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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.
“Remember these things, Jacob, for
you, Israel, are My servant. I have made you, you are My servant; Israel, I
will not forget you. I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins
like the morning mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”
Isaiah
44:21-22
This ends this
reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
What are
some of the things God would like for us to remember?
As we continue our study of Isaiah
and specifically Chapter 44, we find some answers to this question as the Lord
gives us five specific things that we aren’t to forget. Look again at verses 21
and 22:
“Remember these things, Jacob, for you, Israel, are My servant. I have
made you, you are My servant; Israel, I will not forget you. I have swept away
your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to Me, for
I have redeemed you.”
Did you catch the five things? They
are as follows:
1. We are His servants.
When you are a servant, you serve.
That’s your purpose. Anyone who fails to serve cannot refer to themselves as a
servant. It’s really that simple.
God sees us as servants and so we
had better get to work serving Him and others. We have no other option and just
in case we might try and deny that we’re servants. God wants us to remember
point number 2.
2. God made us to be servants.
God sees us as servants because He
made us that way. Servitude is in our spiritual DNA and there’s nothing we can
do to change that. Choosing not to serve is akin to being something different
than we were created to be. We were made to serve as clearly as we were made to
breathe, smell, hear, speak, and touch. As the people of God, service should be
something that just comes natural to us.
3. God will not forget us.
Life can bring a lot of trials and
tribulations our way. Sometimes we may feel like we’re on an island by
ourselves with no one to help or care for us. Even those who we might expect
would always be there for us can turn their backs. It’s a comfort to know that
we have a Creator God who has promised to never forget us. He promised never to
leave us nor forsake us and we need to always remember this promise and the
fact that God always does what He says He will do. He always keeps His promises
without fail. He will never forget you or me. Ever.
4. God has swept away our sins and offenses.
When we turn to God and repent of
our transgressions, we receive something beautiful. We receive His forgiveness
which reveals to us the fullest measure of His mercy and grace. The sins that
shrouded us like a cloud were swept away by the only One who could dispense of
them. Like a sun burning the clouds away with intense light, the light of the
Lord’s absolution shines brightly upon us and disperses the cloud of sin from
our hearts, minds, and souls, sweeping them away and replacing our guilt and
shame with His pardon.
5. God redeems us.
When the Lord sweeps away our sins
and offenses, we become redeemed as He forgives us and brings us back into His
favor and service. Indeed, God is the Great Redeemer who did not wish to see
mankind perish from their transgressions and so He sent His only Son Jesus to
die on Calvary’s cross and then rise from the grave on the third day so that
all who would believe in Him might not die but have everlasting life (John
3:16). It’s this gospel truth that we celebrate during this Lenten and Easter
season, the truth that despite our sinfulness, God has given us a chance to be
redeemed and saved, justified (or made just as if we had never sinned) through
the shed blood of Jesus on the cross, the blood from the precious Lamb of God that
washes us white as snow and takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29).
We are servants and made that way
by a God who never forgets us, sweeps away our sins, and redeems us through His
one and only Son Jesus.
These are the five things that God
wants us to remember from His word, not just today but forever more.
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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