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
Jeri, Lynchburg, VA. “You did not choose me, but I choose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last”. John 15:16 NIV 84
Sue, Groveport, OH
Psalm 34:17 NIV
The righteous cry out and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.
Kim B. – Orlando, Florida
Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation. Philippians 2:14-15
Valerie ~ Oklahoma
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10 NIV
Debbie from Universal City, Texas.
“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10 (NIV)
Melisse, Slippery Rock, PA
Colossians 3:7-8
You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
Deuteronomy 6:4-5
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. (Deuteronomy 6:4, 5 NIV)
Pamm W. from Albuquerque, NM
Joshua 23:14 NIV
Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.
Deb, Pelzer, SC
“…All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ ” (1 Peter 5: 5b, NIV)
Becky, Ohio
Behold I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.
Revelation 3:11 NKJV
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
Isaiah 26:3ESV
1 Corinthians 3:16 ESV
‘Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?’
Bambi-Houston, TX
He holds you firmly in place;
He will not let you fall.
He who keeps you will never take His eyes off you and never drift off to sleep.
Psalm 121:3 The Voice
Philippians 2:12 NIV Therefore, my dear friends, a you have always obeyed-not only in my presence, but also in my absence-continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
Be sure you do not feel self-important and forget the Lord your God
who brought you from the land of Egypt,
the place of slavery,
(Deuteronomy 8:14 NET)
Theresa
Plainfield, IN
Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, and criticize their faults-unless, of course, you want the same treatment.
Matthew 7:1 (The Message)
Teresa, Chadron, NE. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?” (Romans 8:35 NIV)
Elizabeth M., Greenbrier, Ark.
“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…”
Philippians 2:5 NKJV
Beth, London, U.K. “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27, NIV)
Johnine from Murfreesboro, TN
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13 NIV
Mildred from Montserrat.
I will exalt you, O Lord, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me. Psalms 30:1 (NIV)
Margo,Burlington ON
But when you pray, you must believe and not doubt at all. Whoever doubts is like a wave in the sea that is driven and blown about by the wind. James 1:6 TEV
Karen, Cheyenne, WY
Psalm 1:6 (NIRV) “The Lord watches over the lives of those who are godly. But the lives of sinful people will lead to their death.”
Kimberly in Madison, ME
Colossians 3:2
New English Translation (NET)
2 Keep thinking about things above, not things on the earth,
Kim Cliatt, Loganville, Georgia
“and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”
Ephesians 6:15-16
Sue, Kingsport,TN.
For we have all received from his fullness one gracious gift after another. John 1:16 NET
2 Thessalonians 3:5 May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ.
Joan, Dousman, WI
I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?
Jer 32:27 NIV
Suzy – Orlando, FL
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Romans 12:12 NIV
Lynn ~ Orlando, FL
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”
Romans 12:12 NIV
Lisa from Waycross, GA
Donna from Albany, GA
Psalm 92:2 (HCSB)
“to declare Your faithful love in the morning
and Your faithfulness at night,”
Jamye L., Greenbrier, AR
173 Let Your hand be ready to help me, For I have chosen Your precepts.
174 I long for Your salvation, O LORD, And Your law is my delight.
175 Let my soul live that it may praise You, And let Your ordinances help me.
176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, For I do not forget Your commandments.
Psalm 119: 173-176. NASB
Linda Ney from Gahanna, Ohio
They speak of you with evil intent;
Your adversaries misuse your name.
From Psalm 139:20
Geri, Deer Park, TX
2 Cor.4:14
knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.
Amanda Benson, Eagle Butte, SD
2 Corinthians 7:1, NIV
Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.
Cara, Oswego. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
Colossians 4:6 NIV
Farrah, Jackson, MS
From now on, whatever you request along the lines of who I am and what I am doing, Iāll do it. Thatās how the Father will be seen for who he is in the Son. I mean it. Whatever you request in this way, Iāll do. (John 14:14 MSG)
Paula Stemple, Marlinton, WV
I love you, Lord; you are my strength. (Psalms 18:1 NLT)
I bless The Lord who gives me counsel, in the night also my heart instructs me.
Psalm 16:7 ESV
Traci~ Vadnais Heights, MN
I Timothy 6:6~8 (NLT)
“Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into this world and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.”
Tatiana, Geneva IL
1 Thessalonians 1:11-12, ESV
“To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ”.
Evansville, IN
“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,” Phil 1:9
Rachel Cleveland, Jackson, TN
“When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
Ps 11:3, NIV
Cynthia, Missouri
For I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverence.
Phillipians 1:19 ESV
Willow Spring, NC
For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.
1 Corinthians 4:20 NIV
Dawn
Highlands Ranch
Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. (Psalm 62:5, 6 NIV)
Angie, Chillicothe, MO By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me – a prayer to the God of my life. Psalm 42:8. NIV
Molly, Gainesville, GA
“which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him”
Ephesians 1:8-9 NASB
Vickie, Baytown, TX
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. John 6:44 ESV
Make your ways known to me, Lord; teach me your paths. Psalm 25:4 NIV