In Isaiah 54 the Lord, first of all, speaks to Israel, but also to each and every one of us:

“Sing, O barren, You who have not borne! Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, You who have not labored with child! For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married woman,” says the LORD. “Enlarge the place of your tent, And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; Do not spare; Lengthen your cords, And strengthen your stakes. For you shall expand to the right and to the left, And your descendants will inherit the nations, And make the desolate cities inhabited.” (Isaiah 54:1-3).

You, plagued with confusion, fears, and doubts, are called to show the glory of the Almighty and break the strongholds of hell, the strongholds of evil, and the strongholds of this world in the nations, because it is said, commanded and promised to you:

“…For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the LORD will arise over you… And His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light…” (Isaiah 60:2-3).

The Redeemer, who cleanses us from the shame of the past

“Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed” – all the shame of the past, fears and defeats, hopelessness and depression will be washed away by the Blood of your Saviour, for every drop of His Blood has more power than all evil of this world.  “Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; Neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame; For you will forget the shame of your youth, and will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore” (Isaiah 54:4), for the glorious Bridegroom has chosen you as his bride. He’s cleansed you, he exalts you and lifts you up, so no dirt or shame can make your new shining garments filthy. Because the royal garments are ready for you, and they are shining with exceeding whiteness reflecting heavenly glory glow.

“…you will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore” when you were abandoned, denied, forsaken and were thinking that no one cares about you. “For your Maker” won’t just become, but He “Isyour husband, The LORD of hosts is His name.” (Isaiah 54:4-5). He is fighting for you. His army encamps all around you. And the weaker you are, and the less you rely upon your own strength, your victory is surer still as it is being revealed and reaches its fullness with every single day.

“And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.” Just as he hasn’t forgotten His people, just as He’s coming back, staying faithful in his love to His people, the same way He will not forget and He will not leave you.

“He is called the God of all the earth. For the LORD has called you like a woman forsaken, grieved in spirit, like a youthful wife when you were refused…” He embraces you and holds you close to His heart. “For a mere moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you. With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,” - Says the LORD, your Redeemer. - “For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall my covenant of peace” - the covenant of shalom, unity, harmony, endless love, the covenant of fullness and joy before His face – “will not be removed, says the LORD, who has mercy on you” (Isaiah 54:5-10).

The Father who brings comfort and shalom

Even if you’re feeling afflicted right now, and it seems to you that the tempest is tossing you all over the place, and people can't comfort you, and nothing in this world could comfort you…If that’s how you feel, the Comforter is about to come! When you don’t find comfort in anything created, your Maker, your Father, your Husband, your Saviour, your Protector, your Beloved is there to comfort you.

“…Behold, I will lay your stones with colourful gems, And lay your foundations with sapphires…” (Isaiah 54:11)

Whom do You say this to, o Lord? Are You saying this to us? This is amazing! Someone will think: “Tales for kids!” But this is the word of the Almighty Creator, the Maker of all things visible and invisible, the Redeemer of Israel and mankind as a whole. If He spoke this word and it enters our hearts with fire, and if this love is really present in the life of Heidi (Heidi Baker – a missionary, leader of international ministry Iris Global), and also in the lives of thousands and thousands of people mutilated by the devil and the world, who accept this love and believe in it, then who are we to not trust into such love? Who are we to not surrender to such a heart? He promises:

“…Behold, I will lay your stones with colourful gems, and lay your foundations with sapphires. I will make your pinnacles of rubies, your gates of crystal, and all your walls of precious stones. All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children” (Isaiah 54:11-13).

The One giving power to those who acknowledge their weakness

Great shalom descends from the heavens and envelops everyone who is tired of fighting alone, who is tired of fighting against the flesh, the world and the past, who knows - there is the One Who’s already defeated everything. If this shalom could change the life of Heidi – a successful, rich woman from the US with two doctoral degrees, a ballerina, a musician basking in recognition and glory, - and make her give everything up and go to the poorest country in the world and start saving the rejected among the rejected. In that case, He can completely change our lives as well. The Love that has been revealed to her through the Holy Spirit is burning and is ready to be poured into our hearts. It is already within us, but often, it doesn't seem as real as everything else around us.

