Let God Go In Front Of You...Love Him With ALL That You Have

Isaiah 52:1-3 -  Awake, awake, O Zion, clothe yourself with strength. Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, the holy city. The uncircumcised and defiled will not enter you again.  Shake off your dust; rise up, sit enthroned, O Jerusalem. Free yourself from the chains on your neck, O captive Daughter of Zion.  For this is what the LORD says: "You were sold for nothing, and without money you will be redeemed."

 

God was preparing to release his chosen people from the captivity he had used to discipline them.  He told Isaiah to tell them to wake up….to clothe themselves with God’s strength….and to shake the dust off their feet as they left. He told them to free themselves from every chain that had them bound.

 

It is good advice…even now…after Christ came to redeem us and make a way for all of us to be saved. We need to wake up….to clothe ourselves in his strength….to free ourselves from the chains that satan tries to wrap so tightly around our necks. We do not have to live in the mess we created around us….for God can save and release us from anything….ANYTHING…that has us convinced we have no power.

 

God’s strength is first found in an attitude of repentance. He just wants us to speak out loud the sin that trapped us…then turn our lives over to him.  Then he wants us to gain strength and wisdom in the study of his word and constant prayer. He wants us to build a relationship with him….he wants us to call him our best friend….our BFF.

 

We become so in love with Jesus that we begin to ask him to help us live more in his will.  And as he  begins to release the chains the world had wrapped around our heart…he sends his Holy Spirit down to comfort…to guide…to give us power…to help us with every choice we have to make. He even uses the message of our story to help others find him too.

 

Other great Bible characters have said the same thing. Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 31:6…. “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” Paul wrote in Philippians 4:13…. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that my soul needs to stay awake….that it needs to clothe itself in your strength. Forgive me for the times that I forget that you can give me the power and strength to do anything.  Help me to love you with ALL my heart…and ALL my mind….and ALL my soul….so that you can give me your great strength to do anything you have asked me to do. Show me how to be strong and courageous ….and let you go BEFORE me.  Amen.