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
Emily McAnear, Corona California
So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.
Galatians 6:9, NLT
Jill E., Export PA
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” Hebrews 10:23 NIV
But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint…..Isaiah 40:31 NKJ
Melanie Miller, Nampa, Idaho
Psalm 25:19-20 NLT
See how many enemies I have,
And how viciously they hate me!
Protect me! Rescue my life from them!
Do not let me be disgraced, for I trust in you.
Kim, Colonial Heights, VA
“Let everyone see your gentleness. The Lord is near!”
Philippians 4:5 NET
Sherilyn R, Warsaw, IN
Therefore you are great, O Lord God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 2 Samuel 7:22 ESV
Trinna, Covington, “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” Colossians 4:6 ESV
Susan, St. George, UT
“There is salvation in no one else, for there is no othere name under heaven given to people,and we must be saved by it.” Acts 4:12 HCSB
Beth, Wynnewood, OK
“I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.”
Jeremiah 31:25 NIV
Faye – Ocala
The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you, He will quiet you with His love. He will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV)
San Ramon, CA
“God has shown me that He doesn’t think anyone is unclean or unfit.” ~ Acts 10:28 (NIV)
Jan Horne
Bossier City, LA
James 4:7 NIV
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Reisit the devil, and he will flee from you.
Margaret Ann, Pacific Junction, IA
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
Galatians 4:4-7 ESV
Kim, Corning, NY. Proverbs 12:18 ESV “There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.”
Michelle Virnelson, Parma, Ohio
Where do the conflicts and where do the quarrels among you come from? Is it not from this, from your passions that battle inside you?
James 4:1
But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD. Joshua 24:15b
Proverbs 3:6 In ALL your ways acknowledge him and he WILL make
your path straight. ( emphysis my own)
Kim, St. Louis: The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.
Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand. Psalm 37:23-24 (NLT)
Hannah, Perry, MI
“Go after a life of love as if your life depended on it ābecause it does. Give yourselves to the gifts God gives you. Most of all, try to proclaim his truth.”
1 Corinthians 14:1, The Message
Christine, St. Louis Park, MN Lord Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you. Psalm 84:12 NIV
Sandra, Rock Hill, SC
You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, whose thoughts are fixed on You.
Isaiah 26:3, NLT
Karen H., Stephenville, TX
Romans 12:17 (NASB)
Never pay back evil for evil to anyone.
Respect what is right in the sight of all men.
Kathryn, Waldorf, MD: “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” Romans 8:18 NIV
Katie Euken
Muscatine, IA
“So we must not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we donāt give up.” Galatians 6:9 HCSB
Emily Mechanicsville, VA NIV
From one man He has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live. Acts 17:26
Joanne from Bremerton, WA
Ephesians 4:29 NIV: Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
Barbara, Lewisburg,KY, Job 33:29-30
“God does all these things to a man-twice, even three times- to turn back his soul from the pit, that the light of life may shine on him.”
Holly Burlington, IA May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.ā (Ruth 2:12 NIV)
Shannon, Warner Robins, GA
“Receive and experience the amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, deep, deep within yourselves.” Philippians 4:23 (The Message)
Sheryl Blake, Niles, MI
“Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.” Psalm 127:4-5a NIV
Susan, Overland Park, KS
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands”
Ps. 19:1 NIV84
Karen Miller, Reading PA
He then said to me: āSon of man, go now to the people of Israel and speak my words to them. You are not being sent to a people of obscure speech and strange language, but to the people of Israelā not to many peoples of obscure speech and strange language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you. But the people of Israel are not willing to listen to you because they are not willing to listen to me, for all the Israelites are hardened and obstinate. But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are. I will make your forehead like the hardest stone, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people.ā
Ezekiel 3:4-9 (NIV)
Cheryl, Le Chesnay France
For I will pour out water to quench your thirst and to irrigate your parched fields. And I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants and my blessing on your children. Isaiah 44:3 (NLT)
Marsha R. Lexington Park, MD
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Romans 8:1 ESV
Nicole Turnquist from Selden, NY
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name;
you are Mine”
Isaiah 43:1 (NAS)
Sandy Bowers, Bryan, Ohio
And I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness — secret riches. I will do this so you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, the one who calls you by name. –Isaiah 45:3 (NLT)
Rebecca, Chattanooga, TN
If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared. Psalm 130:3-4 ESV
Kathi Johnson Spartanburg SC
You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you,
all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
Trust in the LORD always,
for the LORD GOD is the eternal Rock.
Isaiah 26:3-4 NLT
Finally brethtren, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things. Phil.4:8(NIV) Twyla Mcamis, Cleveland, Tennessee
DEBBIE FROM AMARILLO, TEXAS
“Let us approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
Hebrews 4:16
Ecclesiastes 8:15 (CJB)
“So I recommend enjoyment-a person can do nothing better under the sun than eat, drink and enjoy himself; this is what should accompany him as he does his work for as long as God gives him to live under the sun.”
Sheila, Beckley, WV Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Psalm 118:28 NKJV
Jodi, Sundown TX, Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right, persevering, and steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10 AMP
Barbara, Celebration, FL
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9, NIV)
Lynn, Lancaster, Ky. “Jesus answered, ‘I assure you: You are looking for Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Don’t work for the food that perishes but for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set his seal of approval on Him.'” (John 6:26-27 HCSB)
Danielle from Cedar Park, TX
But now, thus says the Lord, your Creator, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel,
āDo not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!”
Isaiah 43:1 NASB
Shannon, Mandeville 2 Chronicles 2:15b…”Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s”.TNIV
Nancy from Knoxville,TN
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are My ways higher than your ways
and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV
Praying these verses over you & yours, Beth
Elvira, Grande Prairie, Alberta
Isaiah 62:3. NIV
“I will be a crown of splendour in the Lord’s hand,
a royal diadem in the hand of your God!”
Lori, Owasso, OK
Proverbs 31:26
New Living Translation (NLT)
26 When she speaks, her words are wise,
and she gives instructions with kindness.