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Humbled

Advent Day 7 Immoveable Anchor: Digging Deeper

December 14, 2021 by Rebecca Adams Leave a Comment

Digging Deeper Days

Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!

Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
Check out Immoveable Anchor!

The Questions

1) What is the context of Isaiah’s warning? (verse 12)

2) What competes for worshipping the Lord God that Isaiah calls out the instruction of verse 13 to “regard only the Lord of Armies as holy”?

3) How is it possible to stumble over the Lord of Armies? (verses 14-15)

Isaiah 8:13-15

You are to regard only the Lord of Armies as holy.
Only he should be feared;
only he should be held in awe.
14 He will be a sanctuary;
but for the two houses of Israel,
he will be a stone to stumble over
and a rock to trip over,
and a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
15 Many will stumble over these;
they will fall and be broken;
they will be snared and captured.

Original Intent

1) What is the context of Isaiah’s warning? (verse 12)
God’s people, the Jewish nation, had split into two nations long before Isaiah came as the Lord’s prophet. Each split portion of the kingdom had her own king, who was generally wicked, not only rebelling against God for himself, but also leading God’s people into great rebellion and sin. The Northern Kingdom retained the title “Israel”, while the significantly smaller portion, the Southern Kingdom, was called Judah. At the time of this writing in chapter 8, Ahaz was king of Judah. Though his father, King Jotham, mostly followed God (2 Chronicles 27:1-2), Ahaz furiously rebelled against Yahweh. It’s recorded Ahaz even sacrificed his own son to a false god and, with an interesting description, “walked in the ways of the kings of Israel”. (2 Kings 16:3) While Ahaz has been wrecking Judah with his horrendous leadership and adulterous worship against the One True God (2 Kings 16:4) for twelve years, Hoshea assassinates the king before him, Pekah, in order to steal the throne. (2 Kings 15:30) For over 200 years, the Lord had sent prophets to the Northern Kingdom, warning them of judgement for their insistent idolatry and adultery, but they refused to return to love Him only. As just consequence, the Lord was sending the cruel Assyrian empire to defeat Israel. Jumping back into Isaiah 8, King Ahaz of Judah has heard the war cries of Assyria and fears that, following Israel’s destruction, Judah (and Ahaz) will be next. To Ahaz’s panic, the Lord responds through the prophet Isaiah, “Do not call everything a conspiracy that these people say is a conspiracy. Do not fear what they fear; do not be terrified.” (verse 12) Judah’s judgement was coming, but it wouldn’t be from the Assyrians. God instructs Ahaz to wait on Him, to return and worship Him, and not give in to fear.

2) What competes for worshipping the Lord God that Isaiah calls out the instruction of verse 13 to “regard only the Lord of Armies as holy”?
Ahaz had grown accustomed to worshipping everything BUT the Lord God Almighty. The book of Kings records, “He (Ahaz) sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.” (2 Kings 16:4) He closely followed the idolatrous actions modeled by Israel’s kings, and was quick to follow suit. The disease of peer pressure haunted Ahaz. Thinking he could “use” God to win him favor by bribery, Ahaz stole the holy, set apart treasures from God’s temple in attempt to buy Assyria’s aid. (2 Kings 16:8) He looked to his most-feared enemy as a source of help when he feared attack from other kings! (2 Kings 16:7) When Assyria did help Ahaz fight his enemies in the city of Damascus, Ahaz met Assyria’s king face-to-face, yet Ahaz’ lusting pride drew him ever farther away from true worship of Yahweh. While visiting Assyria’s king, Ahaz noticed their altar for sacrifices to their false gods and decided it was far superior to the one God had specifically given instructions for His people to build. (2 Kings 16:10) Not to be outdone, Ahaz gave instruction to duplicate the Assyrian altar.  He then had the bullish audacity to move the Lord’s holy altar aside so he could place the Assyrian altar in its place; he ordered the Lord’s priests to sacrifice on the Assyrian alter instead of Yahweh’s. (2 Kings 16:14-15)

3) How is it possible to stumble over the Lord of Armies? (verses 14-15)
There is no doubt when examining Ahaz and his choices as king of God’s people that his decisions were major missteps. He was stumbling around in the darkness of his sin because he refused to acknowledge the Light of God. Despite the warnings from prophets and the clear consequences the befell the Northern Kingdom because of their own rebellion, Ahaz still insisted on living his way instead of building Judah on the solid cornerstone of God, His Word, and His perfect ways. The more God gave His righteous commands, the farther Ahaz moved against Him in arrogant rebellion. The more he fixed his attention on his peers and fostered his fears instead of giving the whole of himself to worshipping Yahweh and following Him, the deeper into darkness he rushed. God said to worship Him only for only He was worthy (verse 13), but Ahaz stumbled against this life-giving command over and over to the point he slaughtered his own son in pursuit of self. The God who had every power to save Ahaz and restore Judah was more than willing to forgive Ahaz and teach him how to love the Lord God alone, but Ahaz rejected Yahweh endlessly. Eventually, Ahaz’ rebellion cost him the throne and his life.

