THIS IS WHAT THE LORD SAYS (PART 3)

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“This is what the Lord says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of. I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord.”

Isaiah 45:1a, 3a

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The Lord has told us through the first two devotions in this series that He is with us and He is for us, going before us in life to guide us, protect us, and help us when needed. He also reminded us that He is greater than anything that might burden us. He breaks down the gates that hinder us and present obstacles to our serving Him and carrying out His will; He cuts through the bars of anything that might imprison us and keep us from carrying out His purposes.

Yes, we are blessed beyond belief to know and serve a Lord who loves and cares for us so intimately. And as we see today, He is a Lord who desires to give us His most precious treasures and riches. Look at these words as we continue to study from Isaiah 45 and things that the Lord is saying to us:

“This is what the Lord says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of. I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord.” Isaiah 45:1a, 3a

In this passage, the Lord has anointed Cyrus, king of Persia, to be the one who will overthrow the mighty Babylonian empire. He has promised Cyrus that He would be with him and remove any and all obstacles that would get in the way of him fulfilling His purposes. As we see in this scripture passage, Cyrus is also promised treasures and riches that the Lord has stored away and hidden for him. He would not assume the throne without the power of affluence. The Lord would see to that and in fulfilling this promise, Cyrus would know that indeed, he was dealing with the Lord God Almighty.

Think about your life and the many blessings you have received. We should do this regularly but unfortunately, I think we get so caught up with our present circumstances that we tend to forget just how good the Lord has been to us in the long haul. He never promised that we wouldn’t go through trials and challenges in life but He did promise that He would be with us each and every step of the way, in good and bad times. I believe the saying that’s been around awhile goes something like this:

“The Lord will never bring you to what He isn’t going to pull you through.”

We would be well served to remember that when we go through times of difficulty. For maybe some of the hidden treasures and riches the Lord is mentioning come when He is granting us peace in times of turmoil, patience in times when we need to wait, strength in times of weakness, and perseverance during times when we need to endure.

In other words, His treasures may not always assimilate with the riches the world understands and values.

Frankly my friends, we are richer than we deserve to be. We are sinners that fall so short of garnering any favor whatsoever from the Lord and yet He lavishes the riches of His love, grace, and mercy upon us. And not only that, but the Lord we worship and revere so very much wants to share life with us forever, a salvation wish we are once celebrating again this Easter as the resurrected Jesus paves the way for all who place their faith, hope, and trust in Him to follow. Indeed, He is the only way to the Father, the only way and truth and life (John 14:6).

Perhaps this is why Jesus spoke these words to us in His first formal teaching, often referred to as the Sermon on the Mount:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21

The Lord said, “I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places so that you may know that I am the Lord.” As Christians, there should be no greater treasure in our life than Jesus, the One who willingly gave His life for us so we might not live now but forever. When He is our sole treasure then He is in our heart. His word, which is truth, professes as much. So if the greatest treasure, Jesus, is in our heart, then we have riches beyond anything this world knows or understands, riches that are not material but heavenly, riches that are not temporary or fleeting but everlasting.

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