Latest / The Divine Worth Podcast / Isaiah 40–49: Fear Not, He Has Called You by Name | Come Follow Me LDS | Divine Worth Podcast
Transcript
- 0:00SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Divine Worth Podcast.
- 0:02SPEAKER_00: For this episode, I'm going to help you love Isaiah.
- 0:06SPEAKER_00: I am really excited to dive into this.
- 0:09SPEAKER_00: I forgot how much I love Isaiah until we started diving into these chapters for Come Follow Me.
- 0:16SPEAKER_00: And so we will be focused on this week's Come Follow Me podcast.
- 0:20SPEAKER_00: I'm going to go ahead and read the scriptures that really stood out to me
- 0:28SPEAKER_00: from this week's reading and explain how it relates to your divine worth
- 0:33SPEAKER_00: and how you can see God's love for you throughout them.
- 0:37SPEAKER_00: As a young adult,
- 0:39SPEAKER_00: I really had this goal to better understand Isaiah and I bought some books
- 0:45SPEAKER_00: about making Isaiah easier So that I could better understand that
- 0:49SPEAKER_00: and I really did gain a great love for Isaiah as I was reading it.
- 0:53SPEAKER_00: He talks a lot about the Savior and about redemption.
- 0:58SPEAKER_00: You can truly feel God's love through Isaiah's words, but sometimes it can be a little tricky.
- 1:04SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it's a little hard to be able to get through those Isaiah chapters.
- 1:08SPEAKER_00: So my goal here is to help you to gain a greater love of Isaiah,
- 1:13SPEAKER_00: to be able to see how God loves you and that he believes in you and that you are So
- 1:21SPEAKER_00: with that, let's start with chapter 40.
- 1:28SPEAKER_00: Right off!
- 1:29SPEAKER_00: One of the cool things about chapter 40 is it kind of sets the tone for this reading.
- 1:34SPEAKER_00: I'm going to read this from the Come, Follow Me manual.
- 1:37SPEAKER_00: Quote, Comfort is the first word of Isaiah chapter 40.
- 1:41SPEAKER_00: It marks the beginning of a different tone, a different emphasis in the prophet's message.
- 1:47SPEAKER_00: Isaiah's earlier writings warned Israel and Judah about destruction and captivity
- 1:52SPEAKER_00: that would come because of their sins.
- 1:55SPEAKER_00: But these later prophecies were meant to comfort the Jewish people over 150 years in the future.
- 2:04SPEAKER_00: After Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed and the people were taken captive by Babylon.
- 2:09SPEAKER_00: These prophecies,
- 2:10SPEAKER_00: however,
- 2:11SPEAKER_00: reach even further into the future than to the defeated, disheartened Israelites.
- 2:16SPEAKER_00: They speak to us who also sometimes feel defeated,
- 2:21SPEAKER_00: disheartened,
- 2:22SPEAKER_00: or even lost." So I hope that you can,
- 2:26SPEAKER_00: from that quote, gain a better understanding of what you're going to get out.
- 2:30SPEAKER_00: Right there, the Lord is calling you to receive comfort from Him.
- 2:34SPEAKER_00: It's an invitation to be able to do so.
- 2:37SPEAKER_00: The truth is that whatever it is that you have gone through,
- 2:40SPEAKER_00: whatever it is that you are going through,
- 2:59SPEAKER_00: The Lord loves you and it's through Him that true healing can happen.
- 3:19SPEAKER_00: So right here,
- 3:24SPEAKER_00: the Lord is calling you.
- 3:27SPEAKER_00: He is calling you to be able to share about the Savior.
- 3:31SPEAKER_00: He is calling you to be able to prepare the way for people to receive the Lord.
- 3:37SPEAKER_00: And it was interesting as I went through these verses that we're going to be talking
- 3:43SPEAKER_00: about,
- 3:43SPEAKER_00: there were a few things or phrases that
- 3:47SPEAKER_00: That were repeated several times throughout these chapters.
- 3:51SPEAKER_00: And one is that he is calling you.
- 3:55SPEAKER_00: Another thing that he says often is gather together.
