Tag: eagles wings
Waiting on the Lord
Scripture reading for July 27: Isaiah 40-43
Chapter 40 of Isaiah begins a new theme for the prophet. Instead of the warnings of coming judgment and retribution on Israel and the nations for their sins, idolatry and waywardness, this next section speaks of hope, comfort and encouragement. The last 27 chapters are like the New Testament’s 27 books of encouragement, history and prophecy. As we begin in Isaiah 40, let’s allow God to reveal to us why we can patiently wait for Him to do what He has promised!
Isaiah’s perspective on God and creation from 700 years before Christ was amazing. Our God is so big that He measures the waters of the earth in the hollow of His hand. He marks off the expanse of the universe with a breadth of His hands! He could pick up all the dust of the earth and put it in a basket and weigh it. (Isaiah 40:12) To God, all the nations of the earth are but a drop in His bucket and the islands of the sea are just fine dust. (Isaiah 40:16) According to Isaiah, God sits enthroned above the circle of the earth. (Isaiah 40: 22) He makes this statement 2700 years ago when people thought the earth was flat!
God also has a tender side and is very personal. He tends His flock of people like a shepherd. He gathers His little lambs into His arms and carries them close to His heart! He gently leads those that have young ones. (Isaiah 40:11) He calls all the multiple billions of galaxies and their billions of stars each by name. He places them where He desires and not one is missing! (Isaiah 40:26) God does all of this effortlessly without getting tired or weary. His power and strength know no bounds. His understanding of every detail of every creature is beyond what we can fathom! (Isaiah 40:27-28)
Our God’s specialty is caring for and renewing the weary and the weak. As they wait and hope in Him, they are strengthened by His Spirit. Isaiah, under the anointing of the Spirit, uses the analogy of the eagle. (Isaiah 40:29-31) The eagle must wait upon the Lord when it goes through a time of renewal. It loses it’s feathers and beak and must wait on the Lord in the cleft of a rock. After the renewal of feathers and beak, the eagle again can mount up on it’s wings and soar! God’s people will be able to run and walk again in strength and power! What a promise of comfort and hope after a time of weariness and fainting!
Take time today to meditate on the greatness of God as reflected in these chapters of Isaiah. Allow your vision God is grow and your faith to wait upon Him to be enlarged! He is truly worth waiting for!
God’s Treasured Possession
Scripture reading for January 26th: Exodus 19-20
What is it that you treasure more than anything else in this world? Would it be silver or gold or maybe precious jewels? Would it be your house or car? What about technology, like a computer or cell phone or video game? Would it be your health and life? What about your children? There are many possibilities to consider.
God has a treasured possession that He tells us about in His word! “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagle’s wings and brought you to Myself. Now if you obey Me fully and keep My covenant, then out of all nations you will be My treasured possession. Although the whole earth is Mine, you will be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:4-6) The nation of Israel was God’s treasured possession. He had carried them on eagle’s wings out of slavery and bondage to a place of intimacy and worship. His main goal was to bring them to Himself! There was a condition, however; complete obedience by faith was expected. They would become priests to God and be set apart as His special possession!
This idea is carried into the New Testament as well. Peter talks about this same thought in his letter written to Gentile Christians as well as Jewish. “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1st Peter 2:9-10)
No one can come to Christ unless drawn by the Holy Spirit and chosen by God. (John 6:43, 63-64) He shines the light of His love into our darkness and calls us into His glorious light. He takes us from our lost and hopeless state, and declares us His people by grace. However, each person must respond to God’s choice by freely choosing to become one of His chosen. (Romans 10:9-10) We become God’s treasured possession because we freely accept His will for our lives and become priests, interceding before God on behalf of others. What a treasure we have in Christ!