A True Convert...

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

These are some pretty disconcerting and convicting words from Jesus here in Matthew 7 and even more disconcerting is that He is speaking to the "religious" who think they are saved but really are not.   So what is the key issue for Jesus??   

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. ³² And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”--John 8:31

Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? --Romans 6:16

in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight— ²³ if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.--Colossians 1:22-23

And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,--Hebrews 5:9

Clearly, obedience to the His Word is the key issue for Jesus...

The house built on the rock reflects a life that believes and obeys Jesus ....it is a life that places all its hope in God and His word.  The house built on the sand reflects a life built on man's opinions and self-righteousness...it is a life that is self-ruled rather than ruled by the Spirit of God.  

It is not good enough to hear the word of God and profess to be a believer. Once the profession is made your life should reflect what your heart believes.  In fact, your life will always reflect what your heart truly believes.  A life that professes Christ but does not reflect His holiness, does not possess His Spirit.  A child of God will shine forth the nature of His Father in Heaven.  This is not to say that a believer will not stumble, but the general direction of his life will be one lived in obedience to the word of God.  Those that persist in lawlessness indicate that they were never of the truth.  I love the picture that James paints of the true convert of God.  A believer is one 

"who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does."

James also paints for us the other picture:

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.

Desiring the Very Presence of God...

To My Beloved Daughters,

Thinking on Jesus this morning in the Garden of Gethsemane where He went with His disciples to pray before His crucifixion.    It was here that Luke tells us that Jesus' sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”  Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

In Matthew 26:38 Jesus says this: Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”

What was it that caused Jesus to say that His soul was sorrowful even unto death?  What was it that caused Him so much anguish?  It wasn't the fear of man or the physical suffering that He was about to endure that caused Jesus such anguish...so what was it?  Here's the beautiful answer:  It was the inevitable separation from His Father in Heaven that would occur as He drunk the cup prepared for Him.   

It was that for the first and only time in eternity Jesus would be separated from His Father in Heaven.   It is also the only time on record that Jesus did not address God as Father.  Read His last words directly quoted from Psalm 22.

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”--Matthew 27:46

He who knew no sin became sin for us and had the fullness of divine wrath poured out upon Himself.   Our God is holy and cannot look upon sin. The Father forsook the Son because the Son took upon Himself our sin.  He became a curse for us.  He became the propitiation for our sins.  I don't pretend to understand how the full fury of God's wrath was poured out upon Jesus in those hours on the cross...I can't even begin to explain or understand the depths of the anguish that this separation caused my Jesus....but here is how this particular passage spoke to my heart this morning.

Separation from His Father in Heaven caused Jesus much distress...it caused Him to sweat droplets of blood...it caused Him to be sorrowful even unto death.  Oh, Father, may my one desire be live in unbroken fellowship and communion with you here on earth.  I want to abide in the beauty of Your presence.   May the overwhelming desire of my heart be to dwell with You, the most High God, and take shelter under the shadow of Your wings.  Help me to surrender to all that You have for me as Your Son Jesus did knowing that I have nothing to fear...You are on my side.  Knowing that when I cry out to You...You answer me and  set me in a broad and safe place.   You are FOR me and there is nothing that can separate me from You.  

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shalltribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  As it is written:

“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.--Romans 8:31-39

PSALM 27

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
When the wicked came against me
To eat up my flesh,
My enemies and foes,
They stumbled and fell.
Though an army may encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear;
Though war may rise against me,
In this I will be confident.

One thing I have desired of the Lord,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord,
And to inquire in His temple.
For in the time of trouble
He shall hide me in His pavilion;
In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me;
He shall set me high upon a rock.

And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me;
Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.

Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice!
Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
When You said, “Seek My face,”
My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”
Do not hide Your face from me;
Do not turn Your servant away in anger;
You have been my help;
Do not leave me nor forsake me,
O God of my salvation.
When my father and my mother forsake me,
Then the Lord will take care of me.

