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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
But now, this is what the Lord
says—He who created you, Jacob, He who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are Mine. 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.”
“For I am the Lord your God, the
Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in
your stead. Since you are precious and honored in My sight, and because I love
you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life.”
“Do not be afraid, for I am with
you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. 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—everyone
who is called by My name, whom I created for My glory, whom I formed and made.”
“Lead out those who have eyes but
are blind, who have ears but are deaf. All the nations gather together and the
peoples assemble. Which of their gods foretold this and proclaimed to us the
former things? Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right, so
that others may hear and say, “It is true.”
This is what the Lord says—your
Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
Isaiah 43:1-9,
14a
This ends this
reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
As I sat
down to write today, I looked up at a Christian calendar next to my computer
and saw the following six words from the 118th Psalm:
The Lord is on my side. Psalm 118:6
Perhaps
there are no more powerful words for us to remember from the scriptures when it
comes to living this thing called life, a life full of more than its share of
challenges and trials. As we continue to look at the Book of Isaiah as it
applies to the Israelite people, we know that audience could certainly relate
to the Lord being on their side. As we read the opening verses of chapter 43,
we find the Lord reminding His people of how He had delivered them from their
troubles, showing them that He was indeed their great Redeemer:
But now, this is what the Lord says—He who created you, Jacob, He who
formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are Mine. 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.”
“For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I
give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. Since you are precious
and honored in My sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange
for you, nations in exchange for your life.”
“Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from
the east and gather you from the west. 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—everyone who is called by My name, whom I
created for My glory, whom I formed and made.”
“Lead out those who have eyes but are blind, who have ears but are
deaf. All the nations gather together and the peoples assemble. Which of their
gods foretold this and proclaimed to us the former things? Let them bring in
their witnesses to prove they were right, so that others may hear and say, “It
is true.”
This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Isaiah 43:1-9, 14a
Recall
how the people of Israel were fleeing from a vengeful Pharaoh and his army
under the leadership of the God-appointed Moses. A great sea stood between them
and their freedom, a sea too insurmountable for any of them to cross on their
own. Enter the Lord, their great Redeemer, who parted the seas and allowed the
Israelite people to cross on dry land (Exodus 14:21-22). He was with them all
along their exodus to Canaan, the land God had promised them, providing, often
in miraculous fashion, food, water, and direction along the way.
The Lord
God Almighty was there for His people when they needed Him and so His words to
them were simple:
“Do not fear. Do not be afraid, for I am with
you.”
You see, the Lord loved those He
created. They were precious and honored in His sight, set apart and valued
because He loved them so very much. He is the Father of all and thus that makes
all people His children. A parent would do anything to help and save their kids
and we serve a Lord who as our heavenly Father would do likewise.
My friends, today the Lord is
speaking loudly to us through His word and He wants us to remember the
following:
1. He is with us.
We never need to feel alone or
forsaken. Ever. For whenever this world and the people within it let us down,
the Lord always extends His hand to help us back up. Follow Him long enough in
obedience as you live life and you’ll soon realize that He is the only one you
can truly depend on because He is the only One who is always there for us.
2. Do not fear or be afraid.
Satan, our enemy, uses fear to
paralyze us in our lives and keep us from achieving the Lord’s purposes. Fear
is what kept the Israelites from entering the Promised Land the first time and
accomplishing what He desired them to do. That error in judgment cost them a
year of wondering for every day they had spent getting to Canaan the first time
(yes, that adds up to 40 years). If only they had not been afraid and just trusted
the Lord in the first place, the Lord who was always with them, the Lord who
had shown before that He was indeed their great Redeemer.
Today, we need to give up all our
fears to the One who is our refuge and very present help in times of trouble
(Psalm 46:1), the One who will bring us up out of the waters that may threaten
to sweep over us, the One who will bring us through the flames of misfortune
and difficulty that attempt to engulf us. No one can do what the Lord can do
for us, the Lord who is always with us, the Lord who redeems and rescues us.
3. We are precious and honored in
His sight.
The Lord cherishes all of His
children because He crafted them in and outside of their mother’s womb. We are
all fearfully and wonderfully made, all of us, masterpieces within the Lord’s
tapestry of life. Never let anyone ever make you feel worthless because in the
eyes of our Lord, you are priceless. And that leads to the final thing the Lord
wants us to know from this scripture passage today.
4. He loves us.
There is no greater act of
redemption that God provided for His children than His willingness to sacrifice
His own Son Jesus in order to save everyone else from their sins. Through His
love, God the Father provided His Son as an atoning sacrifice and in doing so
redeemed anyone who would place their faith and trust in that Son Jesus as
Savior. Through this redemption, we appear blameless before the judgment seat
of God, justified (or made just as if we had never sinned) through the shed
blood of Christ from Calvary’s cross, the blood that washes us clean from the
filth of our transgressions.
The Lord, our great Redeemer, is
with us, driving out our fears and keeping us in His tender care because He
loves us and sees us precious in His sight.
This is the good news for us today
and every day. Let us embrace it and give thanks and praise to our God now and
forever for all that He is, all that He has been, and all that He is yet to be.
Amen.
In
Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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