Something Greater

Isaiah 3: Supply and Support God takes away food and water. He intends to allow the government to fester with superstition, immaturity and oppression. All of this because the people have defied the LORD in word and deed. They have flaunted their sin and ignored their doom. God stands in judgement against the leaders, condemning their mistreatment of the poor, and scorning their proud affluence. All of their shallow appearances of beauty will become rottenness; their tinkling songs will fade into mournful lament. GOD TAKES AWAY SUPPORT AND SUPPLY (Verses 1-7) God has determined that the people of Judah suffer severe shortage of food and water. Worse, their political, military, and religious leaders will deteriorate. Infantile rulers will allow insolent oppression to become rampant, and the people desperately look for a savior. But none will be found. Isaiah 3:1 (ESV) For behold, the Lord GOD of hosts is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah support and supply, all suppo

Truly Beautiful and Deeply Good What has gone before... Paul has urged the leaders, the men, to cease their angry, devisive control of the church in Ephesus. Using prayer as a model for holy leadership, he exhorts the men to pray with the right motives, with godly desires. Moving on... Paul's focus of concern for the men is how their prayers might be hindered by their angry, quarrelsome hearts . For women, Paul asks that they examine how their choices in dress and adornment should genuinely reflect what is in their hearts. "Likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works." 1 Timothy 2:9-10 (ESV) Paul's exhortation to women begins with "likewise", meaning that his words to both men and women share something in common. The central truth of both admonitions is fo