On eagle's wings

How many of you know that part in the Bible, in Isaiah 40, that talks about riding on eagles' wings? How many of you have read all of Isaiah chapter 40 and can tell me what is there, before that part that talks about eagles?

Does anyone know everything he says before? Because you know what, it's one thing to think about being able to fly, and it's another thing to think about how to fly. You've heard that song that says, “I can fly, I think I can touch the sky…” You know what? What is wrong with a person who thinks they can fly?

Can that person really fly? Can you touch the sky? Of course not. It's a very pretty song, but it's not real. It is in Christ Jesus, there are certain promises, and the image that is used is that image of being able to fly. And it is not something like thinking in the air, there is something that is intentional. It's not a fairy tale.

Please, we don't want someone jumping off the roof. But there is a lot of preparation that is taken before knowing how to fly in an imaginative way, like those birds, like eagles. It's maybe thinking like a parachute, but that's not the same thing. Perhaps they are that image of wings that God presents to us. But these are the things that we are going to reflect on today.

Isaías, 40, verse 1, and you can continue reading in Spanish. Verses from 1 to 3 we will be reading. Isaiah 40, verse from 1 to 3.

Father, in the name of Jesus, we ask for your presence at this time. Thank you because just as the snow falls in such a soft way, your spirit has also been resting among us in a sweet and beautiful way. We don't want to leave this shelter, just as the wind is blowing outside and here we feel so safe.

You have been a refuge for your people, and you promise that in this new year, to be that wind under our wings. I pray for new hope and strength today. May you speak to us, and may your word fall on good ground. In the name of Jesus. Amen. Isaiah 40 begins by saying, "Comfort yourselves, comfort yourselves, my people."

When I think of something comfortable, I think of being inside a house, being inside in front of a fireplace sitting comfortably. Some of you still out there, have your jacket and hats on. But they are here in the house of the Lord. They are here close to the fire of the Holy Spirit.

Console yourselves for the people of God. This chapter was written to a group of people in exile. The people of Israel for many generations were committing a sin of idolatry. They built idols and sacrificed things before those idols. They offered their own children in the fire before those idols. The people of Israel became a pagan nation.

And prophets like Isaiah, and others, came and spoke to them telling them that if they did not repent they were going to receive the judgment of God. Page after page of warnings to the people. God telling them, “don't play with me. They are playing with fire." And the time came. Where God allowed great and powerful nations to conquer Israel. They burned the temple, destroyed the walls, the ramparts, and the survivors were taken in chains as slaves into exile. The people of Israel came under the judgment of God. For 70 years they lived in nations where they did not choose to live.

And after that, God promised to bring them one more time. Now, the issue with the prophets is that they are seeing visions from God. They are seeing what is to come. But, it's not necessarily in a sequential or chronological order. Have you ever seen a mountain range on the horizon? You may be seeing mountains that are smaller than others, from your point of view. And maybe you have no idea which mountain is nearby and which is hundreds of miles away from you. He only loses perspective because he is seeing it on the horizon.

And that's what the prophets could see. In one chapter they were prophesying something that might happen tomorrow, and in the next sentence, in that same chapter maybe they were talking about the coming of Jesus.

After that they talked about exile when they were going to be taken as slaves. And then maybe they talked about when they were going to come back once more. So this is a section where Isaiah is talking to you about what's going to happen after your punishment. That they were going to return to their homes. As in the Exodus, they returned once more to Israel, and that there was going to be another Exodus when they would once again reach their people.

And then, John the Baptist once again took up those words saying, “voice of one crying in the desert, prepare the way for Jehovah, for now we are going to be free from slavery under the yoke of satan and we will enter into the glory of time.” of Jesus." So this chapter is all about comfort. It is hope. It means that the exile from which they are living will not last forever.

How many of you know that when you were in a desert it seems like it never ends? You feel like you will never have another glass of water, that you will never have another beach to go to and swim. Or if I change the image, it seems that it is going to continue snowing and snowing and that the sun is not going to rise again.

But God is saying something, He is saying, that sun is going to rise again, there are going to be new flowers, it is going to see a new life for you. This long exile is going to reach a culmination. We suffer from different exiles or punishments or deserts in our lives.

Sometimes we suffer like the people of Israel because we seek it. We look for it ourselves. Have you ever had – have you gotten into big trouble and you had to say, you know what, I don't have anyone else to blame for this, I got myself into it? And there are seasons of constant decisions and consequences to be dealt with.

