Scripture:
Isaiah 43:1-16 NKJV
[1] But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. [2] When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you. [3] For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place. [4] Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, And I have loved you; Therefore I will give men for you, And people for your life. [5] Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, And gather you from the west; [6] I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not keep them back!’ Bring My sons from afar, And My daughters from the ends of the earth— [7] Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.” [8] Bring out the blind people who have eyes, And the deaf who have ears. [9] Let all the nations be gathered together, And let the people be assembled. Who among them can declare this, And show us former things? Let them bring out their witnesses, that they may be justified; Or let them hear and say, “It is truth.” [10] “You are My witnesses,” says the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, That you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me. [11] I, even I, am the Lord, And besides Me, there is no savior. [12] I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, And there was no foreign god among you; Therefore you are My witnesses,” Says the Lord, “that I am God. [13] Indeed before the day was, I am He; And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; I work, and who will reverse it?” [14] Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: “For your sake, I will send to Babylon, And bring them all down as fugitives— The Chaldeans, who rejoice in their ships. [15] I am the Lord, your Holy One, The Creator of Israel, your King.” [16] Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea And a path through the mighty waters,
Observation:
I feel like I don’t write about the Old Testament enough. Honestly, there is so much in there that could be uncovered and I believe a lot of it gets misunderstood. One thing that helps to better understand it is, if you remember that from the very first page of the Bible to the very last page of it… all 66 books are written about one person, and HIS name is Jesus. As I was reading Isaiah this morning, it was hard not to want to write about this whole chapter. What a picture it paints. The encouragement it brought to me was incredible, and honestly, I needed to hear it, and I hope the verses that have been chosen will lift your spirits as well. I stopped at 16 verses. I know that’s a lot, but the power in what is said just grabbed a hood of me. The first thing we come to is who is speaking. The LORD had something to say, and HE wanted it to be clear, so although HE is saying it through the had of a prophet named Isaiah. HE made sure that we knew it was not Isaiah speaking. These are words directly from GOD. HE not only wanted to clearly identify who was speaking but also that HIS authority is what matters… and this is what HE said…” Thus says the LORD who created you O Jacob, And HE who formed you O Israel. Fear not, for I am with you, I have redeemed you, I have called you out by name. Now, honestly, I could stop right there because that statement has so much power and authority in it that we could talk about it all day and not run thin on conversation. In that statement, GOD not only established HIMSELF but you as well. Because through a relationship with Jesus Christ, you have been adopted into the family of GOD. You are HIS. So, all the verses that follow that very first verse apply to you as well as to Israel. I think it’s important to look at one word that gets repeated in these verses. Well, it’s actually a phrase… Fear not or do not fear. Let’s just zero in on that for a minute because we could honestly write about that phrase all day and not run thin on something to say as well. It’s a phrase that is repeated over 365 times in the bible. Just listen if GOD says something once we probably need to pay attention. If it is said 3 times, we need to commit it to memory…. but if it’s said over 300 times, you need to live by it… it needs to be your life song. So, let’s look at what is being said in the rest of the verses. We will just do a brief overview due to time restraints. HE will be with you through it all. Man, I sure would love to go back verse by verse and brake this down it’s so powerful. HE redeemed you and walked you out by name. The LORD established HIS authority and told you HE is not going to leave you. You are HIS witnesses. HE is with you in the fire, HE has parted the water, HE has brought your family back, and HE has redeemed you. HIS hand has delivered you from the snare of the enemy. I honestly feel the Holy Spirit wanting to take my fingers, and I have to let HIM.
Application:
I just wanted you to know who you are. In all the verses we just read, one thing is clear. GOD never said it would be easy. Going through the fire is not easy by any means. Crossing an uncrossable sea without HIM just can’t be done. But what does HE say… DO NOT FEAR for I AM with you. Can I tell you something this morning. GOD has called you out by name. HE knew exactly what HE was doing. It’s by no mistake that you read this. The Holy Spirit chose you to be reading this right now so that you would know that whatever you are facing, there is no reason for fear. HE did not bring you to it to not get you through it. The fire you’re in, look around, and then look up. HE is with you. The sea you stand at that is seemingly impossible to cross. Step up to the edge of it, and HE will part it. GOD is not looking for those who will back down. Matthew chapter 16, verses 17-19, talks about the spiritual warriors that GOD has called you to be. You have to hear this. HE IS WITH YOU. That means I don’t care what you are facing. Not even death can stop you. There is no reason to fear. HIS glory is on the other side of whatever you are staring at. HE called you out by name. That means HE specifically chose you to be the one in your family to overcome what you are standing at the gate of. Stop believing the lie. You may be looking at it and thinking I can’t it’s too hard. I have never done it before… but you are forgetting HE can and HE is with you. HE doesn’t say it won’t hurt or that it won’t be hard. You are going to have to trust HIM. Stop wavering. The walls may be tall and the city fortified just march around it and praise HIM. The sea may be deep and your swimming skills are limited but the enemies are as well. HE will make a way. The question is are you going to let fear keep you from walking in faith? You are a mighty warrior more than a conqueror. Oh and don’t forget the one and only true GOD IS WITH YOU. HE CALLED YOU OIT BY NAME. HE MADE YOU FOR THIS. HE has made a way that you can not see. Press forward no matter what it looks like. HE has got you.
Prayer:
Father, I know you are here. I know the enemy would like us to believe that it’s not possible or that you have brought us here and left us out on our own. But we are not believing his lies anymore. Although we may not be able to on our own with you all things are possible. We know that you bring us to these moments to grow our faith and remind us exactly who you are. You are the one who made us stitch us together in our mother’s womb knowing that we would be standing right here in the face of whatever we are looking at. Knowing that as we see it we would have to look to you to get us through it. But you are able. You can do way more than we could ever ask or imagine. You are only limited by our understanding of who we believe that you are. So what we ask this morning is that you show us exactly who you are. We want to see your face and know your character. You will get us through that much we know. Remove any fear that may be holding us back it’s in the mighty name of Jesus I pray amen.