Isaiah 41:19, 20 ".....I will set pines in the wasteland, the fir and the cypress together, so that people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the LORD has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it. .." (NIV)
In the past few weeks, we've seen the importance of spending time in God's presence. We need to commit ourselves to God and not lean on our own understanding. It is important for us to allow His anointing to flow through us. All this cannot be done in our own strength. It can only be God who accomplishes it.
In My conclusion, for this study, I see a similarity in the last three trees. These trees symbolize many things but the three things which stand out are strength, faithfulness and durability. Isaiah 60:1,2, encourages us to arise and shine as darkness covers the earth. It also tells us that thick darkness will be over the people. That is why Isaiah 41:19 says God is going to give us strength to go through this wasteland. He promises to accomplish this by His hand. When others see us arise with strength, they will know it was God who did it.
God promises to set the pine, fir and cypress together. Each of these trees are not easy to destroy. They speak of having durability. We can know, for ourselves, that no matter what comes against us God will give us the endurance to go through it. It may look dark and gloomy around about us, but we can rise and shine. We can be the bearers of light.
In Jude 24 it says, "To Him Who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great Joy..." God through His mighty hand will give us the strength and durability to keep us from falling into the darkness around us. He also will work within us; all He requires is our faithfulness to submit to Him. He will work by His spirit within us to produce the fruit of the spirit of faithfulness.
Be encouraged, despite whatever is happening around you, God is working and will continue to work in and through us. He will not stop or abandoned us, but He will continue to shine in and through us until the final day!
May God bless you as you shine for Him.
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Thank you for this message. I have been meditating on standing firm through the "whirlwind." God has truly shown himself through different situations in my life. He is building my faith through answered prayer. He has also blessed our family by giving us friends to share and receive encouragement from and to.
ReplyDeleteWow, Ps.Ong, very timely and encouraging... indeed these are the days! May we truly stand firm and shine, for He is worthy!
ReplyDeleteMonia & Lydia
Dad, this was amazing! This was exactly what I needed for this week. I like your Isaiah 60 verse, it reminds me of your "Arise and Shine" message that I love!
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