Scripture: Isaiah 47: 10-12

You have trusted in your wickedness and have said, ‘No one sees me.’  Your wisdom and knowledge mislead you when you say to yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’  ¹¹ Disaster will come upon you, and you will not know how to conjure it away.  A calamity will fall upon you that you cannot ward off with a ransom; a catastrophe you cannot foresee will suddenly come upon you.  ¹² “Keep on, then, with your magic spells and with your many sorceries, which you have labored at since childhood.  Perhaps you will succeed, perhaps you will cause terror.

Scripture Commentary: There is no magic spell; no one knows the future.

The average person likes to check the astrology section of the newspaper to see what the stars have to say about their day.  Like a magic spell, they plan their day around what they read. 

This is what the citizens of Babylon did as they sought the advice of the astrologers and stargazers of their time.  The Babylonians were so caught up in their own power and greatness.  They felt secure, and their king, Nebuchadnezzar, thought of himself as a god.

Don’t put your trust in magic that cannot deliver you.

Sorcerers and soothsayers cannot tell you what God has planned for you.  They don’t know their own future; they cannot know yours. 

God took everything from Nebuchadnezzar.  The lesson here is not to get so self-centered that you forget who is really in charge.  God made us from earth and we will return to dust until God comes again and calls us back to His presence. 

If you want to know about your future, repent and turn your life over to God.  Put yourself in His Hands.  Spread the gospel of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  God will forgive, forget and wipe away your sins forever.

Read the Entire Chapter of the Scripture Referenced:

Isaiah 47

Read Other Commentary from the Book of Isaiah:

How Would You Answer the Call, “Whom Shall I Send?”

Christ Is a Great Light Piercing the Darkness

Scripture: 2 Chronicles 33: 10-12

¹⁰ The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention. ¹¹ So the Lord brought against them the army commanders of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon. ¹² In his distress he sought the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his ancestors.

Scripture Commentary:

Many of us are in distress, saying to ourselves, “I’ve sinned so many times that there’s no way God will ever forgive me. I am totally lost and will end up in hell.” Well, let me tell you about Manasseh who reigned over Jerusalem for 55 years. He was an evil, wicked king who built altars to, and worshipped, false gods. If you were to list corrupt evil kings, the name Manasseh would probably be at the top of the list.

After learning about Manasseh, you may say, “Well, I’m not that bad.” But sin is sin. There is no size to the sinful lifestyle. Manasseh realized his sinfulness and turned to God and repented for his sins.

Like the thief on the cross with Jesus, you can go to God and repent your sins. God listened to Manasseh and forgave him. Do not let overpowering guilt put a barrier between you and God.

There is no sin God will not forgive if you truly repent. Man may or may not forgive but God always forgives. Until you take your last breath God will be waiting with open arms and a loving heart, ready to accept you into His family.

Read the Entire Chapter of the Scripture Referenced:

2 Chronicles 33

Read Other Commentary from the New Testament:

Put Your Trust in God

The Congregation Lifted Up Their Voice

Scripture: Proverbs 3: 5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.^[a]

Scripture Commentary: Trust God in everything.

In a class on human behavior, the instructor divides the class into groups of 2. One person is blindfolded and turns around 3 times, after which they are told to fall backwards. They are to trust that someone will catch them.

In Proverbs 3, Solomon tells us to trust in the Lord with “all your heart.” We live by faith, not by sight, right? In the experiment above, the person who is blindfolded knows his/her classmate. S/he is to trust that s/he will be caught.

Trust and obey.

God, who you haven’t seen, tells you to trust in Him. Obey His commandments. Walk in His light and He will guide you. The proverb uses the word “heart.” This is not your physical heart. It is the Holy Spirit God has placed in you.

We think we know everything. So why ask God? We say we love God but we leave him outside our decisions.

Verse 6 says, “in all your ways submit to him.” Is God part of your decision making process? Solomon tells us what part God should play in our lives – everything! We should have an all encompassing, fully committed relationship with God.

Read the Entire Chapter of the Scripture Referenced:

Proverbs 3

Read Other Commentary from the Book of Proverbs:

What Do Your Words Say About You?

What You Do For Christ Has Lasting Value

Scripture: Job 42: 7

⁷ After the Lord had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. 

Scripture Commentary:

God made it clear that Job’s friends had not spoken the truth about Him. The fact that God mentioned no specific sins against Job confirms that Job led a devout and obedient life. Job’s friends erred in assuming that Job’s suffering was the result of sin.

