Ruffled Feathers

Romans 14:1,19 … Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. … 19 So then, let us pursue [with enthusiasm] the things which make for peace and the building up of one another [things which lead to spiritual growth].
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1Thessalonians 5:11 … Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, just as you are in fact doing.
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Rejoice Forever and Always

1Thessalonians 5:16-18 … Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in ALL circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
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Philippians 4:4 … Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say, rejoice! 
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A Song:
Chorus:
Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice in the Lord always
Again I say rejoice! –Phil 4:4
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Trust in the Lord
For He is good –Psalm 34:8
His love endures –Psalm 100:4-5; 136
Forever and always.
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Rejoice and be glad
For the Lord He does great things –Ps 126:3;Joel 2:21;Ps 86:10
Forever He’s the same  –Hebrews 13:8
Forever and always.
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Rejoice and be glad
Forever and always
Trust in the Lord
Forever and always. –Isaiah 26:4
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Psalm 86:7-10 … In the day of my trouble I will call upon{cry to} You, For You will answer me. 8 There is no one like You among the gods, O Lord; no deeds{works} can compare with Yours. 9 All the nations You have made will come and worship before You, O Lord; they will bring glory to Your name. 10 For You are great and do wondrous deeds; You alone are God.
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His Ways are Higher!

Isaiah 55:8-9 … “My thoughts are not your thoughts, My thoughts are completely different from yours,” says the LORD.
“And neither are your ways My ways; My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. 9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts”. 
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The Lord’s ways are far beyond anything
. we can think or imagine
His ways are higher
Trust Him even when things don’t make sense
Walk by faith not sight –2Cor 5:7
He makes a way where there is no way! –Isa 43:16
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Don’t lean on your own understanding
The Lord’s ways are higher
Far beyond anything we can think
. or imagine! –Pro 3:5-6;Isa 55:8-9
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Proverbs 3:5-6 … Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths{footsteps}.
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Related:
Higher Ways{Prayer}
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Isaiah 48 – Bible Study Questions

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Isaiah 48 – Bible Study Questions. 
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Intro: Chapters forty to fifty-one of Isaiah deliver a series of messages to Judah and the remnant of Israel. Isaiah looks into the next two centuries. He sees beyond the Babylonian captivity to the fall of Babylon, and even predicts that Cyrus king of Persia will return the captives to Jerusalem to rebuild it.
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God Reminds Israel of who He is.  –Isaiah 48:1-13

• v1-2: What is the significance of using the House of Jacob name vs. called by the name Israel? Of coming from wellspring of Judah vs. swearing by the name of the Lord? Were God’s people really leaning on/trusting in the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts/Almighty?.
  Note: God identified His people as the house of Jacob – the name Jacob essentially meaning “deceiver, cheater” – and said they only have the name of Israel, not the character of Israel, which means “governed by God.”
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  God reminded them of their tribal ancestor, Judah, who was noted for his cruelty (Genesis 37:26-27) and immorality (Genesis 38). The LORD spoke to His people and said, “You come from your father Judah.” It was not a compliment.
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  God exposed the sin of His people. They took His name, identified with the holy city, and gave the appearance that they did lean on the God of Israel. Yet it was only image, not reality, and God saw through the image to the reality. There was no genuineness (truth) in it, nor did it satisfy the standards of God (righteousness).
• Psalm 51:6 … Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, so You can teach me to be wise in my inmost being.
  BibleHub: The sincerity and true self-discernment which God requires can only come of spiritual insight, or, as the last clause states it, divine instruction.
• v3-8: What is the Lord amazed/dismayed at? How should these prophecies coming true have affected the people?
• v9-13: Why inspite of the people’s rebellion does the Lord still desire to show mercy? What does this have to do with sharing His glory?
  –2Peter 3:8-13;1Peter 4:12-14

God Reminds Israel of a Chosen Deliverer.  –Isaiah 48:14-16

• Who is the chosen deliverer for Babylon? For the nations?
  * v16: “the Lord GOD has sent Me, and His Spirit.”
  * v12 points to creation
  –Isaiah 45:1-7;Jn 4:19-26;Lk 24:44-49

