The Same God

*THE SCRIPTURE USED TODAY  Isaiah 493 He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.” 4 But I said, “I have labored in vain;   I have spent my strength for nothing at all. Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand,    and my reward is with my God.” 5 And now the Lord says—   he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him   and gather Israel to himself, for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord  and my God has been my strength —6 he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept.I will also make you a light   for the Gentiles,(non-Jewish) that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

*MY INTERPRETATION: (A conversation between the Lord and Isaiah) “You are my servant, my personal attendant. I will show others you are not ordinary by no means.”. Isaiah replied, “I have struggled for no reason; I have depleted everything within me for nothing. Up until this moment, you’ve held on to all I deserve and You are the only one that even knows it.” The Lord responds, “ the one who created me inside my mother to be His personal assistant, to gather and bring Israel back to Him, He has honored and strengthened me. Him, that One, is the One who asks you, ‘ ‘is it beneath you to assist me in reinstating Israel’s (those who I have protected) back to their previous right, to their homeland?’ (I am telling you that) You will also help the non-Jewish people understand they too can be delivered from sin & it’s consequences up until the point that the earth is no more.

*MY RESEARCH & REFLECTIONS OF THE PASSAGE APPLIED TO MY LIFE

I am called to assist God personally and to stand out from others. At times, I will feel as if my struggles to stand out or be different or not conform to my surroundings, have been for nothing and quiet frankly, not worth the effort. But I KNOW, it is through those moments that you will validate me because you know the struggles I have faced.

You will remind me that the same God who created Jesus to assist him in bringing Israel back to Him, the One who honored and strengthen Jesus, is the same God asking me if I think I am above helping in the same request? Is it beneath me to remind Jews, their promise land is waiting for them? Can I not take the time to tell the non-Jews they can avoid the consequences of sin by accepting my deliverance? Surely God is not asking too much of me, if he made the same request to His Son.  

*DEFINITIONS REVIEWED: servant a person who performs duties for others, esp. a person employed in a house on domestic duties or as a personal attendant.. display make a prominent exhibition of (something) in a place where it can be easily seen.: exhibit, show; splendor magnificent and splendid appearance; grandeur; impressiveness, luxury, fineness, glory, beauty, elegance (not ordinary,simple or modest) labored done with great effort and difficulty.strained, difficult, forced ,laborious, slave away, struggle, strive, work like a dog; vain spent having been used and unable to be used again, consumed, exhausted, depleted; strength state of being strong Yet up until the present or a specified or implied time; by now or then.; due a person's right; what is owed to someone. rightful treatment, fair treatment, just punishment in  that is or appears to be enclosed or surrounded by something else. inside, within, in the middle of; reward a thing given in recognition of one's service, effort, or achievement, prize, award, bonus, gift payment light understanding of a problem or mystery; (enlightenment- .give (someone) greater knowledge and understanding about a subject or situation, inform, tell, make aware, open someone’s eyes, notify)salvation deliverance from sin and its consequences, reach stretch out, hold out, extend, outstretch,ends  a final part of something,conclusion, termination, ending, finish, close

Isaiah 49:1-2 Are you in a funk, over a funk or entering a funk?

*THE SCRIPTURE USED TODAY  Isaiah 49: 1-Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the Lord called me; from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name. 2 He made my mouth like a sharpened sword,   in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished  arrow   and concealed me in his quiver *DEFINITIONS REVIEWED: islands: (those isolated); distant: (reserved, unapproachable);  Before: (in preparation for, anticipation /expectation of); spoken: (past participle of speak, which is to talk, to talk means others can hear what’s spoken); sharpened: ability to cut(remove (something) from something larger )/pierce(penetrate); shadow: a dark area or shape produced by a body coming between rays of light and a surface.; hid: put or keep out of sight; conceal from the view or notice of others; polished:shiny as a result of being rubbed move one's hand or a cloth repeatedly back and forth on the surface of (something) with firm ; pressure accomplished; arrow: a shaft with a pointed head at one end and often flight-stabilizing (no fluctuations) vanes at the other, meant to be shot from a bow; concealed: (hid, covered, kept secret, out of sight, invisible); quiver:  (an archer's portable case for holding arrows)/  arsenal: arsenal, quiver of ready responses..

*MY INTERPRETATION: (Isaiah speaking) Those of you who have isolated yourselves and those who are unapproachable pay attention. For I was called by the Lord before I was born even while I was still in my mothers womb he spoke (so other’s heard it) my name. He gave me the ability to speak words that caused others to remove from their life that which was unpleasing to the Lord. Consider how small I am to him: he was able to hide me(conceal from others view) with the shadow of his hand. With continuous, firm pressure, he created in me the ability to penetrate hearts, without fluctuating and all the while he hid me in his arsenal for use at the perfect time.

