A good quote I stole from another Blogger  http://amdg44.blogspot.com/ I happened to find when I hit the "Next Blog" button:

"A great quote from St. Ignatius Loyola, courtesy of Sam Sawyer, SJ:
 

"There are very few people who realize what God would make of them if they abandoned themselves entirely to His hands, and let themselves be formed by his Grace. A thick and shapeless tree trunk would never believe that it could become a statue, admired as a miracle of sculpture...and would never consent to submit itself to the chisel of the sculptor who, as St. Augustine says, sees by his genius what he can make of it. Many people who, we see, now scarcely live as Christians, do not understand that they could become saints, if they would let themselves be formed by the grace of God, if they did not ruin His plans by resisting the work which He wants to do....""

Sound Familiar??

Isaiah 3

¹⁶The LORD said:^(V) Because^(W) the daughters of Zion are haughty
   and walk with outstretched necks,
   glancing wantonly with their eyes,
mincing along as they go,
   ^(X) tinkling with their feet,
¹⁷therefore the Lord^(Y) will strike with a scab
   the heads of^(Z) the daughters of Zion,
   and the LORD will lay bare their secret parts.

 ¹⁸In that day the Lord will take away^(AA) the finery of the anklets, the^(AB) headbands, and the^(AC) crescents; ¹⁹the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarves; ²⁰the^(AD) headdresses, the armlets, the sashes, the perfume boxes, and the amulets; ²¹the signet rings and^(AE) nose rings; ²²the^(AF) festal robes, the mantles, the cloaks, and the handbags; ²³the mirrors, the linen garments, the turbans, and the veils.
 ²⁴Instead of^(AG) perfume there will be rottenness;
   and instead of a^(AH) belt, a rope;
and instead of^(AI) well-set hair,^(AJ) baldness;
   and instead of a rich robe, a^(AK) skirt of sackcloth;
   and^(AL) branding instead of beauty.
²⁵Your men shall fall by the sword
   and your mighty men in battle.
²⁶And^(AM) her gates shall lament and mourn;
   empty, she shall^(AN) sit on the ground.

I'm not sure of the history surrounding the times in the life of Isaiah, but I know he's my very favorite prophet of the Bible. I know he was a prophet for the reign of at least four kings mentioned in the very outset of Ch 1 and that was probably a long time. His writing is bold but poetic in its prose. I am always especially moved by the prophesies of Christ in Isaiah.

As I was reading this passage this morning, I couldn't help but notice how similar the situation Isaiah describes is to our own situation in America. Between questionable wars that have stretched for near ten years and an absolutely ruinous financial situation, our nation is sure to be brought to its knees in the near future. We live in a country where the culture is to buy anything you want right now, whether you have the money or not. Credit is so readily available people in the mid-2000s could get credit to buy houses they couldn't afford to pay the interest on. Just like those women mentioned in the passage, we're covered up in all kinds of fine things. Our government does a good job setting the example with a 13 trillion dollar deficit, too.

I'm not sure this is an altogether bad thing, though. Hard times usually bring people to their knees. And in that there is hope. I believe the end of this passage is really in Ch 4:

 ^1(A) And seven women^(B) shall take hold of^(C) one man in that day, saying, "We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach."

Jesus, let us be called by Your Name.

Calling All Ezras

Nehemiah 8

¹And all the people gathered as one man into the square before^(A) the Water Gate. And they told^(B) Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the LORD had commanded Israel. ²So Ezra the priest^(C) brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard,^(D) on the first day of the seventh month. ^3(E) And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. ⁴And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose.

⁸They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly,^[b] and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

⁹And Nehemiah, who was^(L) the governor, and Ezra^(M) the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people,^(N) "This day is holy to the LORD your God;^(O) do not mourn or weep." For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law.

Summer went so fast. School's almost ready to start again. Crazy.

I heard Chuck Swindoll talking on the radio about a week ago in his overview of the Bible about the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. He called Ezra a true worshipper. Being a guy who leads worship at church from time to time, that intrigued me. I read Ezra, then I read Nehemiah. This passage jumped out at me. Not-so-ironically, this passage appeared again in a book I was reading yesterday about what else...worship. I've been absolutely struck by the profound simplicity of this passage - how simple the act of reading from the Law was and how profoundly the Spirit of God grabbed hold of the hearts of the people.

I mean think about it. Imagine a guy standing up and reading from the Bible for four or five hours. It says everyone was listening attentively and that by the time he was done, they were all weeping. If you ask me that's nothing short of a miracle. Of course, this is in the days before iPods, smartphones, and Facebook. Now it's hard for us to sit still for 45min. of preaching, let alone to set aside 5 minutes for private Bible study and prayer. Is this why we're struggling as a Body of Christ? Is this why the spiritual drought continues?

Ezra, where are you?