Isaiah 55

Have you ever had one of those unsuspecting moments when you know you have just stumbled upon the very breath of God coming off of the pages of Scripture like a mighty wind and blasting you in the face?  You just can’t miss it at that point.  It’s not an “Oh I think I just felt a slight breeze” moment.  It’s that gust that blows your hair in all directions, causes you to hold onto your purse so it doesn’t fly away, and makes you brace yourself so you don’t fall over.  The LORD is speaking!

Well I had that happen to me this week and it all started with me seeing the numbers 555.  For a couple days I literally saw 555 everywhere - phone numbers, receipts, license plates, gas stations, etc...  So it became apparent to me that Jesus was trying to get my attention.  I looked up the only 2 scriptures that have the reference 555.  Psalm 55:5 was definitely NOT what He was speaking.  (You can look it up or take my word for it... :) )  And the only other one was Isaiah 55:5.  “Surely you shall call a nation you do not know, and nations who do not know you shall run to you, because of the LORD your God, and the Holy One of Israel; For He has glorified you.”  In my mind I was thinking, That’s awesome Jesus.  I know I’m called to nations so, I mean, that’s a nice verse, but I don’t understand why you would highlight this scripture to me.  Then He had me read the context of that verse.  (Always read context!)

Isaiah 55 begins with a call - COME!  Everyone who is thirsty, COME to the waters.  Even if you don’t have money, COME buy and eat.  COME enjoy the abundance of heaven!  Basically, God is addressing the concerns and needs that get in the way of us coming and entering into His fullness.  He is saying - It doesn’t matter if you are in need.  It doesn’t matter if you are in lack.  It doesn’t matter if you have nothing to offer.  Come anyway.  I will take care of all your needs and satisfy you with the goodness of My presence.

This hit the nail on the head.  Ever since moving here to Harrisburg I have been declaring my undying devotion to God.  - God I trust You!  I trust You to be my provider.  I trust You to fulfill all Your promises.  I trust  You to lead me into the fullness of what You have for me.  But doubt slowly crept in and tried to trip me up at the doorway to His presence..  Will God really take care of me?  Is He truly faithful to His promises?  How is everything going to work out.  Am I really hearing His voice?  But in vs. 1-2, He says that I don’t have to worry.  He’s totally got me covered.  Just COME in and lay those concerns at the doorstep.

Vs. 3-4 then go on to talk about a covenant - a promise made of the Lord, an extravagant inheritance that will be a testimony to the whole world of how truly good God is.  The details of this promise are laid out in vs. 5-7...

• Nations shall run to you
• You shall be glorified
• The wicked will give up his ways
• The unrighteous man will give up his way of thinking
• They will both turn back to God
• God will be extravagant in His forgiveness and restoration of those who turn to Him

To sum it up, there will be a world-wide harvest and God wants it to come through us!

The LORD immediately spoke to me.  Ellie, you are praying the wrong prayers.  You are stuck thinking about your immediate needs and concerns.  I already told you that I completely have you covered.  You don’t have to worry about that at all.  Instead, you need to expand your thinking.  You need to be asking Me for the nations as your inheritance!

As I looked at the next verse I knew this was clearly God speaking to me.  Vs. 8-9 say that His thoughts are so much greater than our thoughts and His ways are so much higher than our ways.  So much conviction hit me in that moment.  I had given into “little thinking.”  I was missing out on His standard of living because I was focusing on all the wrong things.

How often do we allow all the insignificant worries of life come into our homes and exalt themselves to positions of rulership?  We hand over the keys to our house and say, “I am now giving you the say on how things are run around here.”  But then when we stand before the face of God and gaze upon His greatness, we are jolted back into an awareness of how truly insignificant all those concerns are.  Therein lies the revelation that the more we stare at the face of God, the less we will be tripped up by “little thinking.”  So that’s my cry.  God keep me in that place of awareness of Your greatness!  Don’t let me relinquish my role as a daughter or my inheritance through Your covenant with me.  I will keep coming in, no matter what may be the reality of my situation.  I will make You my reality!

There is so much more revelation in Isaiah 55 that I could go on and on about, but the essence of what He revealed to me was actually in Isaiah 55:5.  Nations.  He’s reminding me why He brought me to Harrisburg.  He wants to give me a greater understanding of His heart for the nations of the world.  I may not be overseas or doing the "normal" missionary thing, but He wants to use me and teach me how to contend for the nations, to contend for a world-wide harvest while I am here in my own nation.  That is my vision in giving myself to spending my time in a house of prayer environment.  I may not see how it all works out quite yet, but He is reshaping the way I think and the way I pray.  Yay God!

Isaiah 55

1“Ho! Everyone who thirsts,
Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.
2Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance.
3Incline your ear, and come to Me.
Hear, and your soul shall live;
And I will make an everlasting covenant with you—
The sure mercies of David.
4Indeed I have given him as a witness to the people,
A leader and commander for the people.
5Surely you shall call a nation you do not know,
And nations who do not know you shall run to you,
Because of the Lord your God,
And the Holy One of Israel;
For He has glorified you.”
6Seek the Lord while He may be found,
Call upon Him while He is near.
7Let the wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
Let him return to the Lord,
And He will have mercy on him;
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.
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,
11So 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.
12“For you shall go out with joy,
And be led out with peace;
The mountains and the hills
Shall break forth into singing before you,
And all the trees of the field shall clap theirhands.
13Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree,
And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree;
And it shall be to the Lord for a name,
For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

The 333 House

The last box is unpacked, the clothes are hung up, the books are put away.  I am officially settled into the 333 house but still trying to find my way around this massive house.  This historic mansion was previously used by a Mennonite ministry but is now a home for almost 20 missionaries.  The house is composed of YWAM staff members, "Circuit Riders" (a ministry that travels to Ivy league universities doing evangelism), and Burn 24/7 members (that's me!).

