Romans 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
God is in total control.
Isaiah 8:9–11
9 “Be shattered, O you peoples, and be broken in pieces!
Give ear, all you from far countries.
Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces;
Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces.
10 Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing;
Speak the word, but it will not stand,
For God is with us.”
The New King James Version
2 Peter 1:5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.
In the troubling times that we live in it is easy to be consumed by them. We need to keep close to Holy Spirit and His spiritual wisdom that adds to our knowledge of the ways of God. We can look forward to the peace that comes with His love and trust in Him alone. We need to keep the Word of God deep in our hearts to sustain us.
Galatians 5:16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
We can walk, only with the help of Holy Spirit, and He will keep and sustain us. Our flesh will always fight against our spirit BUT in walking in the power of Holy Spirit we will be able to keep the ways of Jesus. The fruit of the Spirit is filled with love. peace and gentleness.
Matthew 9:35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
The Gospel of the Kingdom was given to the Jew, in Jesus Christ their King and Messiah, but the Gospel of Grace, the gift of salvation, undeserved and unmerited to the Gentiles.
Acts 3:12 So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
Jesus came them, to His people, and most of His people rejected Him. We should be thankful because their rejection became our undesired and unmerited gift!
1 Corinthians 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,
Paul through divine intervention preached the Gospel of Grace that Christ died for our sins and was raised from the dead overcoming sin and death. while we are here we should be doers of good works showing His love for all of His creation to any person He places in our life.
Acts 1:6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
The knowledge of God was given to Israel. Through them we would be able to enter into that knowledge and be saved. We do not know the time of Christ return and we are not to worry about it. We are safe in His hands. Carla
The re-use of the name “God with us” links the judgment back to the sign of Isaiah 7:14 and points ahead to the future victory of Immanuel. Faithlife Study Bible
Far countries refers to the many nations that made up Assyria’s international army. The nations would do the will of God, but in turn would be destroyed.The Lord would defeat the purposes of Judah’s enemies; all their counsels would come to nothing.
The Child whose name would mean God is with us, was a sign not only of the destruction of Syria and Israel, but of all of God’s enemies, including Assyria.
After an introductory summary this prophecy consists of two cycles: (1) Judah is commanded to trust in the Lord or perish, a command reinforced by Isaiah and his children, who serve as signs to Judah. (2) Judah is commanded to walk in the light of Isaiah’s prophecies or be thrown into utter darkness.The NKJV Study Bible
The prophet challenges the enemies of the Jews. Their efforts would be vain, and themselves broken to pieces. It concerns us, in time of trouble, to watch against all such fears as put us upon crooked courses for our own security.
The believing fear of God preserves against the disquieting fear of man. If we thought rightly of the greatness and glory of God, we should see all the power of our enemies restrained. The Lord, who will be a Sanctuary to those who trust in him, will be a Stone of stumbling, and a Rock of offence, to those who make the creature their fear and their hope.
If the things of God be an offence to us, they will undo us. The apostle quotes this as to all who persisted in unbelief of the gospel of Christ, 1 Peter 2:8. The crucified Emmanuel, who was and is a Stumbling-stone and Rock of offence to unbelieving Jews, is no less so to thousands who are called Christians. The preaching of the cross is foolishness in their esteem; his doctrines and precepts offend them. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Scripture also prepares us to seek comfort from the One who holds time in His hands. As Daniel 7:28 says, "the end of the matter" is that God will reign forever, and we find comfort when we "keep the matter in [our] heart."
When we have God's Word hidden in our hearts, He reminds us that He is, has always been and always will be in control. The things of this earth are temporary. Kingdoms and dominions will pass away, but God's Word will last forever (Matthew 24:35). Because of our Savior, we can stand in complete assurance of how the story ends. We have certainty in uncertain times because we know "the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us" in eternity with Christ (Romans 8:18).
It is through Jesus' life, death and resurrection that those who call upon His name become saints, sharing in the victory He secured once and for all on the cross. His Kingdom is set apart from any earthly kingdom that has ever existed. And in His grace, "the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High" (Daniel 7:27, emphasis added). This is the beauty of the gospel message. By grace we have been saved through faith, an everlasting gift of God (Ephesians 2:8)! First5
Focused only on labels (limiting everyone by “just a”—seeing only their trade or job I missed the gift and the power of connection. And I missed the healing reality that making a difference grows in the soil of connection. We make a difference when hearts and lives touch. We make a difference when we show up. Now, I never use the phrase “just a” anymore. About anyone. Sabbath Moments
“I have one life and one chance to make it count for something... I'm free to choose what that something is, and the something I've chosen is my faith. Now, my faith goes beyond theology and religion and requires considerable work and effort. My faith demands—this is not optional—my faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can with whatever I have to try to make a difference.” Jimmy Carter
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