“No weapon formed
against you shall prosper!” Isaiah 54:17a NKJV Have you ever confessed this
scripture while the enemy is attacking you and yet they did not stop or you did
not get the victory in that situation? In the Church today that is not
uncommon, why? Because in today’s Church most believers are memory verse
Christians, they have memorized scriptures they have read or heard that make
them feel good or confident or strong. I was one for decades, when things were
not going my way or we were under attack I would quote scriptures that I had
learned like some kind of mantra even praying them in Jesus’ name hoping the
attack would stop, most of the time it did not.
Why? Because these scriptures have not been learned through
study nor experienced through life. Most Christians today do not know or
understand that the books of the Bible were not written in chapter and verse
form. So they read and memorize it in quick quotable sections not understanding
the full context of what GOD is telling us. We must read and study the
scriptures in context; what is GOD saying before and after the verses we are
reading, to whom, where, when, and why were they written; then we can receive
accurate understanding of the personal application to our life because we can
see ourself in that situation.
Jesus said that He was going to send the Church His Spirit
(Holy Spirit) to teach us and remind us of everything that He said; not to
teach us a few catch phrases; but His whole council which is found in the
Bible. Forget every bad or negative thing you have heard about the Bible, it is
the Word if GOD to humanity. He inspirited and commanded men to write what He
told them, what they had experienced and what others had been told and
experienced so that humanity would have His Word until the end of time, Jesus
even said so. What man has done to and with the Bible has not changed what He
says to us and how He expects us to love and serve Him.
Study Joshua 1:8; Psalm 19:7-11, 45:1; Isaiah 59:21; Habakkuk
2:1-3 Matthew 5:17-20; Luke 16:16-17; John 14:15-26; Galatians 3:19-4:7; 2
Timothy 2:14-16, 3:14-17; Hebrews 4:12, 8:10-11 (Jeremiah 31:33-34)
Now to what I heard from the LORD as I was resting this
morning after He awoke me to a time of worship. I was meditating on Isaiah 54
and 58 thought in my head I was thinking it was all in chapter 54. Isaiah 49
through 53 is mostly about Jesus, who He is and what He would do to redeem humanity.
Isaiah 54 through 57 is primarily about GOD’s invitation of salvation to
humanity. Isaiah 58 is about why GOD does not answer our cries and includes a
description of fasting that pleases GOD. Isaiah 59 is a reminder that sin separates
us from GOD but He has a plan for our salvation.
So one of the most quoted scriptures is Isaiah 54:17a quoted
at the top of this paper, the whole verse says, “No weapon formed against you
shall prosper and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall
condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD and their
righteousness is from Me says the LORD.” Isaiah 54:17 NKJV A couple of keys to
this verse is the fact that we quote only half of the blessing and that it is a
heritage for the servants of GOD who imparts His righteousness to them. We know
about the righteousness because that is also one of our other favorite verses
to quote, “We (I am) are the righteousness of GOD in Christ Jesus.” Which is
actually, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might
become the righteousness of GOD in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV this goes with
Romans 3:21-26.
So here is the point of my meditations this morning; we do
not often get the result of the scripture promises we quote because we do not
know or understand the premise upon which they are fulfilled. The two promises
of Isaiah 54:17 are for the SERVANTS of GOD, those who honor and serve Him with
their lives it is to His servants that He imparts His righteousness, like
Abraham, Moses and David. Does that mean we are to be like THEM? YES! Where we
are with the gift and calling GOD gave each of us we are to be His servant
doing His will in the earth as it is in Heaven. Sometimes like Daniel we have
to persevere and sometimes like Abraham, Moses and David we do not see it
fulfilled in our lifetime. That is GOD’s business!
Getting the promises of GOD is not about quoting scriptures
over and over to build up our faith, or claiming what Jesus did for us because
we want or need it. It is about faithful service to GOD and His purpose for our
life; we rarely get to choose what our call is that happens when we have already
found out what our gift is and then see that what we enjoy doing is what GOD
has called us to do. What we are good at, what we enjoy doing (not the
pleasures of the flesh or the world) is our call. When we yield it and serve
GOD with it we find the blessings and promises of GOD are Yes and Amen!
