O. Addison Gethers
e-mail address [email protected] [email protected] twitter URL http//:twitter.com/OAddisonGethers Messenger contact window live/msn messenger: [email protected] aim: durangoadd64 skype: cowboys62 yahoo messenger: OADDISONGETHERS rs ----- Original Message ----- From: "Donnie Parrett" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 2009 9:10 PM Subject: Daily Bible Reading For Wednesday August 5 > Day 217 > > Isaiah 49-51 (The Message) > > Isaiah 49 > A Light for the Nations > 1-3 Listen, far-flung islands, > pay attention, faraway people: > God put me to work from the day I was born. > The moment I entered the world he named me. > He gave me speech that would cut and penetrate. > He kept his hand on me to protect me. > He made me his straight arrow > and hid me in his quiver. > He said to me, "You're my dear servant, > Israel, through whom I'll shine." > 4But I said, "I've worked for nothing. > I've nothing to show for a life of hard work. > Nevertheless, I'll let God have the last word. > I'll let him pronounce his verdict." > > 5-6"And now," God says, > this God who took me in hand > from the moment of birth to be his servant, > To bring Jacob back home to him, > to set a reunion for Israel- > What an honor for me in God's eyes! > That God should be my strength! > He says, "But that's not a big enough job for my servant- > just to recover the tribes of Jacob, > merely to round up the strays of Israel. > I'm setting you up as a light for the nations > so that my salvation becomes global!" > > 7God, Redeemer of Israel, The Holy of Israel, > says to the despised one, kicked around by the nations, > slave labor to the ruling class: > "Kings will see, get to their feet-the princes, too- > and then fall on their faces in homage > Because of God, who has faithfully kept his word, > The Holy of Israel, who has chosen you." > > 8-12God also says: > > "When the time's ripe, I answer you. > When victory's due, I help you. > I form you and use you > to reconnect the people with me, > To put the land in order, > to resettle families on the ruined properties. > I tell prisoners, 'Come on out. You're free!' > and those huddled in fear, 'It's all right. It's safe now.' > There'll be foodstands along all the roads, > picnics on all the hills- > Nobody hungry, nobody thirsty, > shade from the sun, shelter from the wind, > For the Compassionate One guides them, > takes them to the best springs. > I'll make all my mountains into roads, > turn them into a superhighway. > Look: These coming from far countries, > and those, out of the north, > These streaming in from the west, > and those from all the way down the Nile!" > > 13Heavens, raise the roof! Earth, wake the dead! > Mountains, send up cheers! > God has comforted his people. > He has tenderly nursed his beaten-up, beaten-down people. > > 14But Zion said, "I don't get it. God has left me. > My Master has forgotten I even exist." > > 15-18"Can a mother forget the infant at her breast, > walk away from the baby she bore? > But even if mothers forget, > I'd never forget you-never. > Look, I've written your names on the backs of my hands. > The walls you're rebuilding are never out of my sight. > Your builders are faster than your wreckers. > The demolition crews are gone for good. > Look up, look around, look well! > See them all gathering, coming to you? > As sure as I am the living God"-God's Decree- > "you're going to put them on like so much jewelry, > you're going to use them to dress up like a bride. > > 19-21"And your ruined land? > Your devastated, decimated land? > Filled with more people than you know what to do with! > And your barbarian enemies, a fading memory. > The children born in your exile will be saying, > 'It's getting too crowded here. I need more room.' > And you'll say to yourself, > 'Where on earth did these children come from? > I lost everything, had nothing, was exiled and penniless. > So who reared these children? > How did these children get here?'" > > 22-23The Master, God, says: > > "Look! I signal to the nations, > I raise my flag to summon the people. > Here they'll come: women carrying your little boys in their arms, > men carrying your little girls on their shoulders. > Kings will be your babysitters, > princesses will be your nursemaids. > They'll offer to do all your drudge work- > scrub your floors, do your laundry. > You'll know then that I am God. > No one who hopes in me ever regrets it." > > 24-26Can plunder be retrieved from a giant, > prisoners of war gotten back from a tyrant? > But God says, "Even if a giant grips the plunder > and a tyrant holds my people prisoner, > I'm the one who's on your side, > defending your cause, rescuing your children. > And your enemies, crazed and desperate, will turn on themselves, > killing each other in a frenzy of self-destruction. > Then everyone will know that I, God, > have saved you-I, the Mighty One of Jacob." > > Isaiah 50 > Who Out There Fears God? > 1-3 God says: "Can you produce your mother's divorce papers > proving I got rid of her? > Can you produce a receipt > proving I sold you? > Of course you can't. > It's your sins that put you here, > your wrongs that got you shipped out. > So why didn't anyone come when I knocked? > Why didn't anyone answer when I called? > Do you think I've forgotten how to help? > Am I so decrepit that I can't deliver? > I'm as powerful as ever, > and can reverse what I once did: > I can dry up the sea with a word, > turn river water into desert sand, > And leave the fish stinking in the sun, > stranded on dry land . . . > Turn all the lights out in the sky > and pull down the curtain." > 4-9The Master, God, has given me > a well-taught tongue, > So I know how to encourage tired people. > He wakes me up in the morning, > Wakes me up, opens my ears > to listen as one ready to take orders. > The Master, God, opened my ears, > and I didn't go back to sleep, > didn't pull the covers back over my head. > I followed orders, > stood there and took it while they beat me, > held steady while they pulled out my beard, > Didn't dodge their insults, > faced them as they spit in my face. > And the Master, God, stays right there and helps me, > so I'm not disgraced. > Therefore I set my face like flint, > confident that I'll never regret this. > My champion is right here. > Let's take our stand together! > Who dares bring suit against me? > Let him try! > Look! the Master, God, is right here. > Who would dare call me guilty? > Look! My accusers are a clothes bin of threadbare > socks and shirts, fodder for moths! > > 10-11Who out there fears God, > actually listens to the voice of his servant? > For anyone out there who doesn't know where you're going, > anyone groping in the dark, > Here's what: Trust in God. > Lean on your God! > But if all you're after is making trouble, > playing with fire, > > Go ahead and see where it gets you. > Set your fires, stir people up, blow on the flames, > But don't expect me to just stand there and watch. > I'll hold your feet to those flames. > > Isaiah 51 > Committed to Seeking God > 1-3 "Listen to me, all you who are serious about right living and > committed to seeking God. > Ponder the rock from which you were cut, > the quarry from which you were dug. > Yes, ponder Abraham, your father, > and Sarah, who bore you. > Think of it! One solitary man when I called him, > but once I blessed him, he multiplied. > Likewise I, God, will comfort Zion, > comfort all her mounds of ruins. > I'll transform her dead ground into Eden, > her moonscape into the garden of God, > A place filled with exuberance and laughter, > thankful voices and melodic songs. > 4-6"Pay attention, my people. > Listen to me, nations. > Revelation flows from me. > My decisions light up the world. > My deliverance arrives on the run, > my salvation right on time. > I'll bring justice to the peoples. > Even faraway islands will look to me > and take hope in my saving power. > Look up at the skies, > ponder the earth under your feet. > The skies will fade out like smoke, > the earth will wear out like work pants, > and the people will die off like flies. > But my salvation will last forever, > my setting-things-right will never be obsolete. > > 7-8"Listen now, you who know right from wrong, > you who hold my teaching inside you: > Pay no attention to insults, and when mocked > don't let it get you down. > Those insults and mockeries are moth-eaten, > from brains that are termite-ridden, > But my setting-things-right lasts, > my salvation goes on and on and on." > > 9-11Wake up, wake up, flex your muscles, God! > Wake up as in the old days, in the long ago. > Didn't you once make mincemeat of Rahab, > dispatch the old chaos-dragon? > And didn't you once dry up the sea, > the powerful waters of the deep, > And then made the bottom of the ocean a road > for the redeemed to walk across? > In the same way God's ransomed will come back, > come back to Zion cheering, shouting, > Joy eternal wreathing their heads, > exuberant ecstasies transporting them- > and not a sign of moans or groans. > > What Are You Afraid of-or Who? > 12-16"I, I'm the One comforting you. > What are you afraid of-or who? > Some man or woman who'll soon be dead? > Some poor wretch destined for dust? > You've forgotten me, God, who made you, > who unfurled the skies, who founded the earth. > And here you are, quaking like an aspen > before the tantrums of a tyrant > who thinks he can kick down the world. > But what will come of the tantrums? > The victims will be released before you know it. > They're not going to die. > They're not even going to go hungry. > For I am God, your very own God, > who stirs up the sea and whips up the waves, > named God-of-the-Angel-Armies. > I teach you how to talk, word by word, > and personally watch over you, > Even while I'm unfurling the skies, > setting earth on solid foundations, > and greeting Zion: 'Welcome, my people!'" > 17-20So wake up! Rub the sleep from your eyes! > Up on your feet, Jerusalem! > You've drunk the cup God handed you, > the strong drink of his anger. > You drank it down to the last drop, > staggered and collapsed, dead-drunk. > And nobody to help you home, > no one among your friends or children > to take you by the hand and put you in bed. > You've been hit with a double dose of trouble > -does anyone care? > Assault and battery, hunger and death > -will anyone comfort? > Your sons and daughters have passed out, > strewn in the streets like stunned rabbits, > Sleeping off the strong drink of God's anger, > the rage of your God. > > 21-23Therefore listen, please, > you with your splitting headaches, > You who are nursing the hangovers > that didn't come from drinking wine. > Your Master, your God, has something to say, > your God has taken up his people's case: > "Look, I've taken back the drink that sent you reeling. > No more drinking from that jug of my anger! > I've passed it over to your abusers to drink, those who ordered you, > 'Down on the ground so we can walk all over you!' > And you had to do it. Flat on the ground, > you were the dirt under their feet." > > > > > > > Please join us on Skype Monday thru Friday at 8:00 EST for our Morning > Skype Prayer Time. > > > Contact Me At: > Donnie Parrett > 1956 Asa Flat Road > Annville, Kentucky 40402 > Home Phone: 606-364-3321 > Church Phone: 606-364-PRAY > Skype Name: Donnie1261 > Email: [email protected] > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Deaf-Blind Inspirational Life Group" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/DBILG?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
