Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

April 27
Sunday



GOD'S REFRESHING
WORD

READ:
Isaiah 55:8-11
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My word... shall not
return to Me void.
__Isaiah 55:11
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When I was a boy, our family would occasionally travel across Nevada. We loved the desert thunderstorms. Accompanied by lightning bolts and claps of thunder, huge sheets of rain would blanket the hot sand as far as the eye could see. The cooling water refreshed the earth__and us.

Water produces marvelous changes in arid regions. For example, the pincushion cactus is completely dormant during the dry season. But after the first summer rains, cactuses burst into bloom, displaying delicate petals of pink, gold, and white.

Likewise, in the Holy Land after a rainstorm, dry ground can seemingly sprout vegetation overnight. Isaiah used rain's renewal to illustrate God's refreshing Word: "As the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My Word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it" (Isa. 55:10-11).

Scripture carries spiritual vitality. That's why it doesn't return void. wherever it encounters an open heart, it brings refreshment, nourishment, and new life. __Dennis Fisher
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````````````````God's Word is like refreshing rain`````````````````
```````````````````That waters crops and seed;``````````````````
`````````````````it brings new life to open hearts,`````````````````
``````````````````And meets us in our need. __Sper```````````````
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The Bible is to a thristy soul
what water is to a barren land.

***************Today's Bible Reading __ Isaiah 55:8-11************
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8 "For My thoughts are not
your thoughts, nor are your
ways My ways," says the
LORD. 9 "For as the heavens
are higher than the earth,
so are My ways higher than
your ways, and My thoughts
than your thoughts. 10 for
as the rain comes down,
and the snow from heaven,
and do not return there, but
water the earth, and make it
bring forth and bud, that it
may give seed to the sower
and bread to the eater, 11 so
shall My word be that goes
forth from My mouth; it
shall not return to Me void,
but it shall accomplish what
I please, and it shall prosper
in the thing for which I
sent it."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Isaiah 55:8-11 is set in the context of the call to salvation (vv.1-7).
"come" is used four times in verses 1-3. This salvation, which is
given by the grace of God to anyone who repents (v.7), surpasses all
human expectations and understanding (vv.8-9). God's eternal Word
(40:8) will accomplish this salvation (55:11). The metaphors of rain
and snow (v.10) suggest a slow, silent, and unseen work in the hearts
of those who respond to this grace (v.6). __Sim Kay Tee

[mlg]

When we are thirsty, the Word is better than that cool glass of lemonade. What a refreshing taste and a fulfilling quench the Word truly is.