The Lord really ministered to me today so I thought I would pass it along.
Is. 55:9-11.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it”.
We have all hear a lot of sermons on this passage but something else struck me deeply today. The reason it did is I kept on going. What is the purpose of the word of God? We all know the correct theological answer is “the Glory of God” but something else hit me, especially where we are at as a church going through a transition in worship leading. So what is the purpose of the word according to Isaiah? That’s what verses 12 and 13 explain.
“For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off”.
What’s the ultimate goal of the word of God? Worship! The deepest, most life-altering worship we can ever have. Notice the means of that. Look at verse 13. “Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle.” That is a very weird metaphor. Think with me. If you have a little thorn bush and it is rained upon and it is rained upon, what do you get? A bigger thorn bush. But that’s not what this passage says. It says that when the rain of God comes down on thorny hearts, what grows there is something entirely different.
The purpose of God’s word (faithfully taught) is radical, personal change that results in renewed living to his glory. That’s the purpose of the word of God. It’s not just theological awareness. All those things have their place, but all of those things are means to a deeper end: that God actually would change the organic content of people’s hearts, that selfish people would become sharing people, angry people would become peacemakers, lusters would become pure. God is not satisfied with anything less than that. That is the sovereign purpose of his word. I must never hold forth his word apart from this purpose.
The person that God is after first in your ministry is you. And you must never celebrate the content of the word of God without placing yourself under the implications of that content for personal, ongoing heart and life change.
"Ministry is never shaped just by your knowledge and skill. It’s always shaped by the true condition of your heart."
Praying for you all that our hearts would desire more of Him,
Is. 55:9-11.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it”.
We have all hear a lot of sermons on this passage but something else struck me deeply today. The reason it did is I kept on going. What is the purpose of the word of God? We all know the correct theological answer is “the Glory of God” but something else hit me, especially where we are at as a church going through a transition in worship leading. So what is the purpose of the word according to Isaiah? That’s what verses 12 and 13 explain.
“For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off”.
What’s the ultimate goal of the word of God? Worship! The deepest, most life-altering worship we can ever have. Notice the means of that. Look at verse 13. “Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle.” That is a very weird metaphor. Think with me. If you have a little thorn bush and it is rained upon and it is rained upon, what do you get? A bigger thorn bush. But that’s not what this passage says. It says that when the rain of God comes down on thorny hearts, what grows there is something entirely different.
The purpose of God’s word (faithfully taught) is radical, personal change that results in renewed living to his glory. That’s the purpose of the word of God. It’s not just theological awareness. All those things have their place, but all of those things are means to a deeper end: that God actually would change the organic content of people’s hearts, that selfish people would become sharing people, angry people would become peacemakers, lusters would become pure. God is not satisfied with anything less than that. That is the sovereign purpose of his word. I must never hold forth his word apart from this purpose.
The person that God is after first in your ministry is you. And you must never celebrate the content of the word of God without placing yourself under the implications of that content for personal, ongoing heart and life change.
"Ministry is never shaped just by your knowledge and skill. It’s always shaped by the true condition of your heart."
Praying for you all that our hearts would desire more of Him,
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