Seek GOD - May 10, 2014

Scripture: Isaiah 29-33
22 “My people will no longer be ashamed or turn pale with fear.
23 For when they see their many children and all the blessings I have given them,
they will recognize the holiness of the Holy One of Israel.
They will stand in awe of the God of Jacob. 24 Then the wayward will gain understanding, and complainers will accept instruction. - Isaiah 29

15 This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength.
18 So the Lord must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion. For the Lord is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for his help.

21 Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say,“This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left.- Isaiah 30

2 But Lord, be merciful to us, for we have waited for you.

Be our strong arm each day and our salvation in times of trouble. 

14“Who can live with this devouring fire?” they cry. “Who can survive this all-consuming fire?” 15 Those who are honest and fair, who refuse to profit by fraud, who stay far away from bribes, who refuse to listen to those who plot murder, who shut their eyes to all enticement to do wrong—16 these are the ones who will dwell on high.

The rocks of the mountains will be their fortress. Food will be supplied to them,
and they will have water in abundance. - Isaiah 33

Message:

The LORD wants us to depend on Him not on any human or thing else.

Observation/Promise:

When we trust in the LORD He will bless us because we wait and depend on His help and on His power alone. The LORD wants to instruct us, to guide us in everything that we do. 

The LORD wants to provide everything we need, He wants to bless us and shower us with His kindness and love but there is a requirement for those that seek His love and blessing. The LORD will only give His love and blessings to those who are truly seeking Him.

Application/Command:

We have to be dependent on GOD alone. We have to follow the ways of GOD, to be honest and fair in all our dealings, even in the thoughts of our hearts. We have to be righteous not by our own strength but by GOD's grace. We have to seek His will and follow Him diligently. We have to seek justice when there is evil in the land. We need to stand with GOD and His agenda. We cannot seek to live our lives for our own pleasure and benefit but for His pleasure and glory. We have to seek GOD and His righteousness, our lives should cling to Him and not on anything else in this world. 

Great Weapons of Faith

5 Your royal laws cannot be changed.
Your reign, O Lord, is holy forever and ever. - Psalm 93
O Lord, the God of vengeance,
1 O God of vengeance, let your glorious justice shine forth!
2 Arise, O judge of the earth. Give the proud what they deserve.
4 How long will they speak with arrogance? How long will these evil people boast?
5 They crush your people, Lord, hurting those you claim as your own.11 The Lord knows people’s thoughts; he knows they are worthless!12 Joyful are those you discipline, Lord, those you teach with your instructions.
13 You give them relief from troubled times until a pit is dug to capture the wicked.

- Psalm 94

GOD is a GOD of justice and HE is perfect in all HIS ways. There are times when we feel powerless when the world tries to take advantage of us, we feel so small, so helpless. But no matter what happens or how small we may feel, we must never forget that GOD rules and reigns forever. Once we lose sight of this truth, we become desperate without hope. This is not the will of GOD for any of HIS children. When we are wronged, it doesn't mean we should act like we are okay when we are not. We cry out to GOD just like David and pour our frustration and anger to the One who truly understands. 

A Believer's greatest weapons are prayer, GOD's word and faith in GOD's greatness and power. When we know how to use these weapons we are unmovable, unshakable, or unstoppable. So let our fears and frustrations rest and be hidden only in GOD, because people may not be able to handle or understand what we are going through in our hearts. And only GOD has the power to change things and we have the ability to change our circumstances when we know who to run to in such hard times. GOD is in control, no matter how ugly the circumstance, one thing remains true, GOD reigns forever. If you are indeed in a difficult situation, perhaps the LORD is disciplining you or teaching you to be strong in HIM, to rely on HIS power and worship HIM in spirit and in truth. 

Yahweh

2 And God said to Moses, “I am Yahweh—‘the Lord.’ 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty’—but I did not reveal my name, Yahweh, to them. 4 And I reaffirmed my covenant with them. Under its terms, I promised to give them the land of Canaan, where they were living as foreigners. 5 You can be sure that I have heard the groans of the people of Israel, who are now slaves to the Egyptians. And I am well aware of my covenant with them.
6 “Therefore, say to the people of Israel: ‘I am the Lord. I will free you from your oppression and will rescue you from your slavery in Egypt. I will redeem you with a powerful arm and great acts of judgment. 7 I will claim you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God who has freed you from your oppression in Egypt. 8 I will bring you into the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as your very own possession. I am theLord!’”

