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Today is Friday August 13, 2010 and we are reading through the Bible in a year. Today's message comes from the reading of the Book of Isaiah, chapters 64-66. If you would like to read the chapters along with us here online you can Click Here to read them or copy & paste this link onto your browser: http://www.imfollowingjesus.com/bible-august-13

Today's Message: Give Them The Opportunity

As Christians we can rejoice in the fact that Christ will return and when He does it is only the beginning to our wonderful journey, no more pain, suffering, or remembrance of anything that we had to endure here on earth. Whether we just come to know Him, forgot about Him, or were faithful servants, all who have called on Jesus to save them will escape the horrible fate of every person who rejected the Lord, eternal separation not only from God, but everyone as they spend the rest of eternity burning in the lake of fire. “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”- Revelation 20:14,15. Yes, it is a scary thought to think that there is such a place, but it is real and anyone who has not called on Jesus to save them will end up there. It saddens me to think that I have family and friends that I will not see in heaven because they did not know the truth or ignored it. “He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true. For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”- John 3:33-36. Everyone in their lifetime on earth will have the opportunity to be saved, it is up to them to accept it, we can not dwell on those who did not heed the warning, but we can do what we can to try and tell the rest so they have the opportunity as well.

A lot of people think that all we read in the New Testament is new news and that it has no impact from the Old Testament, but the fact is, it is nothing new. All throughout the Old Testament these things have been told already. When God inspired Isaiah to write his book, the prophecies given to him about Jesus coming were given over seven hundred years before his birth. Isaiah also prophesies about Christ's second coming and the destruction that will take place. Isaiahs prophecies deemed true when he warned the Northern Kingdom and later the Southern Kingdom of their destruction. Eight years after the fall of the Northern Kingdom the Southern Kingdom began to take a fall that would lead to it's destruction and the Israelites being taken captive by the Babylonians. The majority of the people had abandoned the Lord and had turned to the false gods of neighboring countries. In a desperate plea Isaiah began praying to God, “But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand. Be not wroth very sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people. Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste. Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O LORD? wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore?” - Isaiah 64:8-12. Just like today, they rejected the prophecies as well, but that did not stop them from happening. Through Isaiah, God is giving us a warning and is preparing us for what is about to come of our own nation, which ever one that may be, like Isaiah, we too need to be praying and pleading to God for our nation.

Regardless of what we have gotten ourselves into, God is forgiving and although we will suffer some chastisement when it is over we will be blessed through it. God assures us that although we have sinned He will save us from His wrath, “Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed: Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit. And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the Lord GOD shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name: That he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes. For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.” - Isaiah 65:13-17. Jesus is the bread of life, unless we receive His offering we will always be hungry and thirsty for more, never satisfied. Jesus Said, “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” - John 6:35.

When God's people have the bread of life they shall want nothing good for them, but those who forsake the Lord, shall be ashamed of vain confidence in their own righteousness, and the hopes they built thereon. Worldly people bless themselves in the abundance of this world's goods, but God's people bless themselves in Him, recognizing Him as their strength and will. They shall honor Him as the God of truth. They shall think themselves happy in having Him for their God, who made them forget their troubles. The former confusions, sins, and miseries of the human race, shall be no more remembered or renewed. In the grace and comfort believers have in and from Christ we look forward to the new heaven and new earth awaiting us. Praise God!

Enjoy the rest of your day/night and have an awesome and blessed weekend.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

All Scripture is quoted from the King James Version.
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