Message of warning

Grieved in soul

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“All those who work for hire will be grieved in soul.”   Isaiah 19:10

This verse of Scripture from the lips of the prophet Isaiah, resonate today in our time. We are historically far from the words, but practically, are we not in the same position.?

The land of Egypt had been cursed by God, because of the idols that people worshipped and the false words they sought as council. The people lived in folly and their industry had become futile. The fishermen failed to catch food for the community; those who manufacture white garments, were not able to follow their business strategies. Farmers who grow food had no water to refresh the growing plants, so they wither; the flax fails and drinking water is unfit for humans to drink.

Still they consult their false gods and the evil mediums who lead the people astray. God hands then over to the tyrant, who takes everything and the people are hardly able to stay alive.

The workers who work to pay their bills and provide for families, have lost this ability. They are grieved in soul. They have become sick in heart, with no motivation or strength to seek a remedy. There are no customers left, for no one has money to buy goods. They cannot review their business and inject some enthusiasm, because the motivation to work is no more. Prospects have failed and they sink down into destitution. When the enemy comes, the people are ripe for picking. The tyrant takes everything and the land is lost. Even so, God does not forsake them….

God will place an altar in the middle of Egypt. This will be a sign and a witness that the Lord Almighty is still reigning supreme. When the people cry out to the Lord, He will send them a Saviour and a defender and He will deliver them. God will yet be glorified by the people of Egypt, and Assyria and Israel.

There is always a highway out of our troubles. Even though we sin grievously, the Lord places the remedy for our pains, right before us. There is a Saviour. He has come right into our world and has paid the price to set us free. We have nothing to offer. We are destitute and sinking down into death, but the Deliverer has come and He will rescue all who cry out to Him.

We all work for wages. If we fail, or our work fails, we are left penniless. Our souls suffer a similar fate, which leads us to everlasting death. No one but the Saviour Jesus, can deliver us in body and soul.  Our work is unexceptable to God, and God tells us that the wages of our sins is death. We must call out to Him and ask Him to bear our sins away. Only then will we find liberty and forgiveness. Only then will we find a way out of the grieving in our souls. If we did but know it, our souls yearn for God and can only be pacified by His mighty love.

To work for the wages of this fallen world, is folly. We seek another country, built for those who love Christ and belong to His kingdom. Let us put our hope in the Lord, for He will abundantly pardon us and deliver us.

Evil and hate

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“To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. Counsel and sound judgment are mine; I have insight, I have power.”   Proverbs 8: 13-14

These are strong, and unsurprising words from the Lord. If we know Him and His Word, we will know these words to be true. If we don’t know Him, we might be surprised to hear that God has hatred towards some things because we have heard that God is love.

God’s love is not like our love. He loves because He in Himself is love. God loves righteousness, and the flip side of that, is that He hates unrighteousness.

To love God is to love what He loves and hate what He hates. To be a believer is to fear the Lord and hate evil. Our problem is we don’t hate evil, the evil that rises in our own hearts, and separates us from God. We are proud and arrogant and think we know best. We don’t want to humble ourselves before His throne and admit our guilt. We tolerate our sin and easily slip into the hatefulness in our hearts that leads us into perversity in our thinking and speaking and doing.

We think our wisdom is correct. We contend with the almighty God and imagine we have the right to argue with Him. All the councils of wisdom and justice belong to the everlasting God. To think we can challenge Him is rampant presumption.

The ruling of God over what is sin, or not sin, is absolute. There are no deals to be done or concessions to be made. We definitely don’t like this idea. We are used to being asked our point of view and the opportunity to express our opinion. God has laid down His holy law, and it is unchangeable. He will never tolerate evil in any form. The greatest evil being disobedience against His law, and unbelief in His person. God’s hatred of sin, is the expression of His absolute power. Holiness is power. Unbelief is our chief sin and will keep us away from God and forgiveness, and will keep us always choosing the wrong path.

Only God has the power to change this situation. He can open our eyes to see our true position before Him, and to see our great need. We need to recognise love as He is love and admit that we are unworthy servants in need of His love. Only as we recognise these things, will we bow our proud knee and confess our sin. He is ready to forgive us and lift us up in His kingdom, to turn our lives around and change our hearts and minds. This is the grand design for the coming kingdom and those who acquiesce to His mighty love, will find that love and live in it’s power. Then we will hate what is evil and love what is good. Then we will become more like God, as we walk the pathways of this fallen world. We will love what is good and we will love God.