Shout (video included)

Isaiah 40

1 "Comfort, comfort my people,"

says your God.

2 "Speak tenderly to Jerusalem.

Tell her that her sad days are gone

and her sins are pardoned.

Yes, the LORD has punished her twice over

for all her sins."

3 Listen! It's the voice of someone shouting,

"Clear the way through the wilderness

for the LORD!

Make a straight highway through the wasteland

for our God!

4 Fill in the valleys,

and level the mountains and hills.

Straighten the curves,

and smooth out the rough places.

5 Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed,

and all people will see it together.

The LORD has spoken!"*

6 A voice said, "Shout!"

I asked, "What should I shout?"

"Shout that people are like the grass.

Their beauty fades as quickly

as the flowers in a field.

7 The grass withers and the flowers fade

beneath the breath of the LORD.

And so it is with people.

8 The grass withers and the flowers fade,

but the word of our God stands forever."

9 O Zion, messenger of good news,

shout from the mountaintops!

Shout it louder, O Jerusalem.*

Shout, and do not be afraid.

Tell the towns of Judah,

"Your God is coming!"

10 Yes, the Sovereign LORD is coming in power.

He will rule with a powerful arm.

See, he brings his reward with him as he comes.

11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd.

He will carry the lambs in his arms,

holding them close to his heart.

He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young.

 

12 Who else has held the oceans in his hand?

Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers?

Who else knows the weight of the earth

or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale?

13 Who is able to advise the Spirit of the LORD?*

Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him?

14 Has the LORD ever needed anyone's advice?

Does he need instruction about what is good?

Did someone teach him what is right

or show him the path of justice?

15 No, for all the nations of the world

are but a drop in the bucket.

They are nothing more

than dust on the scales.

He picks up the whole earth

as though it were a grain of sand.

16 All the wood in Lebanon's forests

and all Lebanon's animals would not be enough

to make a burnt offering worthy of our God.

17 The nations of the world are worth nothing to him.

In his eyes they count for less than nothing—

mere emptiness and froth.

18 To whom can you compare God?

What image can you find to resemble him?

19 Can he be compared to an idol formed in a mold,

overlaid with gold, and decorated with silver chains?

20 Or if people are too poor for that,

they might at least choose wood that won't decay

and a skilled craftsman

to carve an image that won't fall down!

21 Haven't you heard? Don't you understand?

Are you deaf to the words of God—

the words he gave before the world began?

Are you so ignorant?

22 God sits above the circle of the earth.

The people below seem like grasshoppers to him!

He spreads out the heavens like a curtain

and makes his tent from them.

23 He judges the great people of the world

and brings them all to nothing.

24 They hardly get started, barely taking root,

when he blows on them and they wither.

The wind carries them off like chaff.

25 "To whom will you compare me?

Who is my equal?" asks the Holy One.

26 Look up into the heavens.

Who created all the stars?

He brings them out like an army, one after another,

calling each by its name.

Because of his great power and incomparable strength,

not a single one is missing.

27 O Jacob, how can you say the LORD does not see your troubles?

O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights?

28 Have you never heard?

Have you never understood?

The LORD is the everlasting God,

the Creator of all the earth.

He never grows weak or weary.

No one can measure the depths of his understanding.

29 He gives power to the weak

and strength to the powerless.

30 Even youths will become weak and tired,

and young men will fall in exhaustion.

31 But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength.

They will soar high on wings like eagles.

They will run and not grow weary.

They will walk and not faint.

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Isaiah 40 is probably one of my favorite passages in the bible.

Isaiah 40 discusses our redemption, and how it is coming. To break it down, it speaks of God's Greatness, Our Expiration, and A Coming Savior. Excited? Better Be.

God's Greatness
This passage states many things about our God. He is limitless. He will live forever, and He has always lived. The fact is, our God has no equal. He formed everything in existence. He never needs counsel, but we should take His advice.

There are 4 main points to the Gospel:
1. God is Good
2. We are Bad
3. Jesus is the answer
4. We must respond

This particular passage highlights the first point. God is good. God is pure and has no fault. Even when things are bad, and situations are awful, God is good and faithful.

To realize this takes humility. Because of God's goodness, we must agree to take the backseat, or at least the passenger seat. We must become second in our hearts. If God is your co-pilot, you need to swap seats. Every desire, and every dream, must be submitted to God. We must trust Him with them. Why depend on us, when we can depend on Him?


Our Expiration

If you don't find God's goodness thrilling, you may have not fully realized your expiration. We must come to grips with the fact that we will die.

"6 A voice said, "Shout!"


I asked, "What should I shout?"

"Shout that people are like the grass.
 Their beauty fades as quickly


as the flowers in a field.


7 The grass withers and the flowers fade


beneath the breath of the LORD.
 And so it is with people.


This is a problem. Death is here because we have sinned. We fade because we are sick. We have a disease worse than cancer or aids. This is the second point of the Gospel.

But, God recognizes this. He is good, remember? And, included in His goodness is His grace. This entire passage is centered around His grace. Because of His grace, He tells Isaiah to shout that our salvation is coming.


Coming of a Savior
 The point of the bible is: Jesus. The point of this passage is: Jesus. The point of our lives: Jesus.

When verse three says clear the way, it means for Jesus. This passage is a passage of hope because it points to Christ. Despite our sin, God sent exactly what we needed. He sent power to the weak, strength to the powerless, and endurance to the runners. He sent life to the dead. This is the third point of the Gospel: Jesus is the answer.