God Laments about Babylonian Captivity.  –Isaiah 48:17-19

• What was God’s lament?
• v17: How does the Lord your Redeemer teach you to profit{what is best}? –Jn 14:15-18; 16:13; 2Tim 3:16-17
• v18: What is the recipe for peace like a river? –Phil 4:8-9
• v19: Which covenant is linked with obeying the Lord’s commandments? –Gen 22:15-18

Babylon will Fall.  –Isaiah 48:20-22

• How are the righteous who have peace like a river contrasted with the wicked?
  Note: The broad section of Isaiah 40-48 focused on the promise of God’s deliverance of His people from their captivity in Babylon, and the specific prediction of the Gentile king who would deliver them, Cyrus. Through the section, God shows that His desire to deliver His people proves His love, His ability to deliver His people proves His power, and His prophetic knowledge of the deliverer proves His uniqueness among all gods. Starting with Isaiah 49, there is no longer a mention of Cyrus, now the focus is on the ultimate deliverer, the Messiah. Though there is still reference to the deliverance from Babylon’s captivity, the real focus is on the ultimate deliverance the Messiah will bring.

Matthew 15:8 NASB … This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.
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Isaiah 29:13-14 NASB … Then the Lord said, “Because this people approaches Me with their words And honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of the commandment of men that is taught; 14 Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous; And the wisdom of their wise men will perish, And the understanding of their men who have understanding will be concealed.”
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Psalm 51:6 NASB … Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, And in secret You will make wisdom known to me.
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A Recipe for Peace

Philippians 4:8-9 … Finally beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise—think about these things. And what you learned and received and heard and saw in me, do these things. And the God of peace will be with you.
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A recipe for peace
Think on and do these things
Whatever is true, honorable, just, pure or lovely
Whatever is admirable, excellent or praiseworthy …
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Then you will see the God of peace Himself goes with you
Never to forsake or leave
So don’t be afraid or dismayed. –Eph 2:14;Heb 13:5;Dt 31:6,8
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2Thessalonians 3:16 … Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all.

I Love You Lord!

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Psalm 18:1-2 … I love You, O LORD, my strength. 2 The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
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Psalm 105:4 … Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face continually.
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I love You Lord, my strength
I will continually seek Your face
Your love so high, so wide, so deep
My rescued heart longs to rest in Your embrace.
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Lord, whom have I in heaven but You?
Nothing I desire compares to You
My heart and flesh many times may fail
But You are my Rock Eternal –Isaiah 26:4
The firm strength of my heart, my portion forever!
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I love You Lord, my strength
I will continually seek Your face
Your love so high, so wide, so deep
My rescued heart longs to rest in Your embrace.
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Psalm 73:25-26 AMPC … Whom have I in heaven but You? And I have no delight or desire on earth besides You. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the Rock and firm Strength of my heart and my Portion forever.
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Ephesians 3:17-19 AMPC May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love, 18 That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God’s devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it]; 19 [That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!
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Trust the Lord in ALL your Ways!

Proverbs 3:5-7 … Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths{make straight your footsteps/paths}. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil.
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Do not be wise in your own eyes
Lean not on your own understanding
Acknowledge the Lord in all your ways
Let Him direct our steps according to His word –Ps 119:133
His word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path –Ps 119:105
His words are Spirit and Life –Jn 6:63
Keep in step with His Holy Spirit and Live! –Gal 5:25
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Galations 5:25 NLT … If we are living now by the Holy Spirit, let us follow the Holy Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.
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Word Study . From NetBible Proverbs 20:24 … A person’s steps are directed by the LORD. How then can anyone understand his own way? * To say that one’s steps are ordained by the Lord means that one’s course of actions, one’s whole life, is divinely prepared and sovereignly superintended{managed} (Gen 50:26; Pro 3:6). Ironically, one is not actually in control of his own steps{paths}. . From BibleHub Proverbs 20:24 *One’s goings are of the Lord.–Comp. Jeremiah 10:23 and the collect, “O God, from whom . . . all just works do proceed.” How can a man then understand his own way?–i.e., how he should go. So much the more reason for the prayer of Psalm 25:3-5, “Shew me thy ways, O Lord.” (Psalm 119:33; 143:7-10.) . From NetBible Ps 119:105 … Your word is a lamp to my feet{ to walk by} and a light to{illumine} my path. word[01697] = speech, saying, utterance, commandment . From NetBible John 6:63 … It is the Spirit who gives life{quickens}; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. *Spirit[4151] = breath {of the wind}, Holy Spirit, emphasizes work and power of the Spirit of Truth[4154] = to breathe, to blow – {of the wind} *gives life[2227] = quickens, makes alive, restore life, revitalize ** seeds quickened into life, i.e. germinating, springing up, growing .

