Some thoughts from today’s reading…

The judgment of God on the wicked will inspire those who are righteous.  When God brings low the mighty who oppress and act wickedly it will give hope to those who are faithful and true to His commands.  Verse 7 speaks of the way of the righteous as smooth and how God makes the path of the righteous level.  I do not take this in any way to be indicating that the life of a righteous person is easy going or without problems.  This statement is followed by Isaiah speaking of waiting eagerly for God’s judgment upon the wicked.  Seeing the wicked at times prosper and thrive in their evil is sometimes disheartening.  But a righteous person is set and determined to keep their course and follow God.  I couple their path being smooth and level with God’s care and providence as well as with the concept that by following God’s commands we will be able to avoid and overcome the dangers this life brings.  Jesus said in Matt 11:29-30 that His yoke is easy and light.  With our view set on eternity the weight of this life becomes lightened and God’s promises sustain us through any trials.  The writter of Proverbs also said in 16:3 that if we commit our ways to the Lord our plans will be established.  Most people are tossed around in this life by uncertainty and anxiety.  A Christian can trust in God to guide them and provide instruction through His written word.  There is a sense in the text of Isaiah that God will remove the wicked from the path of the righteous, but such will happen in His time.  We should pray that God help establish our ways and also to “keep us from evil”.  He is our everlasting Rock, vs 4.

Some thoughts from today’s reading…

Isaiah speaks of plans formed by God long ago with “perfect faithfulness”.  God knew what needed to happen to accomplish good to His people.  This is one of those critical points for us to get as God’s children.  No matter how dark the times may seem, God is in control and He has the wellfare of His people in mind.  We do not need to fear.  God works plans so that the srong poeple glorify Him and the cities of ruthless nations will revere Him.  I find these references so impressive to think about.  Although we do not have revelation today that tells us when and how God is causing something to happen we can be reassured that God still looks down on the affairs of man and has a hand in the workings going on in nations.  All of these thoughts should cause us to rejoice in the salvation that God has provided for us and to have constant joy at the thought of the faithfulness and care of Jehovah God.

Some thoughts from today’s reading…

We have a reference here to Media laying seige (vs. 2).  While Assyria is having dominance and power, God is projecting out into the future what will be.  And this again is not just who will replace Assyria but who will replace the replacement for Assyria.  Babylon was controlled by the Chaldeans when they defeated Assyria.  Then the Medes and the Persians took control of the Babylonian empire.  With the volitility of the world and seeing how wrong people get predictions about what is going to happen next, it is so impressive to see how certain and true God’s predictions are.  This should give us firm reliance on His words.

Some thoughts from today’s reading…

These six verses contain a wonderful picture of what a Christian’s life should be.  Chapter 11 we saw what things would be like in the day that the Messiah had come and how he would change things under His kingdom.  Chapter 12 continues with “then you will say on that day”.  Verse 2 states that God is my salvation, I put my trust in Him and will not be afraid.  The phrase “for the Lord God is my strength and song and He has become my salvation” is similar wording to what Moses said in Exo 15:2 in his song sang after God had delivered them from the Egyptians in the Red Sea.  Moses rejoiced in God’s salvation.  Israel had just seen a powerful demonstration of God’s strength.  Moses taught the children of Israel that song so that they would remember and continue to rejoice in the Lord.  In a similar way this chapter speaks of people rejoicing in the salvation that God brings to man.  “Therefore you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation”, verse 3.  Christians should have joy and draw from the springs of salvation.  We have an abundant source of blessings from God and a deep well from which to rejoice from.  God’s goodness overflows and our cup overflows.  Consider how good God has been to you and have joy.  We sometimes get so distracted by this world that we forget to joyously live our lives because God is our strength in whom we trust.

Some thoughts from today’s reading…

I am not sure what all the Israelites were saying when they claimed that there was a “conspiracey” but I like how God warns Isaiah not to join in with their ways but rather to fear Him.  Whatever is happening in life, no matter how dire the situation is (here we are hearing about Assyria coming to wipe out the people), our primary concern is God.  We need to fear Him and worry about being right before Him.  These other things in life, even if they include the threat of loss of life, are not to be our first concern.  I think that this is so had for us often to do because it is easy to get distracted and begin to focus on the “other” things.  But God knows what is best for us and if we pursue Him and what pleases Him first, the other things will all fall into place.