- 3:58SPEAKER_00: Like this is not something that we are doing alone.
- 4:00SPEAKER_00: We are gathering together to be able to become stronger in the Lord and to be able
- 4:06SPEAKER_00: to bring others unto him.
- 4:08SPEAKER_00: He says sing a lot and to have joy a lot.
- 4:13SPEAKER_00: The sing and the joy often go together in these verses.
- 4:17SPEAKER_00: Sing, O heavens, and be joyful, O earth, and break into singing, O mountains.
- 4:23SPEAKER_00: So he is talking about singing those praises, remembering that gratitude.
- 4:29SPEAKER_00: A lot of times that's what a praise is, is it's a form of gratitude.
- 4:33SPEAKER_00: And so seeing in as we do so and embrace that gratitude in our lives,
- 4:38SPEAKER_00: then we start to recognize and bring in that joy that our Heavenly Father wants us
- 4:45SPEAKER_00: to have.
- 4:46SPEAKER_00: And we know from 2 Nephi 2.25, men are that they might have joy.
- 4:51SPEAKER_00: That is something that the Lord wants us to have.
- 4:55SPEAKER_00: Another thing that He says a lot throughout these scriptures is,
- 4:59SPEAKER_00: I have formed thee in thy womb and called thee by name.
- 5:03SPEAKER_00: The Lord knows us.
- 5:04SPEAKER_00: He created us.
- 5:05SPEAKER_00: He knows us so well.
- 5:07SPEAKER_00: And He's known us all of our lives.
- 5:10SPEAKER_00: Elect is a word that's repeated often.
- 5:13SPEAKER_00: Last week, we talked about Ella Smith and how she was an elect lady.
- 5:16SPEAKER_00: She was someone who was called by God.
- 5:19SPEAKER_00: That's what elect means, is you are chosen.
- 5:23SPEAKER_00: So right here, the Lord is saying, you are my chosen people.
- 5:28SPEAKER_00: You are chosen.
- 5:29SPEAKER_00: He says, Fear not a lot in this.
- 5:32SPEAKER_00: And that makes a lot of sense to me because He is calling us, right?
- 5:36SPEAKER_00: And so it makes sense that he would talk to us about that fear that can come
- 5:42SPEAKER_00: when we recognize that the Lord is calling us.
- 5:46SPEAKER_00: A lot of times that requires us to step outside our comfort zone and do something
- 5:50SPEAKER_00: that we're not used to doing or that may scare us.
- 5:53SPEAKER_00: And so he's like, he often, he says several times throughout these chapters, fear not.
- 6:01SPEAKER_00: Another common phrase in these chapters is, I am with thee.
- 6:06SPEAKER_00: And that's often paired with that fear knot.
- 6:09SPEAKER_00: So just these little reminders throughout these chapters that You don't have
- 6:13SPEAKER_00: to be afraid because I am with you.
- 6:16SPEAKER_00: And actually throughout these scriptures what's going on is the Lord keeps turning
- 6:21SPEAKER_00: to the great works that He has done and how with Him,
- 6:26SPEAKER_00: pretty much with showing that with Him nothing is impossible.
- 6:30SPEAKER_00: And yet people keep turning to these other idols or gods that really are not going
- 6:36SPEAKER_00: to do anything for them.
- 6:38SPEAKER_00: Whereas the Lord will And then the last phrase
- 6:45SPEAKER_00: that I saw multiple times throughout these scriptures was,
- 6:51SPEAKER_00: they shall not be ashamed.
- 6:53SPEAKER_00: And when we really keep our faith and trust our focus on the Lord, we are not ashamed.
- 7:00SPEAKER_00: We know that we are doing what is right.
- 7:04SPEAKER_00: And so whenever we feel opposition, whenever we Others look down at us for doing what's right.
- 7:12SPEAKER_00: We can stand firm and not be ashamed because we have the Lord there with us,
- 7:18SPEAKER_00: reminding us that what we did was right.
- 7:21SPEAKER_00: Okay, so those are the things that really stood out in these chapters.
