I've been reading through Isaiah lately, drawn in my promises of God, promises of hope, of peace, of rest.
"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal."-Isaiah 26:3-4
"LORD, you establish peace for us" -Isaiah 26:12a
Isaiah also reminds us of the coming Christ, born a helpless baby, just as we were, fully reliant on humans, fallible humans.
"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." -Isaiah 41:10
It is only in God that we find the freedom to rest, he provides us with perfect peace when we trust in Him, establish ourselves firmly on Christ the rock.
He has established peace already, all ready, waiting for us to come and abide.
"For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." -Matthew 11:30
He asks us to come, lay down our burdens, and rest in him. It is out of this rest that fruit can grow.
A tree can only grow tall and strong if it first grows it's roots downwards, giving it a firm foundation. The first part of life it does not worry about looking good, showing beautiful flowers and fruits to the world, it grows its solid base.
We need to do the same: we need to stop and grow our strong foundation too.
Christ has already done the hard work, claim it as an heir with Christ (see Galatians 4:7), and rest in Him.
Come rest in Him, and let your roots grow deep, deep down to living water and the eternal rock.
Will you come lay your burdens down and rest?
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Sunday, December 5, 2010
He is coming
Time skips ahead, seemingly ever faster, but God remains the same. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow - forever.
He has presented himself to us in different forms:
the judging God of Israel, the burning fire,
the babe born into this world, helpless as any one of us,
the man who saw beyond what the world sees, and who loved us so much that he gave his life up so that we might live,
the gentle spirit the lives inside us, the unquenchable flame.
But the are all one and the same, the same God, the same loving presence, the same burning fire.
So often we are busy trying to reach the goal, reach the end of something, finish up and be complete, but God never finishes, he never stops, like time itself.
Through the busy-ness we often struggle to just stop, to simply pause and BE, to rest in Him who is forever unchanging. He does not try to rush us, he simply invites us to rest and dwell in him, to lay down our burdens and be.
In this season of advent we are so busy looking forward to Christmas, rushing around getting everything ready, but maybe we need to pause for a while and think.
The world was not ready for Christ's coming, Mary and Joseph did not have a place prepared for him when he was born - they themselves were staying in a stable, and so they made do with what was around. Christ/God did not complain, he came to serve us, not to be served.
So why rush? The most important thing to get ready is our hearts. Prepare a place for him in our minds. God will work with the rest, whatever state it might be in. No decorations were hung for his birth, no feast was laid out in celebration. But he was welcomed into loving arms, into a world who needed him though they did not know it.
Our world still needs him. Him. Not the decorations and the feast, not the presents and the music. Just him.
Where are you centring your focus during this Advent, this build up to God-with-us Emmanuel?
Will you forget the world's way of celebrating for a few moments with me, and remember that Christ came with nothing prepared, yet He was still able?
He has presented himself to us in different forms:
the judging God of Israel, the burning fire,
the babe born into this world, helpless as any one of us,
the man who saw beyond what the world sees, and who loved us so much that he gave his life up so that we might live,
the gentle spirit the lives inside us, the unquenchable flame.
But the are all one and the same, the same God, the same loving presence, the same burning fire.
So often we are busy trying to reach the goal, reach the end of something, finish up and be complete, but God never finishes, he never stops, like time itself.
Through the busy-ness we often struggle to just stop, to simply pause and BE, to rest in Him who is forever unchanging. He does not try to rush us, he simply invites us to rest and dwell in him, to lay down our burdens and be.
In this season of advent we are so busy looking forward to Christmas, rushing around getting everything ready, but maybe we need to pause for a while and think.
The world was not ready for Christ's coming, Mary and Joseph did not have a place prepared for him when he was born - they themselves were staying in a stable, and so they made do with what was around. Christ/God did not complain, he came to serve us, not to be served.
So why rush? The most important thing to get ready is our hearts. Prepare a place for him in our minds. God will work with the rest, whatever state it might be in. No decorations were hung for his birth, no feast was laid out in celebration. But he was welcomed into loving arms, into a world who needed him though they did not know it.
Our world still needs him. Him. Not the decorations and the feast, not the presents and the music. Just him.
Where are you centring your focus during this Advent, this build up to God-with-us Emmanuel?
Will you forget the world's way of celebrating for a few moments with me, and remember that Christ came with nothing prepared, yet He was still able?
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
there is no soundness
"Your whole head is injured,
your heart afflicted.
From the sole of your foot
to the top of your head
there is no soundness --
only wounds and bruises
and open sores,
not cleansed or bandaged
or soothed with oil."
-Isaiah 1:5-6
Is this you?
Do you feel broken and bruised? Battered by life and its storms?
"Stop trusting in man,
who has but a breath in his nostrils.
Of what account is he?"
-Isaiah 2:22
The God of hope will "fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him." - Romans 15:13
"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty." - Psalm 91:1
He "will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding-place from the storm and rain." - Isaiah 4:6
"Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." - Isaiah 1:18
God, the God of hope, will not leave you to be battered by life, he will not leave you broken and bruised. Come to him and let him treat your wounds, the sore places in your heart, and rest in Him.
The shelter he gives us cannot be ripped away, all we have to do is dwell in the shelter he provides.
"Come, O house of Jacob,
let us walk in the light of the LORD."
-Isaiah 2:5
Will you come and rest in Him with me? He promises to be like cool refreshing water to our weary and parched souls (see Isaiah 58:11).
your heart afflicted.
From the sole of your foot
to the top of your head
there is no soundness --
only wounds and bruises
and open sores,
not cleansed or bandaged
or soothed with oil."
-Isaiah 1:5-6
Is this you?
Do you feel broken and bruised? Battered by life and its storms?
"Stop trusting in man,
who has but a breath in his nostrils.
Of what account is he?"
-Isaiah 2:22
The God of hope will "fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him." - Romans 15:13
"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty." - Psalm 91:1
He "will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding-place from the storm and rain." - Isaiah 4:6
"Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." - Isaiah 1:18
God, the God of hope, will not leave you to be battered by life, he will not leave you broken and bruised. Come to him and let him treat your wounds, the sore places in your heart, and rest in Him.
The shelter he gives us cannot be ripped away, all we have to do is dwell in the shelter he provides.
"Come, O house of Jacob,
let us walk in the light of the LORD."
-Isaiah 2:5
Will you come and rest in Him with me? He promises to be like cool refreshing water to our weary and parched souls (see Isaiah 58:11).
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