Reading from Saturday, October 2

Hey ju guys.

Reading for October 2
Isaiah 66:1-24
This is the last chapter of Isaiah, and its pretty dark. God goes into great detail about who he will punish and how he will punish them.

¹⁵ See, the LORD is coming with fire,
       and his chariots are like a whirlwind;
       he will bring down his anger with fury,
       and his rebuke with flames of fire.

But there is also hope within this last chapter, which I can assume is derived from Jesus:

 ¹³ As a mother comforts her child,
       so will I comfort you;
       and you will be comforted over Jerusalem."
 ¹⁴ When you see this, your heart will rejoice
       and you will flourish like grass;

In the end, Isaiah is an incredibly insightful book into the character of God. We see him at a point of crossroads in his  ideas of how to handle his most curious creation: man. Up until this point, God has spent centuries punishing and slaughtering his people for their insubordination, but now he is trying to figure out how to save them from his wrath. However, at the same time, he is still stuck in this ditch of punishment. So through that we see an almost bipolar God in Isaiah. He goes back and forth from mercy to vengeance so quickly and so many times that you get the feeling that there is almost an internal struggle going on within God himself. Like he is beginning to question his methods and practices up until this point.

In one way, its slightly disturbing that God flip flopped on his ideas, but at the same time it's incredibly humbling to discover that he committed to saving us. Even if it was for his sake.


Philippians 3:4-21
An idea of Heaven.

So today, my friend Pete asked me to describe what I believe happens when I die to him in non religious terms. Here was my reply:

My belief - which I am still refining - is that when I die, my soul - that is the person inside me, independent of my physical body - goes to another realm which we call heaven. In this realm, I believe that life will be eternal and peaceful.

I felt that when I tried to describe it this way, it sounded fairly, well, stupid. It doesn't sound believable when you don't say it without including the rehearsed Christianese language that's associated with those things.

What are your guys thoughts on that?

Anyway, there is a little look into something about heaven in this reading:

²⁰But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

The idea of our bodies transforming is an interesting one that I often forget about. But again, try to explain this is regular words. We will get new bodies that are totally awesome when we die. It sounds so strange and unbelievable...

Psalm 74:1-23
This is interesting. There is so much emphasis on God doing things for himself - "for his own sake" - there is a point when God no longer defends himself or his people, to the point where he doesn't even get the praise he's seeking.

 ²⁰ Have regard for your covenant,
       because haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land.
 ²¹ Do not let the oppressed retreat in disgrace;
       may the poor and needy praise your name.
 ²² Rise up, O God, and defend your cause;
       remember how fools mock you all day long.

It's compelling to think about God having a vested interest in our well being. If he needs the praise as much as we need...whatever we need...it makes sense for him to keep us happy. But now as evidenced in this psalm, there are times when God does not help us, to his own detriment. What could be his reason behind his abandonment? What are your guys thoughts? 

Proverbs 24:15-16
 ¹⁵ Do not lie in wait like an outlaw against a righteous man's house,
       do not raid his dwelling place;
 ¹⁶ for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again,
       but the wicked are brought down by calamity.

I'm exhausted. Goodnight.

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