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Priceless

Priceless

Isaiah 55:1-4   “Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink — even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk — it’s all free! 2 Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen, and I will tell you where to get food that is good for the soul! 3 “Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, for the life of your soul is at stake. I am ready to make an everlasting covenant with you. I will give you all the mercies and unfailing love that I promised to David. (NLT)

Isaiah 55 is a place to go for great encouragement. The promises of God are found in this chapter. The promises of Salvation are found here; all throughout the Bible are the paths that point to Christ, here is such a clear path and promise of God. There are some things that must be understood deep within us; such as that question, or thirst that is described here. That desire that wells up inside us, is a gift of God. That longing for more, that longing for God, is placed within our souls. We can deny it, we can harden our heart toward it, but we will pay eternally for that decision. Isaiah 55 points to the mercy, grace, and sovereignty of God.

Do you see those around you that are living for the world, and seemingly prospering in all their efforts? They are in constant pursuit of something, they are thirsty and trying to fill that thirst with worldly ways; they are in constant pursuit, yet never satisfied. They are seemingly happy on the outside, but their souls are hollow and hard. They are hardened to the Word of God. Only through God’s mercy is that hardened soul softened; they see the possibility of their thirst satisfied in Him; it is in that critical moment eternity can be defined. A humble, repentant heart finds the Living Water that quenches. Christ speaks of it again in the book of Revelation, upon his return; 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.

Don’t be fooled by the tactics of your enemy that tempt you with all the worldly pleasures and pursuits. You feel as though what you are longing for will be found in the next possession, the next toy, the next achievement by worldly standards. You measure your success by the list of achievements, and none of them will go with you into eternity. Matthew Henry summarized it, “The world comes short of our expectations; we promise ourselves, at least, water in it, and we are disappointed; but Christ outdoes our expectations. We come to him, and we find wine and milk. The gifts offered to us are such as no price can be set upon.” I have heard said. You have never seen a hertz with a U-haul  Focusing on what lies ahead in eternity, will satisfy you temporally. Your time here is short, but your focus and decisions will last a lifetime.

 
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Posted by on August 20, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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You don’t have to understand

You don’t have to understand

Isaiah 55:1-3    “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. 3 Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. (ESV)

Isaiah 55 is a great place to go for an encouraging word from God. It is a great place to go to see the invitation that God gives to all to join Him. It shows the promises he is making to all that will join him. He has prepared King David to lead his people, and God has made the promise to deliver a Messiah through the lineage of David to the people of Israel; known as the Davidic Covenant. God has promised to deliver the eternal King, and here in Isaiah is his invitation to all. In the context of this it is spoken to the Jews, but God’s invitation is to all who will hear and respond. Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

Isaiah 55 is a great place to go for an encouraging word when you just don’t understand what is going on in your life. You begin to question the events, the unanswered prayers, the tribulations, all that you experience and begin to question God. Isaiah 55:8-9 are a bedrock of my faith; 8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.” In my DNA I am one of those guys that “thinks things to death”. As a business owner I am a planner; as a child of God I seek to understand; as a failure my pride creeps in when I can’t. There is no part of me that can grip a minuscule amount of the Creator of the universe’s Sovereignty. But there is also a part of me that can rest in that when I seek to remain humble, and keep that sin of pride at bay, by seeking to remain close to God. In that abiding comes a minuscule amount of that understanding that I will not understand; peace is found there.

God is asking you to join him. God is asking you to rest in his hands that hold everything in their grasp. God is asking you to quit worrying about everything and rest in that knowledge that he has control of it all. There is a strength and peace that resides in the heart of a disciple that this world cannot steal away. Even in my struggles with anxiety, I press in to God for the strength to fight the enemy. I know that anxiety is rooted in fear, and fear is not from God. 2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. There is a quiet strength found in knowing that you will never understand how God works; but there is strength and peace that if He can breath a star into existence, the details of my life define simplicity.

 
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Posted by on May 28, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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