Always, all of us, some of us, have been at it. The people of Israel were there for 70 years. And that's why God says, your sin has been forgiven, your time of exile has been completed.

Did you know? God is not going to punish you forever. There are times when God takes those bad decisions that you made and turns them for your good. God many times even used exile for good in the people of Israel.

Have any of you heard of Queen Esther? Do you remember that beautiful queen who saved the…? A tremendous Sunday school lesson. That story would never have happened if it weren't for the Exile. Have you heard of Daniel becoming a great leader in that great pagan nation of Babylon? Do you know how it got to Babylon in the first place? He didn't want to get there, he was born in exile. If there were no exile there would not be a Daniel.

God takes our sin and those negative consequences of those decisions and brings beauty out of it. Of course, Ester and Daniel were living in exile but they did nothing to deserve it. What they did? Nothing, they were born there. But her grandparents were naughty boys and girls. And that's why they were born in Babylon instead of being born in a perfect home in Israel.

It may be that for many of us, our time in exile has not been because of decisions we have made, but because of decisions others made that affected us. Our grandparents or great-grandparents made some fatal decisions and we are still cleaning up the piper. We are still cleaning up the consequences of it.

Now God bless you, it's not that we're shifting our blame onto others. But it is that we are recognizing that many of us are pioneers. We are breaking generations of punishment for decisions others made. And like Daniel and Ester, we are opening a new chain of blessing for these new generations. Consolation - "comfort my people, mine." Your desert time will come to an end.

Did you know? There are times when you may be crossing the desert and there is no obvious reason why. As Jesus said, his disciples asked him, “Why is this man blind? Did his parents sin or did he sin?" And Jesus said, "none of them." Jesus said, "for some mysterious reason he is like that but this is so that the glory of God may be revealed."

In the time of Genesis, Joseph had to spend time as a slave in a well and… jail, okay. He didn't do anything wrong but God had a purpose for it. Job was another, who went through suffering after suffering. He did nothing wrong, God had a mysterious plan for him. But the good news is that this doesn't last forever. God has a purpose. He has a purpose and the time will come when it will be fulfilled.

Now, we have a role to play in that process of God delivering us through it all. It says that we have to prepare a way for Jehovah. Straighten the roads, we have to take mountains and make them flat. We have to raise valleys and make smooth that land that is arid.

Knows? This is a very literal image, because for many Israelites, leaving exile and Babylon and reaching their promised land, they had to go through many very hard and difficult terrain.

Have you ever been in one of those tightly packed buses on a street in the Guatemalan countryside? You are so crowded with other people that you cannot move. Curves and you are taking your life at every turn. God had to make a direct path.

Now, I've never done this, but I imagine that to bring down a mountain you have to use several pieces of dynamite and to raise a valley, you have to use many crowbars and shovels to fill it. Brethren, how long does it take to fulfill discipleship? Has anyone done it all? How much do I take them? Two years and a half. What are we doing here?

My brothers, to deal with the valleys and mountains in your life, it takes time and it takes effort. Prepare the way for the Lord. Verse 5 says, "and the glory of the Lord will be revealed." Lion of Judah, do you want to see the glory of God revealed?

Not even we have managed to get into what God has promised Pastor Miranda - we haven't even started yet. God has made great promises and we have yet to experience one iota of it. But, if we want to see that glory of God revealed, there are many mountains that have to be exploited. There are valleys that have to be filled in, because it won't happen like that because that's the way it is. God is looking for a totally straight avenue. That avenue of holiness that comes with the terrain.

And you can get to the eagle part right now. But part of this requires having a vision of ourselves, in verse 6. It says—a voice was saying—, "cry." And I answered, "what do I have to say out loud." "That all flesh is grass and its glory like the flower of the field. The grass withers and the flower withers because the wind of the Lord blew on it." Certainly, as grass is the town. The grass withers and the flower withers, but the word of our God remains forever.

Now, I ask you, what kind of consolation does the mere fact of knowing that we are like grass that withers and flowers that wither? Tell me, how does that help us? We are about to arrive.

Let's go to verse 15, now. Not only is God speaking about you, but also about nations. Imagine, millions of you. Verse 15 says, "behold, the nations are like a drop of water that falls into a bucket." And as small dust in the scales they are estimated. How big is a drop in a bucket of water? How much does a grain of dust weigh? That is how important a nation is before God. He is saying that we are like grass, like a flower, like dust. That's what you're comparing us to.

