Your Heritage

Taking a break today from this “Book Journey” I want to share this word with you. Recently I have had some very negative things said about me and this ministry that I’ve been called to do (preaching, teaching, writing). At first, I was upset – but then I thought of one of God’s great promises found in Isaiah 54:17 “No weapon formed against you will prosper…”

Now you know me – I’m all about “context”! And so I turned to a piece I’d written on this scripture before and found these words:

One commentator said, “Chapters 54-56 [of Isaiah] are oracles of salvation to three different groups of people who are the beneficiaries of the Servant’s ministry. Chapter 54 is addressed to those in exile who are faithful to God and represent the spiritual Church in all ages.”

Isn’t that where we all are? Aren’t we all “in exile”? Don’t we sing, “This world is not my home…”? The “Servant” promises children for the barren, and a redeemer for the dejected. He promises (much like Psalm 46:2) that should even the mountains be moved, His lovingkindness – His hesed shall not depart.

He promises that should his servants be attacked, it won’t come from Him (which, by the way, tells us who it IS from!) And then finally in verse 17 He says, “No weapon formed against you will prosper” and not only that, but “you will silence every voice raised against you” (NLT). [That’s just what I needed to hear!]

But, probably the most encouraging part of this promise comes next as God says, “This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD.”

Oh my brothers and sisters! This is your heritage! This is your inheritance! As a born-again child of God, this promise is for you!

Now… does this mean that as a servant of the Lord, nothing will ever go wrong for me again? Does this mean that I won’t suffer or have problems? No, it just means that these things won’t rule over me – they won’t prosper – they won’t succeed in stealing my joy… unless I let them.

 

And I’m sure not going to let them! May God be glorified in all that I do and in all that you do for Him! Amen!

 

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The Heritage of the Servants

One of our pastor’s favorite scriptures comes from Isaiah 54:17 “No weapon formed against you will prosper…”

One day when some worries were weighing heavily I thought of this verse and, being the “detail” person that I am, I decided to look it up and find the context of the passage.

Isaiah 54… hmmm… Many of us are familiar with Isaiah 53 which is commonly called “The Song of the Suffering Servant” and describes much of Jesus’ torture and suffering, but Isaiah 54 tells us what comes after His suffering. One commentator said, “Chapters 54-56 [of Isaiah] are oracles of salvation to three different groups of people who are the beneficiaries of the Servant’s ministry. Chapter 54 is addressed to those in exile who are faithful to God and represent the spiritual Church in all ages.”

Isn’t that where we are? Aren’t we “in exile”? Don’t we sing, “This world is not my home…”? The “Servant” promises children for the barren, and a redeemer for the dejected. He promises (much like Psalm 46:2) that should even the mountains be moved, His lovingkindness – His hesed shall not depart.

He promises that should his servants be attacked, it won’t come from Him (which, by the way, tells us who it IS from!) And then finally in verse 17 He says, “No weapon formed against you will prosper” and not only that, but “you will silence every voice raised against you” (NLT).

But, probably the most encouraging part of this promise comes next as God says, “This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD.”

Oh my brothers and sisters! This is your heritage! This is your inheritance! As a born-again child of God, this promise is for you!

Now… does this mean that as a servant of the Lord, nothing will ever go wrong for me again? Does this mean that I won’t suffer or have problems? No, it just means that these things won’t rule over me – they won’t prosper – they won’t succeed in stealing my joy… unless I let them.

This morning my husband’s car broke down on the way to work. He could not say, “I refuse to believe that my car has quit running”, that would be silly. What he did say was, “Thank you Lord that it happened so close to home. Thank you Lord that I am able to load it up and haul it home. Thank you Lord that I have another vehicle to drive today… and on and on and on. This “weapon” or situation that could have caused his whole day to suffer did not “prosper” – it did not succeed.

The “world” would call this PMA – “positive mental attitude”. But a positive mental attitude will only go so far because it is based on MY attitude. My “joy” is based on the promises of God – the God who promised to never leave or forsake me (Hebrews 13:5). But the cool thing about Hebrews 13:5 is the next verse which says, “So we can say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?’” Not only “what can ‘anyone’ do to me”, but what can “any situation” do to me.

If you are a servant of the Most High God, “No weapon formed against you will prosper” because “This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD.”

I just had to share! Have a great and “God-filled” day!

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