March 4, 2015
God of Comfort
Isaiah 40:1-11, Isaiah 40:28-31, Isaiah 40:29-30
I Everlasting Comfort
II Everlasting Word
III Everlasting Strength
An eagle chick got thrown out of its nest as a very young eaglet. A farmer found the chick and decided to give it to a mother Turkey, on his farm, who then raised it.
As the young Eagle grew, it behaved just like all the Turkeys. It ate grain, it lived in a small enclosure and it didn’t fly, because Turkeys don’t fly well.
As time went by, the young Eagle began to flap his wings a lot, much to the consternation of the others in the compound!
As the young Eagle grew, it behaved just like all the Turkeys. It ate grain, it lived in a small enclosure and it didn’t fly, because Turkeys don’t fly well.
As time went by, the young Eagle began to flap his wings a lot, much to the consternation of the others in the compound!
Then one day a strong wind blew, just as the Eagle spread his wings. The wind caught the young eagle’s wings and lifted him out of the compound, into the open spaces. The uproar from the compound was very loud, which caused the Farmer to come running. And he said, “Ï wondered how long it would be before you discovered the truth. After all, you are an eagle! You are designed to soar high in the sky! “
He took the young eagle to a high ridge, and as the wind blew, the eagle again spread his wings. Soon he was flying,,,,, and as he flew, he went higher and higher into the heavens, where he belonged. He had, at last, discovered his true home.
And as believers, we were divinely designed, to live in the supernatural realm; we were created to soar in the spirit and to fellowship in the heavens….. but way too often, we just live in the turkey pen.
Unfortunately, we have a hard time seeing beyond our experience in the natural world. Because, if it doesn’t happen in the Turkey pen, then, most of the time, it just doesn’t happen.
He took the young eagle to a high ridge, and as the wind blew, the eagle again spread his wings. Soon he was flying,,,,, and as he flew, he went higher and higher into the heavens, where he belonged. He had, at last, discovered his true home.
And as believers, we were divinely designed, to live in the supernatural realm; we were created to soar in the spirit and to fellowship in the heavens….. but way too often, we just live in the turkey pen.
Unfortunately, we have a hard time seeing beyond our experience in the natural world. Because, if it doesn’t happen in the Turkey pen, then, most of the time, it just doesn’t happen.
Because, If anyone tries to tell us something different, or show us something different, most of the time, we have a hard time believing the difference… How its been done in the Turkey pen for generations, is how we think it always has to be done. We eat till we can’t eat any more. Good wholesome grains, we peck at, ourselves, most mornings. Sometimes in the evening we go to other pens and get more grain, On Sundays we go to the big pen with all the others, and we get extra helpings of good grain. We get so full that we can hardly walk! But we think that’s how it’s supposed to be….we think we’re satisfied, and all is right with the world, if we have lots and lots of good wholesome grain.
Then, suddenly, we feel a gentle breeze on our shoulders or in our face and we love how it feels. Sometimes, it seems just like we could take off and fly into the heavens. But then, we remember we are just Turkeys, or the others in the pen remind us, that we are just earth-bound, grain eating, big fat, flightless birds.
Our heavenly Father wants to take us out to the ridge! But it’s not comfortable for us out there…it’s scary and it’s big and is beyond comprehension, so not many of us will leave the pen….. But when we do, it’s a glorious thing and our hearts and lives, are transformed forever!
There is so much more for us to experience, spiritually, in this world, than we can even imagine….(I can remember the firsti day that Mary Kathryn went to kindergarten…. I ran into Kay Prince at the Hallmark store at North Hills, her daughter, Mary Mack had just gone away to college…we were commiserating with each other, in the checkout line----when the sweet lady behind the counter, chimed in our discussion…. with a story of her own, that I’ve never forgotten…..she said that she had two little girls, ages 11 and 13, and she had gotten pregnant with a little boy----she said she worried for 9 months about how it would affect her girls, especially the younger one, since she had been the baby for such a long time…..but she said that her worry was transformed into amazed joy, when, about two hours after they brought him home from the hospital, the 11 year old came running into her bedroom and said, “Oh Mommy, I never knew there was so much love we were wasting….”)
Our heavenly Father wants to take us out to the ridge! But it’s not comfortable for us out there…it’s scary and it’s big and is beyond comprehension, so not many of us will leave the pen….. But when we do, it’s a glorious thing and our hearts and lives, are transformed forever!
