The Lord Is Near

[00:00:00] Welcome to the Prayer Is Breathing podcast. Thank you so much for listening. I'm so glad you are tuning in. And today I'm going to jump right into our topic, which is the Lord is Near. Okay. The Lord is so near to all of us as we seek his face.

[00:00:20] And before I say that, I just want to let you know that every Monday night at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, I host a women's Bible study called The Equipping. You can sign up on Eventbrite and just type in The Equipping Women's Bible Study. Again, that's every Monday night at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

[00:00:40] All right. So today we're going to talk about the fact that the Lord is near. And I'm going to look at one of my favorite passages in the Word of God. And that is going to be in Isaiah chapter 53, which of course was the prophet Isaiah. And let's just jump right into it. All right. Verse one, who has believed our report and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

[00:01:03] So the arm of the Lord represents the Lord's strength, his might, his power. Verse two, for he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness. And when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. This part is so beautiful to me because this is, of course, talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. And it says that he was as a root out of dry ground.

[00:01:33] And we know that roots cannot prosper and grow in dry ground. And so God always does the impossible. And he references Jesus being as a root out of dry ground. And also we know that he was not overly attractive. So it says that he has no form or comeliness. And when we see him, there's no beauty that we should desire him.

[00:01:58] So the Lord made his son and sent his son Jesus to die for our sins. And in that he didn't make him super, you know, handsome. He took on flesh and doesn't say that he was ugly, but it says there was no beauty that we should desire him.

[00:02:14] All right. Amen. Verse three, he is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised and we did not esteem him.

[00:02:28] This is so wonderful because when we look at the fact that the Lord is near, we understand that Jesus understands where we are, what we are going through. It says that he was despised. He was hated. He was rejected by men.

[00:02:43] And so even if you struggle with rejection, understand that our Lord and Savior Jesus was also rejected by men. And the Bible says he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

[00:02:55] And so even when you experience grief or you're going through certain things, I just want you to understand and know that the Lord is near to you.

[00:03:03] I know that even in this holiday season, many of us, we experience grief and sorrow and things aren't the same sometimes with different family members that have gone on.

[00:03:13] But I want to encourage you that in the midst of sorrow or sadness or grief, that the Lord is near and that he sees you.

[00:03:21] He hears you and he is with you because the Bible tells us also in Isaiah 714 that he is Emmanuel, God with us.

[00:03:30] So you have to know that the Lord is near and that the Lord is with you.

[00:03:35] Verse 4, Isaiah chapter 53.

[00:03:37] Surely he has borne our grief and carried our sorrows, yet we esteem him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted.

[00:03:46] I want to encourage you to allow God to carry your sorrow, to bear your grief.

[00:03:52] You can place everything upon him.

[00:03:54] You can cast your cares upon the Lord because he cares for you.

[00:03:59] And this is what happened when Jesus came in the flesh and he died on the cross for our sins.

[00:04:05] He bore our griefs.

[00:04:07] He carried our sorrows.

[00:04:09] All right.

[00:04:10] Verse 5 says, but he was wounded for our transgressions.

[00:04:13] He was bruised for our iniquities.

[00:04:16] The chastisement for our peace was upon him.

[00:04:18] And by his stripes, we are healed.

[00:04:21] Glory.

[00:04:22] Hallelujah.

[00:04:23] By his stripes, we are healed.

[00:04:25] Now, we know that God not only cares about our physical healing, but our hearts being healed.

[00:04:33] And so I want to encourage you that even if you need healing in your heart, God is able to heal your heart.

[00:04:41] Here is why I know this to be true.

[00:04:43] Because Isaiah chapter 61, just a few more chapters over, says the spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor.

[00:04:54] He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.

[00:05:03] So again, this is the gospel of Jesus that he came to heal broken hearts.

[00:05:12] And he was wounded for our transgressions.

[00:05:15] He was bruised for our iniquities.

[00:05:16] And we have peace only because and in him and through him.

[00:05:21] John 16 verse 33 says, in this world, you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer.

[00:05:27] I have overcome the world.

[00:05:29] And so no matter what we are going through in the world, God has promised us his peace.

[00:05:35] And his peace surpasses all understanding.

[00:05:38] And his peace will guard our hearts and our minds as we stay focused on him.

[00:05:45] And that we can also see in John chapter 14, where the Bible talks about Jesus was telling his disciples,

[00:05:52] let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

[00:05:55] And then in John 14 verse 27, it says, peace, I leave with you.

[00:06:02] My peace, I give to you.

[00:06:04] Not as the world gives, do I give to you.

[00:06:07] Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

[00:06:10] So this is what Jesus is saying to his disciples and to all of us in John 14, 27.

[00:06:15] I'm going to read this again.

[00:06:16] Peace, I leave with you.

[00:06:18] My peace, I give to you.

[00:06:19] Not as the world gives, do I give to you.

[00:06:22] Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

[00:06:25] So understand that your peace is important.

[00:06:29] And when you have the peace of God, your heart can be still.

[00:06:32] You can be still and know that he is God.

[00:06:36] And it starts with you having peace.

[00:06:38] And one thing that I love about peace, because the Lord is near,

[00:06:43] is that he's given us a peace that the world cannot give to us.

[00:06:47] So a lot of times the world will offer things that are temporary.

[00:06:51] You know, some people try to drink their cares away or smoke their cares away.

[00:06:54] And it may feel like a temporal peace.

