Isaiah 26
3 You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in you.
4 Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord the Lord is the Rock Eternal.
8 Yes Lord, walking in the ways of your laws we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts.
9 My soul yearns for you in the night, in the morning my spirit longs for you…
10 Though grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and regard not the majesty of the Lord.
11 Oh Lord, your hand is lifted high, but they do not see it. Let them see your zeal for your people and be put to shame. …
17 As a woman with child about to birth writhes and cries out in pain, so were we in your presence O Lord.
18 We were with child and writhed in pain, but we gave birth to wind. We have not bought salvation to the earth; we have not given birth to the people of the world.
19 But your dead will live
Their bodies will rise
You who dwell in the dust will wake up and shout for joy.
Your dew is like the dew of the morning, the earth will give birth to her dead.
20 Go my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while…
Truly truly truly this passage is beautiful and captivating as well as challenging to the core. All I wish to pick out is the two things that are striking me even as I read this and write. Firstly, it will be the sight of the zeal of God for His people that will captivate those who live in upright lands. Those who live in the West and have been shown much much grace, it will be the sight of Gods zeal that will captivate them. What does that look like? How do we get there? How can they see how much He loves us?
Secondly, we must stop trying to do things in our own strength. Is it us that brings salvation? That does the work? Can we heal anyone at all even if we try really hard? Can we persuade God and manipulate God by the deeds we do and the effort we put in? No no no no its all about GRACE!! Can you imagine giving birth to nothing after hour upon hour of labor? And yet that is what we are spiritually doing! (And yet read the promise in there about the dead rising, new things...) It is the grace of God that brings salvation, that brings judgment, that brings healing and deliverance, grace grace grace! Yippee!
So what shall we do? We shall go, shut ourselves away and spend time with Him. Curl up on the lap of our father because He will not leave us orphans, we are adopted and we have access to His house and His presence. So let us go, shut the door and spend some time. The rest is His, not ours.
3 You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in you.
4 Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord the Lord is the Rock Eternal.
8 Yes Lord, walking in the ways of your laws we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts.
9 My soul yearns for you in the night, in the morning my spirit longs for you…
10 Though grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and regard not the majesty of the Lord.
11 Oh Lord, your hand is lifted high, but they do not see it. Let them see your zeal for your people and be put to shame. …
17 As a woman with child about to birth writhes and cries out in pain, so were we in your presence O Lord.
18 We were with child and writhed in pain, but we gave birth to wind. We have not bought salvation to the earth; we have not given birth to the people of the world.
19 But your dead will live
Their bodies will rise
You who dwell in the dust will wake up and shout for joy.
Your dew is like the dew of the morning, the earth will give birth to her dead.
20 Go my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while…
Truly truly truly this passage is beautiful and captivating as well as challenging to the core. All I wish to pick out is the two things that are striking me even as I read this and write. Firstly, it will be the sight of the zeal of God for His people that will captivate those who live in upright lands. Those who live in the West and have been shown much much grace, it will be the sight of Gods zeal that will captivate them. What does that look like? How do we get there? How can they see how much He loves us?
Secondly, we must stop trying to do things in our own strength. Is it us that brings salvation? That does the work? Can we heal anyone at all even if we try really hard? Can we persuade God and manipulate God by the deeds we do and the effort we put in? No no no no its all about GRACE!! Can you imagine giving birth to nothing after hour upon hour of labor? And yet that is what we are spiritually doing! (And yet read the promise in there about the dead rising, new things...) It is the grace of God that brings salvation, that brings judgment, that brings healing and deliverance, grace grace grace! Yippee!
So what shall we do? We shall go, shut ourselves away and spend time with Him. Curl up on the lap of our father because He will not leave us orphans, we are adopted and we have access to His house and His presence. So let us go, shut the door and spend some time. The rest is His, not ours.
posted by Claire at 10:55 PM
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