Welcome to a group of women who's goal is to encourage each other to put down some serious roots in the Word of God. This blog is dedicated to reading through the Bible in a year. Hopefully you will find the encouragement and accountability here that you need to push through the tough parts- or when life just gets in the way. The reading plan is located at the bottom of the blog. It contains links to the passages we are reading through biblegateway.com. You can use those links or read your own Bible, whichever you prefer.
We are all members of Oak Hill Baptist Church in Griffin, Georgia and felt the need in our own life for a little bit of the Lord's splendor. Please join us!!

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Here I Am...























I have heard it said that the book of Isaiah is the Gospel of the Old Testament. It has 66 chapters and the Bible has 66 books (God just loves numbers!). It has some of the most well-known verses about Our Savior and it was quoted more than any other book by the authors of the New Testament. Please take a look at this link. It is a great review of where we have been and how all of this fits into the timeline of Jesus' first coming. Once again, I would like to quote from the introduction to this majestic book out of my Legacy Bible, as the author of these introductions just seems to have a way with summarizing the books of the Bible so aptly. "In ancient Israel, people called to be prophets lived complicated lives. Their audiences seemed determined to reshape the true God into the silent and powerless idols of their neighbors, while living without thought for the results of their decisions. Unfortunately, because prophets often had to convey God's judgement to people unwilling to listen, they were regularly rejected, disrespected and killed." One Jewish tradition even states that Isaiah was sawed in half during the reign of King Manasseh!





Chapter 5: This is a poem that has been identified as a parable, an allegory, and a love poem. The message is clear and compelling...the people of God deserve the judgement that is headed their way. (HCSB Study Bible) There is NO hint at hope past this judgement as in other poems. There is a series of six woes throughout this chapter, which to me is very similar to the feeling we get from the woes that are in the book of Revelation. And so, I asked myself this question: How many woes have I truly heeded that the Holy Spirit has spoken to me? How many have I ignored that would have saved me SO MUCH trouble and suffering in my life?





Chapter 6: This chapter is hands down one of my most favorite passages in all of Scripture! The filthy sinfulness of humans comes face to face with the perfect and amazing holiness of the Lord God Almighty. The result? "Woe is me..." When we see the perfect holiness of our Lord and the filthiness of our sin, we should fall on our faces in shame and repentance. And that is just what Isaiah does. But God, in His awesome grace and mercy, touches the lips of Isaiah's mouth with a burning coal brought to him by an angel, and cleanses him instantly just as he did for all of us on the cross at Calvary. Then, and this just blows my mind, God is asking the questions, "Who should I send? Who will go for Us?" Do you mean to tell me that God is wanting to work THROUGH us?!?!?! He is the God of the Universe...He could get His will accomplished any way he desires and YET He wants to use us?!?!?!?! And Isaiah's answer? "Here I am. Send me." In a Bible study I took at one time, I learned that the Hebrew language here is one of the person jumping up and down in a crowd with his or her hand raised high in the air begging to be the one to do it! Is that the way we are when God asks this same question of us? Do we jump up and down with our hand high in the air begging to be the one to do it? God wants to use US to do His work for Him...what do you think our response should be?





Chapter 7: This chapter contains the first prophecy in the book of Isaiah of the coming Messiah. Verse 14 says, "Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel." Of course the name Immanuel means "God is with us." Again, does it not just blow your mind that God loves us so much that He sent His only Son to suffer horrifically and die all so that we could be with Him for all eternity! The God of the universe wants to be with us?!?! Do YOU know that kind of love? Do you walk with Him everyday? HE WANTS TO BE WITH YOU!!!!




Chapter 8: There is one verse that really stuck out to me in this chapter. Verse 11 states, "For this is what the Lord said to me with great power to keep me from going the way of this people." In order for US not to go the way of this people we live among today, WE have to hear the Lord in His great power speaking to us too! How do we do this? We MUST be in His Word everyday, we must hide His Word in our hearts (Psalm 119:11), we must be speaking with Him through prayer on a continuous basis, and we must worship Him! How many of these things are YOU doing daily to keep YOU from going "the way of this people"?




Welcome to the awesome book of Isaiah...ENJOY!!!

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2 comments:

  1. JaybrenaAugust 13, 2011 at 9:36 PM

    I, too, love that part of Isaiah! I've heard the story time and again about "Here I am!!" it never grows old. And that part about filthy sin coming face to face with holy God.......oh, the humility involved in such an event in my life......thank you, Mindy! Your posts are forever exciting and encouraging, love you sister!!!

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  2. AngelaAugust 14, 2011 at 9:44 AM

    I agree with Jaybrena. The post are full of encouragement as well as wisdom. I love reading your posts! Thank you for sharing verse 11 with us. It would be so much easier to go with the flow and ways of the world, but as Christians we must keep our eye on the prize and do what His word says. Thanks for this continuous journey!

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