Settle The Matter with The Maker

Dear Friends, I am into the book of Isaiah now. The reading of the first chapter has prompted me to write this post.

Isaiah chapter 1 Verse 18 says

“Come now, let us settle the matter,”
says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.


In Indian villages, if there is any dispute between two parties or individuals, they go to village heads to settle the dispute. Very rarely, the dispute gets settled without outsiders intervention. It is very hard for people to settle a dispute by themselves because there is so much of enemity,hatred. When I think of this in the spiritual realm, because of our sinful nature we had enemity with God. Many people have this guilty feeling about the sins they have committed. Some say " I committed so many unimaginable sins that God can never forgive". Some others say "The present situation I am in, Even God cannot deliver/forgive me for these situations". Some people say "I made a mess of life and destined to hell".
But friends, if we carefully read the above verse in Isaiah, God is calling is each one of us to come to Him to settle the matter. Can you ever imagine the Almighty God who is Holy and Righteous asking sinners like you and i, to come and settle the matter. Our sins may be like scarlet or red as crimson which indicates the worst of worst sins that you and me committed or it could indicate the mess of our lives, but God says when we approach Him, He washes us with the Holy Blood of His Son Jesus Christ and makes us like white as snow and like wool.

 Scarlet or red as Crimson to white as snow or wool?
 
Yes it could be any mess we are in or it could be worst of the sins we have committed, let us approach this Loving God who sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins.

Remember, Jesus says in Matthew chapter 9, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick".
                                   Come Now and settle the matter with God.- Amen

Gods unique creation

God has created every species in a unique way. This can be evident if we see the nature, mankind, animals.When we see the nature we see various kinds of trees, each yielding a different fruit like mango,orange,apple,etc. And even within mankind, every man is different from other. Every finger print is different from all other 7 billion finger prints in the world. As a software programmer, while writing the software code, I try to think which is the best way to develop a particular software. In the process I might come up either 2 or in some cases a maximum of 4 different solutions. But I think when God created every species He might have  billions and billions of ideas in His mind when creating every creature.

In light of all this, when I come across Job chapter 39,some interesting things were mentioned which highlights Gods creativity. 

Job 39: 13-17 says
¹³ “The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,
    though they cannot compare
    with the wings and feathers of the stork. 
¹⁴ She lays her eggs on the ground
    and lets them warm in the sand,
¹⁵ unmindful that a foot may crush them,
    that some wild animal may trample them. 
¹⁶ She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers;
    she cares not that her labor was in vain,
¹⁷ for God did not endow her with wisdom
    or give her a share of good sense. 

Some time back my friend Jeevan while sharing these verses was telling that how uniquely God has created everything. In above verses Ostrich lays eggs on ground and covers them with sand and does not know that if any other animal walks on that sand the eggs will be crushed. The 17th verse says God has not given that wisdom to Ostrich. This is very striking to me that after all the effort that Ostrich had gone through to lay the egg, it does not have the wisdom to protect the eggs properly. The Word simply says God has not given it.

Job 39: 25 says
^19 25 At the blast of the trumpet it snorts, ‘Aha!’
    It catches the scent of battle from afar,
    the shout of commanders and the battle cry.

This verse talk about horse. A horse does not fear on a battle ground, and when it catches the scent of battle it shouts 'Aha'. Its just Gods creation  that horse does not fear battles.

Also Job 38:11 says
when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther; 
    here is where your proud waves halt’?

The above verse talks about seas and oceans. Currently I am living in New Jersey which is next to Atlantic Ocean. If there is ever a time that Atlantic Ocean crosses the beach and come into the cities then whole of New Jersey would be flooded. And Imagine, a flood from Ocean can cause big damage. God has set boundaries for seas and says "This far you may come and no farther." And the proud waves of the sea should stop at the boundaries. Thats it no more it can cross. 

When I think of all the above things, I believe God has uniquely created everything in the world and He has given the needed wisdom and commands to everyone. But to mankind He gave  more wisdom than rest of the creation. And the intention of God in giving this extra wisdom to mankind is that He might have fellowship with us. This love of God must compel each one of us to Love God more.

Let us have reverence to our Almighty Creator and Love Him - Amen.

Job's Prophetical utterances

As Job continues to talk out his heart about his sufferings, he spoke some words which sounded like prophetic utterances.

