Article for Sunday September 24, 2023
Isaiah 55:9 9For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Would that we could have our thoughts aligned with God’s. What would this world be like, and would everyone flourish in it? Instead, we mostly concentrate on our own needs and desires. Not that all desires are wrong and not that all our needs are truly needs. We all muddle around seeking self-glory in some way or another, some hoping to leave their mark on a world that does not really care.
Yes, there are those who care about their loved ones. Some care and worry about how the world around them will affect their lives. Some even care about the well-being of others. And some care about whether they will get what they think is owed to them as they care about nothing else.
It’s that sinful nature that gets in the way of aligning our thoughts and our ways with God’s. Not that our ways and our thoughts never align with God’s, but they never stay aligned for very long. We have ambitions that are driven by our desires and our desires many times are driven by our sinful nature.
Many people feel they do not need God. And many people think they can redesign God. there are those who try to make their own god, or worship a false god, and again there are people who worship evil in place of God. We have a sick world that lives every day in denial.
Of course, God’s ways are higher than ours. And God’s thoughts are purer than ours. God truly knows what is good and right for all. We mostly see what we want to be good and right for ourselves.
Isaiah 55:6 6“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;
The world is not seeking God but trying its best to get rid of God. What are we doing as a church? Are we just trying to get by? Are we waiting for the day when we “get” to close our doors forever? I don’t know if you noticed but the major players in the Holy Scriptures were much older than we are. Yet these very old people worked with God. You might laugh, but so did Abraham and Sarah. It really is never too late.
It is not about a legacy; it’s really about saving people’s lives. These lives that need saving are those who still await the adoption to be God’s children. Let us not be a hindrance to the young, but an outreach of arms and hands to help them come to God. We are old, but we know we are saved. Let us not be complacent in our salvation but be bold in spreading the salvation Jesus bought for everyone.
Have we stopped seeking the Lord because we are old? My hands hurt every day, in fact it hurts to type, write, or to tie my shoes. Should I give up, say I have done it all, quit, or retire? Or should I put my faith in God and continue to serve Him to be a tool for God to grow His kingdom of heaven? For as long as God will use me…
Isaiah 55:7 7let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
The world does not realize we have a God of mercy, a God of grace, a God of forgiveness. And I think that there are some Christians that do not know or won’t tell others of this great God we have. JESUS DIED FOR OUR SINS!!! God did not send His son into the world to condemn! But to save the sinner!
Listen to the Holy Spirit, pick up your cross, feel the guilt of your sin, repent, take a breath of confidence in Jesus Christ who forgives us from the cross and rejoice in His forgiveness. There, doesn’t that actually feel better. Yea! We are not perfect, but we are FORGIVEN!!!
Isaiah 55:8 8For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
When all is said and done, we realize that through all of our weeds, brushes, and thorns; we have a loving God. Yes, a loving God who let His Son die for our sins so we could be saved. Who does that, who allows their loved one to die for someone else’s sin?
We have a God who has made Himself a God of good, a God who is willing to sacrifice for the sake of saving His creation. We truly have a God of grace and mercy, a God of true love. And God loves us unconditionally. How can we not love Him back when He does all this for us even when we are cursed with a sinful nature. Amen.
Written by Pastor Curtis May.
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