[00:06:57] But there's no peace like the peace that God gives.

[00:07:00] And this is why he says he gives us peace that surpasses all understanding.

[00:07:05] And he also says, I give you peace not as the world gives.

[00:07:10] So there is a false sense of peace that the world gives.

[00:07:14] But the true peace that we need in the depths of our soul comes only from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

[00:07:21] Hallelujah.

[00:07:22] And then at that place, we don't have to be troubled in our hearts or walk in fear.

[00:07:27] Because it says, neither let it be afraid.

[00:07:29] So we can fully, fully, fully put our trust in the Lord.

[00:07:35] All right.

[00:07:35] Back to Isaiah chapter 53.

[00:07:37] We're talking about the fact that the Lord is near.

[00:07:41] All right.

[00:07:42] Verse six says, all we like sheep have gone astray.

[00:07:46] We have turned everyone to his own way.

[00:07:48] And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

[00:07:52] He was oppressed and he was afflicted.

[00:07:55] Yet he opened not his mouth.

[00:07:56] He was led as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before his sharers is silent.

[00:08:02] So he opened not his mouth.

[00:08:05] I went through something recently and I wanted so much to defend myself.

[00:08:11] And the Lord just spoke so clear to my heart.

[00:08:14] And he just said to me, I didn't get to defend myself either.

[00:08:19] And in that moment, I just knew that the Lord was near.

[00:08:22] I just knew.

[00:08:23] And I know now that he's with me.

[00:08:26] And so we have to understand that God understands where we are.

[00:08:30] He understands what we're going through.

[00:08:32] And he is with us.

[00:08:35] Verse eight says, he was taken from prison and from judgment.

[00:08:38] And who will declare his generation?

[00:08:40] For he was cut off from the land of the living.

[00:08:42] For the transgression of my people, he was stricken.

[00:08:45] And they made his grave with the wicked, but with the rich at his death, because he had

[00:08:50] done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.

[00:08:53] Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him.

[00:08:56] He has put him to grief when you make his soul an offering for sin.

[00:09:01] He shall see his seed.

[00:09:03] He shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

[00:09:08] Now, this is beautiful.

[00:09:10] It took me a long time to really understand verse 10 as to why it would please the Lord

[00:09:15] to bruise his son.

[00:09:17] And I understand it now because of John 3 16, which of course we know says for God so loved

[00:09:24] the world that he gave his only begotten son.

[00:09:26] And so out of God's love for us, it pleased him when Jesus went to the cross.

[00:09:32] It pleased him when Jesus took all the sins for all of mankind, when he was bruised for

[00:09:38] our transgressions, he was, you know, broken, hurt, beat for our iniquities.

[00:09:43] And so all of these things to reconcile us back to God, to redeem us from the curse of

[00:09:50] sin and bring us back into bright standing with God, which is what God wanted all along

[00:09:56] for us to be in communion and fellowship with him.

[00:10:00] So I just want you to understand today that God is with you in every season of your life.

[00:10:07] If you're a believer, if you have accepted Jesus Christ into your heart, just know that

[00:10:12] part of the promise, he said, I will never leave you nor forsake you.

[00:10:16] And so we can stand on that.

[00:10:18] We can rest in that and we can receive the peace of God that comes with that.

[00:10:23] We can receive the peace of God that comes with Psalm 46 verse 10, which says, be still

[00:10:28] and know that I am God.

[00:10:30] And so we can be still and know that he is God.

[00:10:36] So let us pray.

[00:10:37] Hallelujah.

[00:10:38] Father, I thank you for every person that will listen to this podcast.

[00:10:42] I thank you, Father, that you have made yourself known to us.

[00:10:47] I pray, Lord, if there's any person listening that has not accepted Jesus Christ into their

[00:10:51] hearts, that Father, you will begin to minister to them and you would draw them to you because

[00:10:57] it's only by the name of Jesus that we can be saved.

[00:11:00] And so, God, I pray that you would just touch their hearts even now.

[00:11:04] And for every person that may feel lonely or rejected or abandoned, I pray for the comfort

[00:11:09] of the Holy Spirit, that you would comfort every heart, that you would draw every heart

[00:11:15] closer and closer to you, God.

[00:11:17] Thank you for who you are.

[00:11:18] Thank you for being the glory and the lifter of our head.

[00:11:21] Thank you that we have an eternal hope.

[00:11:23] Thank you, God, that you have given us peace that surpasses all understanding and your peace,

[00:11:29] God, guards our hearts and our mind in Christ Jesus.

[00:11:34] Lord, we love you.

[00:11:35] We give you glory, honor and praise in Jesus name.

[00:11:38] Amen.

[00:11:39] Amen.

[00:11:40] Amen.

[00:11:40] God bless you.

[00:11:41] Thank you for listening.

[00:11:42] I pray that this blessed you in some way.

[00:11:44] And I want to encourage you to read Isaiah chapter 53.

[00:11:47] Have a blessed, beautiful week.

[00:11:51] And I will be back next Monday.

[00:11:53] God bless you.

[00:11:54] Thank you again for listening.

[00:11:55] Also, if you need any Christian apparel, you can go to www.awakechristianclothing.com.

[00:12:05] It's a company that I own and I would love for you to support and just be a blessing.

[00:12:10] And I just really know that you will enjoy the merch on that website.

[00:12:14] And so be sure to check us out at awakechristianclothing.com.

[00:12:18] God bless you.