Job Chapter 9 Verses 32- 35

³² “He is not a mere mortal like me that I might answer him,
that we might confront each other in court.
³³ If only there were someone to mediate between us,
someone to bring us together, ³⁴ someone to remove God’s rod from me,
so that his terror would frighten me no more.
³⁵ Then I would speak up without fear of him,
but as it now stands with me, I cannot

In verse 33, Jobs hearts desire was to have a mediator between God and him. verse 34 , he talks about Someone who can remove Gods wrath on him. As I meditate on these verses, I am reminded of these verses

1 Timothy 2: 5, 6
For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave himself as a ransom for all people.

Hebrews 12:24
to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

Jesus is the mediator between God and mankind. He paid for our sins and taken away Gods wrath on mankind. Though Job might not have forseen the Time of Jesus birth,death and resurrection, but he made some prophetic utterances which had eternal value.

Acts 2: 29-31
²⁹ “Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. ³⁰ But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. ³¹ Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay.

Two days back I was speaking to Brother Joshua Pilli, and we were discussing whether David was a prophet or does the prophets know what the prophecies are about. In the abover sermon,Peter talks about how David being a prophet saw what was coming and prophesied about Jesus.

Also, in 1 Peter 1:10-12
¹⁰ As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, ^{11 [h]}seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories ^[i]to follow. ¹² It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to ^[j]look.

These verses says that prophets have made careful searches to know about the prophecies they have uttered and what was revealed to them was they were serving the future generations( that includes us).This goes on to say the angels long to look for this times.
I praise God that He has used Job during his sufferings to seek for a mediator even before Jesus time.
How much more you and me need this Saviour "JESUS".

Let us look to this mediator through whom we have eternal life.- Amen

Job's Character

As I go through the book of Job, God is showing me amazing things and I want to share those.
Job had so many troubles than any one I had ever seen or heard of. In the midst of his suffering Job starts thinking about how he lived all his life and some of the things that he mentions highlight his character. Though Job trying to show his righteousness before God, but lets look at how he lived His life.
In Job chapter 31, Verse 1 says
“I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman.  "

Jesus says in Matthew chapter 5:28
"But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart"

Job lived long time before Jesus, some say Job was even before Abraham, but God has given wisdom and understanding to Job long before Jesus spoke these words about looking at a woman lustfully.
I like the word Covenant which is a promise and a covenant with eyes is really surprising thing.
This is a great encouragement verse for todays christians like you and me that in the midst of TV, Internet, all kinds of Media and all people  whom we live with it is very important to make a covenant with our eyes saying " I will not look lustfully at a young woman".

I want to extend this verse and say I will not look lustfully at not just the young woman but anything that is not mine ( it could be money,houses,cars, or you name it  - any thing of others).

If you keep reading this chapter, you see Job Character.

V13 says -  “If I have denied justice to any of my servants,
whether male or female,  when they had a grievance against me, " - Job has always done justice.

V16 says - "If I have denied the desires of the poor
or let the eyes of the widow grow weary" -   Job is gracious, caring, helping poor and widows.

V17 says - "if I have kept my bread to myself,
not sharing it with the fatherless  " - Job helped the orphans

V19- "if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing,
or the needy without garments" -  Job helping needy poeple

V24 - “If I have put my trust in gold
or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security,’  
V25 - if I have rejoiced over my great wealth,
the fortune my hands had gained,   -  Job not a lover of money or wealth

V29 - If I have rejoiced at my enemy’s misfortune
or gloated over the trouble that came to him  - Job does not enjoy over others troubles

V30- I have not allowed my mouth to sin
by invoking a curse against their life   - Job is not a gossiper and not a loud mouth guy.

V32 - but no stranger had to spend the night in the street,
for my door was always open to the traveler - Job is hospitable.

V33 - if I have concealed my sin as people do,
    by hiding my guilt in my heart - Job is not a hypocrite .

Here we see Job not neglecting the poor, helping the widows, , always doing justice, not a lover of money and many more things, so much of a rare righteours character. What a fragrance he might have been to God and people around him.Lets us examine our hearts and see how our intentions are.

We might have lived looking at things lustfully all these years but its time to use our eyes looking for

poor people to help them
unconverted people to show them light of savlation,
depressed people to encourage them,
orphans to show them Gods fatherly love,
widows to give them encouragement and help

Hebrews 13:5 says
 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you;    never will I forsake you.”

God says He never leaves us nor forsakes us so let us be content with what we have and use our eyes, and our whole being for Our God.

In Jesus Name - Amen.