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 Proverbs 18:12 Before destruction the heart of man is haughty.It is an old and common saying, that "coming events cast their shadows before them;" the wise man teaches us that a haughty heart is the prophetic prelude of evil. Pride is as safely the sign of destruction as the change of mercury in the weather-glass is the sign of rain; and far more infallibly so than that. When men have ridden the high horse, destruction has always overtaken them. Let David's aching heart show that there is an eclipse of a man's glory when he dotes upon his own greatness. 2 Sam. 24:10. See Nebuchadnezzar, the mighty builder of Babylon, creeping on the earth, devouring grass like oxen, until his nails had grown like bird's claws, and his hair like eagle's feathers. Dan. 4:33. Pride made the boaster a beast, as once before it made an angel a devil. God hates high looks, and never fails to bring them down. All the arrows of God are aimed at proud hearts. O Christian, is thine heart haughty this evening? For pride can get into the Christian's heart as well as into the sinner's; it can delude him into dreaming that he is "rich and increased in goods, and hath need of nothing." Art thou glorying in thy graces or thy talents? Art thou proud of thyself, that thou hast had holy frames and sweet experiences? Mark thee, reader, there is a destruction coming to thee also. Thy flaunting poppies of self-conceit will be pulled up by the roots, thy mushroom graces will wither in the burning heat, and thy self-sufficiency shall become as straw for the dunghill. If we forget to live at the foot of the cross in deepest lowliness of spirit, God will not forget to make us smart under his rod. A destruction will come to thee, O unduly exalted believer, the destruction of thy joys and of thy comforts, though there can be no destruction of thy soul. Wherefore, "He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." Daily Light on the Daily Path Matthew 27:46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?" that is, "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?"Isaiah 53:5,6,8,10 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. • All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. • By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? • But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. Romans 4:24,25 but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, • He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification. 1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; 1 Peter 2:24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. 2 Corinthians 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us-- for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE "-- 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. |
    |