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Bible reading for weekend June 25-- 27 Jun 25 -- Isaiah 57 and Matthew 5 Jun 26 -- Isaiah 58 and Matthew 6 Jun 27 -- Isaiah 59 and Matthew 7 ================    "For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: 'I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.'" (Isaiah 57:15) IDOLATRY IS DESTRUCTIVE (ch 57). In contrast with the everlasting covenant of peace that God offers (ch 55-56), the people had been putting their trust in the various false gods and idols worshiped at the high places. The people were involved with ritual sex there, and even child sacrifice. They had deserted the Lord and did not remember him (vv 8, 11). Idols cannot save (v 13). If we do not destroy them, they will destroy us. God looks with favor upon the contrite (v 15), and they will experience his peace. But those who do not forsa...

Bible reading for April 2 -- Leviticus 5; Psalms 3-4.  "In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety."  (Psalm 4:8)  When you can't sleep. Many times in pastoral ministry I would read one or both of these psalms with people who were about to undergo surgery. It brings encouragement to those who trust the Lord that they can lie down and sleep (via anesthesia) with complete confidence that the Lord watches over them and sustains them .  The Lord never sleeps or slumbers (Ps 121:4).   But these words are also a comfort if you can't sleep at night .  Reciting God's word to yourself can help focus your mind on what is true and real and beautiful, rather than on whatever is causing anxiety. Biblical meditation involves repeating God's words to yourself, going over them again and again, praying over and pondering every word and meaning. When I can't sleep at night, first I pray and give thanks to God, confess ...

"...but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  (Matthew 6:20-21 ESV)  "But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ..."  (Philippians 3:20 ESV) Søren Kierkegaard, the Danish philosopher, wrote about anxiety and despair, and about faith and singleness of mind and will.   He said, "To despair is to lose the eternal."  Here is one of his written prayers... "Father in heaven! Draw our hearts to you so that our longing  may be where our treasure is supposed to be. Turn our minds  and our thoughts to where our citizenship is – in your kingdom,  so that when you finally call us away from here our leave-taking  may not be a painful separation but a joyful union with  you. We do not know the time and the place, perhaps a long...

"We obsess about the future and we get anxious, because anxiety, after all, is simply living out the future before it gets here. We must renounce our sinful desire to know the future and to be in control. We are not gods. We walk by faith, not by sight. We risk because God does not risk. We walk into the future in God-glorifying confidence, not because the future is known to us but because it is known to God. And that’s all we need to know. Worry about the future is not simply a characteristic, it is the sin of unbelief, an indication that our hearts are not resting in the promises of God." ~ Kevin DeYoung, Just Do Something , (Chicago: Moody, 2009) p. 48.  Quoted in  Burning Hearts: Preaching to the Affections by Josh Moody, Robin Weekes.