Monday, March 03,
2014, 12:37 a.m. – The song “Songs in
the Night” has been playing in my mind for about an hour now, and I cannot
sleep, so I got back up to hear from the Lord. Speak, Lord, your words to my
heart. I read Isaiah 55 (NIV).
To The Thirsty
“Come,
all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and
you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come,
buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
Those who are thirsty are those who are desiring, craving,
longing, and are hungry or are yearning for something they do not presently
have. To desire something is to want it strongly. To crave something is to feel
a great need or desire for it. [Resource: Encarta]
These are not the casual observers, nor are they the generally
curious, or even the slightly interested. These are those who sense a deep need
for something or someone beyond their natural ability to grasp or perhaps even
to understand. They might not even know what they are hungry for, but they know
something is missing in their lives – something they may not even be able to
explain with words, but something deep down inside feels empty. They have a
God-void in their hearts, whether they realize it or not, and only he can fill
it.
They are invited to come to the waters – to come to
salvation by faith in Jesus Christ alone. There is no exchange of money
involved in receiving these waters, for Jesus Christ already paid the penalty
for our sin when he died on the cross for our sins. There is nothing we can do
to deserve or to earn our salvation. It is a free gift of God’s grace. All we
must do is believe in Jesus’ sacrificial atonement (payment) for our sin, by
God’s grace, through faith – a gift from God - a faith which allows the Spirit
of God to transform our hearts away from the control of sin over our lives, to
a walk of faith – a walk in the Spirit of God – in his righteousness and
holiness within us.
What Doesn’t Satisfy
Why
spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen,
listen to me, and eat what is good,
and you will delight in the richest of
fare.
Give
ear and come to me;
listen, that you may live…
I believe all humans have a built-in need for God. He is our
creator. He is the one who breathed life into us. In Romans 1 it says that all
people know about God, i.e. God has made himself known to us through what he
has created. We can see his divine character and qualities in the sunrise and
the sunset, in the birth of a newborn baby, in laughter, in sorrow, in the
stars in the sky, and in the intricacy of the human body and how it all works,
etc. So, we all have this ingrained knowledge of and need for God, though some
people may suppress it, while others will look other places, and to humans, and
to the gods of this world to fill that void. Yet, only in Christ Jesus can that
need (thirst; hunger; longing) be truly satisfied. All other things and people will
still leave us feeling empty inside, continuing to crave for more, seeking
after what will never satisfy the deep longing of our souls.
I believe this passage applies, though, not only to those
outside of faith in Jesus Christ, but also to those who have come to know
Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives. Sometimes we get lost and we forget
our way, and we begin to turn to other gods of this world and to humans to fill
this hunger and thirst that only God can fill. So, we come up empty every time –
hurting, guilt-ridden, and/or sorrowful over our sins of rebellion against God,
or else we suppress the quiet voice of the Spirit within us and we close our
ears and eyes so we cannot hear and see, and so we can continue down the path
we know is wrong, but for what ultimate end? Oh, why do God’s people persist in
wandering from him and his truth, following after what will never satisfy, only
to come up empty?
Seek the Lord
Seek
the Lord while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
Let
the wicked forsake their ways
and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let
them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
In the previous section of this passage we are counseled to
listen to the Lord’s voice, to eat what is good (him and his salvation), and to
come to (approach; move toward) him, and we will live (spiritually speaking -
given everlasting life). Here we are also called to seek him while he may be
found; to call on him while he is near. Not one of us knows how much time we
have on this earth. We can’t count on tomorrow, for it may never come. So, we
must seek (run after; pursue; follow) God/Jesus while we still have the
opportunity to do so.
We are counseled with urgency to listen to God. To listen
involves much more than just engaging our physical ears to hear what another is
saying. We can hear without really listening, in other words. To truly listen
to someone we must make a conscious effort to hear what the other is saying,
not just in audible words, but also in intent, meaning, and in heart. It means
that we give our full attention to what the other person is saying and then we
take into account what we hear, processing it through our minds and hearts, and
sometimes, as such as is the case here, then to take to heart what is said and
thus to make the necessary changes in thought, heart, attitude and/or behavior
that would demonstrate that we truly did listen (See Jas. 1:22-25).
