Loosing and gaining life

Pay attention, O Jacob, for you are my servant, O Israel. I, the Lord, made you, and I will not forget you. I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free.” Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done this wondrous thing. Shout for joy, O depths of the earth! Break into song, O mountains and forests and every tree! For the Lord has redeemed Jacob and is glorified in Israel. Isaiah 44:21-23 NLT

When the Israelites turned to the worship of idols while in exile in Babylon, they accused God of abandoning them. From the text, God called on them as His servant and they were never forgotten. They were reminded about the magnitude of the grace bestowed upon them. “I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist.” What He promised is beyond what we can ask or think. He will renovate the whole creation and make it new. This is what He promised them that He will do. “It is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new” (Isaiah 43:18-19). What He asks of us is to return to Him and recognize that He alone is our Redeemer. Let go and turn away from your idols and come to God. Let the presence of His Spirit overflow within your life that you can’t help but “Shout for joy, O depths of the earth!” All we can offer to Him is our sinful life and by faith, allow Him to empty our lives and let Him fill it with His presence by giving Him control. This is the only way that we can be revived, by losing ourselves to Him so we can obtain His life. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.

“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!” (Matthew 13:44-46).

Blessings,