Isaiah 30:1 Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin.
Oh Friends, it’s another beautiful day in paradise! Wow! And if we haven’t seen our names in the morning obits, then let’s all join in glorious praise of our magnificent and magnanimous God nuh. All together now: ‘Praise Him, Praise Him, Glory Hallelujah; He is LOVE, Yes, He is LOVE!’ Now Friends, answer me this conundrum, this riddle I this: If our God is LOVE and all those other great things we talk about, why do we try to run and/or hide from Him, plus revel in disobedience eh? Yesterday we reasoned that the Lord was the ultimate judge of the world, with power to both lift up and abase, but in spite of that we still refuse to acknowledge and obey Him. Today’s Bit is a perfect example of what we’re talking about. The Lord had brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and led them to the Promised Land. At first they were appreciative and obedient, but when they waxed prosperous, instead of becoming wealthy and wise, they became wealthy and complacent, foolishly believing that it was their own strength and wisdom that made them so. Oh my people, today we are also guilty of that sin of complacency and foolish pride. Too many of us get swell headed when we begin moving up in the world. We foolishly affect all sorts of airs and graces, believing that it’s all our own doing. But Friends, nothing could be further from the truth. Nothing in this life is done totally on our own strength; the Lord God Jehovah always has a hand in it, either to cause or allow it, for whatever purpose He desires. And until we sow that fact deep in our hearts, we’ll always have problems with the Lord. In the 30th Chapter of Isaiah, titled, ‘The futility of relying on Egypt,’ the people of Judah are considering making an alliance with Egypt against the Assyrians, without first talking to God about it. What a mistake that mih breddren! Why? Because nothing irks or hurts our God as when we do stuff, make decisions, especially important ones, without Him in the picture. That’s why He instructs Isaiah thus: ‘Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me.’ Just like we feel left out when our close earthly companions or families make important decisions without involving us, the same way the Lord feels slighted and unimportant when we leave Him out of our decision-making. Isaiah continues the Lord’s statement: ‘and that cover with a covering (devise plans, weave a web), but not of my spirit.’ Hn! Oh my brethren, we are being spiritually suicidal when we devise plans without the cover, the protection of the Lord’s Spirit. We are setting up both the plans and ourselves to fail right from the very beginning, because the Lord is a jealous God and wants to be an active participant in all our doings. Why is that so hard for us to understand eh? Now, due to our sinful, disobedient nature, we’re not always going to accept the Spirit’s advice, but we should never be guilty of not first consulting the Lord God Jehovah. As Isaiah says earlier on: ‘Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us" and who knoweth us?’ (Is.29:15) Oh Friends, that’s the height of stupidity! Man might not see you, but the Lord certainly will, for He is omniscient; sees everything, everywhere. So you can’t run nor hide from the Lord, and as the old people said, anything done in darkness eventually comes to light. And I’m sure that all of us have examples of that in our lives. Sometimes the things are small and unimportant, so they don’t create much of a problem, but the more serious ones can surely wreak havoc in our lives when they do come to light. Now that’s also one of the reasons Jesus gave for coming to earth. ‘I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.’ (John 12:46) Oh my people, please realize that darkness is Beelzebub’s cover. He uses it to do his evil deeds. But out Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is a beacon and a bastion of light. He has no need to hide under cover of darkness, for all His doings are open and above board. ‘And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended (apprehended) it not.’ (John 1:5) Yuh see Friends, light is stronger than darkness; darkness cannot stop light from flowing into it. And the lesson, or rule of thumb we can draw from that is, whenever we are doing something that needs to be hidden, or we’re tempted to hide it, then generally speaking we’re doing wrong, and we should stop and consult the Lord before going further. When we try to do things in darkness and without consulting the Lord, we’re doing like He said of the Israelites: ‘that they may add sin to sin.’ Like Moses warned the Israelites, re obedience, when they made the covenant with the Lord in the land of Moab. If anyone turns away from the Lord and serves other gods: ‘And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination (stubbornness) of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst. Then the Lord will not spare him, but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke (burn) against that man, and al the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven.’ (Deut.29:19-20) My brethren, please learn that we cannot have peace in our souls if we’re walking with stubbornness, rebellion and disobedience in our hearts. We’re only fooling ourselves if we think so. Why? Because peace only comes from walking in obedience to God’s will. Please remember that, otherwise we’ll be in for a real rough life. Much LOVE!…unless we walk with God…our souls will be dry, wretched and fruitless…
