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
Romans 5:8 NKJV
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Matia, Fort Worth, TX
“But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like a surging sea driven and tossed by the wind.” James 1:6 HCSB
Angela, Greenville OH
For God is not a God of disorder but of peace, as in all the meetings of God’s holy people. 1 Corinthians 14:33 NLT
Kathy French, Austin,
“You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence,with eternal pleasures at Your right hand. ” Psalm 16:11
Lise Ode, Cumming, GA
For nothing will be impossible with God.
Luke 1:37 NAS
Lisa Auten, Rogers, AR: “But you, Lord, are forever exalted.” Psalm 92:8 NIV
Julie Huffman, Springdale, AR: “But you, Lord, are forever exalted.” Psalm 92:8 NIV
Mary
Woodway, Texas
“Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowances for each other’s faults because of your love.”
Ephesians 4:2 NLT
Joan, Redkey, IN
The Lord is my shephard I shall not want…
Psalm 23:1 (KJV)
Nancy, Redkey, IN
Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lords purpose that prevails.
Proverbs 19:21 (NIV)
Karina A.
Baton Rouge, La.
“He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters.”
Psalm 23:2
NASB
Mandy
Waco, TX
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV
“I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.” Psalm 37:25 ESV Martha from Van Buren, AR
Melissa J from Houston
1 Peter 4:10 (NIV)
Each one should use whatever gifts he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grade in its various forms.
Lindsay W, Albuquerque, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7 ESV
Kelsie, Albuquerque, “God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.” Psalm 46:5 NIV
Alysa, Albuquerque, “I will tell everyone that your love stands firm forever. I will tell them that you are always faithful, even in heaven itself.” Psalm 89:2 NIrV
If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
ps 139:9-10 NIV
Melissa E
Anna, Tx
ESV Psalm 2:10-11
“10.Now, therefore, O Kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.11. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.”
Psalm 127:1 “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor over it in vain; unless the Lord watches over a city, the watchman stays alert in vain.”