April 27, 2011 (Isaiah 36-43, Psalm 76)

These chapters are filled with some wonderful promises. Here are just a few:

^40:27 O Jacob, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles?
      O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights?
 ²⁸ Have you never heard?
      Have you never understood?
   The Lord is the everlasting God,
      the Creator of all the earth.
   He never grows weak or weary.
      No one can measure the depths of his understanding.
 ²⁹ He gives power to the weak
      and strength to the powerless.
 ³⁰ Even youths will become weak and tired,
      and young men will fall in exhaustion.
 ³¹ But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
      They will soar high on wings like eagles.
   They will run and not grow weary.
      They will walk and not faint.

^41:8 “But as for you, Israel my servant,
      Jacob my chosen one,
      descended from Abraham my friend,
 ⁹ I have called you back from the ends of the earth,
      saying, ‘You are my servant.’
   For I have chosen you
      and will not throw you away.
 ¹⁰ Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
      Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.
   I will strengthen you and help you.
      I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

^41:13 For I hold you by your right hand—
      I, the Lord your God.
   And I say to you,
      ‘Don’t be afraid. I am here to help you.
 ¹⁴ Though you are a lowly worm, O Jacob,
      don’t be afraid, people of Israel, for I will help you.
   I am the Lord, your Redeemer.
      I am the Holy One of Israel.’

 ¹⁶
   Then you will rejoice in the Lord.
      You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.

 ¹⁷ “When the poor and needy search for water and there is none,
      and their tongues are parched from thirst,
   then I, the Lord, will answer them.
      I, the God of Israel, will never abandon them.

^43:1 But now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you.
      O Israel, the one who formed you says,
   “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.
      I have called you by name; you are mine.
 ² When you go through deep waters,
      I will be with you.
   When you go through rivers of difficulty,
      you will not drown.
   When you walk through the fire of oppression,
      you will not be burned up;
      the flames will not consume you.
 ³ For I am the Lord, your God,
      the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.



^43:10 “But you are my witnesses, O Israel!” says the Lord.
      “You are my servant.
   You have been chosen to know me, believe in me,
      and understand that I alone am God.
   There is no other God—
      there never has been, and there never will be.
 ¹¹ I, yes I, am the Lord,
      and there is no other Savior.
 ¹² First I predicted your rescue,
      then I saved you and proclaimed it to the world.
   No foreign god has ever done this.
      You are witnesses that I am the only God,”
      says the Lord.
 ¹³ “From eternity to eternity I am God.
      No one can snatch anyone out of my hand.
      No one can undo what I have done.”


But there are also verses that describe a people that are deaf and blind. A people that are trapped and enslaved. As I read these verses I couldn't help but think how it seems that they are the norm for Christians.  There are so many Christians enslaved by sin, when Jesus has given us all power to break free of the chains that bind us.

^42:18 “Listen, you who are deaf!
      Look and see, you blind!
 ¹⁹ Who is as blind as my own people, my servant?
      Who is as deaf as my messenger?
   Who is as blind as my chosen people,
      the servant of the Lord?
 ²⁰ You see and recognize what is right
      but refuse to act on it.
   You hear with your ears,
      but you don’t really listen.”

 ²¹ Because he is righteous,
      the Lord has exalted his glorious law.
 ²² But his own people have been robbed and plundered,
      enslaved, imprisoned, and trapped.
   They are fair game for anyone
      and have no one to protect them,
      no one to take them back home.

 ²³ Who will hear these lessons from the past
      and see the ruin that awaits you in the future?

^43:21 I have made Israel for myself,
      and they will someday honor me before the whole world.

 ²² “But, dear family of Jacob, you refuse to ask for my help.
      You have grown tired of me, O Israel!
 ²³ You have not brought me sheep or goats for burnt offerings.
      You have not honored me with sacrifices,
   though I have not burdened and wearied you
      with requests for grain offerings and frankincense.
 ²⁴ You have not brought me fragrant calamus
      or pleased me with the fat from sacrifices.
   Instead, you have burdened me with your sins
      and wearied me with your faults.

 ²⁵ “I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake
      and will never think of them again.
 ²⁶ Let us review the situation together,
      and you can present your case to prove your innocence.
 ²⁷ From the very beginning, your first ancestor sinned against me;
      all your leaders broke my laws.
 ²⁸ That is why I have disgraced your priests;
      I have decreed complete destruction for Jacob
      and shame for Israel.

What is our story? What is my life? Do I burden God with my sins and faults or do I offer the sacrifice of a life spent in service and devotion to Him? Do I offer Him the fragrant incense of prayer, or do the words that come out of my mouth betray what is truly in my heart. Heavenly Father - thank you for Your word that convicts. Forgive me for walking so much in the flesh instead of in the Spirit.  Jesus, continue to teach me how to 'die to self' but be 'alive to You'. Thank You for Your grace and through Your blood and sacrifice allowing me to be faultless before the Throne. You alone are worthy.