You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them; and you listen to their cry. Psalm 10:17 NIV

A Christian’s goal should be to create the Kingdom of God here on earth, as it is in Heaven. Not only, to get to Heaven.

September 2022, Prophesies by Julie Green. Click the date following: 9/1/22 9/2/22 9/3/22 9/5/22 9/7/22 9/8/22 9/9/22 9/15/22 August 2022 Post July 2022 Posts

To finish the Bible in one year, Read Isaiah 44-45 and Galatians 2.

To view all previous blogs click here.

Verses for today – Listen here: For explanations

Reflection for Today.

My other websites:

Also read the verses, if you like.

Isaiah 44

God’s Blessing on Israel

44 But now hear, O Jacob my servant,
    Israel whom I have chosen!
² Thus says the Lord who made you,
    who formed you in the womb and will help you:
Do not fear, O Jacob my servant,
    Jeshurun whom I have chosen.
³ For I will pour water on the thirsty land
    and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour my spirit upon your descendants
    and my blessing on your offspring.
⁴ They shall spring up like a green tamarisk,^[a]
    like willows by flowing streams.
⁵ This one will say, “I am the Lord’s”;
    another will be called by the name of Jacob;
yet another will write on the hand, “The Lord’s,”
    and adopt the name of Israel.

⁶ Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel,
    and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
I am the first, and I am the last;
    besides me there is no god.
⁷ Who is like me? Let them proclaim it;
    let them declare and set it forth before me.
Who has announced from of old the things to come?^[b]
    Let them tell us^[c] what is yet to be.
⁸ Do not fear or be afraid;
    have I not told you from of old and declared it?
    You are my witnesses!
Is there any god besides me?
    There is no other rock; I know not one.

The Absurdity of Idol Worship

⁹ All who make idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit; their witnesses neither see nor know, and so they will be put to shame. ¹⁰ Who would fashion a god or cast an image that can do no good? ¹¹ All its devotees shall be put to shame; the artisans, too, are merely human. Let them all assemble; let them stand up; they shall be terrified; they shall all be put to shame.

¹² The blacksmith works it with a tool over the coals, shaping it with hammers and forging it with his strong arm; he becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. ¹³ The carpenter stretches a line, marks it out with a stylus, fashions it with planes, and marks it with a compass; he makes it in human form, with human beauty, to be set up in a shrine. ¹⁴ He cuts down cedars or chooses a holm tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. ¹⁵ Then it can be used as fuel. Part of it he takes and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Then he makes a god and worships it, makes it a carved image and bows down before it. ¹⁶ Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he roasts meat, eats it,^[d] and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, “Ah, I am warm^[e] by the fire!” ¹⁷ The rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, bows down to it and worships it; he prays to it and says, “Save me, for you are my god!”

¹⁸ They do not know, nor do they comprehend, for their eyes are shut, so that they cannot see, and their minds as well, so that they cannot understand. ¹⁹ No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. Now shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” ²⁰ He feeds on ashes; a deluded mind has led him astray, and he cannot save himself or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a fraud?”

Israel Is Not Forgotten

²¹ Remember these things, O Jacob,
    and Israel, for you are my servant;
I formed you, you are my servant;
    O Israel, do not forget me.^[f]
22 I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud
    and your sins like mist;
return to me, for I have redeemed you.

²³ Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it;
    shout, O depths of the earth;
break forth into singing, O mountains,
    O forest and every tree in it!
For the Lord has redeemed Jacob
    and will be glorified in Israel.

²⁴ Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,
    who formed you in the womb:
I am the Lord, who made all things,
    who alone stretched out the heavens,
    who by myself spread out the earth;
²⁵ who frustrates the omens of soothsayers
    and makes fools of diviners;
who turns back the wise
    and makes their knowledge foolish;
²⁶ who confirms the word of his servant
    and fulfills the prediction of his messengers;
who says of Jerusalem, “It shall be inhabited,”
    and of the cities of Judah, “They shall be rebuilt,
    and I will raise up their ruins”;
²⁷ who says to the deep, “Be dry—
    I will dry up your rivers”;
²⁸ who says of Cyrus, “He is my shepherd,
    and he shall carry out all my purpose”;
and who says of Jerusalem, “It shall be rebuilt,”
    and of the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.”

