Tag: Isaiah

December 23 – Sovereign Promises

“For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” – Isaiah 9:6 (NASB)

The book named after the prophet Isaiah is packed with promises from our sovereign God. Today we are familiar and know the true reason we celebrate December 25 as Christmas. No, it isn’t the loveable fat old man called Santa Claus – a name derived from Saint Nicholas. Nicholas was a real person between the years 220 A.D. and 343 A.D. He was a Christian bishop during the time of the Roman Empire. Many far-reaching, even dark legends developed around that name.  But there’s a name, Immanuel, connected to December 25, that is not legend. It’s the real story of a man who’s birth was prophesied centuries before His birth. In Isaiah 7:14 is a promise of the birth of a son named Immanuel to a young girl who was yet a virgin. Today’s verse elaborates on the name Immanuel.  Wonderful Counselor. This King will implement supernatural wisdom in discharging His office; Mighty God. As a powerful warrior, He will accomplish the military exploits mentioned in 9:3–5; Eternal Father. The Messiah will be a Father to His people eternally; Prince of Peace. The government of Immanuel will bring and perpetuate peace among the nations of the world.

197

November 20 – Nothing Will Be Left Undone

“I will lead the blind by a way they do not know, In paths they do not know I will guide them. I will make darkness into light before them And rugged places into plains. These are the things I will do, And I will not leave them undone.” –  Isaiah 42:16 (NASB)

The blind are promised a guide; He is God. Those who do not know the way He promises to guide them. These are the spiritually blind and they have no means or power or even will to seek and find this way to God. Only God can give them the sight to believe by faith and follow the right path. Our God is anxious to help us as we live our lives here on earth. Notice that He promises to lead us along unfamiliar paths. Is it dark in our life? God will provide the light we need because in Him there is no darkness. Are the circumstances of our lives make for rough going? God will smooth them out had help us through it.  Look at the last two lines, “These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.” Our God shows us where to step and which way to turn. He is our guide through difficult times, lonely times, sorrowful times, and frightening times. During times of loss or when evil threatens us God is with us, He promises to not forsake us. He is the light on our dark and unfamiliar paths.

198

November 19 – Hear and See The Only One

“For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear, Nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him.” – Isaiah 64:4 (NASB)

Too often in order to not ‘offend’ those who believe in gods that don’t exist, gods of their own creation, even faith believer in Jesus Christ will compare non-existent gods to our God. Isaiah’s words reveal to us that no one at all has ever seen a God besides the one true God. Nobody ever has perceived by the hearing of their ears or the seeing of their eyes any god besides God Almighty the Creator of the Earth and all that is upon it. These words were true in Isaiah’s time nearly 2600 years ago. He declares that since the beginning there has been only one God who would respond to the needs of the human race. And during all these years since Isaiah wrote these words, there has been no other God – although many have tried to create for themselves an acceptable god. What a joy to know that we do have a God who acts on our behalf when we turn to Him. We can trust in the promise that He acts on our behalf. This is the one and only God and He is our God, our heavenly Father who is near us every day.

199

November 18 – A Strong Defense

“For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat; for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall,            like heat in a dry place.” Isaiah 25:4-5a (ESV)

This verse gives us four ways that God promised to provide for the needy in Isaiah’s day. The prophet Isaiah knew the wonder of God and what He did for His own who were in need. Number one, God is a stronghold (defense) to the poor or those without the means to have a defense.  Number two God is also a stronghold (defense) to those oppressed and in need of help. A stronghold was a place or means of safety and protection. A third is the shelter He provides when the storms of life come upon us. And when the heat is on God provides shade as the fourth way. He is ourrefuge and we can look to Him when we are threatened and wonder how things will work sort out for us. We trust Him for shelter when life is stormy. Sometimes we face people who have us up against a wall – we can trust and know God is with us to help us.  So, let’s allow the words of our verse to remind us today how full sufficient our God is to be there and meet our every need.

191

November 4 – Formed With Purpose

“The people whom I formed for Myself will declare My praise.”  Isaiah 43:21 (NASB)

In the writings of the prophet Isaiah in our Bible, he delivered messages God gave to the people of Israel. Today we read where God Isaiah why He had chosen the people of Israel.  During Old Testament time God would made His plan known through the prophets who were decedents of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  They were the people God appointed and called especially to carry the Words of God to His people.  After Jesus died on the cross, He rose from the dead with a new life. He expanded His offer to the whole world and God is now working with all who accept Jesus as Savior.  God’s message is expressed in our verse and applies to all who by faith believe in Jesus. Yes God is forming a people for Himself throughout the world today.  His purpose remains the same we find in our verse, “that we might proclaim His praise.”  Let’s not forget that’s what God wants from us today – our praise. Let’s be sure today that we are sincerely praising God, not only with our words but with our whole heart.  He has promised to take care of us because, we belong to Him.

