Isaiah 55
COMMENTARY:
: 3 Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you— The sure mercies of David. The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982). 5186 נָטָה, מָנׄול [natah /naw·taw/]- to turn, incline, influence, bend down, hold out, extend, thrust aside, thrust away.)
DEVOTION: How well do you hear? Currently we have workers outside of our church working on the street. The noise is deafening as you open the door and you have to yell to make yourself heard to those who are trying to talk with you. The pounding of jackhammers and pneumatic drills drowns out all other noises. Where we can normally hear traffic or bird singing all we hear is construction sounds. The noise of people and activities can also be so loud that we may not hear the voice of the Lord as He seeks to speak to us! Elijah was running from Jezebel in 1 Kings 19 when he came to Mount Horeb. There he spent the night and the Lord spoke to Him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:9) God tells him to “Go out, and stand on the mountain, before the Lord.” A great wind passed by, then an earthquake and finally a fire but the Lord was not in them. After that a still small voice spoke and Elijah stood in the mouth of the cave. 1 Kings 19:13. Are we listening for the still small voice of the Lord or the powerful voices that will hurt or destroy us? As Elijah waited He heard and as Isaiah inclined his ear he too heard. Eternal life comes not from the powerful and emotional strains noise and activities but from the still voice of the Spirit as He speaks to you. His covenant will become real to us as we listen and wait upon the Lord!
CHALLENGE: Do not let the noise of activity and confusion of emotion keep you from hearing the voice of the Lord! It may require you getting into a cave by yourself and letting the forces beat on the mountain until you hear that still small voice of the Lord’s. Open the Word of God and confirm the message you are hearing as it must always line up with the written word of God. (Dr. Brian Miller – board member)
: 6 Seek you the LORD while HE may be found, call you on HIM while HE is near. (1875 “seek” [darash] means to try to get or reach something one desires, to seek with care, enquire about, to be intent on, to consult, or to ask for.)
DEVOTION: The LORD can be consulted from the time we are able to comprehend HIM until we die. HE can be found by anyone who is willing to seek HIM with their whole heart.
The children of Israel were instructed in the ways of the LORD from a very early age. There were time periods in their history where there were prophets who would roam the country teaching the truth about the LORD. There were time periods when the Temple was built that they could come to HIM on special occasions in Jerusalem to worship HIM.
There was always a time those who were followers of HIM could pray to HIM from anywhere and HE would listen to them and give them what HE wanted them to have.
We live in a time period when we can go to HIM at anytime and ask HIM to forgive our sins and grant us blessings that HE thinks we need. Our prayers need to be ones that start with asking for forgiveness for sin and for an establishment of fellowship with HIM.
Once our fellowship with HIM is established because we have asked HIM to have a proper relationship with us and we have confessed our sins on a daily basis while studying HIS Word, the Bible, for our personal growth, then our desires will be to please HIM and not ourselves.
HE is still near to those who are willing to come to HIM with a proper heart and ask HIM for forgiveness and blessing.
CHALLENGE: We have to ask ourselves about our relationship with the LORD. Is it one that is close or just one that happens when we are in trouble? A proper relationship is one that confesses sin and asks for HIS guidance each day of our life until we meet HIM in heaven.
: 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. (7235 “abundantly” [rabah] means much, many, more, be numerous, frequently, copiously, continually, keep on, or freely.)
DEVOTION: There is a way that seems right to someone outside of Christ that leads to a place in the lake of fire instead of heaven. Those who are outside of Christ think wrong thoughts on a regular basis. They do this because they are ignorant and blind to the truth of the Word of God.
Isaiah is asking those who are part of the tribes of Israel to rethink what they are doing. They have been brought up with the knowledge of the Word of God through their parents and their priest who taught them. Even if they didn’t learn from these two sources, they could have learned by the actions of those who were true followers around them.
So Isaiah invites them to “return” to their roots in a belief in Jehovah. They have the Ten Commandments to show them that they are sinners and need repentance.
Once they are willing to repent and return to the LORD HE can show them mercy. That means that they can receive something they really don’t deserve.
They are also promised copious forgiveness for their sins. God realizes that they would continue to sin but they wouldn’t be living in their trespasses and sins. There is a difference in the eyes of the LORD. Those who are outside of a personal relationship with HIM are living in sin. Those who are repentant are committing sin but are not living in sin. It is sometimes hard to understand the difference but the LORD knows the difference because HE knows our heart and its desire to please HIM.
CHALLENGE: Does the LORD know that your heart’s desire is to please HIM? Do you realize that once you became a believer that should be your thought process?
: 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the LORD. (1870 “ways” [derek] means a road, route, bend, course of life, mode of action, conversation, custom, or journey.)
DEVOTION: The LORD promises a future with hope. HE planned the course of our world before HE created it. HE knew those who would become HIS followers before HE laid the foundation of the earth. HIS plan is the only plan.
HE is working HIS plan. HIS design is not the way we would design our world. HE wants us to listen to HIS word. IF we listen to HIS word we will realize that HIS plan is going to happen. There is coming a time of joy, peace and singing. The course of life that God is talking about is too far above our course, that HE can say that we are not even to compare ourselves with HIM. HE is ineffable.
We think that we can think the way God thinks but we are never going to completely understand how or why God does things in our lives. HE does lead HIS followers in a path that seems to be hard and full of trials. HE knows what is best for HIS followers. HE promises to provide for HIS followers. HE wants HIS followers to SEEK HIM. HE wants HIS followers to CALL upon HIM. HE reveals to Isaiah that HIS word will not return void.
We need to spread HIS word to everyone we know. There is absolute truth in our world and it comes from the WORD of GOD, the Bible. HE has given us some of HIS thoughts in HIS Bible. It is not a full revelation of HIM but enough to let us know that HE can do all HE promises.
We should never ask a person who is trying to learn the ways of the LORD: “What do you think?” We should always ask: “What does the Bible say on that issue?” Too often we have too many human thoughts that are not Biblical enter our minds. And once they enter our mind we think they are God’s thoughts.
CHALLENGE: Always check your thoughts with the Word of God. Always check out those you are listening to with the Word of God.
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