Thursday, October 5, 2017, 6:00 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Our God.” Speak, Lord, your words to my
heart. I read Isaiah 55 (Select vv.
ESV).
Listen Diligently (vv. 1-3a)
“Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the
waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy
and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without
money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not
bread,
and your
labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight
yourselves in rich food.
Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that
your soul may live.
I use to eat just about
anything. I have never been a big eater, though, at least not by American
standards. But, I ate burgers, fries, chocolate candy, and cookies, and I drank
sodas, milk shakes and sweet tea, etc. Unless something made me sick, or unless
I just didn’t care for the taste of it, I was ok with eating it. Yet, I did eat
vegetables, and I ate fruit occasionally, and I mostly avoided fried foods and
preferred grilled, but I was not a gung-ho health conscience person. It wasn’t
the way I was raised. I ate food in moderation, and I did try somewhat to eat
healthy, but I ate a lot of stuff that was bad for me, too, but I just didn’t
realize how bad it was for me.
Occasionally I would have a
problem with acid reflux, and then I would change my eating habits for a while,
until I got better, and then I would go back to eating normally, well normal
for me, that is. And, then one day I finally came to the realization that I had
to drastically change my physical health lifestyle and my eating habits. I
believe the Lord brought me to that realization through pain. Pain is a great
motivator. It gets us to do things we probably would not do otherwise, like
exercise as much as we should. So, now I eat mostly fruits and vegetables, some
meat, fish, bread, and cereal. But, I don’t count every calorie, and I don’t
read every label, yet I am eating what I know is good for me, and I am mostly
avoiding what is bad for me. And, I am getting in lots of exercise, too. And,
overall I feel much healthier.
Well, this passage of scripture
is not talking about physical thirst and hunger, but it is talking about
spiritual thirst and hunger, but there are many parallels between the two,
which is why I just shared what I did. We are born into this world with sin
natures, with an insatiable hunger for what can never satisfy the deep longings
of our souls, and so we try to fill that hunger with all kinds of stuff from
this world, thinking if we just have this or that, that we will be happier, or
if we can just accomplish this or that, that we will be fulfilled. And, we go a
lot by our emotions, and by what makes us feel good. But, the happiness and the
fulfillment are fleeting, and often, what we choose to fill that hunger with only
makes matters worse, and only digs the cavity that is already in our hearts
even deeper, and so we come up empty.
So, God the Father sent his
Son Jesus Christ (God the Son) to die on a cross for our sins. He who knew no
sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God. He died
that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. So, he invites us to
believe in Jesus Christ, to die with him to sin, and to live with him to
righteousness, but not in our own power and strength, but in the strength of
the Lord who called us and who will give us all we need to live godly and holy
lives, pleasing to him. So, when we fill our minds, hearts and lives with what
is of God and with what is pleasing to him - what is pure, righteous and holy -
and we forsake the bad stuff, i.e. what will only do damage to us spiritually,
then we will be healthy spiritually, too.
Seek the Lord
(vv. 6-9)
“Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call upon
him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake his way,
and the
unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have
compassion on him,
and to our
God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are
your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my
ways higher than your ways
and my
thoughts than your thoughts.
Are you familiar with the
word “repent”? Well, it literally means to have a change of mind, but in the
context of scripture, it is most always used in the context of changing our
minds about sin and about God by forsaking our lifestyles of living for sin and
self and choosing, instead, to now live for Jesus Christ and to walk in
obedience to him in his holiness, and in the power of the Spirit of God now
living within us. Jesus said we must repent, as did his apostles, if we want to
have forgiveness of sins and eternal life with God.
Jesus said, in fact, that if
we want to come after him, we must deny self, and take up our cross daily (die
daily to sin and self) and follow (obey) him. He said that if we hold on to our
old lives (of living for sin and self) that we will lose them for eternity, but
if we lose our lives (die with Christ to sin and self), for his sake, that we
will gain eternal life with him. And, the Apostle Paul reiterated this message
when he said that if we walk (in lifestyle) according to the flesh (sin), we
will die in our sins, but if we walk according to the Spirit, and if by the Spirit
we are putting to death the deeds of the flesh, that we will live with Christ
for eternity (Lu. 9:23-26; Ro. 8:1-17).
Know His Word
(vv. 10-11)
“For as
the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not
return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed
to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not
return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall
succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
God’s Word is found in the
Bible (Genesis to Revelation), yet, as believers in Jesus Christ, we also have
the Living Word abiding within us, and God’s Spirit teaching us all that Jesus
ever taught his disciples, and instructing us in all things of God. So, this is
where we learn what it means to have faith in Jesus Christ, and what God
expects of his followers, and also how to live this newfound Christian life. We
learn to know God and his character and his will for all of our lives when we
read His Word and when we listen to His Spirit speaking God’s eternal truths to
our hearts and minds, and then as we obey and we do what his Word teaches us.
As Christ’s followers, we are
to spread the Word of God and his gospel of salvation to the people of this
world, so that many more can come to faith in Jesus Christ, too. Plus, we are
to instruct one another and encourage one another in the faith so that we are
not led astray, and so we don’t fall into sin, but so we grow in maturity and
holiness in our walks of faith in Christ. But, sometimes we may not see results
for the seed that we sow into people’s lives, so this serves as an
encouragement to us that God’s Word will not return empty, but it will
accomplish what he purposed, and it will succeed in the thing for which he sent
it. We just have to be patient. People’s hearts will be changed, we just have
to give it time, and keep believing in the power of God to transform human
minds and hearts.
Peace and Joy
(vv. 12-13)
“For you shall go out in joy
and be led
forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall break
forth into singing,
and all the
trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of
the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the Lord,
an
everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
This is a wonderful stanza to
end on. Although there are many right now who have not yet trusted in Jesus
Christ as Lord, and as Savior of their lives, many still will, and when they
do, they will go forth in peace and joy because Jesus set them free, not just
from the punishment of sin, but from slavery (addiction) to sin! Amen! In fact,
it so glorious when sinners turn from their wicked ways, and when they turn to walk
with Jesus, in surrender to his will for their lives, that creation rejoices
with them. And, we should rejoice, too! For, it is an awesome thing to be
delivered out of slavery to sin and to be brought into God’s wonderful kingdom,
and to now walk with Him in freedom from sin, and in freedom to now live in his
holiness and righteousness.
Our God /
Chris Tomlin / Jesse Reeves
Jonas Myrin / Matt Redman
Our God is greater; our God
is stronger
God You are higher than any
other
Our God is Healer, awesome in
power
Our God, Our God
And if Our God is for us,
then who could ever stop us?
And if our God is with us,
then what can stand against?
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