Category Archives: Scripture Ponderings

Isaiah 53


Posted by Elizabeth Ivory

As you celebrate Christmas this year, please remember Jesus whose birth we are celebrating.
Merry Christmas, Everyone!

“Who has believed our report? And to whom is the arm of Jehovah revealed? For He comes up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground; He has no form nor majesty that we should see Him, nor an appearance that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected of men; a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as it were a hiding of faces from Him, He being despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was on Him; and with His stripes we ourselves are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, each one to his own way; and Jehovah has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.  He was oppressed, and He was afflicted; yet He opened not His mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before its shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment; and who shall declare His generation? For He was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgression of My people He was stricken. And He put His grave with the wicked, and with a rich one in His death; although He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased Jehovah to crush Him; to grieve Him; that He should put forth His soul as a guilt-offering. He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the will of Jehovah shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the fruit of the travail of His soul. He shall be fully satisfied. By His knowledge shall My righteous Servant justify for many; and He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide to Him with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong; because He has poured out His soul to death; and He was counted among the transgressors; and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for transgressors.”  

 


The Name


Posted by Elizabeth Ivory

What power is in a name!
It is more than a sound
More than a mental image of the one to whom it belongs
More than the meaning passed down from our ancestors
It is a story
The embodiment of the whole person, who they are
Who they will be
Their destiny.
When you speak a person’s name, you are speaking things you have no ken of.

When you speak the Name of Jesus…
There is more power in that Name than any other, ever.
In His Name is salvation
Healing
Restoration…
The beginning and end of time
Our very breath.
Remember that when you say, “Jesus” next time, you are speaking more
Than the name of a carpenter from Nazareth
You are speaking God’s Name.
Do not use Jesus’ name lightly.

“Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets.  And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe.  The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. This shows that the Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave him is greater than their names.” Hebrews 1:1-4 NLT


Song of Solomon 2


Posted by Elizabeth Ivory

I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.
Like a lily among thorns is my darling among the maidens.
Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my lover among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
He has taken me to the banquet hall, and his banner over me is love.
Strengthen me with raisins, refresh me with apples, for I am faint with love.
His left arm is under my head, and his right arm embraces me.
Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.
Listen! My lover! Look! Here he comes, leaping across the mountains, bounding over the hills.
My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look! There he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice.
My lover spoke and said to me, “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me.
See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone.
Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land. The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me.”
My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places on the mountainside, show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.
Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.
My lover is mine and I am his; he browses among the lilies.
Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, turn, my lover, and be like a gazelle or like a young stag on the rugged hills.

I could drink in the Song of Solomon all day and re-read it again.
It depicts such love between husband and wife…and also between God and mankind.
Soothes my soul.  Comforts my heart with love.
Makes my inner romantic skip on the Mountains of Bether…


Hebrews 1


Posted by Elizabeth Ivory

In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.
For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father ” ? Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son”?
And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”
 In speaking of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, his servants flames of fire.”
But about the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.”
He also says, “In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.
They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment.
You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.”
 To which of the angels did God ever say, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?
Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?
Hebrews 1 NIV


The Heavens


Posted by Elizabeth Ivory
Nearest star to Earth

Image credit and copyright: David Malin, UK Schmidt Telescope, DSS, AAO

“The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
The skies display his craftsmanship.
Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make Him known.
They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard.
Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world.
God has made a home in the heavens for the sun.
It bursts forth like a radiant bridegroom after his wedding.
It rejoices like a great athlete eager to run the race.
The sun rises at one end of the heavens and follows its course to the other end.
Nothing can hide from its heat.”
Psalm 19:1-6 NLT

Have you ever wondered at the night sky?
Or marveled at the beauty of the sun at dawn?
For me, when these moments come I feel so small…
It seems so unreal sometimes to look up at the moon, and realize that it is a rock, 3D…miles and miles…and miles away. My mind sometimes rebels.
Light travels at 299,792,458 metres per second (186,000 miles per second).
Ponder a moment.
The nearest star to our sun, Proxima Centauri, is 4.24 light years away or 270,000 times removed from us than our sun! Light from the star that Proxima orbits, Alpha Centauri, takes 4.4 years to reach Earth.
Those are just the neighbors.
And everyone seems to think that God is so small…
God made everything around us to show who He is. His name is written on every star and grain of sand. Observe the world around yourself and ask, “Is the impossible truly possible with Him? Have I made God too small in my mind? Or is He really the Great I AM that He says He is?”

“You are beautiful beyond description, too marvelous for words.
Too wonderful for comprehension, like nothing ever seen or heard.
Who can grasp Your infinite wisdom?
Who can fathom the depths of Your love?
You are beautiful beyond description,
Majesty, enthroned above.
And I stand, I stand in awe of You.
I stand, I stand in awe of You.
Holy God, to whom all praise is due,
I stand in awe of You.” –I Stand In Awe of You ©Hillsong United

Image of Proxima Centauri is from http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020715.html