SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 25
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm driving against a wall and like the heat of the desert. [Isaiah 25:4-5]
Living in this world is like living in a storm, or in a desert, it is very hard!
Some manage to climb to the top over others, but most are underdogs, used and abused by the top dogs.
Otherwise known as the poor and needy, they do not find hope in the world, they find it in the Lord
He offers them hope, He works out His plans in their favour, He promises them that one day they will be relieved.
One day they will feast, and laugh, and enjoy life in God’s world.
On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine– the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The Lord has spoken. [Isaiah 25:6-8]
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh… But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. [Luke 6:20-21, 24-25]
Jesus echoes this hope, assuring the top dogs of their eventual fall, and the underdogs of their eventual joy.
This has always been God’s agenda, to humble the exalted and to exalt the humbled.
Jesus is the perfect example of this, by becoming humble – to death – and then exalted.
Through His humbling and exaltation, death has been swallowed up forever, and all people who are poor and needy in this world can look forward to a better day coming.
Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ [Matthew 25:34-36]
But notice how God through Jesus accomplishes this – through His followers practicing mercy and grace.
Our job NOW is to start living as if we were in God’s perfect world: loving and serving the poor and needy, showing mercy to those who need it, feeding the hungry, supporting the sick, the naked, the imprisoned.
This is the world that God is working for; this is the world that we must work for.
We do not sit passively on the sidelines waiting for God to restore His kingdom; we join Him in His work, loving like He loves, serving like He serves, blessing like He blesses.
This is how we can know whether we are truly saved; if our hearts overflow with His grace and love, and we devote ourselves to doing the good that Jesus did, and called us to do.
This is how God will bless the poor and needy – through us – and how He will eventually restore His world.
This is how the poor and needy are to find hope and relief today: through God’s love and grace expressed through Jesus’ followers.
PRAYER:
Lord, we are not yet in Your perfect kingdom, but may that not stop me from living like it now. May I be a source of hope, strength and blessing for the poor and needy, just as You are to me!
What a mighty God we serve. He is a refuge to the poor and needy, a shelter from the stormy blast, a shade rom the heat, the Remover of tears, our Hope.
I too need to praise the Lord for all His benefits to me.I need to trust Him this day as I serve Him,. He is my Salvation. He will wipe away all tears. His fulness has not yet come, so that His people needs to continue to be workers in His vineyard – trusting in Him, rejoicing in Him for He is our Tower of Strength and our salvation.
How do you spell relief? Faith in God. Working in His Kingdom. Saved by grace. Our hands enfolded in His hands doing His will as He empowers us. Christ’s followers – that’s who we are and others may see that because we are Christians by our love – love by our actions – doings.
Our Father’s wondrous works we see
In the earth and sea and sky;
He rules o’er all in majesty,
From His royal throne on high.
Refrain:
What a mighty God we serve!
What a mighty God we serve!
Reigning now above, on His throne of love,
What a mighty God we serve!
The raging winds and waves are calm,
When He says to them, “Be still”;
The heavens praise Him in a psalm,
And the angels do His will.
He maketh worlds by His command,
Weighs the mountains great and high;
He metes the waters in His hand,
Spans the lofty, starlit sky.
Our God, to save from sin’s control,
Gave His Son: a sacrifice;
His grace, abounding in the soul,
Makes the earth a paradise.