Redeemed!

If you are a child of God, then by all means, you should know exactly what I mean when I say WE ARE REDEEMED! To redeem means to buy back or repurchase, to recover and free from bondage. Christ certainly gave redemption that day on that cruel cross. And Praise the Lord, it is for everyone!

Isaiah 43 verses 1-3 say this, "...Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have call thee by name, thou are mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour.."

Read that passage several times and really let that sink in! We do not have to be afraid of anything...why....because He has redeemed us....He paid the price and freed us, and now we are one of His children!! That part alone is more than enough to Praise His name forever....but the writer continues.

Some people have this false idea that, if you are a christian...then life is just 'peachy'. All your worries and troubles are gone......sooo not true! The waters are symbolic of trials or troubles....and he doesn't say IF you pass through the waters............no.....he says WHEN you pass through the waters. You are going to face troubles and trials....but when you do....He says, I will be with you! What a wonderful, incomprehendable blessing......whatever troubles or trials we face....HE WILL BE THERE!

Again, if the scripture ended there, we could still spend an eternity just praising Him for that!....but the writer kept writing! He also said we will go through rivers. Sometimes our trials are like water.....scary, but small......and sometimes our trials are much bigger.....like rivers! Oh, I just love His response to this...'they shall not overflow thee;" What a definitive response....nothing meek or timid about that statement. THEY SHALL NOT OVERFLOW THEE! I don't know about you, but that makes me feel sooo safe and secure!

Oh my, when the waters come....He's there; when the rivers run, they can't overflow us. That is such a blessing, isn't it? But wait....the writer goes on......'when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned....' Oh what a Saviour!!!! Sometimes our trouble and trials are small like the water, He will be there; sometimes our trouble and trials are bigger, like the rivers, they can't overflow us..............oh but sometimes our trouble and trials are enormous...like fire.....but we shall not be burned!! Again, no wimpy statement there, not might not be, could not be....nope he says THOU SHALT NOT be burned!

And hold on to your seats.......if that's not good enough for you....He throws this in...'neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.' Are you getting it? Is it sinking in?? Kindle means to start a fire...cause to begin burning. Now are you getting it??? Okay, again, He doesn't say we might go through the fire...he said 'when thou walkest through the fire...' We are going to go through some big ole troubles and trials............but it's just a walk through...no ownership involved! And in passing through...we will NOT BE BURNED by it................Oh, I'm getting some happy bubbles here, lol.............and not only are we just passing through it and are NOT gonna get burned....but the flame CANNOT kindle upon us...............we can't get burned nor can we have a fire started on us....we cannot get burned....and we CANNOT BURN!!!! Oh my goodness......I have got to sit this computer down and do a happy dance.....right now!!! Thank you, Jesus.....thank you Jesus...thank you Jesus....thank you Jesus!!!

How is all of this possible?.....oh, because of the next statement found in verse 3....'For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour.." What peace...what sweet peace. How personal too....He is the Lord...MY God.....He is MY Saviour!! Bless the Lord.....oh Bless the Lord!

So when my day has started off badly....woke up late, car won't start....can't find my purse, had a spat with my husband or my coworker....or traffic is horrific....what ever your 'waters' may be in life....He is there. When my kids are sick, and I don't know what to do to help them, when my bank account is empty and there is still 2 weeks left in the month, when my friend is diagnosed with a serious illness, when my marriage seems shaky.....when I am at the bank of my 'river' I'm don't have to fear....they will not overflow me. When my dad passes away, or my husband says he is leaving, or my child goes astray, or a friendship ends, when my job is gone, when my world is rocked to the core...........as I walk through my 'fire'......I can hold my head up high and know that I will not be burned..............and no matter if all I think and know looks like it is disappearing before my very eyes........I'm still not to fear.....that most heated fire CANNOT TOUCH ME...the worst of the worst of flames CANNOT KINDLE upon me. Because I AM is by my side!

Are you at your water, your river, your fire?............Hang on....don't give up and succomb to any of it.....He is with you, He will will be there, He will not let the waters overflow you, He will not let you be burned, nor let a fire start on you.....let Him be your Saviour!