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again moved by Isaiah 53 i post this song to encourage you and inspire you and reveal more of God’s great everlasting love to you…
by the sacrifice of Jesus we are made whole, new, clean, forgiven, pure, holy and righteous. by the sacrifice of Jesus we can come close to God – Jesus made the way through his death – that we can know God and be known by God.
he bore the punishment we deserve. the wages of sin is death and Jesus has paid this penalty so we do not need to.
i am free because of what Jesus has done.
my intention was to post this song and teh below bible verses and leave it as is… but i watched the song again and am so profuoundly move i must comment… if only to say please watch and open your heart and be reminded of the great love of God that has been poured out for you and to you in the death and sacrifice of Jesus so that you can be redeemed and saved and acceptable to God, so you can beocme his son or daugher…. what love…. w hat love… what love… God’s love for you…. near hte end there is a profound mmoment that if i wasnt sitting in my puter chair would have wrought me to my knees. the line goes something like “see the king of glory” – adn there is jesus – on the cross – he has just said “it is finished” and surrendered his spirit to God. he has died. there bloody and broken is my king of glory who died for me. he is the majestic lord of lords and king of kings, right htere, bloody and dirty, broken and dead. there is my king…. that is who i serve. what is who i love. that is who loves me. he is yes, teh risen king of glory and the heavenly king of glory, but he is the dying saviour king of glory. worhty of all honour and praise nad obedience and love and devotion… see his love….
1 JOhn 4:9-10 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
John 3:16-17 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
Psalm 117:2 For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.
Isaiah 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
Isaiah 53:10 Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes [ Hebrew though you make ] his life a guilt offering,
God is the I AM. He revealed this as who he is and as his name to moses in exodus 3. Jesus is also the I AM. He calls himself this several times. do you “get” what he is saying when he calls himself I AM. Jesus is saying I AM GOD ALMIGHTY. I am God. I am. We can trust that Jesus is the I Am. it is pretty contended – it is debated and excused away. But Jesus says it plain as day, in black and white, I AM.
John 8:24 Therefore I said to you that you shall die in your sins, for if you do not believe that I AM, you shall die in your sins.
John 8:28 Then Jesus said to them, When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you shall know that I AM, and that I do nothing of Myself, but as My Father has taught Me, I speak these things.
John 8:58 Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Before Abraham came into being, I AM!
And the I AM gave himself to ransom us from sin and death and seperation from God. He ransomed himself so that we would be forgiven, clean and alive, that we can be children of God.
the I AM came and dwelled with mankind, born, lived, died, resurrected.
matthew 14:25-27 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a phantom! And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, Be of good cheer, I AM! Do not fear.
Luke 22:70 And they all said, Are you then the Son of God? And He said to them, You say it, because I AM!
John 4:25-26 The woman said to Him, I know that Messiah is coming, who is called Christ. When He has come, He will tell us all things. Jesus said to her, I AM, the One speaking to you.
those that have seen Jesus I AM have seen God the Father I AM. God has revealled himself through Jesus.
John 14:7 If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. And from now on you know Him and have seen Him. 8 Philip said to Him, Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us. 9 Jesus said to him, Have I been with you such a long time and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father. And how do you say, Show us the Father? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in Me?
our God is the God almighty! he is the one who sees all and knows all. he is the creative one. he is the one who hears our prayers and answers them. he is the one who transforms us and uses us and works in us and through us. he is the one who has such mercy and compassion upon us that he made the way for us to be right with him. he speaks to us. he gives and loves. he is holy, demanding and graceful and patient. he is with us – always. he is near. this is our God.
i love this kelanie gloecker song – there is no one like our God. he is worthy and glorious.
John was in prison when he heard what Christ was doing. So John sent some of his followers 3to ask Jesus, “Are you the one we should be looking for? Or must we wait for someone else?” Jesus answered, “Go and tell John what you have heard and seen. The blind are now able to see, and the lame can walk. People with leprosy are being healed, and the deaf can hear. The dead are raised to life, and the poor are hearing the good news. God will bless everyone who doesn’t reject me because of what I do.” Matthew 11:2-6
this is such a beautiful passage and shows the love and care that Jesus has and how he knows us so well. Jesus didnt condem John for lack of faith or for asking questions and having doubts. john was in prison and suffering for God. he was alone and probably physically exhausted and hungry. jesus dint tell john to “man up” or “get over it” or even to have faith. Jesus gave him hope. he gave john teh answer he needed. He told him Isaiah 61 – he told John that yes, he is the messiah, the one he was looking for.
You cannot give place to the world, to your passions or your laziness. Words are not enough to claim the kingdom of God. It takes strength and courage and violence. You must violently resist the tides of the world. Violently give up all that holds you back from God. Violently turn your will over to God to do His will alone. This violence is what I pray you will come to know, for how else will you know anything of the life of the Lord Jesus? Fenelon from 100 days in the secret place
The violence that Francis Fenelon is talking about in this above quote is not about arrogant rough hit and punch violence. It is the passionate pursuit of ones goals – in our case – the Kingdom of God. With force and decision and resolve we must resist the desires of the flesh and hold onto the course before us – the narrow path of holiness and surrender. It takes guts to follow Christ. Jesus himself said:
Matthew 16:24-25 If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life shall lose it, and whoever desires to lose his life for My sake shall find it.