How often do we play judge and jury when we witness things happening in someone else’s life? Like Job’s friends, we judge without knowing what God is doing. God is in control and He is the one and only judge.

Job prayed for his friends after they criticized him. It’s difficult to forgive someone who has accused you of wrongdoings. But Job did forgive.

Jesus did the same thing. In Luke 23: 34, He said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

If you cannot forgive, how can you ask for forgiveness? Are you praying for those who have hurt you?

Would Job have praised God had nothing been restored to him? The answer is yes. Read the entire book of Job and you will see that Job understood that he came from God and belonged to God. That is the truth of of everyone’s life.

All you have belongs to God and it is His gift to you. Do not hoard His gifts; share them. Jesus said that whoever gives up something for God’s Kingdom will be repaid. The payment may not be here on earth but when God welcomes you to take your rest in His eternal home with Him.

Read the Entire Chapter of the Scriptures Referenced:

Job 42

Luke 23

Read Other Commentary from the Book of Job:

Have you considered my servant, Job?

Have you considered the testimony in the trial?

Scripture: Psalm 136: 1-4

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever. ² Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever. ³ Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever. to him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever.

Scripture Commentary: God’s love never changes.

There is one refrain throughout this psalm. In the KJV, it is, “for his mercy endureth for ever.” No matter what version of the Bible you read, the message is the same. God’s love, kindness, mercy, faithfulness and forgiveness never changes. However, we flip flop throughout our lives. If only we could be as constant in our lives.

Read the entirety of Psalm 136 and repeat the refrain over and over. Maybe, just maybe, we can be the person God created us to be. To be constant in what we say. To be someone who means what he/she says and to have people know that our word is bond.

God’s love is never ending.

Repeating the refrain is not an unnecessary or tiresome exercise. God shows His true love for us in this Psalm. God’s love is a never ending stream; it will never run out. This is why He sent His Son, Jesus Christ. Christ died for our sins, showing us how to love one another. Christ showed us how we should live our life and how we should treat others.

When you go to God for help, He does not turn you down. God answers prayer. His love endures forever because God endures forever. He is the alpha and omega of life itself.

Read the Entire Chapter of the Scripture Referenced:

Psalm 136

Read Other Commentary from the Book of Psalms:

Teach Me Lord, and Order My Steps In Your Word

Bless the Lord For the Gifts He Gives You

Scripture: Jeremiah 36: 1

In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ² “Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah and all the other nations from the time I began speaking to you in the reign of Josiah till now. ³ Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about every disaster I plan to inflict on them, they will each turn from their wicked ways; then I will forgive their wickedness and their sin.”

Scripture Commentary: God wants us to turn from our wicked ways.

God gives Jeremiah a notice to read to the people of Judah informing them of every disaster He plans to inflict on them if they do not turn from their wicked ways. Also, God tells them if they stop their wickedness, He will forgive them their sins.

God’s message hasn’t changed. God still has this message for us today. Are we listening, turning from sin and repenting? Or are we like King Zedekiah and his officials who did not want to hear God’s Word?

God spoke to Jeremiah who dictated the message to Baruch, his scribe, who read it to the people. Jeremiah read it to the king.

If we don’t turn from our wicked ways, we face damnation for eternity.

God’s Word has not changed. What He said to Jeremiah is still relevant today. God wants us to turn from our wicked, sinful ways. He wants to forgive us. If we continue in a life of sin, we face damnation for eternity.

God has shown us love and patience for thousands of years. He even sent His Son to pay for our sins. Each of us only has a short time on earth; do not waste it.

Is your life influenced by what the world says or is it influenced by what God tells you?

Read the Entire Chapter of the Scripture Referenced:

Jeremiah 36

Read Other Commentary From the Book of Jeremiah:

God’s Justice Comes in God’s Time

Not All Prophets Are True

Scripture: Colossians 2: 13-15

¹³ When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you^[d] alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, ¹⁴ having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵ And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.^[e]

Scripture Commentary:

Before Christ we had no one to show us the way. We were condemned. God sent judges, prophets, and preachers to tell the people that they were wrong in what they were doing when sacrificing animals to atone for their sinful lives when their lifestyle did not change.

God then sent His Begotten Son Jesus Christ as the only unblemished sacrifice that would be accepted for our sins. He become our mediator to present our life before God. When Christ died on the cross, God declared us not guilty.

We do not have to live in sin.

That doesn’t mean we are perfect. We are not perfect but what is now different is that we can ask for forgiveness.

