The least will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation. I am the LORD; I will accomplish it quickly in its time.
God always keeps His promises. He is faithful, and He is good. We can count on those facts when life seems to take a tailspin, leaving us bewildered and uncertain about the future.
If answers to your prayers are a long time coming, take comfort in this verse. When the time is right, God will move quickly to make it happen. What seems small, He can make big. Even that which does not seem to matter can have huge significance when the time is right for growth. As Zechariah declared, do not despise the day of small things. In God’s timing, He will accomplish His promises to us, and it will be greater than we ever imagined.
Be faithful in the small things. God is faithful to you, and those small things matter to Him. What is small now is destined to be big at the right time.
The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward.
This verse is part of a promise God gave Hezekiah that Judah would not fall to the threats of Sennacherib, King of Assyria. Because Hezekiah prayed, God heard and answered. Our prayers, indeed, can change the course of history and prevent the enemy from claiming our land.
God proclaimed that the surviving remnant of Judah would take root downward and bear fruit upward. To bear fruit, we must first be firmly rooted in Christ and actively nourishing our foundation. Fruit is a natural result of a healthy root system. If fruit is what we want, we must pay proper attention to the roots.
Roots extend downward into the dark earth. Unless we dig into the ground, we don’t see them. We can’t always see what God is producing in us until it comes into full bloom. What He is doing in us is often far greater than what He does for us or through us. Let Him nourish your roots today as you dig deeper into Him.
Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD shines over you. For look, darkness covers the earth, and total darkness the peoples, but the LORD will shine over you, and His glory will appear over you.
Zechariah 9:14
Then the LORD will appear over them, and His arrow will fly like lightning. The Lord GOD will sound the trumpet and advance with the southern storms.
If you feel as if you are in the midst of total darkness today, take heart. Indeed, when I watch the news, I can see just how dark this world has become, and it seems to be growing darker. What we must remember in these times is that when the evil rises, God’s glory also rises. God, shines over His people because He is at work in us. In the midst of darkness, look to see where God’s light is shining. A city on a hill cannot be hidden, and God makes Himself clearly seen in the midst of darkness to the discerning eye.
God still works in the lives of His people, and He is still at work in our country. Don’t believe for one moment the lie the enemy has stirred within our culture that God has abandoned this country or is punishing us. God’s purpose is always to grow us in our faith and never to destroy us. The devil’s plan is to destroy this country and God’s people with it. God is our light, and He still shines over His people to make us victorious. What we need individually and as a country is to see God’s glory revealed in the midst of our pain and struggles. As Zechariah illustrates in the verse above, we should expect God to counter the enemy’s attacks.
Yes, God still answers prayer. Yes, God still works wonders and performs miracles. Yes, God still advances His kingdom through mere men – and women. Ask Him for a revelation of His glory today. Expect some southern storms to emerge and wreak havoc on the enemy’s schemes. God is with you, and His light shines over you. You are destined for victory!
“…For the LORD has called you, like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit, a wife of one’s youth when she is rejected,” says your God. “I deserted you for a brief moment, but I will take you back with great compassion.”
Rejection says, “You aren’t worthy. You don’t matter.” Rejection discounts you in the search for something better. Rejection portrays you as damaged goods, unable and unfit to be loved, accepted, or successful. If we believe the lies of rejection, we will withdraw from life and fail to experience the full potential to which God has called us.
Man may reject you. Your own family may reject you. Your church may even reject you. When this happens, it may seem as if God has abandoned you, but God has NOT abandoned you! He may allow you to feel that abandonment for a moment so you will cling to Him and not to anyone or anything else for your security. God has NOT rejected you! He has CALLED you and is consistently pursuing you as a man woos His bride. He will draw you to Himself with loving compassion and affection. He has CHOSEN you, and never permit rejection to convince you otherwise!
