Isaiah 6: 8
"Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: "Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me." Isaiah 6:8 (NKJV)
In a vision, Isaiah had a vision of seeing the LORD on a throne. Six-winged Seraphs were there. All in the presence of the Lord were praising the Lord, calling "Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD Almighty". Isaiah becomes frantic because he is unclean, and lives among unclean people. He panics and thinks that he is ruined for he has seen the LORD in all of His sinless, majestic glory. But, a Seraph gets a hot coal with tongs and brings it to Isaiah. The six-winged bird presses the coal to Isaiah's lips and tells him that his guilt is taken away and his sins are atoned for. Then the Lord speaks. "Whom shall I send, And who will go for us?"
Without even thinking, without any reservations, without any ponderance, looking at his calender, taking stock of his ability or his skills, and without a second thought, Isaiah answers. He doesn't just answer, but he answers loudly, emphatically. "Here I am! Send Me!" It wasn't "well if you think I can do it. If you think I have the ability. I think I may be able to slip you into a slot next week." NO! Isaiah answers loudly, emphatically and enthusiastically: "Here I am! Send me!" I can see him waving his arms and jumping up, like the child in school who knows the answer and hoping the teacher will call on him.
Think about the faith in those two sentences. "Here I am! Send me!" He didn't know what he was being sent for, where he would be going, what he would be doing, yet he volunteered nonetheless. That takes faith. He was a servant of God, a truly holy man, and when the LORD called on him, he did not hesitate. He went, and offered himself.
In Exodus 3-5, Moses is chosen by the LORD to lead His people out of Egypt. Those two chapters show what a lack of faith Moses has at first. "Who am I, that I should go go to the Pharoah and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?" "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The LORD did not appear to you'?" "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue." Not exactly a true showing faith.
Yet Moses did go and do the LORD's work. He did bring the Israelites out of Egypt. He lead them in the desert for 40 years. He lead them to their promised land but because of his sin, he was refused the opportunity to see the Land, by the LORD's judgement.
He became a man of faith. He was a father of Israel and a man of God.
How often do we ask what we can do. We pray for an opportunity from the LORD to serve Him. We pray for the faith to carry out His Will for us. We pray for the wisdom to see what that will is. Yet we continue to center on ourselves. We ask what WE can do. We ask what WE have to offer. We ask the LORD to use US. We, even in our faith, are still the self-centered sinners that we were born.
We are given the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20. "Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Make disciples of all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father, the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. There is no doubt that this is a mandate from the LORD. But...we all have different gifts and talents that the LORD gave to us. Romans 12 tells us this and not to think ourselves higher or lower according to our gifts. They are from the LORD and as the Church is a body, all parts of the body are needed, complementary, interdependent.
Everything is from the LORD. We are meant to praise the LORD. We were created for this. We are also created in His image. Genesis tells us this. How can we better praise the LORD and present Him in all that we do and all that we say? Ephesians speaks of how we should live, imitating Christ. Romans also tells us to offer ourselves up as a sacrifice to the LORD.
Think about it. Imitating Christ...Offering myself up to the LORD as a sacrifice. Where am I in the picture???? That's right. I am in the service of the King. I am doing the LORD's work! Think about it. All that we do is through the LORD, if we are Faithful. All our strength comes from the LORD. All of our perseverence, gifts, abilities, words, qualities, nobility, honor and courage comes from the LORD. Not me! Not you! The LORD!
Instead of asking God what I can do for Him, I need to ask how He is going to work through me. How can I be a vessel for His love? How can I be a living sacrifice for Him? 2 Corinthians 3:5-6 tells us "Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant--not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." Zechariah 4:6 says: "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty.'"
Not me! The LORD. I can best praise the LORD by giving credit where it is due. And that is all for the LORD. I have no salvation without the gracious loving forgiving gift from the LORD. I have no words to speak without the LORD. I have nothing without Him. I am only a sinner lost in the darkness without the Light. Now that I am in the Light I belong to the Light. I BELONG to the Light. My life is His, a sacrifice, imitating Him. Not me. Him. Jesus. The Spirit. The LORD. Almight, all-knowing, majestic, soveriegn LORD.
So it's not what I can offer the LORD. I need only be available to the LORD with a heart for Him, and the faith to know that He will bless me according to my ways for Him. He wants to bless us. We need only ask. He will bless us with more so that we can praise Him more, do more for Him, and give more for Him. I have faith in Him. My life is His.
In a vision, Isaiah had a vision of seeing the LORD on a throne. Six-winged Seraphs were there. All in the presence of the Lord were praising the Lord, calling "Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD Almighty". Isaiah becomes frantic because he is unclean, and lives among unclean people. He panics and thinks that he is ruined for he has seen the LORD in all of His sinless, majestic glory. But, a Seraph gets a hot coal with tongs and brings it to Isaiah. The six-winged bird presses the coal to Isaiah's lips and tells him that his guilt is taken away and his sins are atoned for. Then the Lord speaks. "Whom shall I send, And who will go for us?"
