Friday, July 10, 2009, 8:04 a.m. – This song was going through my mind all through the night, as well as it was on my mind again first thing this morning:
I AM / L. Wayne Hilliard / Michael W. Smith
I am the root of David,
The bright and morning star,
I am the Lion of Judah,
I am, I am,
I am Alpha and Omega,
The beginning and the end,
The first and the last –
I am, I am.
I am faithful and true,
I am the Word of God,
I am the Lamb, I am, I am.
I am the Resurrection
And He that lives,
I am alive forever, Amen, Amen.
I am the King of kings and Lord of lords,
I am holy, holy Lord God Almighty
Which was, and is, and is to come,
I am, I am, I am that I am.
I am, I am, I am!
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Isaiah 57:14-21:
My Understanding: The beginning part of this chapter, which we will address in another writing, is concerning God’s accusation against the wicked, in particularly against those who are rulers over other people, it appears, as he refers to them as shepherds who lack understanding and who all turn their own way (56:11). He, then, poses the question to the wicked – “Is it not because I have long been silent that you do not fear me?” (57:11) Oh, how true that is of America today!
Yet, then he tells them that he will expose their righteousness and their works, and they will not benefit them (57:12). Then, in vs. 13 he states this:
“When you cry out for help, let your collection of idols save you! The wind will carry all of them off, a mere breath will blow them away. But the man who makes me his refuge will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain.”
Then, the Lord turns his message, beginning in v. 14, to comforting the “contrite.” Contrite: sorrowful; remorseful; repentant; regretful; apologetic; ashamed (Encarta). Thus, there will be two responses by the people to God’s judgments upon us – one will be of stubborn rebellion and still looking to idols to save them, and the other will be of the repentant; the contrite of heart who makes the Lord his refuge.
When I read the words “Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people,” I think of revival, which I believe God has promised as a result of the coming judgment of his people, which he has also promised. To “build up” means to “increase; add to; boost; augment; enlarge; raise; multiply; and to improve” (Encarta). This involves encouragement, increasing in our faith, to enlarge our spiritual territory, and to improve our relationship with the Lord as well as with human relationships, etc.
To prepare means to “get ready; to arrange; organize; plan; and put in order,” (Encarta) and a road is a highway, i.e. a pathway or a passageway (Encarta) to someone or to something. From a spiritual perspective a road is a Holy way; the path of salvation and life; truth; Christ; a person; title or name of the way of the Christian; the Gospel’s call; and/or restoration of Israel (Susan N. Riddle). So, to prepare the road is thus similar as to the calling of John the Baptist where he was assigned this task:
Matthew 3:1-3: “In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:
"A voice of one calling in the desert,
'Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.' "
This can be done in many ways, one of which is to share messages that encourage, exhort, give warning as well as hope - that share the gospel message, etc. Another way is to live our lives in such a way as to influence and to witness of God’s saving power in our lives to those around us. And, still other ways are to show acts of kindness, mercy, compassion, love, etc. to those who are in need or who are hurting or just in general to whomever God places in our lives; in our paths. I believe that a true witness should combine all of these together, i.e. that to adequately prepare the road; to get ready the way for the Lord’s return and for the church to be ready to meet her Lord, we need to share Jesus with our words, with how we live our own lives, i.e. by personal example, as well as it should be through our actions and how we treat others.
Then, the passage says to “remove the obstacles out of the way of my people.” Again, I believe that all 3 of these (above) approaches are necessary to adequately help in removing obstacles to the Lordship of Christ in each one of our lives. If all I do is preach repentance and preach holiness and yet my life does not set the example and/or I am not putting feet to my words, then my words are ineffective. I need to make certain that I have removed any obstacles out of my own life that stand in my way to complete surrender to the Lord Jesus before I can preach that others should be removing those obstacles out of their own lives. Yet, the messages definitely need to contain exhortations to rid our lives of anything that stands in the way (our idols) to complete devotion to our Lord Jesus.
These commands are not man-made. They come from the Holy One, namely God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He is the “I AM”, the beginning and the end. He is the faithful and true One; the Word of God; the Lamb who was slain for the sins of the world; and the One who was resurrected and lives forever to make intercession for us to God the Father. He was and is and is to come – namely Jesus Christ. And, he lives within the hearts of those who are contrite and lowly in spirit to revive our hearts. His purpose in bringing judgment is not just to punish, but his main purpose, I believe, is to restore and to heal those who will come to him in repentance and faith.
