Isaiah 43:10-13 I AM is God and there exist no other!

Isaiah 45:22

And there is no other God besides Me,

A just God and a Savior;

There is none besides Me.

“Look to Me, and be saved,

All you ends of the earth!

For I am God, and there is no other.

Israel was God’s first born among His creation. There will be 144,00 in the end who will not bend to the lesser gods of unbelief. In their witness to the world all who believe in the King of the Jews, Jesus the Son of God, will be saved.

Isaiah 43:10-13

10“You are My witnesses,” says the Lord,

“And My servant whom I have chosen,

That you may know and believe Me,

And understand that I am He.

Before Me there was no God formed,

Nor shall there be after Me.

11 I, even I, am the Lord,

And besides Me there is no savior.

12 I have declared and saved,

I have proclaimed,

And there was no foreign god among you;

Therefore you are My witnesses,”

Says the Lord, “that I am God.

13 Indeed before the day was, I am He;

And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand;

I work, and who will reverse it?”

God will never deny those who place their life in His hands in the salvation that He provides in Christ Jesus. Carla

You is strongly contrasted by “I” at the beginning of verse 11. The people of Israel had witnessed the great works of God in their midst (Exodus 4). These verses form a magnificent celebration of the sovereignty of God (14:24, 26, 27; Numbers 23:19). 

The Hebrew text contains merely the word foreign; the word god is implied. The point is that only the living God was at work in the Israelites’ midst. This same Hebrew term for savior is used in verse 3. The Lord was always at work—saving, protecting, guiding, and disciplining His people. 

The concluding line of the song of praise—there is no one … My hand—is quoted from Deuteronomy 32:39. The NKJV Study Bible

In the trial scene, God calls on Israel to witness on His behalf that it was He and no other god that saved them (verse 12). My servant whom I have chosen refers to corporate Israel, as in 41:8 and 42:19.

No other deity existed before Yahweh. Other divine beings are called Yahweh’s “sons” (Job 38:7–8; Psalm 89:5–8), suggesting He created them.

Israel was not to worship these other gods (Deuteronomy 4:19–20; 17:3; 32:17). Since the Old Testament describes other gods as stars or the host of heaven, passages that describe the creation of the heavenly host likely seek to credit Yahweh with superiority over them (since He created them).

“There is no savior besides me” this assertion is repeated in Isaiah 45:21 again in the context of a strong polemic against idolatry. For Israelites, the gods of the nations were inferior to Yahweh and undeserving of worship (Deuteronomy 32:8–9, 17). Faithlife Study Bible

Isaiah 44:8

Do not fear, nor be afraid;

Have I not told you from that time, and declared it?

You are My witnesses.

Is there a God besides Me?

Indeed there is no other Rock;

I know not one.’ ”

Isaiah 41:4

Who has performed and done it,

Calling the generations from the beginning?

‘I, the LORD, am the first;

And with the last I am He.’ ”

Job 9:12

If He takes away, who can hinder Him?

Who can say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’

Psalm 90:2

Before the mountains were brought forth,

Or ever You had formed the earth and the world,

Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

Here’s the deal: Gratitude does not take away any of the difficult decisions or conundrums of our week. But it sure keeps us from looking in the rear-view mirror or around the next corner. Yes, one step at a time.

Gratitude allows us to live this life, and not the one we always figured that we’d trade this one in for.

Gratitude allows us to invest in what we can see, hear, taste, touch and smell in the moment. The sacrament of the present moment.

Gratitude allows us to partake in the joys of the everyday, to see the sacred in the very, very ordinary.

And gratitude helps us see that the sufficiency is not self-sufficiency, but that gratitude sees the connection, Ram Dass’ affirmation that we do indeed walk one another home. “Sabbath Moments”

Ecclesiastes 9:18 (ESV) "Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good."

Wisdom helps us rise above the brutal consequences of life in a broken world, first by recognizing that the cause of chaos is humanity's own doing: "One sinner destroys much good" (Ecclesiastes 9:18). This verse refers to how the world's first sinners, Adam and Eve, destroyed God's good creation (Romans 5:12). But God still had a plan for the righteous One, Jesus, to become wisdom incarnate and restore what was lost (1 Corinthians 1:24).

When we don't understand why life is unfair or why evil prevails, we don't have to resign ourselves to "time and chance" like the Teacher in Ecclesiastes 9:11. Today, we can remember that Jesus faced suffering and defeated evil to redeem us.

We can trust God through the hard and the good, injustices and blessings, because He is sovereign over every detail. As we follow Christ, He weaves our every moment into His grand design. 

2 Corinthians 10:4 says the weapons of God are capable of defeating strongholds. The term "strongholds" in this verse (achyroma in Greek) evokes a fortress or prison within our own mind, which traps us in a way of thinking that is counter to God's wisdom and ways.When we feel defeated by life's challenges or the battle in our own minds, we can remember that as Christ followers, we have "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" to help us overcome (Ephesians 6:17). And the ultimate battle has already been won (1 Corinthians 15:57). First5

Matthew 19:23-26 We are given gifts to share with others.

We are given gifts to share with our families and others. Whether it is  money, talents or the gifts of the Spirit they are given to us to be shared. 

Matthew 19:23-26 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

25 When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?”

26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Whatever we do for the least of us we do for the glory of God. Without the grace given in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ there would be no salvation. We are all undeserving of this gift of God’s love. Carla

Jesus’ comment about a rich man’s salvation would have been difficult for some Jewish people in this period to accept because they held to a form of “prosperity theology.” If people prospered, it was evidence of God’s blessing on them. Whereas verse 23 says it is hard for a rich man to become saved, verse 24 implies that it is as impossible as passing a camel through the eye of a needle (Mark 10:25; Luke 18:25). The NKJV Study Bible

The challenge comes from being overly attached to earthly goods. Go through the eye of a needle, Jesus employs this ridiculous impossibility to capture His hearers’ attention and emphasize the great sacrifice necessitated by the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 19:21).

Jesus’ remarks in Matthew 19:23–24 reverse the conventional wisdom of His day. It was commonly believed that if someone was blessed with riches, they had God’s approval and were thereby assured of entrance into His kingdom of heaven. Faithlife Study Bible

The way to heaven is a narrow way to all, and the gate that leads into it, a strait gate; particularly so to rich people. More duties are expected from them than from others, and more sins easily beset them. It is hard not to be charmed with a smiling world. Rich people have a great account to make up for their opportunities above others. It is utterly impossible for a man that sets his heart upon his riches, to get to heaven. Christ used an expression, denoting a difficulty altogether unconquerable by the power of man. Nothing less than the almighty grace of God will enable a rich man to get over this difficulty. The beginning, progress, and perfecting the work of salvation, depend wholly on the almighty power of God, to which all things are possible. Not that rich people can be saved in their worldliness, but that they should be saved from it. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

Genesis 18:14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.”

Job 42:2

“I know that You can do everything,

And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.

Matthew 13:22 Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. 

Jeremiah 32:17 ‘Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You. 

Luke 1:37 “For with God nothing will be impossible.”

And here’s the deal: this happens to me (the need to hide) when I put a moral price tag on my wounded (or fragile or broken) places. Because, now, these are places to be run from, or concealed, or suppressed, or fixed.

And I miss the power that these are places where grace lives.

I miss the exquisite beauty (strength and power and life) in what is fragile—and the light that shines from broken places—love, tenderness, kindness, generosity, gentleness and empathy.

We forget (or maybe don’t see) that it is from our soft and broken places that light (and healing) can and does spill.“Sabbath Moments”

The Teacher advised God's people to savor their work, experiences, and relationships while they were alive (Ecclesiastes 9:7-10). After all, "He who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion" (Ecclesiastes 9:4) This is a depressing mindset, isn't it? In the end, our fun on earth will be short-lived, overshadowed by the emptiness of pleasure and the inevitability of death. From this perspective, the meaning of life is ... meaningless.

But for Christians, we know there's more. Christians believe in eternity in a way God's people could only glimpse in the Old Testament before the gospel of Jesus was fully revealed. We know we will die, yes, but we look to a Savior who took the sins of the world upon Himself so we can spend eternity with Him. Even now, He makes a place in heaven for us (Romans 6:23; John 3:16-17; John 14:1-3).

In Christ, we can truly enjoy both earthly and eternal life with appreciation for the Life-Giver. He provides opportunities for meaningful connection, beautiful experiences, and simple joys as we live out our days in His incredible creation: a wonderful bite of food, a smile from a loved one, a glorious sunset. None of these are trivial! But acknowledging God as our Sustainer and Provider is key. With this in mind, we live out our days on earth, many or few, difficult or easy, for God's glory. This is our meaning in life.

