What’s The Word?

Isaiah 40:31

“…but they who wait for the
LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

What a great word picture!  This has been one of my favorite verses for many years - and for many reasons!

First, there is wisdom in the mandate to wait for the LORD. After all, He is the one who KNOWS ALL and CAN DO ALL, right?  Well, I don’t know about you, but I don’t like waiting…it seems that we are always waiting for something. We wait for the school bus, for our meals at restaurants, for our packages in the mail; we wait at the doctor’s office, and in line at the amusement parks, grocery stores, and red lights!

So, do we really need to wait for the LORD, too? Can’t He just speak the word and have things happen? Does time even affect Him? The answers are, of course, yes and no.  He could speak the word and our problems would be solved, but since He knows better than us and has promised to meet our needs (not necessarily our wants), it doesn’t always happen the way we hope. Also, God is outside of time - He created it - and therefore, His timing is not like ours. In fact, He sees the beginning and the end at the same time! Let that sink in…

Here’s a different perspective: use the word “trust” for the word “wait.” As believers, we put our trust in God, so think about it, as we are trusting Him to work in our lives, provide for our needs, and guide us on our path, aren’t we waiting on Him?

Second, we read about the direct result of waiting on God. We will have renewed strength. Waiting can sometimes give us the rest we need and rejuvenate our bodies. I believe this can be a spiritual strengthening as well…with our hearts and minds resolved to trust on God’s timing and in His perfect choices, we will experience new energy which may cause us to see, think, and understand more clearly.

Third, I love the analogy of having eagles wings. Have you ever watched an eagle?  They are beautiful, strong, elegant birds, and they fly effortlessly. This is the kind of feeling we get when we realize that God is in control of our problems; we can sometimes soar above the difficulties when we trust Him to help us. This verse goes on to talk about running and walking. Now, I don’t care much for running, but to be able to run and not grow tired? And to keep walking on and on without feeling faint? That would be fantastic!

So next time you find yourself impatiently waiting for something or someone, take a deep breath, think about an eagle flying high above the storm clouds and thank the LORD for His plan to work in your life; and get ready for that renewed burst of strength as you wait on Him.

Colossians 4:2-6

“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison - that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”

This is a powerful passage. Picture the scene: Paul is in prison - again - for preaching the Word.  I don’t know what prisons were like in New Testament times, but I can imagine the accommodations were pretty rough and the prisoners not treated well.  So, if you were Paul and writing a letter from jail to your friends, what would you ask them to pray for? For you to get out of prison, right? Not Paul. His request was that he would have the chance to speak to people around him (prisoners, guards, etc.) about Jesus! If you weren’t endeared to Paul and his heart for the gospel before this, maybe you can understand how excited I am to meet him one day in heaven! What a guy! In fact, through ALL of his perilous journeys (read 2 Corinthians 4 for a list), Paul thought more of how he was going to spread the good news of Christ than of his own health and safety.

So to the passage: Paul encourages his readers (which includes us!) to be steadfast in prayer - which means making it a normal and important part of our daily lives - and to be watchful with thanksgiving. To me, this means we need be praying often, being aware of what we’re saying to God (not just going through the motions), and then being truly grateful about His answers. Gratitude goes a long way and makes a big difference in relationships. Have you ever noticed that it is really hard to stay mad at people or situations when you start praying about them? So much anger and bitterness is squelched with a thankful heart, and I’m sure you will agree that there is ALWAYS something to be grateful for every day.

The last 2 verses give us much to ponder:

[5] “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.” It is crucial how we behave and respond to unbelievers…they are watching us, and if our actions don’t match up with our words, it will make or break our reputation for Christ. We don’t know how much time we have on this earth, or how many opportunities we will have to reach people with the gospel of grace, so it is very important to be wise in every situation.

[6] “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” I love this word picture. I don’t use much salt in my diet, but I know that salt has at least two benefits to food: to flavor and to preserve. I like how Paul makes the connection that our speech can be just like salt. The way we talk to others can add ‘flavor’ to a conversation as well as help heal and comfort.  However, on the other hand, to put salt on an open wound can hurt like crazy, so we should also be careful how we speak to people who are hurting, as our words can be destructive!

A children’s song comes to mind where the verse goes, “Oh be careful, little mouth, what you say…”!  Our words are so important. Don’t you believe for a moment the old phrase, ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.’ This is simply not true!  Words can hurt…but words can also bring life and blessings (see James 3:8-9).

Lots of good take-aways with these few verses…I hope you have been
encouraged and challenged to be conscious of your prayers and your words.
Let’s honor the LORD with both.

