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<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER">“<b>TWO
ARE BETTER THAN ONE” MINISTRIES</b></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER"><b>Jim
& Marie Watt</b></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER"><b>Tel:
<a href="tel:253-517-9195" target="_blank">253-517-9195</a> - Email:
<a href="mailto:jmbetter@gmail.com" target="_blank">jmbetter@gmail.com</a></b></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER"><b>Web:
<a href="http://www.2rbetter.org/" target="_blank">www.2rbetter.org</a></b></p><p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER">December 12, 2012</p><p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER">
<br></p><p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER">
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</p><p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER"><font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><b>JUL
22 - ISAIAH 56-57 - WHERE GOD DWELLS</b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="LEFT"><font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><b>1.
56:7 (56:1-8, ESV) RULES FOR GOD’S HOUSE - <font size="3">“These
I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of
prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted
on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all
peoples.” </font></b><span style="font-weight:normal">Father, it
is </span><u><span style="font-weight:normal">Your</span></u><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">
Kingdom, and </span></span><u><span style="font-weight:normal">Your</span></u><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">
House! You have the right and authority to do with them and as as </span></span><u><span style="font-weight:normal">You</span></u><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">
please. For </span></span><u><span style="font-weight:normal">Your</span></u><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">
pleasure, we were created! </span></span><b><i><span style="text-decoration:none">Hallowed
be your :name!</span></i></b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="LEFT"><font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><b><i><span style="text-decoration:none">2.
</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="text-decoration:none">56:10
(56:9-12) BLIND WATCHMEN OF GOD’S HOUSE. </span></span><font size="3"><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="text-decoration:none">“His
watchmen are blind; they are all without knowledge; they are all
silent dogs; they cannot bark, dreaming, lying down, loving to
slumber.” </span></span></font></b><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">Father,
it is not right for Your shepherds, Your watchmen, to so abuse Your
sheep. All leaders are but stewards of Your possessions, and their
wisdom is but to be </span></span></span><span style="font-style:normal"><u><span style="font-weight:normal">faithful</span></u></span><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">.
</span></span></span><span style="font-style:normal"><u><span style="font-weight:normal">Faithfulness</span></u></span><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">
becomes Your house, O Jehovah! </span></span></span><b><i><span style="text-decoration:none">You</span></i><i><span style="text-decoration:none">r</span></i><i><span style="text-decoration:none">
:kingdom come!</span></i></b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><b><span style="text-decoration:none">3.
57:1 (57:1-2) PREMATURE GOING TO GOD’S HOUSE. </span><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">“The
righteous man perishes, and no one lays it to heart; devout men are
taken away, while no man understands. For the righteous man is taken
away from calamity.” </span></font></b><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">You
work in mysterious ways, O Jehovah Father, Your wonders to perform!
Your will and ways are higher than the heavens, and You transcend our
thoughts and wisdom in every respect! </span></span><b><i><span style="text-decoration:none">Your
:will be done, As in heaven, so on earth.</span></i></b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><b><span style="text-decoration:none">4.
57:3 (57:3-12) THOSE WITH NO PART IN GOD’S HOUSE. </span><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">“But
you, draw near, sons of the sorceress, offspring of the adulterer and
the loose woman.” </span></font></b><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">Sometimes
Father, the die is cast; sometimes we reach t</span></span><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">he</span></span><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">
point of no return with You. Sometimes we find like Esau, no place of
repentance, for we have sinned away our day of grace! O Father, in
Jesus’ Name, we seek Your face in forgiveness. </span></span><b><i><span style="text-decoration:none">Our
:daily :bread Give us this day.</span></i></b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><b><span style="text-decoration:none">5.
</span><span style="text-decoration:none">57:13b-14 (57:13-14)
TRUST: CONDITION FOR DWELLING IN GOD’S HOUSE. </span><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">“But
he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land and shall inherit my
holy mountain. </span></font><font style="font-size:8pt" size="1"><span style="text-decoration:none">14
</span></font><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">And it
shall be said, ‘Build up, build up, prepare the way, remove every
obstruction from my people’s way.” </span></font></b><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">Father,
like David we would dwell in the house of Jehovah for ever! We would
remove every hindrance, and every stumbling-block from such a favored
position! We know that by so doing, we can be clothed with the full
armor of God! </span></span><b><i><span style="text-decoration:none">And
forgive us our :debts, As we also have forgiven our :debtors.</span></i></b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><b><span style="text-decoration:none">6.
57:15 LOCATION OF GOD’S HOUSE. </span><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">“For
thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity,
whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also
with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit.’” </span></font></b><u><span style="font-weight:normal">Holiness</span></u><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">
become Your Name, O Father, and </span></span><u><span style="font-weight:normal">holiness</span></u><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">
in us Your saints, adorns Your Name. You lead us in the path of
</span></span><u><span style="font-weight:normal">holiness</span></u><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">
for Your Name’s sake. How easy it is for You to deliver us from
the evil one, when we walk the path of </span></span><u><span style="font-weight:normal">humility</span></u><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">!
</span></span><b><i><span style="text-decoration:none">And bring us
not into temptation.</span></i></b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><b><span style="text-decoration:none">7.