Everyday Application

1) What is the context of Isaiah’s warning? (verse 12)
When we consider the whole of Ahaz’s timeline and heart motivations, we should be urged toward two main applications for our own everyday lives. One, God takes sin seriously. Yes, there is grace and forgiveness as evidenced by the centuries that passed before God finally ushered in His consequence, but He absolutely cannot, and will not, turn a blind eye to sin. This wasn’t true for Israel or Judah, and it’s certainly not true for us today. The gossip, the biting words, the harsh body language, the lusting second glances, the covetous heart that wants what is “hers”, the willingness to give in to anxiety and fear instead of surrender to the God of peace; Sisters, all of these are rebellious sins. Every sinful act earns us the just payment of eternal death, meaning separation from God and His loving mercy and kindness for the rest of eternity. (Romans 6:23) Either we can turn away from our sin and toward the God who loves us enough to sacrifice Himself and pay our sin-debt for us, or we can continue spurning the Almighty like Ahaz and Hoshea. Two, what the Lord has declared, we can most assuredly trust. (Isaiah 40:8) It was not time for Judah’s destruction; Ahaz had no reason to fear Assyria. Ahaz insisted on surveying his circumstances and choosing fear when he could have chosen to look at the God of Armies, surrender to Him in faith, and received perfect peace as a result. We don’t have prophets telling us God’s Word, we can read it ourselves and understand it through the aid of the Holy Spirit if He lives within us. Will we read His Word? Will we choose to trust the One who sees all and knows all and loves perfectly? Or will we live in fear?

2) What competes for worshipping the Lord God that Isaiah calls out the instruction of verse 13 to “regard only the Lord of Armies as holy”?
Everywhere Ahaz cast his eyes, there were more opportunities to give his worship to something utterly unworthy of his praise. How foolish Ahaz’ worship attempts look when tossed before “gods” that neither had any means of delivering what Ahaz pleaded for, nor were they even remotely worthy of the adoration he gave. How foolish we look when we do the same! Take a quick physical glance around your house or a metaphorical glance around your life, and take note of where your heart pulls. Do you look at the mirror and loathe the reflection staring back as you nitpick on your image? Idolatry is here as you are drawn to worshipping self over Creator God. Do you become angry at the piles of dishes or laundry? Or maybe the décor, or lack thereof, as you are tempted to compare yours to hers. Do your “eyes” land on your relationships? Where is jealousy lurking underneath the “longing for better and deeper”? Sister, you are not alone as you look around and take stock of the idols preying for your undying love. I’ve encountered mine on all sides today, and I know I will do the same tomorrow. Sin doesn’t happen because temptation exists, it’s how we respond to this seemingly sweet invitation to satiate ourselves. Eve wrestled with it just as surely as you and I. She gave in, as have I many times, but the Lord says we don’t need to live in the grasp of sin’s deadly allure. (1 Corinthians 10:13) James writes that, while giving into temptation eventually leads to death and destruction (James 1:15), humbling ourselves under God will have the opposite effect as He draws us ever closer to Him, raising us up to know Him better. (James 4:10)

3) How is it possible to stumble over the Lord of Armies? (verses 14-15)
We often don’t see past the enticing allure of sin to the pit of darkness behind its seemingly harmless lust. Satan dresses up our desires, making us feel like we are missing out if we don’t have what we want, when we want it, and then uses us against ourselves to shackle us to destruction. Like a pied piper, Satan’s deception tactics insist that the God we claim to follow is stingy while Satan wants to give us everything we could dream. Instead of waiting on the Lord, we begin thinking we should step in and take over. We become trapped into thinking we can arrive at our desired destination more effectively by sinning than by humbly obeying the Lord. A simple, but common for my heart, example is evidenced by my desire for my children to obey my voice. My sin? Arrogant anger when they don’t behave as I want or accomplish what I expect. Instead of choosing love, the enemy seizes an opportunity to destroy, and says I will accomplish my goal faster if I become angry. Don’t I deserve their obedience anyways? How quickly one deception leads to another! Jesus’ half-brother, James, picked up Isaiah’s prophecy about God as a stumbling stone and applied it to Jesus. (1 Peter 2:5-8) In the greatest act of humility, God coming to earth in the form of a human, living a perfect life of love, and surrendering Himself to death that we might have our sin-debt forgiven, He becomes a stumbling block to many. Either we reject this extravagant love and keep living for self, walking around in darkness like Ahaz, or we fall in adoring worship, rejoicing to accept His lavish forgiveness. Either Christ remains our stumbling block, and we continue choosing deadly rebellion, or we embrace Him as Cornerstone and build the rest of our lives upon Him, knowing our eternity is perfectly secure as it rests on Him.

What do YOU think?! Share Here!
Missing the connection to our other Journey Study?
Catch up with Immoveable Anchor!

Digging Deeper is for Everyone!

1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!

Digging Deeper Community

Share What You’ve Learned!
Pray Together!
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Why Dig Deeper?

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.

Study Tools

We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

Memorize It!

Download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!
Tap and hold on your mobile device to save.