DECEPTION

Passages are from Isaiah 14, Isaiah 43, & Ezekiel 28

How do we know when we are being deceived?  Deceit is ‘to cause one to believe what is not true; to mislead and intentionally falsify information.’ So, deception at its best is weaving just enough truth into something in order to make it believable, when in reality it is truly false at its core…

I believe we are being deceived all the time. We only have to look around … and while I can’t answer how we are deceived so easily - it’s different for each person - I certainly know who is to blame. He is called the Father of Lies, and he is pure evil. None other than the enemy of our souls, Satan.  The sad thing is, he wasn’t always that person. The Bible tells us in Isaiah and again in Ezekiel that Satan (a.k.a. Lucifer) was the most beautiful angel God had created. Check out this description:

“You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your
covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx and jasper, sapphire,
emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and
your engravings. You were an anointed guardian cherub…you were
blameless in your ways…”. Ezekiel 28:12-15 (portions)

And then the unthinkable happened:

“In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence in your
midst, and you sinned…Your heart was proud because of your beauty;
you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. . . All who
know you among the peoples are appalled at you; you have come to a
dreadful end and shall be no more forever.”    Ezekiel 28:16-19 (portions)

So what was his deal? He had the primo spot of being in the presence of the Almighty Creator, and from these descriptions, he was a fine specimen! But he blew it; and for what? He wanted to BE God (see Isaiah 14:13-14). It wasn’t good enough for him to be God’s best angel, he wanted to be in charge. Does that sound familiar?  We see this same form of pride all around us in the world, and it should come as no surprise the condition in which we humans find ourselves because of it.

So Satan fell and cursed his future by the same methods he used to deceive our first parents, Adam & Eve, when he told them they could be like God, knowing good and evil (Genesis 3:1-5). Thus, the great Deceiver actually deceived himself!  We are no different, many times. I see this same self-generated pride becoming a stumbling block to many of us, causing great turmoil in our lives. Why do we always want more? Why is being a child of the King not enough? Sin. We are born into it. The only escape is to be humbly repentant, seeking forgiveness, and being redeemed by the blood of Jesus who died in our place. But even among the children of God this pride and deceit can be seen running rampant.

The cure? We need to continually remember our place in this universe - we were created to glorify God and make much of Him (Isaiah 43:7). In return, He promises to love, value, protect, provide for, redeem, and bless us…I’d say that’s a pretty sweet deal. Sure beats the deceptive alternative.

It’s a Mystery…

“…I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:25-27

The mystery of Christ living in us…that truly is an enigma - how is that even possible?  We’ve heard of people being possessed (not a pretty picture), so I guess we can understand in a small way, but the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is different than possession; it’s sharing life with Almighty God, Creator of the universe, who wants a relationship with us, His creation!

There is a picture (unfortunately I cannot find it to show you) that my son Anthony drew when he was about 5 years old, after he had come to understand the need for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.  It was his rendition of Jesus “in his heart.”  In the drawing, there is a boy and then part of a man coming out from the boy’s chest.  While precious - coming from the mind of a preschooler - it doesn’t give us a full understanding of the concept. I believe when Jesus is invited into our “hearts,” He doesn’t just live in our heart, but He resides in our entire being. He wants every part of our life surrendered to His control, and if we are living that way, then people won’t just see Him peeking out from our hearts (like my son’s drawing), but they will see ALL of Him - through us - as we allow Him the lordship He deserves.

With October 31st approaching, we might make the comparison of our putting on a costume and becoming someone different… except the change we experience through Christ is not just exterior. We are transformed and become a new person from the inside (1 Corinthians 5:17), and it’s not just for an evening - it’s for forever.  This is a supernatural mystery.  I also recall a TV show in the 1980’s called “Automan” where the main character developed a high-tech holographic man with whom he would kind of meld and become in order to fight crime.  I always thought this was a great example of how we are to “put on the new man” (Ephesians 4:22-24) and be transformed into the person God intends us to be.

Paul explained this to the church of Colossae in Colossians 1:25-27, saying that God has finally revealed to His people this mystery, which is Christ in us, the hope of glory!  Hope. I still love that word and am trying to unfold its many facets this year. To believe in and look forward to God’s final glory, our home in heaven, is what this mystery is all about.  Those who do not believe in Christ or have not put their faith in His saving work on the cross cannot have this hope. It is reserved for the redeemed because with the Holy Spirit of God in their lives, they can experience His presence, glimpse His glory, and be assured of their future eternity.

So the mystery doesn’t need to be mysterious. The Bible’s truths are written so that we may know and be assured of our salvation and destiny (where we will go when we die). God is not some magician in the sky who won’t tell us his tricks…He is the Almighty Creator who is loving and personal and wants to be our Father. Hmm, the choice of hope and a future versus a life of fear and uncertainty…what do you choose?  For me, there’s no mystery there!