Teach me Your way, O Lord,
And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.
Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries;
For false witnesses have risen against me,
And such as breathe out violence.
I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.

Wait on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!

Being a Martha instead of a Mary...

To My Beloved Daughters in Him:

Caught myself many times over the past 36 hours attempting to try to somehow control my feelings of anxiety and fear about the impending storm by getting all caught up with  the household chores before a tree falls on our house or the power goes out.  Really...as if it is going to matter....as if it is going to be important.

Remembering that I need to be more of a Mary instead of a Martha.  Doing right now, like Mary, the thing that is most needful...spending time with my Father in Heaven.

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”


Going once again right now to His word...where my help and hope truly come.  Going to the One who is my shield and my exceedingly great reward...going to the One who is always with me and has promised never to leave me nor forsake me.  Praying that as each of us look to Him today to find rest that His comforts would truly delight our souls.  So thankful that it is God that perfects all that concerns us and that His grace is sufficient for our every need...

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.  And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.--Hebrews 4:12-16

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
Yea, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
Moreover by them Your servant is warned,
And in keeping them there is great reward.

Who can understand his errors?
Cleanse me from secret faults.
Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins;
Let them not have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
And I shall be innocent of great transgression.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.--Psalm 19

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.--Psalm 119:105

Doing as Jesus Did...

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”--Isaiah 61:1-3

To My Beloved Daughters:

Jesus quoted this passage (ending in the middle of verse two...to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord) at the synagogue in Nazareth right after His time of temptation in the desert. After He finished reading He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down...all eyes were fixed on Him and He said to them, "Today, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."  This was an unambiguous claim that He was the Messiah who fulfilled prophecy.  His hearers correctly understood His claim and His meaning and when they heard these things they rose up and thrust Him out of the city, leading Him to the brow of the Hill on which their city was built so that they might throw Him down over the cliff.  Jesus passed through the midst of them and went His way.  Wow...

The Spirit of God dwells in us and is with us!  As believers, we have been sealed...we are always and forever His.  We have been justified by faith and are at peace with our God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Through Him we also have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God!  Scripture tells us this in Romans 5:

Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.  For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

I can walk in His strength, His grace and His power without fear because His perfect love casts out all fear.  I am not destined to wrath but to eternal life in Heaven with my God.  I have been saved by grace through faith to fulfill His will for me.  I am His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that I should walk in them.

Like Jesus, I am to set my face like flint and focus on the race that He has laid before me.  I am to lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares me and run with endurance...looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of my faith who for the joy (us) that was set before Him endured the cross.  Beloved, this kind of love...God's love...has been shed abroad in our hearts.  Surrender to it and in His strength do as Jesus did:  

Preach good tidings to the poor, heal the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to the captives...open the door of the prison to those who are bound, and comfort all who mourn.  Bring the message of the gospel of peace to those around you and in so doing give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.  God will work through you to  sow fields and plant vineyards...and yield a fruitful harvest.

May this, Father, be the desires of our hearts... 

Truth Has Fallen in the Streets...

The words below were penned by Isaiah more than 700 before the birth of Christ speaking to the tragic condition of the nation Israel, but could also be penned for our nation today.  God was aware of Israel's condition.  He looked for one person (16-21) to intercede for His people and found none.  So our gracious and loving God did the work Himself through the Suffering Servant (See Isaiah 53; 53:12)  

Read the whole passage.  God will not bless the nation whose people have turned away from righteousness and whose lives and hearts are filled with sin.  Sin has a life cycle of its own...it brings forth all kinds of trouble and its end is always death.  

But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.--James 1:14

Here is Isaiah 59 in its entirety.  

Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened,
That it cannot save;
Nor His ear heavy,
That it cannot hear.
But your iniquities have separated you from your God;
And your sins have hidden His face from you,
So that He will not hear.
For your hands are defiled with blood,
And your fingers with iniquity;
Your lips have spoken lies,
Your tongue has muttered perversity.

