Tag: Isaiah 55:10-11
Sunday rest: a fire in our bones!
Dear Friends,
God called His people to regularly gather and study His Word and hear it declared. In the Old Testament, It was read to them out loud because there were few copies. God’s Word is our necessary food and brings revelation and vision. His Word was likened by Jeremiah to a “fire in my bones.” That “Fire” is available to all believers who will receive the Word of God and the Holy Spirit to dwell in their hearts by faith.
Jeremiah was called to preach the ‘Word of the Lord’ to God’s people. (Jeremiah 1:4-5) On one occasion, he stood outside the temple and spoke that Word to those who were entering to worship. On other occasions, he would use an object lessons. The Word of God would bring light to the people who heard it, but the same Word would harden hearts of those rejecting it. Jeremiah preached to a back-slidden people who rejected his ministry and God’s Word, even seeking to kill him.
Jeremiah got tired of the rejection, plots of murder, and reproach. He wanted to quit preaching the Word of God. But as he tried to do that, he found that the Word was like a fire in his bones! (Jeremiah 20:9) That fire is the power of God to produce what God desires from His Word! (Isaiah 55:10-11) No Word of God is void of power! Jeremiah went on to state that the Lord was with him like a mighty warrior! (Jeremiah 20:11) He knew through the Word of God that all his enemies would stumble and be defeated. God would give him the victory!
Today, take His Fire into your bones by allowing God’s Word to reside in your heart. God’s Word brings faith to accomplish all that is written! It will move you forward in discouraging situations and overcome opposition! It will empower you to love those in opposition. Love never fails!
In the Fire of His love, Pastor John
Sunday rest: Thirst quencher!
Dear Friends, Greetings on another day of rest! Summer is a time of heat and humidity in Kansas! Every time you work or play outside, you work up a thirst! It is easy to get dehydrated because of sweating and fluid loss. Plenty of water is needed to stay hydrated and healthy. But there’s another kind of thirst described by Isaiah. Isaiah 55 is a prophetic call to those who are thirsty. This thirst is not just for water, but thirst for the love of God and intimacy with Him. “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. (Isaiah 55:1) The fare God offered didn’t cost money but it wasn’t totally free either!
Listening to God is one of the ‘costs’ that Isaiah lists as essential to enjoying the banquet of love with the Lord. We must come to the Lord and listen to His Word. We must hear what He says and obey. We must be careful not to spend our money on that which is not bread. (Isaiah 55:2-3) Many people today are investing their time, money, and labor on frivolous pursuits that won’t count for anything in eternity. They are seeking pleasure from things and living for their flesh. Seeking the Lord first should be the priority of our lives. (Matthew 6:38) (Isaiah 55:6) In the Lord is the finest of pleasures and delightful satisfaction of our hunger and thirst!
In Isaiah 55:7 God calls those who are living in wickedness and evil to join the feast by repentance and dependence on God’s mercy. God does not desire to punish anyone but rather have them enjoy the ever-lasting covenant of his faithful love. (Isaiah 55:4) His thoughts are higher than ours and His ways are beyond our ways. He has spoken a Word of mercy to all who will call on Him. Like the rain and snow coming from heaven to water the earth, so His Word will accomplish His purposes! (Isaiah 55:10-11)
God’s promises can quench your thirst! They are obtained by faith. They are given by God because of His faithful love and everlasting covenant through our Lord Jesus Christ! “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not been glorified.” John 7:37-39 May your thirst be quenched by drinking from Jesus today! In His Love, Pastor John
The Gospel of first importance!
Scripture reading for September 14th: Isaiah 53-55, Psalm 128, 1st Corinthians 15
1st Corinthians 15: 1-8 “Now I want to remind you, brothers, of the Gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the Word I preached to you–unless you have believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures; that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some who have fallen asleep.
Paul gave the church at Corinth a simple summary of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel covers the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in accordance with the Scriptures of the Old Testament. Paul had received this Gospel from Jesus Christ Himself and that was the basis of all his preaching. Christ confirmed His resurrection from the dead by appearing in His resurrection body to Peter and all His disciples plus a crowd of five hundred and even to Paul. The Gospel message is God’s message of love to lost mankind. Through the Gospel, God reveals His righteousness as well as His justice in Jesus Christ. It is the power of God for salvation to the Jew and Gentile.
Isaiah 55:10-11 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My Word be that goes out from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
Prayer: Father God, thank You for sending Your Word, first through the holy prophets of the Old Testament and then in the person of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Thank You for the Gospel message of Jesus’ virgin birth, obedient life, sacrificial death and glorious resurrection. Thank You for accomplishing this mission of salvation for us, lost sinners living in darkness. Multiply fruit through my submitted life.
Psalm 128:1-2 “Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways! Your shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.”
Take care of your soul!
Scripture reading for October 16th: Isaiah 53-56, Hebrews 3
Key Scriptures: Hebrews 3:12-14 “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.”
The writer of Hebrews gave a pastoral warning to the members of the church. The sin of unbelief can take us away from Christ and cause eternal loss. Unbelief is deceitful and subtle. We must watch over our own soul and one another. Confidence in Christ must be maintained.
Isaiah 55:10-11 “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”
Prayer: Lord, thank You for Your great mercy and for Your pastoral care for my soul and Your church. Help me to be careful and watchful, maintaining confidence in Christ’s sacrifice for me. Amen.