“HERE I AM” GOD
Suggested Reading: Isaiah 65-66
Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).
The Jordan Valley Habika War Memorial Monument is designed by the artist Yigal Turmakin and constructed from old parts of armoured vehicles, tanks and guns. It serves as a memorial to the soldiers who died in the area, particularly as a result of the period known as the Period of Pursuits. War has been a constant in these areas, but God promises that there will be a time when He "will extend peace like a river" (Isaiah 66:12a).
GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.
Key Verses: Isaiah 65:24
It shall come to pass
That before they call, I will answer;
And while they are still speaking, I will hear.
God says, “Here I am, Here I am!” (Isaiah 65:1b). God has not left His human family. He has not isolated Himself from us. Isaiah 65 is God’s answer to the prayer of Isaiah we read in yesterday’s reading. God says through His prophet, “I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people.” The Apostle Paul quotes Isaiah’s words in Romans 10:20-21. We may want to read all of Romans 10 as a commentary on God’s dealings with both Jews and non Jews.
In his final chapter 66, Isaiah repeats twice more words he has written over and over, “Thus says the Lord!” Back in Isaiah 55:6-11 we considered how to get God’s Word, (His thoughts and ways) into our lives and world. Soak in the Word each day! Let God’s Word permeate our hearts and minds. In four more days we’ll have 600 blogs here on 100words.ca and there will be 130 more to complete the entire two year journey through the entire Bible! God says, “Where is the house you will build four Me?” The answer is that the Temple in Jerusalem will be destroyed and the entire sacrificial system will be abolished once the final sacrifice is completed by the One John the Baptist called, “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”
Tomorrow, the New Testament book of James!
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord God, as I think back on the past month of readings in Isaiah, I do tremble at Your Word (66:2b). By Your grace I’ve trusted fully in the One of Whom Isaiah said was yet to come. I’ve noted dozens of personal pronouns and meditated on the Person whose Name alone could replace those pronouns, the Child who was born, the Son Who was given! Isaiah 9:6 goes on to state the fact that “His Name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” I pray that every reader of this blog, including myself, will know Him in a deeper and more intimate way than ever as a result of daily absorbing Your thoughts and ways. In His Name! Amen!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
I’ve read the Jewish tradition that says that Isaiah died by being sawn in half by the last wicked King of Judah to reign during Isaiah’s time. It’s really hard for me to get my mind around the fact that such a powerful and persuasive prophet would have been rejected by the corrupt political masters and a segment of the people that agreed with them. The political masters of Jesus’ time were appointed by an exceedingly corrupt and evil Roman Emperor. The High Priest and his family members became very, very rich through their absolute control of the income from the 4,000,000 or so pilgrims who would visit Jerusalem each year for the mandatory feasts. Jesus said that the Temple had become a “Den of thieves.” The first Gospels tell of the cleansing of the Temple just before Jesus’ death and resurrection. As Bill O’Reilly points out in his book, “Killing Jesus,” it happened twice, once at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry (John 2:11-21), then later (Matthew 21:12 & 13). I found a clip from the “Gospel of John” movie that I’ve just watched. Isaiah depicts judgement as well as mercy (click here for a clip from that movie). I’m well aware that the average Jewish person (Jesus and all His disciples are Jewish) were not implicated in any way in either the execution of Isaiah and Jesus. The crowd in the courtyard who yelled “Crucify Him!” were all paid lackeys of the High Priest.