And can you believe that you came through this snow to hear this message? God is saying that we are nothing. How does that help us? You know what the passage says later, that their kings on their thrones, if God accidentally sneezes, these kings come off their thrones. And how it helps us to know how unworthy we are. Because I don't have to take myself so seriously.

Verse 9. “Get up on a high mountain, announce. Loudly raise your announcing voice to Jerusalem. Do not fear, say to the cities of Judah, come here is your God. Behold Jehovah, the Lord will come with power. And his arm will rule. Behold, his reward comes with him. And his pay before his face. As a shepherd he will feed his flock and in his arm he will carry the lambs, and in his bosom he will carry them. He will gently graze the newly calved. Until we know how small we are, we cannot let God carry us. We prefer to walk on our own

It is beautiful and it is precious, but the beginning for this is to recognize how small I am. Before being an eagle, I have to know that I am a nestling. But it doesn't end like that.

Verse 12, it says, "the beginning of wisdom." Well, Gregg used to have a professor in college who would have this conversation, “Wow! If God is so great, why pay attention to Him. You are a God, I am a God, too.” And my pastor, I never forget it. It was Dave Hill. My pastor, well, he told him precisely that... Dave Hill looked into his eyes, "look, you're not God." Number 1, God is much wiser than you are.

Verse 12. “Who measured the waters with the hollow of his hand and the heavens with his span? That with three fingers he gathered the dust of the earth and weighed the mountains in the balance and with weights the hills? Who taught the spirit of Jehovah or advised him by teaching them? Who did God ask for advice to be warned? Who taught you science or showed you the path of prudence? It was full of white, did you go? Were you the one who taught him?

I'm going to tell you a story. I'm in the light of... You know the lights are there, there's an arrow to turn left. I go there with my 2 and a half year old in the back. And the red arrow light and the light turns green next to me and the cars start to pass. You know what Noah said? Daddy guide, guide - guide. I look... I tell him, "Noah, look, those lights are green. But I have the red arrow." And I look at myself, and I say, I don't have to explain myself. “Don't worry, dad knows how to drive. And obviously while I'm doing this, the light turns green and they start honking at me. He could swear he knew better than me. And you know what? We do this with God at every moment. And we say, “guide daddy, guide.”

What did Peter do when Jesus told them, look, cast your nets to the other side of the boat? And I can begin to hear this condescension in Pedro. I can hear Peter saying, “you know Jesus…you know what? You haven't been fishing as long as I have. We've been up all night…” And I imagine Jesus looking… “I made this lake, I made those fish so stop talking nonsense to me. I did it so drop the net.”

That is why Peter, after doing all this, throws in the nets, collects the fish, comes to Jesus and says, "Jesus, get away from me because I am a sinner." "I thought I knew more than you, but I was wrong."

Think of the most beautiful scenery of an ocean that you have imagined. Something spectacular and you can see in the distance... imagine yourself in Lake Atitlán with the sun shining... imagine the landscapes in your countries that are beautiful and go on and on. God says, “I did every one of those things. I know what I'm doing." Dio is wiser than I can be.

I may not understand what is going on, but my dad knows how to lead.

Number 2. Here's another gem of wisdom from my college years. Have any of you been to the Grand Canyon in Colorado? God is bigger than the Grand Canyon. God is wiser than you and is bigger than you. This is not a science, brothers.

Verse 21, in chapter 40 says, “Don't you know, haven't you heard, have you never been told from the beginning? Have you not been teaching from the earth that the earth was founded by him? Knows? When I was in Argentina there is a phrase that Argentines say… “did you see? Dresses?" Which usually made me feel a little… dumb. Again telling me that, “Did you see? Dresses? You do not get it? Capisci.” There are times when we think we are wiser and greater than God and we want to take control, but God knows better.

In verse 22 it says, “He is sitting on the circle of the earth whose inhabitants are like locusts. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain. He spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.” Have you ever been on one of those nights, full of stars that you can see in the distance? As Abraham said, "look at that sky full of stars." "That is my palace, I am bigger than all that." He goes ahead and reads, “who are they going to compare me to?” We sang a few minutes ago, "who is like the Lord?" There is no one like the Lord.

Why do you say, O Jacob, and say Israel, my way hidden from Jehovah and my God passed my judgment? During those long deserts we begin to wonder if God is paying attention to us.”

There is a brother here in the church that we know, he is living here and he has been waiting to bring his family from his home country for a year and a half now. Every day feels like an eternity to him, it seems like it's going to go on forever, it's a long wait and a long journey and if I were him it would be easy to complain and say, “God are you paying attention?”

