3 Strengthen the weak hands, And make firm the feeble knees. 4 Say to those who are fearful-hearted, "Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, With the recompense of God; He will come and save you."
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. 6 Then the lame shall leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, And streams in the desert. 7 The parched ground shall become a pool, And the thirsty land springs of water; In the habitation of jackals, where each lay, There shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
8 A highway shall be there, and a road, And it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, But it shall be for others. Whoever walks the road, although a fool, Shall not go astray. 9 No lion shall be there, Nor shall any ravenous beast go up on it; It shall not be found there. But the redeemed shall walk there, 10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, And come to Zion with singing, With everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
and the part that stuck out in my mind was verses 8 and 9:
8 A highway shall be there, and a road, And it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, But it shall be for others. Whoever walks the road, although a fool, Shall not go astray. 9 No lion shall be there, Nor shall any ravenous beast go up on it; It shall not be found there. But the redeemed shall walk there,
wow. if that aint quite the promise! if i am one of the redeemed, even if i'm a fool, God is going to keep me and protect me. wow!
but how is that going to fit in with today, Lord? is that a word for our church today? gee i dunno.... it makes no sense to me!
hack hack, cough cough... RATIONALIZATION..... i think i think too much.
so all through worship we kept hearing words about righteousness and the righteous path, but did i clue in and speak up? no! (doh!) of course being on the worship team.... no, that's an excuse, i could have if i wanted to... but i was still thinking too much. doh!
so then all through tim's word about our REDEEMING God, i'm like, oh! oh! oh! so did i get up and speak it after? no.... i hestitated and lost any opening. i was still thinking too hard... well, wouldn't that be redundant, Lord? i mean, tim just shared the very same verse in his message.....
oh my gosh, was i just questioning God? i think i was! doh! and i was thinking again! trying to make 'sense' of it, rationalizing it, doh doh doh!!!!!!
and now i'm like, DOH! *whacks self in head*
here it is again:
8 A highway shall be there, and a road, And it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, But it shall be for others. Whoever walks the road, although a fool, Shall not go astray. 9 No lion shall be there, Nor shall any ravenous beast go up on it; It shall not be found there. But the redeemed shall walk there,
well, gee, sometimes you feel unclean, "so who are you to walk that road? you're obviously not walking that road".... LIE! if you have been redeemed, you are walking that road, the Highway of Holiness. you are on that road not becuase of your own righteousness, but becuase God called you to be there, He redeemed you and made you righteous so you are able to walk that road! think you screw up too much? you are a fool? so what! He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it!!!! you'll get there! God is going to keep you on that road, that Highway of Holiness, sanctifying you, making you more holy, and in the meantime - and foreverafter - will keep you from going astray.... and if you do wander off the road, He is gonna fetch you back. and in time you will be less and less a fool... and more and more wise.... but no matter how foolish you still are, how much farther you have to grow, as you are walking down this road, God is going to be faithful to protect you, and keep you for Himself, along the way.
ain't that kewl?
No comments:
Post a Comment