So to continue my thoughts from this morning. Reading about John the Baptist this morning led me to look at Isaiah 53. John was despised for his bold speaking against sin. So much so that he was put in prison and lost his head. So I wanted to look up the prophecy of Christ being despised. I never cease to be amazed how passages of scripture that I have read time and again, come to LIFE and speak to me loud and fresh. That was how it was with Isaiah 53 today.

"Who has believed our report?" Who will believe when God sends a message against sin? If I don't want the light of God shining on me I can turn away and choose to stay in darkness. Verse 3,"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:....he was despised and we didn't esteem (recognize or respect) Him. Verse 4, "He has carried our griefs, sorrows. Yet we claimed He was stricken, smitten and afflicted by God".

Verse 5 "But he was wounded for OUR (say it with the emphasis on our) transgressions" It makes me feel like saying, "You think He was punished and afflicted by God? Wake up, it was our sins that put Him there." He was bruised for our sins, he was chastised so we could have peace. He took stripes on His back so we could get our broken, sinful heart healed.

So looking at John the Baptist and then at Jesus, the Christian life is certainly not for the weak. It takes some backbone. And Jesus said we must take up our cross or we are not worthy to follow him.

Many professing Christians want to cover their wishy washiness with a blanket of "Jesus just loves, loves, loves and that's what I'm going to do". That way they can change their stands depending on who they're with. If we rightly divide the Word, all of it and not just pull out our favorite scripture out of context, we will see that love tells the truth. In Ezekiel 3:18 it puts forth that if we refuse to express some warnings to someone about their sin, that person may die in his sin, but his blood will be on our hands.

An old hymn came to me this morning as I was studying this: DO YOU LOVE THE WORLD? The first verse is:

Do you love the world, in its pomp and show?
In its course of sin will you onward go?
Is the pride of life more that heaven above?
Will you lose your soul for the sins you love?