198

July 26 – He Knows Best

Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel,
 “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit,
Who leads you in the way you should go.” – Isaiah 48:17 (NASB)

These words were delivered by God’s prophet Isaiah and we apply them to our lives today because we believe that what is given to us in the Bible is for our edification, instruction, and correction. God wants to teach us what is best for us. When He says that, He reminds us that He knows what is best for us. We need to always remember that truth. It is true that God sent Isaiah the Profit to give these words to the people of Israel. They had difficult time obeying God’s Words. It was frequent that God had to discipline and hold them accountable and he was always do so to teach them the way He wanted them to go. Our God knows everything about everybody and He know what is best for each and every individual. It is so very encouraging to know that God is concerned enough about each one of us that He gets involved in teaching us what He knows is best for us.  He does not leave us to figure out the path of our lives on our own. So what do we do? We want to pay attention to His teaching.

197

June 16 – Guiding the Blind

“And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.” – Isaiah 42:16 (ESV)

There are times when things get so dark we lose our way and we are tempted to think that God is not aware of what we are going through. There are times when we do not see the path that He has set before us to walk in and we’re essentially blinded by our lack of understanding. There are times when our way in life seems to be too rough for us to sustain our walk. God gives us promises for times like that. He promises not to forsake His own. That means He will always be there. And what will He do He will guide us, turning darkness into light. He will help us make decisions we have never made before. And what about those times of difficulty because the path for our life is so rough? He will smooth them out. God’s sovereignty will be evident to all of us as He guides the blind over previously uncharted courses. Even the spiritually blind can be made to see the way because of what God does for them in opening their eyes to see.

185

May 25 – Only One Like No Other

“From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him.” – Isaiah 64:4 (ESV)

Our verse today is “From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him.” – Isaiah 64:4 (ESV)one that we have visited several times. Its promise is rich. In the beginning God created the universe and then He created people. Since that time people have worshiped other things and forces as if they are gods. But, they have been mistaken. No matter how they try, no one can see and no one can hear from any God besides the Creator God. There is only one true God and He is a personal God who takes a personal interest in His creation and the people He created. Our verse today teaches us that our God acts on behalf of those who wait for Him. He responds to us who look to Him for help. He has declared that He is the one who helps us and He does things for us which we are unable to do for ourselves. Let’s be thankful to our God for taking a personal interest in us and for taking action in our behalf when we look to Him. Let’s thank Him as the prophet Isaiah did by confessing that there is no other god that we can hear or see besides our true God.

196

May 7 – Never Out of His Reach

“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short that it cannot save; nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear.” –  Isaiah 59:1 (ESV)

Does it sometimes seem like your requests to God are not heard or perhaps not important enough for His attention? These words from the prophet Isaiah it this verse can help us remember God’s ability to help His followers and His earnest willingness to help them. God gave these words to remind his people in Isaiah’s time that if they did not experience God’s help it was not His fault. In the next few verses we learn that it was the sin that caused God to not hear from them. God wants us to know that The Lord’s strength is more than adequate to bring deliverance but we must confess our sin that separates us from God. This is a universal truth applying to all people. God can help and nothing is so separated from God that He cannot reach it and he is able to hear when with a repentant heart we ask for help. Our God is listening and hears our call. His ear is turned in our direction waiting for us to express our prayers to Him. God will intercede for us; He can reach us and give us the help we need.

196

April 29 – Accomplished All We’ve Done

“O Lord, you will ordain peace for us, for you have indeed done for us all our works.” – Isaiah 26:12 (ESV)

The Book of Psalm is often called the song book of the Bible. Other Books also contain songs and today’s verse comes from one in the book written by the prophet Isaiah. This prophet spoke the Words of God to the people and leaders of Israel; words given to him by God which contained many promises and warnings. This is a reminder of the involvement of our God in our lives. God has been involved in the lives of His people since before Israel’s time. In the kingdom believers are promised that they will enjoy the peace God gives and will know God’s work on their behalf. In our verse God’s people recognize that anything accomplished through their lives is really the work of God. So we do need to remember that we can’t do anything of real value on our own. And, we must never forget that our God is really involved in the things we do each day. To recognize His involvement does give us peace in our hearts because we know that what He does in us is worthwhile and has eternal value and effectiveness. 

188