You are valuable to God, and He will use you for His purpose. Sometimes, that means He may have to get hindrances out of the way by allowing rejection in your life. I’ve heard it said several times that rejection is merely direction. In fact, rejection may be the very indication that God is calling you for a much greater purpose than you imagined. Most of us would not choose for ourselves what God has chosen for us, but we often can’t see the beauty or purpose of His plans, either. What we think is good for us can be quite damaging or even just less than the best. Instead of allowing rejection to define us, we must learn to trust that rejection is merely an indication of a much better way God has yet to reveal to us. Walk away from who or what rejected you, and walk in to the loving arms of your Savior. Trust His plan for you, and watch Him do something amazing that only He can do.
Do not be startled or afraid. Have I not told you and declared it long ago? You are My witnesses!
God has called us to be His witnesses. Jesus told His disciples just before He ascended into heaven that they would be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria. We are also called to be His servants, as is described in both the Old Testament and the New. Too often, however, we confuse the two.
A servant is one who serves. God gives him/her a job to do, and the servant does that job. We see in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 that our spiritual gift is an indicator as to where God has called us to serve. A witness, however, plays a different role. The witness watches the work of God and tells others what He has done. Mary Magdalene was both a servant and a witness. She served Jesus, and as a result of her service to Him, she was a witness to the resurrection. She did not perform the resurrection; she merely saw its evidence.
Dear PHOEBES, you are called to be both a servant and a witness of Christ. As you use the gift He has graciously given you, He has promised that you will see Him do wonders in your life and in the lives of others. You are not responsible for the miracles; you are to witness them. Our faith fails when we confuse the two. Simply serve Him, and watch Him do the impossible.
Enlarge the site of your tent, and let your tent curtains be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your ropes, and drive your pegs deep. For you will spread out to the right and to the left and your descendants will dispossess nations and inhabit the desolate cities.
For God to work in our lives or in our ministry, we must make room for Him. If we keep everything in a nice, comfortable, predictable little box that we can control, we give Him no room to expand His kingdom through us. As a result, our world becomes small, stagnant, and unproductive.
To let our tent curtains be stretched out requires opening our ministry to those outside our tent. Anytime God is doing a work, it requires personal stretching, and we can expect that in our ministry, as well. We need to lengthen our ropes by lengthening our reach and extending beyond our current borders. To drive our pegs deep, we must delve even deeper into God’s word and make personal prayer and Bible study the backbone of our ministry. The deeper we go in Christ, the farther He is able to extend our reach and increase His kingdom.
My desire is that this ministry will somehow grow and become a true beacon of light for widows to know the love of Christ and find new identity in Him. When widows find their purpose and calling in Christ, their light will dispel the darkness that has been thrust upon them through loss, and His love will inhabit the desolate places that loss brings. Are you willing to be enlarged, stretched, lengthened, and driven?
A move of God is not always comfortable, but it is well worth the journey!
This is the word of the LORD your Maker who shaped you from birth; He will help you: Do not fear; Jacob is My servant; I have chosen Jeshurun.
This word of assurance applies to us as Christians. God’s word to Israel, whom He addresses here as Jacob, is extended to us through our relationship with Jesus Christ, whereby we become adopted sons and daughters of God. We must always remember that we belong to Him. He has chosen us, and He will help us in whatever task, battle, or storm we may find ourselves.
God created us for a purpose, knowing full well our flaws and our features. Our flaws were designed to draw us to Him and depend upon His guidance, strength, and love. He designed our features with skill, talent, and anointing to accomplish the purpose for which He created us – to worship Him alone and to be His witnesses.
Jacob was a deceiver, full of schemes and manipulation. His intent was to better himself at the expense of others, and he mastered the art of trickery. Yet, God still chose to form His chosen nation from this deceitful trickster. After coming to the end of himself and wrestling with an angel, God changed Jacob’s name to Israel, which means Prince of God. While he began life as a heel catcher, his destiny was to be a prince among the peoples of the earth. Here, however, God addresses the nation as Jacob, the deceiver full of flaws. God also refers to the nation as Jeshurun, which is a term of endearment, much like a pet name. In one statement, He recognized their bad habits but loved them dearly and with great compassion.
Like Jacob, God chose us while we were flaw ridden and unable to do anything good. He looked ahead, saw our future, and called us to be His servants and witnesses to His power and glory. While He is ever aware of our weaknesses and failures, He loves us passionately and vows to help us become the person we were destined to be in Christ! We can trust His process of sanctification as we are transformed into the very image of Christ. We are both Jacob and Jeshurun, and we are dearly loved!
