Joe Lang / BIB1110 / PAA#4 / November 6, 2007 / Box: 5 / Row B
Passage: Isaiah 1:2-3
Principle: As our father and master; God will provide care and guidance for us at all times. We would be foolish ever to forget who God truly is in our lives.
Explanation: It was insulting to say that such a simple animal as an ox or donkey understood who its master was compared to Israel who didn’t understand its master. At times we can fall into a similar pitfall of forgetting who God is in our lives. We can forget that he is master of our lives in general or we can box God out of a certain part of our life. If a donkey can remember who its master is, then we too need to remember who our master is.
Application: When my life seems to spin out of control in some way, and I feel stressed out or overworked, I sometimes try to buckle down and fix the problem all by myself. I think that the solution is simply for Joe to work harder. At this point I am sad to say that; I can focus so much on the task that I forget who my master is. I may think that my only goal is to finish my homework and will forget that I am doing the homework and attending this school so that I can know God better and be changed in a way that glorifies God. The application will be to keep a balance in living my life that reflects who my master is. For example: doing my homework because God is using that to make me more like him (praise the LordJ) and not doing the homework only to get a grade.
Passage: Isaiah 40:6-9
Principle: Proclaim God’s word.
Explanation: Our lives are beautiful, but are nothing compared to God’s everlasting word. Our lives will only gain their true value when they reflect that which is forever valuable – God’s word. God makes it clear here that we need to “Call out… Here is your God”. Israel was told to call this out to Judah but today we can similarly proclaim God to the nations (Acts 1:8). Today we can proclaim this message with our words and with our lives. It is also interesting to point out the communal basis of this command. When you proclaim something you proclaim it to another person. God’s plan for man is clearly based on relationships. The value in our short (like short lived grass or flowers) lives are realized when we proclaim God to others.
Application: I will try to reflect God’s word in my life so that others will learn who God is. I have a friend, Daniel, and I have to be a witness to him if God gives me the opportunity. We are great friends and at times in the past I’ve neglected my witness to him, which is not something I want to repeat. An application is to live as a witness to him or to fix any specifics that have hindered my witness towards him.
Passage: Isaiah 26:3 (Isaiah 9)
Principle: God is a God of peace. Remain steadfast on Him and He will give you perfect peace.
Explanation: Fully trusting God will bring us perfect peace and Isaiah 9:6 says that Christ is the prince of peace. It seems to me that peace is the result of God being a God of perfection and unity (as fallows)… Isaiah 9:6 seems to indicate that God’s plan of salvation through Christ isn’t just good, it is perfect and so trusting in this plan of God’s can assure you peace! Ironically in my last PAA I wrote that, we are not promised a bed of roses but that God may leave thorns in our side during our walk with Him, the Prince of peace. Even so, God is still a God of unity. We have a tough lot in life (Genesis 3:16-19) but God offers a perfect solution (Isaiah 9:6). I am so glad that we have realistic guidance from the Bible. Life will be tough at times, but God doesn’t just offer a good solution. His perfect solution gives me endurance to run the race because I have peace from having hope in Christ. God is a God of peace.
Application: We will get ourselves into tough situation and life will bring additional tough situations but they never have to diminish our peace. We have an everlasting rock we trust in and when we remain steadfast of mind in this God will keep us in perfect peace.
The application is simply: to remain steadfast of mind on trusting in whom God Is.
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