Sunday, December 10, 2017 Advent Week Two! Peace Day 8: God’s Covenant of Peace With Us

Sunday, December 10, 2017

Advent Week Two! Peace

Day 8: God’s Covenant of Peace With Us

Scripture:

Isaiah 54

The Eternal Covenant of Peace

1 “Sing, O barren one, who did not bear;
    break forth into singing and cry aloud,
    you who have not been in labor!
For the children of the desolate one will be more
    than the children of her who is married,” says the Lord.
² “Enlarge the place of your tent,
    and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out;
do not hold back; lengthen your cords
    and strengthen your stakes.
³ For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left,
    and your offspring will possess the nations
    and will people the desolate cities.

⁴ “Fear not, for you will not be ashamed;
    be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced;
for you will forget the shame of your youth,
    and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.
⁵ For your Maker is your husband,
    the Lord of hosts is his name;
and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,
    the God of the whole earth he is called.
⁶ For the Lord has called you
    like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit,
like a wife of youth when she is cast off,
    says your God.
⁷ For a brief moment I deserted you,
    but with great compassion I will gather you.
⁸ In overflowing anger for a moment
    I hid my face from you,
but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,”
    says the Lord, your Redeemer.

⁹ “This is like the days of Noah to me:
    as I swore that the waters of Noah
    should no more go over the earth,
so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you,
    and will not rebuke you.
¹⁰ For the mountains may depart
    and the hills be removed,
but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,
    and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,”
    says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

¹¹ “O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted,
    behold, I will set your stones in antimony,
    and lay your foundations with sapphires.
¹² I will make your pinnacles of agate,
    your gates of carbuncles,
    and all your wall of precious stones.
¹³ All your children shall be taught by the Lord,
    and great shall be the peace of your children.
¹⁴ In righteousness you shall be established;
    you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear;
    and from terror, for it shall not come near you.
¹⁵ If anyone stirs up strife,
    it is not from me;
whoever stirs up strife with you
    shall fall because of you.
¹⁶ Behold, I have created the smith
    who blows the fire of coals
    and produces a weapon for its purpose.
I have also created the ravager to destroy;
¹⁷     no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed,
    and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord
    and their vindication from me, declares the Lord.”

Devotional:

Oh, my goodness. I find myself today at a loss for words as the truth of Isaiah 54 yet again floods my soul in the Presence of God. In my home growing up, names had great importance. My mother especially was intentional and prayerful about the choosing of each name of her five children. My name, Olivia Chloe, means “Peace Full Blooming.” The irony of this was that while my parents tried the best they could, peace was lacking for most of my childhood and into adulthood. Painful circumstances acted like a lever to push me out of the fold in my late teens, and I did not return to the Lord until I was 28. Anxiety, fear, depression, and eventually anger took over my God-given personality of a kind, quiet and very peaceful person. When I did return to the Lord in 2001, it was like the Word of God crashed over me in waves of truth, tumbling me like a pebble and knocking off the rough edges that had developed on my character from the pain of separation from the Rock. This process of refinement has taken years, of course, but in the beginning this passage of Scripture was fully transformative. That the God of the Universe, who has the right to send me to eternal separation and hold me accountable for all the wrongs I have done, would instead woo and pursue me and pour His peace out over me is astonishing, humbling, and at times a bit hard to believe and accept. Again and again, the Lord uses this amazing passage to remind me, and us, that He will not remove His covenant. Like the days of Noah, He will not destroy our world and He will not send us to our earned eternal damnation. Oh, praise be to God! His peace is ours. By the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, we have obtained peace as we believe and receive this covenant from Him. This season of Advent, let us renew our vows to the Lord as well as He extends these incredible covenant vows to us. He is our Husband…the Lord of Hosts is His Name!

Prayer:

Thanksgiving:

Father, I lift my heart to You today and thank You for this amazing passage of Scripture and its revealing of Your heart toward us. Your desire to be married to Your Bride, that we are each part of that Bride, is humbling and amazing. Thank You for Your peace, Lord. I receive that peace today.

Confession:

I daily come to You, my great Husband, with a heart open and ready to confess. I desire intimacy with You, and You desire truth in the inmost parts. I open the depths of my heart and ask You to examine me, search me, and reveal to me areas that need confession and repentance. (Take time each day to confess your heart before the Lord. This time is invaluable to creating an atmosphere of truth in your relationship with God. I share my confessions here to encourage each of you that there is no shame in confession. There will, of course, be deep confessions that are between the Lord, my husband and I. Mine today: My family is sick, and I confess some selfishness that makes me not want to serve them the way You would want me to. I ask You to forgive me, and pray for the desire to serve to be strong and the desire to bless overcome this selfish desire to rest and take care of my sick self instead. Thank You that You are gracious and compassionate.)

Supplication:

I lift my heart and needs to You, Lord. I bring my cares and cast them down at Your feet, grateful that You care for me and that which concerns me. (Take time to list victories and answers to prayer, needs and concerns. Mine today: I thank You that You are helping me to have steady emotions as I am sick and as hormones are causing their continued struggles. I thank You that You are working through me to bless my family with peace and kindness. I lift my own body to You, as my fever has returned since yesterday and my symptoms are not abating as quickly as I want them to. Please, God, I implore You, Lord, please heal our family. Please, God eradicate this sickness. Help me to trust You as we struggle again this year through the cold and flu season. Show me what choices to make as we enter week 4 of sickness in the house. Show me if our children need to stay home and help me not to feel overwhelmed in caring for them by myself if our son needs to stay home from school. Help me to find ways to address their play needs without overdoing it. I also pray that You will continue to guide my husband and me in our small business. We lean on You, and we desire to honor You in our obedience with this business. Send help from the sanctuary for the financial side, marketing side, creative side, and connecting with the right customer. Teach us to be quality business owners.)

Intercession:

I lift my children to You today. You are their True Father. You desire their good even more than I do. You desire that they be well-disciplined even more than I do. You care more about their struggles than I do. Help me to remember that as I bring them to You today. (Take time to note victory, progress, needs and concerns. Chloe today: Thank you so much for these 13 nights of uninterrupted sleep! I thank You that You are working in and through this amazing little girl. Thank You that You are showing us how to love on her and focus on her positive attributes. I pray that You will touch her little body, as she started coughing and sneezing again on Friday. She has had too many rounds of antibiotics this year. The doctor and I do not want to put her body through it again. Lord, I need Your help. I need You to heal her, Lord. I also ask you again to touch the root in her heart that causes her to manipulate, lie and disobey. Replace these fleshly and sinful tendencies with Your Fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, meekness, faith and self control. Do not let her flesh be indulged by us or by her, but teach us to shepherd her heart. I lift Christian today, and thank You that he is slowly but surely progressing in speech and toileting. I daily knock and ask for him to be independent in toileting, initiate both urine and BM himself, and be out of pull-ups. I also lift his health, as he was showing symptoms of sickness last night as well. Let his body rest for as long as it needs to today to heal. Show us how we can help his body to fight this sickness. Heal him supernaturally and I do pray that he will be able to return to school tomorrow. If You desire for him to be home, please show us and help me to embrace it well. Give me creative ideas for how to help and work with him. Take away my fears, anxieties and insecurities.) In Jesus’ Name I pray, amen.

Thanksgiving and Consecration:

Today, I thank You that You are our Peace, God! I worship You for this time with You. On this second Sunday of Advent, may each heart represented here be flooded with Your great peace as we press in to You and receive of Your covenant!

Blessing and Benediction:

2 Thessalonians 3:16

Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.