Monday, April 6, 2015

THIS IS WHAT THE LORD SAYS (PART 4)



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 so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name. For the sake of Jacob My servant, of Israel My chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge Me.”

Isaiah 45:1a, 3b-4

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

Today is the fourth in an eighteen part devotional series from the 45th chapter of Isaiah focused on things the Lord says to King Cyrus of Persia, things that equally speak to all of us as believers and God-followers. So far, we have heard the Lord tell us that He is with us and for us as we walk through life, every second of every minute of every hour of every day. We also have been told by Him that He breaks down the gates that might hinder and bars that might imprison us in life’s circumstances, keeping us from being able to fully carry out His will and way. Finally, the Lord has assured us that in and through Him, we have hidden riches, treasures of heaven that come in abundance into the secret places in our hearts when we make Jesus our sole treasure in life.

All this would be enough on its own but as we typically find with the Lord, He provides for us far beyond anything we could ever imagine and certainly more than we can comprehend or even appreciate. Let’s look at what He has to say to us today:

“This is what the Lord says to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name. For the sake of Jacob My servant, of Israel My chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge Me.”  Isaiah 45:1a, 3b-4

In regard to King Cyrus, the Lord was summoning Him by name and bestowing a title of honor on him, not for the glory of Cyrus but rather for the sake of Israel, the servants of the Lord. After a seventy year penalty of exile for their disobedience and disrespect toward God, the time had come for the people to be allowed to return to Jerusalem to begin reconstructing the city, their lives, and their relationships with God. An impetus was needed for all this to happen and that impetus was King Cyrus and his Persian forces. The Lord was sending them to battle Babylon with a guaranteed assurance of victory for it was His will for it to happen and when the Lord wills for something to happen, it will happen.

In the end translation, Cyrus and his Persian soldiers were simply instruments of God’s will to carry out and fulfill His purposes. He summoned them to do so. All they had to do was carry our His wishes.

Friends, if you are committed to the Lord in your life, then you are His servant and bound to seek and follow His will for your life. Like Cyrus and his fighting forces of Persia, we are to present ourselves before the Lord each and every day as instruments of His will, offering ourselves fully to Him just as He freely offers Himself freely to us. We are to seek His purposes because He summons us by name and has bestowed on all of us a title of honor.

What is that title, you ask?

It’s “Sons and Daughters of the Lord Most High,” an identity proclaimed by the scriptures:

We are the temple of the living God. As God has said:

“I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.” And, “I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:16b, 18

I will be their God and they will be My people. I will be a Father to them and they will be My sons and daughters.

This is what the Lord says to you and me today and every day, the Lord who ever summons us by name to serve Him and others through all we do.

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

No comments: