No Peace for the Wicked

Stonehenge photo by Wallyg on Flickr.

By Lisa Nordell-Detres

“There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.” (Isaiah 48:22 NKJV)

In case you are thinking about all the godless people in this world who run around proclaiming “peace” every chance they get, this verse was not referring to them. Taken in context with the book of Isaiah and the rest of chapter 48, God was talking to His own people, Israel, who had chosen to worship their neighbors’ gods of wood, stone and metal. God sent numerous prophets over the years to warn them about the consequences of their apostasy, but for the most part, the warnings fell on deaf ears.

Listen to the agony of Father God whose desire was for His children just to obey:

“Oh, that you had heeded My commandments!
Then your peace would have been like a river,
And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
Your descendants would have been like the sand,
And your offspring of your body like grains of sand;
His name would not have been cut off
Nor destroyed from before Me.” (Is 48:18-19, NKJV)

Is there peace like a river in your life? Are you at rest in your Savior or is everyday life a struggle for you? Read Isaiah 48 and then take some time away from the fray for an internal spiritual assessment. Are you really living in obedience to God? Who is truly number one in your life? Do you seek His will on a daily basis; do you spend time in His Word so you know what it is you are supposed to obey? Or do you merely pay God lip service occasionally on Sundays? The behaviors of the people of Israel that God referred to as “wicked” lived this kind of life:

“Who swear by the name of the LORD and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth or in righteousness…” (v. 1).

True peace comes from living within God’s will and knowing that He is in control regardless of what is going on around us. If the prophet Isaiah’s definition of “wicked” just included you, it is not too late to seek God’s forgiveness and His peace in your life. We all need more peace of mind these days and God is the only One who can give it to us. Just like ancient Israel, the day will come when God will put an end to this world as we know it, but that day will be too late for repentance. Seek Him today while He can still be found!

Lisa Nordell-Detres is a mother of four, grandma to two boys with a third on the way (!), a pastor’s wife and has worked in the garment and customer service industries in southern California. Besides writing, Lisa enjoys cooking, sewing, organic gardening, hiking, skiing and doing most anything outside.

Lisa was born and raised in Denver, Colorado, studied Christian Apologetics at Simon Greenleaf University, holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Fashion Design from Woodbury University and an MBA from California State University at Northridge. Lisa, her husband and their youngest child now live in central Oregon.

Name(required)

Email(required)

Website

Comment(required)

Submit

Δ

Be Still and Know that I Am God

Sennacherib & Cheops Ltd. photo by Kevan Davis on Flickr.

By Lisa Nordell-Detres

What is your favorite Psalm? I have several, but Psalm 46 has to be at the top of my list. I must admit that I was a little sad when I realized that this Psalm was not written by King David, but what I did learn from my chronological Bible reading schedule this time around is that this Psalm was written during King Hezekiah’s reign.  Sennacherib king of Assyria sent messengers to Jerusalem to announce that the city would be taken by the Assyrian army and to give up without a fight. Hezekiah was a man of prayer, so he took this threat straight to the throne of God, who answered the king through the prophet Isaiah. God assured Hezekiah that the Assyrian king would not set foot in Jerusalem, nor shoot an arrow there, but rather would return the way he came.

2 Kings 19:35 records that in one night the angel of the LORD killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers, thus ending the terror that Sennacherib brought to Judah. Knowing the background of Psalm 46 makes me appreciate it even more!

God is our refuge and strength,
    an ever-present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
    and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
³ though its waters roar and foam
    and the mountains quake with their surging.

⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy place where the Most High dwells.
⁵ God is within her, she will not fall;
    God will help her at break of day.
⁶ Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
    he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

⁷ The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

⁸ Come and see what the Lord has done,
    the desolations he has brought on the earth.
⁹ He makes wars cease
    to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
    he burns the shields with fire.
¹⁰ He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.”

¹¹ The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress. (Psalm 46, NIV)

If you find yourself feeling fearful about the current events on any given day, Psalm 46 is the place to go. It would be very difficult to read this chapter without feeling the peaceful relief that comes from being under the protection of God Almighty!

Lisa Nordell-Detres is a mother of four, grandma to two boys with a third on the way (!), a pastor’s wife and has worked in the garment and customer service industries in southern California. Besides writing, Lisa enjoys cooking, sewing, organic gardening, hiking, skiing and doing most anything outside.

Lisa was born and raised in Denver, Colorado, studied Christian Apologetics at Simon Greenleaf University, holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Fashion Design from Woodbury University and an MBA from California State University at Northridge. Lisa, her husband and their youngest child now live in central Oregon.

Name(required)

Email(required)

Website

Comment(required)

Submit

Δ

Isaiah 40

Photo by Carl Chapman on Flickr.

By Lisa Nordell-Detres

“Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God.” (Isaiah 40:1, KJV)

As soon as I read this line, the song from Handel’s Messiah started playing in my head and continued as I read through the chapter. What a beautiful song of hope for the future written by the prophet Isaiah during a time of moral decay in the nation of Israel. The chapter starts out with Messianic prophecies, then turns to expound on the greatness of God:

“Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
or weighed the mountains on the scales
and the hills in a balance?” (Is. 40:12, NIV)

For those of you who may think the earth is flat, the prophet clarified this in verse 22, some 800 years before Christ:

“He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth…”

The chapter ends with a promise and encouragement for the faithful:

“Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:28-31, NIV)

I encourage you today to play your Christmas CD with Handel’s Messiah or find it online (here’s a You Tube link), pull out your Bible and take the next half hour to refresh yourself in the majesty of Isaiah 40!

Lisa Nordell-Detres is a mother of four, grandma to two boys with a third on the way (!), a pastor’s wife and has worked in the garment and customer service industries in southern California. Besides writing, Lisa enjoys cooking, sewing, organic gardening, hiking, skiing and doing most anything outside.

Lisa was born and raised in Denver, Colorado, studied Christian Apologetics at Simon Greenleaf University, holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Fashion Design from Woodbury University and an MBA from California State University at Northridge. Lisa, her husband and their youngest child now live in central Oregon.

Name(required)

Email(required)

Website

Comment(required)

Submit

Δ