Rooted and Grounded

Reading from the Book of Isaiah 54:1-4, 61:7

 ¹ “Sing, barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the LORD. ² “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. ³ For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities. ⁴ “Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated.

Do you have a shame-based nature? Are you rooted or grounded in shame? The curse and power of shame can be broken off from you through the power of God. We know from Isaiah 54:4 that the Lord has promised to remove the shame and dishonor from us that we remember it no more.

⁷ Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours.
God has promised that in their place He will pour out upon us a twofold blessing. We will possess double what we have lost, and we will have everlasting joy.

Take your stand on the Word of God. Become rooted and grounded, not in shame and dishonor, but in the love of Christ, being complete in Him.

Resist & Overcome!

Reading from the Book of Matthew 4:1-11

¹ Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. ³ The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” ⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ⁶ “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.⁷ Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ⁹ “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” ¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.¹¹ Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

We should not be surprised when temptation comes. Satan deliberately tried to tempt Jesus, and he tries to tempt us. How do you respond to temptation?

Everytime Jesus was tempted, He responded with the Word of God. Be diligent to study God's Word, so that when temptation comes, you too will know what action to take in order to resist and overcome it.

Wait and Listen

Reading from the Book of Isaiah 55:1-13

 ¹ “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. ² Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. ³ Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. ⁴ See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a ruler and commander of the peoples. ⁵ Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations you do not know will come running to you, because of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor.” ⁶ Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. ⁷ Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. ⁸ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. ⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. ¹⁰ 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, ¹¹ 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. ¹² 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. ¹³ Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the LORD’s renown, for an everlasting sign, that will endure forever.”

The prophets were mouthpieces for God. They were called to speak God's words to people, situations, cities, dry bones, moutains, or whatever God told them to speak to. To full their God ordained mission, they had to be submitted to the Lord, and their mouths had to be consecrated to Him.

Those who desire to be used by God need to allow Him to deal with them concerning their mouths and the things they say. If you want Him to use you, be prepared for Him to deal with you concerning your words so that you are able to represent Him well with your mouth when the time comes for you to speak His Word.

As you wait on Him to show you what His desires are, open your ears to hear. Wait and listen.

Perfect Peace

Reading from the Book of Isaiah 26:1-3

¹ In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; God makes salvation its walls and ramparts. ² Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith. ³ You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.

Peace of mind must precede peace in every other area of our lives. Isaiah 26:3 promises perfect peace to those who keep their mind on God. When we allow our minds to wander and when we think to much about everything we do, we push ourselves out of peace and into turmoil. When we think about the future and the responsibilities we will have, we can be overwhelmed. This kind of thinking is called anxiety. We grow anxious and lose our peace when we spend today trying to figure out tomorrow or when we try to live tomorrow in our minds today.

We will never enjoy the rich and fruitful lives God intends for us unless we learn to disipline our thoughts and resist anxiety by keeping our minds on God.

God promises that He will keep us in perfect peace when our minds are stayed on Him. Turn your thoughts toward Him and let your mind lead you into perfect peace!