Isaiah 33

The idea for this 2nd blog came while I was sitting on my couch, in my polka-dot PJs reading my bible. It may be that I am the only one who will read this, but I thought having an online diary per se would be very convenient. And, if I could offer some thoughts to others while doing so, and if they could offer some back, great! I am a little nervous about publically posting my thoughts, there is always the concern that I may have gotten it completely wrong. So, I am going to pray that the spirit leads my every word.

Iasiah 33:3-6

O Lord, be gracious to us; we wait for you. Be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble.....The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness, and he will be the stability of your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge: the fear of the Lord is Zions treasure.

This verse really blessed me this morning. I had this great visual of Christ's arm as my giant oak tree swinging about like a giant branch ready to battle any storm life would bring.  It made me think of his grace and the power of the cross.  Grace like rain that cleanses and nourishes my body and his blood that feeds and sustains my heart. We are so LOVED that he is willing to take our dirty, messed up soil and WANT to give us his seed to grow. And that is beauty of his glory, he can take something so flawed and produce in it something so perfect.  Like the children's book, The Giving Tree...His "Oak" is so magestic and powerful that as it grows it will be a continual souce of food, shelter, and warmth to those who need it. So, how then can I grow such a tree?

Well, it begins in the soil (our heart). So I began the examination of my soil.  What made up my soil? What condition is it in? Would Jesus even be able to grow there? And, if he did, would it bring him joy to be there or would it be a constant struggle? Am I polluting him with worldly waste? Am I adding to his kingdom or draing it dry?

This thought then grew from the soil to the condition of my roots as well. I may have received his seed, but how deep did I let the roots grow?  You see, the roots must be able to penetrate all the layers of the ground (all the layers of our heart) to even sustain a giant oak  Sometimes as new roots take over, other roots will be disrupted (other lives who have not come to the saving knowledge of Christ or other sins that we have allowed to take hold in our lives)...However, as we feed off of Jesus: his love, grace, mercy, and power, he will penetrate into our every being and nourish our roots. The old roots (self) will be die and be washed away! I don't know about you, but I don't want any ferns taking my nutrients, I am growing a tree!

As time passes the little spouts give life to a stronger tree and over time, fruit. You cannot jump from seed to fruit, that takes time, commitment, prayer and continual keeping (you have to change your sinful ways to grow). Sometimes sin will come and try to steal the fruit or shake the tree so that the fruit will fall. However,  if you are firmly rooted in him, this will only cause your roots to go deeper and your fruit to have more value.

Sometimes you may even want to be shaken so that you can grow your roots deeper. I know that I want to become more holy and fruit filled every day. I want to wash away more of my sinful self with each rain, storm, and temptation.

So I asked myself this morning, what does my fruit look like, has it fallen off and died? Has it been picked and eaten to nourish someone else? Or, maybe it did fall off when it was mature and now it is a new seed planted somewhere else?

I thought hard about what kind of roots I am allowing to grow in my friendships and marriage. The verse goes on to say that the Lord will fill Zion (Israel, or the grafted in like us) with justice and righteousness, and he will be the stability (the root, tree, vine) of your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge: the fear of the Lord is Zions treasure. Wow!

Verses 14-16 then asks:

Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire? Whom among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?

Or, what tree can withstand his presence?

He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking on evil, he will dwell on the heights; his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks; his bread will be given him; his water will be sure. Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty.

This very principle began taking hold of my life. God was growing his roots and changing my tree! Like most people, I sometimes like to watch TV. The history channel, TLC, discovery, the occasional reality show, etc. However,  I noticed that in doing so I was NOT stopping my ears from hearing the bloodshed, and I was not shutting my eyes from evil. I began to look at my everyday activities and realized that I was allowing weeds to grow up all around me unaware! It is so important to NOT allow this to happen, we must continue the spiritual fight! One of my favorite sayings is "I am going for the victory because I want the blessing!" I am going to fight the battles and when I am victorious in the name of Jesus, (because we know Christ WILL win) I will receive His blessing - dwelling among his consuming fire and beholding all his beauty!

Sarah