Good morning, all!
Father, we need You this morning every hour we need Thee. We know this world has nothing to offer us that Your heaven hasn’t already provided, open the eyes of our heart so we would only look to You, Your truth, Your grace and Your mercy. And should anything tell us otherwise even our own feelings, help us Lord not to give up on You, on faith, on love, Amen.
Isaiah 38
11 I said, I shall not see the LORD, [even] the LORD, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.
I said, I can’t see God in my life, and I will see man no more…translation…if nobody sees me what’s the point to living?
17 Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul [delivered it] from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.
I looked for peace for my soul was in great pain, BUT you Lord, love my soul and pulled me from that pit of depression and ALL my wrong doings you hid behind YOUR back so none could see.
18 For the grave cannot praise thee, death can [not] celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
The grave can’t praise YOU and death can’t celebrate YOU; and if we lose hope we are at best in a grave.
19 The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I [do] this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.
The living, the breathing can always praise YOU, as I do this DAY; the FATHER to the children shall make known Your truth by the WAY we live.
Bottom line
Have you ever given up on something in life? Maybe a hobby, a diet, school, job, dream, person, God? If we’re honest it’s all the above, the place we give up is in our mind and from there it usually unravels. That’s what King Hezekiah is dealing with in this passage, he’s kind of feeling sorry for himself because he THINKS there’s NO evidence of God in his life.
[Ecc 12:7 NIV] And the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. Every person breathing this morning has the spirit of God inside them and even after they take their last breath on this earth, news flash…we RETURN to God…translation breathing or NOT God is always present in our life…His word is the EVIDENCE. You see Hezekiah was looking for evidence based on his feelings, but he couldn’t SEE God, why? He was too busy FEELING sorry for himself. You know what pity will begin to whisper in our ears? I don’t need you which is known as DEATH in this passage and the GRAVE can’t praise which means I give up. Do you suppose if we live a life of faith and believe in God, we should speak those words or think those words? When we do we kill faith and it kills the relationship with God in our life…you can’t SEE Him anymore. I think that’s what happened to Hezekiah, and the bible credits him with being a good king so maybe it’s not so far-fetched when we find ourselves feeling the same way. You know what happens when we give up on faith? We give up on each other, right after he said he couldn’t see God anymore he said he couldn’t see man either. Do you suppose God would have us give up on each other? The call is to RUN the race NOT tap out.
[1Co 12:21 NIV] The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” The EYE…faith shouldn’t say to the HAND…works of love I DON’T NEED YOU and the HEAD…mind of Christ shouldn’t say to the FEET…walk in peace I DON’T NEED YOU. He said I don’t need you TWICE, once for God and once for the people in your life. There is nothing that will KILL your faith faster than speaking those words, they are NOT the words of Christ.
[1Co 12:20 NIV] As it is, there are many parts, but one body. There is only ONE body in Christ and when we say to one another I don’t need you, faith is DEAD.
[Heb 6:6 NLT] And who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame. How many times are we going to nail Jesus to the cross? Probably more times than any of us can count. You don’t think the Romans are the only ones that crucified Jesus? The church crucified Him first when they denied Him…I don’t need you. Calvary was just the physical representation of that denial. Remember those closest to him…Peter…denied him more than once. What was the denial? I don’t know him and when you don’t him it’s the same as I don’t need him. Was it true? NOPE it was a lie he knew Jesus same as you and I. The LIVING, the LIVING shall praise you this DAY…I need you…I will NOT give up and my life will CELEBRATE YOU…it’s NOT a celebration if your all alone go find someone and tell them I NEED YOU!!!
Point to Ponder
A word to the wise… [Luk 18:1 NIV] Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. Only fools give up…keep praying.
Let’s all need God and one another, In Him Phil
Faith – Family – Friends
