My ways are higher than yours --Isaiah 55

Isa55
Sometimes our faith becomes shattered. We're not sure what we're believing, and our strength weakens. We become thirsty.(V1)
We tend to look to all kinds of sources to satisfy our need, but we won't be satisfied(V2).
"Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abudance. Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live." Only the word of God can sustain us. When we're troubled, we must run fast to come to Him. We have to be very picky in what we allow our ears to hear. Only His words can satisfy us, and not only satisfy, it will be abundantly.
Sometimes we can't figure out why, we can't see our way clearly. The thoughts of doubt try to squeeze in. But we need to remember, that"My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts higher than your thoughts."(v8)
We need to hold on to God's promises, His words, as "It will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it."(v11)
Don't try to accomplish God's word in our own strength, as there will be strife and struggle. But look to Him, for His ways, then "you will go out with joy, and be led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you..."(v12)

Enlarge your tent -- Isaiah 54

Isa 54 reminds me of Peter in the boat, called by the Lord to step out in faith to walk on the sea.
Though nothing seems to work by human eyes, everything is barren and shame, but in spirit we can "shout for joy", because "the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous than the sons of the married woman, "says the Lord.
If we only step out by faith, and hold onto His promises tight, though there will be storms, though there will be battles, "the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, but My lovingkindness will not be removed"
Although everything says no, everyone is against you, but "in righteousness you will be established", and "No weapon that is formed against you will prosper, and every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condem. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord."
Like Peter, if we let our eyes see the storms, the water, the common sense, we will fall. But if we listen to the Lord's calling, and put our trust in Him, only focus on him, we will be able to walk on the water and fulfil His calling.

One of these brothers --Matt 25

Matt25:40 Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.

Often we'll feel overwhelmed by these verses as we think the Lord is asking us to do that to everyone or a lot of people, and certainly, as humans, we're unable to have that capacity. But look at the verse again, it says, to "ONE of these", just ONE! Often the Lord will bring His One to us and impress us to do all we can to help him/her. It's not a random one, but a chosen, appointed one. If we serve this person as if we're serving the Lord, help him with all we can, then this person can be the key to our breakthroughs, but if we miss this person, we'll miss the blessings the Lord has for us.

Put your talent in the bank -- Matt 25

Matt25:18 But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.27Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest.

Dug a hole: there are a lot of things that could cause us to dig a hole in the ground and hide our talents: fear of rejection, insecurity, lack of confidence, laziness, inferiority...
Although what we have is little, and less compared to what others seem to have, and we can't seem to use them properly for trade in our own right, we can always let someone else use them and just serve for their purpose, and when they succeed, we can have our share of interest, although it can be very little, it's better than nothing.
Although it can look very small, it's all what the Lord requires from us. If we're given the five talents, then we're required to gain five more, but if we're given one, we're required to have the interest. When we put the money in the bank, the bank will use the money to make more money, and we'll have some interest.This speaks to me of servanthood, serving in the little things we can to help achieving other people's goal. The interest can look very insignificant and small, but the money is being used to duplicate.

Waste places into garden of Eden --Isaiah51

Isa51:2-3 Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain;...He will comfort all her waste places, and the wilderness He will make like Eden. And her desert like the garden of the Lord; Joy and gladness will be found in her, Thanksgiving and sound of a melody.

On the way to fulfilling God's calling, there's a lot of desert, a lot of waiting, a lot of pain. For Abraham and Sarah, it was 25 years, for Moses, it was 40 years of silence and harsh, dry land. But praise the Lord, nothing is wasted in Him. "He will comfort all her waste places", not only comforted, but "her wilderness He will make like Eden..." How beautiful!
For a prodigal son, we might think all those years of darkness living in sin are wasted. But when the son repent, not only did the Lord redeem, make him a success, make him a light upon the nations, make him His possession(previous notes), but also He will make all those wasted places like the garden of Eden, as if he had never sinned. How awesome is that!!

Birth pangs --Matthew 24:7

Matt 24:7 For nation will rise against nation; and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places thee will e famines and earthquakes; But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.

What we have been experiencing is exactly what the Word says. Labour pains. Contractions. Each pain comes and goes, with a certain time in between. When the contractions get closer and closer, the pain gets stronger and stronger, we know the birth is close now. Donna Crouch once said, when the labour pain comes, don't fight against it, but understand that the pain is necessary for the birth, and work with it. Go with the flow, be prepared. You're not a victim, you are in a process to victory.

Possession --Psalm 135

Psalm 135:4 For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself, Israel for His own possession.
It's like choosing a property. There're a lot of houses on the market, but once you've chosen a particular property for your own home, you'd fight for it. You'd take care and look after it. You'd defend it. You wouldn't let strangers wander in and out. You wouldn't allow robbers to get their way into it. You'd design it to the style that you like, decorate it, furnish it to your own like, you will make the way just how you like it and you will make it comfortable to you. You will be proud of it. It's a big part of your life...
That's how Jacob is like in God's eyes. He's not a house that's about to be demolished in other people's eyes. But the Lord has purchased, with a high price, and He's going to rebuild the house and completly change it to a dream home, with gardens, designs, styles just the way He likes.

