Relentless pursuit of an Eternal Prize

Reading the one year Bible today (www.oneyearbibleonline.com)

Here is my personal revelation...get your own!  But feel free to comment on mine. 

Isaiah 30
¹² This is the reply of the Holy One of Israel:

“Because you despise what I tell you
    and trust instead in oppression and lies,

(Do we despise what the Lord commands? We are trusting in our fears rather than having faith [oppression and lies])
¹³ calamity will come upon you suddenly—
    like a bulging wall that bursts and falls.

(This isn't as sudden as it seems.  It's as if its a birth...it's been growing and finally the bulging cannot be contained any longer.  All that we harbor eventually be ejected)
In an instant it will collapse
    and come crashing down.

 
¹⁴ You will be smashed like a piece of pottery—
    shattered so completely that
there won’t be a piece big enough
    to carry coals from a fireplace
    or a little water from the well.”

(When we are truly broken we are of no use at all.  It is then that we reach out and become dependent on the Sovereign and Almighty God)

¹⁵ This is what the Sovereign Lord,
    the Holy One of Israel, says:
“Only in returning to me
    and resting in me will you be saved.

(He takes broken things, pieces them together and makes them useful. He saves us to use us.)
In quietness and confidence is your strength.
    But you would have none of it.

(We talk too much.  Our nervous chatter reveals our insecurity. We don't listen, only wait for our turn to speak.)
¹⁶ You said, ‘No, we will get our help from Egypt.

(Why return to oppression and lies?  Our help should come from the Lord.  He is a jealous God and does not take lightly to disobedience or putting anything or anyone before Him.)
    They will give us swift horses for riding into battle.’

(What good is 'swiftly' riding into battle if you have no armor and no support? Swiftly riding to your demise.)
But the only swiftness you are going to see
    is the swiftness of your enemies chasing you!
¹⁷ One of them will chase a thousand of you.
    Five of them will make all of you flee.
You will be left like a lonely flagpole on a hill
    or a tattered banner on a distant mountaintop.”

¹⁸ So the Lord must wait for you to come to him
    so he can show you his love and compassion.

(He doesn't move toward us...we move toward Him.  No matter how much emotion we drum up, it does not move God.  Our prayers don't move God.  Our obedience moves Him [if you, then I], our faith moves Him [faith that moves mountains...who moves the mountains?]. His power will be released in our lives to the degree that we are willing to be obedient.  Faithful will a little, He will bless you with much. We make the first move toward Him and then He draws near to us.)
For the Lord is a faithful God.

(Reminds me of 1 Cor 10:13...The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.)
    Blessed are those who wait for his help.

¹⁹ O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem,
    you will weep no more.
He will be gracious if you ask for help.

(How can one believe that we don't have free will?)
    He will surely respond to the sound of your cries.
²⁰ Though the Lord gave you adversity for food
    and suffering for drink,
he will still be with you to teach you.

(Strength is built by resistance and perseverance will outlast persecution.)
    You will see your teacher with your own eyes.
²¹ Your own ears will hear him.
    Right behind you a voice will say,
“This is the way you should go,”
    whether to the right or to the left.

(Allow Him to guide you and lead you.  Listen to His voice.  Notice the Word says the voice will come from behind you.  He's always got your back! He watches us as we go, showing us the way but allowing us to make the decision whether we go this way or that.)
²² Then you will destroy all your silver idols
    and your precious gold images.
You will throw them out like filthy rags,
    saying to them, “Good riddance!”

Isaiah 31:4-5

⁴ But this is what the Lord has told me:

“When a strong young lion
    stands growling over a sheep it has killed,
it is not frightened by the shouts and noise
    of a whole crowd of shepherds.
In the same way, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
    will come down and fight on Mount Zion.
⁵ The Lord of Heaven’s Armies will hover over Jerusalem
    and protect it like a bird protecting its nest.
He will defend and save the city;
    he will pass over it and rescue it.”

(Though He punishes, He protects.  Obedience is God's method of protection for our lives.  Discipline will bring about that obedience. To discipline is to bring to a state of order, God's plan. So we see here that even though His strong arm came down lightly upon Jerusalem, just as a mother would nurture her child after a spanking, so God fosters us.) 

Isaiah 32:10

¹⁰ In a short time—just a little more than a year—
    you careless ones will suddenly begin to care.For your fruit crops will fail,
    and the harvest will never take place.

(We should care enough to water and fertilize...it's our own fault if the crops fail, our own carelessness. We are responsible for the Gospel.  We have been given the privilege of knowing the Truth.  WE are responsible for souls. WE must disciple.  BEGIN TO CARE.) 

 11 Tremble, you women of ease;
    throw off your complacency.
Strip off your pretty clothes,
    and put on burlap to show your grief.

