Bible League: Living His Word Look at those people! They say good is bad and bad is good. They think light is dark and dark is light. They think sour is sweet and sweet is sour. They think they are so smart. They think they are very intelligent.— Isaiah 5:20-21 ERV God called the prophet Isaiah to weep and reprimand the Israelites who lived in Judah and Jerusalem (1:1) as they no longer were faithful to God's covenant. The lifestyle of the Israelites depicts what we still experience in our generation. Isaiah played a pivotal role in guiding the Israelites back from hypocrisy, greed, and idol worship. Isaiah cried in agony for the nation of God to honor the covenant, because they confused the morals and commands of God—acting as if they knew better than God! How deceived humanity can be! It is happening to this day; indeed, nothing is new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9)! In chapter 6, Isaiah's message for the Israelites changed. The prophet encountered the Lord in heaven as He transcended to the throne of the Messiah. The message changed because it was revealed to Isaiah that God is salvation, and His mercy would prevail for all who shall believe in Jesus! There was hope that God would fulfill his covenant. Through this message, we see that the grace of God extends to everyone—all who have failed to live according to the Gospel of grace. Illusion and confusion drove Israel from godly ways to an ungodly lifestyle. Jesus Christ calls Satan the father of lies (John 8:44), he twists the truth to convince people to believe a lie (Romans 1). That is why—as followers of Christ—we should not allow evil in our lives and homes. Only one thing can remedy such a deep state of moral confusion. It takes God's Word to clarify the misty view that the enemy uses to deprive people of the truth, the way, and the life found in the Gospel of grace. In the past, you'd hear a similar saying, "As truth as God's Word." Beloved, the grace is still available to journey on with faith in Christ. Even if you may have fallen away, come back. Carry the cross to follow Jesus Christ. The blood of Jesus Christ at the cross of Calvary has taken away your guilt and erased your sins! Believe and trust in the blood of Jesus Christ. He will redeem all who are trapped by the power of perversion to the truth in Christ. By Christopher Thetswe, Bible League International staff, South Africa Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingDeuteronomy 1, 2 Deuteronomy 1 -- Summary of Israel's History: from Horeb to Spies in Canaan NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Deuteronomy 2 -- Summary of Wanderings in the Desert NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Mark 11:1-19 Mark 11 -- The Triumphal Entry; the Money Changers; the Withered Fig Tree; Jesus' Authority NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion For the LORD God is our sun and our shield.He gives us grace and glory. The LORD will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right. Insight God does not promise to give us everything we think is good, but he will not withhold what is permanently good. He will give us the means to walk along his paths, but we must do the walking. Challenge When we obey him, he will not hold anything back that will help us serve him. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon John 3:7 Ye must be born again.Regeneration is a subject which lies at the very basis of salvation, and we should be very diligent to take heed that we really are "born again," for there are many who fancy they are, who are not. Be assured that the name of a Christian is not the nature of a Christian; and that being born in a Christian land, and being recognized as professing the Christian religion is of no avail whatever, unless there be something more added to it--the being "born again," is a matter so mysterious, that human words cannot describe it. "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." Nevertheless, it is a change which is known and felt: known by works of holiness, and felt by a gracious experience. This great work is supernatural. It is not an operation which a man performs for himself: a new principle is infused, which works in the heart, renews the soul, and affects the entire man. It is not a change of my name, but a renewal of my nature, so that I am not the man I used to be, but a new man in Christ Jesus. To wash and dress a corpse is a far different thing from making it alive: man can do the one, God alone can do the other. If you have then, been "born again," your acknowledgment will be, "O Lord Jesus, the everlasting Father, thou art my spiritual Parent; unless thy Spirit had breathed into me the breath of a new, holy, and spiritual life, I had been to this day dead in trespasses and sins.' My heavenly life is wholly derived from thee, to thee I ascribe it. My life is hid with Christ in God.' It is no longer I who live, but Christ who liveth in me." May the Lord enable us to be well assured on this vital point, for to be unregenerate is to be unsaved, unpardoned, without God, and without hope. Daily Light on the Daily Path Proverbs 2:8 Guarding the paths of justice, And He preserves the way of His godly ones.Deuteronomy 1:32,33 "But for all this, you did not trust the LORD your God, • who goes before you on your way, to seek out a place for you to encamp, in fire by night and cloud by day, to show you the way in which you should go. Deuteronomy 32:11,12 "Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, That hovers over its young, He spread His wings and caught them, He carried them on His pinions. • "The LORD alone guided him, And there was no foreign god with him. Psalm 37:23,24 The steps of a man are established by the LORD, And He delights in his way. • When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, Because the LORD is the One who holds his hand. Psalm 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all. Psalm 1:6 For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish. Romans 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 2 Chronicles 32:8 "With him is only an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles." And the people relied on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah. Zephaniah 3:17 "The LORD your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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