No one calls for justice,
Nor does any plead for truth.
They trust in empty words and speak lies;
They conceive evil and bring forth iniquity.
They hatch vipers’ eggs and weave the spider’s web;
He who eats of their eggs dies,
And from that which is crushed a viper breaks out.

Their webs will not become garments,
Nor will they cover themselves with their works;
Their works are works of iniquity,
And the act of violence is in their hands.
Their feet run to evil,
And they make haste to shed innocent blood;
Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;
Wasting and destruction are in their paths.
The way of peace they have not known,
And there is no justice in their ways;
They have made themselves crooked paths;
Whoever takes that way shall not know peace.

Therefore justice is far from us,
Nor does righteousness overtake us;
We look for light, but there is darkness!
For brightness, but we walk in blackness!
We grope for the wall like the blind,
And we grope as if we had no eyes;
We stumble at noonday as at twilight;
We are as dead men in desolate places.
We all growl like bears,
And moan sadly like doves;
We look for justice, but there is none;
For salvation, but it is far from us.
For our transgressions are multiplied before You,
And our sins testify against us;
For our transgressions are with us,
And as for our iniquities, we know them:
In transgressing and lying against the Lord,
And departing from our God,
Speaking oppression and revolt,
Conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
Justice is turned back,
And righteousness stands afar off;
For truth is fallen in the street,
And equity cannot enter.
So truth fails,
And he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.

Then the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him
That there was no justice.

He saw that there was no man,
And wondered that there was no intercessor;
Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him;
And His own righteousness, it sustained Him.
For He put on righteousness as a breastplate,
And a helmet of salvation on His head;
He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing,
And was clad with zeal as a cloak.
According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay,
Fury to His adversaries,
Recompense to His enemies;
The coastlands He will fully repay.
So shall they fear
The name of the Lord from the west,
And His glory from the rising of the sun;
When the enemy comes in like a flood,
The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.

“The Redeemer will come to Zion,
And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,”
Says the Lord.

“As for Me,” says the Lord, “this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says the Lord, “from this time and forevermore.”--Isaiah 59

Imitators of God...

Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.--Ephesians 5:1-2

To My Beloved Daughters in Him...

How simple this one is!  We have no greater purpose than to imitate our Lord.  We are to grow in the likeness of Him!  He is our Father and we are to resemble Him more and more!  Our lives...our walk and our talk should be modeled after our Jesus!  We are to be holy, just as He is holy.

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.--Romans 8:29

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.--2nd Corinthians 3:18

Christ walked in love and exampled the height of self-sacrificing love by taking our sin upon Himself...giving up His very life so that we might be redeemed from the penalty and power of sin.  

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.  For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.--Romans 5:8-10

Christ offering of Himself on our behalf was a sweet smelling aroma to His Father in Heaven.  "This is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." Christ demonstrated in the most perfect way possible God's divine love for us.  

This is the model that we are to follow.  This is the kind of love we are to walk in daily.  The kind of love that is not concerned with self.  Christ did not consider His equality with God something to be grasped...He did nothing from selfish ambition or conceit but in lowliness of mind esteemed others as better than Himself.  When we try to hold on to anything but our God and His will for us, we are seeking not His will but our own.  The result is sin.  We are to look to Him and only to Him for our strength and our direction because our goal is not the furtherance of what we want, but the furtherance of what our Father wants.  Christ laid all aside in fulfilling His Father's will and by doing that met each one of us at our point of need. (salvation)  Our goal then, like Christ, is to shine our lights here to glorify our God and thereby meet others at their point of need.  Our minds and hearts are bowed to Him in grateful submission and whatever He asks we gladly do. 

The Fast that I Choose...

