“Then I heard the LORD asking, ‘Whom shall I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?’ I said, ‘Here I am, send me.’ Isaiah 6:8
It starts back at the beginning of chapter six, in the year that king Uzziah died – 740 BC. Isaiah saw the LORD. Now it doesn’t mention anywhere how he got there, but he is IN the throne-room of Heaven. He describes everything he sees from the “lofty throne” to the “mighty seraphim”. The moment Isaiah realizes where he is and what he’s seeing he expects death – the consequence of seeing God in person, pre-crucifixion of Christ. In an answer to his fears God alleviates them by sending an angel over to anoint Isaiah’s lips with a hot coal and tells him, “See this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.” (Isaiah 6:7)
As soon as Isaiah receives that forgiveness of his guilt and sins God says, “Whom shall I send?” And right there is something too powerful for me to pass up. There is an empowerment in the acceptance and receiving of the forgiveness of your sins. There’s a verse in John where Jesus says, “apart from Me you can do nothing.” (15:5) Now if that verse is True, and it’s in the Bible so it IS True. Then the opposite is also True. When we are a part of Jesus we can do EVERYTHING! According to Philippians 4:13, you “can do all things through [Christ] who gives [you] strength.”
Isaiah 5:18 says, “What sorrow for those who drag their sins behind them with ropes made of lies.” What an image!!! God has so much sorrow for those who drag their sins behind them with ropes made of lies! He aches for those who haven’t received the forgiveness of those sins through His Son Jesus. He weeps at the blood that is shed by those people whose ropes made of lies have torn and cut their flesh as those rock-heavy sins weigh them down because they haven’t given them to Jesus.
And what is the lie that creates that rope most often; the lie that you’re not worthy to approach the throne of Heaven. I know of a blood-stained cross with holes where nails pierced hands and feet that says otherwise. Jesus believed in your worth enough to die for your ticket into that throne room, who are we to refuse? My dear one, you have been invited to sit, not just in the throne room, but ON the Father’s lap as His Beloved Child. And all you have to do is lay down the sins that so easily entangle and run into His waiting open arms and allow Him to enfold your broken soul in to His presence.
Romans 10:9-10 says that if “you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.” If you believe in your heart, then speak it with your mouth and you will be saved. It doesn’t need to be wordy, it’s not complicated, you need only speak His name, “Jesus, my Lord.” Or you could say, “I believe in Jesus.” See, not complicated or hard. Simple. As simple can be.
But POWERFUL indeed!!!!
Tamar Knochel 