Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago.

Isaiah 25

Lord, you are my God;

I will exalt you and praise your name,

for in perfect faithfulness

you have done wonderful things,

things planned long ago.

A few weeks ago, our worship pastor sermoned on the importance of worship.  Take away is that we are made for worship, in everything we do.  This past week, the sermon emphasized that our worship and thanks should be for Him not for what He has done for us.

I of course agree that God has done wonderful things and He is above all - He IS worthy of our praise not just in song but in everything we do.

My Prayer: Lord, You are the only true God - perfect, blameless, holy, almighty, all knowing and all loving.  Amazing.  I need You in my heart and life not just for what You do in wiping my sin away but also for who You are - Truth.  Your word is truth and without Your word I would be nowhere - lost in broken world of sin, deceit, and eternal damnation.  I am full of harmful thoughts and talk about others - Lord, I know you love me anyway so thank You.  Yet I seek Your forgiveness and I seek Your help to purify and refine me so that Your desires are my desires.  Transform my heart and life and make me Yours in all ways.

See, the Lord is going to lay waste the earth and devastate it;

Isaiah 24

See, the Lord is going to lay waste the earth
    and devastate it;
he will ruin its face
    and scatter its inhabitants—
² it will be the same
    for priest as for people,
    for the master as for his servant,
    for the mistress as for her servant,
    for seller as for buyer,
    for borrower as for lender,
    for debtor as for creditor.
³ The earth will be completely laid waste
    and totally plundered.
The Lord has spoken this word. v1-3

It is not something we as Christians talk much about but we must as we must live as if we don't know when our time on earth is up and we will be called to account for our life.

As I have posted here, we must live with the end in mind.

My Prayer: Lord, You are so full of grace, kindness, patience, compassion, and so much more.  You ARE all of this.  I SO desire to be this as well yet I stumble and sin - too often.  I am not Jesus to others as You desire.  I know You love me and You are patient with me but please forgive me.  Help me so that my desires are Your desires.  Transform both my heart and my life. 

This is what the Lord says to me: “I will remain quiet and will look on from my dwelling place[.]

Isaiah 18

This is what the Lord says to me:
    “I will remain quiet and will look on from my dwelling place, v4

The Lord is almighty yet He allows us to make sinful choices - we are not to choose sin but we do and He allows it.  If we are to love Him with all of our heart, mind and soul as it says in Matthew 22:37-40.  We cannot love Him with all of our heart, mind and soul if He forcefully stops us from sinning - our desires must be His desires - freely!

My Prayer: Lord, You are pure and holy and perfect.  I DO desire to be like You.  I know I was made in Your image yet I stain this image with my sin.  I am SO thankful that You wash all this away.  Please forgive me Lord Jesus.  Help me be more like You - transform my heart, my mind and soul to be more like You.

In love a throne will be established; in faithfulness a man will sit on it—one from the house of David—one who in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness.

Isaiah 16

In love a throne will be established;

in faithfulness a man will sit on it—

one from the house of David—

one who in judging seeks justice

and speeds the cause of righteousness. v5

Isaiah prophecizes about Jesus, that Jesus' day will come and His reign will rest on a mandate of love, that we are to love Him and to love others. 

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”  Matthew 22:34-40

The verses also indicate that Jesus is all about justice and righteousness - which is defined here as acting in accord with the law.  If we love Him, and He IS love and He is IN us, then love, righteousness and justice should flow from Him to the world.

My Prayer: Lord, You are holy, pure, perfect, and so much more.  I cannot compare to You, nor can anyone or anything compare to You.  As the song says, "nothing compares to you".  This is certainly true for myself - I am not even close to who You are and I am not obedient as I fail to love You with all of my heart, mind and soul.  Thank You for the many blessings and that You love me but please forgive me Lord Jesus!  Refine me, purify me, take me and make me Yours Jesus.  Help me so that love, righteousness, and justice flow from me to the world.

For the Lord Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?

Isaiah 14

For the Lord Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him?
    His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back? v27

The Lord Is in control.  Yet that does not mean that I am to sit still.  As I have read in Hebrews 6:1 and posted on it here, we are to grow in our faith.  Similarly, we are to live by faith AND through action, as I have read and posted here.

I cannot simply sit idle and trust that because the Lord is in control that He will make me get up and do things.  WRONG.  I am to be bold and act on my faith as I feel directed by Him (and through the Bible, prayer, others, etc.).

My Prayer: Lord, You are active, and You continue to do amazing things in my life and in the world that I can see.  I am not deserving of the rich blessings You provide.  I am lazy and I don't act out my faith as You demand from me.  Thank You that You love me anyway, but please forgive me for my inaction and laziness!  Please help me get off my duff and act out my faith.  Help me be bold!  Help me be Your hands and feet - I deeply desire to by Your instrument for Your plans. 

