You Are Loved & You Are Favored & God's Promises in Isaiah Are for You - Episode #178

Well hey there! Hello to ya and welcome to this episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, where we talk about God’s promises and apply them to our lives. God’s promises are all true, and they are true for you if you are a follower of Jesus. Isn’t that great news?!? I’ll go ahead and answer my own question: yes, it is most certainly great news.

I'm speaking at the Vibrant Home Life Summit & I hope you'll join me (it's online!)

You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing in the Edifi app. Today’s episode is sponsored by Mr. Pen , and I’ve put a link in the show notes. I love pens, journaling, and the like…and I love Mr Pen products. I also love their heart to support IJM and take a stand against human trafficking. So check them out, follow them on the gram, and be part of something more than just buying a new Bible highlighter. And one more important thing I want to share with you today - I’m honored to be speaking at the upcoming Vibrant Home Life Summit. Are you feeling overwhelmed by the secular culture that seems to surround us at every turn? Do you find yourself struggling to maintain your faith and uphold your Christian values in a world that often feels hostile to them? If so, I want you to know that you're not alone.

 

In the midst of the chaos and confusion of the secular world, there is a beacon of hope shining brightly: the Vibrant Home Life Summit. This transformative event, taking place from April 29 to May 3, 2024, is designed to breathe new life into your faith and equip you with the tools you need to thrive as a Christian family.

I’d love to have you join me for this summit, which is an online event, and find a whole ton of encouragement. The link is right in the show notes, and I’ll be sending out some emails about the summit and sharing on social media and am going to have a special bonus episode of the podcast to hit on some issues that are facing us as disciples of Jesus in this day and age, so be sure to keep an eye out for that and I’ll be hitting this subject hard in that episode, number 179, because you and I are living in this exact time for such a time as this, and in order to live well we need one another, we need to be shored up and encouraged and reminded that we’re not alone, far from it, in this culture war and war on our families. I’m looking forward to that episode, and to have you join me at this summit, which is so needed right now. 

We’re taking a look at some promises God’s given us in the book of Isaiah today, and this is episode number 178.

Episode mentioned for reference - Episode 38 - Isaiah 40:31 & Psalm 103:5 (A Molting Season...) | The Burt (Not Ernie) Show (podbean.com)

Isaiah is a book that is packed full of warnings, prophecies, encouragement and promises. It’s a book that you can, and probably should, study with a long-haul perspective. It is anything but lifeless! And it isn’t something to glaze over quickly.

And so, here we are taking a second look at the promises in Isaiah because it’s not really a book of the Bible that can be fully addressed in one short podcast episode. Or in a dozen episodes, honestly. I cannot possibly do this book justice. I just can’t. I won’t even come close.

But I can share several promises from Isaiah that will encourage you, no matter what your life may look like today, or what it may look like in a few months or a few years (and I do think we are entering a phase of history that will leave all of us living lives that look very different in the next several years as compared to how  they look right now… as I’ve said before, keep your eyes on Israel and pay close attention to what’s happening there… some upcoming events are going to take place that could very well be the next steps toward the prophecy we read about in Daniel and the explanation, if you will, that Paul shared in 2 Thessalonians… and while that isn’t the express focus of this episode, it is noteworthy. Because if we don’t have any real idea of what’s happening over there in the Middle East, in Israel specifically, that could be because our news isn’t telling us some of the things taking place that pertain to the Bible being fulfilled exactly as it’s written, and not all of us have our social media feeds curated so that our feeds keep us somewhat up to date of what’s going on. And what’s going on has to do with Iran readying to attack Israel, now per it’s old school Bible name, Iran is the same as Persia. It’s a wild time to be alive, for us as Christians, so let’s keep loving people well, and we do that better when we know what time it is on the Kingdom calendar and realize that our priorities can easily get all out of whack when we think it’s a different time than it really is. If things are heating up in Israel, which they have been the last six months, then we know it’s a ramp up time. Gotta know the Bible and gotta keep our eyes on Israel and gotta love people now better than we ever have before, because that’s our job as disciples, to go and tell. Let’s allow the words from Isaiah to spur us on toward love and good deeds, and I don’t mean platitudes and somewhere over the rainbow, but actual love that moves us to love others. Christ love compels me, wrote Paul. But what about us? Does Christ’s love compel Jan? Do you find yourself compelled by Christ’s love?

 

So it says in Isaiah chapter 8, verse 13 AMP - It is the LORD of hosts whom you are to regard as holy and awesome. He shall be your (source of) fear. He shall be your (source of) dread (not man). Verse 14a - Then He shall be a sanctuary (a sacred, indestructible shelter for those who fear and trust Him); 

 

What you fear rules the direction of your life and the attitude of your heart. 

I think you likely already know that, but it’s worth the reminder. Because  we are living in uncertain times, lots going on every single day, we are in an era when the next news story doesn’t even shock us because it’s been so much for so long. I’ve seen surveys of younger people who all seem to agree that since 2020, they feel like their life has sort of been on hold, in some kind of a pause, and they feel lost and somewhat depressed and I don’t think that only applies to the younger generation. It’s sort of true for all of us, isn’t it? So the hope we find here, to fear the Lord, to let Him be our only source of dread, that takes the fear out of everything else. But we have to be reminded about this, at least I do. Fear Him, He is to be your only source of dread. Not man. And then He will be a sanctuary and an indestructible shelter for those who fear and trust Him.

 

Here’s a big promise, whopper sized, for us from Isaiah

Chapter 30, verse 21, still in the AMP

Your ears WILL hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left.