The necessary changes here are that we stop looking
elsewhere to have our God-need met, that we stop running after other gods, and
that we seek (run after) God with all our hearts in response to his invitation to
his great salvation. It means forsaking our lifestyles of living for self and
sin, being transformed of the Spirit of God in heart and mind, and turning to
the Lord Jesus to have our needs met, instead of seeking after the gods of this
world. All this is the working of the Spirit of God within our hearts as we
cooperate with that work through faith. The Holy Spirit does not possess us and
overtake us so that we become puppets on a string. We must choose to follow God
with our lives, and we must daily yield to and submit to his Lordship over our
lives. Then we will be satisfied with “the richest of fare.”
His Thoughts / Our
Thoughts
“For
my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares
the Lord.
“As
the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
As
the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and
do not return to it
without watering the earth
and
making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and
bread for the eater,
so
is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but
will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent
it.
We are not to rely upon human reasoning and understanding.
We are not to try to do God’s will our way. God doesn’t think like we do. We
are not to try to find our fulfillment and satisfaction in what is sinful or in
what will never satisfy. We are also not to make up our own version of the
gospel, or of Jesus Christ, thinking God is like us, for he is not. He tells us
over and over in scripture that to come to him we must turn from our sins,
forsake our idols, and that we must turn to him, and follow him and his ways
(See Lu. 9:23-25; Eph. 4:17-24; Gal. 2:20; Ro. 6; Tit. 2:11-14; 1 Jn. 1-5).
Again, this turning from sin and turning to follow Christ
and his ways is the working of the Spirit of God within us. This is not based
on human effort to gain salvation, yet we must cooperate with that work through
allowing God to change our hearts and by submitting to the Spirit’s work in
transforming us away from lifestyles of sin to walks of faith in Christ’s righteousness
and holiness. God’s word will be fulfilled, whether we choose to believe it or
not. There is salvation in none other than Jesus Christ. He is the only way to
the Father in heaven. True faith involves submission, surrender, yielding,
repentance and following our Lord in obedience, not in the flesh, but in the
Spirit of God and in his strength within us.
Go in Joy
You
will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the
mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and
all the trees of the field
will clap their hands.
Instead
of the thornbush will grow the juniper,
and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This
will be for the Lord’s renown,
for an everlasting sign,
that will endure forever.”
When we cease looking for love, joy, peace, satisfaction and
fulfillment in the things of this world, and in the people of this world, and
we submit to the Lordship of Christ in our lives, running after him with our
whole hearts, we will know true joy and peace that only God can give, and we
will rejoice in our salvation, because Jesus Christ set us free from slavery to
sin, and he gave us new lives to be lived in his righteousness and holiness
within us. Amen!
Songs in the Night
/ An Original Work / December 18, 2013
“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing
hymns to God,
And the other prisoners were listening to them.” Acts
16:25 NIV ‘84
Lord, I praise You forevermore.
You, my Savior, I now adore.
Hope in heaven awaiting me,
Because You died at Calvary.
I have been forgiven,
And I’m bound for heaven.
Jesus set me free from
All my sin, I say.
I will praise Him always!
Lord, I love You for all You’ve done:
Overcame death, my vict’ry won!
Jesus saved me, and now I’m free!
I rejoice in His love for me.
I will walk in vict’ry!
My sin is but hist’ry!
I am free to please Him
With my life today.
I will love Him always!
Lord, I thank You for giving me
A new life bought at Calvary.
Loving Jesus, I meet with Him.
Tender mercies now flow within.
Lord, I am so thankful;
Through my Lord, I’m able
To sit at His table;
Fellowship with Him.
I will thank Him always!
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