Wednesday May 18, 2011

Read Isaiah 42:1-7

Yesterday we saw that the word ‘servant’ has a double edged sword. The Greek word for servant is more literally ‘slave’.  The Hebrew word for servant has much more interesting connotations. Isaiah 42:1-7 picks up on those positive connotations.

The servant of the Lord is the one whom God upholds. He is the one in whom God delights. Immediately our minds think of Jesus and rightly so. Jesus is the servant of the Lord who suffered and rose to eternal life. He is the one that God delights in.  But  we rarely make the jump ourselves, do we? We rarely rejoice in the fact that God delights in you and I.  Ephesians 2:6 tells us that we died with Christ and were raised in Him. Ephesians 1:1-14 tells us that everything we have from God was in Him, in Christ. We are united with Christ. We are together with Him.  God does not despise or hate us. God does not look down upon us and frown. God does not put up with us just because of Christ. God loves us. You and I need to internalise and accept this incredible truth - God loves you!!! God loves you. He likes you. He delights in you.  Read Proverbs 8:30-31 and think about it for a few moments. When God created the world wisdom was with God delighting in the creation of mankind. All creation was a time of rejoicing but when mankind was made by God there was sheer delight. The pinnacle of creation, the purpose of creation, the crescendo of creation had been made. God delights in the creation of mankind and is ecstatic at each person’s new birth or new creation in Christ Jesus.

You are a servant of Christ. Often that conjures up images of lowliness because of the slave imagery we saw yesterday. But it should also warm our heart to know that God delights in you and I. He loves us. God likes us.

Do I want to sin against the God that delights in me? Do I want to kick sand in the face of the God who loves me? Do I want to hurt the God who likes me by sinning? NO WAY!

Prayer:-

V Pray that our brothers in China and Vietnam would understand that God delights in them so that they can have perseverance and continue soldering on for Christ. Pray that their joy would radiate outwards and bring many more to Christ. Pray this for your church as well.

V Pray that our MOPS ministry and Playpals ministry (which meet) on alternate Wednesdays would have enough carers and helpers to expand. MOPS can only expand to accommodate the number of carers. Therefore ask God to bring in many more carers so that the group can grow and so that we can reach more people with the love of Christ.