We see Jesus in the small joys, the big events, and everything in between. And because of His blessings, we walk with purpose and diligence. While the Teacher in Ecclesiastes 9:10 tried to work and live just for the sake of staying alive, the Apostle Paul tells us to work and live for the cause of Christ: "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ" (Colossians 3:23-24).

Therein lies the difference ... and what a difference Jesus makes! We are meant to live with meaning and intention, knowing that with Him, we have purpose in life and hope in death. First5

The Bombshell Epstein Emails DEMAND a Christian Response

Should the Epstein Documents Matter for Christians? | The Bulletin

2 Timothy 1:7 There is power in the love of God!

Jeremiah 42:11 Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid; do not be afraid of him,’ says the LORD, ‘for I am with you, to save you and deliver you from his hand.

All things are possible to those who love God and follow His ways. In the power of Holy Spirit we can stand against evil without fear of repercussions. God loves the world that He created and  all of His creation not wanting anyone to live without Him. Carla

2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 

The Holy Spirit is the One who gives us spiritual gifts and empowers us to use them. God’s Spirit does not impart fear or cowardice, but power, love, and a sound mind, or “self-control.” The Spirit imparts power for the various circumstances of ministry. The love the Spirit gives to us should be directed toward other individuals. Furthermore, as we use our spiritual gifts to build up the church, we should exercise self-control, using our abilities only at the appropriate times. The NKJV Study Bible

The Greek word used here, deilia, refers to cowardice that results from a lack of moral strength. Timothy may have been fearful to fulfill his duties because of a timid personality and the intense opposition he faced from false teachers. Paul reminds Timothy that such fear does not come from God’s Spirit (Romans 8:15–16). Faithlife Study Bible

Romans 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 

Acts 1:8 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.”

Isaiah 11:2

The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him,

The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

The Spirit of counsel and might,

The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.

“Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not even owe.” Not sure who coined this, but I say, “Amen.”

We do know this; this blend of worry and fuss is a pickle, because it gums up the system. Stops the flow. Worry, from an Anglo-Saxon word "to strangle" or "to choke." As if literally cutting off the air supply that allows us to breathe emotionally and spiritually.

Numb, I have no bandwidth for things that matter to the heart; gladness, desire, intention, compassion and wholehearted fire.

This is not to say that we can't engage in activities, or service, or work. However, work that is fueled by a need to be needed, or need to prove value is too consuming, leaving no time for rejuvenation (sanctuary),

Or regaining our bearings,

or prayer, or delight, or the quiet work of the Spirit.

Let us be gentle with ourselves my friends. “Sabbath Moments”

Why are the evil works of the wicked forgotten so quickly (Ecclesiastes 8:10)?

Why do evil people seem to live long, prosperous lives no matter how many horrible things they do (Ecclesiastes 8:12)?

Why do bad things happen to good people, but good things happen to bad people (Ecclesiastes 8:14)?

As we've seen throughout Ecclesiastes, the author again gave an exclamation of "vanity" in Ecclesiastes 8:10, which comes from the Hebrew word hebel. Other Bible translations use words like "meaningless" (NIV), "pointless" (CEB), or "futility" (NASB), emphasizing the Teacher's frustration that leading a righteous life is not necessarily a path to earthly success. In fact, it sometimes leads in the opposite direction. Meanwhile, evil people appear to prosper on earth.

But even though the Teacher lamented injustice, he assured, "It will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God" (Ecclesiastes 8:13). In Ancient Near Eastern culture, the metaphor of a shadow often suggested how fleeting this temporal life and its successes are. We might say the shadowy success of the wicked exists on earth "under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 8:17), but it fades in eternity.

And unlike the wicked, "It will be well with those who fear God" (Ecclesiastes 8:12). This is almost a direct quote of God's own words in Deuteronomy 5:29. Instead of dwelling on injustice, God encourages us to change our focus, find joy in the simple pleasures of this life, and find eternal fulfillment in serving our Lord. Without hope in God, we'd be left to seek fulfillment in ceaseless, often pointless, earthly activities. But as we see in today's key verse, faith enables us to "commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 8:15).

There's so much wrong in this broken world that we're never going to make sense of. We can't understand all that happens or the divine mysteries of God's sovereign plans, purposes, and point of view (Ecclesiastes 8:17; Isaiah 55:8-9). Still, we know this for certain: God is good, and He will eternally restore all that sin has broken. Every day we follow Him, we are one step closer to that restoration (Revelation 21:1-4). First5