There is so much more for us to experience, spiritually, in this world, than we can even imagine….(I can remember the firsti day that Mary Kathryn went to kindergarten…. I ran into Kay Prince at the Hallmark store at North Hills, her daughter, Mary Mack had just gone away to college…we were commiserating with each other, in the checkout line----when the sweet lady behind the counter, chimed in our discussion…. with a story of her own, that I’ve never forgotten…..she said that she had two little girls, ages 11 and 13, and she had gotten pregnant with a little boy----she said she worried for 9 months about how it would affect her girls, especially the younger one, since she had been the baby for such a long time…..but she said that her worry was transformed into amazed joy, when, about two hours after they brought him home from the hospital, the 11 year old came running into her bedroom and said, “Oh Mommy, I never knew there was so much love we were wasting….”)
That’s how we are… if we don’t step outside the turkey pen and go up to the ridge, and let the breeze ruffle our feathers, we will never know , all the glorious wonders that the Lord has intended for us to have, that we’re wasting…..
I Everlasting Comfort
Isaiah was the greatest of the prophets and a superb master of language. He wrote beautiful literary passages, with wonderful imagery which paint clear pictures in our minds.
Isaiah is the fullest revelation of Christ in the Old Testament -- so much so, that it is often called "the gospel according to Isaiah." Studying these magnificent, prophetic passages about the 1st and 2nd coming of the Lord Jesus and the comfort that they bring gives us a taste of the richness and the depth of the Scripture.
Also, the prophetic nature of the book of Isaiah is one of the great proofs that the Bible is the word of God, because Isaiah lived about 724 years before Jesus did. The many passages describing the Messiah, point so clearly to the Lord Jesus as the Christ and are fulfilled in him, that there’s no doubt that Isaiah was led by the Holy Spirit to write it .
(Ray Stedman says that the great books of the bible are like national parks…… They are open to everyone to roam in, and are a delight to explore all by ourselves. And each park has a characteristic peculiar to itself, that distinguishes it from all the others; and we appreciate the park better if we know what that characteristic is. He compares the books in scripture to the distinct characteristics of the great national parks in the West. For instance, if you want to see nature's various moods, go to Yellowstone Park. There she pulls all the tricks out of her bag and throws everything together. If you want to see mountain grandeur and cool lakes, Glacier Park in Montana is the place to go. If you want to be awed and humbled and stirred, then go to the Grand Canyon. If you are looking for a quiet valley in which to rest and reflect, Yosemite is the place….. –
He says that the book of Revelation is very much like Yellowstone National Park. It is full of spouting geysers and all kinds of weird symbolism and a variety of formations. The Gospel of John is more like Yosemite; quiet and deep and reverent. But there is no question that the book of Isaiah is the Grand Canyon of scripture. Geologists tell us that the Grand Canyon is a miniature history of the earth -- a condensed history, a pocket volume of the past -- just like, the book of Isaiah has often been called a miniature Bible.
Visitors to the Grand Canyon are always astonished by one thing when they go there. They stand at the rim and look out over the vast. jumbled, silent canyon -- down to the Colorado River, which seems but a silver thread more than a mile below them -- and sooner or later some tourist cries in amazement, "I don't understand how a tiny thing like that river could have carved a canyon like this!" They are amazed by that concept.
And if you read the book of Isaiah thoughtfully and carefully, you sense immediately the grandeur and the power of God. You hear the powerful, rolling cadences of this book's language. You sense the insignificance of man when compared with the might and the wisdom and majesty of God.
We know very little about Isaiah himself. He lived during the reigns of four kings of Judah -- Ussiah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. His ministry began some 740 years before Christ when the ten tribes that formed the northern kingdom of Israel were being carried away into captivity by Sennacherib, the Assyrian invader. And Judah, the southern kingdom, was plunged into idolatry toward the end of Isaiah's ministry in 687 B.C. and was carried captive into Babylon. So the ministry of this prophet spans the time between the captivity of the northern kingdom and the captivity of the southern kingdom -- about 50 years. Isaiah was a contemporary of the prophets Amos, Hosea, and Micah. And tradition tells us that Isaiah the prophet was martyred under the reign of Manasseh, one of the most wicked kings recorded by the Old Testament. The story is that he hid in a hollow tree to escape the reign of Manasseh, and the king's soldiers, knowing he was in that tree, sawed the tree down. Thus, he was sawn in half. Some scholars feel that when the epistle to the Hebrews in its great chapter about the heroes of faith, lists being sawn in two as one of the ways the prophets were martyred, that It’s referring to the prophet Isaiah. (Hebrews 11:37)
The Bible is made up of sixty-six books….. There are 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament…. The Old Testament, most often, deals with the sin of the people of Israel, and the New Testament, most often, deals with the Savior, who came from Israel, to take care of there sin, and ours, once and for all.
