Suffering and Glory of the Servant

Good Stuff: Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12 and more below---

The Suffering and Glory of the Servant

13 See, my servant will act wisely [a] ; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
14 Just as there were many who were appalled at him [b]— his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness—
15 so will he sprinkle many nations, [c] and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand.
Isaiah 53
1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression [d] and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. [e]
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes [f] his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life [g] and be satisfied [h] ; by his knowledge [i] my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, [j] and he will divide the spoils with the strong, [k] because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.




You know who that is talking about right?


What if what we really needed was not known by us? If there is a God, and I believe there is, would he not want what is best for us? If he knew everything would that not be true? If he created us and everything around us - the air we breath, the sun and its light, what makes us smile, outter space, spiders, notes that can form a melody, the laws of science we enjoy to discover, time, and well everything else we know of and are yet to learn about - if he created it all then would he not know what is best for it? Does Bill Gates and his dream team of computronic engineers not know the minutest details of thier creations and how they are best utulized? How much more does the One who created the ablity to create know about what he has made? Sometimes he uses that which he creates for purposes other than what we might think would be our best use for that creation. What is he doing with you? For example - see the above section of verse from the book of Isaiah from the Bible. His son suffered unto death so that we might have our transgressions blotted from record so that we would accomplish his perfect will - to bring us to him. <-- More details upon request In the last 2 days I read of a similar topic in 2 different books. What I believe the theme of what I read was is that many times we have to wait or give up something we think we want to receive something better at a later time. This topic was touched on in Dave Ramsey's "The Total Money Makeover" where it states that, "an immature person is someone who cannot wait". Of course he was referring to the use of credit to buy things we don't need so we can impress people we don't like... but as you can see the satement, which is biblical, as he states in his book, has an overreaching message to other life situations as well. Think about that quote... ... ... I think it makes sense. The other book that I just finished yesterday - C.S. Lewis' "The Magician's Nephew" was an easy read and an excellent story as well. I don't want to ruin it but the same principal of waiting for your reward rather than consuming the present 'temptation' is paralleled here as well. I would recommend both of these books. Thought out from left field - just remembered a guy I met this morning and a networking breakfast. We spoke just briefly, but I do remember the last thing he said in his 10 second commercial, "I sell custom made suits for $280" That is a steal of a deal... so maybe you wanna check him out. http://www.d.jones.com/ Read about how he started doing what he is doing. Likely he won't remember me, but if you buy a suit from him tell him you know me... Ryan, the fellow Aggie sitting at the breakfast table at the BNI breakfast at Prestonwood Country Club... :)

And boomerang back to the conversation before the random recollection of this morning. It is some what on the same subject. But how is Christianity different than any other "religion" out there. All others are based upon what you can do to get to God, but Christianity is based upon what you could not do and God did through his son, the Jesus, aka, Jesus Christ (not used as a cuss word in this case), aka the Messiah (the chosen One; Hebrew). Give it a bit of thought. In all other religous views of the world there is a path to God or certain set of acts one must abide by to be good enough to be accepted by God. Christianity tells you that you are not good enough for God (because He, being perfect does not tolerate any act of imperfection (sin); we all act imperfectly at times), but he accepts you as perfect because his son's blood paid the price for your sins. No greater love is there than this, that a man would give his life for another.

Some and many of you may already know the above but assumption on my part may not bide well for those I attribute already knowing this who may not. Any questions welcome - I don't have all or many of the answers, but I do enjoy discussion on the topic.


I hope your life is good today

What's been going on

Whats been going on lately?

On Tuesday mornings I am beginning to meet with a group of guys to go over life with; been playing golf; took the GRE this morning; pulled up plants from the flower bed and planted new plants (two rose bushes and two hibiscus plants); went on a walk around the neighborhood today and found out we have a fit walking trail - one of those walking trails with the workout stations every hundred yards or so; got the car inspected and washed; hung out with the sis and her man all day Sunday - lots of fun; read "The Magician's Nephew", book 6 of the Chronicles of Narnia.

...

Centenarian

This guy lived to be 103. He was my great grandfather, Parker Ray. He hailed from Jacksonville, TX. He was my mom's mom's dad.

I don't know the exact date he passed but it was some time in 2007.

One time my dad was with him and Grandpa Ray said to him, "I don't know whats wrong with me". My dad asked him what he meant and he told dad, "I should be dead by now." He wasn't in bad health or anything like that. He just thought that he should be dead by that age. It was a bit after his 100th birthday that he said that.

For me to live to be 100 I would have to live another 71 years. That seems like forever.

One better than a Birdie

As the SMFL season has come to a close I have been playing more golf. What a fun game. I am not that good at it but I like playing. I am so not good at it you might not use the term good at all to describe my play. I try to play below 100. I continue to practice and enjoy getting on the course as often as possible.
I am sure most of you have heard the phrase: "even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes". The premise to this quote sermises that anybody can get lucky at sometime in their lives. That is just what happend to me this last Tuesday. From 95 yards out on my second shot on a par 4 I chose my sand wedge to send the ball to it's destination. After landing it just short and right of the pin the ball bounced once, rolled, and cozied itself in a small hole in the ground where said pin was placed. Eagle. And hence the above phrase. I was shocked. And that is why we play; not to get eagles, but because golf is a game at which anyone can get better. We play for the challenge of bettering ourselves; not only at the game but also with our character. I can tell you that I rarely swear any more out on the golf course. Now that is character building. Concentration, Patience, and learning to look to the next shot are just a few life lessons taught by this game.

May 2nd, 2008 A.D.

Being the second of the month, I read Proverbs 2. It is funny how some of this stuff just comes along at just at the right time. Or maybe God aligns my trials and tribulations with what I will be reading the next day. I am unsure just yet... hmmm?

Proverbs 2 is good stuff -

Proverbs 2
1 My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you,
2 turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding,
3 and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7 He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
8 for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.
9 Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
11 Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.
12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse,
13 who leave the straight paths to walk in dark ways,
14 who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,
15 whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways.

Isaiah 8:11-14
Do not think like everyone else. Do not be afraid that plans made behind closed doors will be the end of you. Do not fear any thing but the LORD Almighty. He alone is the Holy One. He will keep you safe.

That wisdom stuff talked about in Proverbs 2 seems like something that I need. Even if I don't need it, I sure do want some of it. Both of these passages are good for me. They speak to situations I experience and that happen to all of us. The message is "Do not fear the world or what people can do, but wisely do what you are supposed to and fear God". The law of wisdom that God has put in place for us is a great way to avoid opening ourselves up to many of the traps of the world.

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A complete change of subject -
I saw Expelled, the documentary by Ben Stein. It was great. Entertaining and well done. I recommend that you take 90 minutes out of your life to go see it. This documentary entertains the idea of stepping out of the box of accepting everything that the mainstream says - just because the mainstream says it. History tells us most of the time the masses are wrong. As you know, the geniuses are the outliers - they are not included in the masses; they are not like everyone else, the masses are average when looking at a bell curve. Who wants to be average? Think on your own. Ask questions; go get answers; when you are dealing with unsettled questions - don't settle with the answer the idiot next to you is satisfied with.
Go see it and let me know what your thoughts~~~~~~~~

rr