Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - WordAction - The Foundry Publishing House of Kansas City, Missouri, United States - The Global Church of the Nazarene for Tuesday, 26 December 2017 "Loosening Our Grip" by Albert Hung - Isaiah 2:12-22

Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - WordAction - The Foundry Publishing House of Kansas City, Missouri, United States - The Global Church of the Nazarene for Tuesday, 26 December 2017 "Loosening Our Grip" by Albert Hung - Isaiah 2:12-22
Isaiah 2:12 Yes, Adonai-Tzva’ot has a day in store
for all who are proud and lofty,
for all who are lifted high to be humiliated;
13 for all cedars of the L’vanon that are high and lifted up,
for all the oaks of the Bashan;
14 for all the high mountains,
for all the hills that are lifted up;
15 for every high tower,
for every fortified wall;
16 for every “Tarshish” ship,
for every luxurious vessel.
17 The pride of man will be bowed down,
the arrogance of men will be humiliated,
and when that day comes,
Adonai alone will be exalted.
18 The idols will be completely abolished.
19 People will enter cracks in the rocks
and holes in the ground
to escape the terror of Adonai
and his glorious majesty,
when he sets out to convulse the earth.
20 On that day a man will take hold
of his idols of silver and idols of gold,
which they made for themselves to worship,
and fling them away to the moles and bats!
21 Then they will enter the cracks in the rocks
and the crevices in the cliffs
to escape the terror of Adonai
and his glorious majesty,
when he sets out to convulse the earth.
22 Stop relying on man,
in whose nostrils is a mere breath —
after all, he doesn’t count for much,
does he?
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Isaiah’s prophetic description of the day of the Lord is frightening. The very earth will shake and tremble. “People will flee to caves in the rocks and to holes in the ground from the fearful presence of the LORD and the splendor of his majesty” (Isaiah 2:19).
What is God trying to accomplish? He is shaking people loose from their idols, from their false gods–the things we tend to cling to for safety and comfort but that can never satisfy. Power. Wealth. Possessions. Stability. Even our families and jobs can become idols when they become the primary source of our identity, happiness, and security.
Yesterday many of us opened gifts. There’s nothing wrong with taking pleasure in earthly things, so long as we hold onto them loosely. God made us for people, not possessions. He made us for a life of purpose, not mere pleasure. So when we feel as if God is “shaking up” your life, it just may be that He is loosening our grip on our idols so we can take hold of something better. Praise be to God, who is a wise and loving Father who desires good gifts for His children!
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Hymn for Today: "Holy God, We Praise Thy Name" by Ignaz Franz, translated by Charles A. Walworth
1. Holy God, we praise thy name. Lord of all, we bow before thee.
All on earth thy scepter claim. All in heaven above adore thee.
Infinite thy vast domain. Everlasting is thy reign.
2. Hark! the loud celestial hymn angel choirs above are raising.
Cherubim and seraphim in unceasing chorus praising.
Fill the heavens with sweet accord. Holy, holy, holy, Lord.
3. Lo! the apostolic train join the sacred name to hallow.
Prophets swell the loud refrain, and the white-robed martyrs follow.
And from morn to set of sun, through the church the song goes on.
4. Holy Father, Holy Son, Holy Spirit, three we name thee,
While in essence only one, undivided God we claim thee.
And adoring bend the knee, while we own the mystery.
5. Thou art king of glory, Christ: Son of God, yet born of Mary.
For us sinners sacrificed, and to death a tributary.
First to break the bars of death, thou has opened heaven to faith.
6. From thy high celestial home, judge of all, again returning,
We believe that thou shalt come in the dreaded doomsday morning,
When thy voice shall shake the earth, and the startled dead come forth.
7. Therefore do we pray thee, Lord: Help thy servants whom, redeeming
By thy precious blood outpoured, thou hast saved from Satan’s scheming.
Give to them eternal rest in the glory of the blessed.
8. Spare thy people Lord, we pray, by a thousand snares surrounded.
Keep us without sin today, never let us be confounded.

Lo, I put my trust in thee. Never, Lord, abandon me.
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Thought for Today: For this is what Adonai-Tzva’ot says: “It won’t be long before one more time I will shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land; and I will shake all the nations, so that the treasures of all the nations will flow in; and I will fill this house with glory,” says Adonai-Tzva’ot.(Haggai 2:6-7)
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Please pray: For faculty and students as they prepare for Christian ministry in India.
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