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OUR CONSTANT COMPANION

by Cyndi Brandon  
5/14/2007 / Bible Studies

Isaiah 43:1-4

But now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you.
All things were created by God. (Eph. 3:9; Col. 1:16; Rev. 4:11) All things includes you and I. In Psalms 139, we are reminded that, not only did He create us, He planned every last detail of our being. The Creator God is making one request in this passage. He asks that we listen to Him. Have you listened to Him lately? Too busy with life? Stop. Listen to what the Almighty has to say to you.

O Israel, the one who formed you says
Can you feel the suspense building? The one who created all things, the one who put it all together asks us to listen, and then He whispers softly:

Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.
You have NOTHING to fear. I saved you! Notice the past tense of the word 'ransomed'. It is already done. Of course, Isaiah was before the time of Christ, and this passage pertains directly to the Israelites of the Old Testament. Today, Christians are God's people. The ones who are saved by grace because of the death of Jesus on the cross. Jesus died for our sins. We have been bought with a price! A very weighty and precious price was paid for our salvation. God paid the price of His only Son. Since He made such an unspeakable sacrifice, we can certainly believe what He says to us. And He says, 'Have no fear'.

I have called you by name; you are mine
He did not just reach down to earth one day and say, 'eenie meenie minee mo' I pick this one to be saved. He called our names! The day I was saved (and probably many times before I yielded to Him) He called me, by my name. "Cyndi, come to me. I will cleanse you and make you whole. Rest securely in my hand." The day you were saved, He called your name. Then as you repented and accepted Jesus into your heart, He sealed you with His sweet Holy Spirit. And He made it known to the universe that you were His!

When you go through deep waters
Have you ever gotten in over your head? In finances? In relationships? Deep waters are the things that we get into ourselves. When our flesh and the 'lusts thereof' takes precedence over our spirit, we get into deep waters. These deep waters can be entered into in any area of our lives. Wherever overindulgence surfaces, we will find ourselves struggling to get out of the mess we just got ourselves into. But guess what?!

I will be with you.
Once He stamps us with His property stamp, He never leaves our side. Jesus will be there to lift us up out of the water and pull us to safety.

When you go through rivers of difficulty
Rivers can be swift and dangerous. There are treacherous undertows that we cannot see, they will drag us down and hold us under the water. Rivers of difficulty are the things we have no control over. Events sometimes just seem to happen to us. Situations arise and we do not know where they came from or why. They come at us, sweeping us along. We cannot find anything to hold on to except Christ. He's all we need.

You will not drown.
When life gets to going to fast, God says that we won't be overcome by it. We won't drown in our difficulties. He is with us. He speaks peace to the river and the river slows to a gentle stream.

When you walk through the fire of oppression
Oppression comes in many forms. It is the work of Satan to distract us from our trust in God. He uses people to initiate oppression. An overbearing boss, acquaintances who belittle you for your faith, a domineering spouse, just to name a few. Notice that the scripture says 'when' not 'if'. Oppression will come. God will be there with us. We may not even see it coming until it hits with such force that it seems to knock the strength from us. Satan is subtle, creative, and extremely vicious. He will attack. He uses our close friends or acquaintances to try to suffocate our spirits. But, there is One greater that promises to go with us through that fire and nothing can touch us.


You will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.
No matter what forces are at work against you and your faith, you have this promise.
Hold on to your faith, hold on to Christ, and you will not be burned up! The fire may seem to blaze out of control, but you will come through as the three Hebrew children.
Daniel 3:9-27 They came out of a blazing furnace without being singed or scorched, they didn't even smell like smoke. Others will see you in the flames, they will know you are going through oppression. Those are the ones that your trust in God will affect the most. When they see you in the fire and you come out without a hint that you've been through anything, they will glorify God.

For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior
This is the one you serve, the Great I AM! He is Lord, He is God, He is Holy and He is our Savior! We can be accompanied by no greater one. He has gone to great lengths to assure that we have an opportunity to be with Him forever.

Others were given in exchange for you. I traded their lives for yours.
In verse 1, He said that He had redeemed us. He gave a ransom for us. In order to give a ransom, something has to be exchanged. When someone is kidnapped, their captors may ask for money, or favors from their family. God saw that our souls were captured by Satan and the ransom price was far more than any amount of money, so He traded something very precious to Him for our lives. He gave His ONLY Son. In the time when the book of Isaiah was written, the time before Christ, God had traded other human lives for the lives of His people Israel. The time came when He had to do more, so Jesus came and gave His life so that we may have the opportunity to live with Him forever. Why would He do such a radical thing for mere humans?

because you are precious to me. You are honored, and I love you.
Here is the why. How amazing is THAT?! He did it for only one reason. He loves us. WOW

There are many gods in this world. Which one do you want to serve? I choose the One who would give His only Son to ransom me from hell. I choose to serve the One who will go with me through the difficulties of this life. I choose to serve the Living God. There is no other god that is alive and can protect us in every situation that comes along. None but the I AM. Him will I serve.

Cyndi Brandon shares her home in West Tennessee with her husband, Gerald and their cat, Ruby. A born again believer for almost 30 years, teaching and writing Bible Studies is her calling, her heart and her greatest pleasure.

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