God's Words

Good Morning,

Isaiah 55:8-13 (NIV)
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.
"As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
You will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands.
Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree,
and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the LORD's renown,
for an everlasting sign,
which will not be destroyed."

Without even giving any conscious thought as to the meaning and reason for these verse of Scripture, I was thrilled simply in the beauty of the words as they flowed into my mind. It seems that I could almost hear God speaking these words and, thus, feel the emotion that He had when He spoke them to Isaiah. Such, very often, is that which we read in the Bible...clear, direct, explicit, and yet beautiful to read and feel. For this I am so very grateful to God.

I am also grateful to Him for what He has to teach us in His word. What I hear this morning speaks to me about how His word never returns to Him empty. Yes, of course there is much more in these verses, but the fact that what God has to say...in the Bible, by way of those who preach the Gospel, you and I as we hear Him and tell of what He says, so many ways He speaks...what He has to say to us goes out and does as He would have it do. As is put here today, "Will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

So, that brings us to this day and age in which we live. You see, we have a responsibility when we hear from God. We have the responsibility to be His mouth in speaking the words that He gives us from time to time. He doesn't speak into our hearts and minds so we would sit and simply be glad that we've heard from God and just enjoy that marvelous feeling deep inside. No my friends, that really is only the first part of hearing from God. Wonderful, certainly, but we can't let it just sit inside. We've got to get it out to where it will do what God wants done with it.

Does that mean that every one of us must get up in the pulpit and begin to preach to a congregation? Does it mean that all of us must sit down at our computer or pencil and pater to write a book? No, of course not! What it does mean is that we are to take that which God gives us in however He chooses to speak to us, His very word, and let Him guide us as to how we are to sow that seed He has provided. It could simply be that we speak to someone in the line at a grocery store. Maybe it's to make a phone call to a friend or relative or acquaintance and let God use us with that person. Perhaps we are to speak up in a small group from our local congregation or even to those gathered in a lunch room at our workplace. Or, just possibly, it IS that we are to write a book or speak to a large congregation. After all, we should never minimize how God might choose to have His words spoken.

Let us this day bask in the beauty of God's words to us in these verses of Isaiah. Then, let's think about how God might be speaking into our lives so that we can then use His words that we've heard to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ and God's ultimate plan of salvation for a lost and hurting world. That, after all, letting people know about Jesus Christ, is what it's really all about, isn't it?

Let none of us fail in our responsibility to speak what God has spoken to us.

Love, peace, and blessings,

David