*MY RESEARCH & REFLECTIONS OF THE PASSAGE APPLIED TO MY LIFE

There are times that I prefer being alone and choose to stay away from others. During those times, I’m seen as distant, withdrawn or unsociable. I don't enjoy those times for that is not the person I want to be nor is it a person God can use to build his kingdom. But God knows I will get in those ruts and he already has it planned whom he will send to speak to me during those times. That someone will speak into my life the words I need to get out of my funk. My concerns are not too much for him. Think about it: if he has someone ready to help me BEFORE I actually need it, surely whatever has put me in that funk is no match for him.

On the other hand, just as he has someone to help me when I am in the dumps, at times, I am the person he uses to help others. But being that person requires me to go through an on-going, physical process. It is through my own trials that I gain the stability required to force my way into other’s lives in order to be the help they need for that moment. I’m like his bag of magic tricks, he waits for just the right time to use them so they will be most effective. And so are you. You are either in a funk, over a funk or entering a funk. Just know that whichever one it is, it won't last and it has a purpose.

ANALYZE YOUR PAST, YOUR PURPOSE & YOUR PLAN

*THE SCRIPTURE USED TODAY

Isaiah 43: 26-28

26 Review the past for me,     let us argue the matter together;  state the case for your innocence. 27 Your first father sinned;  those I sent to teach you rebelled against me. 28 So I disgraced the dignitaries of your temple;     I consigned Jacob to destruction[a]     and Israel to scorn. Footnotes: Isaiah 43:28 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.

*DEFINITIONS REVIEWED

Definitions: (I choose to look up certain words that I feel could have more meaning than my current understanding of them or that could make more sense to me if I had a different or more current word)

1. Review: examin with possibility or intention of instituting change if necessary; look over; study; examine again; analysis

2. Argue: put forth reason for or against debate; prove reasoning; give evidence of ; persuaded; influence; insist

3. rebelled: rise in opposition to established government ruler; revolt, Riot, take up arms; be insubordinate

4. Disgraced: bring shame upon; discredit; treat with disfavor; rebuke, humiliate; fallen from favor; degrade; taint; stain

5. dignitaries: person of high rank, position or office

*MY INTERPRETATION

26 ANALYZE YOUR PAST THEN LETS LOOK FOR THE ACTIONS THAT COULD PROVE YOUR BLAMELESSNESS. 27 YOUR PREVIOUS GENERATIONS SINNED; THEN I SENT MORE TO TEACH YOU THE TRUTH AND YET THEY WERE REBELLIOUS & UNDISCIPLINED AS WELL 28 SO I HUMILIATED -completely destroyed-THE LEADERS OF YOUR COMMUNITY.  

*MY RESEARCH & REFLECTIONS OF THE PASSAGE APPLIED TO MY LIFE

Stacey, carefully evaluate your past and then let’s understand your actions and see if they prove you to be blameless (I doubt they will.. ;/ EEKS). The family that came before you- even as far back to Abraham & Adam- have sinned so I -have continued to send- others to teach you the truth. Yet they, too were rebellious and undisciplined. I humiliated-or completely destroyed- the religious leaders of your community. Previously protected from my wrath because of their position, I have stripped them of their duties and allowed them to experience the same treatment as common people.

What should I do with the information I gain as a result of analyzing my past? If I recognize that I am doing the same and failing miserably by not providing the other’s with the truth of God’s word, then I need to

1. remind God of the promises that he made to me and the sacrifice that Jesus made FOR me so that I may avoid the same feat of the dignitaries. “In Matthew Henry’s Concise commentary it’s stated: Plead these -[his promises]- with him [when] wrestling for pardon; and declare these things, that thou mayest be justified freely by his grace. This is the only way, and it is a sure way to peace.”

2. I should ‘go & sin no more’; do as I am commanded to do and love people; because that is His greatest commandment.

But why should I do this you ask? Because I am part of the generation that he continues to send. There is currently a generation looking at me (& you) the way I looked to previous generations. It is my responsibility and my purpose on earth to give them the truth. I do not want to take my assignment of teaching others about the truth lightly and fail miserably.

John 11:40 "Did I not promise you," replied Jesus, "that if you believe, you shall see the glory of God?"

Acts 2:39 For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far off, even as many as the Lord our God will call to himself."

Acts 13:32 We bring you good news of the promise made to the fathers, 33 that God has fulfilled the same to us, their children, in that he raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second psalm,'You are my Son. Today I have become your father.'

Romans 4:16 For this cause it is of faith, that it may be according to grace, to the end that the promise may be sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.17 so that the promise should be made sure to all Abraham's true descendants; not merely to those who are righteous through the Law, but to those who are righteous through a faith like that of Abraham. Thus in the sight of God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and makes reference to things that do not exist, as though they did, …

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+43&version=ASV;ERV;NIV

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+43&version=ASV;ERV;NIV