Reading: Isaiah 40
My Verse: "A voice says, "Cry!"
And I said, "What shall I cry?"
All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers,
the flower fades
when the breath of the LORD blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
The grass withers,
the flower fades,
but the Word of God will stand forever" (Isaiah 40:6-8 ESV).
This is such a hard concept for man - that our time here is limited. Yet there can be a freedom in that knowledge, especially for those who struggle with the many hard realities of our lives in this fallen world. And for those who have that most wonderful hope in You, LORD God! Yes, we are as grass that withers away so very quickly, but You give us a reason to make the most of this so very brief life if we but "ask" You for help.
My son writes these critiques on music bands he follows, and has allowed me to read some. I find the lyrics of some of these bands fascinating - they reflect such an agony of soul searching.
Some of those lyrics . . .
"This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality.
Embrace this moment. Remember. We are eternal."
"Calculate what we will or will not tolerate.
Desperate to control all and everything.
Terrified of being wrong
Justify denials and grip 'em to the lonesome end."
" . . . I embrace my desire to . . .
Swing on the spiral of divinity and
Still be human . . . "
They reflect real struggle, grinding heart-wrenching struggle, but there is no real breakthrough to truth. There is no release, no peace. While they are to be admired for entering into the struggle, so many won't even go there, these individuals seem unwilling to look to You, LORD God.
Oh, LORD God, You tell us . . .
"You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13).
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you" (Matthew 7:7).
"But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul" (Deuteronomy 4:29).
It is so difficult to actually ask You, LORD God for help. But that is the very thing that is needed. You tell us to "Ask."
I really like how Oswald Chambers explains this need for us to "Ask."
"God cannot give until a man asks. It is not that He withholds, but that that is the way He has constituted things on the basis of Redemption. By means of our asking, God gets processes into work whereby He creates the thing that is not in existence until we do ask. The inner reality of Redemption is that it creates all the time. As the Redemption creates the life of God in us, so it creates the things belonging to that life. Nothing can satisfy the need but that which created the need. This is the meaning of Redemption - it creates and it satisfies!" (The Utmost For His Highest)
It is just so wonderful, how it works! Yet it is so very hard for us to break down, and admit we need You, LORD God and actually ask You to help us, to save us from a life of endless searching!
Thank you for this reminder of the brevity of my life here on this earth.
Thank you for responding to my cry for help, for redemption.
Thank you, LORD God, that Your Word is truth and it remains forever!
Mostly, thank you for enabling me to "ASK."
Ditat Deus - God Enriches!
My Verse: "A voice says, "Cry!"
And I said, "What shall I cry?"
All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers,
the flower fades
when the breath of the LORD blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
The grass withers,
the flower fades,
but the Word of God will stand forever" (Isaiah 40:6-8 ESV).
This is such a hard concept for man - that our time here is limited. Yet there can be a freedom in that knowledge, especially for those who struggle with the many hard realities of our lives in this fallen world. And for those who have that most wonderful hope in You, LORD God! Yes, we are as grass that withers away so very quickly, but You give us a reason to make the most of this so very brief life if we but "ask" You for help.
My son writes these critiques on music bands he follows, and has allowed me to read some. I find the lyrics of some of these bands fascinating - they reflect such an agony of soul searching.
Some of those lyrics . . .
"This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality.
Embrace this moment. Remember. We are eternal."
"Calculate what we will or will not tolerate.
Desperate to control all and everything.
Terrified of being wrong
Justify denials and grip 'em to the lonesome end."
" . . . I embrace my desire to . . .
Swing on the spiral of divinity and
Still be human . . . "
They reflect real struggle, grinding heart-wrenching struggle, but there is no real breakthrough to truth. There is no release, no peace. While they are to be admired for entering into the struggle, so many won't even go there, these individuals seem unwilling to look to You, LORD God.
Oh, LORD God, You tell us . . .
"You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13).
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you" (Matthew 7:7).
"But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul" (Deuteronomy 4:29).
It is so difficult to actually ask You, LORD God for help. But that is the very thing that is needed. You tell us to "Ask."
I really like how Oswald Chambers explains this need for us to "Ask."
"God cannot give until a man asks. It is not that He withholds, but that that is the way He has constituted things on the basis of Redemption. By means of our asking, God gets processes into work whereby He creates the thing that is not in existence until we do ask. The inner reality of Redemption is that it creates all the time. As the Redemption creates the life of God in us, so it creates the things belonging to that life. Nothing can satisfy the need but that which created the need. This is the meaning of Redemption - it creates and it satisfies!" (The Utmost For His Highest)
It is just so wonderful, how it works! Yet it is so very hard for us to break down, and admit we need You, LORD God and actually ask You to help us, to save us from a life of endless searching!
Thank you for this reminder of the brevity of my life here on this earth.
Thank you for responding to my cry for help, for redemption.
Thank you, LORD God, that Your Word is truth and it remains forever!
Mostly, thank you for enabling me to "ASK."
Ditat Deus - God Enriches!
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