Isaiah 65: 17-24 and Isaiah 66:2
17 I now create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind again.
18 Be glad forever and rejoice in what I create; for I create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight. 19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people. The sound of distress and the voice of weeping will not be heard in it any more.
20 You will no longer know of dead children or of adults who do not live out a lifetime. One who reaches a hundred years will have died a mere youth, but one who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed.
21 They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant crops and eat their fruit. 22 No longer will they build houses for others to dwell in; no longer will they plant for others to eat the harvest.
For as the days of a tree will the days of my people be; my chosen ones will long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 Their labor will not be in vain, nor will they bear children destined for misfortune, for they will be a people blessed by Yahweh, and their descendants with them.
24 Before they call, I will have answered; while they are yet speaking, I will have heard.
66:2
2 My hands have made all this and it is all mine, but what I am looking for is the one who is meek and contrite of heart, who trembles at my word.
I tremble in awe at the majesty and wonder of Your sacred word.
Philippians 3:3-8
3 We are the true circumcised people since we serve according to the Spirit of God, and our confidence is in Christ Jesus rather than in our merits.4 I myself do not lack those human qualities in which people have confidence. If some of them seem to be accredited with such qualities, how much more am I! 5 I was circumcised when eight days old. I was born of the race of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin; I am a Hebrew, born of Hebrews. With regard to the Law, I am a Pharisee, 6 and such was my zeal for the Law that I persecuted the Church. As for being righteous according to the Law, I was blameless.7 But once I found Christ, all those things that I might have considered as profit, I reckoned as loss. 8 Still more, everything seems to me as nothing compared with the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord. For his sake I have let everything fall away and I now consider all as garbage, if instead I may gain Christ.
Verse 3 and verses 7-8 express beautifully what Christians experience once they fall in love with You. We are what we are only through the grace lavished upon us by Your Holy Spirit. Discovering You, everything else loses its savor. What was once considered important now has become meaningless. To know You better each day, to plumb deeper into the treasures of Your infinitely rich and powerful Word, this is joy and gladness beyond imagination.
Luke 15:1-10
15 1 Meanwhile tax collectors and sinners were seeking the company of Jesus, all of them eager to hear what he had to say. 2 But the Pharisees and the scribes frowned at this, muttering. “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 3 So Jesus told them this parable:
4 “Who among you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, will not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and seek out the lost one till he finds it? 5 And finding it, will he not joyfully carry it home on his shoulders? 6 Then he will call his friends and neighbors together and say: ‘Celebrate with me for I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you, just so, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner than over ninety-nine upright who do not need to repent.
8 What woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one, will not light a lamp and sweep the house in a thorough search till she finds the lost coin? 9 And finding it, she will call her friends and neighbors and say: ‘Celebrate with me for I have found the silver coin I lost!’ 10 I tell you, in the same way there is rejoicing among the angels of God over one repentant sinner.”
Beloved, how comforting it is to the sinner to know that all they need to do is be sorry for their sins - that's all it takes and no matter how far that sinner has sunk in the miry depths, You hasten to free him from the misery of sin. It is quite right for heaven to rejoice because grace has finally penetrated into the heart of the sinner who would otherwise have been lost - because it is absolutely horrifying that any soul could be lost after the awesome price You paid to ransom our souls.
Psalm 105:2-7
2 Sing to him, sing his praise, proclaim all his wondrous deeds.
3 Glory in his holy name; let those who seek the Lord rejoice.
4 Look to the Lord and be strong; seek his face always.
5 Remember his wonderful works, his miracles and his judgments,
6 you descendants of his servant Abraham, you sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
7 He is the Lord our God; his judgments reach the whole world.
This psalm tells me what my attitude ought to be. If I love You as I say I do, then I must sing Your praises, I must proclaim to all, the wonderful things You have done for me. I must glory in Your Holy Name. My constant and deeper discovery of Your beauty, power, splendor and majesty must be the reason for my rejoicing always, for You are my source of delight. My strength must emanate from You alone. Gazing at You I come to a fuller knowledge of who I am -and this knowledge must increase my love for You. You take the nothing that I am and You fill it with Your everything. What do I need my Beloved when I have You?
Beloved, all the verses from 17-24 of this chapter are full of the most beautiful promises and I claim each one of them. You have heard me even before I make my needs known to You. You have answered me while I was still speaking. Lord, God, Creator of all that is seen and unseen I want to be the one who is meek and contrite of heart.
No comments:
Post a Comment