HAPPY NEW YEAR FRIENDS!!! I love New Years... it is one of my top 5 holidays! [I really like holidays so I had to have a list of favorites lol] Today is a brand new year, a clean slate, a chance to start anew and be better than ever! If 2013 didn't really go your way, that's ok, cause now it's 2014! You can start today and make this year everything that last year wasn't! Even if last year was great for you, you can start today and just keep getting better and better!! I LOVE new beginnings!!
These last few days leading up to the new year God has been tapping me on the shoulder, saying "psst, Jordan, I have something you need to listen to, something you need to share". The same bit of scripture keeps turning up, over and over again. First it was the "verse of the day" on BibleGateway.com, then it was the key verse in my daily devotional. Then several, at least 3-4, of the pages that I 'like' on Facebook had graphics posted the last couple days, and today, with these verses on them. And if that wasn't enough 3 or 4 more friends that I follow also had these verses posted.

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland." Isaiah 43:18-19

So, yes... God got my attention! Of course it's going to turn into a blog post, right?Well, yes... but I have a little more back ground I want to cover before I get to the heart of this post. Any time God starts pursuing me with verses or messages like this I like to go get one or more of my bibles and read it myself. I don't know why but reading it as I am holding a Bible in my hand just helps me more than reading it online or even in a devotional book. I also like to read, and re-read, passages in different versions. I own a NKJV, an NIV, and a Message Bible. I like to read them all and compare and read some of the background info to better grasp and understand what God was saying then and what He is saying to me NOW. [They don't call it the living word for nothing! It applied then, it applies today, and it will apply forever after] So when I started reading these verses "someone" tapped me on the shoulder again and said 'dig a little deeper, read a little more'. I was lead to go ahead and read the entire chapter and to share my reflections on this chapter with all of you. I have faith that at least ONE person out there somewhere needs to hear/read this today. I believe God is using me as a tool to spread His message and He knows better than I that someone out there will be blessed by this. So, if you're ready... here we go!

At the risk of boring you to tears [because I know that not everyone finds the history of the Bible as interesting as I do] I would like to start with a little bit of the background for the book of Isaiah. The book is written by the 8th century B.C. prophet, Isaiah, who preached God's message to the southern kingdom of Judah during the latter half of the 8th century B.C. Isaiah's ministry is roughly dated between 740 and 700 B.C. The book is sort of split in two sections. Chapters 1-39 is set in and around Jerusalem and brings a message of judgment on the Lord's people. Chapters 40-66 is set in the Exile in Babylon and beyond and brings a message of comfort and hope.

The book 6 key messages for God's people.
1) The Lord is the sovereign God. He is the only God. No other gods exist.
2) God is holy. He is separate from man. He is perfect moral purity.
3) The nature of sin is uncleanness, rebellion against God; it is universal in scope; it is forgiven only by God since sacrifices do not remove sin.
4) Faith in the Lord is the essential need of everyone.
5) God preserves a remnant of His people.
6) The Messiah is identified as a kingly figure who reigns in righteousness. The Messiah is also identified as the Suffering Servant who suffers not for any wrong He has done but on behalf of others.
Most of these show up in chapter 43. It also reflects both of Isaiah's overall messages of judgment and of comfort and hope. For the sake of not making this blog post an entire book on the subject I will try not to go totally line by line but I would like to review chapter 43 of the book of Isaiah and the messages that we can take from it and apply to us today. I am saying a prayer now that God will speak through my keyboard today, that HIS message will be here, not mine; and that someone will be touched by it.

When reading verses 1-4 I am so very uplifted. These lines are telling us WHOSE we are; that we have been bought for a high priced and are precious and valuable to the Lord. He is also sending us a message of comfort and hope; an assurance that we are not alone, He is there to protect and guide us. I like the Message version of these verses best:
"But now, God's Message, the God who made you in the first place, Jacob, the One who got you started, Israel: "Don't be afraid, I've redeemed you. I've called your name. You're mine. When you're in over your head, I'll be there with you. When you're in rough waters, you will not go down. When you're between a rock and a hard place, it won't be a dead end- Because I am God, your personal God, The Hole of Israel, your Savior. I paid a huge price for you: all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in! That's how much you mean to me! That's how much I love you! I'd sell off the whole world to get you back, trade the creation just for you." Isaiah 43:1-4 The Message
How beautiful is that set of verses when you let it sink deep into your heart? We don't have to fear anything, God has REDEEMED us! We are FREE to live a fearless life! I find comfort in the simple words "you're mine". When you come from a broken home, or a not-so-perfect or traditional family those words alone can give you such comfort; a sense of belonging. You have a FAMILY and a HOME in Christ. Look at the last few lines... He loves us SO much that would give anything for us! He WANTS a relationship with you. He gave up his SON to have a close and personal relationship with YOU.
And these uplifting words don't stop there. As you read on in verse 5 we are told "fear not, for I am with you". I have been in a dark place in the past where I felt so all alone. I felt like no one could ever understand my pain, no one else had ever sinned as badly as I had, Satan fed my doubts and insecurities and made me feel so isolated and lonely. But here it is in writing, God's promise to me, and YOU, that we are NOT alone. He is with us! Verse 7 goes on to say "Everyone who is called by my name, whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him." I love that! I am called by his name and I was made for HIS glory. I don't have to do anything else at all expect worship him! That's what I was made for, that's all I have to do... Love God... that's all! If we love Him we are covered by His grace, no question about it! This is touching on Isaiah's 4th message to the people. Faith is an essential need for all of us. Here he is reminding us, all we need to do is love God and have faith and we are on the right track!

