Many people have their doubts about WHO GOD is and if HE ever existed or if HE exists; does HE have anything to do with us here on earth ? GOD is the GREAT I AM and has always existed. When GOD created this world and all that is in it HE did it for HIS good pleasure. When HE created mankind, HE did it because HE desired to have a relationship with one of HIS created beings; so HE created mankind in HIS image as Genesis 1:27 states.
There is a section in the Book of Isaiah that talks much about what GOD has been up to and is still doing even today. There has never been a time when HE just went off fishing and left us to our own devices. There has never been a time when HE has not been involved with HIS creation. WHY ? Because HE created us to be in fellowship with HIM and HE only wants our very best. I am going to write those sections in Isaiah that really give us a glimpse of WHO GOD is and how very much HE is involved in everything then and now.
Isaiah 40 " Comfort, yes, comfort MY people ! Says your GOD. Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins. The voice of one crying in the wilderness (this was a reference to John the Baptist): prepare the way of the LORD: make straight in the desert a highway for our GOD (JESUS). Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; the crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough places smooth; the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
The voice said, Cry out ! And he said, What shall I cry ? All flesh is as grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people are grass, the grass withers, the flower fades, but the WORD of our GOD stands forever. O Zion, you who bring good tidings, get up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, you who bring good tidings; lift up you voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid; say to the cities of Judah, Behold your GOD ! Behold, the LORD GOD shall come with a strong hand, and HIS arm shall rule for HIM; behold, HIS reward is with HIM, and HIS work before HIM. HE will feed HIS flock like a shepherd; HE will gather the lambs with HIS arm, and carry them in HIS bosom, and gently lead those who are with young.
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, measured heaven with a span and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure ? Weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance ? Who has directed the SPIRIT of the LORD, or as HIS counselor has taught HIM ? With whom did HE take counsel, and who instructed HIM, and taught HIM in the path of justice ? Who taught HIM knowledge, and showed HIM the way of understanding ?
Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, and are counted as the small dust on the balance; look, HE lifts up the isles as a very little thing, and Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations before HIM are as nothing, and they are counted by HIM less than nothing and worthless.
To whom then will you liken GOD ? Or what likeness will you compare to HIM ? The workman molds a graven image, the goldsmith overspreads it with gold, and the silversmith casts silver chains. Whoever is too impoverished for such a contribution chooses a tree that will not rot; he seeks for himself a skillful workman to prepare a carved image that will not totter.
Have you not known ? Have you not heard ? Has it not been told you from the beginning ? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth ? It is HE WHO sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, WHO stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. HE brings the princes to nothing; HE makes the judges of the earth useless. Scarcely shall they be planted, scarcely shall they be sown, scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth, when HE will also blow on them, and they will wither, and the whirlwind will take them away like stubble.
To whom then will you liken ME, or to whom shall I be equal ? says the HOLY ONE. Lift up your eyes on high, and see WHO has created these things, WHO brings out their host by number; HE calls them all by name, by the greatness of HIS might and the strength of HIS power; not one is missing.
Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel: My way is hidden from the LORD, and my just claim is passed over by my GOD ? Have you not known ? Have you not heard ? The everlasting GOD, the LORD, the CREATOR of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. There is no searching of HIS understanding. HE gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might HE increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. BUT those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."
Isaiah 41 " Keep silence before ME, O coastlands, and let the people renew their strength ! Let them come near, then let them speak; let us come near together for judgment. WHO raised up one from the east ? WHO in righteousness called him to HIS feet ? WHO gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings ? WHO gave them as the dust to his sword, as driven stubble to his bow ? WHO pursued them, and passed safely by the way that he had not gone with his feet ? WHO has performed and done it, calling the generations from the beginning ? I, the LORD, AM the FIRST; and with the LAST I AM HE .
The coastlands saw it and feared. The ends of the earth were afraid; they drew near and came. Everyone helped his neighbor, and said to his brother, Be of good courage ! So the craftsman encouraged the goldsmith, and he who smooths with the hammer inspired him who strikes the anvil, saying, It is ready for the soldering; then he fastened it with pegs, that it might not totter.
But you, Israel, are MY servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the descendants of Abraham MY friend. You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest regions, and said to you, You are MY servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away: Fear not for I AM with you. Be not dismayed for I AM your GOD, I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with MY righteous right hand.
Behold, all those who were incensed against you shall be ashamed and disgraced; they shall be as nothing, and those who strive with you shall perish. You shall seek them and not find them--Those who contended with you. Those who war against you shall be as nothing, as a nonexistent thing. For I, the LORD your GOD, will hold your right hand, saying to you, Fear not, I will help you.
Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel ! I will help you, says the LORD and your REDEEMER, the HOLY ONE of Israel. Behold, I will make you into a new threshing sledge with sharp teeth; you shall thresh the mountains and beat them small, and make the hills like chaff. You shall winnow them, the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them; you shall rejoice in the LORD, and glory in the HOLY ONE of Israel.
When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongues fail for thirst, I, the LORD, will hear them; I, the GOD of Israel, will not forsake them. I will open rivers in desolate heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia tree, the myrtle and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the cypress tree and the pine and the box tree together, that they may see and know and consider and understand together, that the hand of the LORD has done this, and the HOLY ONE of Israel has created it.
