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St. Paul School of Leadership & Discipleship Lesson 198 - HOW NOT TO LIVE A WASTED LIFE (God's Plan and Promises for You from the Book of Isaiah) By Frank Eiklor and the Shalom Team INTRODUCTION God has given me many lessons and promises from the Book of Isaiah. I want to share them with you over the next few months. God's Promise To You "Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their doings." Isaiah 3:10 This message to the rigteous of the world seems almost a contradiction to the reality in the world. After all, doesn't it appear that the selfish, proud and powerful profit big time over the kind, humble and poor? Don't many of the good die young while many of the worst die old? Don't many of the saints suffer greatly while the ungodly appear to smile gorgeously? How foolish we would be to judge God's faithfulness by only the exterior and temporal. Note that our verse does not tell the righteous that everything is well - but that it "shall be" well with them. That is Kingdom language. It also states that he shall eat - not is eating - the fruits of his life. That, too, is Kingdom talk; the Lord's guarantee that no matter our earthly lot, He has prepared for His own an eternal lot that will make our choice for Him worth is all when we see Jesus. When five young missionaries gave their lives trying to reach the Auca Indians in Equador, the world said, "What a waste!" But to heaven it was, "What a wonder!" as they received martyrs' crowns and stepped through gates of splendor. It truly was "well" with them and their fruit has been following them - the Aucas evangelized and thousands of volunteers for the world's mission fields because of those heroes of faith paying the ultimate price. Jim Elliott's diary entry told it all: "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose." Follow Jesus one step at a time and trust Him with your whole heart. You, too, shall eat the fruit of your doings. So keep praying though others are playing. Keep giving though others are getting. Keep serving others though others serve only themselves. Harvest time will soon be here! My prayer: "I want to be part of this scripture, Lord Jesus. Construct my heart in righteousness and cause my work to be ordered and blessed by You." "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ" (I Corinthians 11:1)
Related Articles · More Articles Jesus said many would come in His name and deceive the hearts of the simple, sinful and proud. Eastern mysticism and meditation is a big thing in the gullible West. And one day a “world leader” will appear on the scene with the persuasion of a god and the heart of a devil. Jesus warns His children to know the Scriptures, live in obedience to the Father’s will, and stay alert to the signs of the times. They laugh no more. Now God’s description of how He will destroy the old earth and create a
new one makes perfect sense. The splitting of the atom turned many skeptics into believers.
After all, look what man himself is capable of doing with the atom and hydrogen bombs. Now
the fear is that nuclear weapons are being placed in the hands of madmen who wish to annihilate
their enemies. God has blessed man with incredible genius. We stand in awe as we watch men and women in a room full of computers and high-tech instruments guiding and landing spacecraft on distant planets. At that moment, we appear invincible. But then a mammoth tornado comes—or a terrifying hurricane—or rains that flood whole regions and never listen to our shouts to “Stop!”—or the shake that removes from under our feet any confidence or pride we carry, and leaves us numb with hardly enough breath to even utter the paralyzing word “EARTHQUAKE!”. And man is helpless in the face of it all! |
