206 - "Move In To Love Those People In Your Life" Isaiah 46-49; Psalm 135

If we are really honest, we know that there are those moments when we feel that God has forgotten about the mess we are in.  Forgotten about me.  Deep down we have to know that it is not truth.  Isaiah 49:15-16 God says that He will not forget Zion. He has inscribed their name on the palm of His Hands.  I cannot interpret the silence of God as forgetfulness.  God knows every part of our story.  The real question is whether I can trust Him with what He allows.

Who am I really listening to?

What is playing over and over in my mind?

Am I listening to God?

Am I listening to what it means to "move in" to love those difficult people in my life?

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You claim to be citizens of the Holy City; 

you act as though you lean on the God of Israel, 

named God-of-the-Angel-Armies. 

You've never been good listeners to me. 

You have a history of ignoring me.

I've refined you, but not without fire. 

I've tested you like silver in the furnace of affliction.  

Come close, listen carefully:   I've always been present with you."

Isaiah 48

He said to me, “You are my servant,
    Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.”

But I said, “I have labored in vain;
    I have spent my strength for nothing at all.
Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand,
    and my reward is with my God.”

                                                                                Isa 49:3-4

Hope for a new chapter.  Hope for a better me.  Hope for new strength.