Some of you may recall how the
Lord takes me in my time with Him, at His pleasure, to meet
some amazing biblical characters. I always come away from these
encounters enlightened, helped and greatly encouraged.
I would love to share with you
what I learnt from a recent encounter, because it was so exciting
for me..... I pray that the eyes of your understanding will
be opened too so you can share my revelation.
Here is an excerpt from Shirley's
diary, 21st September 2010, just a few days ago.
(Please match colour code with
verses in Isaiah 55 below)
21st September 2010
This morning the Lord took me by the hand up the hill that we
had been up many times to meet so many wonderful biblical characters.
I had no idea what to expect. Sometimes Jesus took me to knock
on a door, to meet someone, but not today. this encounter happened
suddenly as a very large man with longish curly hair, quite
wild looking in a nice way, met me and welcomed me with such
love it was almost overwhelming. He didn't say anything but
his eyes seemed tearful with joy but soft as they gleamed as
he gazed at me with great love and excitement. My heavenly visits
are usually blessed with a great welcome but none quite like
this. I have never seen anyone so pleased and excited to see
me. It was almost as though I knew he had waited a long time
for this, and had shared with the other biblical character's
I had met about me and what they had taught me.
I instinctively knew he just couldn't talk because there
was so much to say and so much emotion, as if he was bursting
with the things he wanted to say but afraid if it came out too
quickly it would be too much for me. I can't say how I knew
this, but I could see clearly that he was full of knowledge
that he wanted to share with me. I knew it without words.
I said to the Lord that I didn't think that I had ever met this
man before and He affirmed that I hadn't. I went through the
Old Testament characters to try to work out who it was. I knew
it wasn't Jonah, Elijah and definitely not Abraham yet his largeness
of character was similar. I said "Lord, Could it be Isaiah
and Jesus said it was. Looking back I could see that there wasn't
anything about this character that I could have known about
from the bible, because so little is written about his life,
or at least I haven't seen much. . Unlike Daniel, Jonah, Joseph
and Moses etc. where you get a taste of what their personalities
were like.
This wonderful man was still nearly bursting with love and excitement.
But couldn't seem to speak.
Eventually he asked me what my favourite scripture in Isaiah
was.
He told me that when the saints down here cling on to the scriptures,
that the person who has written it, responds with great pleasure
in heaven. They know it, when we are comforted and encouraged
by what God inspired them to write, and they have a dialoque
in heaven about what is happening down here with great interest.
They know they are playing a part in our development etc. in
the Lord..
Just an explanation before I share
this next bit. For many years I have learnt, when I have desperately
needed wisdom for a situation, to get on my face (as an act
of surrender) and to lay down all my
own thoughts, opinions and desires, so
I can hear the voice of the Father telling me His perspective,
thoughts and desires in the situation.
As I wait upon Him, I usually quote to Him from the bible
the two verses that help me to quell the doubts that I will
really hear from God.....
1. "YOU always gives wisdom to those who ask!!"
If any of you lack wisdom, let him
ask of God, that giveth to all [men] liberally, and upbraideth
not; and it shall be given him. James 1: 5
2. "YOU reward those who diligently seek you!!"
But without faith it is impossible
to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He
is, and that He is a rewarder of those
who diligently seek Him. Hebrews 11:6
When I surrender my own thoughts
and stand in faith. I wait in silence, patiently... and He speaks
into my innermost
being with
a great surety.
Yet, you desire truth and sincerity.
Deep down inside
me you teach me wisdom. Psalm 51:6 b
My conversation with Isaiah continued...
I told him.."I love Isaiah
55 where it says that God's thought are higher than ours and
His word when it goes out will prosper to do what it was meant
to do."
Wow! The revelation
that came next was amazing.....
Apparently as
I get on my face and acknowledge that I need the wisdom of God.........
When He speaks
to me...
His words coming
into me...
not only give
me ...wisdom...... but they have the power to bring about what
He has told me "My word shall not
return empty"...
The whole chapter
is about us going to God and listening, including laying
our own thoughts down to hear Him. I'd never seen how
comprehensively this chapter deals with the way I have learnt
to seek the Father's voice.
Isaiah 55
1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come
ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and
eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without
price.
2 Wherefore do ye spend money for
that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth
not? hearken diligently unto me,
and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight
itself in fatness.
3 Incline your ear, and come unto
me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting
covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
4 Behold, I have given him for a
witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.
5 Behold, thou shalt call a nation
that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall
run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy
One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.
6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be
found, call ye upon him while he is near:
7Let
the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts:
and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy
upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
8For my
thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,
saith the LORD.
9For as the heavens are higher
than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my
thoughts than your thoughts.
10For as the rain cometh down,
and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth
the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give
seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
11So shall
my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return
unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and
it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
12 For ye shall go out with joy,
and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall
break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the
field shall clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thorn shall come
up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the
myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an
everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
King James Version (KJV)
Public Domain
I used to quote that God's word
would prosper and do that which it was intended to do, thinking
it meant the general written word of God. This may be the case,
but now I can see that Isaiah reveals when a person seeks God,
turns from his own thoughts and feelings, lays everything down
for the sake of the truth and really listens, God speaks. That
Rhema word of God is directed into the heart of a believer and
it accomplishes that which it was sent out to do in that given
circumstance and person.. Not only to give light to the hearer
but to bear great fruit, to bring joy and peace and take away
the stings and prickles out of that listener's situation...
Even in my weak, confused state
about a situation, when I have come for wisdom to the Father,
He not only empowers me to carry out His instructions, He promises
to bring about what He has spoken to me and that it will bear
fruit..
What really amazed me was when
I saw the word diligently in both
texts from the New and Old Testament in relation to seeking
the Lord. I have known for a long time that He will always come
through when we seek Him with all of our hearts, mind and soul
(In my case, and body, as I, in an act of surrender, lay face
down on the floor... this helps me, but might not be necessary
for everyone)
There seems to be a few barriers
that need pushing through so to hear the Father speak. One barrier
is that the seeker listens to the doubts and doesn't wait for
the still small voice to resound in his innermost being. It
necessary to push through those doubts and wait on God, for
He has promised, He will speak. The other barrier is a presumption
that the person's own thoughts and opinions are adequate; that
it is unnecessary to wait upon the Lord for wisdom.. We need
to be humble enough to admit that we don't have the answers.
I'm hoping I will be able to meet
Isaiah again to hear more of what he was bursting to tell me.
But for now I'm chewing on the above revelation and seeing my
"wisdom seeking" in the new light of Isaiah 55.
Thy Kingdom come - Thy will be done - on earth as it is in
heaven
Give us this day our daily bread.
Man cannot live on bread alone but by every word that proceeds
from the mouth of God.