Isaiah 45

Cyrus, God’s Instrument

45 Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,
    whose right hand I have grasped
to subdue nations before him
    and to strip kings of their robes,
to open doors before him—
    and the gates shall not be closed:
² I will go before you
    and level the mountains;^[a]
I will break in pieces the doors of bronze
    and cut through the bars of iron;
³ I will give you the treasures of darkness
    and riches hidden in secret places,
so that you may know that it is I, the Lord,
    the God of Israel, who call you by your name.
⁴ For the sake of my servant Jacob
    and Israel my chosen,
I call you by your name;
    I give you a title, though you do not know me.
⁵ I am the Lord, and there is no other;
    besides me there is no god.
    I arm you, though you do not know me,
⁶ so that they may know, from the rising of the sun
    and from the west, that there is no one besides me;
    I am the Lord, and there is no other.
⁷ I form light and create darkness,
    I make weal and create woe;
    I the Lord do all these things.

⁸ Shower, O heavens, from above,
    and let the skies rain down righteousness;
let the earth open, that salvation may spring up,^[b]
    and let it cause righteousness to sprout up also;
    I the Lord have created it.

⁹ Woe to those who strive with their Maker,
    earthen vessels with the potter!^[c]
Does the clay say to the one who fashions it, “What are you making”?
    or “Your work has no handles”?
¹⁰ Woe to anyone who says to a father, “What are you fathering?”
    or to a woman, “With what are you in labor?”
¹¹ Thus says the Lord,
    the Holy One of Israel and its Maker:
Will you question me^[d] about my children
    or command me concerning the work of my hands?
¹² I made the earth
    and created humankind upon it;
it was my hands that stretched out the heavens,
    and I commanded all their host.
¹³ I have aroused Cyrus^[e] in righteousness,
    and I will make all his paths straight;
he shall build my city
    and set my exiles free,
not for price or reward,
    says the Lord of hosts.
¹⁴ Thus says the Lord:
The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush
    and the Sabeans, tall of stature,
shall come over to you and be yours;
    they shall follow you;
    they shall come over in chains and bow down to you.
They will make supplication to you, saying,
    “God is with you alone, and there is no other;
    there is no god besides him.”
¹⁵ Truly, you are a God who hides himself,
    O God of Israel, the Savior.
¹⁶ All of them are put to shame and confounded;
    the makers of idols go in disgrace together.
¹⁷ But Israel is saved by the Lord
    with everlasting salvation;
you shall not be put to shame or confounded
    ever again.

¹⁸ For thus says the Lord,
who created the heavens
    (he is God!),
who formed the earth and made it
    (he established it;
he did not create it a chaos;
    he formed it to be inhabited!):
I am the Lord, and there is no other.
¹⁹ I did not speak in secret
    in a land of darkness;
I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,
    “Seek me in chaos.”
I the Lord speak the truth;
    I declare what is right.

Idols Cannot Save Babylon

²⁰ Assemble yourselves and come together;
    draw near, you survivors of the nations!
They have no knowledge—
    those who carry about their wooden idols
and keep on praying to a god
    that cannot save.
²¹ Declare and present your case;
    take counsel together!^[f]
Who told this long ago?
    Who declared it of old?
Was it not I, the Lord?
    There is no other god besides me,
a righteous God and a Savior;
    there is no one besides me.

²² Turn to me and be saved,
    all the ends of the earth!
    For I am God, and there is no other.
²³ By myself I have sworn;
    from my mouth has gone forth in righteousness
    a word that shall not return:
“To me every knee shall bow,
    every tongue shall swear.”

²⁴ Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me,
    are righteousness and strength;
all who were incensed against him
    shall come to him and be ashamed.
²⁵ In the Lord all the offspring of Israel
    shall triumph and glory.

