May 4, 2025

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“You will be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, a royal diadem in the palm of your God. No longer will you be called Forsaken, nor your land named Desolate; but you will be called Hephzibah [My delight is in her], and your land Beulah [taken in marriage]; for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will be His bride. For as a young man marries a young woman, so your sons will marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so your God will rejoice over you.” (Isaiah 62.3-5)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD TO US:

Discovering who we are begins with our relationship to God. Yes, there are so many options to “know yourself” based in the world, even in the midst of a god-fearing and Christ-honoring home. Yet, if we do not have an understanding of who we are in relationship to God first, then nothing else matters toward the authentic truth. I saw a post this morning, and I haven’t checked its validity, and it suggests that every horse which ran in the 151st Kentucky Derby was a descendant of the great Triple Crown winner Secretariat. Imagine that. What an influence to be linked to a champion and know the blood of a great horse, if not the greatest racehorse, surged in your veins. Not that the horses are away of it, of course. Mighty ones, we do know we are related to the greatest champion of faith, hope and love. We share this distinction with Jesus the Christ who Himself is Son of God and Son of Man. Regardless of the means of our conception, our conception itself is the reality of God’s passion for living and for life- our lives. This is why it is so important to build up the image of God for every living person. We resolve many of our identity issues when we grasp the identity of God in us. This is what Isaiah was doing in today’s Word.

Isaiah describes the prevailing thought of what the world was calling Israel and her people. Because of their hardships and tribulations at the hands of corrupt rulers and foreign nations, the world believed and wanted Israel to believe that God, their God, had forsaken them and abandoned them to failure, poverty and destitution. The truth of the matter was that these things were happening because Israel had abandoned their hope and faith in God. Yes, bad things happened to people, all people, regardless. In all things God’s faith in us is tested to be increased and strengthened, humbled and emboldened. It is not the circumstance but the consciousness that determines authentic strength and boldness. The increase of humility brings a type of prosperity that the world cannot give and cannot imagine. In this, Isaiah calls out the true identity of the nation and the people of Israel. Just as he was called out of his grief and despair over a nation and during the mourning for the loss of a king who was his friend, Isaiah calls out Israel. He calls them to the awareness of their true, first and best identity. They were “married” to God. Their marriages to one another were the expressions of being one and united with God. It was the best image of relationship available. It remains the same today except the world believes less and less in it. Why? Because the baseline and foundational understanding of true community is in God alone. Nothing and no one else will do nor can do. We can embrace again the scripture “With human beings it is impossible but with God all things are possible.” Our true connections with who we are as we are meant to be come from God alone. Yes, sin has disturbed the manifestation of who people have become. It has corrupted the mindset of what is means to be a man and woman of God. The desire to make ourselves in our own image and blame God for the problems is a world problem, It is a kingdom project to see ourselves remade in the image of God, that of Jesus Christ, who was, is and will always be the identity and image of righteousness. When the path seems to wander, we need to return to the Good Shepherd. He knows us by name. He knows our true identity and in Him we are remade, reborn and renewed. Keeping the “standard” before us is what leads us to healing and onto the paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake. And that does not simply mean for God’s sake except that the name of God is written on every heart, in every mind and in every soul. His Name’s sake is for our sake as well. God will prosper and strengthen and bless those who call upon the Name of the Lord and who walk by His name all the days of their lives. This is the true “wedded” bliss and the benchmark by which we should live.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness which we know is folly but righteous works which declare Your glory and further witness the truth that can set all who believe free from death. So may we live by the name of Jesus our Christ in whose name we pray. AMEN.