Your Vision Determines Your Direction

[The link to the Legacy sermon- is last week's sermon. This weeks sermon is not posted yet]
  
 So yesterday I did not go to church due to a busy weekend that prevented me from completing all the necessary task that needed to be accomplished. We were having a baptismal service in the park in the afternoon so I wanted to be completed with my tasks so that I could attend that without thinking about what was still left undone. Our church -Wellspring- airs the services online, so I planned to watch on my computer.
     As often times occurs living in the country, my internet decides when it wants to work. And of course it would not work at all during the first service. Since I could not complete my tasks-most of which were online and I could not watch the service I decided to finish the last few chapters of Isaiah and cut out encouraging words for my journal page.
     Low and behold, it was as if the devil said, "Well crap, if she is going to study the bible anyway, I may as well let the internet work". And it began to work just as praise and worship was ending during second service. I had already finished what I was study and here are the encouraging words and images I had already cut out for my journal entry.

 

     Then Pastor Paul began to preach on the sermon series "Legacy". He used Genesis 15: 1-5 as his reference and stated your vision determines your direction. That is what I was focusing on prior to hearing his vision. You can't see in this picture what I have written in the upper left hand corner. "Increase in [studying] God's Word. Expansion is inevitable with daily visits". After Pastor Paul's message I added "Look up!" in the top right corner. I don't want to take away from his message so go check it out. I just thought it was neat that I was on the same track- or at least felt like I was. And my focus for my journal entry was going to be on my vision for my future.                                               

In a Rut, but Called, Cared For & not Disappointed

I hate it when I get in a rut. Sometimes when I read the bible, I feel like I’m just going through the motions. That is the main reason I try so hard to figure out how it applies to me. I feel like I have been in Isaiah forever and that it will never end. I think that is mainly because it is so difficult to grasp and apply to my own life. I will likely finish Chapter 49-there are only 5 more verses- and then venture on to something new for awhile. I will return to finish Isaiah at a later date. But next week, it will be something new.

*THE SCRIPTURE USED TODAY  Isaiah 49:22 This is what the Sovereign Lord says:“See, I will beckon to the nations,    I will lift up my banner to the peoples;they will bring your sons in their arms    and carry your daughters on their hips.23 Kings will be your foster fathers,    and their queens your nursing mothers.They will bow down before you with their faces to the ground;    they will lick the dust at your feet.Then you will know that I am the Lord;    those who hope in me will not be disappointed.”

*MY INTERPRETATION: I encourage all to follow me. They will see the sign I show you and THEY will gather up your children and bring them back to where I have called you. The rulers of the land will look after you and meet your needs. They will greet you with respect and be humble before you- I’m not too sure what to think about “licking the dust”...not sure if that is literal or figurative...any bible scholars out there that can elaborate?- By these things you will know that I am the Lord and by placing your hope in me you will not be disappointed.

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

I did a little research myself on Bible Hub to have a clearer understanding of the passage at hand.. According to the Matthew Henry Commentary God can and will use others to return the Israelite s to their home. According to the Pulpit Commentary and depending on the version of the bible used the word “Nations” and “Gentiles” are used interchangeably. I like how it is stated in the Living Bible Isaiah 49:22 Living Bible (TLB) 22 The Lord God says, “See, I will give a signal to the Gentiles, and they shall carry your little sons back to you in their arms, and your daughters on their shoulders. So they- the Gentiles, will bring the children - or new converts (likely Jews and Gentiles)-back to Jerusalem and the Gentiles will be adopted (fostered) into the family. As a part of the family they should be nurtured, cared for and respected. When you see these things happening you will know there is only one God and you will not be disappointed for having placed your hope in Him.

So this is my take away from this passage: I have been called-for whatever reason; I am cared for and I will not be disappointed for placing my hope in the Lord- Jesus Christ!

What did you take from it?

*DEFINITIONS REVIEWED: beckon make a gesture with the hand, arm, or head to encourage someone to come nearer or follow banner synonyms: sign,  placard, poster, notice foster care for, take care of, look after nursing feed; bow an act of bending the head or upper body as a sign of respect or greeting

"REALLY"...EVEN BACK IN THE DAY?

Isaiah 49:20-21

*THE SCRIPTURE USED TODAY  -20 The children born during your bereavement    will yet say in your hearing,‘This place is too small for us;    give us more space to live in.’21 Then you will say in your heart,    ‘Who bore me these?I was bereaved and barren;    I was exiled and rejected.    Who brought these up?I was left all alone,    but these—where have they come from?’”

*MY INTERPRETATION: While you are in the midst of mourning over a lost love one, your children will have the nerve to complain about their living space and request more. You will ask yourself, “where did these children come from? I feel as if I am the one who is dead and rejected. Did I raise these children to act like this? I feel so alone and yet these children….they surely are not the children I raised.

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

How many times has my Mom asked herself this question? We-her children- have led her down this path one too many times. Now that we are parents, we have experienced those same emotions. I do not know how many times I have stated to my husband, “we did not raise her to be that way! Why does she act like that?” Well, obviously it is nothing new. If it occurred over 2000 years ago and was significant enough to leave it’s mark in the bible, then it was significant enough to inform us we are not in this alone. I don’t really know that that is a good thing or that it is even very reassuring, though. Nevertheless, eventually we look at those offspring of ours in pure amazement, with jaws hanging to the ground and the only thing we can think of is, "REALLY?"

