Baptisms among the youth of North-East Texas!

Isaiah prophesied six “woes” on ungodly people in chapter 5:8-23 (all of them rightly deserved).

But then he sees a vision of the presence of God Himself [Isaiah 6], and the mighty prophet can see no other sin than his own. His immediate reaction:

“Then I said, ‘Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts” [v5].

Though Isaiah was right about his railing judgments against the wicked, it was the weighty glory of God in all of His perfections that put Isaiah back into this startling perspective: ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God [Romans 3:23].

So then, the right attitude for us to have among outsiders is…

1. “Co-ruining,” where we still recognize where we came from, and the wrath that we rightly deserved.
2. “Joy inexpressible” because Jesus has taken our woe upon himself, and secured the undeserved rescue of us all [1Peter1:8-9].

Joy + Ruin = another beautiful Christian paradox

“O our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You” [2 Chronicles 20:12]

 A few weeks ago, when I was on a road trip up north, I found myself on unfamiliar ground, and without my trusted co-pilot (Brianna). As I navigated through hundreds of miles of interstate and winding roads, I realized one wrong turn could lead me closer to the state of Nevada than to my destination. As I grew more nervous, I also grew more dependent…on my iPhone GPS system.

I was looking at the list feature which told me step-by-step how to get to where I was getting, and even how long the next turn was by a tenth of a mile. I was looking at the terrain feature which informed me of the suburbs coming up which brought my mind at ease as to whether I was on the right track. I could even press the compass button, and watch my car roll down the highway on the image given on my phone, as I quite literally followed the directions.

My eyes did not come off of the Mapquest app.

In the same way, Jehoshaphat refused to take the eyes of his mind, heart and emotions off the source of his stability: the sovereignty and faithfulness of God

If we lived as desperately on the grace of God as we do on our silly gadgets, our lives may more closely resemble the men of old who did…

“You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out to face them, for the LORD is with you”  -Jehoshaphat

Do our pets go to heaven?

“Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?” [Jonah4:11]

Whether you are withstanding the worst day of your life or enjoying the best of them, prayer and praise is the vocabulary of the Christian…

“Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises” [James 5:13].