Isaiah – week 2 and 3

Captain’s Log, Supplemental

Blog book giveaway:
To enter, go to the blog links below and post a comment there.
My Thursday book giveaway is The Cubicle Next Door by Siri Mitchell.
My Monday book giveaway is Calm, Cool and Adjusted by Kristin Billerbeck
You can still enter both giveaways. On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for the The Cubicle Next Door and post the title for another book I'm giving away.

Win an iPod Nano! Exclusively for my newsletter YahooGroup subscribers, I have a huge contest running until January 31st! Get more info on my contest page!

My Blog Bible Study in Isaiah:

Zion will be restored by justice;
Those who repent will be revived by righteousness.
Isaiah 1:27

I thought this was the theme of chapter one in Isaiah. God wants his people to repent but he also promises judgment.

This spoke to me about his character—He is active. He will move and he has moved.

I can’t take lightly the Word of the Lord, what he’s promised to do, the actions he says he’ll take. It expands my view of him, gives him a more terrible and wonderful cast.

Chapters 2 and 3 can be summed up in this verse:

Human pride will be brought down,
And human arrogance will be humbled.
Only the Lord will be exalted
On that day of judgment.
Isaiah 2:11

(It must be important, it’s repeated in verse 17.) It’s another promise of God’s actions against his disobedient people, and more importantly—why.

I think I don’t remember God’s power and holiness as much as I should. He promises to destroy Jerusalem and Judah in order to purify it (4:4). That’s pretty extreme. God is pretty extreme. That’s why he’s God.

Where is my heart? I think about God as my father and my friend, but I don’t think about him as holy and powerful, and that’s also part of his character. I can’t ignore some aspects of him just because they’re unpleasant in my little world.

Will I be among the holy remnant, purified?

Tell the godly that all will be well for them.
They will enjoy the rich reward they have earned!
But the wicked are doomed,
For they will get exactly what they deserve.
Isaiah 3:10-11

TMI:

Writing: I posted another article on developing your writer’s voice at my Story Sensei blog.

Comments

Mark Goodyear said…

Camy, I'm right there with you on this: "I think about God as my father and my friend, but I don’t think about him as holy and powerful."

And yet in my heart I know this is the great lie that I have to unlearn.

God is not my buddy. He's the Creator of the universe. Moses learned the truth: To look on him is to die. Jesus was the truth: to live like him is to take up a cross.

But somehow I still tend to think of church as this place of group therapy where God helps me negotiate a more comfortable life and better mental health.

I'm not saying God is sadistic. His desires for us are good. But I wonder if my view of him--and goodness in general--isn't horribly skewed. Thank God for the gift of his spirit. Thank God for the example of Jesus.

Boy, am I preaching here or what?

Happy Thanksgiving, friend!

Wed Nov 22, 07:49:00 AM 2006

Unknown said…

I've been clinging to some of the promises in Isaiah for the past several months. I, too, sometimes forget the powerfulness and holiness. Thanks for the reminder.

Wed Nov 22, 08:03:00 AM 2006

Kelly said…

Wow, just last week I was studying a message on the fear of the Lord and came to the same conclusion that we forget what a great God we serve. This is the same God that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of their sin. It was a good reminder for me. Thanks for the confirmation.

Wed Nov 22, 09:09:00 AM 2006

PatriciaW said…

Father, friend, even powerful. I think I fall short on the holiness of God. A God to be worship, revered, held in awe and amazement. Can we be too comfortable with God?

Wed Nov 22, 09:29:00 AM 2006

Anonymous said…

There are some great questions raised here in your comments..."Can we be too comfortable with God?"
Can God be your buddy, and holy and powerful creator of the universe? I mean, we don't stop being friends with someone just because they have this fantastic intangible part to them...
There has to be some balance to this...I'm sure. Maybe that will come next?

