Take heed!


In Isaiah 7, Judah is being threatened and Isaiah gets's a word from the Lord to go and meet Ahaz and share this message:

TAKE HEED AND BE QUIET; FEAR NOT

I think there is an important picture here for us today.

Firstly, in your situation, 'take heed'. This is old phrase meaning 'to listen and follow'.  When we encounter challenges in our life the first thing to do, is listen.  So often we rush in with our own ideas and plans.  We need to stop and listen, then follow what God has to tell us.

The second thing is to be quiet.  I remember a long time ago, the Holy Spirit very clearly told me to 'Shut Up'.. You may think 'that isn't the way God speaks', but I know it was God and it wasn't harsh, but it was most definitely what I needed to do at that moment. At another time in my life, the Holy Spirit told me to 'hold my peace'.  At first, I thought that He again meant me to be quiet, but I realized that 'holding my peace', while it can mean I need to stop talking, it was more about holding onto the peace that Jesus gave us. 'Quiet' in the bible may refer to saying nothing, but it is more about a state of being than an activity: to be tranquil, be at peace, be quiet, rest, lie still, be undisturbed

We can only stay in this state of peace, by keeping our focus in one place!  God will keep us in perfect peace when our mind (imagination) is stayed on him. (You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusts in you.  Isaiah 26:3).

Quite often we can let go of peace trying to keep hold of something else (being right, justifying ourselves, revenge, spite, pride, frustration). We let our imaginations run riot over every possibility or negative turn.  Instead we need to realize how valuable and important God's peace is in our lives.

Finally from that position of listening to God, following his voice and being in peace, we can be unafraid. 

All of the points from this verse (take heed, be quiet & fear not) are commands/instructions not requests or suggestions.  Sometimes when we've ministered to people and we say things like this, they say "Oh you don't get it!! I can't..."  The truth is if it says in God's word DO such and such, it would be unjust and unfair for God to say that if we couldn't do it!  When God says to FEAR NOT, it's an instruction.  God is telling us that the responsibility for not being afraid is with us..

So we see there is a pattern - first we need to listen to God, fix our eyes on him, and not let our imaginations run wild, but instead bring our thoughts in line with what God has to say and chose not to be in fear, trusting that he is our faithful God!

Have a great week.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Teabags and Popcorn!

Image
So, I was eating popcorn yesterday and drinking a fruit tea and I started wondering what makes a popcorn pop! (As you do). With a little help from Google, I found out that inside the kernel, the hard shell, there is a little bit of moisture and when it heats up inside, it turns to steam and as you keep heating it up, the pressure from the steam builds and builds until it cracks open the hard exterior and makes a yummy snack. And then I thought about my teabag (I do promise there will be a spiritual application to this, not just information on my food and drink habits).  The label had come off the teabag, so I didn't know exactly what flavour it was, until I poured on the boiling water and tasted it! As promised... the spiritual bit!  We are like teabags and popcorn!  This is a deep spiritual truth!  Really it is!  Read on and I'll explain why! Firstly we are like popcorn because when heated up, whatever we stir up inside us will burst out.  We're also like teabags too.  We
Read more

Take it!

Image
This week I have been thinking about the 10 spies that they sent out to view the promised land.  You probably don't remember the names of 8 of them!   The other two were of course Joshua and Caleb.    In the book of Numbers we see that Moses sent out these 10 men off to spy out the land that God had promised them.  They were to check it out and see what kind of place it was, what kind of people lived there and bring back some produce from the land. Well, if you know the story they brought back some figs, pomegranates and a bunch of grapes so big it had to be carried between two men!   It was a good land (no surprise there, seeing as God had told them it was good).  But when they got back 8 of the spies told the people "Well, it's a good land, but the people that live there included giants and all sorts of people that are really strong' I can imagine that all Israel gasped in horror or shock. Each person murmuring to his neighbour about how awful the situation was. In t
Read more

Looking back

Image
This week I was listening to a message and I was reading the verse in Luke 17:32 which simply says " Remember Lot's wife ."   This is a really interesting statement. When Jesus tells us to consider something or remember something we should pay attention. So what do we know about Lot's wife?  Not a lot really.  But what we do know is that an angel of the Lord took her by the hand to lead her out of the city before God destroyed it.  She was told to run for her life and not look back.  According to Genesis 19, she ran but she turned and look back and as a result, turned to a pillar of salt.  This short verse really spoke to me for a number of reasons.    The Apostle Paul tells us " I don’t depend on my own strength to accomplish this; however I do have one compelling focus: I forget all of the past as I fasten my heart to the future instead. "  (Phil 3:13 TPT) Since 2020, it's like we have a new category in history BC now stands for BEFORE COVID! People a
Read more