Be Inspired Thanksgiving and Intercessory Prayer 1st November 2022
Topic: I am redeemed
Text: Isaiah 52:1-3,7-9
Awake, awake, Put on your strength, O Zion; Put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; For the uncircumcised and the unclean Will no longer come into you. Shake yourself from the dust, arise, O captive Jerusalem; Rid yourself of the chains around your neck, O captive Daughter of Zion. For the Lord says this, “You were sold for nothing and you will be redeemed, but not with money.” How beautiful and delightful on the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who announces peace, Who brings good news of good [things], Who announces salvation, Who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices, Together they shout for joy; For they will see face to face The return of the Lord to Zion. Break forth, shout joyfully together, You ruins of Jerusalem; For the Lord has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem.
Isaiah 52:1-3, 7-9 AMP
https://bible.com/bible/1588/isa.52.1-9.AMP
Praise be to the king of kings the one who is forever worthy of all our worship. Thank you father for always proving yourself great in our lives. Lord you deserve all our praise we do not take it for granted because you are forever faithful and able king. Hallelujah!!!
The topic says 'I am redeemed'..
Looking at the online dictionary the word redeemed means, to compensate for faults, to gain or regain possession.
We all understand that our redemption is from Jesus Christ. And to claim you're redeemed from the perspective of the dictionary meaning it means you are regained, restored probably from loss, you are redeemed from things that has broken you in the past but at the moment God changed the story.
From this angle a person like Job in the Bible who lost everything but regained it all can claim that he is redeemed because all he lost was restored in multiple folds.
Let's go to our reference scripture Isaiah 52:1-3,7-9.
It says _Awake, awake, Put on your strength, O Zion; Put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city;_
This is a call for action, awake, awake there is an emphasis on the word awake no wonder it was repeated. You can't be requested to stay awake if you are completely alert. Some people can sit with eyes opened and yet not be alert but here the writer is calling the attention of the reader and those the message is directed to, to wake up. Come out of your slumber, put on your strength or you Zion. If you are a Bible scholar you will know that as a believer who is saved by Christ you are no longer from this world but you're from Zion.
Then the writer goes on to say Jerusalem the holy city. This message here is directed to you and I today.
The lord wants us to come out of the state of slumbering, could be spiritual slumber or physical slumber but not just come out of it alone but put on our strength.
This is very important because the strength we need is not just ordinary strength.
The Bible says in Psalms 27:1
The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the *strength* of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?
Psalms 27:1 NKJV
The strength we need to continue the journey of life is in God. It's not in any man, it's not in the system, it's not in the economy, it's not in our intellect alone it's in God.
Moving on with our reference scripture:
_For the uncircumcised and the unclean Will no longer come into you. Shake yourself from the dust, arise, O captive Jerusalem; Rid yourself of the chains around your neck, O captive Daughter of Zion. For the Lord says this, “You were sold for nothing and you will be redeemed, but not with money.”_
The uncircumcised and unclean will no longer come into you, so those unworthy situations, things and beings you have entertained due to our slumber will no longer be there because you are awake and filled with the strength of God. So the unclean things have nowhere to stay.
You are purified, sanctified, made better, living above those situations. The word of God said rid yourself off the chain oh captive, no wonder the emphasis at the beginning of the scripture. There is a possibility of a person in captivity to slumber quickly, because something or someone is watching over them, the person dictates the limit they have and reminds them continually that they are in captivity.
You were sold for nothing but I have redeemed you but not with money. Hmmmm!!!
The price paid for your redemption and mine was the blood of Jesus, His sacrifice on Calvary is why you and I can stand worthy, it's the reason we can claim to be redeemed.
However, there are still some believers who still see themselves as captives and many still release themselves to captivity.
This can come in different ways, either by the way of life, the music, the people you surround yourself with, your confession, your thought process and the lack of relationship with God these are grounds where captivity can use to take control over a person.
_How beautiful and delightful on the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who announces peace, Who brings good news of good [things], Who announces salvation, Who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices, Together they shout for joy; For they will see face to face The return of the Lord to Zion. Break forth, shout joyfully together, You ruins of Jerusalem; For the Lord has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem._
Moving on with the reference scripture is this wonderful soul lifting part that says how beautiful is the feet of the one that brings good tidings. Who is going to receive the good tidings? It's for you and I, for the redeemed but we know that to receive this you must first come out of your slumber, take the strength of God upon you, acknowledge that you are free from all captivity, you are not entertaining what would not allow youthrive and receive the good tidings.
Reading Futher it says they shout for joy, they ones that shout for joy are the redeemed, the ones who have allowed the strength of God to replace their strength and weaknesses, the one who have embraced the freedom that Christ gave and have gotten rid off uncircumcised situation that kept them bound.
In life it is easy to settle for what is below God's plan for you if you fail to see yourself as God sees you.
God says to you and I that we are redeemed, restored, regained, moved from captivity to freedom, moved from unpleasant situation to pleasant situation. God has done that for us because He paid the price already on Calvary.
You may say but how come I am dealing with this and that, but the truth is there is nothing we deal with that God isn't privy of. He knows the truth is we must not let that overwhelm us and keep us below the person God has called us to be.
Challenges come and they go, situation changes because everything in life has expiration date but God never expire.
You cannot enjoy the benefits of being redeemed if you fail to acknowledge that you are, if you constantly dwell on negatives, if you exalt your failure above the name of God and of you fail to have a close relationship with God.
Life is not a puzzle God can't fix, remember He called everything to being so that situation you are right now that feel unbearable can you just come out of it by reminding yourself of what God said.
When it feels like it will sick you up and break you stand up, wake up, rid yourself of the slumber, take up the strength of God, shout I am redeemed and be expectant of those good tidings that will replace the heaviness.
Your redemption is in Christ but the actualisation and manifestation you wants to see starts from you. Awake from your slumber of doubts embrace the word and run with it by faith.
Let us pray
Father thank you for the word you send to me today because the entrance of your word brings light.
Lord forgive me in anyway I have dwelled on uncertainty
Lord keep me awake and do not let me slumber where I ought to be alert and thriving to the glory of your name
I decree I am redeemed sickness and diseases can't live in me
I decree I am redeemed my life will never entertain uncircumcised and unwanted visitors of captivity
I decree henceforth I receive good tidings in all my expected
Pray for your nation
Pray for nations around the world
Decree into this month that you will not slumber in the place of freedom and breakthrough
Intercede for someone
Thank you abba father for answered prayers in Jesus name amen
