The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; ~ Isaiah 61:1-2

I tell you my brothers and sisters, He is drawing SO close I expect to see Him as well as hear Him any day now…

From this morning’s Chambers read: The people of God in Isaiah’s day had starved their imagination by looking on the face of idols, and Isaiah made them look up at the heavens…Is your imagination looking on the face of an idol? Is the idol yourself? Your work? You’re your conception of what a worker should be? Your experience of salvation and sanctification? Then your imagination of God is starved, and when you are up against difficulties you have no power, you can only endure in darkness. ~ Oswald Chambers, The Starved Imagination

It seems, just as Pastor Dave Bryan pointed out to Scott just this week, that we…especially we men of the church (the people of God), are living an Isaiah déjà vu all over again! “In the West we’ve replaced spiritual reality with rationalism.” ~ Pastor Dave Bryan, Glad Tidings Church, Yuba City, CA  No truer words!

God is so amazing…when we finally look up to behold John Quincy Adams who looked up to behold Isaiah…

(John Quincy Adams) entire career was given to the service of his country, including as a diplomat, secretary of state, U.S. senator, U.S. president, and finally a U.S. congressman. In the latter position, his primary objective was to bring an end to slavery in the United States…For his unwavering opposition to slavery, he became known as “The Hell Hound of Abolition”…Despite these few successes, most of his proposals were voted down by Congress; but across all the years of losses, he remained fervent and steadfast in fighting slavery. Given that he had so few successes—and so much hateful opposition—what caused him to persevere? The answer can be found in his personal philosophy: “Duty is ours; results are God’s.” ~ Founders’ Bible, Liberty To The Captives

WEAPONIZED IMMIGRATION! “It’s a realignment of friendships…you sort out real quickly who’s serious and who’s not. One of the most dangerous people, as we go forward, are the cowardly people who just go along. They’re going to be just as dangerous as any traitor.” ~ Michael Yon https://www.bards.fm/e/ep2240_bardsfm-michael-yon-and-invasion-usa/

So, here in Orange County this week we witnessed the sad and tragic consequence of the epidemic of starved imagination in men. They become “one of the most dangerous people” Michael Yon just described, as homeless U.S. military veterans are thrown out onto the street to make room for child-trafficking gang members in hoodies. “Veterans Displaced”

Looking on the face of idols, we can’t see what comes next…because we’ve become too afraid to look. We can only endure the darkness of blind faith in a God we’ve long since walked away from. Our calcifying cowardice brings a gradual rigor mortis that will cause us to turn up the music to mask the screams of our own children when they eventually come for them…

Not on my watch. Not only has God blessed me with a very well-fed imagination, He also blessed me with the most heavenly angel of all, pictured above, to watch over me. No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD. ~ Isaiah 54:17

Dedicated to Betty Jean Murray