he could put that money into a money-making investment.
And, let me explain how tithing works. If you make $1000 a month, usually about 35%-50% will go to Uncle Sam (U.S. govt) and then you have about $550 left.. then 10% of the $1000 goes to God.. so of your $1000, you really just end up with $450 for you...

And I realized this - no matter how small we may be or foolish we may seem to others - we have someone with us who is so great and this is what counts. God is with us and He takes care of us. He always provides just enough for us and we are NEVER in need and sometimes so blessed we can give away! How blessed are we! So, the word for today is that these big guys around us may seem big but - really, they don't have what really counts! God always provides. God will never let us go. He will never forsake us!

And today's passage on Moab (remember that's where Ruth came from) was kinda sad because Isaiah was crying over Moab.. and I thought -- we need to cry over the people around us that do not know God. Do we weep over those that do not know God? Do we pray for them?

So continue to keep your ears open even throughout this week, month, year.. because God is speaking through the living Word of God! And, feel free to share your stories.