Author: kezha1

Christian service to others is the overflow which pours from our life filled with love and devotion for the Lord. It’s our intimate relationship with our Redeemer that causes us to want to serve others …as a reflection of the love we’ve received so graciously. Our service to God is a deliberate love-gift back to Him for what He has done in our lives. So service to others isn’t optional, neither is it something that needs a great deal of preparation & forethought…we just need to be ready, willing & able. For just as there is a multitude of us within the Body of Believers…there is just as many ways to serve. And when each of us is serving fittingly, the Church can’t help but be blessed.

The vision of God’s holiness astonished, overwhelmed, and convicted Isaiah of his moral & spiritual impurity….his guilt so great, all Isaiah could feel was inadequacy & doom. For he immediately realized not only his but his people’s deceptive & slanderous speech, thoughts, & motivation had caused them to walk far away from God’s Will. We see elsewhere in the Bible where Ezekiel, Daniel, Paul, & John all had similar experiences when seeing the glory of the Lord…all falling facedown – overcome by the majesty of the Sovereign Lord, the All-powerful King of Kings.

Jesus had just gotten done giving a particularly hard teaching…and many of the people following Him took offense, refusing to listen any further and unwilling to accept His words. And it says they turned away & rejected Him. So this prompted Jesus to turn to the Twelve disciples & ask a very pointed question, “You don’t want to leave too do you?” Jesus did this not because He was fearful of being rejected by them also, but to bring them to a reckoning of personal confession. Did they have faith in who Jesus said He was, or did they too have lingering doubts, & uncertainty? Peter then answered for the Twelve, giving a firm confession of faith…recognizing Jesus by the divine Title of Holy One of God.

Jericho was a formidable city with strong, tightly closed massive gates & fortified walls. Yet God’s declaration over the city didn’t waver or vacillate…for in His eyes it was already accomplished…a done deal. So even though they only saw the impossibility of this…the Jewish people obeyed or as Hebrews 11:30 tells us, “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.” Sometimes the promises of God look like utter impossibilities in our current situation. It’s when our present circumstances & God’s promises seem to be so far apart, that short of a miracle it will never happen. But if we will only trust in God’s sovereign work & the promise that it’s already done…He will deliver it into our hands.

The Babylonians were unwilling to set the Jewish people free…instead using their power for destruction & cruelty…their hearts & minds hardened against God. But they didn’t realize just Who they were fighting against. It says here that the mighty hand of God was about to liberate & set free His people…loosening the bonds of the wicked, undoing the straps of the yoke to let the oppressed go free & breaking every yoke. (Isaiah 58:6) Our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, continues to be just as powerful against the things that oppress His people. He is always there interceding & advocating on our behalf…contending against those who contend with us. (Isaiah 49:25)

It’s our duty as fellow Believers to encourage one another…or as Hebrews 10:24-25 tells us, “to stir up one another.” Adherence to this Scripture is vitally important because within our Christian fellowship you can bet there are still those with unbelieving hearts. Hearts toughened by adversity & hardship or corrupted by false teaching. Therefore we are called to guard our own & each other’s ability to withstand the deceitfulness of sin by encouraging one another daily.

The difference between what the Scribes taught & Jesus’ teaching was simple…in John 1:14 it tells us that the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. In other words, the omnipotent voice of God came to earth through the incarnation of His Son, Jesus Christ…and with it the right, dominion, and complete power to carry out whatever Jesus declared. The crowds quickly realized that the manner in which Jesus taught was completely different. The Scribes taught by appealing to traditions and the past…while Jesus taught with newness & divine wisdom. We see this in the Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said…but I say…” The Scribes might have had some knowledge of the Mosaic Law…but Jesus was the very manifestation & embodiment of that Word.

When we are thirsting after the Lord…when we’re going through those times of arid wilderness, it’s good to know God’s there. All we have to do is ask for guidance during sorrow, confusion, & loneliness, and He will answer. “Send out Your light & Your truth; let them lead me.” can be our prayer as we long for clarity and God’s perspective…aching for answers & the burden to be lifted off our shoulders. We may dwell for a bit in an arid & dry land…but we never have to doubt where the Living Water comes from to quench our thirst.

God’s judgment is always balanced & fair. Never will He correct by superficial evidence or rebuke because of shallow external appearance only. And we’re suppose to be the same way…but how many times do we make snap decisions about someone only by what they look like? In the Book of Galatians, during Paul’s absence, teachers from Palestine had come insisting that the Gentile Believers couldn’t be “true Christians” if they weren’t circumcised. Paul refuted this notion by saying, “God doesn’t judge by external appearances.” (Galatians 2: 6) …and neither should we. Or we can look at John 7:24 where Jesus is arguing with the Jewish leaders about Him healing on the Sabbath. He tells them, “Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.” In other words, the Jewish leaders were picking & choosing what they thought was correct to do on the Sabbath (even if it meant going against Sabbath regulations) rather than doing what was ethically upright.

There are only two miracles of Jesus that appear in all four Gospels…the feeding of the 5,000 & the resurrection…but only in the Gospel of John are the disciples named who Jesus tested by telling them to, “Give these people something to eat.” Both Philip & Andrew were some of the first disciples to be called by Jesus. Both had professed early on that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. (John 1:41-45) Yet when confronted with what they felt was something impossible, they both crumbled. They only saw the throngs of people as a overwhelming & unsurmountable problem with no solution. But Jesus wasn’t looking for help when He told them to feed the people…He was looking for faith. We’re a lot like Philip & Andrew…we’re happily following along with Jesus when suddenly the impossible happens and that’s all we can see. But God is the God of the impossible…making a way when there is no way…and all He is asking for from us is faith.