- 7:25SPEAKER_00: And so now we're going to dive a little bit more into those verses so
- 7:29SPEAKER_00: that you can see how those phrases are throughout these verses and recognize that
- 7:36SPEAKER_00: the Lord is calling you,
- 7:37SPEAKER_00: that He believes in you,
- 7:39SPEAKER_00: And that He's there for you throughout it because He loves you.
- 7:43SPEAKER_00: And so with all of that, let's dive into, once again, chapter 40, verse 8 and 9.
- 7:49SPEAKER_00: And it says,
- 7:50SPEAKER_00: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever.
- 7:56SPEAKER_00: Okay, that's verse 8.
- 7:57SPEAKER_00: What I love about that is he's telling us, trust in me.
- 8:01SPEAKER_00: Everything else is fleeting, but the Lord is eternal.
- 8:05SPEAKER_00: So trust in him.
- 8:07SPEAKER_00: Verse 9, O Zion that bring us good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain.
- 8:12SPEAKER_00: O Jerusalem that bring us good tidings,
- 8:14SPEAKER_00: lift up thy voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid.
- 8:19SPEAKER_00: Say unto the cities of Judah, behold your God.
- 8:24SPEAKER_00: The Lord is calling you.
- 8:25SPEAKER_00: Do you see how the Lord is calling you?
- 8:28SPEAKER_00: He sees you capable of being able to share the truth of the gospel with others.
- 8:34SPEAKER_00: Verse 11, He shall feed his flock like a shepherd.
- 8:38SPEAKER_00: He shall gather the lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosom
- 8:42SPEAKER_00: and shall gently lead those that are with young.
- 8:46SPEAKER_00: So it's talking about how the Lord is reaching out to you and He is supporting you.
- 8:52SPEAKER_00: He is going to help you through these things that He is asking of you.
- 8:57SPEAKER_00: And I love that He compares Himself to a shepherd.
- 9:03SPEAKER_00: And
- 9:06SPEAKER_00: Because when it comes to a true shepherd, he's going to do whatever he can for his sheep.
- 9:12SPEAKER_00: And they know him and he knows them.
- 9:15SPEAKER_00: All right,
- 9:15SPEAKER_00: verses 12 through 14.
- 9:18SPEAKER_00: Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
- 9:21SPEAKER_00: and meted out heaven with a span,
- 9:23SPEAKER_00: and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure,
- 9:26SPEAKER_00: and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
- 9:31SPEAKER_00: To me, what that shows is the Lord's great understanding.
- 9:35SPEAKER_00: I know the dust of the earth.
- 9:37SPEAKER_00: I know the weight of the mountains.
- 9:42SPEAKER_00: He has this vast knowledge.
- 9:45SPEAKER_00: Verse 13, Who hath erect in the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counselor, hath taught him?
- 9:52SPEAKER_00: With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment?
- 9:58SPEAKER_00: And so what
- 10:04SPEAKER_00: that means to me personally is that the Lord knows more than we do.
- 10:10SPEAKER_00: And so trust that here He's calling us,
- 10:14SPEAKER_00: let us trust in the Lord because He has a greater vision
- 10:19SPEAKER_00: of what can be accomplished.
- 10:22SPEAKER_00: Then he goes into how, now going on to verses starting in 26.
- 10:28SPEAKER_00: Lift up your eyes on high,
- 10:30SPEAKER_00: and behold, who hath created these things that bringeth out their hosts by number?
- 10:33SPEAKER_00: He calleth them all by names, by the greatness of his power.
- 10:38SPEAKER_00: For that he is strong in power, not one faileth.
- 10:42SPEAKER_00: Isn't that beautiful?
- 10:43SPEAKER_00: Right there, he's talking about calling by names.
- 10:46SPEAKER_00: He knows us.
- 10:47SPEAKER_00: He knows you.
- 10:49SPEAKER_00: As and he is strong in power, not one will fail.
- 10:54SPEAKER_00: Not one faileth.
