Tell My People I Love Them

Tell My People I Love Them “Comfort, comfort My people!” says your God. Isaiah 40:1 (Amp) “To everything there is a season, …..” Eccl 3:1-8 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver Proverb 25:11

Isaiah 40 (My attempt at paraphrasing) Verses Subject 1-2 Comfort My people God says 3-5 Prepare ourselves 6-8 Don’t look to people! They’re fickle and undependable; God’s Word is eternally true and dependable 9 Look, our God! 10-17 Now this is who God is 18-20 Yet this is who we think God is 21-26 This really is who God is! 27-30 Why do we still doubt God? 31 Don’t doubt; Have faith and look expectantly to God

Tell My People I Love Them Comfort My people God says Speak tenderly to the heart, ….her… warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned Isaiah 40:2 (Amp) Warfare is ended - Jesus has defeated the enemy Rom 8:37, 1 Jn 4:4 “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” 1 Cor 15:57 Our iniquity is pardoned – Jesus was our sacrificial lamb Is 53:6 “All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” Isa 53:6 There is comfort and strength in forgiveness from God

Tell My People I Love Them Prepare ourselves Prepare the way for the LORD Is 40:3-4 The pictorial description highlights what we must do. Everything wrong must be corrected for the road to be built. It is an expensive and painstaking exercise This preparation for all of us takes place in our hearts The Glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken Isaiah 40:5 There is comfort and strength in God’s promised Hope of Glory

Tell My People I Love Them Don’t look to people! They’re are fickle and undependable; God’s Word is eternally true and dependable Man being compared to grass demonstrates our frailty. “….All flesh is as frail as grass, and all that makes it attractive is transitory, like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are like grass, the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever” Isaiah 40:6-8 In contrast, the Word of God stands forever “As for God, His way is perfect; The Word of God is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him” Psalm 18:30 Our comfort is the assurance that God keeps His promises always! There is comfort and strength in the Word of God

Tell My People I Love Them Now this is who God is Greatness of God “Behold, the Lord God will come with might, and His arm will rule for Him. Behold, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him” Is 40:10 Goodness of God “He will feed His flock like a shepherd: He will gather the lambs in His arm, He will carry them in His bosom and will gently lead those that have their young” Is 40:11 Splendour and Majesty of God “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, measured heaven in a span and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?” Is 40:12 There is comfort and strength in the Divine Attributes of God

Tell My People I Love Them Yet this is who we think God is An Idol? The workman moulds an image, the goldsmith overspreads it with gold and the silversmith casts silver chains. Whoever is too impoverished for such a contribution chooses a tree that will not rot; He seeks for himself a skillful workman to prepare a carved image that will not totter” Isaiah 40:19-20 Idol – anything that we place above God

Tell My People I Love Them This really is who God is! God is the Almighty Sovereign “Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless” Isaiah 40:21-23 God is the Creator “Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things, who brings out their hosts by number; He calls them all by name, by the greatness of His might and the strength of His power; Not one is missing” Isaiah 40:26 There is comfort and strength in the proper understanding of who God really is

Tell My People I Love Them Why do we still doubt God? “Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel: ‘My way is hidden from the LORD, and my just claim is passed over by my God?’” Is 40:28 DO NOT DOUBT GOD OR HIS WAYS “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but Gid is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” 1 Cor 10:13 Nothing that happens in our lives is hidden from God. There is nothing neglected by God “…Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” Phil 2:12-13

Tell My People I Love Them “For His anger is but for a moment, His favour is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning” Ps 30:5 Don’t doubt; Have faith and look expectantly to God! “But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” Isaiah 40:31 God gives us His power! “And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness…” 2 Cor 12:9 Note that God’s power is given to 1) The weak, 2) The humble Be clear in our assessment of God compared to ourselves. Throw ourselves at the foot of the cross Receives from God’s treasure trove. What comfort! Hallelujah! Amen!

Tell My People I Love Them Is 40:9 ..You who bring good tidings, Get up into the high mountain; ….You who bring good tidings, Lift up your voice with strength, Lift it up and be not afraid; Say………... Behold y(our) God!