A Perpetual Covenant of Peace

54 “Sing, O barren,
You who have not borne!
Break forth into singing, and cry aloud,
You who have not labored with child!
For more are the children of the desolate
Than the children of the married woman,” says the Lord.
² “Enlarge the place of your tent,
And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings;
Do not spare;
Lengthen your cords,
And strengthen your stakes.
³ For you shall expand to the right and to the left,
And your descendants will inherit the nations,
And make the desolate cities inhabited.

⁴ “Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed;
Neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame;
For you will forget the shame of your youth,
And will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore.
⁵ For your Maker is your husband,
The Lord of hosts is His name;
And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel;
He is called the God of the whole earth.
⁶ For the Lord has called you
Like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit,
Like a youthful wife when you were refused,”
Says your God.
⁷ “For a mere moment I have forsaken you,
But with great mercies I will gather you.
⁸ With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment;
But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,”
Says the Lord, your Redeemer.

⁹ “For this is like the waters of Noah to Me;
For as I have sworn
That the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth,
So have I sworn
That I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.
¹⁰ For the mountains shall depart
And the hills be removed,
But My kindness shall not depart from you,
Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,”
Says the Lord, who has mercy on you.

¹¹ “O you afflicted one,
Tossed with tempest, and not comforted,
Behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems,
And lay your foundations with sapphires.
¹² I will make your pinnacles of rubies,
Your gates of crystal,
And all your walls of precious stones.
¹³ All your children shall be taught by the Lord,
And great shall be the peace of your children.
¹⁴ In righteousness you shall be established;
You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear;
And from terror, for it shall not come near you.
¹⁵ Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me.
Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake.

¹⁶ “Behold, I have created the blacksmith
Who blows the coals in the fire,
Who brings forth an instrument for his work;
And I have created the spoiler to destroy.
¹⁷ No weapon formed against you shall prosper,
And every tongue which rises against you in judgment
You shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And their righteousness is from Me,”
Says the Lord.

God is Faithful and True... :)

Kwave Verse of the Day!

"A man's heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps." ~ Proverbs 16:9

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"Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah. 
 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about. 
Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart."- Psalm 32:7-11.

"O how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!... Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD"- Psalm 31:19-24.

That you be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.- Hebrews 6:12

God is a consuming fire. He will consume all in our lives that is not of Him. And even the things He has given us, He may require again. The altar is for all, an absolute surrender to the number one relationship.  “As you say, my lord, O king, I am yours, and all that I have”- 1 Kings 20:4b. I'm not sure that God necessarily wants the things we give back to Him, for the sake of just having them back; God obviously does not need anything. And He desires obedience rather than sacrifice. The point of this life however, is not our earthly kingdom, establishment, or comfort. All can come or go at God's request and by His great wisdom. God has eternity in mind, in all that He does. An act that seems temporal or evil, will actually bring about a greater good somehow. God will not allow anything bad to happen that He will not bring about a greater beauty or goodness from. A fire destroys all, and yet tiny, green seedlings seem to make it through the death, just as fine and strong as ever. The life of Jesus is a thriving and conquering life that brings great victory in all that we face in our trials.

Those who are born again pray earnestly to grow closer to the Lord and desire greater faith and trust in Him. It follows that God will answer these prayers. They are His will for us to pray and for Him to answer. Therefore, God will test our trust in Him, and bring circumstances into our life that will try that trust past its previous limits. So why should I be surprised when God tries my love again and again? Would I still love Him if that fails, or if this is taken away, or if the other disappoints? At first these tests seem cruel and wasteful. Why should Abraham offer up Isaac, the promise, after 20-something years of waiting for him? God made the promise, why now would He take it away? But Abraham loved God more than Isaac, and believed Him at His word. We are called to love God more than life itself, more than any person or thing we hold dear to on this earth. That deepening love, the fellowship we experience with Jesus, is everlasting life. God plays the strings and chords of our hearts, and perhaps the sound is most beautiful in our pain. Nothing on this earth can compare with our communion with God. Our tests bring us into a sweeter fellowship with the Lord, where truly we can assent with our hearts and say, "Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever"- Psalm 73:25-26.

Will you still love God if you are separated from conscious blessings? But then we run to the next nearest resource and try that, and again and again, but the same question is asked. When no more resources remain and no plan B's are available. The question comes again, "Do you trust me? Do you love me most?"..... "But God I can't SEE it; now it really is impossible and we are all ready to give up.".... Sarah passed the age of childbearing. Maybe she thought, 'God has forgotten me; how could I have thought He even wanted to use me anyway, of course He meant to use Hagar, a better vessel than I.' Sarah forfeited the promise for herself, but God did not forfeit Sarah. God always intended that Isaac would be borne through her. Will you still trust God when your dreams seem to be taken away or your reputation is deeply humbled? I am encouraged that though Sarah lacked faith and forfeited God's promise, God did not change His plan, or forfeit Sarah.
Sarah bore Isaac, and Abraham did not have to sacrifice him afterall. But, God proved their faith in the tests and accomplished that greater purpose of faith and relationship with Himself. We must lay all we have on the altar of God and trust that He will resurrect the things that are of Him. Lay down all your burdens, plans, gifts, and loved ones on the altar. All must be placed there. Trust that as the fire burns, God is able to resurrect what is of Him. When the fire is burning we may want to give up or disbelieve, but God is able. He will resurrect the right things better and more abundant than before.  And what never gets resurrected, probably would have been toxic and a snare to our spiritual walks anyway. Praise God He removes the chaff and refines the gold. 

"And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life."- Matthew 19:29.