House of Israel, Aaron, Levi --Psalm 135

Psalm 135:19,20 O house of Israel, bless the Lord; O house of Aaron, bless the Lord; O house of Levi, bless the Lord; You who revere the Lord, bless the Lord;

I don't know if this is correct, just my own guesses:
House of Israel speaks to me elders of the church, leaders, pastors; Aaron speaks the annointed ones with different giftings, like prophets, singers,etc; house of Levi speaks of people in different services, like ushers, carpark directors, cleaners...etc. You who revere the Lord is the congregation. But no matter what you're doing, no matter what callings you have toward your life, we will do it for the Lord, and for Him only.

Serve in the darkness -- Psalm 134

Psalm 134:1 ...who serve by night in the house of the Lord!

Sometimes we're in the darkness, we can't see any blessings. We can't see the reasons why we're doing what we're doing. Sometimes it just doesn't make sense. But the psalmist says, "bless the Lord!" we serve purely for the Lord, sometimes only the Lord knows that we're serving Him, nobody else sees. We endure, we love only for Him only, nobody else will know.
When we're in the darkness, it's the time to bless the Lord.
And the Lord in His time will bless us from Zion, from His richness of blessings. He's in control of everything, and He is the creator of all glories.

Unity among brothers -Psalm 133

Psalm 133:2 Aaron's beard 3 Hermon...mountains of Zion
This psalm talks about unity between brothers.
V2 refers to the unity between Moses and Aaron. Moses speaks to me of leaders in churches, people in authority positions, and Aaron speaks to me people with special annointings.
In a lot of churches leaders are threatened by the people with giftings and annointings. Instead of releasing them into their callings and making way for them to operate in their gifts, the leaders can be jealous of them and try to surpress them.
The example of Hillsong success is the unity between Brian(Moses) and Darlene(Aaron), Brian is not threatened by Darlene's gift and annointing and makes way for her to operate in her gifting.
Verse 3, Hermon speaks of people in natural high positions. Mountains of Zion speaks of spiritually high positions. When leaders of the world and the leaders of the spirit are united and working together in order, then "the Lord commanded the blessing-life forever."
Posted: 11-Mar-2005 00:12

Light of the nations - Isaiah 49

Isaiah 49:3 He said to me, "You are my Servant, Israel, In whom I will show My glory." 6"... I will also make you a light of the nations so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth."

V7 mentioned that Jacob as the "despised one, the one abhorred by the nations". Not only does God have the power to redeem(chapter44, psalm 130), He also makes him successful(chapter 48), and further more, He will make him a light of the nations, in whom He will show His glory. Isn't that awesome!
This is such a love letter of God to His chosen people, His prodigal son. He'd do anything for a sinner to return. We should never neglect God's love and His heart for His lost ones.

Weaned child -Psalm 131

Psalm 131:2 Like a weaned child rests against his mother, My soul is like a weaned child within me.

Ever had the experience of weaning a child? My third child has just been weaned not long ago, so the struggle is still there sometimes.

This reminds me of myself, still so many times like an unweaned child, crying out to God,"feed me feed me feed me!" When I'm in stress, tired, when I feel down, I'm crazy for God's words and touch, but I just feel the Lord speaking to me now, "What if I don't give you a word? Would you still settle down peacefully and quietly, knowing I will meet your need? Can you trust me even when there's nothing? no milk? No encouragement, no words, no prophesies, no signs and wonders, can you still rest in peace and trust me?"

So, when there's nothing from God, no milk from mommy, that doesn't mean that God has forgotten about me, that He's not faithful, or He has changed His mind....No.... it just means that it's time for me to grow up.

Successful - Isaiah 48

Isaiah 48:15 I, even I, have spoken; indeed I have called him, I have brought him, and He will make his ways successful.

When God has His hands on His beloved Jacob(Israel), no matter what he's like at the moment because of sin, God will make him successful.
Sometimes when we look at a sinner, we tend to think, there's not much hope and future for him, look what he's got himself into... But God will make him successful if he turns around.

Called and chosen - Matt 22

Matt22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

We all have the callings and invitations of God to fulfil His purpose in our lives, but not many have made the choice to follow that calling and enter into the purposed lives. We can have lots of dreams, but if we're not willing to do what it takes to fulfil those dreams, we'll be rejected by the dreams.

Caesar's coin -Matt 22

Matt 22:21 Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.

In God there's liberty. Sometimes He put us under a law that's contrarary to His law. But if we're sensitive to His leading, we can still fulfil His purpose. Growing up in China, my father had always emphasised to me this verse, as there's heavy persecution in China. But God will make a way where there seems to be no way. His law is above man's law. His way is higher than man's way.

Power to redeem -Psalm 130

Psalm 130:7-8 O Israel, hope in the Lord; For with the Lord there is lovingkindness, And with Him is abundant redemption. And He will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

Sometimes sin can take us to a seemingly hopeless situation. But no matter where we are, what kind of messy condition we get oursleves into, if we turn back to God, His redemption to us is abundant. He is big enough to turn our misery into testimony. What a comforting promise!

Tears -- Psalm 126:5

Psalm126:5 Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting.

In the journey with the Lord there will be lots of tears. But see every tear as a seed, don't stop because you have tears, because it's hard, but keep sowing, keep weeping, keep pressing on, as the tears being sowed although looking dead at the moment, one day will emerge from the ground, and grow, and bear fruit, and the fruit will produce lots of other seeds, and the seeds will again produce lots of other trees and fruit... and one day in heaven you'll be able to see the whole picture, how many fruit you get from that drop of seed of tear.... you shall reap with joyful shouting.