OUR FATHER WHO DOES NOT EXCLUDE ANYONE WHO LOVES HIM

Isaiah chapter 56 verses 3 - 4 says this;

Let no foreigner who is bound to the Lord say, “The Lord will surely exclude me from his people.”

And let no eunuch complain, “I am only a dry tree.”

For this is what the Lord says: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant—

This poignant passage continues on to reassure the foreigners and eunuchs in the land of Israel. Whereas they may have viewed themselves as being outside the main stream, the Lord addresses them and tells them that they are not excluded from His plans.

Th Lord tells the eunuchs who keep the Lord's Sabbaths and do what pleases Him that they are not to call themselves 'dry trees' because the Lord will give them an eternal memorial and a name that is better than sons and daughters.

The Lord then speaks to the foreigners who viewed themselves as outsiders and said that they had no destiny among God's people. The Lord speaks to these and says that they if they keep the Sabbaths and love the name of the Lord, He will bring them up to His holy mountain and fill them with joy and their sacrifices will be accepted because, as even Jesus quoted from Isaiah 56 verse 7, "my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO PROMISED A CROWN OF LIFE TO THOSE WHO LOVE HIM AND WHO PERSERVERE

James chapter 1 verse 2 says this;

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,

The apostle James, writing to the diaspora, exhorted them to regard the trials and difficulties they encountered as privileges that gave them the opportunity to persevere in faith which would ultimately make them mature and complete.

The struggles that they endured were agents of refinement that helped them to grow into strong believers and if they withstood their trials and loved the Lord, they would  receive the crown of life that was promised by Him.

Amen. 

OUR FATHER IS THE JUDGE (from psalm 75)

I will declare forever

I will sing praises to the God of Jacob

For the horns of the wicked will be cut

But the horns of the righteous shall be exalted

Exaltation is not from  east or west

Nor from the desert rises

One brought down and another lifted up 

God is  the judge who appraises

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHOSE WAYS ARE HIGHER THAN OUR WAYS

Isaiah chapter 55 verse 9 says this;

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

This verse records the words of the Lord describing His own mode of doing things and thinking about things as being elevated above our ways and thoughts.

In context, Isaiah chapter 55 verse 7 says that the Lord invites the wicked and the unrighteous to forsake their evil ways and thoughts. He counsels them to turn to Him and declares that if they do so, he will have mercy on them and freely pardon them.

The Lord says that by showing mercy to the wicked and unrighteous and freely pardoning those who repent and turn to Him, they will be  transformed from noxious weeds and thorns into graceful and pleasant trees and be everlasting monuments to the Lord's renown as it says in Isaiah 55 verse 13.

Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord’s renown, for an everlasting sign, that will endure forever.”

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHOSE PRESENCE INDUCES US TO BE REPELLED BY SINFULNESS

Ezekiel chapter 3 verse 14 says this;

The Spirit then lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the Lord on me. 

This verse contains the words of Ezekiel the prophet after he had been lifted up into the spiritual realm and given a message by the Lord to take to the children of Israel telling them to repent for their rebellion.

In the astonishing vision, Ezekiel had seen the majesty and glory of the Lord as well as the indescribable winged creatures that surround the throne of God.

After the events of the vision transpired, Ezekiel was lifted up by the Spirit of God and returned to the banks of the River Chebar where he sat in a state of shock for seven days because of the vision he saw and also because of the enormity of the task that he had been given.

The verse reveals an instructive item surrounding the spiritual encounter that Ezekiel had.

Ezekiel's spirit welled up in bitterness and anger against the sinfulness of Israel when the strong arm of the Lord was upon him. This implies that being in the arms of the Lord can confer God's negative responses towards sinfulness to us and as a result, we find sin intolerable. 

This is reminiscent of when Isaiah the prophet first entered the presence of God and was suddenly overwhelmed by the awareness of his own sinfulness and the sin of the people he lived among. This detail is found in the book of Isaiah chapter 6 verse 5.

Bless the Lord who permits his servants to visit the heavenly realm and who shows us His holiness and majesty.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO HAS PREPARED INCONCEIVABLE THINGS FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM

1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 11 says this;

For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

The thoughts of a person are generated deep within their mind and are only accessible by the spirit of the person. These thoughts are inaccessible to everyone unless the thoughts are expressed through speaking them aloud or writing them down.

Likewise, the thoughts of God are inaccessible to everyone except to the Spirit of God. As 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verses 9 - 10 says;

—However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”  —the things God has prepared for those who love him—these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 

So the Spirit of God, having access to the deep thoughts of God, reveals to us the things that no eye has seen and no ear has heard and no human mind conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO EMPATHIZES WITH US

Isaiah chapter 63 verse 9 says this;

In all their distress He was distressed, And the angel of His presence saved them, In His love and in His compassion He redeemed them; And He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

Isaiah the prophet, in this passage, revealed 0isome truths about the nature of the Lord.

First, we see the description of a reciprocal response that the Lord has to the distress of His people. When they were distressed, God experienced distress.

Next, we see that His compassion for His people caused Him to personally intervene and save them by the Angel of His Presence. He redeemed His people and He bore them up and carried them.

Such is the love of God for us. He empathizes with us and our distress is mirrored in Him and He moves by His great power to save us.

Amen.

References: openbible.com