An Invitation to the Lord's Salvation (Isaiah 55)

Isaiah 55
(NLT) Invitation to the Lord’s Salvation

1 “Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink—even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk—it’s all free! 2 Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen to me, and you will eat what is good. You will enjoy the finest food.

3 “Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life. I will make an everlasting covenant with you. I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David. 4 See how I used him to display my power among the peoples. I made him a leader among the nations. 5 You also will command nations you do not know, and peoples unknown to you will come running to obey, because I, the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, have made you glorious.”

6 Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near. 7 Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.

8 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. 9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

10 “The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. 11 It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it. 12 You will live in joy and peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands! 13 Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow. Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up. These events will bring great honor to the Lord’s name; they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.”

PS: Each and everyone of us black, white, and everything in between, straight or not, sinner or not, we are all God's children of whom He is passionate about having a relationship. He does not wish for anyone to lose his/her life without knowing him. If only you would give Christ a chance in your life for it does not matter where you've been. What matters is where you are headed!

CNN's interview with Brian "head" Welch of Korn

Psalms 23 - a Psalm by King David of God's (the Great Shepherd's) faithfulness

Psalm 23
A Psalm of David.

1 The LORD is my shepherd;
       I shall not want.
2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures;

       He leads me beside the still waters.
3 He restores my soul;
       He leads me in the paths of righteousness
   For His name’s sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
       I will fear no evil;
   For You are with me;
       Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
       You anoint my head with oil;
   My cup runs over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
       All the days of my life;
    And I will dwell in the house of the LORD
        Forever.

Here's a psalm that speaks of nothing but God's goodness, written by a man who had one of the most tumultuous life that we read of in the Bible. When we read the books of 1&2 Samuel, 1&2 Kings, and the books of Chronicles, we read of the life of David from a small shepherd boy, sought out by Prophet Saul to be anointed the next king of Israel, a boy who didn't cross the minds of his parents when Samuel visited his father's house as instructed by the Lord. A young shepherd boy who faced down great dangers while watching over his father's flocks, faced a lion and a bear and had the courage to take them on and kill them. A young boy who would not listen to his brothers' caution when his God and the army of Israel was being challenged by the ungodly, but mighty Philistine warrior Goliath. He faced down this giant of a man and a great warrior that terrorized the entire army of King Saul with nothing more than his faith in the God of Israel and five stones and a sling.

After being anointed the king of Israel, he faced constant dangers on his life from the jealous rage of his king, King Saul. After Saul's death, David became king. He had an up and down life with its fair share of blessings, complacence, sin, repentance, and God's punishment. Yet when he looked back on his life, in Psalms 23 written towards the end of his life, all David saw was the faithfulness of his God throughout his lifetime. A God who considered him, blessed him, honored him, forgave him, strengthened him, protected him, provided for him, and sustained him. J. Vernon McGee, the late servant of Christ, writes, "In Psalms 23 you do not have the musings of a green, inexperienced lad but the mature deliberations of a ripe experience. You see, David, when he came close to the end of his life, looked back upon his checkered career. It was then that he wrote this psalm. The old king on the throne remembered the shepherd boy. Life had beaten, battered, baffled, and bludgeoned this man. He was a hardened soldier, a veteran who knew victory, privation, hardship. He knew song and shadow. He was tested and tried. Therefore in Psalms 23 we don't have the theorizing of immaturity, but fruit and the mature judgment borne of a long life."

This was what prophet Isaiah meant when he wrote in Isaiah 33:17-21,

"Your eyes will see the king in all his splendor, and you will see a land that stretches into the distance. You will think back to this time of terror when the Assyrian officers outside your walls counted your towers and estimated how much plunder they would get from your fallen city. But soon they will all be gone. These fierce, violent people with a strange, unknown language will disappear.

Instead, you will see Zion as a place of worship and celebration. You will see Jerusalem, a city quiet and secure. The LORD will be our Mighty One. He will be like a wide river of protection that no enemy can cross."

Remember that only after you have gone through the valley of shadow of death, and come out on the other side safe and secure, do you realize what David meant by saying,

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
        I will fear no evil;
 For You are with me;
       Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me."

