ISAIAH 32:14-15
"Because the palaces will be forsaken, the bustling city will be deserted, the forts and towers will become lairs forever, a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks—until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is counted as a forest."
Talk about a place in ruin—the best homes are abandoned, streets are empty, wild animals are roaming around—a ghost town by all indications. While this is a description of God's pending judgment on Israel and its capitol city, Jerusalem, penned by the prophet Isaiah prior to the Babylonian captivity, it is also a vivid picture of the heart of believer who tries to go through life without the blessing of the Spirit upon their life.
Just as Israel abandoned the Lord their God to go their own way after idols, unrighteous living, and a lifestyle which took God for granted, so too have many believers turned from their Lord today. And just as God would judge Israel, so too will he judge us by withholding the active presence of His Spirit.
Many believers find themselves in what can only be described as ruin. Not only is life getting the better of them, they suffer the consequences of sin and no longer seem to find the Spirit through pray. No doubt, this is God's judgment on his church--the withholding of his blessings upon us and the presence of his Spirit in power.
But in this text there is also a promise to the Lord's own. When we turn back to the Lord, he pours out his Spirit and brings restoration. That's what I want in my life, and that is my prayer for the church today—that the Spirit would be poured out upon us in power, causing us to hunger and thirst for our Lord, and to be the church God would have us be for his glory.
LORD JESUS
Lord, I thank you for pouring out your Spirit upon the church and in my life. May we be faithful to you and be ever mindful of the joy of your presence. Amen.
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