Isaiah 58:6-14 (see below)

To My Lord and My God:

These words in Isaiah 58 (from the very mouth of the LORD) are so beautiful and speak to my heart in a way that fills it with the desire to be like Jesus to others.  This is what I want....this is the fast that I choose!  Oh, but Father, this way is impossible for me without You.   I fight a constant battle with my flesh...with what I want.  I struggle even though I know that the things that I desire lead nowhere good!  My desires are so shallow and empty compared with the abundant life that You show me when I walk in surrender to Your Spirit!   Help me to love You from the depths of my very being and let that love touch the lives of those that You have in my life.  Exchange the darkness that is in my heart with Your light!  I want to be like a well-watered garden or a spring that does not fail. Do this work in me!

You, Father, pulled me up out of the miry clay, set my feet upon a Rock and put a new song in my mouth...I implore You to do this work also in the lives of those that I love that don't know You...who refuse to see.   Oh that they would repent and believe.  That they would  put on your righteousness and live!  Open their eyes as only You can, Father.   Let the following words be written of them as well as for me:

Sacrifice and offering You did not desire;
My ears You have opened.
Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require.
Then I said, “Behold, I come;
In the scroll of the book it is written of me.
I delight to do Your will, O my God,
And Your law is within my heart.”

Write also the following words from Isaiah 58 on my heart, Father.  Keep me far from ritual and hypocritical religion.  Draw me near to You.   I want to abide under the shadow of Your wing.  I want You to be the place where my trust is found.  I want you to be my refuge, my fortress, my shield and my exceedingly great reward! Let my delight be in YOU!

Isaiah 58:6-14

“Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the heavy burdens,
To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;
When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from your own flesh?
Then your light shall break forth like the morning,
Your healing shall spring forth speedily,
And your righteousness shall go before you;
The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’

“If you take away the yoke from your midst,
The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
If you extend your soul to the hungry
And satisfy the afflicted soul,
Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
And your darkness shall be as the noonday.
The Lord will guide you continually,
And satisfy your soul in drought,
And strengthen your bones;
You shall be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
Those from among you
Shall build the old waste places;
You shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach,
The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.

“If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath,
From doing your pleasure on My holy day,
And call the Sabbath a delight,
The holy day of the Lord honorable,
And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways,
Nor finding your own pleasure,
Nor speaking your own words,
Then you shall delight yourself in the Lord;
And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth,
And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father.
The mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD...

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.--Ephesians 3:14-19

To My Beloved Daughters....

"Filled with all the fullness of God."  THAT is what I want for me...THAT is what I want for you and for all those that my God has given me to love.  To be so strong spiritually as to be filled with His divine love.  Totally and utterly governed and ruled not by the things of the world but by the things of God.  Focused not on the earthly but on what is eternal in the heavens.  So totally dominated by Him that there is nothing left of SELF!  Filled with Christ...filled with the Spirit and filled with God!  I want to see Your greatness in my life and in the lives of those that I love, Father...Your majesty and glory...Your love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.  

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.  Amen.--Ephesians 3:20-21 

THE HEIGHTS OF MESSIANIC PROPHECY...

Below are the four Servant Songs found in the Book of Isaiah written more than 700 years before the birth of Christ.   (Isa 42:1-9;  Isa 49:1-13;  Isa 50: 4-11;  Isa 52:13-53:12)

These sections of Scripture are so undeniably prophetic that if you know the NT at all your mouth just drops open.   Isaiah 42:1-9 speaks to the Messiah's gentle manner and worldwide mission.  Isaiah 49:1-13 speaks more to His mission and success.  Isaiah 50:4-11 is the Messiah's soliloquy about being perfected through obedience and sufferings. The last one (Isaiah 52:13-53:12) provides incontrovertible proof that God is the author of Scripture and Jesus the fulfillment of Messianic prophecy.  If you still do not have enough look at Psalm 22, Psalm 69, Psalm 35, Zechariah 11, Micah 5, Isaiah 7, Isaiah 61... 

Here are the four sections...

“Behold! My Servant whom I uphold,
My Elect One in whom My soul delights!
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.
He will not cry out, nor raise His voice,
Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.
A bruised reed He will not break,
And smoking flax He will not quench;
He will bring forth justice for truth.
He will not fail nor be discouraged,
Till He has established justice in the earth;
And the coastlands shall wait for His law.”

