Reading: Isaiah 52
My Verse: "Depart, depart, go out from there;
touch no unclean thing;
go out from the midst of her;
purify yourselves,
you who bear the vessels of the LORD.
For you shall not go out in haste,
and you shall not go in flight,
for the LORD will go before you,
and the God of Israel will be your rear guard" (Isaiah 52:11,12).
Again, You cry out to us LORD God to leave a life without You! You constantly, throughout Your Word, plead with us to leave behind the things of this sinful, corrupt, sad world and come to You! You tell us to "go out from the midst of her." I like the sense of this, the sense that we are to purposefully do this. It is not a running away but a running to You!. It is a mindful act on our part to "depart from there."
Thank You for this LORD God. It is always so wonderful when You reinforce Your message to me. Here I am reading in Isaiah, and the exodus of the Israelites is used here. The message in church this last Sunday is of the very thing - the Israelites escape from Egypt. There is so much to this message, so much teaching for us as followers of You, so much guidance and encouragement.
Depart, depart! I need to first make this very serious decision to leave a life without You, LORD God. The pastor at church this Sunday posed a question we have to ask ourselves, "Do we want to get out?" He said the truly sad thing is most people don't want to get out. We tend to want to stay in a situation even if it is very bad, like the Israelites as slaves in Egypt, simply because it is familiar. It takes a huge effort to leave our present circumstances. It takes faith.
I am to "touch no unclean thing." I cannot take anything with me. This is hard because I need to rely on You, LORD God, to help me identify all that would hold me back, all that would hamper my walk with You.
To "go out from the midst of her" is difficult. I do struggle with this. How am I to do this and yet live amongst those that are not of You, LORD God? This is what You require for You want me to be a light, a reflecting beam to those that are lost. (Matthew 5:16)
I am to "purify" myself. This too is difficult, as I still live in this world, in this body with its habits of the world. And yet, You tell me to "purify" myself. Again, I cannot do this without You, without You enabling me, helping me every step of the way! (Matthew 5:8, Psalm 51:10)
"You shall not go out in haste" indicates that this decision and action is not done without thought or in panic. It is to be done in faith.
You then say, "for the LORD will go before you." How I love this, that You, LORD God prepare the way before us as You did for the Israelites when they left Egypt. You were ahead of them every step of the way. And so You are for me. You foresee what is ahead, You prepare the way. You not only prepare the way but You prepare me for what is ahead. Thank you, LORD God for this!
You even guard me from behind - "and the God of Israel will be your rear guard!" I needn't fear what was in the past. You keep even that from harming me if I but give all that to You and allow You to be my "rear guard!"
Thank You, LORD God, for this wonderful message. Not only do You tell us to depart this place but You promise to prepare the way and then guide us along that way. What more can we ask?
Ditat Deus - God Enriches!
My Verse: "Depart, depart, go out from there;
touch no unclean thing;
go out from the midst of her;
purify yourselves,
you who bear the vessels of the LORD.
For you shall not go out in haste,
and you shall not go in flight,
for the LORD will go before you,
and the God of Israel will be your rear guard" (Isaiah 52:11,12).
Again, You cry out to us LORD God to leave a life without You! You constantly, throughout Your Word, plead with us to leave behind the things of this sinful, corrupt, sad world and come to You! You tell us to "go out from the midst of her." I like the sense of this, the sense that we are to purposefully do this. It is not a running away but a running to You!. It is a mindful act on our part to "depart from there."
Thank You for this LORD God. It is always so wonderful when You reinforce Your message to me. Here I am reading in Isaiah, and the exodus of the Israelites is used here. The message in church this last Sunday is of the very thing - the Israelites escape from Egypt. There is so much to this message, so much teaching for us as followers of You, so much guidance and encouragement.
Depart, depart! I need to first make this very serious decision to leave a life without You, LORD God. The pastor at church this Sunday posed a question we have to ask ourselves, "Do we want to get out?" He said the truly sad thing is most people don't want to get out. We tend to want to stay in a situation even if it is very bad, like the Israelites as slaves in Egypt, simply because it is familiar. It takes a huge effort to leave our present circumstances. It takes faith.
I am to "touch no unclean thing." I cannot take anything with me. This is hard because I need to rely on You, LORD God, to help me identify all that would hold me back, all that would hamper my walk with You.
To "go out from the midst of her" is difficult. I do struggle with this. How am I to do this and yet live amongst those that are not of You, LORD God? This is what You require for You want me to be a light, a reflecting beam to those that are lost. (Matthew 5:16)
I am to "purify" myself. This too is difficult, as I still live in this world, in this body with its habits of the world. And yet, You tell me to "purify" myself. Again, I cannot do this without You, without You enabling me, helping me every step of the way! (Matthew 5:8, Psalm 51:10)
"You shall not go out in haste" indicates that this decision and action is not done without thought or in panic. It is to be done in faith.
You then say, "for the LORD will go before you." How I love this, that You, LORD God prepare the way before us as You did for the Israelites when they left Egypt. You were ahead of them every step of the way. And so You are for me. You foresee what is ahead, You prepare the way. You not only prepare the way but You prepare me for what is ahead. Thank you, LORD God for this!
You even guard me from behind - "and the God of Israel will be your rear guard!" I needn't fear what was in the past. You keep even that from harming me if I but give all that to You and allow You to be my "rear guard!"
Thank You, LORD God, for this wonderful message. Not only do You tell us to depart this place but You promise to prepare the way and then guide us along that way. What more can we ask?
Ditat Deus - God Enriches!
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