I’m used to God living and moving freely inside my head. He has unimpeded access to my thoughts and knows my words before I speak because I surrendered my life to Him in Christ and His Holy Spirit abides in me. His work in this season of my life involves my learning to let Him out more readily in my everyday words and actions. I know my own motivation is from my right relationship to God through Christ Jesus, but does a watching world? Do my neighbors and friends know my heart for Jesus? Does my family realize my love and service are empowered by the Holy Spirit? Is His Word evident in my speech and life, especially to those closest to me?
Recently I was asked by a friend to offer godly counsel and I realized that there are parts of my faith in which I am so very confident yet struggle to articulate. There are certainly times when I have no idea or answer, but I still believe the Bible is the final word on every matter. Finding and sharing answers requires more than just an academic knowledge of Scripture. The fire of the Spirit and prayerful seeking are essential. Still, I can do all of these things and miss the mark entirely if I fail to speak.
“But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, so I spoke.”
2 Corinthians 4:13 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2co.4.13.NLT
“For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them.
And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.
So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us.
We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”
For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”
2 Corinthians 5:19-21 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2co.5.19-21.NLT
Isaiah’s vision of the Lord enthroned came in conjunction with his call from the Lord, though the call itself was not addressed specifically to Isaiah. It’s as if he’s strategically allowed to overhear a conversation in the courts of heaven.
“Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?”
Isaiah said, “Here I am. Send me.”
And he (the Lord) said, “Yes, go, and say to this people,
‘Listen carefully, but do not understand.
Watch closely, but learn nothing.’
Harden the hearts of these people.
Plug their ears and shut their eyes.
That way, they will not see with their eyes, nor hear with their ears, nor understand with their hearts and turn to me for healing.”
Then I said, “Lord, how long will this go on?”
And he replied, “Until their towns are empty, their houses are deserted, and the whole country is a wasteland; until the Lord has sent everyone away, and the entire land of Israel lies deserted.”
Isaiah 6:8-12 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/isa.6.8-12.NLT
Isaiah prophesied in Judah and its capitol, Jerusalem, to a people already destined for captivity. He had as much right as Jonah to be indignant. God told him his message would fall on deaf ears and their hearts would be unmoved, unrepentant. After all, they had plenty of false prophets telling them what their itching ears wanted to hear, that God would never allow His chosen nation to be defeated by a pagan enemy. God only required one voice. When Isaiah overheard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” God had already decided that Isaiah was the one to go. God had seen and prepared his heart. Every moment of Isaiah’s life up until this moment was God’s training ground.
“Then Isaiah said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man.
I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips.
Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.””
Isaiah 6:5 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/isa.6.5.NLT
“When the finite, the unclean, and the mortal comes into contact with the infinite, the pure, and the immortal, there must be, there ought to be, a profound sense of inadequacy.
To begin to see God is to begin to see how awful and desperate our plight is.
The holiness of God discloses our rebellious and dirty nature to us in a way that mutual comparisons among the members of the rebel race never can.
Here Isaiah condemns himself, for in the presence of God degrees of sin seem superfluous.”
For The Love Of God: Day 128 • Devotional
https://www.bible.com/reading-plans/786/day/128?segment=0
Jesus came to the world as a baby born to a carpenter and his betrothed, a virgin girl. His swaddling clothes were certainly not sterile. The stable and his manger bed bring to mind a pungent aroma, unpleasant to most, allergy provoking in others. God Himself took on flesh, embracing the helplessness of an infant and living under the curse that He might break it, but He is not man. Every minute of His earthly life, every breath was the breath of God, holy, high and exalted. Never for a moment was He less than God.
“For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.”
Colossians 2:9 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/col.2.9.NLT
“For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2co.5.21.NLT
“For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
And having chosen them, he called them to come to him.
And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself.
And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.”
Romans 8:29-30 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/rom.8.29-30.NLT
Only in Christ am I in right relationship with God. I am known, chosen, and called in the same way as Isaiah. So are you. Jesus spoke the words of my call and yours as He neared the end of His earthly life.
“And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.”
Mark 16:15 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mrk.16.15.NLT
We hear His voice across the ages and we must answer. How long will this last, we may ask with Isaiah?
Until Jesus comes again.
Keep preaching till the end, even if no one listens, obedient to the call.
“We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you.
All of this is for your benefit.
And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.”
2 Corinthians 4:14-15 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2co.4.14-15.NLT
“Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
Luke 2:14 NKJV
https://bible.com/bible/114/luk.2.14.NKJV
Jason Gray BABY KING
Anne Wilson THE MANGER
A Fitting Reply 