- 10:55SPEAKER_00: As we trust in him and we lean not unto our understanding
- 10:59SPEAKER_00: and all our ways acknowledge him,
- 11:01SPEAKER_00: as it says in Proverbs 3,
- 11:03SPEAKER_00: 5-6, the Lord directs our paths and he will help us to succeed.
- 11:09SPEAKER_00: Verse 29, he giveth power.
- 11:11SPEAKER_00: And to them that have no might, He increases strength.
- 11:16SPEAKER_00: So He gives us that power.
- 11:18SPEAKER_00: He gives us that strength to be able to fulfill His will.
- 11:22SPEAKER_00: And then I love verse 31.
- 11:23SPEAKER_00: And I think one reason why I love that is I just love it.
- 11:40SPEAKER_00: Birds and Eagles in general.
- 11:42SPEAKER_00: But it reminds us that we will have the strength and energy to do what it is
- 11:48SPEAKER_00: that he's asking of us.
- 11:50SPEAKER_00: And that may look different depending on the person, depending on the situation in your life.
- 11:55SPEAKER_00: Yet, As we put our faith and trust in Him,
- 11:58SPEAKER_00: He will give us enough of what we need to be able to accomplish those things.
- 12:03SPEAKER_00: Alright,
- 12:04SPEAKER_00: so do you see how beautiful this chapter in Isaiah is and how
- 12:10SPEAKER_00: the Lord is showing you I believe in you.
- 12:14SPEAKER_00: I believe that you can do this.
- 12:16SPEAKER_00: Trust in me.
- 12:18SPEAKER_00: Do not trust in idols.
- 12:20SPEAKER_00: That is one thing I kind of skipped over that part,
- 12:22SPEAKER_00: but he does talk about those who create idols and then worship them and how
- 12:27SPEAKER_00: that does not profit them.
- 12:29SPEAKER_00: But the Lord is an active participant in our life.
- 12:33SPEAKER_00: He is there, and He is with us.
- 12:37SPEAKER_00: And as we put our faith and trust in Him, we will mount up with wings as evils.
- 12:42SPEAKER_00: We will run and not be weary, and we will walk and not think.
- 12:46SPEAKER_00: Alright,
- 12:47SPEAKER_00: chapter 41,
- 12:47SPEAKER_00: verse 8 says,
- 12:48SPEAKER_00: But thou,
- 12:49SPEAKER_00: Israel, art my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, my friend.
- 12:55SPEAKER_00: Verse 10, Fear thou not, for I am with thee.
- 12:59SPEAKER_00: Be not dismayed, for I am thy God.
- 13:03SPEAKER_00: I will strengthen thee.
- 13:04SPEAKER_00: Yea, I will help thee.
- 13:06SPEAKER_00: Yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
- 13:12SPEAKER_00: And there's the hymn, How Firm a Foundation, is based off of the scripture, The Lord is with us.
- 13:19SPEAKER_00: In those moments when we feel discouraged, He strengthens us.
- 13:23SPEAKER_00: There's a scripture in the Book of Mormon that talks about the sons of Mosiah
- 13:27SPEAKER_00: and talks about how when their hearts were depressed and they were about
- 13:30SPEAKER_00: to turn back, The Lord strengthened them and helped them.
- 13:35SPEAKER_00: And the same is true for us.
- 13:37SPEAKER_00: He will help us in those dark times in our life as well.
- 13:41SPEAKER_00: And sometimes it is hard to see Him in those times,
- 13:45SPEAKER_00: yet keep trusting and keep having faith because He is there
- 13:50SPEAKER_00: and He is helping you even in ways that you do not recognize.
- 13:54SPEAKER_00: Okay.
- 13:55SPEAKER_00: In verse 13,
- 13:57SPEAKER_00: it says, For I,
- 13:58SPEAKER_00: the Lord thy God,
- 13:59SPEAKER_00: will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not, I will help thee.
- 14:03SPEAKER_00: And then verse 14 also says, Fear not.
- 14:06SPEAKER_00: So as I said, that is one of the themes throughout these scriptures is that reminder, fear not.
- 14:13SPEAKER_00: And then he goes on to start talking about all these things that I will do.
