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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
“But as for you who forsake the
Lord and forget My holy mountain, who spread a table for Fortune and fill bowls
of mixed wine for Destiny, I will destine you for the sword, and all of you
will fall in the slaughter; for I called but you did not answer, I spoke but
you did not listen. You did evil in My sight and chose what displeases Me.”
Isaiah 65:11-12
This ends today’s reading from God's holy
word. Thanks be to God.
Have you ever been abandoned and forsaken by someone who
was close to you?
Unfortunately, I have gone through such a situation twice
in my lifetime and wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
I can tell you that it’s heartbreaking when you have
invested your life being endeared to a person and then all of a sudden, they
turn their back on you, shutting you out as if they had never known you and
leaving you empty and hurt and even angry.
This is exactly how we find the Lord feeling as we look at
today’s scripture and read His words from the 65th chapter of Isaiah. Look
again at these verses here:
“But as for you who forsake the Lord and forget My holy mountain, who
spread a table for Fortune and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny, I will
destine you for the sword, and all of you will fall in the slaughter; for I
called but you did not answer, I spoke but you did not listen. You did evil in
My sight and chose what displeases Me.” Isaiah 65:11-12
Ask yourself this: How much did the Lord do for the people
of Israel?
Over and over again, He was there for them, giving them
guidance and direction, protecting them from their enemies, and providing for
their needs. Anytime they called, He answered.
So how did they repay Him for all that He did?
They turned their back on Him and decided to chase after
false gods instead, forgetting about God and His commandments, chief of which
was to have no other gods before Him. Instead, the people worshiped the gods of
fortune and destiny, gods named Gad and Meni respectively if you read verse 11
in other translations. They refused to answer God’s call, closed their ears to
hearing Him, and openly did evil in His sight, choosing to act in ways that
were displeasing to Him and behaving as if He didn’t even exist. It was a big
mistake for as we see in verse 12, God will not stand for being forsaken, disrespected,
or disregarded. Ever.
The people of Israel may have thought they were going to be
able to ignore God but here’s the thing they forgot. You can’t ignore a power
that can do all things and that includes altering your life in ways that will
be unpleasant. In the case of the Israelites, that life alteration took the
form of a lengthy exile to Babylon as they were ripped away from homes and
taken to a foreign land where they would be in captivity for seventy years.
Indeed, the people of God had failed and fallen in a big way, and I am sure it didn’t
take long for them to realize that turning their backs on God was the wrong
thing to do.
So what are we to take from this today?
Well, God is speaking to us strongly here and simply
telling us this:
“I will not be disrespected or disregarded. Forsake Me and
I will forsake and punish you.”
We would be well served to listen to Him because I think we
are in big trouble in our world today. Many, many people are forsaking the God
who made them and not even acknowledging His presence in their lives. They
choose the sinful ways of the world and chase after their desires, rejecting
the ways of the Lord and snubbing their noses at the notion of reading the
Bible and making worship a central part of their lives. They admire and devote
themselves to the false gods of this world like fortune and destiny instead of
turning to the only One who truly controls their fate.
And in doing so, the people of the world today are
repeating the mistakes of the past and placing themselves in the crosshairs of
God’s wrath and punishment.
How bad is this going to get?
Well, the Bible is pretty clear there because a time is
coming when God will send Jesus back to this earth, this time as a Judge (the
first time was as a Savior) before He destroys the heavens and earth as we know
it to start anew with a remnant of the world’s population, the remnant that
chose to not forsake Him but rather accepted His offer to live with Him forever
through believing and trusting in His Son Jesus and the salvation He brings
(John 3:16). Those who chose to forsake God will be annihilated that day,
thrown into a lake of fire.
You see, forsaking God is something He wouldn’t stand for
in Old Testament days and it’s something He will not stand for here in the 21st
century. It’s time for people to wake up and dedicate themselves to their Maker
and Master as much as He is dedicated to them.
He deserves nothing less.
Amen.
In
Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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