May God bless you and give you the courage to face the challenges in your life, for surely if you keep your faith in Him, you will see His righteous right hand holding you up!

Have a most blessed New Year!

Hillsong - Stronger

Steadfast faith

 Isaiah 37:14-20 (also, 2Kings 19:14-19)

New Living Translation (NLT)

¹⁴ After Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it, he went up to the Lord’s Temple and spread it out before the Lord. ¹⁵ And Hezekiah prayed this prayer before the Lord: ¹⁶ “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, God of Israel, you are enthroned between the mighty cherubim! You alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You alone created the heavens and the earth. ¹⁷ Bend down, O Lord, and listen! Open your eyes, O Lord, and see! Listen to Sennacherib’s words of defiance against the living God.

¹⁸ “It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all these nations. ¹⁹ And they have thrown the gods of these nations into the fire and burned them. But of course the Assyrians could destroy them! They were not gods at all—only idols of wood and stone shaped by human hands.

²⁰ Now, O Lord our God, rescue us from his power; then all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you alone, O Lord, are God.”

The Bible tells us that Hezekiah was a king who "trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel."  It says, "There was never another king like him in the land of Judah, either before or after his time.  He remained faithful to the LORD in everything, and he carefully obeyed all the commands the LORD had given Moses.  So the LORD was with him and Hezekiah was successful in everything he did. He revolted against the king of Assyria and refused to pay him tribute." (2Kings 18:5-7)

The resulting military campaigns by the Assyrian king Sennacherib were successful. Judah fell, its citizens were taken captive, and only the fortified city of Jerusalem remained with Hezekiah.  The prayer at the beginning of this writing is Hezekiah's prayer to his God - Jehovah - in whom he had steadfast faith.  The prayer shows that Hezekiah acknowledged the strength of his enemy, having had first hand experiences of defeat as the towns of Judah fell. But even in his last stand, with Sennacherib's army surrounding Jerusalem, Hezekiah showed steadfast trust in his LORD for a deliverance! He knew his God for who He was! The Almighty, the All Seeing, the All Knowing God! And so he brought his challenge, even though seemingly on his last leg, to his God. To have faith in God when all seems lost, trusting in God when your senses, your experience tells you all is lost will have amazing results.

It was his steadfast faith that led Daniel to not get frustrated when his enemies succeeded in having king Darius pass the law that all subjects in the kingdom should pray to no god, but the king himself. Rather we read,

"But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to this God." (Daniel 6:10)

And for this Daniel was thrown into the lions den.

It was their steadfast faith, that led Shadrach, Mesech and Abednego to refuse to bow down to the statue of king Nebuchanezzar and worship him, and that steadfast faith gave them the courage to say to the king,

"O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you.  If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us.  He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty.  But even if he doesn't , Your Majesty can be sure that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up." (Daniel 3:16-18)

For their steadfast faith, God rewarded them.  For Daniel, God sent his angel into the lions den to shut their mouth. They were as docile as pussycats in front of Daniel. For Shadrach, Mesech and Abednego, He sent his angel into the fiery furnace. We read their bondages were burnt off, yet not a single hair on their body was burned, nor did their clothes smell of smoke.

Children of God, you will always have challenges in life. Some challenges would appear absolutely insurmountable! When Sennacherib, the Assyrian king, had a military campaign against the kingdom of Judah, where Hezekiah was king, most of Judah fell, but Hezekiah held on to the fortified city of Jerusalem. His steadfast faith would not allow him to concede defeat in face of insurmountable odds.  From his experience he knew that he faced a tough opponent in Sennacherib, but rather than throw in his towel and accept defeat, he brought his challenge to his God's presence and prayed about it, steadfastly trusting in his God for deliverance.  When all was seemingly lost, the LORD sent his angel (one angel) who wiped out a 185,000 of Senacherib's battle hardened soldiers in one night forcing him to withdraw his campaign against Hezekiah.

Philippians 4:6-7 states, "⁶ Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷ Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

Proverbs 3:5-6 reminds us, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take."

May God's grace give you steadfast faith, and through your actions open the eyes of others to see your God's glory!

Mighty to Save - Hillsongs