- 14:18SPEAKER_00: Verse 17, halfway through verse 17, it says, I, the Lord God, will hear them.
- 14:24SPEAKER_00: I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
- 14:27SPEAKER_00: And in those deep, dark times, He is not forsaking you.
- 14:31SPEAKER_00: He is still there.
- 14:32SPEAKER_00: 18 and 19 says several times, will, and then He starts listing things He will do.
- 14:38SPEAKER_00: I will open rivers in the high places and fountains in the midst of valleys.
- 14:42SPEAKER_00: I will make the wilderness a pool of water.
- 14:45SPEAKER_00: Verse 19, I will plant in the wilderness the cedar.
- 14:47SPEAKER_00: And And so right here,
- 14:50SPEAKER_00: he's repeating, I will several times, different ways that he's going to help us.
- 14:57SPEAKER_00: And repeating different things that he will do.
- 15:01SPEAKER_00: And to me,
- 15:02SPEAKER_00: that is a reminder that it's like,
- 15:04SPEAKER_00: okay, we can get caught up in all these other things, yet the Lord is capable.
- 15:09SPEAKER_00: He is capable of being able to help us to overcome,
- 15:12SPEAKER_00: and He is continually reaching out to us and helping us in different ways.
- 15:16SPEAKER_00: Verse 20,
- 15:17SPEAKER_00: that they may see and know and consider and understand together that the hand of
- 15:22SPEAKER_00: the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.
- 15:27SPEAKER_00: Okay, to...
- 15:28SPEAKER_00: Right there, he's saying, open your eyes to see the great works that I have done.
- 15:34SPEAKER_00: And why is that so important?
- 15:36SPEAKER_00: Because when we look around,
- 15:40SPEAKER_00: intentionally choosing to be able to see the ways that the Lord is there
- 15:44SPEAKER_00: and helping us,
- 15:46SPEAKER_00: that brings in that gratitude,
- 15:47SPEAKER_00: that brings in that joy, yet it also gives us the hope.
- 15:51SPEAKER_00: That we too can be able to overcome because we have Him on our side.
- 15:56SPEAKER_00: There is nothing that we cannot do when we have the Lord on our side.
- 16:01SPEAKER_00: Alright, I'm now going to go ahead and go to chapter 40.
- 16:05SPEAKER_00: And really there's just so much here in all of these chapters.
- 16:10SPEAKER_00: I am I just love how often the Lord is calling to us,
- 16:15SPEAKER_00: reminding us that He is calling us, and reminding us to, once again, fear not.
- 16:20SPEAKER_00: And that's another thing that shows up several times in chapter 43.
- 16:25SPEAKER_00: Okay, so going to verse 41 says,
- 16:29SPEAKER_00: Verse 1 in chapter 43,
- 16:31SPEAKER_00: the Lord says,
- 16:32SPEAKER_00: But now thus saith the Lord that created thee,
- 16:36SPEAKER_00: O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed thee.
- 16:41SPEAKER_00: I have called thee by name, thou art mine.
- 16:48SPEAKER_00: He created you.
- 16:50SPEAKER_00: He formed you.
- 16:51SPEAKER_00: You do not need to fear.
- 16:53SPEAKER_00: He has redeemed you.
- 16:55SPEAKER_00: You are his.
- 16:57SPEAKER_00: Five things right there.
- 16:59SPEAKER_00: Letting you know that you are of worth,
- 17:01SPEAKER_00: that you are loved,
- 17:03SPEAKER_00: that the Lord knows you, and because of that, you have no need to fear.
- 17:08SPEAKER_00: When thou passest through the waters,
- 17:11SPEAKER_00: I will be with thee, and through the rivers they shall not overflow thee.
- 17:15SPEAKER_00: When thou walkest through the fire,
- 17:17SPEAKER_00: thou shall not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
- 17:22SPEAKER_00: For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior.
- 17:27SPEAKER_00: What I want to point out in those verses that I just read,
- 17:31SPEAKER_00: that's chapter 43,
- 17:32SPEAKER_00: verses 2 and 3,
- 17:34SPEAKER_00: is that here in verse 1, he talks about how he knows us, he loves us, right?