Some thoughts from today’s reading…

Many people, no matter how good they are, have some skeletons in their closet.  There are things they have done that they are not proud of and don’t want anyone to know about.  Knowing that person today you might not think that they had any problems.  Or when they mention about doing something you find it hard to believe.  “You did that when you were younger?”  This is one aspect of judgment that stands out to me from this text.  Verse 14 reminds us that God will bring EVERY act to judgment.  Everything from our past that has been hidden will be pulled out and laid bare.  We will have to give an account for why we did these things.  Now, if we stand before God with just the weight of our actions to bear alone then that is a very scary thought.  How can anyone answer for all the stupid, sinful things they have done?  How can anyone pay the price for all those hurtful, mean spirited actions they did in life?  But for a child of God they have comfort in this area also.  We know that the blood of Jesus was shed to cleanse us and wash away our sins.  We will not stand unaided before God.  Jesus will be our advocate and will be there for us.  That should be a comforting thought to have His aid in that day of judgment.

Some thoughts from today’s reading…

It is interesting to see how often people are vexed about why bad things have happened to them.  Often we think I didn’t deserve this so why has it happened?  Verse 11-12 speaks well to this.  Time and chance overtake all people.  You can be the fastest person and yet something could happen that causes you to loose a race.  You could be the strongest warrior and yet something could happen that causes you to loose the battle, and so on in his list of people.  All of these people are not guaranteed certain results because the nature of life is to be unexpected.  Chance happens.  Evil times suddenly fall on people at any time.  The more prepared we are in our minds to accept that life is temporary and has MANY uphevals the better off we will be.  The only certain things in our life is the truth of God’s word and the promises that the faithful Creator has made to us.  So trust in God, come what may.

Some thoughts from today’s reading…

Verse 4 talks about an interesting trait that man exhibits – competition.  Competition drives so much inovation and improvement in our lives and society.  There have been a great number of innovations that have been invented for war.  Man in an effort to outdo his adversary has created a large number of devices to subdue and defeat his foe.  The space race is another example of how competition spurns man on to new heights.  On a personal level you have the phrase “keeping up the with Jones’”.  When we see someone else doing well we want to also enjoy those things.  If we have someone coming over to visit our house we want it to be clean and look its best.  There is much labor and effort put into the rilvary between people.  It can be a good motivator and it can also lead us to being discontent and ungrateful for what we have.  There is nothing wrong with trying to improve your life or work to gain things, but let us never loose sight of the value of the things God has given us and what has the true value in life – our relationship with God.

Some thoughts from today’s reading…

In verse 13 we are told that a person who conceals his sin will  not prosper.  How many times do you find people who have tried desperately to hide their sin?  And how many times does that sin seem to consume them.  Sin is like a cancer that will eat you from within.  It must be purged from the body in order for someone to be well again.  And certainly we know of those cases where someone hid their sin and then when what they were doing was exposed they can say they are sorry but there is that doubt that lingers.  Did they really repent or were they only sorry because they got caught?  It is difficult to have compassion for a person when they have not shown any remorse for their actions.  Repentance means that you feel godly sorrow and that sorrow moves you to confess and turn away (forsake) those sinful actions.  Even though we feel ashamed by what we have done this path of action leads to compassion from those who likewise want to see us suceed and be faithful to God.  Please do not let sin grab hold of you and remain.  We all sin at various times.  Will you hide that sin or will you be moved with godly sorrow to expel those things from your life?

Some thoughts from today’s reading…

Chapter 23 tells us one of the most pointed warnings against drinking alcohol.  A person has wounds without cause who drinks.  They don’t know how they got them.  They have contentions and complaining because of their drinking ways.  Their mind sees strange things and your mind is distorted because of alcohol.  And yet the person says when I awake I’m going to seek another drink.  How idiotic can you be?  And yet it is common and thought of as fun today to get drunk.  People go after wine and beer like there couldn’t be anything better in life.  The consequences are waved off in their mind and they say it won’t happen to me.  I and most people can tell you first hand, it is easy to look around and see it, alcohol destroys lives.  Not just a random case here or there but on a regular, predictable basis.  So many people started out drinking for fun or socially.  And they end up broke, addicted to other drugs, marriage in shambles and the list goes on.  Alcohol has been a life destroyer for centuries.  A wise man will avoid it like the plague.