ISAIAH 34-53

What a Sunday we had yesterday!!  Praise God!!  We had 933 in Sunday School! We saw 75 saved, a family join the church, several baptized, 385 on the busses, 100 teenagers, and 314 in Spanish Church.  It was very exciting!!  Praise God!! This morning, I got up early so I could spend a lot of time reading in Isaiah.  I was able to read it through slowly and enjoyed it so much.  Over and over again God referes to Himself to the nation of Israel.  He says stuff like: "Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth..."  Wow!!  God is great.  Let me share a few thoughts with you: 1) ONE DAY...- One great day, God will do what Isaiah 35:5,6 says: "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness hall waters break out, and the streams in the desert."  One fine day... all infirmities will be done away with!!  Praise God there are no special olympics in Heaven... we are all whole!!  Praise God for Heaven.... who will be shouting the loudest???  The parents of the infirmed child, or the child who through all of life has been infirmed??  I don't know, but I think there will be shouting of praises and tears of joy!  I'm happy just thinking about it!!  Hey, also the last part of verse six has the phrase "streams in the desert".  This is also the title of the greatest devotional book ever written.... "Streams in the Desert".  If you ever get a hold of it, it will bless you each and every day!! 2) HEZEKIAH GETS GOD'S ATTENTION: In Isaiah 37, Hezekiah has the King of Assyria come down upon Judah and threathens to destroy everything and everyone unless they willingly become slaves to the Kingdom of Assyria.  He has a good argument... none of the other kings, lands, or gods have been able to stop the army of Assyria from conquering them.  But... Hezekiah fears the LORD, and he gets God's attention by: a. Humility "he rent his clothes" (vs.1); b. Church "went into the house of the LORD" (vs. 1); c. Preacher "unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz." (vs. 2); d. Prayer "And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying," (vs. 15).  Hezekiah did these things, and the LORD heard him and brought the victory!!  He will in our lives as well. 3) FEAR NOT...FEAR....FEAR NOT- In Isaiah 41:14 we see "Fear not" this is a reason not to fear; and then we see "thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel", this is a reason to fear!  A worm is not much of a man and can be very fearful and rightly so!  But then it says: "I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel."  Here is the reason not to fear... God is for us!!  So in one verse, we see "fear not.... fear....fear not".  We have reason to fear because of who we are, but reason not to fear in because of who God is!!  Child of God.... don't fear!! 4) GET THIRSTY- Isaiah 44:3 says: "I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground:  I will pour out my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring."  God is saying that He will pour His precious Holy Spirit upon him that is Thirsty!!  Are you thirsty for God to do the supernatural in your life??  If you are, get ready for God to satisfy your thirst!!  God is still the same God... we just need to get thirsty as others in history have done and God will pour His Holy Spirit upon us to see great things done for the cause of Christ! Well, I've got to go... Have a blessed day in the LORD!!  Dr. Mike Mutchler