My Dear Sisters, just as I was writing this post to you, a family urgency arose and I’m not going to be able to finish it. I’ve erased it and, in its place, put the segment of Scripture that I shared today in staff time before I got news of a serious family need. By faith, I choose to believe that this was what our gracious God wanted you to have today. It is a beautiful segment from Isaiah 41 that spoke very richly to us in staff and I pray will minister to you. (Vv.8-16) In it God is addressing Israel but, as you will see, many of the truths He speaks over them in this chapter concerning His heart toward them and His promise to help are echoed in the New Testament to believers under Christ’s new covenant.Ā If you have a more formal translation like the ESV, consider reading it first then below you’ll find the portion in Eugene Peterson’s translation, The Message. Its vivid language jumped out at me and really tended to my soul. My staff and I printed it out and circled parts of it that the Holy Spirit brought to life in our own hearts and minds and amid our own circumstances. We also wrote notes in the margins and reminders of other coinciding verses and then, in our closing prayer, we let the passages guide our intercessions. You might consider doing the same thing. The two simple words “don’t panic” leapt off the page at me. So did this: “I, God, want to reassure you.” Thank You, thank You, Lord.
Here it is and you’ll find my SSMT entry at the end of the post.
Isaiah 41:8-16 The Message
8ā10Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā āBut you, Israel, are my servant.
Youāre Jacob, my first choice,
descendants of my good friend Abraham.
I pulled you in from all over the world,
called you in from every dark corner of the earth,
Telling you, āYouāre my servant, serving on my side.
Iāve picked you. I havenāt dropped you.ā
Donāt panic. Iām with you.
Thereās no need to fear for Iām your God.
Iāll give you strength. Iāll help you.
Iāll hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you.
11ā13Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā āCount on it: Everyone who had it in for you
will end up out in the coldā
real losers.
Those who worked against you
will end up empty-handedā
nothing to show for their lives.
When you go out looking for your old adversaries
you wonāt find themā
Not a trace of your old enemies,
not even a memory.
Thatās right. Because I, your GOD,
have a firm grip on you and Iām not letting go.
Iām telling you, āDonāt panic.
Iām right here to help you.ā
14ā16Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā āDo you feel like a lowly worm, Jacob?
Donāt be afraid.
Feel like a fragile insect, Israel?
Iāll help you.
I, GOD, want to reassure you.
The God who buys you back, The Holy of Israel.
Iām transforming you from worm to harrow,
from insect to iron.
As a sharp-toothed harrow youāll smooth out the mountains,
turn those tough old hills into loamy soil.
Youāll open the rough ground to the weather,
to the blasts of sun and wind and rain.
But youāll be confident and exuberant,
expansive in The Holy of Israel!
Peterson, E. H. (2005). The Message: the Bible in contemporary language (Is 41:8ā16). Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress.
For my SSMT selection, this is the portion I have next in my memory work out of the Book of Colossians:
Beth, Houston. For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ. Colossians 2:1-2
I love you guys so much. Let’s press on with eyes of faith, Sisters. He who calls us is faithful!
Tags: Scripture Memory 2013
Mary from Brookfield, CT
I know the Lord is always with me, I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.
Psalm 16:18 NLT
Sherree from Mansfield, TX
Proverbs 11:28 MSG
A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump;
a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree.
Abbie, Katy “Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” Isaiah 43:7 NIV
Kelly, Glenwood, MD-
“For through the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think so as to have sound judgement, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many are one body in Christ and individually members one of another.” Romans 12:3-5 ESV
Sara Middleburg,FL.
Proverbs 15:1
A soft answer turnesth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.
KJV
Dawn
Dallas, GA
“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins?” Col. 1:13-14 NIV
Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need. (Luke 12:31 NLT)
Carrie, Atlanta, GA. “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” Luke 12:25 (NIV1984)
Lacie | Seattle
Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. NIV
We will tell the next generation about the Lord’s praiseworthy acts,
about his strength and the amazing things he has done.
Psalm 78:4 NET
Tanya, from Lorton, VA
2 Corinthians 4:9-10
…persecuted but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.
(NIV)
Lu, Garner NC
Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. -Habakkuk 2:2 ESV
Cindy, Mount Gilead
Psalm 94:18-19 NET
If I say, āMy foot is slipping,ā
your loyal love, O Lord, supports me.
When worries threaten to overwhelm me,
your soothing touch makes me happy
“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others.”
2 Corinthians 1:3-4a NLT
For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and He ponders all his paths. Proverbs 5:21 ESV
Beth R Liberty Lake, WA
James 1:20 NIV
Because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.
Shelly Elston, Portland, OR
“Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift. ”
Ephesians 4:29 ( The Message)
Vickie, Pella, Iowa
They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. Revelation 22:4(NIV)
Karen, Dallas TX:
The goal of this command is love,
which comes from a pure heart
and a good conscience
and a sincere faith.
1 Timothy 1:5 NIV
Marie in Post Falls, Idaho –
“As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him.”
– Titus 3:10 (ESV)
Katie
Kansas
My Power will rest on you when you are weak
2 Corinthians 12:9
Heather Ferris
McDonough, GA
“God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Cor. 5:21
Barb~St Cloud, MN~2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'”
Myra, London, England
“. . . you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish it’s work so that you may be mature and complete” James 1:3-4 NIV
Kara C, Aurora, IL
Psalm 19:14 (ESV)
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2 NIV
Psalm 33:4
For the word of the LORD is right, and all His work is trustworthy.
HCSB
Joan (Coppell, TX): Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and the moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. James 5:1-4 (NIV 1984)
Ceffie Bridgeport WV Romans 6:14 for sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. (1 John 3:18 NIV)
Ellen, Chattanooga, TN
Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him.
Philippians 2:12b-13 NLT
Galatians 5:22-23 NIV
But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
On life today you were speaking about the scriptures where Jesus refused the wine…mt27:34 wine mixed with gall-which was poison and he would probably died of this and not the cross…I don’t know if this is important
Amy S. from Saint Cloud, FL
“Then you will know that I am the Lord. Those who hope in me will not be disappointed.”
Isaiah 49:23b
(NIV)
Karie-Phoenix
Look at the birds in the sky! They donāt plant or harvest. They donāt even store grain in barns. Yet your Father in heaven takes care of them. Arenāt you worth more than birds?
Matthew 6:26 NLT
Darcy, Rosenberg, Tx “And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may go well with you.” Deuteronomy 6:18A ESV
Denise, Davis, IL. “Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down”.-Luke 21:34 NIV
Maria – Macomb, MI
1Corinthians 6:12-13 NKJ
12 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. 13 Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
Cayla | Pompano Beach, FL
Colossians 2:13-14 (NIV)
When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations that was against us and stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.
Many are the plans in a person’s heart,
but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.
Proverbs 19:21 NIV
Starr, Panama City, FL
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13 NIV)
Meagan, Bedford, TX
So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55:11 NKJV
My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.
Psalm 63:8
Beth,
Hope all is well with your family. I am praying for you all..
Hugs!
Lori D., Georgetown, TX
For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. Isaiah 41:13 (NIV)
Dori
Meridian, ID
Isaiah 55:2
Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance.
NKJV
Ann, Mandeville, LA
Hebrews 12:1 (NIV)
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
Melanie, Armuchee, GA
May you be strengthened with all power according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy. Colossians 1:11 (ESV)
W.Richland
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.
Psalm 57:5 NIV
Pam
Kountze
I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all your marvelous works.
Psalm 9:1 NKJV