Galatians 2

Paul and the Other Apostles

2 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. ² I went up in response to a revelation. Then I laid before them (though only in a private meeting with the acknowledged leaders) the gospel that I proclaim among the gentiles, in order to make sure that I was not running, or had not run, in vain. ³ But even Titus, who was with me, was not compelled to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. ⁴ But because of false brothers and sisters secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might enslave us— ⁵ we did not submit to them even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might always remain with you. ⁶ And from those who were supposed to be acknowledged leaders (what they actually were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those leaders contributed nothing to me. ⁷ On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel for the circumcised ⁸ (for he who worked through Peter making him an apostle to the circumcised also worked through me in sending me to the gentiles), ⁹ and when James and Cephas and John, who were acknowledged pillars, recognized the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that we should go to the gentiles and they to the circumcised. ¹⁰ They asked only one thing, that we remember the poor, which was actually what I was^[a] eager to do.

Paul Rebukes Peter at Antioch

¹¹ But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood self-condemned, ¹² for until certain people came from James, he used to eat with the gentiles. But after they came, he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction. ¹³ And the other Jews joined him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. ¹⁴ But when I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the gentiles to live like Jews?”^[b]

Jews and Gentiles Are Saved by Faith

¹⁵ We ourselves are Jews by birth and not gentile sinners, ¹⁶ yet we know that a person is justified^[c] not by the works of the law but through the faith of Jesus Christ.^[d] And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by the faith of Christ^[e] and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law. ¹⁷ But if, in our effort to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have been found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! ¹⁸ But if I build up again the very things that I once tore down, then I demonstrate that I am a transgressor. ¹⁹ For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ, ²⁰ and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God,^[f] who loved me and gave himself for me. ²¹ I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness^[g] comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.

The complete Book of Isaiah

The complete book of Galatians

Sermon on the Book of Isaiah

Sermons on today’s verses by various teachers

Catholic Daily Readings

Reading 1, Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:8

⁹ Young man, enjoy yourself while you are young, make the most of the days of your youth, follow the prompting and desire of heart and eye, but remember, God will call you to account for everything.

¹⁰ Rid your heart of indignation, keep your body clear of suffering, though youth and the age of black hair are both futile.

¹ Remember your Creator while you are still young, before the bad days come, before the years come which, you will say, give you no pleasure;

² before the sun and the light grow dim and the moon and stars, before the clouds return after the rain;

³ the time when your watchmen become shaky, when strong men are bent double, when the women, one by one, quit grinding, and, as they look out of the window, find their sight growing dim.

⁴ When the street-door is kept shut, when the sound of grinding fades away, when the first cry of a bird wakes you up, when all the singing has stopped;

⁵ when going uphill is an ordeal and you are frightened at every step you take- yet the almond tree is in flower and the grasshopper is weighed down and the caper-bush loses its tang; while you are on the way to your everlasting home and the mourners are assembling in the street;

⁶ before the silver thread snaps, or the golden bowl is cracked, or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, or the pulley broken at the well-head:

⁷ the dust returns to the earth from which it came, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

⁸ Sheer futility, Qoheleth says, everything is futile.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14, 17

³ You bring human beings to the dust, by saying, ‘Return, children of Adam.’

⁴ A thousand years are to you like a yesterday which has passed, like a watch of the night.

⁵ You flood them with sleep — in the morning they will be like growing grass:

⁶ in the morning it is blossoming and growing, by evening it is withered and dry.

¹² Teach us to count up the days that are ours, and we shall come to the heart of wisdom.

¹³ Come back, Yahweh! How long must we wait? Take pity on your servants.

¹⁴ Each morning fill us with your faithful love, we shall sing and be happy all our days;

¹⁷ May the sweetness of the Lord be upon us, to confirm the work we have done!

Gospel, Luke 9:43-45

⁴³ and everyone was awestruck by the greatness of God. But while everyone was full of admiration for all he did, he said to his disciples,

⁴⁴ ‘For your part, you must have these words constantly in mind: The Son of man is going to be delivered into the power of men.’

⁴⁵ But they did not understand what he said; it was hidden from them so that they should not see the meaning of it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.

---

Dr. Myles Munroe

I am including a video by Dr. Myles Munroe, I’ve listened to him back in the nineties, and rediscovered him recently. Now his perspective seems to be a good way to also look at scripture. In Pursuit of Purpose – Book Highlights