Verse 28, it says, “have you not known, have you not heard that the everlasting God is Jehovah? He who created the ends of the earth, does not faint or fatigue with weariness and there is no one who reaches his understanding. He never gets tired and never gets confused about what to do. That is why when we adore we fix our eyes on Him, that is why we glorify God.

Because look what happens next, He gives effort to the tired and multiplies the strength of the one who doesn't have. The boys get tired and tired. Young people falter and fall, but those who hope in Jehovah will have new strength. Waiting on God now in 2010, what are you waiting for Him to do in your future? What are the bases for us to know and believe that good things are going to happen in the future? And the mere fact that I serve a great and powerful God who knows what He is doing and who can transmit his strength into my life. The word to renew, to renew your strength is typically used in the Old Testament for changing out of old clothes and putting on a new one.

Joseph was in jail for many years and when it was time to meet the King, he put aside his jail clothes, and put on a proper garment to meet the King. When you arrive before the presence of God. When we look at who God is, He clothes us with new strength, you clothe us with majesty, dignity and power. And we can walk with new strength, so we put aside my jail clothes, I put aside my weakness and there is new strength breathing into me.

And now we come to the part that says, they will lift up wings like eagles. They will run and not get tired. He will walk and they will not get tired. We will be able to fly because we know who God is. And we know that we are trusting in Him. Amen.

Have you ever seen a tired eagle? Have you seen an eagle sweating? The eagles live up there in those high places. Have you ever seen an eagle flap its wings real hard? I'm not an eagle expert so I'm not going to do anything crazy. But I know that they spread their wings. I have heard that they look for thermal currents in the air and only travel in those airs... I was going to say coasts.

The eagle is the only bird that I know of that can rest while in flight. That they can relax while they are flying. Because it's not about him, it's about the air that he's traveling, it's his wings that support him.

Know? Any Hebrew when you ask him - who hears that phrase on eagle's wings, will think at some point in the history of Israel, for example, in the exodus when God tells them I brought them out like on eagles' wings. That's what they would think. But you know what this image is and it explains it in the book of Deuteronomy. I, says God, am like that eagle that came and approached you and grabbed you with my claws. And I brought them out of Egypt and on eagle's wings I brought them out of there.

And, you know, I think this is what he's referring to. But is not. In this story it doesn't mean that God is the eagle, it has to do with you being the eagle. It's not God coming flying, it's up to us to fly away. It's about knowing that God is so wise and great and that I can extend my faith and get out of that situation.

Pedro knew how to fly in this way. We saw that part when we thought he was wiser than God. But, if you look in the book of Acts, you see this man preaching and thousands coming to the Lord. You see a man with such authority that when people lied before the presence of God. These people died. And this is literal, there are stories where Peter's shadow touched someone and those people were healed. The people touched a handkerchief and they touched it on Peter's clothes and they touched the sick man and he was healed. The Apostle Peter learned how to fly.

Lion of Judah, that word of when God came as an eagle and took his children and brought them out of Egypt that was speaking of an image of a child - how God treats a child. But now Israel, here in the book of Isaiah, it's time for them to fly. It is time for them to grow up and spread their wings.

Lion of Judah, for many years God has been carrying this church. But we haven't learned yet, started to fly on eagle's wings. We are there to the point of throwing ourselves off that precipice and then being able to fly like eagles. It is time to grow, prepare that path of repentance. We must humble ourselves and know that we are nothing. You have to have faith in the fact that God is bigger and wiser than me. We have to spread our wings, close my eyes and jump. That's where we are in 2010.

Are you ready to truly live that chapter? I, to culminate, I invite you to stand up. And I don't know which is the exile or the desert in which you are living today. But I know who it is that can bring you home. I don't know what makes you tired but I know who can renew your strength.

Father, in the name of Jesus, we acknowledge that we are nothing. But at the same time we are called to be like eagles. And, Father, I ask that in the year 2010, Father, that each one of those who go through the long processes of life. Some feel that they have been in the desert for a long time. Father, I ask you to teach us what it means to wait on you. What does it mean to know that You are the wisest in the whole universe and the most powerful.

Father, teach us to stretch our wings and be able to fly as You intend. Father, I ask for new strength for your people. I ask for a year of new strength and, Father, that you fulfill your purposes in us. And, Father, I thank you that you are faithful and that all this has to do with you and not with us. In the name of Jesus.