Category: Draft

Isaiah 9: 2-7 NLT The people who walk in darkness will see a great light.  For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine.  ³ You will enlarge the nation of Israel, and its people will rejoice.  They will rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest and like warriors dividing the plunder. ⁴ For you will break the yoke of their slavery and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders.  You will break the oppressor’s rod, just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian.  ⁵ The boots of the warrior and the uniforms bloodstained by war will all be burned.  They will be fuel for the fire.  ⁶ For a child is born to us, a son is given to us.  The government will rest on his shoulders.  And he will be called:  Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  ⁷ His government and its peace will never end.  He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity.  The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!

Observation

Government can be defined as (1) the group of people with the authority to govern a country or state; (2) the system by which a state or community is governed: (3) the action or manner of controlling or regulating a state, organization, or people.  Essentially, government is the authority under which we choose to live.  In the United States, we have a democratic republic.  In the time of Jesus, there was a mix of dictatorship (Roman rule) and theocracy (religious rule).  All of these are human contructs and subject to the character, motives, ethics and morals of those who rule.  There is no guarantee of “fairness and justice” when humans are in control.  Please understand – until Jesus comes again, we need a human government and good representatives to do the best they can to administer law/justice, provide protection, and unify a people.

However, human governments are not eternal.  “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us.  The government will rest on his shoulders.  And he will be called:  Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  His government and its peace will never end.  He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity.”  So, we have a choice to choose the system under which we live, to choose who is our ultimate governing authority for now and forever.  In Christ we have a promise of fairness, justice, peace and protection that never ends.  To do this, we must set ourselves to live first by the laws of His government regardless of the environment and challenges of human authority.  Sometimes, it is difficult to do.

Impact on Me

This is not a political commentary.  I ache to see Jesus rule in and over the lives of those all over the world who are living in angst (a feeling of anxiety, apprehension, or insecurity) over current affairs.  I do not understand so much of what is happening throughout the world.  I don’t have a comforting answer to those agonizing over a God who allows war, pain, greed, power-hungry pursuits, or any of the other injustices of humanity.  My only answer is that the nature of my God is “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” He is Savior, Constant Companion, Protector, Wise Teacher, Healer and so much more.  This is what I need to understand.

When I allow angst to rule my thoughts, my choices, my life, I am choosing human government over Jesus government.  To do so is to open the door to doubt, unbelief and sin.  I become one of those who walk in darkness.  I want to be full of the Light that leads people out of that deep darkness.  I will only do that if I allow Jesus to govern my thoughts, motives, actions and words.  This requires the surrender of my soul to respond according to His will and purposes, saying no to how my flesh wants to react.  This is a lifelong change that only Holy Spirit can accomplish as I give Him permission.

Devotion

I bow in worship to You, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  I ache for all to submit to Your authority because it is saving, healing, resurrection life.  Help me to keep my motives, my actions, my words firmly rooted in Your will and purpose.  I want to be a lantern beaming with Your light into the deep darkness so others may choose to enter Your kingdom.  Make it so, in Jesus’ name.

Isaiah 40: 12-31

Who else has held the oceans in his hand?  Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers? Who else knows the weight of the earth or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale?  13  Who is able to advise the Spirit of the Lord?  Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him?  14  Has the Lord ever needed anyone’s advice?   Does he need instruction about what is good?  Did someone teach him what is right or show him the path of justice?

15  No, for all the nations of the world are but a drop in the bucket.  They are nothing more than dust on the scales.  He picks up the whole earth as though it were a grain of sand.  16  All the wood in Lebanon’s forests and all Lebanon’s animals would not be enough to make a burnt offering worthy of our God.  17  The nations of the world are worth nothing to him.  In his eyes they count for less than nothing—mere emptiness and froth.

18  To whom can you compare God?  What image can you find to resemble him?  19  Can he be compared to an idol formed in a mold, overlaid with gold, and decorated with silver chains?  20  Or if people are too poor for that, they might at least choose wood that won’t decay and a skilled craftsman to carve an image that won’t fall down!

21  Haven’t you heard? Don’t you understand?  Are you deaf to the words of God—the words he gave before the world began?  Are you so ignorant?  22  God sits above the circle of the earth.  The people below seem like grasshoppers to him!  He spreads out the heavens like a curtain and makes his tent from them.  23  He judges the great people of the world and brings them all to nothing.  24 They hardly get started, barely taking root, when he blows on them and they wither.  The wind carries them off like chaff.

25   “To whom will you compare me?  Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One.  26  Look up into the heavens.  Who created all the stars?  He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name.  Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing.  27  O Jacob, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles?  O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights? 

28 Have you never heard?  Have you never understood?  The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary.  No one can measure the depths of his understanding.  29 He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.  30  Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion.  31 But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.  They will soar high on wings like eagles.  They will run and not grow weary.  They will walk and not faint.

Observation

“To whom can you compare God?“  The questions in this passage are still relevant to us today.  It is easy for us to forget Who our God is.  When we call Him Father, are we comparing Him to our earthly father?    When we call Jesus our Savior, Redeemer, Advocate, are we equating Him with people who have helped to rescue, support or defend us?  When we call Holy Spirit our Teacher, Advisor, Comforter, are we comparing Him to a person who has stood in that place for us?  Whether our experience was good, bad or non-existent, there is no comparison.  There is no doubt that the anointing of our God flows through people into our lives, but they are instruments of His grace, His love, His power. 

“13  Who is able to advise the Spirit of the Lord?  Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him? 14  Has the Lord ever needed anyone’s advice?   Does he need instruction about what is good?  Did someone teach him what is right or show him the path of justice?”  The temptation is to make God more like us, to humanize Him, to expect Him to downsize to our human condition and motivations.  This allows us to be “mad” at God for not living up to our expectations, our wants, our fixes for the challenges we encounter.  Instead of the questions above, some ask, “How can God be good if He allows …..”  The blank can be filled in with pain, suffering, death, evil to persist and so on.  The truth is that He sees all of time and is still working His original plan instituted in the Garden of Eden.  He also sees each one of us and, if we allow, will lead us, support us, strengthen us on the pathway He has marked out for us.  “But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.  They will soar high on wings like eagles.  They will run and not grow weary.  They will walk and not faint.”

Impact on Me

I am always arrested by verses like these – ones that remind me of the awesome holiness, greatness of majesty and immeasurable power of our God.  I am marvel at His love and care for each of us, and reminds me where I should always put my trust regardless of my best plans.  Isaiah is speaking from the experience of God’s presence when he says, “Who is like God?”  You can “hear” the wonder in his words, how small and insignificant he feels before Him (“God sits above the circle of the earth.  The people below seem like grasshoppers to him!”).  How humbled, how small, Isaiah is as he contemplates the vastness, greatness and overwhelming presence of our God.  YET we are assured that we are the apple of His eye, His beloved, His children, His focus in all the universe.  There is no way that we deserve or can earn this, no way we can ever be like Him, no one to compare to Him.

There is a real difference between acknowledging this only in my head and living it out in my life by actually giving myself into His control regardless of whether I understand or not, being content to wait on and trust in Him, giving Him the freedom to use me as a blessing or a sacrifice to accomplish His will and purpose.  Head knowledge alone will struggle to make comparisons and eventually strip Him of His omnipotence, His incomparable majesty, wonder and power by ranking Him with earthly powers, what can be achieved by human means, allowing us to rationalize that He is more like us than we are like Him, that we can somehow manipulate Him to please us, that He is our servant rather than ours to serve. However, this is impossible to do if ever you actually enter into His presence, approach His throne, are overwhelmed/humbled by His Holiness, and then see His eyes look upon you with recognition, tenderness, and love. It is an awesome and life-changing experience to enter the throne room of grace and find yourself an honored guest.  

Devotion

Lord, You are the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. You never grow weak or weary.  No one can measure the depths of Your understanding.  I marvel at how far above my understanding is Your glory, might and wisdom and, yet, You see and know me personally.  I want to soak in Your presence which is without compare.  Help me to live in Your throne room, always bowing my will and my choices to Yours, trusting in Your plans and pathway for me regardless of the personal cost to me. Just to see Your face and know that My life gives You joy in Your heart will be enough. Make it so in the power and authority given to me in the name of Jesus.