Yet, to the wicked he says of them that they are like the tossing of the sea, which cannot rest. “There is no peace for the wicked,” says God.
I AM / L. Wayne Hilliard / Michael W. Smith
I am the root of David,
The bright and morning star,
I am the Lion of Judah,
I am, I am,
I am Alpha and Omega,
The beginning and the end,
The first and the last –
I am, I am.
I am faithful and true,
I am the Word of God,
I am the Lamb, I am, I am.
I am the Resurrection
And He that lives,
I am alive forever, Amen, Amen.
I am the King of kings and Lord of lords,
I am holy, holy Lord God Almighty
Which was, and is, and is to come,
I am, I am, I am that I am.
I am, I am, I am!
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Isaiah 57:14-21:
My Understanding: The beginning part of this chapter, which we will address in another writing, is concerning God’s accusation against the wicked, in particularly against those who are rulers over other people, it appears, as he refers to them as shepherds who lack understanding and who all turn their own way (56:11). He, then, poses the question to the wicked – “Is it not because I have long been silent that you do not fear me?” (57:11) Oh, how true that is of America today!
Yet, then he tells them that he will expose their righteousness and their works, and they will not benefit them (57:12). Then, in vs. 13 he states this:
“When you cry out for help, let your collection of idols save you! The wind will carry all of them off, a mere breath will blow them away. But the man who makes me his refuge will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain.”
Then, the Lord turns his message, beginning in v. 14, to comforting the “contrite.” Contrite: sorrowful; remorseful; repentant; regretful; apologetic; ashamed (Encarta). Thus, there will be two responses by the people to God’s judgments upon us – one will be of stubborn rebellion and still looking to idols to save them, and the other will be of the repentant; the contrite of heart who makes the Lord his refuge.
When I read the words “Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people,” I think of revival, which I believe God has promised as a result of the coming judgment of his people, which he has also promised. To “build up” means to “increase; add to; boost; augment; enlarge; raise; multiply; and to improve” (Encarta). This involves encouragement, increasing in our faith, to enlarge our spiritual territory, and to improve our relationship with the Lord as well as with human relationships, etc.
To prepare means to “get ready; to arrange; organize; plan; and put in order,” (Encarta) and a road is a highway, i.e. a pathway or a passageway (Encarta) to someone or to something. From a spiritual perspective a road is a Holy way; the path of salvation and life; truth; Christ; a person; title or name of the way of the Christian; the Gospel’s call; and/or restoration of Israel (Susan N. Riddle). So, to prepare the road is thus similar as to the calling of John the Baptist where he was assigned this task:
Matthew 3:1-3: “In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:
"A voice of one calling in the desert,
'Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.' "
This can be done in many ways, one of which is to share messages that encourage, exhort, give warning as well as hope - that share the gospel message, etc. Another way is to live our lives in such a way as to influence and to witness of God’s saving power in our lives to those around us. And, still other ways are to show acts of kindness, mercy, compassion, love, etc. to those who are in need or who are hurting or just in general to whomever God places in our lives; in our paths. I believe that a true witness should combine all of these together, i.e. that to adequately prepare the road; to get ready the way for the Lord’s return and for the church to be ready to meet her Lord, we need to share Jesus with our words, with how we live our own lives, i.e. by personal example, as well as it should be through our actions and how we treat others.
Then, the passage says to “remove the obstacles out of the way of my people.” Again, I believe that all 3 of these (above) approaches are necessary to adequately help in removing obstacles to the Lordship of Christ in each one of our lives. If all I do is preach repentance and preach holiness and yet my life does not set the example and/or I am not putting feet to my words, then my words are ineffective. I need to make certain that I have removed any obstacles out of my own life that stand in my way to complete surrender to the Lord Jesus before I can preach that others should be removing those obstacles out of their own lives. Yet, the messages definitely need to contain exhortations to rid our lives of anything that stands in the way (our idols) to complete devotion to our Lord Jesus.
These commands are not man-made. They come from the Holy One, namely God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He is the “I AM”, the beginning and the end. He is the faithful and true One; the Word of God; the Lamb who was slain for the sins of the world; and the One who was resurrected and lives forever to make intercession for us to God the Father. He was and is and is to come – namely Jesus Christ. And, he lives within the hearts of those who are contrite and lowly in spirit to revive our hearts. His purpose in bringing judgment is not just to punish, but his main purpose, I believe, is to restore and to heal those who will come to him in repentance and faith.
Yet, to the wicked he says of them that they are like the tossing of the sea, which cannot rest. “There is no peace for the wicked,” says God.