This truly is the embodiment of community living centered around the presence of God!  I have only been here for a week but am already falling in love with this kind of expression of the Body.  We are not all doing the same thing or a part of the same ministry but there is a unity that has been established in the fact that we are all of a united pursuit.  We are all pursuing the face of God.  We are all pursuing transformation in this city and region.  We are all pursuing a lifestyle of representing the Kingdom in all that we do.  We are all pursuing family.

To get an idea of what kind of culture has been established in this home:

- The 333 House is a place of peace, and has an atmosphere of rest. Matt 5:9

- We commit to out-doing one another in honor, service, and love. Phil 2:4

- We are joy-filled servants, and always hospitable to guests.

- We will commit to having unoffendable hearts and will be quick to forgive.

So far we have had family times, meals together, worship nights, game nights, etc...  There is so much life that is released through together!  I am becoming more and more convinced that we will never truly see the fullness of God if we choose to live in any form of isolation.  In no way to I mean removing the secret place with Jesus.  But if I devalue the importance of truly allowing people to have a place in my life, I miss out on each unique revelation of the Father that each person carries.  We together are the fullness of Jesus.

Along with the beautiful culture that is going on inside this house, there is also a beautiful outward expression.  We are located in the center of Harrisburg's ghetto district.  It is incredible the level of poverty here and how it affects everything.  It's not just an issue of income, but an entire way of living that and a poverty mindset that holds these people in bondage.  There is so much opportunity to see transformation in this area!  We are literally living in the hardest and darkest place in Harrisburg but we carry a presence that is so much greater.  Since we are living on the land, we get to take authority over it.  We get to shape the culture.  I am so excited to see what Holy Spirit has in mind and how I will get to partner with His creativity!

The Intro to the Burn internship starts up next week!  Could it get any better?

Within the context of Home

What if I had my house on a string, able to take it with me everywhere my feet would wander?  All the comforts of home conveniently only as far away as the few porch steps up to the front door.  What if my house had sails and could fly like a kite, and I could travel over the seven seas while still safe on my well worn sofa?  What if I could write letters at my own kitchen table and then hand deliver them all around the world on the same day?  What if the vagrant lifestyle could coexist with the home life?

I am called to the nations.  That presents me with a dilemma.  My heart has always longed for home.  No, I'm not a homebody.  I don't get homesick.  I'm not even really referring to the home that I grew up in.  In all honesty, I am an adventurer, a pioneer, a traveler.  I get restless leg syndrome when I sit around in one place for too long.  I just want to see what lies around the bend.  So what do I mean when I talk about longing for home?

According to the dictionary home is "a place where something flourishes, is most typically found, or from which it originates."  Home is the environment in which you thrive, where you are able to fully be you and where the most fruit comes out of your life.  Home is where you belong, where you know and are known.  A fish is at home in water.  A bird is at home in flight.  A baby is at home in his mother's arms.  A song is at home in a cathedral.  Paint is at home on a canvas.  Tap shoes are at home on the feet of a dancer.  It's not four walls built out of wood or brick.  Home is the collision of passion and purpose.  And it's not just doing what you were born to do, but doing it alongside people you love.

In my limited perspective, I have always thought "being called to the nations" could be summed up as... lonely, displaced, always a stranger in a foreign land, never truly belonging anywhere and far, far, FAR away from home.  This idea was anything but appealing to me.  I rejected the word about the nations, or at best, "put it on the shelf" for a future lifetime.

I would have people come up to me and prophesy that they saw nations over me, God was sending me out to all nations of the world.  God they must be confusing me with someone else.  I'm not that girl who can't wait to live in a village hut for the rest of her life.  That's not me!  Or I would get the word that I was going to be like a gypsy, never staying in one place for very long.  Now that's definitely not me!  I just want to belong somewhere, to invest into some place that I can call home.  Thus unfolded the dilemma.  

Well I guess God must have shifted my heart...  I somehow found myself signing up to live in South America for 9 months.  And I moreover found myself in love with the world, the Psalm 2 promise becoming one of my greatest passions.  (Psalm 2:8 "Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession.")  

So have I sentenced myself to a lonely, displaced life far from home?  Am I denying myself the vanilla ice cream by choosing the chocolate instead?  Does it have to be either-or?  Or could it be possible to have both?

Jesus has been gently and not-so-gently reminding me of my desire for home.  He has shown me that it is in fact more than just a desire, but is essential for every human being in order to truly thrive.  What's the point of stepping into your life's calling if you feel alone and unsheltered?  Isn't that why so many missionaries come back tired and defeated?  It's like the child who whimpers out through broken sobs, "I just want to go home."  We all know what it feels like.  So why do we try to push past that?  Shouldn't our lives, whether simple or great, all be lived within the context of home?  Home should be a reality that we carry with us wherever we go - a reality that we belong even when our feet wander throughout the world.

We all know the old proverb, "Home is where the heart is."  But do we truly know what that means?  I think that this is the desire of every human being, to have our hearts rooted in a place that is safe, a place that we belong.  It should become a measuring stick for our lives.  Am I at home in this environment?  Am I at home in this relationship?  Am I at home with Jesus?  And when we know that we are home in our hearts, why not take that place on a string and go wherever the Lord is leading?
Just a thought...