For I the LORD love justice; I hate robbery and injustice; I will faithfully reward them and make an everlasting covenant with them. Their descendants will be known among the nations, and their posterity among the peoples. All who see them will recognize that they are a people the LORD has blessed.
God is referring to Israel in this passage. The entire chapter is a promise of restoration for Israel with the Messiah’s jubilee. God’s answer for all her attacks, abuse, and adversity was restoration through His Son, Jesus Christ, from seemingly irreparable damage caused from the enemy. As we are spiritual Israel, the same promise applies to us. Regardless of how badly we have been damaged by ourselves or by others, we have hope and the promise of restoration in Christ Jesus.
Israel’s enemies wanted what she had. Instead of submitting to her God, however, they sought to steal it from her through attack. What her enemies could not steal, however, was God’s divine favor. They could have her stuff, but it would all eventually deplete or decay. God promised to restore everything the Devil stole, and the nations would know that Israel was a people He had chosen and blessed.
The Devil may have your stuff temporarily, but he can never take the favor of God from you. God can restore whatever has been stolen, and He has not withdrawn His divine favor from you. Turn to Him, and trust Him to restore whatever damage the enemy has caused in your life. God loves justice, and He will be just to you. He is faithful, and He will not fail you now. He cares about you and your descendants, and His plan is for you to flourish in Him. He has ordained for all to recognize and see that you are blessed by Him and not by anyone else. You are His witnesses to bear His glory, and He will make sure you do.
“You are My witnesses” – the LORD’s declaration – “and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He. No god was formed before Me, and there will be none after Me.”
While this message was sent through Isaiah from God to Israel, we must understand that we, as believers in Jesus Christ, are spiritual Israel. We are His witnesses and the servant He has chosen. Here we find the very simple reason we were chosen as His servant and His witness: that we may know Him, believe Him, and understand that He alone is God.
God wants us to know Him – personally and intimately. He is not some distant being in the sky, a tyrant judge who watches for us to mess up, or a Santa Claus who waits to grant our wishes. He is our Creator God, and there is no one like Him, nor will there ever be! He wants us to know beyond the shadow of a doubt that He is both real and Almighty. He wants us to believe Him for His promises with our hearts devoted to Him, knowing that He is for us and not against us. Most of all, however, He wants us to turn completely to Him and reject all other gods that provide us temporary and false comfort. He, alone, can save.
Verse 21 is a prophetic promise for God’s people: “The people I formed for Myself will declare My praise.” We are destined to declare the praises of our God and to be a witness to others that there is no other true God. He will display His glory through us for the very purpose of revealing Himself to the world. Believe Him, and wait for His promises. He is with you; He hears you, and He has an answer for you that will reveal His glory. Start singing His praises today!
They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts; He made water flow for them from the rock; He split the rock; and water gushed out.
We all go through wilderness seasons where everything seems dry or scarce, and we don’t know how long we will have to endure until we finally reach a place of promise or blessing. Not only is the wilderness uncomfortable, it holds many dangers that threaten to consume us. Through our wilderness seasons, however, we come to depend upon God and see His provision appear in ways that assure us He is with us and that He is God, alone.
The wilderness is a place of growth and maturity. Unless we encounter desert seasons, we will never be able to handle the blessings of our promised land. God prepares us during those hard seasons to receive every good thing He has in store for us. Because it is a time of testing and not a time of destruction, God does not allow the dangers of the wilderness to consume us. He brings provision from unsuspecting places simply to show us that He is God.
If God can make water gush out of a hard, dry rock, He can certainly provide for you during your time of need! While you may have to endure a wilderness season, expect God to show up and show out in ways you never imagined! Lean upon Him; depend upon Him. Let your desert draw you closer to Him, and see the wonder of His presence.
Have a blessed day!
PHOEBE Connections, Inc. is a 501(c)3 dedicated to enhancing the lives of widows by building relationships and helping them find new identity in Jesus Christ through serving others. We promote an atmosphere of fellowship, where the widow can connect with other widows to develop friendships and supportive relationships.