- Exodus 6


Yahweh comes from the Hebrew word Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey. But this word is actually un readable or unutterable because the name of GOD is too great to even pronounce. GOD had first revealed His name to a man named Moses. Although HE had appeared to 3 men before as GOD Almighty, He did not reveal His great name to them. How could this be? That HE only first revealed His name to Moses? Moses must have been pretty special to not only know GOD's name but to see GOD face to face. 

GOD knows His people and He is not silent to their cries. His people may not see Him but it doesn't mean He can't hear them or is not acting on what they are pleading HIM to do. As He has revealed Himself His Name to Moses, He also reveals His very character and nature to Moses - HE is a prayer answering GOD! So if you know your GOD and you have been asking for something from Him for the longest time now, don't think that He is not doing anything just because you haven't seen your prayers being answered yet. You can be sure that the LORD will not fail to be GOD as HE has not failed Israel for HE is the same GOD yesterday, today and forevermore.

GOD of Justice

40 “I worked for you through the scorching heat of the day and through cold and sleepless nights. 41 Yes, for twenty years I slaved in your house! I worked for fourteen years earning your two daughters, and then six more years for your flock. And you changed my wages ten times! 42 In fact, if the God of my father had not been on my side—the God of Abraham and the fearsome God of Isaac[c]—you would have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen your abuse and my hard work. That is why he appeared to you last night and rebuked you!”

- Genesis 31:40-43

It is normal to see injustice and abuse going on in this world because we live in a foreign world. But those who belong to GOD will be protected by GOD. Jacob was abused by his own Uncle, oppressing him for 20 years even after he became his son in law, Laban did not pay Jacob any wages that would rightfully belong to HIM. But Jacob never stole anything from Laban but remained faithful serving him even though Laban had deceived him many times. Because of this, GOD was on Jacob's side making sure that Jacob would still have something from Laban after all his hard work.

We can see injustice going on around us, we can be mistreated by the ones who are even our relatives, by our own friends whom we trust. But GOD is not blind and unaware of what is going on, and GOD will continue to act faithfully with who HE is. HE is the great judge and whether we believe in HIM or not, whether people belong to HIM or not, HIS justice is always at work and can be seen if we only look through spiritual eyes. Even when we feel we are powerless towards the ones who hold the power upon us, we have to remember that GOD is more powerful than anyone or anything in this world. Let us hold on to the GOD of justice who holds all things in HIS hands.

The Justice of GOD

7 But the Lord reigns forever, executing judgment from his throne.
8 He will judge the world with justice and rule the nations with fairness.
9 The Lord is a shelter for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.
10 Those who know your name trust in you,
for you, O Lord, do not abandon those who search for you.
The nations have fallen into the pit they dug for others.
Their own feet have been caught in the trap they set.
16 The Lord is known for his justice. The wicked are trapped by their own deeds.

- Psalm 9

The LORD GOD Almighty is a great and wonderful judge to both the righteous and wicked. Of course no one is fully righteous on their own, only those who trust in GOD are those that are righteous in GOD's eyes. Even though it seems as if the wicked are ruling the world and enjoying more and more people, they do not know the GOD who holds all power will soon execute HIS judgement on the wicked and their deeds. 

The LORD GOd does not stand far away unmoved, unaffected by the cries of the helpless. The LORD will execute judgement, and HE is a shelter for those who are troubled and oppressed. When we seek HIM, HE is compassionate and will wrap HIS loving arms around us. HE will never abandon those that trust HIM. But those that live their lives trying to destroy other people's lives will themself be destroyed. Those that trap others, discredit others or do scheming things will be caught in their own traps. For GOD is a GOD who will not allow anyone to get away with anything that offends HIM. When we oppress the helpless, we offend GOD, GOD cares more for the helpless than those who are in power. The justice of GOD will be revealed in all the earth.

Glory in Sufferings

1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

- Romans 5:1-5

Justice is the quality of being fair and right. It is hard to comprehend that even when we are proven wrong because we are sinners, we will be judged as right because we have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is just one of the great privileges that followers of Jesus can be assured of because this is the promise of GOD. When we have Jesus, we have everything that human eyes cannot see in the natural world. We look forward to the future even thought the world is falling apart. We can rejoice because the more we know this world is coming to an end, the greater the hope in our hearts that Jesus soon return is getting closer. But it is not easy to be a follower of Jesus in this present world. GOD never promised an easy life but a victorious one if we continue to trust, follow and remain in HIM. 

