The Well
The Well |
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Connecting Hope to the Hurting | |
Thursday
July 31, 2008
Oh, that you would burst from the heavens and come down! How the mountains
would quake in your presence! As fire causes wood to burn and water to
boil, your coming would make the nations tremble. Then your enemies would learn
the reason for your fame! When you came down long ago, you did awesome
things beyond our highest expectations. And oh, how the mountains
quaked! For since the world began, no ear has heard, and no eye has seen a
God like you, who works for those who wait for him! You welcome those who
cheerfully do good, who follow godly ways.
But we are not godly. We are
constant sinners, so your anger is heavy on us. How can people like us be saved?
We are all infected and impure with sin. When we proudly display our righteous
deeds, we find they are but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall.
And our sins, like the wind, sweep us away. Yet no one calls on your name
or pleads with you for mercy. Therefore, you have turned away from us and turned
us over to our sins.
And yet, LORD, you are our Father.
We are the clay, and you are the potter. We are all formed by your
hand. Oh, don't be so angry with us, LORD. Please don't
remember our sins forever. Look at us, we pray, and see that we are all your
people.
Isaiah 64:1-9
As you read these words do you feel the passion in Isaiah for the presence of God? He hungers to be face to face with His Jehovah, don't you? I do! Prophets hunger to see God be God, to see His power revealed and reflected in the lives of God's people. That should be the desire of our hearts as well.
God has not stopped performing mighty deeds; you just have to be a God seeker to experience them. For years, every time I read of a supernatural occurrence of God in the Old Testament I grieved because I thought those days were over with, finished, done! NOT! If the words of Hebrews 13:8 are true, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever," why do we not go to worship services or pray our prayers expecting to see the same things happen? It can, it will, and it does happen when God's people expect God to be God.
Read John's recall of what he saw: "'I saw before me what seemed to be a crystal sea mixed with fire. And on it stood all the people who had been victorious over the beast and his statue and the number representing his name. They were all holding harps that God had given them. And they were singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb: 'Great and marvelous are your actions, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations. Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous deeds have been revealed.'" Revelation 15:2–4 These people were end time saints and they were declaring His marvelous deeds and His actions. God comes through with no more and no less than what we expect from Him! Get a grip church! Expect miracles in your life this year! They are available if you will only believe!
Father, I come before You this morning, on behalf of my brothers and sisters and proclaim that we have not thought highly enough of You. We have been so preoccupied with our petty judgments of one another that we have missed out on the miracles You want to perform in and around us! Go ahead Father, we are ready and willing! Come on down Lord, we hunger for that crystal sea to flow through us and Your fire to consume us! Let it manifest in us!
Today ends our study of Isaiah, I hope you enjoyed it. Tomorrow…we start on Acts!
