Isaiah 26:1-9
In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.
2. Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.
3. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
4. Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:
5. For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low; he layeth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust.
6. The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy.
7. The way of the just is uprightness: thou, most upright, dost weigh the path of the just.
8. Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
9. With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. Isaiah 26
20. Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.
Come, my people, into your secret places, and let your doors be shut: keep yourself safe for a short time, till his wrath is over.
(Bible in Basic English).
Isaiah 26
I just want to share this little devotion to encourage us during this time of turmoil that is affecting the whole world.
First I want to remind you that as believers we have a amazing future ahead of us. One that is worth singing about.
It is the City of God where he has provided Salvation. Yeshua which means "God is My Salvation" is the Hebrew Name for Jesus Christ.
God has provided Salvation through His Son! When we abide in Christ , we have arrived in this city where the Holy Spirit indwells us and we become the Temple of God!
This City is Omnipotent, it is strong because filled with the presence of God. When we have God we have everything: remember He is Omniscient and Omnipresent too. There can be nothing more reassuring that having Emmanuel with us.
The people of the City of God demonstrate 2 key characteristics:
1) Righteous
2) Keep the truth
Verse 3 In preparation for this City, God gives us Perfect Peace. Perfect Peace is a Double Portion of Perfection and Peace from God.
Gods promises have conditions.
He wants to keep us in an environment of perfect peace BUT, we have to keep our minds staid on Him and trust in Him.
How do we do this?
We need the mind of Christ:
Philippians 4:6-7
"Don't be anxious about anything pray about everything thank him make your requests known to God. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."
Keep connected to God. Keep speaking to and about Him. Keep praising Him and thinking about Him.
The result is Perfect Peace.
Someone describes it as "living inside the double doors of God's loving care."
Moving on - Verse 4
Reinforces the idea of trust.
We must trust God forever.
Why? He is our everlasting strength.
God will deal with all opposition: our oppressors, all obstacles, all pestilences and diseases in His Time and in His Way.
This is what I get from verses 5 and 6
God is the one with the strength and power.
He can even use the most unlikely and unexpected things to bring victory. Why? He is God.
In verses 7 and 8 God remind us of how we need to conduct our selves on this journey to His City.
As mentioned previously, we must be righteous and love the truth.
We must honour His name and learn to wait upon Him in faith and hope and with patience while He answers our prayers. God is pleased when we put our confidence in Him.
But we must also be just and upright.
God is watching the way we walk. The way we live our lives. How we treat others, how we speak, what we think about and what we do. We have our example in Christ. That is how He weighs our path.
When we are looking out for God's things, He looks out for us.
Christ's example and Perfect Peace mean that we are willing to wait upon God's righteous judgements, even when we are affected, even when we are persecuted.
Corona Virus is our enemy but it is not bigger than God. God is in Control! God has a purpose. He wants as many people to be saved as possible. He can use even a pandemic to turn His lost sons and daughters back to Him.
Verse 9 gives us our strategy to deal with our current crisis that has the attention of the whole world:
"With my whole soul have I desired thee in the night
With my spirit within me I will seek thee early."
So we must draw near to God. Wrap yourself in Him. He gave us 121 time to do exactly that.
He used the period of lockdown to remove all distractions from us. During that time we couldn't make the excuse that we were too busy.
God shut the world down especially for us to spend time with Him.
We can get to know Him even more and love Him, better. We can draw closer to Him than ever before.
Make this crisis a sanctuary. Worship not Worry. The situation is an opportunity for us to see Gods power at work and His Grace in your life. Let us praise Him for who He is and Wait upon Him, why? He is God!
The second part of verse 9 tells us all we need to know:
"for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness."
God is Using Corona As A Worldwide Evangelism Campaign. Our job is to not to Worry but to Worship and to Wait upon God.
We Have A Strong City The Battle is The Lord's Hallelujah!
I just want to read the words of a song to encourage us:
When the mighty men
From the tribe of Judah
Faced the enemy
They were told by God
Not to be afraid
He would give the victory
He said lift up a song
And lay down the sword
For the battle is mine
Says the Lord
Sing unto the Lord
Make a joyful sound
Lift your voices
And let your praise resound
Sing a victory song
In the time of war
Trust in Jesus
The battle is the Lord´s
When the evil one
Comes against you
To fill your heart with fear
You can trust in God
He will never leave you
He promised to be near
You can lift up a song
In the midst of the war
For the battle is mine
Says the Lord
( I wrote this but no need to put my name)
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