My family spent last week in Disneyland. We loved it. All Mickey Mouse, crazy rides, princess joy, cotton candy, 50 miles walked in 5 days of it. I'm exhausted but grinning. We are all now professional character greeters. We stood in lines to meet Mickey, Jasmine, Buzz Lightyear and hosts of other iconic friends. My ten-year-old hauled us into the line to meet the Star Wars characters. My four-year-old announced that Chewbacca was a big sad teddy bear. As we waited to meet Darth Vader the character hostess teasingly tried to talk the little one into joining the Dark Side. She told her they have unicorn cookies. Big sister stood in the gap and convinced her the cookies weren't worth it.
The prophet Isaiah has a similar message. Don't be drawn away from the truth. The consequences are harsh. And the savior is worth the loyalty of his people. The message still fits today. Don't be drawn into hate or slander or pride or self-indulgence. Run to the light. He'll save the day. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40: 29-31 If you are exhausted and weary, rest in the power of hope in the Lord. This is what God the Lord says - the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it. "I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles. Isaiah 42:5-6 Don't ever forget the plan was always to spread the light to everyone. Your neighbors, your family, the lost and scared and hungry and hopeless. The hope is for everyone. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6 More hints of the promised coming savior. The amazing thing about Isaiah is it shows the beautiful balance of justice and grace. Without justice there is no peace. But its impossible to meet the holy demands. And so God made the perfect match in love and grace. He met the demand we could not. Isaiah 57:14 And it will be said: "Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people. How about we be a people about the business of building, preparing and removing obstacles? If you allow your soul to be saturated with the tearing down of other people, with ridicule and bitterness and hate, with blocking people's access to Jesus with hypocricy or pettiness or strife it will in fact drown your soul. Build up. If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. Isaiah 58:10 Take the time to read this gorgous book. Choose a verse. Write it on your mirror. Make some changes in your habits to match. Rely on the strength of the Lord. Trust Isaiah's message. The cookies are better on this side. Resources
Here you go! Part two of The Bible Project's Read Scripture video on Isaiah.
Happiness is elusive. Dependent on circumstances. Fleeting. I feel happy on Christmas morning, at the gates of Disneyland and sitting down to a plate of homemade lasagna.
Problem is that when those circumstances change – when I’m walking into a hospital, in the midst of an argument, sitting in line at the dump or the DMV my emotions switch. Happiness is gone and in its place are feelings of fear, annoyance, sadness. Happiness is fun but grossly fickle. There is a different way. In her book, Choose Joy, Kay Warren warmly shares her life’s journey through hard places to how she learned the secrets of Joy. Joy is the peace of God and assurance of His love. Joy can happen at birthday parties and funerals. While paying bills or baking cookies. On your best days and your worst. I love Kay’s book because it shares practical steps to learn how to live your days in Joy. A few of my favorite quotes: “We are going to experience joy in this lifetime, there’s only one possible way: We will have to choose it. We will have to choose it in spite of unbelievable circumstances." "Those who love lavishly, extravagantly, find their souls flooded with joy.” “When trials expose our faith-life, will others see us embracing both the joy and the pain of our life? We do not need to live out one and deny the other. Those around us need to recognize that both of these elements are part of life, and both give us hope for heaven.” - Kay Warren Kay Warren sent me two copies of Choose Joy and a copy of the CHoose Joy Devotional to give out to readers. I'll be drawing winners tomorrow from the Quirk-Email subscription list. If you haven't signed up yet do so now to be included! Click HERE to sign up. You can buy your own copy of Choose Joy at the link below. It was Christmas 2011. I was sitting with my new gifts. My mom hands me a new gift, a lumpy gift. I tore it open. Just a shirt, a pink shirt with black lettering. Right? No. This shirt changed my life. Let's jump back a few months before, I'm sitting with my blanket crying. I'm crying because I don't have a sister. Mom sits down with me and I say "I want a sister". Mom and I prayed to God "Lord, please give me a sister to play with." Let's just say this happened for a long time. Now, back to Christmas. I start reading the shirt. "I....am....going.....to....be....a.....big....sister!"
"Mom! Am I really going to be a big sister?!" My mom says "Yes!" (This goes on for the rest of the day). The point of this is that God may not come to you and give you what you want right away. And sometimes he says no. I am so grateful that he said yes to me this time! Now, my sister is 4 1/2 and so cute! This just shows that praying is powerful. |
About MeI love Jesus. I think my two daughters can change the world. I think you can too. Past Posts
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