Isaiah 54:14-17 New International Version (NIV)
14 In righteousness you will be established:
Tyranny will be far from you;
you will have nothing to fear.
Terror will be far removed;
it will not come near you.
15 If anyone does attack you, it will not be my doing;
whoever attacks you will surrender to you.
16 “See, it is I who created the blacksmith
who fans the coals into flame
and forges a weapon fit for its work.
And it is I who have created the destroyer to wreak havoc;
17 no weapon forged against you will prevail,
and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
and this is their vindication from me,”
declares the Lord.
Isaiah 54:14-17 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
14 You will be built on goodness.
You will be safe from cruelty and fear.
So you will have nothing to fear.
Nothing will come to hurt you.
15 I will never send anyone to attack you.
And if any army tries to attack you, you will defeat them.
16 “Look, I made the blacksmith. He blows on the fire to make it hotter. Then he takes the hot iron and makes the kind of tool he wants to make. In the same way, I made the ‘Destroyer’ to destroy things.
17 “People will make weapons to fight against you, but their weapons will not defeat you. Some people will say things against you, but anyone who speaks against you will be proved wrong.”
The Lord says, “That is what my servants get! They get the good things[a] that come from me, their Lord.
God is telling us that we have nothing to fear. That we are built in his image and through our faith in him we have righteousness. Righteousness being justified and morally correct in accordance with the word of God. No army or weapon can destroy you, as that is not what God has made them for. When you buy in to fear, oppression, a mob you are giving in to the destroyer - Satan.
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Isaiah 54:1-2 New International Version (NIV)
The Future Glory of Zion54 “Sing, barren woman,
you who never bore a child;
burst into song, shout for joy,
you who were never in labor;
because more are the children of the desolate woman
than of her who has a husband,”
says the Lord.
2 “Enlarge the place of your tent,
stretch your tent curtains wide,
do not hold back;
lengthen your cords,
strengthen your stakes.
Isaiah 54:1-2 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
God Brings His People Home
54 “Woman, be happy!
You have not had any children,
but you should be very happy.
“Yes, the woman who is alone[a]
will have more children than the woman with a husband.”
This is what the Lord says.
2 “Make your tent bigger.
Open your doors wide.
Don’t think small!
Make your tent large and strong,
In this story God is telling a barren woman, a woman with no children, to prepare for a houseful of kids. To make her house larger and do some child-proofing, because they are coming.
God teaches us lessons through all things. What can we learn here? We need to learn where we are barren in spirit, and prepare. Look at all parts of your life. Where are you bare? Where is there no fruit from a harvest? Partner with faith. Break down any barriers & boundaries you have. Don't wallow in the emotion of the situation. That is is the easy thing to do. Take the hard road celebrate and prepare for the fruit you know is coming. Cry out to to God - out loud! Vocalize it. Put your all into the most dead & bare part of your life. Prepare! You know that your fruit is coming - make room for it. Do whatever you need to do. If you are praying for a baby ... by all means build that nursery.
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Philippians 3:12-14 New International Version (NIV)
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Trying to Reach the Goal
12 I don’t mean that I am exactly what God wants me to be. I have not yet reached that goal. But I continue trying to reach it and make it mine. That’s what Christ Jesus wants me to do. It is the reason he made me his.
13 Brothers and sisters, I know that I still have a long way to go. But there is one thing I do: I forget what is in the past and try as hard as I can to reach the goal before me.
14 I keep running hard toward the finish line to get the prize that is mine because God has called me through Christ Jesus to life up there in heaven.
We have to forget what is in the past to move forward. Forgetting, in this sense, isn't pretending something didn't occur. It's not letting it be all consuming that you cannot move forward. It's letting go of past occurrences to move on to the new thing God has for you. If you are tied down to something, you simply cannot move forward.
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2 Corinthians 5:17 New International Version (NIV)
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here!
2 Corinthians 5:17 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
17 When anyone is in Christ, it is a whole new world.[a] The old things are gone; suddenly, everything is new!
Letting go of the old, and full faith in God brings the new thing. God cannot upgrade you to the new thing until you let go of the old. You cannot fully prepare for your fruitful harvest without letting go.
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Pastor Jerry gives us 3 keys to breaking free:
1. Forgiveness
2. Value
3. Unconditional
~~~~~~~~~~~Forgiveness~~~~~~~~~~
Life Through the Spirit
8 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you[a] free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,[b] God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.[c] And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Romans 8:1-4 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Life in the Spirit
8 So now anyone who is in Christ Jesus is not judged guilty. 2 That is because in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit that brings life made you[a] free. It made you free from the law that brings sin and death. 3 The law was without power because it was made weak by our sinful selves. But God did what the law could not do: He sent his own Son to earth with the same human life that everyone else uses for sin. God sent him to be an offering to pay for sin. So God used a human life to destroy sin. 4 He did this so that we could be right just as the law said we must be. Now we don’t live following our sinful selves. We live following the Spirit.
In Jesus we have forgiveness for our sins. That is it. Jesus knows it all, all parts of you. And we are forgiven! Then why do we struggle with forgiving ourselves? We know ourselves, our deepest and darkest parts. We think that know one will love us if they found out everything. This is a lie straight from hell itself. Then we compare ourselves to people on the internet or across the road and why we are not as blessed. But we don't truly know how they got where they are - their background. You don't know the struggles to get there.
Forgiveness is received not achieved!
~~~~~~~~~~~~Value~~~~~~~~~~~~~
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
13 You formed the way I think and feel.[a]
You put me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because you made me in such a wonderful way.
I know how amazing that was!
We are custom made by God, therefore we have extreme value. Because of this value, your past has no right to derail your future. By putting yourself down you are putting down a wonder of God - YOU!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Unconditional~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. 5 Love is not rude, it is not selfish, and it cannot be made angry easily. Love does not remember wrongs done against it. 6 Love is never happy when others do wrong, but it is always happy with the truth. 7 Love never gives up on people. It never stops trusting, never loses hope, and never quits.
God loves us with no strings attached. At all. All of his children. In the same manner that a parent loves a child, that love is precious to him. God doesn't give up on us no matter the mess we have gotten ourselves into. We should strive to love others in the same manner. We don't have to agree or even like the other person but there should be love.
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So much can be taken away from these sermons. Here are my take aways:
- We are created in the image of God, therefore we should have no fear from our enemies. Buying into fear / oppression is buying to lies from Satan.
- In times of barrenness, we need to prepare for fruit. Because it is coming.
- We need to get out of the misery of the situation and take the emotion out of the barrenness. Cry out to God for a solution.
- Let go of the old, before we can move on to the new.
- We must forgive ourselves. Jesus does!
- We must value ourselves - we are made in the perfect image from God.
- We must love as God, unconditionally.
