Isaiah 22:1-25
Here, we read about ‘the Valley of Vision’(1,5). The Lord Himself is to be our Vision: ‘Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart; Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art, Thou my best thought, by day or by night, waking or sleeping Thy presence my light’(Church Hymnary, 87). Down in the valley, the mountain-top experience seems a long way off. What are we to do when everything seems to be hard-going? When there seems to be no way out of the valley, no way back to the mountain-top, we must keep on ‘looking to Jesus’(Hebrews 12:1-2). In the ‘valley’, we must learn to say, ‘My goal is God Himself, not joy nor peace, nor even blessing, but Himself, my God’. Let your ‘valley’ become your ‘valley of vision’, the place where you are learning to ‘turn your eyes upon Jesus’(Mission Praise, 470,712).
Isaiah 23:1-18
Look at the land of the Babylonians, this people that is now of no account!’(13). To the nation which turns to Him, the Lord speaks His promise of blessing - ‘Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord ...’(Psalm 33:12). To the nation which turns away from Him, God speaks His warning of judgment - ‘For lack of guidance a nation falls’(Proverbs 11:14). We must choose. Will we choose to listen to the Lord, to submit our lives to Him, to follow the guidance He has given to us in His Word? Or, will we ignore Him and go our own way? The way of the Lord leads to blessing - ‘Righteousness exalts a nation’. The way of self leads to judgment - ‘sin is a disgrace to any people’(Proverbs 14:34). What will it be? - ‘Look at the Babylonians...!’or ‘They will see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven’(Matthew 5:16).
24:1-23
‘They raise their voices, they shout for joy; from the west they acclaim the Lord’s majesty. Therefore in the east give glory to the Lord, exalt the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel, in the islands of the sea. From the ends of the earth we hear singing: “Glory to the Righteous One”’(14-16). What a beautiful picture of a land that is enjoying God’s blessing, praising Him and giving glory to Him! Looking around us, we see a very different picture - ‘The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws... therefore a curse consumes the earth; its people must bear their guilt’(5-6). Can the dark picture of sin and guilt be turned into the brigter picture of salvation and rejoicing? God ‘is able to do so much more than we can ask for, or even imagine’(Ephesians 3:20). Be bold. Pray that God will send revival in our time.
_________________
Blessings in Christ
Christ in all the Scriptures
http://christinallthescriptures.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment