Sunday, September 18th

Sunday, September 18th

Isaiah 25:1-12
1 O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago. 2 You have made the city a heap of rubble, the fortified town a ruin, the foreigners' stronghold a city no more; it will never be rebuilt. 3 Therefore strong peoples will honor you; cities of ruthless nations will revere you. 4 You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm driving against a wall 5 and like the heat of the desert. You silence the uproar of foreigners; as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is stilled. 6 On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine - the best of meats and the finest of wines. 7 On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; 8 he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The LORD has spoken. 9 In that day they will say, "Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation." 10 The hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain; but Moab will be trampled under him as straw is trampled down in the manure. 11 They will spread out their hands in it, as a swimmer spreads out his hands to swim. God will bring down their pride despite the cleverness of their hands. 12 He will bring down your high fortified walls and lay them low; he will bring them down to the ground, to the very dust.

Rejoice (verb):

1. To feel joyful; be delighted.


2. To fill with joy; gladden.

Romans 12:14-16
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

Honestly, I don’t feel like rejoicing. I am bitter and angry. I feel wronged by many who I felt were close to me. I can’t rejoice right now. I didn’t go to church because of excuses I made. I let my excuse of being tired to keep me from the body of God that I am angry against.

James 5:12 Let your "Yes" be yes, and your "No," no, or you will be condemned.

My friends have not followed this scripture. I planned events over the last number of months and one after another they would cancel on me. It seemed OK at first. But when one after another backed out, it began to hurt. It was never about money, I have never been one to really care about that, it was the loss of time. I wanted to spend with the people and they would turn around and take that away from me. It just hurt. Every one that cancelled made it a money issue. “How much did it cost and we will pay,” they would say. It almost feels like the cost is something they can not repay. Friendship is the cost. My feelings are the cost. Try to repay that. I dare you. I am angry right now. Just let your yes be yes.

There were some people that when asked replied that they were too busy now to plan. I respected them then for not making plans and then breaking those plans later. Something to think about.

Luke 17:3 "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.”

My problem right now is I don’t want to forgive. I am in sin because of their sin. I am angry about it, their sin and mine, but I am wallowing in it right now. I didn’t go to church because I might see them and have to deal with it. Phooey, I might do something right. But I am angry. I am so angry right now, I can’t see straight. I have had some phone calls today, people calling me. They all left messages. I didn’t return phone calls. I always return phone calls, and I will return these. But the thing is, I will return them in due time.

Matthew 5:23-24
23 "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.”

I couldn’t go to church with these things on my heart. I couldn’t take communion with this issue. I know I am in sin. It’s fairly obvious by what I have been saying. I am not denying that. My anger is unrighteous. I am beyond irate. I am not going to email this out to anyone, but obviously I am going to post it, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading it. Let me reassure you, though, I am not leaving the church, I am not leaving God, blah, blah, blah. I just have a “petty” issue that I need to work on right now. And it is petty because in the grand scheme of things, it is meaningless. Johnny Out.