Mon Nov 27, 03:15:00 PM 2006

Grace Livingston Hill romances free to read online

I wanted to update my old post on Grace Livingston Hill romances because now there are tons more options for you to be able to read her books for free online! I’m a huge Grace Livingston Hill fan. Granted, not all her books resonate with me, but there are a few that I absolutely love, like The Enchanted Barn and Crimson Roses . And the best part is that she wrote over 100 books and I haven’t yet read them all! When I have time, I like to dive into a new GLH novel. I like the fact that most of them are romances, and I especially appreciate that they all have strong Christian themes. Occasionally the Christian content is a little heavy-handed for my taste, but it’s so interesting to see what the Christian faith was like in the early part of the 20th century. These books are often Cinderella-type stories or A Little Princess (Frances Hodgson Burnett) type stories, which I love. And the best part is that they’re all set in the early 1900s, so the time period is absolutely fasci

Camy's Big News about a new (old) series!

I joined two Christian suspense multi-author anthologies that will release next year in May and October! The May anthology is Danger in the Shadows , and the October anthology is Don’t Blink . I have taken down Year of the Dog from my blog and will instead finish editing/rewriting it for the May anthology, Danger in the Shadows . I decided to do this because I was only working on Year of the Dog sporadically, and I wanted to set a deadline for myself to finish it sooner. To complicate matters, I’ve been unhappy with my decision to leave Sushi and Suspicions as a stand-alone rather than putting it in a series. And I’ve also been unhappy with putting The Lone Rice Ball as a 5th book in the Sushi series when it’s more romantic suspense than the other books in the series. Now that I’ll be writing Year of the Dog for the anthology, and because I haven’t yet released Sushi and Suspicions and The Lone Rice Ball as individual ebooks, I decided to switch things around. I’m rem

Tabi socks, part deux

Captain's Log, Stardate 07.25.2008 (If you're on Ravelry, friend me! I'm camytang.) I made tabi socks again! (At the bottom of the pattern is the calculation for the toe split if you're not using the same weight yarn that I did for this pattern (fingering). I also give an example from when I used worsted weight yarn with this pattern.) I used Opal yarn, Petticoat colorway. It’s a finer yarn than my last pair of tabi socks, so I altered the pattern a bit. Okay, so here’s my first foray into giving a knitting pattern. Camy’s top-down Tabi Socks I’m assuming you already know the basics of knitting socks. If you’re a beginner, here are some great tutorials: Socks 101 How to Knit Socks The Sock Knitter’s Companion A video of turning the heel Sock Knitting Tips Yarn: I have used both fingering weight and worsted weight yarn with this pattern. You just change the number of cast on stitches according to your gauge and the circumference of your ankle. Th

Toilet seat cover

Captain’s Log, Supplemental Update August 2008: I wrote up the pattern for this with "improvements"! Here's the link to my No Cold Bums toilet seat cover ! Okay, remember a few days ago I was complaining about the cold toilet seat in my bathroom? Well, I decided to knit a seat cover. Not a lid cover, but a seat cover. I went online and couldn’t find anything for the seat, just one pattern for the lid by Feminitz.com . However, I took her pattern for the inside edge of the lid cover and modified it to make a seat cover. Here it is! It’s really ugly stitch-wise because originally I made it too small and had to extend it a couple inches on each side. I figured I’d be the one staring at it, so who cared if the extension wasn’t perfectly invisible? I used acrylic yarn since, well, that’s what I had, and also because it’s easy to wash. I’ll probably have to wash this cover every week or so, but it’s easy to take off—I made ties which you can see near the back of the seat. And

One-Skein Pyrenees Scarf knitting pattern

I got into using antique patterns when I was making the scarf my hero wears in my Regency romance, The Spinster’s Christmas . I wanted to do another pattern which I think was in use in the Regency period, the Pyrenees Knit Scarf on pages 36-38 of The Lady's Assistant for Executing Useful and Fancy Designs in Knitting, Netting, and Crochet Work, volume 1, by Jane Gaugain, published in 1840. She is thought to be the first person to use knitting abbreviations, at least in a published book, although they are not the same abbreviations used today (our modern abbreviations were standardized by Weldon’s Practical Needlework in 1906). Since the book is out of copyright, you can download a free PDF copy of the book at Archive.org. I found this to be a fascinating look at knitting around the time of Jane Austen’s later years. Although the book was published in 1840, many of the patterns were in use and passed down by word of mouth many years before that, so it’s possible these are

Release day! Christian Historical Romance Anthology!

