Good morning all!
Father, may You turn our world upside down if we live anything short of the glory and strength You have given. Show us how to be radically different in this world, to live by faith alone and to love beyond measure. Let us experience the power of Your kingdom today and let Your grace become that which we desire only, Amen.
Isaiah 24
1 Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.
Look at what the Lord has done, He has turned your earth upside down and made it a waste place and it scattered everyone.
2 And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.
A lot of activity here including some church folk…hmm…must be a busy day
3 The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word.
The Lord left NO stone unturned; the earth was completely empty and taken away for the Lord almighty hath spoken it and He will make good on His word.
4 The earth mourneth [and] fadeth away, the world languisheth [and] fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.
The Earth cries and fades away, the WORLD is weak and fades away too, the haughty people of the earth have NO strength.
Bottom line
Why would God turn our world upside down? You suppose He found something was missing? Remember the good ole days when you would empty the cereal box to get the toy they put inside of it? I think God is doing the same thing here. He empties our earth because WE have trouble finding the valuable prize God has placed inside of us. What is it? HEART!!! The whole world is so busy worried about themselves, we interact with each other all day everyday…translation…we have become TRANSACTIONAL…Pastor and the church, show up Sunday preach a message, sing a song, say a prayer, thanks for coming see you next week…go shopping get what we want, pay the cashier see you next week…go to work on Monday get paid on Friday and so it goes. You know what’s missing from all those transactions? I noticed several titles listed in verse 2 but NOT the single mention of a name? And once I know your name what next? How about we LOVE each other? But all we know is complete transaction and on to the next one. You suppose that’s how we treat God at times? Transactional God? The scripture goes on to say we have we have broken the everlasting covenant, what covenant? What promise does God expect to last forever?
[Jer 3:14 KJV] Return, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: It’s the greatest covenant established by God marriage, that’s right WE are His bride. Is that why people get married? TRANSACTION only? Probably won’t last very long if that’s what a marriage looks like. But that’s how we define our relationships in life, we search for the next transaction but NOT the heart. We got love all messed up, we think we know what love is until God comes along and empties out our earth because it’s all wrong. I hope you can see it this morning, good or bad the transactions don’t matter that much. Yes we all have them but the only reason we have them is so we can reveal the heart of Christ. In all those transactions whether they be good or bad the world should witness the heart of Christ in us. Follow? Now are we going to work on Monday and get paid on Friday? Of course, what do you suppose we should add to all these transactions? Hmm…what if the world had the opportunity to experience the love of God? And what if that experience led to something greater? What if it led to change? A change of heart that would have us look and sound more like Jesus Christ? What is the ordinance of Christ? What boundaries does He have?
[Eph 5:25 KJV] Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it. Hmm…well Jesus died for the church, the bride…based on that truth it would appear He had NO limits. So does this only apply to those that are married? NO, it’s a picture to show us what true love looks like…it’s NOT transactional it’s SACRFICIAL! Maybe God wants us to make the most of each moment instead of trying to make the MOST moments possible? Call me crazy but maybe the transaction isn’t nearly as important as we think, maybe it has everything to do with the PERSON you’re interacting with. Have you ever heard the expression be where you’re FEET are? Wouldn’t those moments mean more if we gave each other our undivided attention? Is it possible that we could love each other just like Christ loved US and GAVE Himself for us? Don’t worry about the transaction just focus on the person and keep the covenant…you have NO boundaries, you’re FREE to love others just like Jesus Christ.
Point to Ponder
How beautiful is His Bride? [Psa 90:17 KJV] And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; There is nothing more beautiful than when we LOVE each other and the only work required by our hands is forgiveness…you are the jewels in His crown.
Let’s all be who we’re called to be, In Him Phil
Faith – Family – Friends