Once the Holy Spirit turned her upside down and she happened to be on the stage literally standing on her head and He showed her that her previous wonderful ministry was just the beginning. She was working hard, trying her best. She did bear some small fruit (however, for many, they were large fruit), her own efforts completely exhausted her. But when Ruah came and turned her upside down -- physically at first, and then later in many other respects -- she became a different person, she stopped trying to hide her weaknesses as well as breaking down obstacles with her own efforts.
She revealed her weaknesses to the Lord, His joy came and mind-boggling, unfathomable miracles started to happen, for His strength is made perfect in our weakness and not despite it. Only when we come to the end of our abilities and surrender, when we stop relying upon ourselves, our own skills, willpower, our outstanding accomplishments in whatever sphere, when all of it becomes rubbish to us just like with rabbi Shaul (here: the words of apostle Paul “and count them as rubbish” from Philippians 3:8, where the word “rubbish” comes from Greek σκύβαλον – leftovers, litter, droppings, manure) then His power, the power of His love, His Spirit, the power of His resurrected life rises within us and becomes ours. And what is the power, the strength of the strongest and the most powerful person on Earth in comparison to the omnipotence of God?!

Many of us are still at a pretraining stage in our ministry, and our spiritual lives are still taking their forms. And praise God for each fruit that He has already produced into our lives through us, for every fruit He already produced in the lives of other people through us! But this is just the beginning. When we hear, when we experience the grace of such ministry and such life, we understand that the Lord has so much more in store for us. And greater things come into our lives when the words of Jeshua to His disciples “…without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5) become the reality in our lives on a personal level. Then, bigger things begin as well as the transition to a life in a whole different realm. Then the glory of the Lord is revealed in its fullness, then we get to build on His foundation and not ours. And then our insufficiency that disturbs us or hurts our pride not only burns down in the fire of Calvary, rather it becomes the guarantee of His victory. And then His promise is being fulfilled:

“In righteousness you shall be established; You shall be far from oppression”, the robbers will be running away from you, “for you shall not fear”, don’t be scared or terrified, because they won’t come near you. “Indeed, they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me. Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake. No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn” (Isaiah 54:14-15, 17). This is the inheritance of God’s children, the children of the Almighty Father, the children who capitulated before His love and are not afraid to be His free bond-servants.

The prayer

Friends, the time has come to go to a new level of freedom within God’s Fatherly all-consuming love. We all have areas in our lives where we must fight our past, our habits, inabilities, oppression of this world, temptations, doubts and attacks of disbelief. Maybe, we were even comforted with our success and victories that we won in certain areas of our lives. But we can stop fighting with our own strength and accept our defeat in each field, especially since it has been there all along. And as we acknowledge this defeat, we can ask the One with the words of apostle Shaul-Paul, because He desires it more than we do:

“O, Lord, You know all my efforts, all my defeats, my success and my failures. I don’t want to fight on my own. I can’t defeat the things that are defeating me. I acknowledge my inability. But you have promised me a great victory. You could overcome Heidi and gain victory in her life when she simply surrendered to You completely and You turned her upside down.

O, Lord, You are the same, Your love is impartial. Turn me upside down with the power of Your love. I can’t, but you have already done it. I am incapable, but Your grace has already won. And now not me, but You work. Not me, but You work within me and through me. I’m beginning to understand and accept Your Word that You spoke through the apostle to me personally – “Without Me you can do nothing”. Lord, please, start the new victorious life within me today. That I shall not rely upon flesh anymore, upon the past, upon myself. Amen.``

©Boris Grisenko, the KJMC senior rabbi
Conference “Immersing into the Father’s love” 2021