Posted in: Anchored, Digging Deeper, God, Joy, Perfect Tagged: Advent, Almighty, anchor, Deepest, glory, Humbled, Immoveable, righteousness

The GT Weekend! ~ Worship IX Week 1

November 20, 2021 by Erin O'Neal Leave a Comment

The GT Weekend!

At Gracefully Truthful, weekends aren’t for “checking out”.
Use this time to invite the Almighty’s fullness into you life in a deeper way!
Saturdays and Sundays are a chance to
reflect, rest, and re-center our lives onto Christ.
Don’t miss the opportunity to connect with other women in prayer,
rest your soul in reflective journaling,
and spend time worshiping the Creator who
longs for intimacy with each of us!

Worship Through Journaling

Worship Through Journaling

1) “Sisters, let us offer our Great God true worship; a heart humbled before Him and a life surrendered to Him.” Many of us, when we think of worship, mostly consider the music we sing at church. But a biblical examination of the idea of worship shows us that true worship is intended to permeate every part of our lives. We ought to have a posture of worship before God at all times, rejoicing, serving, and honoring Him even when we may not feel like it. This obedience is a sacrifice of praise to our great God. Samson chose to dishonor the call of God on his life. He broke every part of his holy vow, doing instead what he selfishly desired. If you have believed in the Lord Jesus, you have been called to holiness and righteous worship. How are you stewarding your call? In what areas (relationships, thought life, habits, attitudes) do you need to grow in holiness as you turn over sinful desires to be ruled by Christ? How is God prompting you to offer up your life as a “living sacrifice”? Write down two clear steps you can take today to move toward growth in your call to holy worship, and ask the Lord to strengthen you in your completion of those steps.

2) The prophet Daniel was upright and devout. He was so righteous that the only accusation his enemies could bring against him was that he worshiped his God above the earthy rulers. Daniel worshiped God when his very life was at stake. He did not know God would close the mouths of the lions around him, he simply honored God as he always had, and God honored him. I don’t know about you, but I have never been threatened with death for worshiping the Lord, yet I have been persuaded to become lax in my worship in exchange for far lesser loves. How are you worshiping the Lord today? How might you continue in steadfast worship to Him? What in your life has been holding you back from worship, and what steps do you need to take to eliminate those hindrances? Do you feel your worship is characterized by habit or whole-heart adoration? Perhaps you could consider paring down your commitments and social engagements, or waking up a bit earlier in the morning to give attention to true worship. It may look like setting up screen time restrictions on your phone or committing to worship God during parts of your day when you would otherwise seek entertainment. Ask God to show you how you can be faithful to worship Him with your whole life.

3) For the Christ-follower, worship is intended as an all-encompassing attitude and way of life. Our words, actions, and every breath should be offered in submission to the God of the universe. The prophet Ezekiel may be best know for the many visions he was given by God, but God also required him to do things before the people that would have been incredibly humiliating. Instead of arguing with God, Ezekiel submitted and did what was required of him. Consider what whole-hearted surrender and obedience to God might look like in your life. Is there an instruction in Scripture you know you ought to obey, but have been hesitant to follow because of how it might look like to people around you? Is there something the Lord has been laying on your heart to do, but you haven’t because of the discomfort or tension it might bring into your life? Are there “rights” you are holding onto that He is asking you to lay down in order to serve Him whole-heartedly? How can you display trust in God through worshiping Him? Seek His face and commit your way to holy obedience. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.

Praying Scripture back to the One who wrote it in the first place is a great way to jump start our prayer-life! Pray this passage from Psalm 95:3-6 back to the Lord and
let His Spirit speak to you through it!

For the Lord is a great God,
a great King above all gods.
The depths of the earth are in His hand,
and the mountain peaks are His.
The sea is His; He made it.
His hands formed the dry land.
Come, let’s worship and bow down;
let’s kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For He is our God,
and we are the people of His pasture,
the sheep under His care.

Prayer Journal
Heavenly Father, You are worthy to receive all glory, honor, and power. You are worthy of every praise I could ever offer. You are Creator, Sustainer, and King of all the world, and You allow me to enter into Your presence. My words feel insufficient. My life feels unremarkable. Yet You desire my worship, feeble though it may be. Forgive me for my forgetful heart, for when I want to go my own way instead of surrendering to You. Help me to look to the saints of old who stood steadfast in the midst of trials. Help me to be like Daniel, upright in character and faithful in prayer. Help me to be humble like Ezekiel, willing to sacrifice comfort and reputation to worship You. Help me to live in accordance with Your call to holiness on my life. I surrender my plans to You. Empower me, oh Lord, to live my life as a sacrifice of praise, for I am unable to do so in my own strength.

Worship Through Community

Can we pray for you? Reach Out! We’d love to pray for and with you!
Send us an email at prayer@gracefullytruthful.com

Build community, be transparent, and encourage others:
Share how God spoke to you today!
Comment Here or in our Facebook Community Group!

Worship Through Prayer

Worship Through Music

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Posted in: Faithfulness, God, GT Weekend, Jesus, Life, Obedience, Sacrifice, Scripture, Worship Tagged: Great, heart, holiness, Humbled, Lord, Surrendered

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And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14