Well hey, hello again everyone! Welcome back to another episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show - part of the Spark Network, now playing on the Edifi app. This is episode 85.
(Real Quick - here is the link for the #ChristmasBlessingGiveaway -
Today we are going to take a look at the OT book of Isaiah, chapter 33, which is a really encouraging chapter of that book by the way. And fun fact about the book of Isaiah - it divides the way the Bible divides - the number of books in the OT (which is 39) is the s...
Well hey, hello again everyone! Welcome back to another episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show - part of the Spark Network, now playing on the Edifi app. This is episode 85.
(Real Quick - here is the link for the #ChristmasBlessingGiveaway -
Today we are going to take a look at the OT book of Isaiah, chapter 33, which is a really encouraging chapter of that book by the way. And fun fact about the book of Isaiah - it divides the way the Bible divides - the number of books in the OT (which is 39) is the same as the number of chapters in Isaiah that we read before the book takes a turn toward enormous, unstoppable hope (which is one of my favorite words at Christmastime). And then there are 27 books in the NT of the Bible, and 27 more chapters in Isaiah. A total of 66 chapters and 66 books, and the division in Isaiah where you can literally read along and see the entire tone change corresponds perfectly with the number of books in the Bible, with the change we read at the birth of Jesus. Which is the one and only reason I can say to you, have a Merry Christmas.
Kinda cool, isn’t it? God never ceases to amaze me. Never ever.
Okay, let me read the verse to you and then let’s chat about it a bit, shall we?
And He will be the security and stability of your times,
A treasure of salvation, wisdom and knowledge;
The fear of the Lord is your treasure.
Well, you may know (or may not know if you’re new to the podcast) what comes to mind when I read the word WILL in one of God’s promises in the Bible - and this is a promise, make no mistake about it. And God has never yet failed even once in the keeping of His promises, so this is a check we can take to the bank and it will cash all day long.
What is the promise here for us?
I’m so glad you asked!
He, meaning God, will be the security and stability of your times.
Oh, hello there! That sounds like pretty much exactly what we need to know right here, right now, at this moment in history. Does that not sound good? To know beyond all shadow of a doubt that you have security and you have stability regarding your times - your personal times - never forget our God is a personal God. You know those genealogies you might find kind of boring in some of the OT books and also in the Gospels? Um, consider this: God took up space in His Word to put down the names of individuals. He is a very personal God, and every name listed in those lists of names shows us how much He loves each one of us individually and personally.
You have security and stability regarding your times, personally, in Him. When God says that He will be something for us, His people, He means it. So our duty, and I do take it seriously, like a duty in the military is serious, our duty is to believe Him.
Can you do that this Christmas? Believe He is gonna be today and tomorrow and et cetera your stability and your security, even in what may be the most unstable and insecure time in our lifetimes, and maybe even possibly like ever? I mean, things could get worse (and they will in time, says the book of Revelation) but our God, He never gets worse. Walking with Jesus, things only and always get better.
Call me a sap, but I believe that 100%.
It goes on to say God will be a treasure (oh yes He is our greatest treasure, isn’t He?) and wisdom and knowledge.
Anybody else ever need some wisdom, some knowledge?
I ask the Lord for those things all the time. And I pray those things for other people, loved ones, all the time. And you know what? God hears and God answers those prayers all the time.
He has promised to be your treasure, your wisdom, your knowledge. How cool is that?
Verse 6 ends with this:
The fear of the Lord is your treasure.
Yes!
Do you have a healthy fear of the Lord? Oh now I do know that I know that I know that when people saw the Lord in the Bible, they were stone cold out… on their faces, unable to stand, knowing that just being in His presence they ought to drop dead.
Yeah, there is a holiness we just cannot fathom. We don’t get it - how can we? Our God is an all consuming fire, says the Word. How can we get that?
But here is what we can get - a fear of the Lord that honors Him, reveres Him, holds Him in such high esteem that we order our days around Him. We wake up to Him and we fall asleep in Him. He speaks, we hear and we obey. He is moving over here in the world, and we get on board with that. He asks us to pray for someone, and we pray and pray and pray and it’s Holy Spirit led praying. He is our everything every day, our all in all at all times.
Do we live like that?
Do you live like that?
How about this December, this Christmas season, you decide to live that way?
You won’t regret it.
In fact, you may well grow to love it and never want to live differently.
Okay, it’s a shorter episode today - it’s December, right? And I have one more thing to mention. I am part of the Woman 2 Woman ministry 10th annual Christmas blessing giveaway. And there is a cash prize, like just under $500 is going to someone. It’s easy to enter - the rafflecopter link is in the show notes and also on the blog page of my website, which is my name - Jan L Burt dot com. I hope you enter and I hope you win.
And thank you to all of you who follow my platforms via the giveaway. I really want to grow my new YouTube channel because that’s what makes YouTube happy, subscribers, and when YouTube is happy then when people search for God’s promises (and let’s be honest, YouTube is a search engine at its core) then they will find my page and I hope be encouraged by God’s promises from His Word. So, thank you. Really, thank you thank you thank you.
Okay - that’s it for today. And thanks so much for listening today, part of the Spark Network, now playing on the Edifi app.
See you back here next time for episode 86!
Bye Bye!
#ChristmasBlessingGiveaway
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