Everyone in this world goes through trials and hardships, both the wicked and righteous alike. But the righteous, the one's who have Jesus can suffer with purpose when they go through trials and hardship because the word of GOD says we can glory in our sufferings. Sufferings will produce within us the capacity to endure trials, forming within us a character that is patterned after Jesus and because we know that our sufferings are with purpose, we have hope. Hope that the world can never understand unless they too will receive GOD's gracious gift of salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the light we we shine, this is how we become different from the world because we can glory in our sufferings. We are not hopeless in sufferings, we are glorious even in our sufferings through the Spirit of GOD that is working within us. 

The God of Justice

¹⁴ “Never take advantage of poor and destitute laborers, whether they are fellow Israelites or foreigners living in your towns. ¹⁵ You must pay them their wages each day before sunset because they are poor and are counting on it. If you don’t, they might cry out to the Lord against you, and it would be counted against you as sin.
- Deuteronomy 24:14-15


The earth has its own laws on different countries depending on the law makers of the Land. Man made laws serve to protect it's people and serve justice when it is needed. But there are spiritual laws that govern the world on it's entirety and it doesn't depend on people who dwell on the land but the lawmaker is the creator of the whole Universe. These are invisible laws that we don't see and laws that we can only know when we read GOD's word the Bible. Man made laws have flaws that somehow the wicked who are scheming can and are able to get away from it. But GOD's laws are perfect and nobody ever gets away from them. HE is the GOD of Justice and HE sees all things.

The creator of the whole Universe is not only a God of Justice but He is a God of righteousness. He seeks fairness in all our dealings, therefore He commands in Deuteronomy 24 to Never take advantage of the powerless and needy. It is amazing that even though our man made laws fail us, the higher laws of GOD are incorruptable and unfailing. These divine laws not only apply to Israel His chosen people, but these laws apply to all men regardless of race, country, culture or faith. Whether we believe in the GOD of Justice or not, whether we are Muslim, Christian, Jew, Buddhist or whatever religion we are in, GOD's laws apply to us and justice will be served inevitably to all humanity, being or creature. Even the golden rule "Whatever you do to others will be done unto you" came from the very words of JESUS. Therefore we should not take lightly what GOD is saying to us. Yes, the poor might be powerless before us but GOD hears the cries of the poor and GOD will count whatever wrong we have done as sin and we will surely be punished for whatever sin we have against GOD. If you truly know GOD, then you will naturally fear GOD. Not fear as in be afraid, but you will have reverent respect of HIS Divine being that it will be impossible for you to live a careless life. Do you know the God of Justice? If you do, then it will surely be evident in how you live your life.

The day of the LORD

11 On that day you will no longer need to be ashamed,
for you will no longer be rebels against me.
I will remove all proud and arrogant people from among you.
There will be no more haughtiness on my holy mountain.
12 Those who are left will be the lowly and humble,
for it is they who trust in the name of the Lord.
13 The remnant of Israel will do no wrong;
they will never tell lies or deceive one another.
They will eat and sleep in safety,
and no one will make them afraid.”
- Zephaniah 3:11-13


Have you ever suffered from being disrespected or discriminated or being discredited? We feel belittled when people disrespect us, we feel small when we are being discriminated by our race, wealth or success. We feel disgraced when someone else bring down our credibility. We are not perfect, and in many ways we have rebelled. We accept our own human weaknesses, everyone has failed GOD. But there is hope, for GOD speaks of a day of redemption and freedom from every hurtful thing we have ever experience in life. Remember how GOD speaks of reaping in joy when we sow in tears. GOD is a merciful GOD and it is HIS nature to avenge those that are persecuted, disrespected, discriminated & dishonored. There is a day of freedom and redemption for all those who are being wronged. For GOD is a GOD of justice and HE is righteous. His character is compassion for the weak and helpless. GOD has a very soft heart, the Bible says HE is close to the broken hearted.

If you are one in sorrow, who have been wronged by others, you will find better days! GOD says He will remove those that have wronged you, the arrogant and the proud, GOD will take away from your life so that you are free to live without any fear of being stepped on again. Even in holy places, evil can still take root, but not for long, because GOD will not tolerate evil to exists and create havoc on you who trust in GOD. If you do not seek justice for yourself, then you can rest in the justice of GOD for the LORD will avenge you. It is natural to want to seek vengence for yourself, but if you remain humble, GOD will surely take you out of the suffering, HE will not only take you out of suffering but HE will take out those that are causing you to suffer, you will never have to be afraid of those that will wrong you again. For the LORD your GOD is your salvation and HE will do as HE has promised. Just continue to trust in HIS word, just continue to trust in HIS character, HE is the GOD of Justice.