- 17:40SPEAKER_00: He's called us,
- 17:41SPEAKER_00: we are his,
- 17:42SPEAKER_00: and then he goes into how you're going to go through We are not exempt
- 17:49SPEAKER_00: from struggles that are faced in life.
- 17:51SPEAKER_00: We are not exempt, yet we can overcome.
- 17:53SPEAKER_00: And there's such hope in these verses and a great reminder that
- 17:56SPEAKER_00: the Lord is helping us to be able to overcome.
- 18:14SPEAKER_00: Verse 4, Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honorable, and I have loved thee.
- 18:20SPEAKER_00: And verse 5, Fear not, for I am with thee.
- 18:24SPEAKER_00: Okay, right there,
- 18:25SPEAKER_00: he's telling you,
- 18:26SPEAKER_00: directly telling you, that he loves you, and that you are precious in his sight.
- 18:33SPEAKER_00: We know in Doctrine and Covenants section 18,
- 18:36SPEAKER_00: it says the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.
- 18:40SPEAKER_00: Right here, We're also being told, You are precious in my sight.
- 18:46SPEAKER_00: Verse 6, Bring my sons from far, my daughters from the ends of the earth.
- 18:51SPEAKER_00: Verse 7,
- 18:51SPEAKER_00: Even every one that is called by my name,
- 18:54SPEAKER_00: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him.
- 18:57SPEAKER_00: Yea, I have made him.
- 18:59SPEAKER_00: Right there, we remind it.
- 19:00SPEAKER_00: You are sons, you are daughters of the Lord.
- 19:04SPEAKER_00: He created you, He formed you.
- 19:06SPEAKER_00: Verses 10-12, once again, He is calling us.
- 19:09SPEAKER_00: Ye are my witnesses,
- 19:11SPEAKER_00: saith the Lord,
- 19:12SPEAKER_00: and my servant whom I have chosen,
- 19:14SPEAKER_00: that ye may know and believe me and understand that I am He.
- 19:17SPEAKER_00: Before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
- 19:22SPEAKER_00: I, even I, am the Lord, and beside me there is no Savior.
- 19:26SPEAKER_00: I have declared and have saved and I have shewed When there was no strange God
- 19:30SPEAKER_00: among you, therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God.
- 19:36SPEAKER_00: Let us rise up.
- 19:38SPEAKER_00: Let us be those witnesses.
- 19:39SPEAKER_00: Let us seek to see Him in every aspect of our lives so that we can then show others
- 19:47SPEAKER_00: and bring that light unto others so that they too can be redeemed,
- 19:52SPEAKER_00: so that they too can feel the love that the Lord has for them.
- 19:57SPEAKER_00: Verse 25, I, even I,
- 20:00SPEAKER_00: am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake,
- 20:03SPEAKER_00: and will not remember thy sins.
- 20:07SPEAKER_00: Put me in remembrance, let us plead together.
- 20:11SPEAKER_00: And I love that phrase, let us plead together.
- 20:14SPEAKER_00: Here's the Lord saying, let us plead together.
- 20:17SPEAKER_00: I have gone through the atonement, I have blotted out your transgressions, right?
- 20:23SPEAKER_00: And I'm not going to remember your sins, let us plead together.
- 20:27SPEAKER_00: Okay, now chapter 44.
- 20:30SPEAKER_00: Once again, the Lord is calling us.
- 20:32SPEAKER_00: Like I said, this is a theme throughout these chapters.
- 20:36SPEAKER_00: It says, O Jacob, my servant, and Israel, whom I have chosen.
- 20:40SPEAKER_00: Thus saith the Lord that made thee and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee.
- 20:45SPEAKER_00: Fear not, O Jacob, my servant, and thou, Jeserun, whom I have chosen.
- 20:51SPEAKER_00: For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground.
- 20:56SPEAKER_00: I will pour my spirit upon my seed.
- 20:58SPEAKER_00: And my blessing upon thine offspring,
- 21:00SPEAKER_00: and they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.
