God's Justice Heals!!!

Isaiah 58 Ministries                                                        Aug. 1, 2013

Pastor: Leah Svensson

Scriptures: Isaiah 62:11-13, Matthew 18:6-7, Isaiah 64:1-25, Zephaniah 3:8-9, & 14-20, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-10

God’s Justice Heals!!!!

Many of us struggle everyday. We want to follow God but somehow fall short. I’m here to encourage you to continue on, strong in the Lord!!! Your salvation is near to come!!  His reward is with Him!!! This is the year of redemption!!! Praise God!! But how does that redemption come? It comes through knowing that your persecutors and abusers will be brought down, punished, and the innocent set free!!!

Isaiah 62:11-12

¹¹ Behold, the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to the Daughter of Zion, Behold, your salvation comes [in the person of the Lord]; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work and recompense before Him.

¹² And they shall call them the Holy People, the Redeemed of the Lord; and you shall be called Sought Out, a City Not Forsaken.

63:4 ⁴ For the day of vengeance was in My heart, and My year of redemption [the year of My redeemed] has come.

⁷ I will recount the loving-kindnesses of the Lord and the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, according to all that the Lord has bestowed on us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel, which He has granted them according to His mercy and according to the multitude of His loving-kindnesses.

⁸ For He said, Surely they are My people, sons who will not lie [who will not deal falsely with Me]; and so He was to them a Savior [in all their distresses].

⁹ In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the Angel of His presence saved them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

Vs14 ¹⁴ Like the cattle that go down into the valley [to find better pasturage, refuge, and rest], the Spirit of the Lord caused them to rest. So did You lead Your people [Lord] to make for Yourself a beautiful and glorious name [to prepare the way for the acknowledgment of Your name by all nations].

Caption to left reads: Don't be an accomplice. Denounce child abuse.
        Like many, I had a childhood rotting with fear, anguish and pain. I have battled through and gone back to that young girl burdened with guilt that was not her own. To those who put their sin on me, on my mom, on my family- I say “take it back upon you.” My Lord said that those who cause innocents to sin have committed an act deserving of the greatest punishment. This is why God punishes them more.

Matthew 18:6   “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.⁷ Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!
   

    Those who get people addicted but are not addicts themselves, (like a pimp, child abuser, womanizer), cause others to sin and it is very hard to get set free. Those who sin of their own choice can repent easily. Those forced into sin struggle. These are sins you hear about when people say “I  am struggling with this or that.” Jesus came to set the captives free ONCE AND FOR ALL. When you repent and turn from your wicked ways- that’s it- Christ and God’s power are in you. Now, you have to work out your salvation and find where others have taken over your mind.

1.) for some sin is a choice

2.) for others they are captive and need a miracle

Jesus is YOUR MIRACLE!!!

Isaiah 64: 1-25 Oh, that You would rend the heavens and that You would come down, that the mountains might quake and flow down at Your presence—

² As when fire kindles the brushwood and the fire causes the waters to boil—to make Your name known to Your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Your presence!

³ When You did terrible things which we did not expect, You came down; the mountains quaked at Your presence.

⁴ For from of old no one has heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who works and shows Himself active on behalf of him who [earnestly] waits for Him.

⁵ You meet and spare him who joyfully works righteousness (uprightness and justice), [earnestly] remembering You in Your ways. Behold, You were angry, for we sinned; we have long continued in our sins [prolonging Your anger]. And shall we be saved?

⁶ For we have all become like one who is unclean [ceremonially, like a leper], and all our righteousness (our best deeds of rightness and justice) is like filthy rags or a polluted garment; we all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away [far from God’s favor, hurrying us toward destruction].

    You need JUSTICE, and God promises to bring it to you!!! God is great and controls the weather, earthquakes, ect.  And He will bring you justice!

⁸ Yet, O Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You our Potter, and we all are the work of Your hand.

⁹ Do not be exceedingly angry, O Lord, or [seriously] remember iniquity forever. Behold, consider, we beseech You, we are all Your people.

65:8 Thus says the Lord: As the juice [of the grape] is found in the cluster, and one says, Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it, so will I do for My servants’ sake, that I may not destroy them all.

Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold,

My servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry;

behold, My servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty;

behold, My servants shall rejoice, but you shall be put to shame.

¹⁴ Behold, My servants shall sing for joy of heart, but you shall cry out for pain and sorrow of heart and shall wail and howl for anguish, vexation, and breaking of spirit.

¹⁵ And you will leave your name to My chosen [to those who will use it] for a curse; and the Lord God will slay you, but He will call His servants by another name [as much greater than the former name as the name Israel was greater than the name Jacob].

              

I am going to get my family’s NAME BACK- it is full of perverts and homewreckers, adulterers, fornicators, and liars… but that is NOT MY NAME and God is going to give me back my family name and then RENAME ME!!!!

¹⁶ So [it shall be] that he who invokes a blessing on himself in the land shall do so by saying, May the God of truth and fidelity [the Amen] bless me; and he who takes an oath in the land shall swear by the God of truth and faithfulness to His promises [the Amen], because the former troubles are forgotten and because they are hidden from My eyes.