Yours in recognition of the One Who said, “Here I am,” with prayer that all would turn to Him without delay asking for mercy and grace,
David
P.S. It was two years ago this morning when I awoke out of a sound sleep and the digital clock showed 4:00 a.m. Jesus said, “My sheep know My voice,” and I know I heard His voice, still and small outwardly but loud and big inside my spirit. He said, “David, shortly I will be awakening you every morning at this time. I want you to rise, read My Word, pray, and write a daily blog leading my people on a two-year journey through the Bible. Start in segments…Matthew, then move to Genesis, alternating back and forth between the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures.” I hardly knew what a “blog” was, so over the next four months I experimented, asked my son David Reynold to use his Biblical knowledge skills as a professional photographer to take photos in all the Bible lands which matched as closely as possible the reading for each day. My son, Ronald, agreed to format the blog for me each day so all I have to do is fill in the brief Bible commentary, my prayer, and my personal words. Ann, Ron’s wife, checks each blog to make sure my spelling, punctuation, etc. is right. Thanks to family members and to Crossroads for taking this on as an official outreach of the ministry. Two years ago my Florida Pastor, Rev. Wayne Blackburn, concluded two weeks of prayer and fasting on Sunday evening. I went forward to the altar for prayer after the evening service, not having any idea what would happen at 4:00 a.m. the next morning. Thanks to the Pastor and people of Victory Church, Lakeland, Florida. Check this Church out here. Thanks Victory Church of the Assemblies of God!
I am so glad God spoke to you……and sooo blessed that you listened!
Thank you!
Amen!
AMEN! 😀
AMEN! AMEN!
So thankful for this blog!God indeed has a purpose for you.I am following every day reading the bible daily. Reading the blog gives me strength and encouragement. Ive been watching you since I was a child and you had childrens programming. I went throgh a rebellious time so much so if my mom was watching I couldnt stand to hear your voice. WHAT A BLESSING god has raised you up to be.I met you once in the 80s when you did the across canada tour. What a heart you have for god and this country. Yours for hoping your childlike faith will rub off on me! Ps just ordered this far by faith cant wait to read it. Happy your health is improving and praying for your healing!Thankyou and bless you david and your family!
A resounding AMEN, AMEN & AMEN!!!
Never before have I heard the terrifying end of Isaiah’s life. The cruelty of certain humans is mind boggling.
This blog has been quite a journey. It’s amazing how it all came into fruition and how compelled you were David, to take on such a task. I’m sure I can speak for all of us readers and bloggers, how inspiring and life changing this has been! Thanks for sharing the link about Victory Church. It certainly shines in ministry and service!! Have a great day, to all!
Amen and Amen!
We are very blessed by all the work you put into this blog everyday
God Bless you
Lianne Hogg
I just found out our pastor is going on his first pilgrimage to Israel in Feburary
I’m looking forward to hearing all he has to say and the pictures he brings home.
Pastor Filsinger is very excited
Lianne Hogg
Yes!!!! We are indeed blessed each and every day by this blog. Thank you Pastor David for listening and obeying what the Lord asked you to do. As David wrote we have been inspired and this has been life changing. I personally committed to doing this daily reading from the very first day and the comments from the bloggers have been so encouraging. We are “family” now as we are all part of the Family of God!!!!
On another note, I was able to see my newborn grandsons on the weekend. They are healthy and beautiful. They are both now out of the incubators!!!! PTL!!!!!! My heart is overwhelmed – you blog-buddies prayed for them and God answered our prayers!!!!!! Thank you!!!!
Sending much love and blessings to everyone this morning.
Love Ruby
Thank you David and Ron and Ann for your faithfulness to bring God s word to our understanding , I had no idea that Isaiah had been sawn in half that was terrible , we love you David and thank God for youer healing and strength in Jesus name Amen
When God plants a seed it always bears good fruit. This blog was no doubt a blessing to you during the days when your health was uncertain. It forced you to focus on God and His Word instead of what the doctor’s we saying or even what your own body was telling you.
It is a blessing to those reading it– and those who comment on it are blessing others and being blessed by sharing their faith, their prayer requests and praise reports. None of us will know until the fullness of time the full impact God did with this one blog.
