By: Dr. Jacquelyn Simmons
Scripture: Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee and not cast thee away.
Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contendeth with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, fear not I will help thee. Fear not, thou worm, Jacob, and ye men of Israel. I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer, the holy one of Israel… When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.
I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together:
That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this and the holy one is Israel hath created it (Isaiah 41:9-20).
My friends, when God first gave me this assignment to warn his people against using the term used as the subject of this message, his preferable usage for us is the lower case (i) with a vocal explanation as to why one is preferably using it. Once we learn better, it can become a matter of life and death for the users. Jesus tells us, “For unto whom so ever much is given of him shall be much required” (Luke 12:48).
When Moses asked God who must he tell his people sent him to lead them out of Egyptian slavery , he said, “thou shalt say, I am that I am. I am hath sent me (Exodus 3:14). Earlier he had warned him to remove the shoes from his feet because the place where he was standing was holy ground (Exodus 3:5).
In our text for this message, even though God’s judgment is about to be inflicted upon Israel, he is reminding them of their frailty and need for him who is pictured as her redeemer and the holy one of Israel.
My friends, now that you have been amply warned by God, be careful how you use the term (i). Pray about it!!!
