“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.

19 If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;
20 but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be eaten by the sword;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

A few thoughts:

To me it’s absolutely incredible that God would forgive our sins. They are like scarlet, red as crimson, yet He, through the work of Jesus Christ (if indeed we are trusting in Christ), has made us white as snow–brilliantly white. I know what’s in me and it’s not very pretty. The real me is pretty black. So it’s humbling and staggering and hard to believe, but God has loved us and lets us be made perfectly clean. It’s incredible.

The second thing I want to draw out of this passage is in the second two verses. God is telling Israel (and surely us, too) that if we’re willing and obedient, we will be blessed. If we refuse to obey, we will reap the consequences accordingly–there will be destruction.

This concept, for some reason, is so tough for me to practically grasp. I can intellectually preach it all day, but when push comes to shove it’s often so much easier to settle for immediate comfort/satisfaction than to wait for the long-term blessing.

See, I think it’s always easier to disobey. Because sin, most of the time if not all of the time, provides faster and/or easier “satisfaction”. Obedience, on the other hand, usually involves us making a hard decision now for a payoff later. It takes discipline, perspective, maturity, and faith to live for later and not now. But that’s the decision we have to make repeatedly to experience God’s best.

So, let’s live for later in faith that God will deliver on his promises, for He loves us.

The early church didn’t pray for “divine appointments;” they prayed for boldness. God’s kingdom can only be established by faithful and courageous people. (Full text)

I, for one, want God’s Kingdom to advance on Earth and not only that: I want to be a part of it. But I also, very often, feel weak and unable to be strong.

I think it is probably human nature to be cowardly. It’s easy and it’s natural to avoid confrontation and be silent when something needs to be said. It’s hard to take risks, it’s hard to put yourself out there and be exposed to the possibility of rejection.

How then can we be “faithful, courageous people”? How can we be bold to speak the truth?

Paul, in his letter to Timothy, wrote these words, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord.” (1 Timothy 1:7-8a, NLT)

In Acts 1:8, Jesus told his early followers, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere[...]”

The answer is that we become bold, courageous people not when we develop more will-power, but when we yield to and have greater faith in God’s Holy Spirit within us.

This process seems somewhat esoterical, but it really isn’t. In my experience, walking in the Holy Spirit by faith simply means we say, “God, you have given me boldness so I will live boldly. You have given me courage, so I will have courage.” Then, when we in faith take that first step of boldness or that first step of courage God comes through and empowers us to follow through.

2 Corinthians 12:9 is encouraging to me as I work through these things myself. God told Paul as he wrestled with his weakness that, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” As I am weak, it gives God opportunity to show His power in me. And that is a really beautiful thing.

I guess that is a little bit of where I am and have been. In these moments my need for help—my desperation for grace and salvation—becomes so apparent that I often find myself crippled with anxiety or overjoyed at the fulfillment of my need. I find (and am finding) that my deepest moments of despair can be the greatest opportunities to learn to trust God and find peace and joy in Him.

Now, if you’re a Christian and especially if you’ve been one for any period of time, this will sound very cliché. The notion of crying to God when we’re at the end of our rope and finding His grace there is common. What I am finding, though, is that when I actually find myself at the end of my rope, I don’t know what to do. I haven’t been here that much and all the sermons, books, and teachings on trusting God through trials seem to be just vague shadows in my mind. I’m on that border of the lands of theory and reality. The land of theory where the solution is a cliché is comfortable and familiar to me; the land of reality where one must take each step by faith instead of by reciting a phrase to make things right is unfamiliar and scary to me.

But in this land where I must walk by faith and not rely on what my eyes tell me or my heart wants me to believe, I find there is overwhelming peace and joy. These not, though, because of the faith I’m expressing, but completely because of the one in whom I am expressing the faith.

Isaiah 30:18 (NASB) says,

Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you,
And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you
For the LORD is a God of justice;
How blessed are all those who long for Him.

God wants to give us grace and he wants to show us compassion! How often we stumble in the dark instead of just reaching for His hand? We forfeit such grace in doing this.

Psalm 43:5 (ESV) says,

Why are you cast down, O my soul,
   and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
   my salvation and my God.

Again, why do we get down? Why do we fear? God is worth trusting! We must believe it!

And finally, Psalm 44:3 says,

They did not conquer the land with their swords;
   it was not their own strong arm that gave them victory.
It was your right hand and strong arm
   and the blinding light from your face that helped them,
   for you loved them.

The reality at the end of the day is that victory only comes at the hand of the Lord. Our success is totally up to Him. If we only would seek Him and look to Him when we’re in trouble, we would live lives that would be so much more peaceful and so much more full of joy.

Psalm 16:11 (ESV):

You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

John 10:28-30
²⁸ I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. ³⁰ I and the Father are one.”

As someone who has been a Christian for a while, it’s easy to forget some of the most basic truths about my condition. It’s a beautiful reality that I have been given eternal life and that I will never perish. Additionally, I’m secure in the hands of God—He won’t let anything “snatch me out of [his] hand.”

Surely God loves us and surely he has blessed us greatly! Be thankful.

How often are we in this same spot? God, throughout his word, promises to take care of us, but we forsake the peace and blessing He has for us because we’re unwilling to trust in His promises.

Here are three key promises that I like:

• Matthew 6:33
• John 15:5-7
• Psalm 37:4

There are many more. Add one via comment if you like.