Bible League: Living His Word "Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?"— Isaiah 43:19 ESV The Lord is doing a new thing in your life. The Lord is doing something for you that is completely different. It's something that you've never seen before, something you've never expected or seriously considered, something really wonderful. True, the Lord has done wonderful things for you in the past, but this will surpass them all. It's an all-new level of life. The new thing will raise you up from the dust and lift you up from the ash heap. It will increase your honor and give you a seat in the presence of those in authority (1 Samuel 2:8). How do you know this? How can you be sure? First, it's the kind of thing the Lord is always doing. The Lord is in the business of redeeming and restoring His people. New is His stock and trade. New is what He's all about. He doesn't leave you behind in the past. He doesn't leave you in the pit you have dug for yourself. He listens to your cries for help and draws you out of the pit. He sets your feet on a rock, thereby making your steps secure. Then, appropriately enough, He puts a new song in your mouth, a song of praise to Him (Psalm 40:1-3). Second, you can be sure because you can already see it springing forth. It's not a pipe dream. It's not a fantasy. It's a real deal in the making and its first manifestations are already showing up. The Lord doesn't promise and not deliver. The Lord is not a trickster. Indeed, the Bible says that the person who trusts in Him is blessed, not cursed (Psalm 40:4). You can be sure that the new thing is real because the Lord is the kind of God who performs wondrous deeds for His people, the kind of God that even multiplies His wondrous deeds for them (Psalm 40:5). You do see it, don't you? If you don't, then you need to look more closely. You need to look more closely with the eyes of your faith. After all, it's your faith in the Lord that spurs Him on to do new things. It's your trust in Him that moves Him to draw you out of pits. New things aren't just for anyone. They're for those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. Open the eyes of your faith, then, and look closely for the new thing the Lord is doing for you. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingPsalm 50, 51, 52 Psalm 50 -- The Mighty One calls the earth from sunrise to sunset. NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Psalm 51 -- David's Psalm of Repentance (2Sa 12) NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Psalm 52 -- David's Psalm Fleeing Saul (1Sa 21) NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Acts 27:1-25 Acts 27 -- Paul Sails for Rome; Storm and Shipwreck NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God come?”Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can't be detected by visible signs. You won't be able to say, ‘Here it is!' or ‘It's over there!' For the Kingdom of God is already among you.” Insight The Pharisees asked when God's kingdom would come, not knowing that it had already arrived. The kingdom of God is not like an earthly kingdom with geographical boundaries. Instead, it begins with the work of God's Spirit in people's lives and in relationships. Challenge Still today we must resist looking to institutions or programs for evidence of the progress of God's kingdom. Instead, we should look for what God is doing in people's hearts. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon 2 Peter 1:4 Exceeding great and precious promises.If you would know experimentally the preciousness of the promises, and enjoy them in your own heart, meditate much upon them. There are promises which are like grapes in the wine-press: if you will tread them the juice will flow. Thinking over the hallowed words will often be the prelude to their fulfilment. While you are musing upon them, the boon which you are seeking will insensibly come to you. Many a Christian who has thirsted for the promise has found the favor which it ensured gently distilling into his soul even while he has been considering the divine record; and he has rejoiced that ever he was led to lay the promise near his heart. But besides meditating upon the promises, seek in thy soul to receive them as being the very words of God. Speak to thy soul thus, "If I were dealing with a man's promise, I should carefully consider the ability and the character of the man who had covenanted with me. So with the promise of God; my eye must not be so much fixed upon the greatness of the mercy--that may stagger me; as upon the greatness of the promiser--that will cheer me. My soul, it is God, even thy God, God that cannot lie, who speaks to thee. This word of his which thou art now considering is as true as his own existence. He is a God unchangeable. He has not altered the thing which has gone out of his mouth, nor called back one single consolatory sentence. Nor doth he lack any power; it is the God that made the heavens and the earth who has spoken thus. Nor can he fail in wisdom as to the time when he will bestow the favors, for he knoweth when it is best to give and when better to withhold. Therefore, seeing that it is the word of a God so true, so immutable, so powerful, so wise, I will and must believe the promise." If we thus meditate upon the promises, and consider the Promiser, we shall experience their sweetness, and obtain their fulfilment. Daily Light on the Daily Path 2 Corinthians 4:4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.Isaiah 40:5 Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, And all flesh will see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken." John 1:18,14 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. • And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 14:9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, 'Show us the Father '? Hebrews 1:3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 1 Timothy 3:16 By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory. Colossians 1:14,15 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. • He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. Romans 8:29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 1 Corinthians 15:49 Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly. 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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