And the book of Isaiah divides in exactly the same way. There are 66 chapters……The first half of the book comprises thirty-nine chapters. with a distinct division at chapter 40, with the remaining twenty-seven chapters, constituting second half of this book. The first 39 chapters deal with God’s impending judgment, and the second twenty-seven chapters deal with forgiveness and deliverance. The first 39 chapters deal with sin, and the last 27 chapters deal with the Savior — 66 chapters in all.
Many people see Isaiah as a small Bible, because of the definite similarities……
The first 39 chapters warn us of the destruction of the nation and the deportment of the people to a foreign land. And it tells us about how the people of Israel, abandoned their God and He, in turn, was going to abandon them, for an allotted period of time…... The first part of the book is heavy and plodding, because when Isaiah wrote the first part of his book, the disaster hadn’t come to the nation, yet, but, there is a distinctly different tone and message beginning in chapter 40… as Isaiah writes about the deliverance that was coming to Israel, and to all the people in the world, who would believe in his coming redemption……
The language, in these verses, soars with majestic eloquence and wondrous intention...the glory of the Lord’s salvation just pours out of Isaiah’s heart.
The people grew very tired of Isaiah’s warnings and his constant talk about their need for repentance and their return to God. But Isaiah didn’t care, the Lord God had given him a mission and he was determined to see it through it to the end….and as is God’s way, Isaiah was led to give the people comfort, in the middle of their tragedy, by writing the second half of his book, to the people of Israel and Judah, who would be in exile — he wanted them to understand that there would come a time when they would be taken away to Babylon, and their nation would be destroyed and Jerusalem and its beautiful temple would be in ruins, and the people would be in captivity.
And in captivity, they didn’t need to hear about pending judgment, because they were living it. They didn’t need to be reminded of their sins; they were experiencing the consequences of them on a daily basis.
So, there were three truths that Isaiah felt compelled by the Lord, to fill the people’s hearts and minds with…., and the first one was: God’s everlasting comfort. Because the truth is, what they would need as captive slaves in Babylon, was comfort. They didn’t need Isaiah to shake his finger at them, at that point and say, “I told you so”; what they needed to hear, was that God still loved them and that there was hope for their future…. In Isaiah. 40:1-2. the words that God spoke to Isaiah, about the children of Israel…is one of my very favorite verses, He said……“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand, double for all her sins”
So, there were three truths that Isaiah felt compelled by the Lord, to fill the people’s hearts and minds with…., and the first one was: God’s everlasting comfort. Because the truth is, what they would need as captive slaves in Babylon, was comfort. They didn’t need Isaiah to shake his finger at them, at that point and say, “I told you so”; what they needed to hear, was that God still loved them and that there was hope for their future…. In Isaiah. 40:1-2. the words that God spoke to Isaiah, about the children of Israel…is one of my very favorite verses, He said……“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand, double for all her sins”
It is interesting that the Hebrew word, that Isaiah uses for comfort is also a word which can be translated “repent.” It’s the word nâham, and its root gives you the idea of breathing deeply. It means to breathe deeply with sorrow for your sin, or to breathe deeply as you comfort and console someone else ….the idea is that God’s comfort comes, as a result of a person’s repentance.,,,,,,,Because they have breathed deeply in repentance, God will breathe deeply into their hearts, as He consoles and comforts them.
Isaiah explained to them that “in repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength,” and he was anxious for them to receive the blessimg of God’s comfort,,,,
Isaiah explained to them that “in repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength,” and he was anxious for them to receive the blessimg of God’s comfort,,,,
Their sins had been paid for and deliverance was in the air. We know, on this side of the cross, that their deliverance wasn’t the result of what the people had done. I was 100 percent, the work of God. It was undeserved and unmerited favor. God had promised to to deliver them, but the way had to be prepared first.
In his vision, described in Isaiah 40:3-5, Isaiah heard a voice calling and saying, “A voice of one calling: ‘In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken’” We know that John the Baptist was that voice calling out, preparing the way for Jesus to be received for who He was. God was coming to them, in the person of Jesus, and the call was going out to prepare his way.