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Isaiah 47 – Bible Study Questions

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Isaiah 47 – Bible Study Questions.
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Intro: Chapters forty to fifty-one of Isaiah deliver a series of messages to Judah and the remnant of Israel. Isaiah looks into the next two centuries. He sees beyond the Babylonian captivity to the fall of Babylon, and even predicts that Cyrus king of Persia will return the captives to Jerusalem to rebuild it.
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The Fall of Babylon
God condemns Babylon, and the Chaldean empire as a whole, for its arrogance and presumption. He pictures Babylon as a queen who will become a slave girl. (Isaiah 47:1-7). The pagan arts, such as sorcery and astrology, will not help Babylon (Isaiah 47:8-15).
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God’s judgments on Babylon.  –Isaiah 47:1-7

• v1: What judgement on Babylon does this indicate: “sit on the ground, not on a throne”? What was Babylon’s throne? Who is on the throne of your heart? –Isaiah 57:15;James 4:4-8
  Note: Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary Daniel 5:18-31
  Daniel reads Belshazzar’s(Isaiah 46) doom. He had not taken warning by the judgments upon Nebuchadnezzar. And he had insulted God. Sinners are pleased with gods that neither see, nor hear, nor know; but they will be judged by One to whom all things are open. Daniel reads the sentence written on the wall. All this may well be applied to the doom of every sinner. At death, the sinner’s days are numbered and finished; after death is the judgment, when he will be weighed in the balance, and found wanting; and after judgment the sinner will be cut asunder, and given as a prey to the devil and his angels. While these things were passing in the palace, it is considered that the army of Cyrus entered the city; and when Belshazzar was slain, a general submission followed. Soon will every impenitent sinner find the writing of God’s word brought to pass upon him, whether he is weighed in the balance of the law as a self-righteous Pharisee, or in that of the gospel as a painted hypocrite.
• v2: What does the millstone represent? How does this compare to Isaiah 46 – idols or false god’s putting heavy burdens on the people who worship them?
  Take the millstones. -Always the most servile form of female slave labor.
• v3: What do private parts being exposed with nothing to cover up with indicate? –Luke 23:28-30;Hos 10:8;Rev 6:16
• v5-7: What does this image of Babylon as a “queen” who is dethroned make you think of? –Rev 17:1-5; 18:1-4

The Rebuke of Babylon.  –Isaiah 47:8-15

• v8-11: Why does sudden tragedy strike Babylon?
  Note: Babylon trusted in it’s own strength and wisdom.
  * The proud sinner trusts in their continuing wickedness to cover the tracks of their previous sin. They are clever, but their wisdom in wickedness has led them astray.
  * Babylon was suddenly conquered in one night when they believed all was safe and secure (as recorded in Daniel 5). The rebuke of Babylon’s pride is a simple fulfillment of a principle repeated three times in the Scripture: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. (Proverbs 3:34; James 4:6; 1Peter 5:5).
• v14-15: What does this verse look forward to? What choices are highlighted? –Jn 3:16-21,36; Mt 25:41-26
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  Acts 4:11-12 AMP … This Jesus is the stone which was despised and rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief Cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among people by which we must be saved [for God has provided the world no alternative for salvation].
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  Acts 2:38 AMP … And Peter said to them, “Repent [change your old way of thinking, turn from your sinful ways, accept and follow Jesus as the Messiah] and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ because of the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
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Related:
https://www.simplybible.com/f910-isaiah-outline-chapters-45-46-47-48.htm
https://www.simplybible.com/f83b-tulip-god-has-purpose-do-we-have-choice.htm
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Sow to Harvest Righteousness