Sometimes following Jesus isnt all happiness and roses… it is loneliness and suffering, discipline and sacrifice. There are times when God works on our character that just arent pleasant… when we feel like we are walking through the fire and flame, and feel like we are walking those paths alone. God seems distant and prayers unanswered.
Take hope in the words of the Bible, that say that God IS with us through the fire and the flame (Isaiah 43) and that He does hear our prayers always.
1Peter 1:6-7 in which you greatly rejoice, yet a little while, if need be, grieving in manifold temptations; so that the trial of your faith (being much more precious than that of gold that perishes, but being proven through fire) might be found to praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
Our faith is regarded as being much more precious than gold to God. It does go through the fire of refinement as we are shaped into the character of Jesus.
We must be committed to following God, to allowing His way in our lives and to walking one step at a time forward. We must be committed to making God-decisions, not just good ones, and to rejecting the things we must reject. No one ever said it would be easy, just worth it. Eternally.
God deals with the interior before the exterior can show fruit. Just as Jesus descended to those in death, before He rose again, so the same happens to us. David was hunted in the kingdom that he was to rule and Moses was exiled from the people he was to lead. Sometimes it seems that the opposite of what God has promised us happens, but we need to hang in there, it is God’s way of teaching us to live by faith not sight. Revelation, Reversal, Restoration!
okay – MY name is not Jeremiah – but i’ve just started reading again in Jeremiah and this is how my CEV starts chapt 1….
My name is Jeremiah. I am a priest, and my father Hilkiah and everyone else in my family are from Anathoth in the territory of the Benjamin tribe. This book contains the things that the Lord told me to say. v1
I love hte directness of the CEV – very straightforward. Jeremiah was a priest and this is the words and the messages God gave him to share.
The Lord said:
“Jeremiah, I am your Creator,
and before you were born,
I chose you to speak for me
to the nations.” v 4-5
Hey – did you notice that Jeremiahs message is STILL going forth to the nations – in fact more nations than he was even aware of at the time he was alive! God anointed and appointed Jeremiah before he was even born for this task and calling.
I replied, “I’m not a good speaker, Lord, and I’m too young.” v6
oh Jeremiah – you’re so funny! Jeremiah is trying a Moses here BUT he should have taken notice and great hope that GOD CALLED HIM before he was born and thus knows all about him – his age, his abliities etc – in fact GOD CREATED Jeremiah to be the way he is. He is Creator God and formed him. Jeremiah had all the answers to his insequrities in what God said back in verse 5 “I am your creator and i call you to speak for me.” Likewise for each of us God has the answers!
“Don’t say you’re too young,” the Lord answered. “If I tell you to go and speak to someone, then go! v7
strong challenge we call all learn (and be challenged) from! what excuses are we saying and thinking? what restrictions are we placing upon ourselves and upon God! when God has all the answers and when he calls us to obey.
I promise to be with you and keep you safe, so don’t be afraid.” v8
again another answer to all the questions in Jeremiahs heart. I AM WITH YOU says God. What a promise! with that promise JEremiah can take on teh world. Likewise Jesus said to us “Lo I am with you always”. nothing should restrict us our limit us!
The Lord reached out his hand, then he touched my mouth and said, “I am giving you the words to say, 10 and I am sending you with authority to speak to the nations for me. You will tell them of doom and destruction, and of rising and rebuilding again.” v9-10
Again God has a supernatural answer – he empowers Jeremiah for the mission.
The Lord showed me something in a vision. Then he asked, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” v11
God now begins to practically train Jeremiah for his mission. He calls, equips and trains us for His purpose. God is actively involved in partnering with us!
Joshua 5:1 the kings lost their courage and their will to fight when they heard how the Lord had dried up the Jordan River…
Joshua 5:2 while israel was camped at Gilgal the Lord said “Joshua, make some flint knives and circumcise the rest of the Israelite men and boys”
it seems like such a contradictory action and instruction – to temporarily disable all the fighting men (through circumcision) as they enter the Promised Land. i wonder what went through the minds and hearts of the men as they first heard about what was to happen and as they submitted to the will of God and were circumcised. Circumcision is a sign that they were set apart for God. I wonder if they felt fearful, helpless, weak, powerless and vunerable. The men did not know about “verse 1″ – they were not privy to know that God had worked in the hearts of their enemies to make them fearful so they would not attack. God had gone before them.
we can learn from this passage:
1. trust in God. obey Him. God sees all and knows all.
2. God calls us to be set apart. the israelites had to undergo circumcision – a physical sign that they were set apart and likewise our hearts are to be set apart for God.
Hebrews 12:1 We must be determined to run the race that is before us (CEV)
the word determined jumps out at me – we msut make a choice and hold to that to succeed and participate in this race of life and faith. We must be determined in the face of opposition and circumstances that try to deter us. Determination gets up again after falling down. Determination presses on and against opposition. Determination sets a goal and moves in that direction if only one step at a time. One step is movement.
What motivates us to stay determined? What motivates us to stay focused? Jesus. We fix our eyes upon Jesus, who was nailed to the cross for our sakes.
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