In ancient times, when there were no superhighways, history tells us that months before a king’s entourage would set out on a journey, the call would go before him: “Prepare the way for the king. Make a straight way in the wilderness and a highway for the king.” The people would run before the king to remove any obstacles and fill in the rough places in his path. They would build a road and fill in small valleys and dig through the hills so the king’s progress would be smooth and unhindered. Their reward was to see the king coming in all his royal splendor. In this passage, God was on his way to his people, who were in slavery to a foreign nation. He will come to them and deliver them from captivity — bringing them home on the highway, which has been prepared for Him. The picture is one of God coming in glory from Jerusalem to bring his people back to himself and to their home. This was the great comfort the people longed for.
However, the idea of comfort here is not like the comfort we usually think of. When we think of comfort, we think of sitting on a beach, watching the waves, and drinking something cold and delicious, (for me it would be diet Mtn.Dew.) Or if it’s winter, we see ourselves sitting in a nice leather chair in front of a roaring fire, with a quilt spread over us while we sip hot cocoa and read a book, or watch a good movie, (or if its me, both at the same time).
In ancient times, when there were no superhighways, history tells us that months before a king’s entourage would set out on a journey, the call would go before him: “Prepare the way for the king. Make a straight way in the wilderness and a highway for the king.” The people would run before the king to remove any obstacles and fill in the rough places in his path. They would build a road and fill in small valleys and dig through the hills so the king’s progress would be smooth and unhindered. Their reward was to see the king coming in all his royal splendor. In this passage, God was on his way to his people, who were in slavery to a foreign nation. He will come to them and deliver them from captivity — bringing them home on the highway, which has been prepared for Him. The picture is one of God coming in glory from Jerusalem to bring his people back to himself and to their home. This was the great comfort the people longed for.
However, the idea of comfort here is not like the comfort we usually think of. When we think of comfort, we think of sitting on a beach, watching the waves, and drinking something cold and delicious, (for me it would be diet Mtn.Dew.) Or if it’s winter, we see ourselves sitting in a nice leather chair in front of a roaring fire, with a quilt spread over us while we sip hot cocoa and read a book, or watch a good movie, (or if its me, both at the same time).
But the idea of comfort, in the scripture, comes from the two Latin words, “com and fortis” which literally translated, mean “with strength.”
So, God’s way of giving comfort, is to give us the strength to do what needs to be done. As His strength comes to us…. grief and sorrow go. The situation may not change, but He will give us a new ability to face whatever it is and the strength to deal with it. The people of Israel, who Isaiah was speaking to, needed strength to face the journey home, as well as, once they were there, the huge job of rebuilding the temple and the city. They needed a lot of strength and encouragement.
And the word encouragement, again in the scripture, means basically the same thing…. …. it means to be “in courage.”
If you are encouraged, then you have the courage to do what needs to be done. God instructed Isaiah to be comforting and encouraging His people so that they would be able to carry out His will.
Sometimes, God’s comfort comes, by forcing us into a situation, that will change and grow us. It has been said, “that the Spirit of God comes to both comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable.”
(Someone once asked a paratrooper friend, of his, how many times he had jumped out of the plane while he was in the military. He said, “None.” His friend said, “What do you mean, ‘none,’ I thought you were a paratrooper?” He said, “I was, but I never jumped. I was pushed several times... but I never jumped.”) That, is the military’s idea of encouragement….. And it’s the same with us, a lot of times, we need a little shove. But along with that shove, God gives us the renewed courage and strength to do what He is calling us to do. And the beautiful blessing of it all is, that in the end, it becomes something we really want to do.
And the other way that God comforted His people then, and still does today, is by letting them know that he would take care of their enemies. The kingdom of Babylon looked so formidable. It seemed as though no one would be able to get through their walls or defeat their army. The splendor of Babylon was breathtaking with its magnificent buildings and it’s “wonder of the world” hanging gardens. No one, could imagine the possibility of Babylon being destroyed. But God, through Isaiah, in Isaiah 40:6-8… assured them, that “all men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever…. God was saying that no matter how powerful the Babylonians appeared, they were nothing but grass. That He determined their time and place, and that when he blew upon them, it would be like the hot desert wind blowing on the desert flowers. They would wither and fall, but He would still remain.
And, in Daniel 5, that is exactly what happened. The Babylonians who seemed so powerful were actually defeated, without much of a fight. They thought, that nothing could happen to them. They were so sure they were safe, that they did not even post a guard on the wall. But while their rulers drank themselves into oblivion, the Persian army simply diverted the flow of the Euphrates River, which flowed under the walls and through the great city. Then they marched right into Babylon on the empty riverbed. The great kingdom of Babylon collapsed in a night, and God proved, that the people were like grass and that only He remains.