Hosea 10:12-13 … Sow with a view to {harvest}righteousness, reap in accordance with mercy and lovingkindness; Break up your fallow{unplowed} ground, for it is time to seek the LORD until He comes to rain righteousness{showers deliverance} on you. 13 But you have planted{plowed} wickedness, you have reaped evil{injustice}, you have eaten the fruit of deception{lies}. Because you have depended on your own strength and on your many warriors …
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James 3:17-18 … But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 18 And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
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Sow with a view to harvest righteousness
The seed the word of God –Luke 8:11-15
With wisdom from above in peace is sown
In hearts watered, cleansed by the word
Righteousness grows –Eph 5:26-27
Break up your fallow ground
Seek the Lord while He may be found
Forsake your own way
In repentance and rest you will be saved. –Isaiah 55:6-7
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Isaiah 32:17 … The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the result of righteousness will be quietness and confidence for ever.
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Isaiah 30:15 … For thus the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said, “In repentance and rest you will be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength.” But you were not willing …
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Let grace reign through righteousness to eternal life
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. –Rom 5:17-21
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Insight from Isaiah 46 Study

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Psalm 68:19 AMPC … Blessed be the Lord, Who bears our burdens and carries us day by day, even the God Who is our salvation! Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
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Isaiah 46:1-4 AMPC … Bel bows down, Nebo stoops [gods of Babylon, whose idols are being carried off]; their idols are on the beasts [of burden] and on the cattle. These things that you carry about are loaded as burdens on the weary beasts. 2 [The gods] stoop, they bow down together; they cannot save [their own idols], but are themselves going into captivity. 3 Listen to Me [says the Lord], O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, you who have been borne by Me from your birth, carried from the womb: 4 Even to your old age I am He, and even to hair white with age will I carry you. I have made, and I will bear; yes, I will carry and will save you.
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The Lord is ready to daily carry not only our burdens but also us.
**Do you have to carry the burden of your idols, sin or trial or does your God carry you?
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If any put a burden on believers, God is our help
He is able to lift up and forgive
He is also able to carry you through any trial
Cast your burdens on Him – release the weight of it!
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Psalm 55:22 AMPC … Cast your burden on the Lord [releasing the weight of it] and He will sustain you; He will never allow the [consistently] righteous to be moved (made to slip, fall, or fail).
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Word Study . From NetBible Ps 68:19 – NET … The Lord deserves praise! Day after day He carries our burden, the God who delivers us. Selah – NASB … Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, The God who is our salvation. Selah – NLT … Praise the Lord; praise God our savior! For each day He carries us in His arms. Interlude – NKJV … Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation! Selah . From Commentary Ps 68:19 It is by God’s favour and might, and not by the sword, that deliverance from the enemies actually threatening the nation is to be expected. . God who daily takes our burden for us, i.e., either the burden of trial or of sin. (Comp. a somewhat similar passage, Psalm 99:8, “thou art a God who liftest for us,” i.e., as Authorised Version, “forgivest us.”) But it is quite possible to render, if any put a burden on us, God is our help. . Matthew 11:28-30 … Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. . From Commentary Matthew 11:28 Come unto me.–As in the consciousness of this plenitude of power, the Son of Man turns with infinite compassion to those whose weakness and weariness He has shared, and offers them the rest which none other can give them. . Labour and are heavy laden.–The words arc wide enough to cover every form of human sin and sorrow, but the thought that was most prominent in them at the time was that of the burdens grievous to be borne, the yoke of traditions and ordinances which the Pharisees and scribes had imposed on the consciences of men. (Comp. Matthew 23:4; Acts 15:10.) The first of the two words gives prominence to the active, the latter to the passive, aspect of human suffering, by whatever cause produced. . I will give you rest.–The I is emphasized in the Greek. He gives what no one else can give–rest from the burden of sin, from the weariness of fruitless toil. .