- 21:05SPEAKER_00: The Lord is talking about how He is calling of us, yes, and how He is going to bless us.
- 21:13SPEAKER_00: And the truth is that the Lord wants to bless us.
- 21:16SPEAKER_00: A lot of times through,
- 21:18SPEAKER_00: and I'm not reading all the times that all the scriptures in Isaiah chapters 40-49
- 21:24SPEAKER_00: that talk about Idol worship and turning away from the Lord,
- 21:29SPEAKER_00: but they are there throughout all these,
- 21:32SPEAKER_00: interspersed throughout these scriptures that I'm reading to you.
- 21:35SPEAKER_00: And what the Lord is saying here is to come unto Him so He can bless us.
- 21:41SPEAKER_00: Right?
- 21:42SPEAKER_00: Right?
- 21:43SPEAKER_00: Stop turning to other things because the Lord is here and He will bless you.
- 21:50SPEAKER_00: These other things are not going to give you what you seek.
- 21:53SPEAKER_00: So where is your focus?
- 21:56SPEAKER_00: Are you focused on these things?
- 21:59SPEAKER_00: As it says in verse 9, that are all of them vanity, meaning they're fleeting, they don't last?
- 22:06SPEAKER_00: Or are you turning to the Lord,
- 22:09SPEAKER_00: who is eternal,
- 22:11SPEAKER_00: who is there through it all,
- 22:12SPEAKER_00: who has been there from the beginning,
- 22:14SPEAKER_00: and who will be there in the midst of your struggles,
- 22:18SPEAKER_00: and who will be there continually?
- 22:20SPEAKER_00: Verse 21, Thou shalt not be forgotten of me.
- 22:24SPEAKER_00: Okay, just that simple, that beautiful reminder that Hey, I have not forgotten you.
- 22:31SPEAKER_00: Verse, chapter 45, verse 3, that I, the Lord, which call thee by name, am the God of Israel.
- 22:39SPEAKER_00: So once again, they bring in, I know your name, right?
- 22:43SPEAKER_00: That's how well he knows us.
- 22:44SPEAKER_00: Verse 4, for Jacob, my servant's sake, and Israel, mine elect, meaning them whom I have chosen.
- 22:52SPEAKER_00: I have even called thee by name once again.
- 22:56SPEAKER_00: Really close, first in verse 3, now in verse 4, that I have called thee by name.
- 23:00SPEAKER_00: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.
- 23:03SPEAKER_00: Okay, and certainly there are those times that we are not focused on him
- 23:10SPEAKER_00: and we do not recognize him in our lives, and yet he is still calling us by name.
- 23:16SPEAKER_00: And then I highlighted verse 6.
- 23:19SPEAKER_00: And so I'm going to read that and explain why.
- 23:21SPEAKER_00: That they may know from the rising of the sun and from the west that there is none beside me.
- 23:27SPEAKER_00: I am the Lord and there is none else.
- 23:29SPEAKER_00: And the reason why that stood out to me is because God is there in nature.
- 23:35SPEAKER_00: Like we can see him in the rising of the sun.
- 23:39SPEAKER_00: There are so many ways that we can see the Lord in our life.
- 23:43SPEAKER_00: And if you want to dive more into recognizing and understanding Him in our lives,
- 23:49SPEAKER_00: then check out my free gratitude course.
- 23:53SPEAKER_00: It's a seven-day challenge where each day you receive a topic to focus on,
- 23:59SPEAKER_00: and it's all about recognizing and seeing the ways that God is there in your life.
- 24:03SPEAKER_00: And so I'll put a link for that in the show notes.
- 24:06SPEAKER_00: And so the Lord is pretty much saying, I am here.
- 24:09SPEAKER_00: I am in the sun rising.
- 24:11SPEAKER_00: And in verse 22,
- 24:13SPEAKER_00: he says,
- 24:14SPEAKER_00: Look unto me and be ye saved on all the ends of the earth,
- 24:17SPEAKER_00: for I am God and there is none else.
- 24:20SPEAKER_00: And I love that phrase, look unto me.
- 24:22SPEAKER_00: Other phrases that come to mind that go with that is look and live.
