THROUGH THE BIBLE IN THREE YEARS
Ole Ned lived in the backwoods of Louisiana with his wife Netty. Netty hadn't been feeling well, so Ned took her to the town doctor.
The doctor gave Netty a real physical check up. He did blood tests, x-rays, the whole bit.
Later he came back into the room where Ned and Netty were waiting. He said, "I can't find anything physically wrong with your wife. She is perfectly healthy. However, she is severely depressed. Have you told her lately that you love her?"
Ned said,"Shucks. I told her I loved her before we were married. And I told her then that if I ever changed my mind, I'd let her know."
Feeling that Ned needed some visional guidance, the doctor suddenly leaned over and planted a big kiss right on Netty's lips! Then he said, "Your wife needs that every day!"
Ned said, "Well, I don't know about every day. But I can bring her by here Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays."
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________SCRIPTURE____________________________________________________________________
Isa 38:15-19
15 What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.
16 O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.
17 Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.
18 For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
19 The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.
KJV
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_______THOUGHT______________________________________________________________________
Before the text above, Hezekiah, King of Judah, was "sick unto death"
(Isaiah 38:1) Now Hezekiah was a godly man, and prayed about his sickness. God sent Isaiah to tell him that God would add 15 years to his life! God even gave him a "sign" that His promise would come true (Isaiah 38:7-8).
Hezekiah acknowledged that God had spoken, and that God Himself would perform what He had stated (verse 15). He also said, "I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul." In other words, Hezekiah would live in humility the rest of his days, and always reflect on the the imminence of death.
Imagine, knowing WHEN you would die! How would you plan your life? What things would you do different? What would be your attitude?
Hezekiah said it was by "these things men live," (vs 16) by the promises of God! It is by the grace of God that we have TODAY! TODAY is His promise to us! We should live with this focus in our "spirit" (vs 16)!
Instead of "peace" we had "great bitterness" when we found that our sins would bring ultimate death (vs 17). But God, in His marvelous grace, told us that He would DELIVER us from "the pit of corruption" and put all our sins "behind" His back!
As Christians, we have God's promise of being delivered from death into eternal life by our Lord, Jesus Christ. We also have the promise that ALL our sins are forgiven.
Therefore, let this be the manner of our living: to walk in humility with God, being constantly reminded of His great grace!
Let us "praise" the Lord (vs 19) every day, and "make known" His truth to all the people!
Love ya,
Bruce