(Someone once asked a paratrooper friend, of his, how many times he had jumped out of the plane while he was in the military. He said, “None.” His friend said, “What do you mean, ‘none,’ I thought you were a paratrooper?” He said, “I was, but I never jumped. I was pushed several times... but I never jumped.”) That, is the military’s idea of encouragement….. And it’s the same with us, a lot of times, we need a little shove. But along with that shove, God gives us the renewed courage and strength to do what He is calling us to do. And the beautiful blessing of it all is, that in the end, it becomes something we really want to do.
And the other way that God comforted His people then, and still does today, is by letting them know that he would take care of their enemies. The kingdom of Babylon looked so formidable. It seemed as though no one would be able to get through their walls or defeat their army. The splendor of Babylon was breathtaking with its magnificent buildings and it’s “wonder of the world” hanging gardens. No one, could imagine the possibility of Babylon being destroyed. But God, through Isaiah, in Isaiah 40:6-8… assured them, that “all men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever…. God was saying that no matter how powerful the Babylonians appeared, they were nothing but grass. That He determined their time and place, and that when he blew upon them, it would be like the hot desert wind blowing on the desert flowers. They would wither and fall, but He would still remain.
And, in Daniel 5, that is exactly what happened. The Babylonians who seemed so powerful were actually defeated, without much of a fight. They thought, that nothing could happen to them. They were so sure they were safe, that they did not even post a guard on the wall. But while their rulers drank themselves into oblivion, the Persian army simply diverted the flow of the Euphrates River, which flowed under the walls and through the great city. Then they marched right into Babylon on the empty riverbed. The great kingdom of Babylon collapsed in a night, and God proved, that the people were like grass and that only He remains.
II Everlasting Word
This is Isaiah’s second point. Not only did Isaiah speak of an everlasting comfort, Isaiah spoke of the everlasting Word of God. When all other claims to truth have had their say, the Word of God will stand alone, in the end. Everything else will change. Ideas and philosophies will come and go, but God’s Word will always remain the abiding Truth.
This is Isaiah’s second point. Not only did Isaiah speak of an everlasting comfort, Isaiah spoke of the everlasting Word of God. When all other claims to truth have had their say, the Word of God will stand alone, in the end. Everything else will change. Ideas and philosophies will come and go, but God’s Word will always remain the abiding Truth.
The lie of the Nazi’s came and died. The lie of godless communism came and died.
One of the training areas for a mission team, in Russia today, is the Hotel Gorbachev. In the convention room the team holds worship services with the backdrop of a huge mural with pictures of Marx, Lenin and the other communist leaders, who denigrated the Christian faith and the Word of God, glaring down from the walls…... But now communism has fallen, and in the place where young communists were trained on the tenets of atheism, Christians are worshiping together, and being trained in evangelistic techniques — and believe it or not, it’s at the invitation of the Russian government.
When I was a teenager, in the mid to late 70s, many philosophers, were saying that God was dead, and they were predicting the death of the church. Today almost no one can remember the names of those men and women, who made those predictions, let alone the titles of the books that they wrote, because the church of Jesus Christ is thriving; our God is still very much alive, and the truth of His Word, is still t, very much, the ultimate authority to live by…..
God’s Word is God’s word…. It was God’s Word yesterday; it is God’s Word today, and it will be God’s Word 5000 years from now. Kingdoms will rise and fall. Ideas will come and go. The values of the world will change, but God’s Word will remain the one constant, in a world of change and confusion.
When I was a teenager, in the mid to late 70s, many philosophers, were saying that God was dead, and they were predicting the death of the church. Today almost no one can remember the names of those men and women, who made those predictions, let alone the titles of the books that they wrote, because the church of Jesus Christ is thriving; our God is still very much alive, and the truth of His Word, is still t, very much, the ultimate authority to live by…..
God’s Word is God’s word…. It was God’s Word yesterday; it is God’s Word today, and it will be God’s Word 5000 years from now. Kingdoms will rise and fall. Ideas will come and go. The values of the world will change, but God’s Word will remain the one constant, in a world of change and confusion.
The emperor Diocletian tried to revive the old pagan religions of Rome by persecuting and killing Christians. He set up a stone pillar in his honor, inscribed with the words that he wanted to leave as part of his legacy: I read “For Having Exterminated The Name Christian, From the Earth.”