Present your case, says the LORD. Bring forth your strong reasons, says the KING of Jacob. Let them bring forth and show US what will happen; let them show the former things, what they were, that WE may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare to US things to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, that WE may know that you are gods; yes, do good or do evil, the WE may be dismayed and see it together. Indeed you are nothing, and your work is nothing; He who chooses you is an abomination.
I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come; from the rising of the sun he shall call on MY name; and he shall come against princes as though mortar, as the potter treads clay. Who has declared from the beginning, that WE may know ? And former times, that WE may say, He is righteous ? Surely there is no one who shows, surely there is no one who hears your words. The first time I said to Zion, Look, there they are ! And I will give to Jerusalem ONE WHO brings good tidings. For I looked, and there was no man; I looked among them, but there was no counselor, WHO, when I asked of them, could answer a word. Indeed they are all worthless; their works are nothing; their molded images are wind and confusion. "
Isaiah 42:1-9 " Behold ! MY SERVANT WHOM I uphold, MY ELECT ONE in WHOM MY soul delights ! I have put MY SPIRIT upon HIM; HE will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. HE will not cry out, nor raise HIS voice, nor cause HIS voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed HE will not break, and smoking flax HE will not quench; HE will bring forth justice for truth. HE will not fail nor be discouraged, till HE has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands shall wait for HIS law.
Thus says GOD the LORD, WHO created the heavens and stretched them out, WHO spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, WHO gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk on it: I, the LORD, have called YOU in righteousness, and will hold YOUR hand; I will keep YOU and give YOU as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house. I AM the LORD, that is MY name; and MY glory I will not give to another, nor MY praise to graven images. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.
Isaiah 43 " But now thus says the LORD, WHO created you, O Jacob, and HE WHO formed you O Israel; Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are MINE. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. For I AM the LORD your GOD, the HOLY ONE of Israel, your SAVIOR; I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place. Since you were precious in MY sight you have been honored, and I have loved you; therefore I will give men for you. And people for your life.
Fear not, for I AM with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, and gather you from the west; I will say to the north, Give them up ! And to the south, Do not keep them back ! Bring MY sons from afar, and MY daughters from the ends of the earth--Everyone who is called by MY name, whom I have created for MY glory; I have formed him, yes I have made him.
Bring out the blind people who have eyes, and the deaf who have ears. Let all the nations be gathered together and let the people be assembled. Who among them can declare this, and show us former things ? Let them bring out their witnesses, that they may be justified; or let them hear and say, It is truth. You are MY witnesses, says the LORD, and MY servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe ME, and understand that I AM HE, before ME there was no GOD formed, nor shall there be after ME. I, even I, AM the LORD, and beside ME there is no SAVIOR. I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, and there was no foreign god among you, Therefore you are MY witnesses, says the LORD, that I AM GOD. Indeed before the day was, I AM HE; and there is no one who can deliver out of MY hand; I work, and who will reverse it ?
Thus says the LORD, your REDEEMER, the HOLY ONE of Israel: For your sake I will send to Babylon, and bring them all down as fugitives--The Chaldean's, who rejoice in their ships. I AM the LORD, your HOLY ONE, the CREATOR of Israel, your KING.
Thus says the LORD, WHO makes a way in the sea and a path through the mighty water, WHO brings forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power (they shall lie down together, they shall not rise; they are extinguished, they are quenched like a wick): Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it ? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The beast of the field will honor ME, the jackals and the ostriches, because I give water in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to MY people, MY chosen. This people I have formed for MYSELF: They shall declare MY praise.
But you have not called upon ME, O Jacob; and you have been weary of ME, O Israel. You have not brought ME the sheep for your burnt offerings, nor have you honored ME with your sacrifices. I have not caused you to serve with grain offerings, nor wearied you with incense. You have bought ME no sweet cane with money, nor have you satisfied ME with the fat of your sacrifices; but you have burdened ME with your sins, you have wearied ME with your iniquities.
I, even I, AM HE WHO blots out your transgressions for MY own sake; and I will not remember your sins. Put ME in remembrance; let us contend together; state your case, that you may be acquitted. Your first father sinned. And your mediators have transgressed against ME. Therefore, I will profane the princes of the sanctuary; I will give Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches.
Isaiah 44:24-28 " Thus says the LORD, your REDEEMER, and HE WHO formed you from the womb: I AM the LORD, WHO makes all things. WHO stretches out the heavens all alone, WHO spreads abroad the earth by MYSELF; WHO frustrates the signs of the babblers, and drives diviners mad; WHO turns wise men backward, and makes their knowledge foolishness; WHO confirms the WORD of HIS servant, and performs the counsel of HIS messengers; WHO says to Jerusalem, You shall be inhabited, to the cities of Judah, You shall be built, and I will raise up her waste places; WHO says to the deep, Be dry ! And I will dry up your rivers; WHO says of Cyrus, He is MY shepherd, And he shall perform all MY pleasure, even saying to Jerusalem, You shall be built, and to the temple, Your foundation shall be laid. "
If you just read these few short chapters in the Book of Isaiah you can see that the LORD is very busy with the affairs of men. There is nothing that is not within HIS purview nor will HIS plans be thwarted by mere men. HIS timing is perfect as is HIS ways. You may be one of those who doubt HIM, you may even be one of those who do not believe in HIM at all; but one day " Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that HE (JESUS) is LORD to the glory of GOD. "
Have a blessed evening and Sunday.
Your servant in CHRIST,
Julie
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