*DEFINITIONS REVIEWED: bereaved be deprived of a loved one through a profound absence, especially due to the loved one's death. barren bleak and lifeless exiled expel and bar (someone) from their native country, typically for political or punitive reasons. rejected dismiss as inadequate

Only Deployed...Not Abandoned or Forgotten

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*THE SCRIPTURE USED TODAY Isaiah 49: 13 Shout for joy, you heavens;    rejoice, you earth;    burst into song, you mountains!For the Lord comforts his people    and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.14 But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me,    the Lord has forgotten me.”15 “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast    and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget,    I will not forget you! forgotten. 16 See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;    your walls are ever before me. 17 Your children hasten back,    and those who laid you waste depart from you. 18 Lift up your eyes and look around;    all your children gather and come to you. As surely as I live,” declares the Lord,    “you will wear them all as ornaments;    you will put them on, like a bride.

*MY INTERPRETATION: May excitement be evident all around, in the heavens, on the earth, up to the mountain top. Those who belong to the Lord, will be comforted because He is concerned about your pain and sufferings. The Place in Jerusalem where the city of David was built stated God had abandoned and forgotten them, comparing their relationship with God to that of a mother and a newborn. Stating although they felt forgotten, they would never forget about Him. To prove He has not forgotten them, He shows them His hands where He has engraved them. He reminds them that He is continuously focused on them. He reminds them of how their children returned home and their enemies left them. He instructs them to look around and see how their family is all together and that their children would make them proud.

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

Abandoned and forgotten. Sometimes when God doesn't answer my cry when I think He should, that is exactly how I feel. Have you ever been there? Despite the fact, I have many reasons to be proud of and to know He hasn't forgotten me, it is during those times when that the pain or trouble I’m experiencing has greater power over me than His love for me.

And that is exactly what the enemy would have me to think. He has intentions for my life just as God has plans for my life. If he can keep my focus off what I know is true- that God is for me, that He is always thinking about me, that He protects me and that He has given me many things to be proud of-then he has had a successful day. Our spiritual warfare occurs as a result of an intentional arrangement by an enemy of God and His children. We must be intentional in engaging in that warfare and get ready to face enemy resistance daily. I love what Stormie Omartian says in her book Prayer Warrior

“This is a spiritual battle. It is every bit as real as the fleshly battles waged on earth today, but in a spiritual war the way you do battle is to pray...God’s army is the only one where you can be deployed but you don't actually have to go anywhere. Your heart will be deployed to wherever God sends you in prayer.”

Are you ready to accept your deployment papers today?

*DEFINITIONS REVIEWED:

afflicted (of a problem or illness) cause pain or suffering to; affect or trouble.

compassion concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others.

forsaken abandoned or deserted.:

ornaments make (something) look more attractive

Sometimes waiting is for a reason...

*THE SCRIPTURE USED TODAY

Isaiah 49:7-9 12- This is what the Lord says—    the Redeemer  and Holy One of Israel—to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation,  to the servant of rulers: “Kings will see you and stand up,   princes will see and bow down , because of the Lord who is faithful,   the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you .” 8  This is what the Lord says: “In the time of my favor I will answer you,   and in the day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you and will make you be a covenant for the people, to restore the land   and to reassign its desolate inheritances. 9 to say to the captives,‘Come out,’    and to those in darkness, ‘Be free! ’“They will feed beside the roads and find pasture on every barren hill. 10 They will neither hunger nor thirst nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them. He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water.11 I will turn all my mountains into roads,    and my highways will be raised up. 12 See, they will come from afar—    some from the north, some from the west,    some from the region of Aswan.”

*MY INTERPRETATION: This is what the Lord of Israel had to say to the ones He gave his life for, to the ones He is dedicated. To those who are despised and regarded with disgust by other nations, he says ‘You will be noticed, and exalted by those in high positions. Simply because I am unchanging, loyal and devoted [to you] but mainly because I have chosen you.  

It is because of my kindness that I will reply [to your situation] on the day you are delivered from your sin. I will make it easy for you. I will keep you and make you the promise for others to see. When you return, you will be given back your land as well as some of the deserted land (now flourishing).

I will say to those held prisoner “come out” and to those deep in their sin “be free”. Food and beauty will abound wherever you go or look. What was once without life will now be multiplied. No one will hunger, thirst, or suffer from the heat. I will guide you and meet all your needs. I will remove obstacles before you get to them. See all my people are coming home”.

*MY RESEARCH & REFLECTIONS OF THE PASSAGE APPLIED TO MY LIFE [I have been stuck in this passage for what seems like two weeks now. I feel this sometimes happens because God his holding me in that particular piece of passage to show me something at an appointed time. There have been so many of these times while reading Isaiah, that this has seemed to happen to me. I try not to get discouraged and simply wait for the Holy Spirit to reveal whatever it is my soul needs to receive. So here it is finally. I hope it speaks to you as well.

This is what the Lord spoke to me, I am the one He gave his life for, I am the one He is dedicated to. When I am despised and hated by others, he reminds me that he has a plan -I will be noticed and elevated to higher positions simply because he has chosen me. He is loyal and devoted to me [because I have chosen to be a Christ follower]. The day I made the decision to follow him is the day I accepted the devotion He had already promised to me.

He will send answers to help me make decisions, He will protect me from harm. My life will be an example of his promises when he rights the wrongs that have been against me and restores me; when he gives me that which was once abandoned but is now flourishing; when he uses me to help others break free from bondage, when he uses me to be a light to help others see restoration is possible. It is because of his compassion that I lack for nothing, that I have been protected, that I am led and continually replenished. He is the one directing my path. I simply have to take the steps. When I am not afraid to move out in obedience and do what He has called me to do, others will follow the Christ I serve.  

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