Hear This and Understand

“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might He increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted: but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength: they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” – Isaiah 40:28-31 (ESV).

When I was a classroom teacher I’m sure I often said to my students, “Now hear this, remember this, and if you don’t understand, please ask me and I will explain again.” As a teacher, I soon became aware that they sometimes tried to distract me from further instruction by having me explain yet again something that they probably understood. They, in their “student wiseness” had learned that they might distract me from going to something new and harder by reviewing again what they had already learned. Students are, as we say, “like that.” And teachers, too, are known to “belabor points.” We have examples in the Bible where God had to “reteach” believers, over and over again.

The beautiful passage, our focal verses for today, was preceded by a pointed question by Isaiah the prophet, speaking on behalf of the Lord God, asking the people: “Why do you say ”My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God?” (Isaiah 40:27). And then come the question and declaration (and I paraphrase): Have you not heard and known? God is everlasting. He is the Creator. He has no tendency at all to faint or grow weary. He knows everything about us because His wisdom is all-encompassing. He strengthens the faint and empowers those who are without stamina. We know that even youth and young men seek to outstretch their energy and grow faint. But here is great news for all of you: Those who wait for God to empower you will have strength renewed. Think of the mighty eagle soaring through the airwaves. They mount up with such ease and accomplishment. To fly is their God-given ability. And to fly with grace and expertise is their practiced manner. Runners, likewise, who persist and practice learn to set their pace, racing without undue weariness because they master speed and breathe properly. In like manner, those who walk can learn to walk without fainting.

The message in Isaiah chapters 40 through 66 was written by Isaiah to Israelite captives in Babylonian exile. They were naturally sad, discouraged and disheartened. God’s people were under worldly domination of a pagan king and they were in a strange land. They needed to be reminded of God’s power and their allegiance, still, to Him. “Hear this and understand” was a clarion call to know without a doubt that circumstances do not have to defeat God’s people.

Even in physical bondage the heart can know spiritual freedom and hope. In our weaknesses, God’s strength gives sufficiency. Waiting for the Lord is the best time possible to renew strength and to anticipate what God’s power in and through you will accomplish. Author Squire Rushnell in his book When God Winks at You proposes that there are “no coincidences with God,” but that God-winks are planned by Him for our “ah-ha” moments! His thesis is that God speaks directly to us through the power of coincidence. [New York; MIF Books, 2006]. When the Israelites in Babylonian bondage saw an eagle soar, it was a reminder (not a coincidence) of God’s power and care for them. Let us practice in everyday life seeing, hearing, and understanding what God is teaching us of His incomparable truths.

–Ethelene Dyer Jones 10.18.2015

The Word—Sweeter than Honey

“How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore, I hate every false way…Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.” –Psalm 119:103-104; 97 (NKJV).

Do you love God’s Word? Can you say with the writer of Psalm 119 that it is sweeter to your mouth than honey? Can you attest that God’s law is your meditation all the day? Do you cling to God’s testimonies? Do you delight in His commandments? Do you yearn for the Lord’s precepts? If you honestly say yes to all these questions, then you do have a desire to know God’s Word, to cling to it, to follow it, to keep it in your heart and mind. Such was the desire of the writer of the longest Psalm, 119, which is a 176 verse acclamation of the excellence of God’s Word and how the Psalmist wanted to hide it in his heart, live by it, and gain delight and life from it.

Isaiah 40:3 reads: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’ ” Apply this verse to the present dearth of the knowledge of and love for the Word of God—the spiritual wilderness or desert in which we, by our own lack of study and application of the Bible—allow ourselves to live. But there is a voice in this wilderness. God has given us His Word. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be complete, perfect, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17, NKJV).

Paul’s strong word about the inspiration of Scripture, and its value for doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness are emphasized. We don’t have to wander in the wilderness of apathy and spiritual dearth. We can be well-equipped with the knowledge and guidance God’s Word provides us. Systematically reading and studying the Word of God can supply a wonderful highway through the desert of our spiritual dearth. Just like the shepherds of old came upon a bee tree in Israel, and had the sweet taste of honey to assuage their hunger, so the Word of God can satisfy our spiritual hunger. It can go beyond providing for our spiritual hunger. It can fill us to overflowing with the precepts, joy and guidance of the Lord.

I need to establish some necessary guidelines when I open God’s Word, the Bible. When I approach it, I am entering holy ground. I am not seeking an explanation for God. He is, and I am seeking His voice. We need to pray, “Maranatha, Our Lord, come!” (1 Corinthians 16:22). Maranatha is a word we associate with the second coming of Jesus Christ. But it can also mean, “Lord, come to me now; speak to me now.” Each time we take the Word to study it, read it for inspiration, seek out its truths for our edification, we are meeting the Lord. He is speaking to us! Wonder of wonders, His “Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105). We would see a difference in our churches, in our society, in families, in personal lives of Christians if only we would take seriously our love for the Word and be diligent in following its truths. As good as they are, a few devotional verses a day may help, but they are not enough. A deep-down, earnest, sincere study of the Word is what is needed. Can you answer yes to the questions posed at the beginning of this devotional? Would you like to? I hope you will say, “Maranatha, Lord, come! Talk to me through Your Word!” Then we will say with the Psalmist, How I love thy Law (Word)! It is my meditation day and night!” --Ethelene Dyer Jones 11.16.2014

Under the Good Shepherd’s Care

“He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young.” – Isaiah 40:11 (NKJV).

Isaiah 40 and to the end of the prophecy of Isaiah, chapter 66, are messianic passages but also the proclamation that the people of Zion (the Israelites) will be delivered from bondage and restored again to their beloved land from exile.  Furthermore, Israel had a mission to the world and that was to bring the knowledge of the true and living God to the Gentiles and be a means of universal blessing.  This is clearly foretold in Isaiah 42:1:  “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.”