As for the topic, we should not judge those who yelled Crucify Him because we have all said that in our hearts at some point in our lives–when we chose to sin, willingly and with full knowledge. In order for our minds to accept sin, we need to get rid of God– want Him to be gone, dead to our minds and hearts. And I believe that is why God allowed that line to be in His Word–not to cast blame at the crowd who were there, but to remind all of us, it was all of us, all of mankind that yelled that, in our sinful state,we all wanted God dead to us. But the story does not end with the death– because no matter how mankind tries to get rid of God– God prevails, and His Love wins, and despite trying to destroy the One we need the Most, God provided the means to reconcile us with Him on Easter morn. PTL. Amen
Praise our heavenly Father!
Thank you David M for acting on the word of the Holy Spirit!
So many of us hear the word, consider it for a few moments (myself included), then go on with our daily work routine… Slowly this daily living blog permeates our lives and it is missed when we allow circumstances to prevent us from reading the daily scripture, blog etc.
On behalf of all of us blog followers, we thank God for hearing our prayers of faith healing… and that you have been completely healed of leukemia…
This is an amazing and effective outreach for Christ Jesus! AMEN!
So true to life, David! Amen!
Yes I agree. Thanks to all involved in this blog. Thank the Lord also for the safe arrival of the twin boys. I see that you are enjoying your motorcycle, David! Thankful (very thankful) for your healing, David. What a testimoney.
Sorry ‘testimony”
Once again, Thank you so much Rev. David. I love your blog, it brings me to my knees in repentance, prayer, thanksgiving and praise.
So excited about beginning the book of James with you tomorrow!
Blessings everyone, stay warm and safe in Him.
~Shantha Rebekah~
So happy you and your family have undertaken such an important journey of spreading God’s word. Know that it has a domino effect.
Even with the horror of Isaiah’s death, his spirit was left intact. Nothing or no one can saw our spirit in half.
We watch Bill O’Reilly often and love all the peope on his host channel.
Blessings to everyone.
Thank you Pastor David for listening to God’s voice in regards to this blog.
Many thanks to your family, and those who assist you in bringing us fresh insight from God’s Word each day.
You are all so faithful!!.
Looking forward to the upcoming messages.
It would be wonderful to see it all in print.
So thankful for the twins, and their save arrival.
Blessings to all.
Dear Rev. David M.
Thank you so much to you and your family for so much dedication in following the direction of The Holy Spirit. I can already picture you with Norma – Jean riding your new motor cycle , Thank you Lord., Thank you Jesus for healing your faithful servant David.
We also are so grateful for the twins Thank you again Lord Jesus.
Have a blessed day everyone .
xxxx Carole.
Thank you David Mainse for your faithfulness to God’s leading!!! We have been blessed!!!!
So glad you obeyed the voice of the Holy Spirit in doing this blog, David and your family. A big Thanks!!! It has broadened my perspective and met my needs in so many ways, increased knowledge and understanding of the Word, devotion to the Lord, prayer, fellowship. Saw you on your big motorcycle and enjoy. Also enjoy your twin grandsons, Ruby. God bless everyone!
The Righteousness of God’s Name
“I was sought by those who did not ask for Me;
I was found by those who did not seek Me.
I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’
To a nation that was not called by My name.”
NKJV Isa 65:1
Our heartfelt thanks to you, David Mainse! This blog has been such a blessing for so many saints because of your faithfulness in serving the Lord! You are such an inspiration! It came at a time when I so desperately needed proper bible instruction and prayer practice in my daily life; and has enriched me beyond what I could ever have imagined! Praise God from whom all blessings flow! God bless you, fine sir!
Wishing all saints a precious day!
Thankyou and welcome back to the world of good health!!!!!i love the bike ,you have encouraged me to continue to live fruitfully in this life and the next!!!!!!!!
Wow ! I never knew what a cruel death came to Isaiah.
Love the pics. Of the Holy Land.
Thanks David for this ministry !!
Ruby…enjoy those babies !
God bless everyone !
Amen and Amen!!
Isaiah 65:24 – one of my most favourite verses which has been proven o’er and o’er!