Reflecting God - Embrace Holy Living - The Global of the Nazarene's Foundry Publishing House in Kansas City, Missouri, United States for Thursday, 28 June 2018 "In Serving God, Don't Dismay" by William Coker, Jr. - Isaiah 41:1-10.

Reflecting God - Embrace Holy Living - The Global of the Nazarene's Foundry Publishing House in Kansas City, Missouri, United States for Thursday, 28 June 2018 "In Serving God, Don't Dismay" by William Coker, Jr. - Isaiah 41:1-10.
Isaiah 41:1 “Keep silence before me, coastlands!
Let the peoples replenish their strength!
Let them approach; then let them speak.
Let us assemble for judgment.”
2 Who has raised from the east one who is just
and called him to be in his service?
He hands nations over to him
and subjects kings to him;
his sword reduces them to dust,
his bow to driven straw.
3 He pursues them, passing on unscathed,
hardly touching the path with his feet.
4 Whose work is this? Who has brought it about?
He who called the generations from the beginning,
“I, Adonai, am the first;
and I am the same with those who are last.”
5 The coastlands have seen and became afraid.
The ends of the earth have trembled.
They have approached, and now they have come.
6 Every one helps his fellow workman,
everyone says to his brother, “Be strong!”
7 The woodworker encourages the goldsmith,
the polisher encourages the hammerer;
he says of the soldering, “Yes, that’s good,”
then puts nails in [the idol] to keep it from moving.
8 “But you, Isra’el, my servant;
Ya‘akov, whom I have chosen,
descendants of Avraham my friend,
9 I have taken you from the ends of the earth,
summoned you from its most distant parts
and said to you, ‘You are my servant’ —
I have chosen you, not rejected you.
10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you;
don’t be distressed, for I am your God.
I give you strength, I give you help,
I support you with my victorious right hand.. (Complete Jewish Bible).
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Abraham, Moses, and David were God’s servants; now for the first time, the nation of Israel is called God’s servant. God also called Abraham “my friend,” which indicates that the relationship of servanthood is rooted in love rather than duty. Although God had informed Israel that their neglect of the covenant would result in exile into Babylon (39:6), that did not mean it would result in a complete separation from God.
Across the vision given to Isaiah in chapters 40-55, God repeatedly stated: “do not fear.” God grounded this assurance in three historical tenets: “I have chosen you,” “I am with you,” and “I am your God.” From the beginning, God has strengthened, helped, and upheld His people; they would not have survived without God's intervention and He promised to continue to do so.
The genre of the text is a trial scene; God has takdn the stand. Whatever situation we face, we can be assured that He who has called us, God, the God who is “I AM,” has raised His right hand, symbolic of righteousness and salvation, in testimony that He has been, is, and will be with us. We can and must rely on Him. ***
Hymn for Today: "How Firm a Foundation" by John Rippon.
1. How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
who unto the Savior for refuge have fled?
2. "In every condition, in sickness, in health,
in poverty's vale, or abounding in wealth,
at home and abroad, on the land, on the sea,
as days may demand, shall thy strength ever be."
3. "Fear not, I am with thee; O be not dismayed,
for I am thy God and will still give thee aid.
I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand."
4. "When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
the rivers of sorrow shall not overflow;
for I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
and sanctify to thee thy deepest distress."
5. "When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all-sufficient, shall be thy supply.
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine."
6. "The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose
I will not, I will not desert to his foes;
that soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I'll never, no never, no never forsake!"

Thought for Today: “A person whose desire rests on you
you preserve in perfect peace,
because he trusts in you.(Isaiah 26:3) (Complete Jewish Bible)).

Please pray: That many people in Guinea-Bissau will come to know Yeshua as their Messiah and receive the fullness of the Ruach HaKodesh.
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