(That assurance that you have, that smugness and arrogance...get rid of it.  He cares about what we do.  Get up and do something today for the Kingdom of God.  And everyday heretofore.)

Galatians 5:1-12

New Living Translation (NLT)

Freedom in Christ

5 So Christ has truly set us free. [This freedom is being free to do what was impossible before, not free to do whatever we want.] Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law. ['Tied up in slavery to the law' sounds bound and emprisoned?? This is burdensome.  There are no special conditions when it comes to being saved. Don't disqualify yourself. He made us free.]

² Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. [Are you trying to save yourself? by trying to keep certain rules and special conditions and regulations, you are merely separating yourself from God. Paul is saying here that Christ is of no benefit to you.] ³ I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. ⁴ For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace. [No human effort can find favor with the Lord.  It is only the spotless Lamb of God, Jesus, who has made a way for us to be right with Him.]
⁵ But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us. [Sanctification is a process.  His righteousness is imparted to us, but it is still His.  We are clothed in it, yet still flesh.  We will continue to sin which is Paul's point here: we cannot be made righteous by any effort of our own. But the Holy Spirit that lives in us revives us and brings Life eternal and the righteousness of Christ lives through the Spirit's guidance.  It's as if each day we are a soldier awaiting our orders, our call, our mandate.] ⁶ For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love. [How are you expressing love to others daily?  Not just family and those you know, but OTHERS...people who don't look like you, sound like you, believe like you...they need to see our faith in expression, active and alive through service.]
⁷ You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth? [Don't get tired!  Stay spiritually fit!  Pray, read, and do! Then repeat the same order.] ⁸ It certainly isn’t God, for he is the one who called you to freedom. ⁹ This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough! [It only takes one person's influence to ruin and infect an entire group.] ¹⁰ I am trusting the Lord to keep you from believing false teachings. God will judge that person, whoever he is, who has been confusing you. [Paul says he is trusting the Lord.  We are to deliver the Truth that we have been entrusted with.  It is the Holy Spirit who convicts hearts.  We are not trying to win an argument here...we are trying to see a soul saved.  This is not a debate...this is a battle and we are plundering hell to populate heaven. So boldy proclaim...fervently pray...and confidently stand.  Don't get into theological arguments. Speak the Truth plainly and clearly. Let the Holy Spirit vindicate you.]
¹¹ Dear brothers and sisters,^[a] if I were still preaching that you must be circumcised—as some say I do—why am I still being persecuted? If I were no longer preaching salvation through the cross of Christ, no one would be offended. [Why were they offended? What is it about the Cross that offended them? Was it their guilt and shame? Their need for forgiveness but pride that held them hostage? ] ¹² I just wish that those troublemakers who want to mutilate you by circumcision would mutilate themselves.<sup>[b]


 Psalm 63: 1-11</sup>

¹ O God, you are my God;
    I earnestly search for you.
My soul thirsts for you;
    my whole body longs for you
in this parched and weary land
    where there is no water.

[David was in the wilderness, alone, at this time.  Don't you believe that his longing and yearning for God is what God wanted from him all along, it just took him being in the wilderness to accomplish that? He wants us to be parched, thirsty for Him.  Only He can satisfy us. If we pour out each day, empty ourselves of all that is in us, then we will be in this state.  If each day we are truly giving all, we will need Him to refill us daily.]
² I have seen you in your sanctuary
    and gazed upon your power and glory.

[Do you remember seeing the power and glory of God?  In this time of trouble and loneliness, desolation and trouble, he was reminded of when he gazed upon the Light of the world.]
³ Your unfailing love is better than life itself;
    how I praise you!
⁴ I will praise you as long as I live,
    lifting up my hands to you in prayer.

[In my weakness, can I surrender and lift my hands and continue to praise you through trouble an tribulation, knowing that you have me in your hands? If I can't, why?  Is it because of my disobedience? Have I stepped out of your covering and now I am expecting you to move toward me when it should be me drawing unto you?]
⁵ You satisfy me more than the richest feast.
    I will praise you with songs of joy.

⁶ I lie awake thinking of you,
    meditating on you through the night.

[What keeps you awake at night? Is it thinking on the Lord or the worries of your world?  The Scripture tells us in 1 Peter 5:7 to 'Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.']
⁷ Because you are my helper,
    I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings.

[When we know we are protected and safe, we can be joyful and have no fear. I see a picture of a child standing behind his father who is standing up for him to a bully and the child is smiling and has not a care in the world because his daddy is taking care of it.]
⁸ I cling to you;
    your strong right hand holds me securely.

⁹ But those plotting to destroy me will come to ruin.
    They will go down into the depths of the earth.

[Don't touch God's anointed.]
¹⁰ They will die by the sword
    and become the food of jackals.
¹¹ But the king will rejoice in God.
    All who trust in him will praise him,
    while liars will be silenced.

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