Powerful Words from the Prophets“Preserve the teaching of God; entrust his instructions to those who follow me. I will wait for the LORD, who has turned away from the descendants of Jacob. I will put my hope in him.” – Isaiah 8:16-17 (NLT)“Keep Your Eyes on the Lord!” One of the lessons you have to learn early in your journey of faith is to keep your eyes on the Lord and not people. If you focus o...

Powerful Words from the Prophets“The LORD has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does. He said, ‘Don’t call everything a conspiracy, like they do, and don’t live in dread of what frightens them. Make the LORD of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. He is the one who should make you tremble. He will keep you safe.’” – Isaiah 8:11-14 (NLT)“Doomsday...

Powerful Words from the Prophets“They are rejoicing over what will happen to King Rezin and King Pekah.” – Isaiah 8:6 (NLT)“Put Down Your Rock” Tony Tran was hired this past November by the St. John the Baptist Parish District Attorney’s Office, which is near New Orleans, LA. The District Attorney’s Office is charged with the responsibility of prosecuting criminals who are arrested for various cri...

Powerful Words from the ProphetsThen the LORD spoke to me again and said, “My care for the people of Judah is like the gently flowing waters of Shiloah, but they have rejected it. – Isaiah 8:5-6 (NLT)“Let the Doctor In!” A few years back, there was a 77-year-old man in South Carolina named Peter Kremlick who was involved in an accident. He swerved to miss another car and hit a utility pole. He had...

Powerful Words from the Prophets“All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).” – Isaiah 7:14 (NLT)“He’s Just a Prayer Away” As Isaiah assures Ahaz of God’s involvement in his current situation, he states what is also one of the most famous prophecies about Jes...

Powerful Words from the ProphetsLater, the LORD sent this message to King Ahaz: “Ask the LORD your God for a sign of confirmation, Ahaz. Make it as difficult as you want—as high as heaven or as deep as the place of the dead.” But the king refused. “No,” he said, “I will not test the LORD like that.” – Isaiah 7:10-12 (NLT)“It’s Better to Ask Permission than Forgiveness” “It’s easier to ask for forg...

Powerful Words from the Prophets“When Ahaz, son of Jotham and grandson of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah, the king of Israel, set out to attack Jerusalem. However, they were unable to carry out their plan…Go out to meet King Ahaz…Tell him to stop worrying.” – Isaiah 7:1, 3-4 (NLT)“God Says to Stop Worrying” “90% of what we worry about never happens.” Have ...

Powerful Words from the Prophets“But as a terebinth or oak tree leaves a stump when it is cut down, so Israel’s stump will be a holy seed.” – Isaiah 6:13 (NLT)“Seeds of Hope” I read a fascinating article about the CZU complex fire that happened in Northern California in 2020. It started with a thunderstorm that produced over 11,000 bolts of lightning, which started hundreds of fires. With strong w...

Powerful Words from the ProphetsThen I said, “Lord, how long will this go on?” – Isaiah 6:11 (NLT)“Are We There Yet?” When our boys were young, we took a 5-week, cross-country trip with them in our van. We traveled all the way from Pennsylvania to California and back again. My wife is the consummate tourist, so we visited every known (and unknown) site along the way, including every Spanish missio...

Powerful Words from the ProphetsAnd he said, “Yes, go, and say to this people, ‘Listen carefully, but do not understand. Watch closely, but learn nothing.’ Harden the hearts of these people. Plug their ears and shut their eyes. That way, they will not see with their eyes, nor hear with their ears, nor understand with their hearts and turn to me for healing.” – Isaiah 6:9-10 (NLT)“The Faith to Be F...

Powerful Words from the ProphetsThen I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.” – Isaiah 6:6-7 (NLT)“Pick Me!” Have you ever wanted to be “picked?” Maybe it was when you were a kid, and you were smaller or slower or not as athletic as the rest of the kids. So when they were choosing teams, you weren’t chosen. Some ...

Powerful Words from the ProphetsThen one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.” – Isaiah 6:6-7 (NLT)“Just One Touch” Do you remember these beautiful words from that wonderful old song, “He Touched Me?”Shackled ...

Powerful Words from the ProphetsThen I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.” – Isaiah 1:5 (NLT)“Seeing God Makes Me See ME” Isn’t it funny how easy it is to feel better about ourselves by comparing ourselves to someone else who is worse? Like, I drive a bit fa...

Powerful Words from the Prophets“They were calling out to each other, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!’” – Isaiah 6:3 (NLT)“Don’t Miss His Glory!” The glory of God. Have you seen it? The Seraphim declared that “The whole earth is filled with his glory!” That means that everywhere we look, we ought to be able to spot the glory of God. Have ...

Powerful Words from the Prophets“Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew.” – Isaiah 6:2 (NLT)“Trusting God with What We Don’t Know” When I was studying this section of scripture for my sermon last Sunday, I was fascinated by the description of the seraphim who were attending to God ...

Powerful Words from the Prophets“…and the train of his robe filled the Temple.” – Isaiah 6:1 (NLT)“Our Conquering King” This is one of those verses that can blow right by us because we live in such a different day and age. But some time ago, as I was studying this passage, I got an insight from a commentator that gave me an exciting new perspective on this verse. They said that in ancient times, w...

Powerful Words from the Prophets“He was sitting on a lofty throne…” – Isaiah 6:1 (NLT)“A Not So Common King” Have you lost your sense of “awe” when it comes to God? It happens sometimes. We get familiar with the stories of the mighty miracles God has performed so that hearing about them no longer “Wows” us. Healer, Redeemer, Deliverer, Savior…those words roll off our lips so easily that they lose ...

Powerful Words from the Prophets“It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord.” – Isaiah 6:1 (NLT)“A Fresh Glimpse of God” When’s the last time you caught a fresh glimpse of God? God is like the sun. Huge. Brilliant. Illuminating. Beautiful. But for the most part, we take it for granted. It rises; it sets. We know that it’s there, but most days we don’t really pay attention. But then th...

Powerful Words from the Prophets“What sorrow for those who get up early in the morning looking for a drink of alcohol and spend long evenings drinking wine to make themselves flaming drunk. They furnish wine and lovely music at their grand parties—lyre and harp, tambourine and flute—but they never think about the LORD or notice what he is doing.” – Isaiah 5:11-12 (NLT)“Facing the Addiction Epidemi...

Powerful Words from the Prophets“He plowed the land, cleared its stones, and planted it with the best vines. In the middle he built a watchtower and carved a winepress in the nearby rocks. Then he waited for a harvest of sweet grapes, but the grapes that grew were bitter.” – Isaiah 5:2 (NLT)“Fruit Or Nuts?” I’m really excited for this summer. We’re going to be doing something at our church that we...