Onward & Upward

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  • There is None Else, Part 3

    Isaiah 45:21-22

    Tell ye, and bring them near;
    yea, let them take counsel together:
    who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time?
    have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me;
    a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.
    Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth:
    for I am God, and there is none else.

    There is a song by the Getty’s called the ‘Power of the Cross.” It’s beautiful and one of my favorites. I attempted to sing it at church on a Sunday morning and totally botched the last chorus, which was another example of human weakness and God’s grace.

    Despite our sinfulness and our inability to make it right with God, as the song goes, “Christ became sin for us, took the blame, bore the wrath, and we stand forgiven at the cross.”

    I’m so thankful to be saved. Unworthy and for a long time unrepentant, I was drawn by the Lord. Understanding myself to be lost to hell because of my unbelief in the Saviour, I turned away from my religion, my wisdom and my way and turned to Christ. I believed in Him alone. It was simple, though not easy.

    If you’re reading this today and saved, rejoice! If you’re reading this today and lost, repent, look unto Jesus Christ, believe and be saved, for there is none else.

    -Pastor C.

  • There is None Else, Part 2

    Remember this?

    For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else. Isaiah 45:18

    The other day I was shown a YouTube video of a cheese-wheel race in England. Contestants run down a steep hill chasing a spinning wheel of cheese. Yep. The first person to the finish line wins, of course, though I’m unsure of the prize. Seeing a large crowd of people together was a strange experience in our COVID-19 season. I was reminded of former days and hopeful for better days ahead.

    When I read Isaiah 45:18 I am reminded that the Lord created the earth to be inhabited. The Lord told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply, and to Noah’s family He declared the same. The command given to man to inhabit the earth brings to mind two things. The first is dominion. Man was given responsibility to tend to and care for the earth and its creatures, and in doing so be an ambassador of the Glorious Creator.

    Secondly, however, is the fact that man fell into sin, the though the earth is far from submitted to his dominion, God’s love for people remains. Even after the wickedness of the pre-flood days, remember, God commanded Noah and his family to replenish the earth with people. God loves people. He sent his Son to die on the cross and rise again for salvation for all that will believe.

    We may not care for crowds of people, but God loves them.

    -Pastor C.

  • There is None Else, Part 1

    A Word for us all, May 18.

    The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water:
    he turneth it whithersoever he will. -Proverbs 21:1

    Isaiah 45:5-6 I am the LORD, and there is none else,
    there is no God beside me:
    I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
    That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west,
    that there is none beside me.
    I am the LORD, and there is none else.

    Isaiah is recording the Words of God about a Persian king named Cyrus. In Ezra 1:1-2 we learn that God commanded him to build a new temple in Jerusalem after the Babylonian Captivity. At the time, Cyrus is king over all the kingdoms of the earth. He is the most important man in all of the world, and was subject unto the Sovereign King of all.

    When we look at Isaiah 45, we learn that God directed the course of his life. He held his hand to guide him, opened gates, straightened paths, supplied great (and previously hidden) wealth, called him by name, and prepared him for all the work he would do. The Lord did all of this so that all people would know that “I am the Lord, and there is none else.” The Lord God of Heaven is the Sovereign King of all.

    The next time you drive by a river that is held in place by the shore and gravity, remember this:
    “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water:
    he turneth it whithersoever he will.” Proverbs 21:1

    -Pastor C.