Kansas City, Missouri, United States - Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - “Good Behavior” – Wednesday, 27 August 2014 - Scripture: Isaiah 66:1-16

Kansas City, Missouri, United States - Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - “Good Behavior” – Wednesday, 27 August 2014 - Scripture: Isaiah 66: Living Worship to God
1-2 God’s Message:
“Heaven’s my throne,
    earth is my footstool.
What sort of house could you build for me?
    What holiday spot reserve for me?
I made all this! I own all this!”
    God’s Decree.
“But there is something I’m looking for:
    a person simple and plain,
    reverently responsive to what I say.
3-4 “Your acts of worship
    are acts of sin:
Your sacrificial slaughter of the ox
    is no different from murdering the neighbor;
Your offerings for worship,
    no different from dumping pig’s blood on the altar;
Your presentation of memorial gifts,
    no different from honoring a no-god idol.
You choose self-serving worship,
    you delight in self-centered worship—disgusting!
Well, I choose to expose your nonsense
    and let you realize your worst fears,
Because when I invited you, you ignored me;
    when I spoke to you, you brushed me off.
You did the very things I exposed as evil,
    you chose what I hate.”
5 But listen to what God has to say
    to you who reverently respond to his Word:
“Your own families hate you
    and turn you out because of me.
They taunt you, ‘Let us see God’s glory!
    If God’s so great, why aren’t you happy?’
But they’re the ones
    who are going to end up shamed.”
6 Rumbles of thunder from the city!
    A voice out of the Temple!
God’s voice,
    handing out judgment to his enemies:
7-9 “Before she went into labor,
    she had the baby.
Before the birth pangs hit,
    she delivered a son.
Has anyone ever heard of such a thing?
    Has anyone seen anything like this?
A country born in a day?
    A nation born in a flash?
But Zion was barely in labor
    when she had her babies!
Do I open the womb
    and not deliver the baby?
Do I, the One who delivers babies,
    shut the womb?
10-11 “Rejoice, Jerusalem,
    and all who love her, celebrate!
And all you who have shed tears over her,
    join in the happy singing.
You newborns can satisfy yourselves
    at her nurturing breasts.
Yes, delight yourselves and drink your fill
    at her ample bosom.”
12-13 God’s Message:
“I’ll pour robust well-being into her like a river,
    the glory of nations like a river in flood.
You’ll nurse at her breasts,
    nestle in her bosom,
    and be bounced on her knees.
As a mother comforts her child,
    so I’ll comfort you.
    You will be comforted in Jerusalem.”
14-16 You’ll see all this and burst with joy
    —you’ll feel ten feet tall—
As it becomes apparent that God is on your side
    and against his enemies.
For God arrives like wildfire
    and his chariots like a tornado,
A furious outburst of anger,
    a rebuke fierce and fiery.
For it’s by fire that God brings judgment,
    a death sentence on the human race.
Many, oh so many,
    are under God’s sentence of death:
“Good Behavior” by Patricia Kissell
Let’s look at three words in our key verse: humble, contrite, and tremble. To be humble is to have or show a modest or low estimate of one’s own importance. I love humble people. I suppose the reason why is because humbleness is not one of my major qualities. When I heard a sports commentator refer to a star pitcher as "Humble," I immediately liked that player, although I had never met him.
To be contrite is to feel or express remorse or penitence; to be affected by guilt. An example of this is Honeybunn, my yellow Lab. She is usually well behaved, but occasionally some things are too tempting. When I came home and found an empty bread wrapper in the middle of the living room floor I confronted her. “Who did this?” Her head went down, her ears curled in, and immediately she seemed to plead for forgiveness. However, I’m not sure about her degree of contriteness! Perhaps the best examples of contriteness in Scripture are the prodigal son in Luke 15 and the tax collector in Luke 18?
Peterson, in The Message, renders "tremble" as “reverently responsive.” Humility, contriteness, and reverent responsiveness spell out the behavior that God expects of us.

Hymn for Today:

"Is Thy Heart Right with God" by Elisha A. Hoffman
1. Have thy affections been nailed to the cross?
Is thy heart right with God?
Dost thou count all things for Jesus but loss?
Is thy heart right with God? 
Refrain:
Is thy heart right with God,
Washed in the crimson flood,
Cleansed and made holy, humble and lowly,
Right in the sight of God? 
2. Hast thou dominion o’er self and o’er sin?
Is thy heart right with God?
Over all evil without and within?
Is thy heart right with God?
Refrain:
Is thy heart right with God,
Washed in the crimson flood,
Cleansed and made holy, humble and lowly,
Right in the sight of God?
3. Is there no more condemnation for sin?
Is thy heart right with God?
Does Jesus rule in the temple within?
Is thy heart right with God?
Refrain:
Is thy heart right with God,
Washed in the crimson flood,
Cleansed and made holy, humble and lowly,
Right in the sight of God?
4. Are all thy pow’rs under Jesus’ control?
Is thy heart right with God?
Does He each moment abide in thy soul?
Is thy heart right with God?
Refrain:
Is thy heart right with God,
Washed in the crimson flood,
Cleansed and made holy, humble and lowly,
Right in the sight of God?

Thought for Today:

“Bring gifts and celebrate,
Bow before the beauty of God,
Then to your knees—everyone worship!”(Psalm 96:8-9).
Prayer Needs:
Many people in Aruba will come to know Jesus the Christ, Yeshua the Messiah, and receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
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