God Strengthens (1 of 4)
Series: It’s All About God (Part 2)
Jeff Strite
Isaiah 40:30-31
OPEN: The Civil War went on for 4 long years, and at one point President Lincoln was asked if God was on the side of the Union. He replied: ‘‘I am not at all concerned about that, for we know that the Lord is always on the side of right. But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and the nation should choose to be on the Lord’s side.’’
Our favorite passage for this week is found in Isaiah 40:30-31 (in fact this is one of my favs) ‘‘He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for 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.’’
Now, there are people who tend to look at passages like this and see them as saying that God is ‘‘ON THEIR SIDE.’’ Too many people see God as serving them... rather than the other way around.
ILLUS: In our newsletter this month, I compared that kind of thinking to buying insurance. I have car insurance, house insurance and life insurance, and I bought those policies ‘‘just in case.’’ I mean, who plans to wreck their car or have their house burn down. We buy the insurance ‘‘just in case those things happen. And frankly, I have no plans to die any time soon, but I bought the life insurance ... ‘‘just in case’’ it happens.
Now, there are some people who do the same thing with their relationship with God. They get baptized to get ‘‘fire insurance’’ (fire/hell, get it?). They get baptized to escape hell but really have no intention of changing their lives. Or they go to church, as a kind of insurance policy to get God’s blessings. But they have no intention of doing more than showing up on Sundays. They just want to be there in case God is handing out blessings that day... and they want some.
Isaiah 40:30-31 sa ...
Series: It’s All About God (Part 2)
Jeff Strite
Isaiah 40:30-31
OPEN: The Civil War went on for 4 long years, and at one point President Lincoln was asked if God was on the side of the Union. He replied: ‘‘I am not at all concerned about that, for we know that the Lord is always on the side of right. But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and the nation should choose to be on the Lord’s side.’’
Our favorite passage for this week is found in Isaiah 40:30-31 (in fact this is one of my favs) ‘‘He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for 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.’’
Now, there are people who tend to look at passages like this and see them as saying that God is ‘‘ON THEIR SIDE.’’ Too many people see God as serving them... rather than the other way around.
ILLUS: In our newsletter this month, I compared that kind of thinking to buying insurance. I have car insurance, house insurance and life insurance, and I bought those policies ‘‘just in case.’’ I mean, who plans to wreck their car or have their house burn down. We buy the insurance ‘‘just in case those things happen. And frankly, I have no plans to die any time soon, but I bought the life insurance ... ‘‘just in case’’ it happens.
Now, there are some people who do the same thing with their relationship with God. They get baptized to get ‘‘fire insurance’’ (fire/hell, get it?). They get baptized to escape hell but really have no intention of changing their lives. Or they go to church, as a kind of insurance policy to get God’s blessings. But they have no intention of doing more than showing up on Sundays. They just want to be there in case God is handing out blessings that day... and they want some.
Isaiah 40:30-31 sa ...
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