Taking Pride In God Series

Taking Pride in God

Isaiah 44:1-28

1. Sometimes it DOES take a Rocket Scientist Scientists at NASA have developed a gun built specifically to launch dead chickens at the windshields of airliners, military jets and the space shuttle, all traveling at maximum velocity.

The idea is to simulate the frequent incidents of collisions with airborne fowl to test the strength of the windshields. British engineers heard about the gun and were eager to test it on the windshields of their new high speed trains.

Arrangements were made. But when the gun was fired, the engineers stood shocked as the chicken hurtled out of the barrel, crashed into the shatterproof shield, smashed it to smithereens, crashed through the control console, snapped the engineer's backrest in two and embedded itself in the back wall of the cabin.

Horrified Britons sent NASA the disastrous results of the experiment, along with the designs of the windshield, and begged the U.S. scientists for suggestions.

NASA's response was just one sentence, "Thaw the chicken." [http://haruth.com]

2. Sometimes the answer is simple.

3. The same is true in Christian life. A lot of our motivation for growing in the Lord is a reverence for God resulting from a good pride in Him.

Main Idea: We should gladly own Yahweh as our God, and we should take great pride in him!

I. God LAVISHES His Spirit Upon Us (1-5)

A. God CHOOSES (1-2a)

B. God TRANSFORMS (2b)

1. Step one, Jacob, the deceiver

2. Step two, Israel, prevailing with God

3. Step three, Jeshurun, upright and righteous

• Jeshurun means upright one, law-keeping, on the level, straight of character

• Deuteronomy 33:26, There is none like God, O Jeshurun, who rides through the heavens to your help, through the skies in his majesty.

C. God POURS his refreshing Spirit (3-4)

John 7:37-39, On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Acts 3;19-21, “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.”

1. The Spirit brings refreshment. When you leave a room, if I were to poll others there and asked, “were you refreshed by this person,” what would they say?

2. Refreshing people gain a hearing; grouches, whiners, and curmudgeons.. nope

3. Some of you have refreshed me time and time again…thank you…

4. Let the Holy Spirit make you intentionally refreshing, life-giving, encouraging

D. Because of all this, we take PRIDE in him (5)

1. Teens have a crush on someone, write name on notebook/Carve initials

2. Here, people are writing Yahweh on their hands

3. They are identifying with Israel (like gentiles in Esther

Esther 8:17b, “And many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews, for fear of the Jews had fallen on them.”

Application: If the Holy Spirit is active in your life, others see, and some will be drawn to Jesus. What a great way to show positive pride in God…be a Spirit-filled refresher!

We should gladly own Yahweh as our God, and we should take great pride in him!

II. God is a Living ROCK (6-20)

A. The ETERNAL, matchless God (6-7a)

1. Since God created everything, and he did not create the gods, they cannot exist

2. First and last connects to Jesus in Revelation 1:8

3. He is therefore worthy of our worship, meaning allegiance and service and praise

4. Joseph in Egypt: no one at all, really alone…

B. True to his ANCIENT people (7b)

• God’s best apologetic is prophecy

• Israel, the Messiah…much of Scripture is prophecy

C. A LIVING Rock in contrast to dead wood (8-20 passim)

D. We can take PRIDE in him

Application: Do you view God as a machine? A computer? A force? Or a distant God, uninvolved with his creation, perhaps vacationing on a distant planet? He is a Rock! He wants to be the involved foundation of your life. Security/stability can come from Him!

We should gladly own Yahweh as our God, and we should take great pride in him!

III. God Keeps His COMMITMENTS (26-28)

A. God KEEPS his Word (26a)

• Years ago, we needed to replace the AC compressor in our van (not usual place)