57:20-21 (57:16-21) HEALING FOR THOSE OF GOD’S HOUSE. </span><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">“But
the wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot be quiet, and its
waters toss up mire and dirt. </span></font><font style="font-size:8pt" size="1"><span style="text-decoration:none">21
</span></font><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">There
is no peace” says my God, “for the wicked.” </span></font></b><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">You
Father, separate the wheat from the chaff. You will not punish the
righteous with the wicked. Healing in Your house is for the righteous
after a time of chastening, forming and shaping! </span></span><b><i><span style="text-decoration:none">But
deliver us from the evil </span></i><span style="text-decoration:none">one!</span></b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><u><b>NOTE</b></u><span style="text-decoration:none"><b>:
57:16 (57:16-21) MERCY FROM JEHOVAH IN HIS HOUSE. </b></span><b><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">“For
I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; for the
spirit would grow faint before me, and the breath of life that I
made.” </span></font></b><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">Father,
You remember our frame, that we are but dust. You do </span></span><u><span style="font-weight:normal">not</span></u><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">
deal with us according to our iniquities, but according to Your </span></span><u><span style="font-weight:normal">grace</span></u><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">
do You deal with us!</span></span></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><b><span style="text-decoration:none">Our
Psalm for the day: 22:22 (22) </span><span style="text-decoration:none">WHY
HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME? </span><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">“I
will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the
congregation I will praise you.” </span></font></b><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">O
Jesus, we see You in the midst of Your church, praising the Father
through Your many-membered body. We see us </span></span><b><i><span style="text-decoration:none">hallowing
Your Name</span></i></b><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">
Father, through the indwelling inspiration of the Spirit of Christ. </span></span></font></font>
</p>
<h2 class="western" style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
“<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt">If
you wish to know God you must know his word; if you wish to perceive
his power you must see how he works by his word; if you wish to know
his purpose before it is actually brought to pass you can only
discover it by his word!” C.H. Spurgeon</font></font></h2>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt">Subject:
This is beyond all others :The Psalm of the Cross.” It may have
been actually repeated word by word by our Lord when hanging on the
tree; it would be too bold to say that it was so, but even a casual
reader may see that it might have been. It begins with, “My God, my
God, why have You forsake Me?” and ends, according to some, in the
original, with, “It is finished.” For plaintive expressions
uprising from unutterable depths of woe, we may say of this Psalm,
“There is none like it.”</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt">It
is the photograph of our Lord’s saddest hours, the record of his
dying words, the lachrymatory of His last tears, the memorial of His
expiring joys. David and his afflictions may be here in a very
modified sense, but, as the star is concealed by the light of the
sun, he who sees Jesus will probably neither see nor care to see
David. Before us we have a description both of the darkness and
of glory of the cross, the sufferings of Christ and the glory which
shall follow. Oh, for grace to draw near and see this great sight! We
should read reverently, putting off our shoes from our feet, as Moses
did at the burning bush, for if there be holy ground anywhere in
Scripture it is in this Psalm.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt">22:1.
<i><b>My God, my God.</b></i> Let us gaze with holy wonder and mark
the flashes of light amid the awful darkness of that midday-midnight.
First, our Lord’s faith beams forth and deserves our reverent
imitation; He keeps His hold upon His God with both hands and cries
twice, <i><b>My God, my God!</b></i> The spirit of adoption was
strong within the suffering Son of man, and He felt no doubt about
His interest in His God. Oh, that we could imitate this cleaving to
an afflicting God! Nor does the sufferer distrust the power of God to
sustain Him, for the title used - <i><b>El</b></i> - signifies
strength and is the Name of the Mighty God. <i><b>Why have You
forsake Me? </b></i> We must lay the emphasis on every word of this
saddest of all utterances. <i><b>Why? </b></i>What is the great
cause of such a strange fact as for God to leave His own Son at such
a time and in such a plight? There was no cause in Him; why then was
He deserted?</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"> <i><b>Have</b></i>.
It is done, and the Savior is feeling the dread effect as He asks
the question; it is surely true, but how mysterious! It was no
threatening of forsaking which made the great Surety cry aloud. He
endured that forsaking in very deed. <i><b>You. </b></i>I
can understand why traitorous Judas and timid Peter should be gone,
but You, my God, my faithful Friend, how can You leave Me? This is
the worst of all, yes, worse than all put together. Hell itself has
for its fiercest flame the separation of the soul from God.
<i><b>Forsaken</b></i>. If You had chastened I might bear it, for
Your face would shine; but to forsake Me utterly, ah! why is this?
<i><b>Me</b></i>. Your innocent, obedient, suffering Son - why do
You leave Me to perish? A sight of self seen by penitence, and of
Jesus on the cross seen by faith, will best expound this question.
Jesus is forsaken because our sins had separated between us and our
God.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt">22:29.
<i><b>None can keep alive his own soul. </b></i>This is the stern
counterpart of the gospel message of “look and live.” There is no
salvation out of Christ. We must hold life and have life as Christ’s
gift, or we shall die eternally. This is very solid evangelical
doctrine and should be proclaimed in every corner of the earth, that
like a great hammer it may break in pieces all self-confidence.
<b>These “notes” on Psalm 22 are from “The Treasury of David”
by C. H. Spurgeon, abridged by D. O. Fuller)</b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
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