I am going to lean on The Message again because this version is a little "simplified" and is so easy for the majority of people to understand and grasp. It's a version tailor-made for people who didn't grow up constantly taught the scripture. For those of us who are just now submerging ourselves in His word and getting to know it better. The next section I want to address is 8-13, so a little long, but bare with me, this is a good one!
"Get the blind and the deaf out here and ready- the blind [though there's nothing wrong with their eyes] and the deaf [thought there's nothing wrong with their ears], Then get the other nations out here and ready. Let's see what they have to say about this, how they account for what's happened. Let them present their expert witnesses and their case; let them try to convince us what they say is true. "But you are my witnesses." God's decree. "You're my handpicked servant So that you'll come to know and trust me, understand both that I am and who I am. Previous to me there was no such thing as a god, nor will there be after me. I, yes I, am God. I'm the only Savior there is. I spoke, I saved, I told you what existed long before these upstart gods appeared on the scene. And you know it, you're my witnesses, you're the evidence." God's Decree. "Yes, I am God. I've always been God and I always will be God. No one can take anything from me. I make; you can unmake it?"
In these first few lines we are touching on the judgment part. He's calling them out for the things they did before that landed them in exile in Babylon. I am reminded a bit of a parent talking to a child, or a group of children, after finding the broken lamp hidden behind the sofa. 'Let's get everyone out here and see what y'all have to say for yourselves!' Think back to your childhood. There will be a moment, or moments in my case, where mom or dad came home to find a mess or something broken and no one wanted to take responsibility. You remember the lecture and the questions. Who broke this? Who saw it? Gathering everyone's side of the story, all the while they most likely already knew the answer. Just last week I came home from work to notice a crayon mark on our TV screen. Already knowing the answer I asked my only child "Sam did you mark on the TV with your crayons?" Immediately he began to deny it. Next he tried to blame it on his Granny. Finally he said "yes mom, I marked on the TV, I'm sorry." Israel and Jacob's people were no different than every scolded child who ever lived or ever will live. They had fallen into moral and ethical impurity. They had sinned, just like all of us. Just like any parent who loves their children God passed out judgment and punishment; but like every parent He still loves His children. This applies to us as well as Israel. When we disobey there will be consequences. When we are not living in His will we are missing out on blessings and making things harder on ourselves. But there is hope! Just like my son's time out, the hard times won't last! But that is further down in the scripture. In these lines, after he has called everyone out He goes on to say 'y'all are my handpicked servants, the witnesses to my glory. You know that I am God and when you take the time to get to know WHO and WHAT I am and enter a personal relationship with me it's all going to be alright'! These verses go back to Isaiah's first message that God is the only god.

Now, verses 14-15 are nearly as heavy, we are getting a little past the lecture. "God, your redeemer, The Holy of Israel, says: "Just for you, I will march on Babylon. I'll turn the tables on the Babylonians. Instead of whooping it up, they'll be wailing. I am God, your Holy One, Creator of Israel, your King." Just like a daddy... He will go to war for you! He will step up in the face of your enemies and say 'I don't think so, this one belongs to me, you can't touch them'. How comforting is that? Just like the conversation I had with my Sammy, just because you're in trouble, you did something wrong, He may be disappointed but his love for you never ends! He will never leave you, He is there with you, still loving and protecting you. Verses 16-21 He goes on to assure us that new and better things are coming. The judgment and punishment is almost over! Good days are coming! This is going back to Isaiah's 5th message. God preserves a remnant of his people. Not all of them will perish. Those who turn to Him and trust in Him will be saved and delivered out of exile. The same goes for us today. Judgment day WILL come for ALL of us, but for those who accept Christ will not perish!
Verses 22-24 He reminds them again of all that He did for them and how they did nothing in return. He reminds them how they got where they are in the first place. Just as children sometimes tend to do to parents, Israel was stingy with the 'thank yous' and the appreciation but they were sure quick to run to God with their problems. He tells them 'I'm fed up!' But then we get to verse 25... I love this one...

"But I, yes I, am the one who takes care of your sins- that's what I do. I don't keep a list of your sins." Isaiah 43:25

He doesn't keep track of every thing you have done wrong. You did it. You hit a few hard times, missed a few blessings, took your 'punishment' or 'time-out' so to speak... then it is done. He doesn't keep holding it against you. He isn't going to bring it up later and throw it in your face the next time you mess up. He loves you, he forgives you, if you lean on him you can learn from this mistake and move on to bigger and better things! The chapter ends with the Lord telling them to bring forth their arguments and try to dispute what he has said, but just remember that you have all sinned and look at what happened to Jacob and Israel when they didn't listen to me.
This may be a little overwhelming for some people, I know. But think about it for a moment... yes, you got scolded, you got lectured, you feel a little chastened... but He gives us SO many promises in this chapter of how He still does, and always will, LOVE you!! God never changes, no matter what we do, He is, He was, He always will be!
I know this was a long post guys but I truly do hope that it helped or touched someone today! I know it has helped me, being in the word renews my spirit and I love discovering new promises from God all the time. I love to be reminded that the Bible isn't just a history book of what happened, it is a living word that applies to and can work in our lives today. I pray that all of you meet the new year with confidence, love, and peace!