Journal Entry ~ 01/12/18

1 But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.  - Isaiah 43:1-2

When we read scripture, we should be digging into His Word and reflecting on what He is truly trying to teach us about who God is, what does the passage help me to understand about who I am, and how should these new understandings help me change.

Isaiah 43 says some of the most comforting things to me in all of scripture, probably because His Words are so personal. God is speaking directly to me in this passage. He’s not talking to a large group of people here, and His promises are not general - they’re specific and personal. He has called me by name.  We love a God who speaks to me in personal pronouns - I have called you by name, you are mine - that makes everything He says in this passage intimate, that means the promises He makes in this passage are for me personally. Our God isn’t a distant God who rules over us in generalities, who makes vague promises, our God is a God who knows me specifically and makes promises to me personally. He knows my name, He knows my strengths and my weaknesses, He knows my good and my bad, and He still comes after me, He still promises to be with me through it all. 

Reflecting on how personal God is in this passage impacts His message to me about who I am. If He is intentionally being intimate and personal with me, it tells me He has chosen me. “You are mine.”  My identity in the world needs to begin there - I am His. Everything I have, everything I do, everything I face must begin with this truth - I am His. I am not the world’s, I am His. I have been chosen by Him. There is such a sense of belonging in a world that can leave me feeling left out or alone at times when I contemplate that I have been chosen by Him. 

Knowing I love a personal God who has chosen me should impact the way I live in this world ~ I can live with confidence in all circumstances, knowing that the God of the universe is with me. “Fear not, for I have redeemed you.”  If I truly internalize the fact that God knows me personally, and He still chose me, my perspective of everything I face in this world should change. I need not fear the challenges, I need not despair the struggles, because I have confidence in the fact that the God who created the stars and the oceans, chose me personally. He knows who I am, He knows what I face, and He promises to be with me through it all. 


Press on ~ you are loved 💗

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