Now what? The fourth point: Respond.

Follow Jesus no matter what the cost. We learn in this passage that God is worth more than anything we will lose, because what we will lose will fade anyway. Live in His grace today. Walk on your knees in submission to the Father. He is worthy. We are worthless. Praise God, Jesus is bridging the gap.

Oh, and don't forget to shout. Tell someone about Jesus today.

You're just old...

Life goes by fast. And, by the grace of God, I'm still living it. I've noticed lately that life never stops.

My brother Brandon, 22, graduated from Appalachian St. University on Saturday. I can remember when he beat the tar out me when we were kids. I loved going to his baseball tournaments when he played AAU every summer. I remember his high school graduation, where John Kasay was the speaker. He's a college grad. He's an adult. My brother? Yea, that's crazy.

My brother Trey, 28, gets married in two weeks! The wedding is in my favorite place, Charleston, SC, and I must say that I am pumped. I can't believe that I will soon have a brother that has a wife. That's crazy. He is a grown man. He will go home to her everyday. She will cook, and they will have a new life. Kids come into the realm of reality. I can't believe it.

This fall, I start college. I graduated from High school a semester early and I have been working full time  since February.

My older brothers are grown up, and I'm getting there. Matthew, 8, still has a while, but he is getting closer each day. It won't be long before he has pimples, and wears deodorant. I hope I'm there to help him along, as my older brothers were for me.

My point in all this? I hope that when grow, we are growing closer to Christ. We have no choice in how old we are, or how long we live. But, I pray that as we live, we do so for Christ more and more. As we go to school, get jobs, and get married, we need to do so while living in God's gracious will.

Here is a prayer for your life...

"God, make me and change me into who you saved me to be, so that I can bring glory and honor to your name."

Don't just grow, but grow in Him.

Nothing Whorish, but Very Whole-ish

A man once said, "Waking up each morning is grace. Demanding anything more is greed."

I like the choice of words. In the first statement he speaks of grace. Stating that the breath of daily life is much more than a given. In the second he uses the term demanding. The terms desiring, wanting, or attempting to have were not used.

The term "Content" is a lot deeper than seven letters. What does it mean?

Content: feeling or showing satisfaction with one's possessions, status, or situation

To be content does not mean to settle. As believers, we often settle for less than what God has for us. We do this for many reasons. Sometimes its because of a fear of failure. Sometimes we just get distracted, and forget that God has a bigger and better plan than twitter and facebook. Sometimes we just tired of looking and trying. Settling seems to be easy, but it is surely not a way out.

We seem to settle in many areas. Maybe you are exhausted, and settle for a job just because you need one, and not because it is the one God has set apart for you. You have probably settled in relationships. You settle for less than Mr. or Mrs. God's plan for you. This means you have settled for less than love, less than moral, and less than right. No matter where you settle, you will always get less. Settling is not in the definition of being content, but being satisfied is.

To be content is to be totally satisfied by what God has blessed you with today. To be totally satisfied by God is to see Him as more than satisfactory. Another key to this is to view every circumstance as an opportunity, and a blessing, not a curse. Our goal in those blessings and opportunities cannot be to please me, but to please the One from whom all blessings flow.


Romans 12:1-2

1 And so, dear brothers and sisters,* I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.*2 Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

The end of verse 2 hits me hard. God's will  for me is good, pleasing and perfect? That's right. To be content is to see it that way. If those words were the words of Paul's heart, he was a very content man. If we are truly content, and believe that God's will for us is really good, pleasing and perfect, then we will accomplish the rest of these two verses. If we are satisfied by God's perfect will then we will automatically become a living sacrificing. Being content is not only a state of the heart and mind, but the body. Being content will make us doers of the words that we hear. (James 1:22)

I challenge you. Be satisfied by Christ. Search for nothing outside of Him, because it will only leave you more empty than before. No trophy, no buzz, and no fifteen minutes with the opposite sex will make you feel the way Christ can. You will not be at peace with anything outside of Him. There will always be something missing. Fall in love with Jesus. Dance your life away as an offering to Him. Pour yourself out at His feet, leaving no more to be waisted on anything else. He is where you will find rest.

Naked?

Matthew 6:28-30

28 "And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing,29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are.30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?"



This morning's Sunday School lesson was on Value. What we should value, and what we shouldn't value. We started in Matthew 6:19 and studied through the end of the chapter. In this passage, Jesus paints a perfect picture of what is important and what is not. We see in verses 28 through 30 that we put our faith where place value. When we count Christ as having high value, we seem to trust Him more, and worry less.



Things to count as nothing? We discussed that money, social status, and even food/clothing can take away from the way that view our God. We can become obsessed with these things, and can even unconsciously see them as god. We can worship these things by pouring our time/lives into them. This is no better than old testament idolatry.
 
 
What to value? Christ and the building of His Kingdom. Everything else fades. Money, cars, and dreams all break in a sense. Christ and His Kingdom do not. Good looks turn to wrinkles, and buzzes wear off. Jesus doesn't. This is why were are to focus totally on Him. Him effort, and every conversation should turn to Him. We should be working hard to build this thing Jesus calls "the Kingdom".
 
So what do you call important? Where do you spend your time, and what do you do there? Is it for Christ? If He has great value in your eyes it will be.
 
Think about it. Be honest with yourself. Where are your eyes set?
 
Take a look into Matthew 6:19-34.
 
 
 
Believe Jesus. Love Jesus. Live Jesus.