ISAIAH 55 - Living Water

"I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star." "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." (Revelation 22:16-17) I am so amazed by how God works and speaks to us through His word. As I started sharing in Ephesians about the Whole Armor of God, I had a vision of a solider adorned in the armor as to go into battle; but after going through all the pieces of the armor, step by step, explaining and examining each part and how it applied to our lives; I was no longer seeing a solider dressed in armor, but a glorious bride, dressed in white. It is so amazing to me how God worked that transformation into my mind. This new way that I now see myself in light of that revelation, is life changing. I really truly believe that there is a difference in how we view ourselves in Christ; that can give us victory over sin, the flesh, and in being a usable part of His Body. To be an effective vessel that God can use in His Kingdom, we must be living for, and in that Kingdom; and not living for this world, or the things of this world. This I believe is what Isaiah is writing about here in chapter 55. I do not know yet how long I will be sharing on this chapter, but I do know that there are so many good nuggets of information, instructions, interpretations; and yes, Applications; that it could take the rest of the year just to cover them all; God is in charge of all that. All that I know, is that I feel God is wanting me to start; what He does from there is up to Him. I have been fascinated with this chapter of the Bible since the spring of 1991. I had just finished reading 'This Present Darkness' by Frank Peretti, and just so happen to be reading this chapter of Isaiah as my devotional for the day. I felt God speaking something very profound into my heart, that I really could not verify in any commentary or any other literature I could find on Isaiah 55. The verse that was really wrecking my brain was verse 7, "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." The reason this verse caught me with such a grip, was the highlighted portion, "and let him return unto the Lord"; I was like, 'wait a minute'; what is this return all about? I thought we were born in sin, separated from God at birth because of the sin committed by Adam in the Garden of Eden; How do we return to Him, if we were never connected in the first place? I had a feeling that God was speaking to my heart about something other than the implied meaning of this text; that there was a call upon my life to return unto the Lord. I had been a Christian for almost 10 years at this point in my life, and I had many areas to look back to and see the reasons for repentance; but those things had really already been dealt with at one time or another. So I started looking at other areas of my life that could be what God might have been speaking to. The more I read this chapter, the more I wrestled with what it was God was saying; believe me when I say this, I read this chapter at least 5 times a day for several months, maybe even a year. I was obsessed with finding the meaning to what God was speaking into my heart; I just could not get a grip on it; until I noticed something spectacular; God was speaking to me about a different kind of sin; not the sin committed, as in committing sin; but the sin of commitment, as in not being fully committed to serving God. This was so clear after I saw it, that I had to share it with the pastors at my church, with my brothers in the Lord, with anyone who would listen; however, most of the time it was not really received the way I thought it should have been. I think that the reason it was not, was because this chapter is usually seen as a chapter that presents an illustration of God offering Mercy on a fallen world; not that God is calling a lukewarm Christian into a life of total surrender. So as the years went on, and after many rebukes, I gave up trying to bend this chapters meaning to my point of view; until now; after doing this study in Ephesians. I have a new, fresh wind blowing through me, and I feel more than ever that God wants me to share this chapter from the perspective that He has shown me to share it from. Why do I feel like this now? After going though the study of Ephesians, and seeing what I saw the other day, (Isaiah's description of God in Is. 6:1), I have come to believe that both Paul and Isaiah had something very much in common; they both had witnessed 'The Glorified Church'. I know that you might think I am jumping out on a limb here, but this is what I believe God has shown me this last week as I was sharing on prayer; "Above All; Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit;", (if you have not read it yet, you should go back to last week and read forward). Anyways, there is something I believe that both of these men witnessed in heaven that caused them to see the spiritual aspects of the Gospel of Christ in a way that was so glorious, that was so spectacular, that was so holy; they could not really explain it. I hope and pray that God will allow me to be able to express the things He has put upon my heart; how ever long it takes. If I seem to be drifting off the page at any time, please feel free to comment on my postings as soon as you feel I am not correctly interpreting the scriptures; I promise that I will take your comments to heart, but I do not promise that I will quit sharing what God is showing me. It has been to long since I felt this way, and I am not going to quench the Spirit of God again by not doing what He is telling me to do. (If you do not know how to post a comment, it is quite easy. Once you have established an account, just Sign In when you are viewing my blog, and then post a comment; it is really that easy.) I am looking so forward to see what God does through this journey... "Ho, every one that thirstist, come ye to the waters," Come...