Another thing I was thinking about this morning was that
many Christians do not get the promises because they are not living in the
righteousness of GOD; we are called to be holy for GOD is Holy. If we do not
live holy lives (lives that are set apart to the service of GOD) then we are
not walking in His righteousness so we are not getting His blessings and
promises. I see and hear many prayer requests from Christians who are
distraught, fearful, overwhelmed, at their wits end, depressed, etc. Why are so
many Christians in these states; I have personally experienced all of these in
my life as a Christian? It is because we are not living a holy lifestyle, most
Christians do not even know what it means to live a holy lifestyle.
A holy lifestyle means that you do not cheat on your tax
return; when a casher gives you too much change or under charges you, you bring
it to their attention; you drive the speed limit; people say you are honest to
a fault; you do not hold a grudge or anger towards anybody for any reason; you
are sexually moral according to GOD’s standard; you exercise integrity in
everything you say and do; you have pure motives in everything you say and do;
you avoid the appearance of evil (by not doing anything others will misinterpret);
etc.
All that said, it is not easy Abraham, Moses and David all
struggled with living holy lives. But, their willingness and faithfulness to
GOD’s call and purpose for them allowed them to live in His favor and their
faith was credited to them as His righteousness. This is how we are called to
live our lives.
Study Leviticus 11:44-45; Matthew 5:13-48, 6:1-4, 15:1-20; Luke
11:7-52; Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 10; 2 Corinthians 6:1-7:1; Galatians 5; Ephesians
1:3-14, 5:1-21, 6:10-20; Philippians 2:5-18, 3:1-16; Hebrews 11; 1 Peter 1:13-21,
3:8-12
All of these scriptures are just a taste of what the Bible has
to say about how we should live and serve so that we can walk in the blessings
and promises of GOD. Yet all of the writers remind us that even as GOD’s
faithful children and servants life will be hard at times and that we can be
overcome but that we should rejoice in the testings, trials and tribulations of
life because GOD is at work in us through them. Even Jesus said we would be
persecuted, imprisoned and murdered for our faith and obedience. Therefore we
should remember those who are in trials and have been overcome with love and
compassion not judgment and critasizem.
Study Matthew 5:11-12, Luke 6:22-23; John 15:18-16:4; Romans
7:13-25, 8:18-30, 12:1-21, 15:1-13; 1 Corinthians 3:13-15; 2 Corinthians
10:1-6; Galatians 5:1-6; James 1:2-8, 5:19-20; 1 Peter 2:18-25, 3:13-4:6, 4:12-19;
1 John 5:16; Jude 1:20-25; Revelation 3:20, 12:7-12
Then there are the unanswerable questions; why do bad things
happen to good people and good things happen to bad people? Why do children get
painful, horrible, life stealing diseases? And many more things that we do not
understand? The easy answer is sin! It is the truth, because of Adam’s sin
humanity and the earth were perverted, sickness and death came and all of the atrocities
by humans that we see. So why does GOD not stop them if He is really love? This
answer is also easy, He gave humans a free will, that is the ability to do what
we want and so we do. What about why do Christians die in accidents and of
disease? Doesn’t GOD love and protect His servants? The simple answer is the
same two above, sin and freewill.
The fact is that we cannot know everything about GOD and why
things are the way they are while we live in this temporal world and body! In
fact we know very little! GOD makes that clear in statements like, “My thoughts
are not like your thoughts and My ways are not like your ways.” Or “You think I
am like you but I am not.” Everything that exists, exists within, by and for
GOD and His good pleasure. Throughout history there have been very few people
who have been in the presence of GOD and received direct revelation from Him.
What GOD has revealed about Himself to all of humanity through His Word the
Bible is enough to keep us in awe until eternity.
Study Genesis 1-9, 12:1-3, 7; 18, 32:22-32; Exodus 3, 19, 24;
Deuteronomy 32:1-4; 2 Samuel 7:18-22; Psalm 19, 33, 40, 50, 90, 103, 139; Isaiah
6:1-8, 55:8-9; Jeremiah 29:11-14; Matthew 10:27-31; Luke 9:28-36, 12:4-7; John
1:1-5, 9-18, 20:30-31, 21:24-25; 2 Corinthians 12:1-6, Hebrews 4; Revelation
1-2
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