Isaiah 43:1-7 Israel’s Only Savior1 But now, this is what the LORD says— he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze. 3 For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
give Egypt for your ransom, Cush[a] and Seba in your stead. 4 Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life.
5 Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west.
6 I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the ends of the earth— 7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
The promises found in Scripture are not there for us to just claim, so that our quality of life would be better with material blessing, and or, relationship blessing in Marriage, with Family and Friends. As Bill Systma points our in Today's Devotional, "If you treat the Bible like little more than a list of promises, you can slip into thinking that life is supposed to be easy for Christians.For example, you might think that if you are having trouble in your marriage, God has a promise that will make your marriage better. If you are struggling financially, God has a promise that will make your bank account swell. All you have to do is pick and choose the verse that contains your favorite promise, and life will get better.The problem with that way of thinking is that the primary promises in the Bible are not that you will be healthy, wealthy, and wise. Instead God promises that he will be with you."
This way of thinking and treatment of the Bible puts God's Word under your feet as a spring board to pick and choose your demands to make your life easier.
But it is through hardship that we find the Blessing of God's presences and provision. As in the Book of Proverbs 30: 6-9:
"6 Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.
7 “Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die: 8 Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. 9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God."
The promises of Scripture are not meant for us to use the Bible as a Faith pill to make everything all better in our life. Even Jesus did not know the Glory of His Resurrection, until He under went the glory of His Passion in His sufferings!
Isaiah 43, the prophet does not say that God will prevent fire and floods. Instead, God promises that he will be with us as we pass through fire and as floods overwhelm us. But for some, since the Greatness of God is so small in their minds, this promise of God being with us in His only begotten Son, is not enough; apart from Christ, we are wired to rebel against God and demand of God what we think we need for our sufficiency, and in the end, we find out that our sufficiency is indeed, insufficient.
But to understand the Greatness of the Sovereignty of God in our lives, is to understand that the promise of God being with us, is all we will ever need to help us endure to the end; as we rest in the Sufficiency of Christ Jesus' provision, we will discover His many blessings along the way of Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, Gentleness, faithfulness and Self-control! and Indeed blessings of His presence and full contentment and enjoyment of His life with us.
The problem with many people today, is their eyes are never satisfied with seeing nor their ears with hearing nor their the hands with touching; apart from the Sufficiency of Christ in our lives, we are always wanting.
But Let us remember that Jesus in His Great commission, promises that He will be with us even to the end of the age! He promises His sufficiency is all we will ever need to fulfill His Great commission and endure to the end! The Great Commission stated in Matthew 28:16-20:
"16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the"
We need to repent of the error of thinking that uses God's Word to claim promises of our own utopia of being healthy, wealthy and wise. Instead, come to the point in our lives that David did when He cried out in Psalm 23:1, " the Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want" Indeed the point to realize that the Lord is our Sufficiency, and apart from Him, we have no good thing! Psalm 16: 2"I said to the LORD, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.”
I will be well content to pursue The Sufficiency of Jesus Christ unto my Salvation, The sufficiency of Jesus Christ found in His righteousness in my Sanctification and The Sufficiency of Jesus Christ found in my endurance unto Glorification is all I will ever need!Jesus, my Immanuel God with me! Isaiah 7:14 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you[c] a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and[d] will call him Immanuel
Isaiah 9:6-7 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor,[a] Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
No comments:
Post a Comment