Thus says God the Lord,
Who created the heavens and stretched them out,
Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it,
Who gives breath to the people on it,
And spirit to those who walk on it:
“I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness,
And will hold Your hand;
I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people,
As a light to the Gentiles,
To open blind eyes,
To bring out prisoners from the prison,
Those who sit in darkness from the prison house.
I am the Lord, that is My name;
And My glory I will not give to another,
Nor My praise to carved images.
Behold, the former things have come to pass,
And new things I declare;
Before they spring forth I tell you of them.”--Isaiah 42:1-9

“Listen, O coastlands, to Me,
And take heed, you peoples from afar!
The Lord has called Me from the womb;
From the matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name.
And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword;
In the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me,
And made Me a polished shaft;
In His quiver He has hidden Me.”

“And He said to me,
‘You are My servant, O Israel,
In whom I will be glorified.’
Then I said, ‘I have labored in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain;
Yet surely my just reward is with the Lord,
And my work with my God.’”

“And now the Lord says,
Who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
To bring Jacob back to Him,
So that Israel is gathered to Him
(For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord,
And My God shall be My strength),
Indeed He says,
‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob,
And to restore the preserved ones of Israel;
I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles,
That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’”

Thus says the Lord,
The Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One,
To Him whom man despises,
To Him whom the nation abhors,
To the Servant of rulers:
“Kings shall see and arise,
Princes also shall worship,
Because of the Lord who is faithful,
The Holy One of Israel;
And He has chosen You.”

Thus says the Lord:

“In an acceptable time I have heard You,
And in the day of salvation I have helped You;
I will preserve You and give You
As a covenant to the people,
To restore the earth,
To cause them to inherit the desolate heritages;
That You may say to the prisoners, ‘Go forth,’
To those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’

“They shall feed along the roads,
And their pastures shall be on all desolate heights.
They shall neither hunger nor thirst,
Neither heat nor sun shall strike them;
For He who has mercy on them will lead them,
Even by the springs of water He will guide them.
I will make each of My mountains a road,
And My highways shall be elevated.
Surely these shall come from afar;
Look! Those from the north and the west,
And these from the land of Sinim.”

Sing, O heavens!
Be joyful, O earth!
And break out in singing, O mountains!
For the Lord has comforted His people,
And will have mercy on His afflicted.--Isaiah 49:1-13

“The Lord God has given Me
The tongue of the learned,
That I should know how to speak
A word in season to him who is weary.
He awakens Me morning by morning,
He awakens My ear
To hear as the learned.
The Lord God has opened My ear;
And I was not rebellious,
Nor did I turn away.
I gave My back to those who struck Me,
And My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard;
I did not hide My face from shame and spitting.

“For the Lord God will help Me;
Therefore I will not be disgraced;
Therefore I have set My face like a flint,
And I know that I will not be ashamed.
He is near who justifies Me;
Who will contend with Me?
Let us stand together.
Who is My adversary?
Let him come near Me.
Surely the Lord God will help Me;
Who is he who will condemn Me?
Indeed they will all grow old like a garment;
The moth will eat them up.

“Who among you fears the Lord?
Who obeys the voice of His Servant?
Who walks in darkness
And has no light?
Let him trust in the name of the Lord
And rely upon his God.
Look, all you who kindle a fire,
Who encircle yourselves with sparks:
Walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks you have kindled—
This you shall have from My hand:
You shall lie down in torment.--Isaiah 50:4-11

Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently;
He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high.
Just as many were astonished at you,
So His visage was marred more than any man,
And His form more than the sons of men;
So shall He sprinkle many nations.
Kings shall shut their mouths at Him;
For what had not been told them they shall see,
And what they had not heard they shall consider.

Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
He was taken from prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
And they made His grave with the wicked—
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any deceit in His mouth.

Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
Because He poured out His soul unto death,
And He was numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors.--Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12