¹⁷ For behold, I create  new heavens and a new earth. And the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.

¹⁸ But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a rejoicing and her people a joy.

¹⁹ And I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; and the sound of weeping will no more be heard in it, nor the cry of distress.

²⁰ There shall no more be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who dies prematurely; for the child shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner who dies when only a hundred years old shall be [thought only a child, cut off because he is] accursed.

LET THERE BE LIFE!! God will restore life and health to the old and young!!

²¹ They shall build houses and inhabit them,

and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them.

²² They shall not build and another inhabit;

they shall not plant and another eat [the fruit]. For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people, and My chosen and elect shall long make use of and enjoy the work of their hands.

²³ They shall not labor in vain or bring forth [children] for sudden terror or calamity; for they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them.

²⁴ And it shall be that before they call I will answer; and while they are yet speaking I will hear.

²⁵ The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all My holy Mount [Zion], says the Lord.

          Children are a blessing but when you are stuck in the world and the world’s system, they die early or there is fear and distress. When we have the vengeance of God- his natural defenses working in our behalf, we build homes and plant and work hard and the fruit of our labor is OURS!!! No one can take that from us for God has given it to us!! Then we are at peace and children are a MAJOR BLESSING!

Zephaniah 3:8-9

⁸ Therefore [earnestly] wait for Me, says the Lord, [waiting] for the day when I rise up to the attack [as a witness, accuser, or judge, and a testimony]. For My decision and determination and right it is to gather the nations together, to assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them My indignation, even all [the heat of] My fierce anger; for [in that day] all the earth shall be consumed with the fire of My zeal and jealousy.

⁹ For then [changing their impure language] I will give to the people a clear and pure speech from pure lips, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one unanimous consent and one united shoulder [bearing the yoke of the Lord]. – IN ONE ACCORD!

           Have you done things or said things you are ashamed of? Have you let impurity come out in your actions or words? God wants to bring you justice and then change your language. Sometimes we cannot control our words. I have Christian friends who used curse words- their minds are still darkened. They need justice- It is God’s determination to consume evil with his jealousy… and the righteous, those who are seeking God with their whole hearts…they will have their purity back- their God given clear, clean minds and actions!!! Praise God!!!

Zephaniah 3:14-20

¹⁴ Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice, be in high spirits and glory with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem [in that day].

¹⁵ [For then it will be that] the Lord has taken away the judgments against you; He has cast out your enemy. The King of Israel, even the Lord [Himself], is in the midst of you; [and after He has come to you] you shall not experience or fear evil any more.

¹⁶ In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear not, O Zion. Let not your hands sink down or be slow and listless- DO NOT LET YOUR HANDS BE WEAK

¹⁷ The Lord your God is in the midst of you, a Mighty One, a Savior [Who saves]! He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest [in silent satisfaction] and in His love He will be silent and make no mention [of past sins, or even recall them]; He will exult over you with singing.

¹⁸ I will gather those belonging to you [those Israelites in captivity] who yearn and grieve for the solemn assembly [and the festivals], on whom [their exile and inability to attend services at Jerusalem have brought derision and] the reproach of it is a burden.

¹⁹ Behold, at that time I will deal with all those who afflict you; I will save the limping [ones] and gather the outcasts and will make them a praise and a name in every land of their shame.

²⁰ At that time I will bring you in; yes, at that time I will gather you, for I will make you a name and a praise among all the nations of the earth when I reverse your captivity before your eyes, says the Lord.

     

   I get sick thinking of the sin around me, the sin forced upon me and my brothers and sisters in Christ. The only way we will ever truly be set free is when we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is going to punish the wrongs done against us, forgive us and save us!! We start by REJOICING in God- knowing HE will deal with those who afflict us.

1 Thesselonians 5:1-10

 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. ² For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. ³ While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. ⁴ But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. ⁵ For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. ⁶ So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.⁷ For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. ⁸ But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. ⁹ For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁰ who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. ¹¹ Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

 

     There are times and seasons and those in the Lord are sensitive to those times. Right now our nation is on the brink of Godly punishment. Too many innocents have died in the abortion holocaust. Too many children are being abused at home. Too many children are being thrust into daycares and stripped from their mother’s arms. Those who set out to undermine the moral fiber of this country, those who wished to subvert the Christian undertones of all our laws in societies… the Hubbards, the Crowley’s… led people like my predecessors, those who should have loved and protected me- led them to turn away from God and cause me to grow up in a nation straining to hang onto God. These are the people God will bring judgment upon. These are the people his wrath is kindled against- those who cause others to sin.

   To everyone else, God will change you and transform you and let you be the person you have always wanted to be. Whatever sins have you twisted up- God is mighty to save!!! Know God is a God of justice, keep telling the truth, keep rejoicing in Him and trust that 

He will bring you to that place of peace and security he promises to those who love Him and call upon His name in Truth!!