…….If only he were alive today to know how far short of his goal he fell! His monument is more of a tribute to the endurance of Christianity, than it is anything else-----instead of wiping out Christianity his persecution ignited it…..”
III Everlasting Strength
Isaiah told of an everlasting comfort, and he told of the everlasting Word of God, but thirdly: Isaiah spoke of an everlasting strength. He knew that being in exile, would eventually wear down the people’s strength….Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 40:28-31: “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint”.
Isaiah told of an everlasting comfort, and he told of the everlasting Word of God, but thirdly: Isaiah spoke of an everlasting strength. He knew that being in exile, would eventually wear down the people’s strength….Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 40:28-31: “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint”.
We all can get discouraged from time to time….even young people can be beaten down, weary and defeated. But those who place their hope and trust in God, will not lose heart, and they will not lose strength — regardless of their age. Our hearts and minds will soar as we think about what God has already done and what He can do in the future… As new strength and courage enters our hearts, it began to affect our bodies, and we will gain a new enthusiasm for life and a new strength to go on and a new comfort to sustain us. But we need to understand we will never gain that strength, unless we are willing to wait on the Lord.
We would all like to mount up with wings like eagles, but It’s hard to soar with the eagles when you are surrounded by turkeys.”
But the truth is, that’s just a cop out. When God shows up, it doesn’t matter who is around you. (I read about a young boy who spent the summer with his grandfather. As he and his grandfather were out in the field one day they found a small bird. It was strange looking and they didn’t know what it was at first. They named him Ernie and took him home to show to grandma. Grandma put him with a mother hen and her brood of chicks. As it turned out, Ernie was an Eaglet. It wasn’t long until Ernie was larger than the chickens, and it was apparent he was different — even though he had picked up some of the mannerisms of the chickens. But one sunny afternoon the father eagle saw Ernie eating corn down on the farm with some strange white birds. The father eagle began to soar in circles above the farm, and then began to spiral downward while calling out for Ernie. Ernie’s head lifted as he heard something that resonated deep within him. Instinctively he began to spread his wings. Suddenly he was flying, and he began to soar in response to his father’s call. Ernie had within him the spirit of an eagle. The chicks heard the father eagle’s call as well, but they only chirped in response and continued to eat their corn on the ground. But Ernie had a higher calling. He was destined to soar. )
Chickens and turkeys can fly, but they rarely do because they are most comfortable on the ground. Sparrows and other small birds fly, but they mostly use their wings to get from one tree to another.
Chickens and turkeys can fly, but they rarely do because they are most comfortable on the ground. Sparrows and other small birds fly, but they mostly use their wings to get from one tree to another.
But eagles soar. They have great power and freedom. They are destined for the skies.
And like them, we have a different Spirit in us, than those who are content to be ground dwellers. We have a higher calling. We are destined for the skies. God’s Spirit is in us and He is calling to us to soar with Him.
But just because we are Christians, doesn’t mean we are using our wings. We may still be more comfortable on the ground, than soaring in the sky. We may even flit, from one place to another,, which isn’t bad, it’s just that God is calling us to soar.
And we are able to soar by waiting on him…able to soar by responding to his call….able to soar by trusting him….able to soar by spreading our wings and able to soar by using the strength that He’s given us.
There is a quote of unknown origin that says, “There are two lasting bequests we can give to our children and grandchildren….. One is roots; the other is wings.” We can teach the children in our lives, that there is a strength that comes from God that is greater than our own. We can teach them to wait on him and trust him, even when everything looks hopeless. We can teach them that Isaiah wrote about an everlasting strength, an everlasting hope, an everlasting comfort, an everlasting truth, an everlasting kingdom, and an everlasting God.,
There is a quote of unknown origin that says, “There are two lasting bequests we can give to our children and grandchildren….. One is roots; the other is wings.” We can teach the children in our lives, that there is a strength that comes from God that is greater than our own. We can teach them to wait on him and trust him, even when everything looks hopeless. We can teach them that Isaiah wrote about an everlasting strength, an everlasting hope, an everlasting comfort, an everlasting truth, an everlasting kingdom, and an everlasting God.,
But the best thing that we can do is to show them, the reality of God’s faithfulness ,as we model it in our lives.
As we show them how to mount up with wings like eagles…..
we can be living examples of hope…. living sources of comfort…. living proof of the reliability of God’s Word…..and living examples of a strength that only comes from the Lord God.
we can be living examples of hope…. living sources of comfort…. living proof of the reliability of God’s Word…..and living examples of a strength that only comes from the Lord God.
THE COMFORT OF GOD
“Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:31).
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