We have joined Christ in His death and resurrection.

The bondage of sin has no hold on us. Christ has freed us! And now we have an unbroken bond in the family of God that is eternal.

Our only judge and jury is Jesus Christ, and He paid our sin debt in full. God has forgotten our sins and we are clean.

Read the Entire Chapter of the Scripture Referenced:

Colossians 2

Read Other Commentary from the Book of Colossians:

A Violator Cannot Forgive His Own Trespasses

Be Strengthened In the Faith As You Were Taught

Scripture: Job Chapter 1: 8,11,12

⁸ Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” ¹¹ But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.” ¹² The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

Scripture Commentary:

Job was a man of good character who loved God, his family, and prospered in business. As a Christian Job accepted the responsibility to care for his family, servants, and all that he possessed. Job was loved by his wife, ten children, servants, and friends. He worshiped God, giving sacrifices not only for himself but interceding for his ten adult children. There was none like him in all the earth.

Satan toke all that Job had away from him hoping that Job would surely curse God to his face; but Job did not curse God and God restored all that he lost.

Satan is always seeking to destroy the relationship that we have with God.

Satan looks to prove to God that our faith is not in God, the creator, but in the things that God can give us. He is jealous of God’s love for humanity and humanity’s faithfulness to God.

God told Satan all our earthly possessions are in his power to control but that Satan could not take our life. Satan and Job both knew that God is the creator of all things and that God has a plan for our lives. God gives us all that we have; and God takes them away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

God never abandons us in our situation. Look to your heavenly Father.

As it was with Job, God invites Satan to test and tempt us every day. When we are in Christ Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit who, like Christ Jesus, leads us into situations where our character is under attack by Satan. But God is faithful to his children, God will not abandon us in our situation no matter how dark it may appear to be.

We must learn to not focus on our lost possessions and family members but to look at our heavenly father. God is sovereign in all, over all and through all. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Read the Entire Chapter of the Scripture Referenced:

Job 1

Read Other Commentary from the Book of Job:

Good and Evil Are Part of Life

How Should God Reward You?

Scripture: Luke 10: 10-11

¹⁰ But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, ¹¹ ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’

Scripture Commentary:

God’s Word is being spoken in our country, town and city borders. Are we listening or are we denying it access? In Luke 10, Jesus sent 72 of His followers in groups of 2 each into the towns that He planned to visit. They were to carry His message of repentance, love and forgiveness.

These messages are still being spoken today. Are our countries, towns and cities like Sodom and Gomorrah, so evil that God would destroy us or let us destroy ourselves with the lifestyle we have? Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed themselves. They did not hear of or see the Messiah.

On the other hand, we know the Messiah is Jesus Christ. We have the Word from God, The Bible. We know the way and how to get to God’s kingdom. Our judgment is our rejection of God and His son. We have no excuse!

Jesus told His followers that their names were written in heaven. With all they did in Christ’s name, this was the greatest accomplishment. One day God will ask, “What have you done in My Name?”

What have you accomplished for God? Keep in mind that God knows the answer before He even asks the question.

Read the Entire Chapter of the Scripture Referenced:

Luke 10

Read Other Commentary from the Book of Luke:

With Christ Your Deliverance Is at Hand

God’s Mercy Extends to Those Who Fear Him

Scripture: Psalm 100: 1-5

A psalm. For giving grateful praise.

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. ³ Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. ⁴ Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. ⁵ For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

Scripture Commentary:

We are God’s children. Therefore, we need to make a joyful noise to the Lord!

Our earthly parents conceived us and raised us but without God, we would not be. Make a joyful noise! The Lord made each of us different; no two are the same. Even identical twins are not the same. Each of us has been given a unique gift that no one else has. This gift is to serve God for the purpose He made each of us for.

Are you still looking for your unique gift?

If you have given yourself to serve God, then you have found your gift. If you have not, then you are searching. When we enter into His courts, we celebrate our love for God and we see His joy as He looks on His creatures – us.

God’s love for us is truly everlasting.

God alone is worthy to be worshiped for there is nothing and no one above Him. He is the Creator, the one and only Father of us all. When you are lost, He will not stop looking for you until He has found you.

Give yourself fully to God for He has given Himself fully to you by giving His Son, Jesus Christ, for your sins.

Read Other Commentary From the Book of Psalms:

Keep Your Promise – Declare the Truth of God

Apply Your Heart to Wisdom

A Lifetime of Experience Should Not Be Handed Down