Joy of the Redeemed
The desert and the parched land will be glad;
the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom;
it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the LORD,
the splendor of our God.
Strengthen the feeble hands,
steady the knees that give way;
say to those with fearful hearts,
“Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
he will come to save you.”
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
Then will the lame leap like a deer,
and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
and streams in the desert.
The burning sand will become a pool,
the thirsty ground bubbling springs.
In the haunts where jackals once lay,
grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.
And a highway will be there;
it will be called the Way of Holiness.
The unclean will not journey on it;
it will be for those who walk in that Way;
wicked fools will not go about on it.
No lion will be there,
nor will any ferocious beast get up on it;
they will not be found there.
But only the redeemed will walk there,
and the ransomed of the LORD will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
My Understanding: Our Lord God – Father, Son (Jesus Christ) and Holy Spirit – three distinct persons in one complete being – is a God of love, mercy, forgiveness, kindness, compassion, gentleness and forgiveness, yet he is also a God of justice and righteousness. He is the most loving parent anyone could possibly imagine. He is gracious with us and is long suffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Yet, in his justice, righteousness and great love and compassion, he will allow us to go through times of great suffering in order to purify us and to make us holy, as he is holy. These times of great suffering and persecution will be like the winter of our lives. There will be great sorrow and pain and many will be put to death for their testimony for Jesus Christ.
Yet, the Lord promises us a time when all that will be over, and he will restore his people in his eternal kingdom. Then, it will be like the end of winter and the beginning of spring when the trees blossom and the grass turns green again and everything comes back to life. This is what it will be like when Jesus Christ returns for his bride and we reign with him in his messianic kingdom on the earth. All the pain and suffering that we just went through will be gone. He will wipe the tears from our eyes. Our enemies will be no more. Where there was once sadness, now there will be much rejoicing. And, we will see face to face “the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God.” And, we will be with him forever! Amen!!
Do Not Fear!
Yet, until that time arrives, God is going to permit a time upon the earth where Satan, his false prophet and the beast he created will reign and rule the earth. They will be allowed to conquer the saints physically, to put us in prison, to accuse us falsely of all kinds of evil, to persecute us greatly and to kill us for our faith in Jesus Christ. Yet, we must resist Satan and his lies that will come against us. We must remain true to Jesus Christ and not deny His Name (the name of Jesus Christ). We must be faithful, even to the point of death, and we will receive the crown of life the Lord will reward to those who have longed for his appearing. We are to strengthen our feeble hands and weak knees that give way to fear by trusting in the strength of the Lord Jesus within us and by putting on his full armor he has provided us with which to stand against Satan’s lies and false accusations.
We must say to ourselves as well as to others, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.” He is not promising here that he will save us from death, suffering or persecution, but that he will bring us safely into his eternal kingdom, and he will see us through what we must suffer for the sake of the gospel and the sake of his name while we are still on the earth. I also believe that his judgment on the earth will bring men and women to faith in Jesus Christ and will bring his wandering children back into a right relationship with Jesus Christ. So, in this sense, his judgment will mean our salvation.
Leap Like a Deer!
Through this judgment that God must bring upon the earth, the eyes of the spiritually blind will be open to see and to hear God’s truths revealed. Those who had stopped up their ears from hearing God’s messages, calling them to repentance, will have their ears opened so that they can be receptive to God’s truths. Those who had mute tongues and were fearful to share the Lord Jesus Christ’s gospel message, because they loved their own lives more than they cared about the eternal destiny of the people of this world, will have their tongues loosed and their chains gone, and they will share the Lord Jesus Christ’s gospel message, and they will rejoice that they are counted worthy to suffer disgrace for the sake of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The lame (the crippled) who could not muster up the courage to stand strong in their faith for the Lord Jesus Christ will be healed and will leap like a deer, no longer bound by the chains of sin and fear, but confident and assured in their faith and in their Lord Jesus Christ, their Savior and Lord (master).
Where the people of God had been wandering in the wilderness of their lives due to sin and disobedience, the spiritual waters of life will well up in them and will gush forth. They will be filled with the Holy Spirit of God and they will be his witnesses, even to their deaths. They will no longer wander around without direction and purpose, for they will know their purpose and the urgency for getting out the gospel of Jesus Christ to as many people as possible before Jesus Christ returns and it is too late and he shuts the door to his heaven to all who continued in disbelief and who refused to repent of their sins. The desert of the lives of those who are restored to a right relationship with Jesus Christ will be replaced with a pool and with springs of water (spiritual, life-giving water of the Spirit of God). Where their lives had once given way to the evil one and they had been led astray by his lies and deception, now spiritual life will appear and they will begin to grow in the faith and knowledge of their Lord Jesus Christ.
Those who had once gotten caught in the trap of the evil one and had gone down his path toward destruction will now be on a new path of life. It will be called the Way of Holiness, i.e. it is called the Way of Holiness, for this is speaking about God’s New Covenant relationship with his people through Jesus’ shed blood on the cross for our sins and through his resurrection to life in conquering our sins. Those who have not repented of their sins will not travel this path because they refuse to listen to God’s voice speaking to them and they refuse to obey and to turn from their sins. This highway to heaven will be for those who walk in that Way, i.e. for those who choose to follow God’s commands, to love the Lord their God with all their hearts, minds and strength, and to love their neighbors as themselves. This love, though, is not an emotional love or friendship love or romantic love, but this love is divine love that lays its life down so that others can be saved.
On this highway to heaven and to glory there will be no wicked fools, no spiritually or morally unclean, no Satan, no murderer of men, but only the redeemed of the Lord will walk there, i.e. only those who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb and their garments have been white and spotless through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for our sins. We cannot come to faith in Jesus Christ absent of repentance (turning from our sin) and absent of obedience to Christ and to his commands for our lives. This is not speaking about living in absolute perfection, for, although we are being made perfect, we are not yet perfect and will not be until Jesus Christ returns and takes us to be with him, and our salvation is made complete. But, what this is talking about is a choice to follow Jesus Christ in turning from sin and in obeying what he teaches us on a day-to-day basis. It does not mean we will not fall, but that when we do we come to him in contrite heart, we repent of our sins, and we continue on in our faith and obedience. For those who think they can pray a prayer at an altar and have their ticket into heaven without turning from sin and without a choice of the will to obey Christ in all things, they are believing in a lie and a false hope.
The Redeemed and the Ransomed of the Lord will enter Zion (God’s heavenly kingdom) with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. Oh, how wonderful that will be when our Jesus we will see face to face in glory!
Your Grace Divine / An Original Work / November 6, 2011
All I have is Yours, Lord.
You gave all to me,
When You died at Calv’ry
On that cruel tree.
Crucified for my sins;
You paid what I owe,
So I’d be forgiven;
My God come to know.
All I have is Yours, Lord.
You gave all to me,
When You died at Calv’ry
On that cruel tree.
Lord, I am so thankful
For Your grace divine.
I invited You, Lord,
In this heart of mine.
I have been forgiven
For all of my sins,
So I’d live with Jesus;
His grace flow within.
Lord, I am so thankful
For Your grace divine.
I invited You, Lord,
In this heart of mine.
Growing in Your grace, Lord;
Live for You each day;
How I love to worship
You throughout my day.
Sitting at Your feet, Lord,
List’ning to You speak,
Leads me to love You, Lord,
More throughout the week.
Growing in Your grace, Lord;
Live for You each day;
How I love to worship
You throughout my day.
http://youtu.be/JmJkwp-jhz4
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