 

If you need some guidance (and who among us doesn’t at one point or another?) or clarity, direction, which choice do I make, which way do I go, what do I do? This verse holds the hope and the promise that we are in need of. 

I say this often, although I haven’t said it on the podcast in a while, but when one of God’s promises says “WILL”, He means it! Let me read that aloud to you once more.

Your ears WILL hear a word, or a voice, behind you saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left.

WILL! He is going to give you a word of guidance when you are weighing your options, do I go right, do I go left…but here’s the thing, we have to walk in it. He will say, “This is the way,” but He won’t take those steps for us and He won’t force us to walk in those ways. He will tell us, Go this way, take a left, not that way, this way is the way to go…and He expects us to do as He directs us to do and to walk in the way He leads us. If you will do that, not all the second guessing and the what iffing, but will just say, yup, He directed me and it’s a left turn here at this junction, so I am going left, if you walk in it, then you’ll be living in the fullness of this promised blessing.

To be able to know that you have the guidance and direction from the voice and word of God for all the days of your life in every decision, to be able to know the way to go, the route to travel, the path to take, the turn to make…this is a huge promise. Don’t miss out on this! Take full advantage of this one! And believe that God says will because He means it. He WILL do this for you. But you need to walk in the way He directs you to go. 

 

Isaiah 40:29 AMP

He gives strength to the weary, and to him who has no might He increases power. 

 

Now this one, it’s for me. It might also be for you today, but I can tell you without a doubt, it is for me right now.

I am somewhat weary from health problems. In all honesty, I am super weary. I’m tired of discomfort, I’m tired of the cough that is either due to the heart failure diagnosis or due to my busted thyroid or due to both. I am weary of the pain due to a large number of uterine fibroids. I don’t like the constant feeling of needing to catch my breath. I don’t like coughing and people wondering if I am contagious (I’m not, it’s just due to my heart). I’m tired of hypothyroidism. I’m tired of not knowing if it will be a good day or a not so good day, energy wise. I’m weary of feeling like I ought to enjoy my life more and live better. I’m tired of gained weight (again, thyroid and heart problems…like if you see me and want to know what happened, well, Google heart failure and you’ll know!) 

And so, a verse like this one is for me.

He promises to give strength to the weary. That’s me! And to him, or her, who has not might He increases power. I have no might on my own! For a fact, there is no might I muster up to do anything. If it gets done, it’s all because God gave me power to do it.

Now that’s true for all of us, but in my case, I am just a lot more aware of it on a daily basis. 

 

Isaiah 40 verse 29 is a verse I need, and so I opt to believe that God will keep His word, keep His promise, and I pray for that to be my reality. 

Yes, I pray for healing. And I also pray for power and strength while I keep praying for healing. 

I hope you do that, too, for whatever need you have, whatever your current station in life might be. 

 

Isaiah 40:31 AMP

But those who wait for the LORD (who expect, look for, and hope in Him) will gain new strength and renew their power; They will lift up their wings (and rise up close to God) like eagles (rising toward the sun}; They will run and not become weary, they will walk and not grow tired. 

 

Ah, what a verse!

We have to wait for the Lord in order for this promise to be fulfilled for us - but we wait with expectancy, we wait in hope, knowing that our hope will not be disappointed! We look for Him, watching and searching for Him to show up in our circumstances. Active waiting is a real thing, and in the Kingdom of God, it’s the only way to wait well!

 

When He shows us, we gain new strength (I’ve talked about this on the podcast way back in 2019, I think it was, and it is amazing how the eagle transforms after a molting season - it is hands down one of my favorite episodes of this show and I’ll add the link here in the show notes). Renewed power. New strength. All because we wait for Him expectantly and with hope. 

We’ll rise up close to God like an eagle rising toward the sun. 

We will run and not become weary and to this I say, Yes, Lord! Do as You have said! And they will walk and not grow tired.

You know, last fall I took a trip that involved a lot of walking and I began to see with a new set of eyes more clearly what my health was like, sort of how bad it had gotten, because walking several miles did some revealing of things in my health that I had kind of not really clued in to. 

And I’m glad for that experience!

But also, I’m praying that it will come to an end, in this life and not merely the next one, and I’ll have healing and be free from the hindrances that I did not used to deal with and would like to not deal with now. 

What about you?

I’ve shared a lot about how these passages from Isaiah spur me on, emboldened me as I pray, and give me tremendous hope as I wait for God to fulfill them for me.

Do they do the same for you? 

Are you more free, more excited, more hopeful, after reading God’s promises? 

Do you rise up with new energy and strength because God, via His living word, has supernaturally done a work in your heart and mind and inner being? 

I don’t want to only talk about my health struggles.

I want to use those as a real life example that will hopefully encourage you that God’s promises are for you, remind you that He is for you, you are never alone, and all His promises to you will not fail because He will not fail.

 

Not only are you loved, but you are so loved.

Not only are you favored, but you are highly favored.

And not only are these promises for all God’s people, but they are also just for you. 

 

There are some more promises in the book of Isaiah that might encourage you, and I’m going to put together a pdf download for you that has a list of promises from the Amplified Bible.

I don’t know that it will be linked in this episodes show notes, but I will get it linked in the next episode for sure and will also share it on social media and on my website, which is my name, JanLBurt dot com.

 

God’s gonna keep these promises, to me and to you.

Believe Him for it!

And honor Him by waiting with great hope and expectation!

 

Thanks so much for listening, and I’ll see you back here next time.

Bye bye!