Today is release day for my Christian Historical Romance anthology, Once Upon a Courtship ! Get it today for only 99 cents! Price goes up next week! https://bit.ly/lissa-spy

No Cold Bums toilet seat cover

Captain's Log, Stardate 08.22.2008 I actually wrote out my pattern! I was getting a lot of hits on my infamous toilet seat cover , and I wanted to make a new one with “improvements,” so I paid attention and wrote things down as I made the new one. This was originally based off the Potty Mouth toilet cover , but I altered it to fit over the seat instead of the lid. Yarn: any worsted weight yarn, about 120 yards (this is a really tight number, I used exactly 118 yards. My suggestion is to make sure you have about 130 yards.) I suggest using acrylic yarn because you’re going to be washing this often. Needle: I used US 8, but you can use whatever needle size is recommended by the yarn you’re using. Gauge: Not that important. Mine was 4 sts/1 inch in garter stitch. 6 buttons (I used some leftover shell buttons I had in my stash) tapestry needle Crochet hook (optional) Cover: Using a provisional cast on, cast on 12 stitches. Work in garter st until liner measures

French trellis scarf

Captain's Log, Stardate 12.19.2008 Just to warn you, I might have several knitting blog posts this month since I’m finishing gifts. I just completed a beautiful scarf from Victorian Lace Today in a taupe heather color wool laceweight yarn. I’m very proud of this scarf because it’s the first time I knitted with beads. I used these “crystal honey” color beads that I added to the florettes on the two end borders and in lines along the sides of the scarf. (If you’re on Ravelry, more info on the yarn, needles, etc. is here .) This is what it looked like while I was still knitting it. And this is the finished product. These are low resolution pictures. If you want to see higher resolution pics, you can visit this album in my Photobucket.com account .

The Constant Gardener

Captain's Log, Stardate 06.09.2006 Blog book giveaway: My Monday book giveaway is THE SECRET LIFE OF BECKY MILLER by Sharon Hinck . My Thursday book giveaway is A STITCH IN TIME by Allison Bottke . You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for THE SECRET LIFE OF BECKY MILLER and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Stay tuned. Gorgeous Ralph Fiennes: Just saw the movie The Constant Gardener via Netflix (looooooove Netflix!). First off, I totally didn’t get the title. So he’s a gardener. What did that have to do with the storyline? Probably some esoteric, philosophical metaphor that flew right over my head. Second, I got a bad case of motion sickness while watching this movie. Did they really need all that live motion camera action? I missed the last quarter of the movie because I kept my eyes closed. It wasn't even very much action at all. It was more of an artsy directorial choice

Blogging with beauty when you're loud and tactless

Captain’s Log, Stardate 07.25.2006 I'm gone to RWA National conference : This might be my last post for the rest of the week, depending on if I can get internet access at my hotel. Blog book giveaway: My Thursday book giveaway is WEB OF LIES by Brandilyn Collins . My Monday book giveaway is BE MY NEAT-HEART by Judy Baer . You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. I won’t be drawing a winner this Thursday, but on Monday, July 31st, I'll draw the winner for BE MY NEAT-HEART and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Blame Mary: My beautiful friend Mary DeMuth is hosting a “Carnival of Beauty” on Wednesday. I’m not really sure what that means, but she asked me to join so I said “Cool!” The theme is “The Beauty of Blogging.” Now blogging I could talk about all day! Blogging is beautiful for people like me who can’t shut up. Maybe it’s ego-centric. I mean, blogging is uncensored, unedited writing/ranting/complaining/crowin

Search This Blog

Lady Wynwood #7 early release Kickstarter