Thursday 8 September

Isaiah 17:1-19:25

What’s all this crazy talk of Israel being the third along with Egypt and Assyria?  Israel were God’s only chosen people.  They were the only one to whom the covenant promises were given.  They were the only ones who would be a great nation through whom all families would be blessed.  So who is this bozo who is saying “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance”.  Who the heck does this impostor think he is??  Oh.  It seems this bozo is the LORD. This impostor is The LORD Almighty.  That’s a little unexpected.  Now I feel pretty stupid.  As we read through this book it is shocking how often we find God looking at the neat boundaries we have made for him and then carving them apart with a chain-saw.  We are so keen to get things nailed, we are so keen to gets things under control.  But our control will only ever be an illusion.  Control sits in one place only and that place is a throne in the heavenly realms.  God will do whatever he wants with whoever he wants whenever he wants.  None of us run this thing.  None of us have any power or authority except what has been given us by God.  As with Damascus and Cush and Egypt the Lord Almighty can take away or give power and standing to us whenever he fancies.  It’s time for God to get big in our eyes again.  He always needs to be big in our eyes.  He needs to be shockingly big, uncomfortably big.  He is the Lord Almighty and he will do as he pleases with every person and nation in this earth.

2 Corinthians 10:1-18

This see-saw is tricky to balance.  We are called to fight, we are called to wage war, we are called to use weapons.  There should be an aggression to us, a flinty-eyed warrior spirit that looks danger in the face and starts to draw its sword.  Do you have that edge to you?  Do you ever say die??  But then we should shun the dog-eat-dog standard of this world, we should build people up and not tear people down, we should not try to frighten people, we should work by the meekness and gentleness of Christ.  Do you have that gentleness?  Does your heart ache to help out those around you?  Gentleness and aggression, they are a tricky see-saw to balance.  But Jesus shows us the way.  It is only in reverence for Him that we can hold the tipping point.  He is the epitome of meekness and fierceness.  He is the Lion and the Lamb. 

Psalm 106:16-31

Cor, that is a little depressing.  It’s a good job the psalm doesn’t end there.