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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.
Whoever invokes a blessing in the
land will do so by the one true God; whoever takes an oath in the land will
swear by the one true God. For the past troubles will be forgotten and hidden
from My eyes.
Isaiah 65:16
This ends today’s reading from God's holy
word. Thanks be to God.
We all do things every day as we live this thing called
life. But who do we do those things for?
Maybe we are doing them for ourselves to meet some personal
need or to accomplish some goal we have set.
Maybe we are doing them for others who have their own needs
and goals that we are trying to help them meet.
Maybe we are doing things for our employer because it’s our
responsibility to do so and the reason they are paying us so our needs might be
met (going back to point 1).
All these are typical models for the way we might go
through our days but note one very important omission in all of them.
For if you haven’t noticed already, the Lord is not
mentioned at all. He is absent from the things that are being done. Perhaps
this is because people have failed to hear the Lord speaking from the 65th
chapter of Isaiah, where He gives clear guidance as to how we are to conduct
our affairs within the days He blessed us with. Look again at these words here:
Whoever invokes a blessing in the land will do so by the one true God; whoever
takes an oath in the land will swear by the one true God. For the past troubles
will be forgotten and hidden from My eyes.
Isaiah 65:16
Note here the Lord is making things clear as to what we are
to do as we bless others and commit ourselves to the things we do. We are not
to do it in the spirit of our own desires or the desires of any other person
but rather we are to do everything by the name of the one true God, the Lord
God Almighty who ordains every opportunity we have to do anything and gives us
the gifts we need to make things happen as we achieve His purposes. All things we
are called to do are by way of Him and accomplished through Him and Him alone.
You see, this was at the root of the Israelite’s problem in
Old Testament times and the reason why they had suffered God’s judgment and
consequences in the way of a seventy year exile at the hands of the
Babylonians. They had chosen to turn away from God and were doing things in
life in the name of false gods and idols, something God was not going to tolerate.
He had told His people that there would be no other gods before Him and He
meant just that.
So if turning from Him was what got them in trouble, then
returning to Him with a renewed commitment to only serve Him and His purposes was
what would get them back into His favor.
How do we know this?
Because look back at our scripture verses and see what a restored
obedience toward God would result in for the Israelite people. God would forget
the past troubles, hiding them from His eyes as He forgave His people.
Indeed, this is what happened. The seventy years ended, God
sent the Persians to overthrow the Babylonians, and with new leadership in
place in the person of King Cyrus, God set things in motion for His people to
return to Judah and Jerusalem to rebuild their homes, their lives, and their
relationship with Him. You can read the books of Ezra and Nehemiah for a full
account of the Israelite’s restoration and how God, as He always does,
fulfilled His promise.
So what are we to take away from this message from the Lord
today? What is He saying to us here in the 21st century?
I believe there are two key points He wants us to remember
as He speaks truth into our hearts and minds.
First, we are to place Him first in all things. Everything
we do needs to be done to His glory and honor.
This is critical because it forces us to check ourselves
before we do anything and ask whether or not the thing we are about to do is
going to bring God the proper credit and tribute. If what we are doing is
within His will, then we should do it. If it is not, then we need to pull back.
He becomes the validation point and should be because we know He will never
lead us wrong.
The second key point the Lord wants us to know today is if
we have not been living for Him in the things we are doing, there’s always time
to change that and the time is now. We can choose to make Him first in
everything and allow Him to dictate our actions, words, and thoughts. Just as
we saw with the Israelites, the Lord is willing to forgive and forget but we
have to repent and turn back to Him fully, devoting ourselves to Him as He
devotes Himself to us.
Friends, the Lord is speaking good news into our lives
today through His holy and precious word. He longs for us to do the right and
righteous things in life and when we stay connected to Him and His direction,
we can be assured we will live that way, in a way that is pleasing in His
sight. And when we stray from this expectation of obedient, God-guided living,
the Lord reminds us that He is a merciful God of grace and pardon. All we need
to do is turn back to Him and He will turn back to us. The Father is always waiting
for His prodigal sons and daughters to return.
How are you living today? Are you driven by your own
motives and motivations? Or is your life fully grounded in seeking the one true
God’s purposes and then dedicating yourself to carrying them out?
It’s an assessment the Lord wants us to make, not just
today but every day He blesses us with.
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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