Without even thinking, without any reservations, without any ponderance, looking at his calender, taking stock of his ability or his skills, and without a second thought, Isaiah answers. He doesn't just answer, but he answers loudly, emphatically. "Here I am! Send Me!" It wasn't "well if you think I can do it. If you think I have the ability. I think I may be able to slip you into a slot next week." NO! Isaiah answers loudly, emphatically and enthusiastically: "Here I am! Send me!" I can see him waving his arms and jumping up, like the child in school who knows the answer and hoping the teacher will call on him.
Think about the faith in those two sentences. "Here I am! Send me!" He didn't know what he was being sent for, where he would be going, what he would be doing, yet he volunteered nonetheless. That takes faith. He was a servant of God, a truly holy man, and when the LORD called on him, he did not hesitate. He went, and offered himself.
In Exodus 3-5, Moses is chosen by the LORD to lead His people out of Egypt. Those two chapters show what a lack of faith Moses has at first. "Who am I, that I should go go to the Pharoah and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?" "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The LORD did not appear to you'?" "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue." Not exactly a true showing faith.
Yet Moses did go and do the LORD's work. He did bring the Israelites out of Egypt. He lead them in the desert for 40 years. He lead them to their promised land but because of his sin, he was refused the opportunity to see the Land, by the LORD's judgement.
He became a man of faith. He was a father of Israel and a man of God.
How often do we ask what we can do. We pray for an opportunity from the LORD to serve Him. We pray for the faith to carry out His Will for us. We pray for the wisdom to see what that will is. Yet we continue to center on ourselves. We ask what WE can do. We ask what WE have to offer. We ask the LORD to use US. We, even in our faith, are still the self-centered sinners that we were born.
We are given the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20. "Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Make disciples of all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father, the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. There is no doubt that this is a mandate from the LORD. But...we all have different gifts and talents that the LORD gave to us. Romans 12 tells us this and not to think ourselves higher or lower according to our gifts. They are from the LORD and as the Church is a body, all parts of the body are needed, complementary, interdependent.
Everything is from the LORD. We are meant to praise the LORD. We were created for this. We are also created in His image. Genesis tells us this. How can we better praise the LORD and present Him in all that we do and all that we say? Ephesians speaks of how we should live, imitating Christ. Romans also tells us to offer ourselves up as a sacrifice to the LORD.
Think about it. Imitating Christ...Offering myself up to the LORD as a sacrifice. Where am I in the picture???? That's right. I am in the service of the King. I am doing the LORD's work! Think about it. All that we do is through the LORD, if we are Faithful. All our strength comes from the LORD. All of our perseverence, gifts, abilities, words, qualities, nobility, honor and courage comes from the LORD. Not me! Not you! The LORD!
Instead of asking God what I can do for Him, I need to ask how He is going to work through me. How can I be a vessel for His love? How can I be a living sacrifice for Him? 2 Corinthians 3:5-6 tells us "Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant--not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." Zechariah 4:6 says: "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty.'"
Not me! The LORD. I can best praise the LORD by giving credit where it is due. And that is all for the LORD. I have no salvation without the gracious loving forgiving gift from the LORD. I have no words to speak without the LORD. I have nothing without Him. I am only a sinner lost in the darkness without the Light. Now that I am in the Light I belong to the Light. I BELONG to the Light. My life is His, a sacrifice, imitating Him. Not me. Him. Jesus. The Spirit. The LORD. Almight, all-knowing, majestic, soveriegn LORD.
So it's not what I can offer the LORD. I need only be available to the LORD with a heart for Him, and the faith to know that He will bless me according to my ways for Him. He wants to bless us. We need only ask. He will bless us with more so that we can praise Him more, do more for Him, and give more for Him. I have faith in Him. My life is His.
"Oh, Lord, Soveriegn King, Loving Father,
I come to You, a humble sinner.
Who am I to ask anything of You, so great
Yet, I know You are with me. I know
that you hear all things, and know my hearts,
The deepest depths of my heart, Lord.
I pray that You will bless me Lord.
Remain with me, so that I may have your
Righteousness with me, so that
I may be upright in Your eyes.
Keep my hand from evil, from doing wrong, Lord.
I pray that you will use me in whatever way You wish.
I am available to You Lord, in all ways, in all things.
I offer only my everything Lord,
My faith, body, heart, soul and mind
To You Lord, in Heaven.
Forgive my sins, that create a barrier to You
Forgive them so I may receive Your full blessings
And I wash away all who have wronged me with Love and forgiveness, Lord.
Please use me as you wish, according to your
Divine will for me, Lord, your servant.
I pray that your hand guide me
That your words teach me.
Keep me from evil, keep me on the narrow path Lord
Show me discernment for righteousness and evil.
But above all, give me the strength to remain faithful to You
To allow Your Divine Providence to guide me in Your will for me.
I am a servant to you, Lord.
I praise you in all Your glory.
I praise you for all that you are.
I know I have no courage, no strength, no wisdom without You.
I praise you for all that you have given me, Lord.
Bless me according to Your will.
In Your Son's name,
I pray this.
Amen."
posted by Jim at 10/23/2004 07:41:00 PM
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