Oh Friends, it’s another beautiful day in paradise! Wow! And if we haven’t seen our names in the morning obits, then let’s all join in glorious praise of our magnificent and magnanimous God nuh. All together now: ‘Praise Him, Praise Him, Glory Hallelujah; He is LOVE, Yes, He is LOVE!’ Now Friends, answer me this conundrum, this riddle I this: If our God is LOVE and all those other great things we talk about, why do we try to run and/or hide from Him, plus revel in disobedience eh? Yesterday we reasoned that the Lord was the ultimate judge of the world, with power to both lift up and abase, but in spite of that we still refuse to acknowledge and obey Him. Today’s Bit is a perfect example of what we’re talking about. The Lord had brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and led them to the Promised Land. At first they were appreciative and obedient, but when they waxed prosperous, instead of becoming wealthy and wise, they became wealthy and complacent, foolishly believing that it was their own strength and wisdom that made them so. Oh my people, today we are also guilty of that sin of complacency and foolish pride. Too many of us get swell headed when we begin moving up in the world. We foolishly affect all sorts of airs and graces, believing that it’s all our own doing. But Friends, nothing could be further from the truth. Nothing in this life is done totally on our own strength; the Lord God Jehovah always has a hand in it, either to cause or allow it, for whatever purpose He desires. And until we sow that fact deep in our hearts, we’ll always have problems with the Lord. In the 30th Chapter of Isaiah, titled, ‘The futility of relying on Egypt,’ the people of Judah are considering making an alliance with Egypt against the Assyrians, without first talking to God about it. What a mistake that mih breddren! Why? Because nothing irks or hurts our God as when we do stuff, make decisions, especially important ones, without Him in the picture. That’s why He instructs Isaiah thus: ‘Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me.’ Just like we feel left out when our close earthly companions or families make important decisions without involving us, the same way the Lord feels slighted and unimportant when we leave Him out of our decision-making. Isaiah continues the Lord’s statement: ‘and that cover with a covering (devise plans, weave a web), but not of my spirit.’ Hn! Oh my brethren, we are being spiritually suicidal when we devise plans without the cover, the protection of the Lord’s Spirit. We are setting up both the plans and ourselves to fail right from the very beginning, because the Lord is a jealous God and wants to be an active participant in all our doings. Why is that so hard for us to understand eh? Now, due to our sinful, disobedient nature, we’re not always going to accept the Spirit’s advice, but we should never be guilty of not first consulting the Lord God Jehovah. As Isaiah says earlier on: ‘Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us" and who knoweth us?’ (Is.29:15) Oh Friends, that’s the height of stupidity! Man might not see you, but the Lord certainly will, for He is omniscient; sees everything, everywhere. So you can’t run nor hide from the Lord, and as the old people said, anything done in darkness eventually comes to light. And I’m sure that all of us have examples of that in our lives. Sometimes the things are small and unimportant, so they don’t create much of a problem, but the more serious ones can surely wreak havoc in our lives when they do come to light. Now that’s also one of the reasons Jesus gave for coming to earth. ‘I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.’ (John 12:46) Oh my people, please realize that darkness is Beelzebub’s cover. He uses it to do his evil deeds. But out Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is a beacon and a bastion of light. He has no need to hide under cover of darkness, for all His doings are open and above board. ‘And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended (apprehended) it not.’ (John 1:5) Yuh see Friends, light is stronger than darkness; darkness cannot stop light from flowing into it. And the lesson, or rule of thumb we can draw from that is, whenever we are doing something that needs to be hidden, or we’re tempted to hide it, then generally speaking we’re doing wrong, and we should stop and consult the Lord before going further. When we try to do things in darkness and without consulting the Lord, we’re doing like He said of the Israelites: ‘that they may add sin to sin.’ Like Moses warned the Israelites, re obedience, when they made the covenant with the Lord in the land of Moab. If anyone turns away from the Lord and serves other gods: ‘And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination (stubbornness) of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst. Then the Lord will not spare him, but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke (burn) against that man, and al the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven.’ (Deut.29:19-20) My brethren, please learn that we cannot have peace in our souls if we’re walking with stubbornness, rebellion and disobedience in our hearts. We’re only fooling ourselves if we think so. Why? Because peace only comes from walking in obedience to God’s will. Please remember that, otherwise we’ll be in for a real rough life. Much LOVE!…unless we walk with God…our souls will be dry, wretched and fruitless…
SCRIP-BITS 