ISAIAH 55:9 - "Take It Up To Thee"

"Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it." (2 Kings 6:7) Here is the problem with the message of the Cross: It is to simple!!! That's right; it is just to hard for fallen men to believe that something that is going to cause such a powerful, mighty and complete change to a man's condition, would be so simple to receive: "Just, Take it up to thee!" I get so amazed when I hear a man of God, or someone that is thought to be a man of God, say that it is acceptable to be moral without being in Christ; or that, as long as a person is trying to do right, and believes in God, they will be okay. I have to wonder what god that person is serving; and where that person is leading those that are following their thinking! I have to confess something: The message that I felt the Lord was giving me yesterday was about what I just stated; yet I held back from delivering that message; Why??? Because it seemed to complex of an issue to bring up, given where I was and the constraints of time, I did not believe that I could put that message together in time; so I choose to go with the fleshy side of this 'Ax Head' illustration, instead of the Spiritual side that God was presenting to me. I can only hope that no one that was to have read it yesterday, has died before today; or that no one they knew...oh, that thought is depressing! So then; the real message that God was giving me Friday night goes more like this: That ax head which flew off the handle into the river was not the son of the prophets fault, but it flew off, none the less; and he was desperate for it to be gotten back; and then by a mighty miracle of God, was it floated back to the surface, using only a simple piece of wood; which then only required that the son of the prophet just reach out and take it up. That is it! That wasn't so hard now was it??? It almost reminds me of another story; no, change that; it does remind me of another Scripture where Jesus is describing to Nicodemus in John 3:14 how He would be crucified on the cross, and how significant that would be: "Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up". When we look at the illustration that Jesus was giving, we see another example of how man would refuse to be saved, because the means to be saved was just to simple: "Just look upon the Brass Serpent lifted up on the Pole, and you will Live"; how simple is that. This illustration is found in Numbers 21:1-9, and the Bible says that many that day still perished, because they refused to heed to God's provision, and receive the gift of healing; Why? Because it was just so simple of a cure!!! 1 Corinthians 1:18 says: "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish, foolishness, but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God". It is scoffed at, as if it is nonsense, that all a person would need to do is believe, and that is it; that is all that is required to be forgiven of sin and receive eternal life; Just Believe!!! You see, our response to God's gift of the Cross is so simple; but what God did to make that simple response possible, that is the Power of God. Just like raising that iron ax head from off the river floor, by just placing a piece of wood on the river surface, was a miracle in and of it's self; so for God, to place Himself upon that Cross and to die for our sins; was a miracle in and of it's self; It is the Power of God unto salvation!!! We as believers, are coming to a point in the United States and in the world, where we that are seated in Christ, and are walking in Christ, will be required to make a Stand for Jesus Christ; we are going to need to declare from the roof tops: "Jesus is the only way to be saved!!!" Lord please forgive me... "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:9) Okay now, Listen to these 5 verses this time: "O sing unto the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord, all the earth. Sing unto the Lord, bless His name; show forth His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the heathen, His wonders among all people. For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised: He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols: But the Lord made the Heavens." (Psalms 96:1-5)