- 24:26SPEAKER_00: Like when the Israelites were in the wilderness and they were bitten by
- 24:31SPEAKER_00: the fiery serpents, Moses raised the staff and all they had to do was look and live.
- 24:37SPEAKER_00: And in Nephi,
- 24:38SPEAKER_00: it talks about how there were many who didn't do that because
- 24:41SPEAKER_00: of how easy it would be to just look and be healed.
- 24:44SPEAKER_00: And they were skeptical of being able to be healed that way.
- 24:48SPEAKER_00: And so they didn't even look.
- 24:50SPEAKER_00: And so here's a beautiful reminder.
- 24:53SPEAKER_00: Where do we put our focus?
- 24:54SPEAKER_00: We put our focus on the Lord.
- 24:56SPEAKER_00: Another phrase that comes into my mind as I read Look Unto Me is that idea of having
- 25:01SPEAKER_00: an eye of faith.
- 25:03SPEAKER_00: And when we keep our focus on the Lord,
- 25:06SPEAKER_00: when we have that eye of faith, then we can do the impossible things.
- 25:12SPEAKER_00: Peter walked on water as long as he kept his focus and his eyes on the Lord.
- 25:18SPEAKER_00: It was when he got distracted that he sank.
- 25:21SPEAKER_00: And even then, the Lord was still there, ready to reach out and help him out.
- 25:26SPEAKER_00: Alright, and then the last few scriptures that I want to share with you today.
- 25:30SPEAKER_00: The first one is in Isaiah chapter 46 verse 11 that says, about halfway through it says,
- 25:47SPEAKER_00: on what He says He will do.
- 25:49SPEAKER_00: And that goes both ways in blessing us,
- 25:52SPEAKER_00: but also in allowing us to have consequences when we are not putting our faith
- 25:58SPEAKER_00: and trust in Him.
- 25:59SPEAKER_00: And so all the more reason why we should put our faith in Him.
- 26:03SPEAKER_00: The truth is that we can trust Him because He will follow through.
- 26:08SPEAKER_00: And then, chapter 48, verse 10, Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver.
- 26:14SPEAKER_00: I have chosen thee in the furnace of affection.
- 26:17SPEAKER_00: And I kind of referenced this idea earlier in this episode where we are not exempt
- 26:24SPEAKER_00: from struggles and trials.
- 26:26SPEAKER_00: That doesn't mean that those are consequences or punishments or anything like that.
- 26:31SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it is Okay, and then,
- 26:56SPEAKER_00: The last thing that I want to share with you today
- 27:00SPEAKER_00: from these Isaiah chapters is Isaiah chapter 49 verse 16.
- 27:07SPEAKER_00: Really, there's so many good things even in this chapter,
- 27:09SPEAKER_00: but specifically I want to focus on verse 16,
- 27:13SPEAKER_00: which says, which after talking about how I am not going to forsake you.
- 27:18SPEAKER_00: I have not forgotten you.
- 27:20SPEAKER_00: The Lord says, Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.
- 27:26SPEAKER_00: Thy walls are continually before me.
- 27:29SPEAKER_00: The Lord will not forget us.
- 27:31SPEAKER_00: He has literally engraven us on the palms of His hands.
- 27:34SPEAKER_00: Those are continual reminders of His love of us.
- 27:40SPEAKER_00: He loves us so much that He gave His life for us.
- 27:44SPEAKER_00: He loves us so much that He rose again.
- 27:48SPEAKER_00: He loves us so much that He suffered.
- 27:50SPEAKER_00: For your sins and it truly is through and He is wanting you to be able to know
- 27:59SPEAKER_00: that He loves you and that He will not forget you.
- 28:03SPEAKER_00: You are of worth and you have a great work on this earth to do.
- 28:08SPEAKER_00: He is calling you to do it and as you put your faith and trust in Him,
- 28:13SPEAKER_00: you can let go of that fear and move forward with the faith That he will provide
- 28:19SPEAKER_00: a way.
- 28:19SPEAKER_00: And I will see you next week on the Divine Worth Podcast.