The restored people are referred to as “:the flock,”—sheep—and the one who leads them as the good and gentle Shepherd (Isaiah 40:11).  In teaching about Himself, Jesus declared:  “I am the good Shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known  by My own.  As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep” (John 10:14-15, NKJV). After His resurrection, ane He had fulfilled what He came to earth to do—laying down His life for all people (the sheep, the flock of His pastures), He was eating with His disciples at the Sea of Galilee.  He commanded Peter three times, “Feed my sheep” (see John 21: 15-21).

Paul the Apostle likened the church and its leaders to a flock with a shepherd:  “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood: (Acts 20:28). 

A clear distinction of Shepherd to sheep and the responsibility of sheep is given in Hebrews 13:20-21:  “Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.  Amen.”

Isaiah centuries before Christ’s appearance on the earth prophesied that the Good and Gentle Shepherd would come and lead His flock to victory.  David sang about the Good Shepherd in Psalm 23.  Artists have sought to put the concept into paintings.  Perhaps the most famous is German artist Bernhard Plockhorst (1825-1907) of the “Nazarine Movement” of art who showed a gentle shepherd Jesus carrying a newborn lamb, the sheep’s mother looking gratefully at the shepherd and her sheep, and the flock following behind the shepherd.  Serene and confident, the flock and the little lamb are cared for by the Good Shepherd.  Today the Gentle Shepherd desires and stands ready to guide us.  Let us rest in the confidence of Who He is and what He wants to do for us. 
     –Ethelene Dyer Jones 08.3.2014.

Exaltation

“For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.  Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” Isaiah 55:12-13 (ESV).

Isaiah Chapters 40-55 were addressed to God’s people in Babylonian exile in the sixth century B. C.-Isaiah used predictive prophecy to give the people hope that God will act to bring His blessings of restoration in a powerful way and so that all people will be aware of His actions.  It is stated thus in Isaiah 40:5:  “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”  Isaiah gives the promise of restoration in 55:12-13 (quoted above) and signifies a time of joy, great rejoicing, and even production again from the land that had been laid waste.

So far in my life I have not experienced exile like the Israelites knew in the Babylonian exile.  But I can identify with the exaltation expressed in Isaiah 55:12-13.  I had great determination to go to college and get a good education.  As I have told before in my personal testimony, I grew up on a farm in North Georgia.  My mother died when I was fourteen and it became my obligation to assume the leadership of house and home so far as cooking, cleaning, laundry, keeping the garden, preserving foods for winter use, and often cooking for several farm hands that assisted my father with seasonal work.  These duties were heavy for a teenager and oftentimes I was tempted to weaken in my efforts, to desist from working so hard, to allow my dream for an education to die.  But somehow a spirit within me kept determination alive and propelled me to do the necessary work that fell to me.  I attribute much of my determination and persistence to becoming a Christian at an early age.  Prayer became a vital and necessary part of my life, and as I set goals for myself, I would pray earnestly that I might work toward reaching them.  I was able to stay in school enough to make each grade successfully and even to excel.  Perhaps hard work at home helped me in the same manner to work hard at school, even though I could not always attend regularly, especially in “syrup-making” season in the fall when my help was sorely needed on the farm to cook for the work hands.

When my high school graduation time came, I was told by my teachers and principal that I was first honor graduate—valedictorian.  I could hardly believe it, for there were several with very high grade point averages in my class.  Then I began to have offers to colleges.  My pastor was instrumental in helping me to secure work and honors scholarships that virtually paid my way.  As I left my mountain home to realize this next journey in my life, higher education, it was as if the “mountains and the hills broke forth into singing, and the trees of the field clapped their hands for joy!”  I felt I could identify with the thorns of defeat being replaced by opportunity and the briers of disappointment being uprooted and replaced by goals that could be accomplished.  I learned to be thankful for every opportunity, determined with God’s help to seek His way and follow His path.  Yes, there have been times when I wavered and had to redirect my efforts, but I have found without a doubt that the words of Isaiah 40:29 are true:  “He gives power to the faint, and to him who has not might He increases strength.”  Praise be to God. –Ethelene Dyer Jones 07.07.2013

On Being Comforted and Comforting

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” –I Corinthians 1:3 -4 (ESV).

Go to the root meaning of the word “comfort” and you find it is from the old Latin prefix com (with or for) and the noun fortis, strength; therefore, com + fortis: with strength.  To give strength, courage and hope is the idea behind comfort.  In writing to the Corinthian church, Paul’s central theme was on the relationship between suffering and the power of the Holy Spirit in the apostle’s life to bring comfort and strength to the believer.  A very important concept Paul proposes is that God who comforts the believer in all his situations, especially where there is affliction and suffering, is so that we, in turn, can be a comfort to others.  The idea is “we have been comforted” and therefore “we know how to lend comfort.”

In recent days I have had an unusual number of telephone calls and messages from persons who are hurting and need to be comforted.  What is my responsibility as I seek to minister to those who are hurting?  Because I have been comforted by others, I in turn am to seek to be God’s instrument for helping others to evaluate their own afflictions and see a way through them.  It is not by special knowledge I have except that ever-present assurance that God comforted me when I needed succor, and now I have the privilege of comforting others. God so often comforted through the ministry of perceptive, loving Christians.  It’s called, according to the words of a popular religious song my youth choir loved to sing several years ago:  “Pass it on!”  If you have received comfort, you in turn are to reach out to comfort others.  This is one important way we spread the love of God and at the same time we assist in relieving burdens that oppress and debilitate.  “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith the Lord” (Isaiah 40:1).

                                                                                                            -Ethelene Dyer Jones