The Lord will have compassion on Jacob; once again he will choose Israel and will settle them in their own land.

Isaiah 14 

The Lord will have compassion on Jacob;
    once again he will choose Israel
    and will settle them in their own land. v1

Although sin is everywhere, the Lord has compassion....although my BSF leader has indicated that God sets a limit on wickedness so I pray that I never ever come close to that limit!

My Prayer: Lord, You are so full of compassion as You love and bless me despite what I have done!  Thank You Jesus.  Please forgive me for my disdainful thoughts - particularly after the election.  Help me stay pure Jesus.  Help me desire what You desire.

Surely wickedness burns like a fire; it consumes briers and thorns, it sets the forest thickets ablaze, so that it rolls upward in a column of smoke.

Isaiah 9 

Surely wickedness burns like a fire;
    it consumes briers and thorns,
it sets the forest thickets ablaze,
    so that it rolls upward in a column of smoke. v18

This is a reminder that sin is everywhere....and it spreads easily.

This morning, I recall different ways we can avoid sin:

Being separate from sin
Repentance and forgiveness through Jesus Christ
The Word of God in Your heart will protect you

My Prayer: Lord, You are Holy and sinless.  I am not....I continue to speak and think badly of people.  I know You love me anyway, so thank You Lord Jesus for Your unconditional love.  Please forgive me and help me avoid sin.  Help protect me and help purify and refine me.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9

For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. v6

The greatest gift of all...the greatest blessing of all time...is Jesus Christ.  Isaiah tells of the coming of Christ which is great news indeed.

I don't have to live a life enslaved to sin.  I can come to Christ who will bear and forgive my sin so that I can have a new life...a new life in Him.  What an amazing gift.

My Prayer: Lord, the gift of Your son is a gift like no other.  It is the only gift we could ever want or need.  Yet I continue to find images of God elsewhere or I worry too much...or I exasperate my children.  I know You love me Lord Jesus, and I do thank You for this love, but I seek Your forgiveness.  I also seek the transformation that only You can provide.  I seek to have Your truth and Your Spirit dwell throughout my body and in my daily life.  Guide me.

The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread.

Isaiah 8

The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,
    he is the one you are to fear,    he is the one you are to dread. v13

And of course there is Matthew 22:37-39:

³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’^[38 This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

I should not have desires outside of what God desires for me.  Yet I continue to fall down.

This dilemma is also expressed by Paul

²¹ So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²² For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; ²³ but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. ²⁴ What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.  

Romans 7:21-25

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are the standard - as You are perfect, pure, and Holy.  I am not.  I know that You love me anyway but Lord Jesus please forgive me for the corruption of my heart and for my unholy acts.  Help me so that I am not a slave to sin.  Purify me, refine me, transform both my heart and my life.  Take me Jesus I desire to be Yours and Yours alone.  I don't want any desires beyond what You desire for me.

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Isaiah 7

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. v14

As Jerusalem is threatened by invaders, the Lord tells Isaiah:

⁷ Yet this is what the Sovereign Lord says:“‘It will not take place,
    it will not happen,⁸ for the head of Aram is Damascus,
    and the head of Damascus is only Rezin.
Within sixty-five years
    Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people.
⁹ The head of Ephraim is Samaria,
    and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah’s son.
If you do not stand firm in your faith,    you will not stand at all.’” (v7-9)

Two key takeaways this morning, particularly after the election:
(1) The Lord is in control of all things at all times (v7)
(2) Our faith in Him is the most important (v9), Mark 12:28-30

²⁸ One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

²⁹ “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ³⁰ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. Mark 12:28-30

My Prayer: Lord, You alone reign over everything at all times forever and forever.  You know why things happen and why and when things will happen.  You allow things to happen and You also prevent things from happening.  It is You alone in whom I must have faith.  Yet I have faith too much in people and government and this is not right - it is sinful.  I know You love me anyway, but please forgive me that I am not standing firm in my faith.  Purify me, refine me.  Help me be more like You Jesus Christ and help me act like Jesus Christ.  Take me and make me Yours.

With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.

Isaiah 6

With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” v7

God has always been one of forgiveness and grace.  As I have read here in Chronicles, we are often deserving of harsh punishment but God forgives and is full of grace.

It is also written in 2 Corinthians 12:9:

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Grace is ALL that is needed....on grace alone we have power previously unavailable to us.

The dictionary defines grace as: "unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification".

This is really all that is needed....why would we need more than this? 


My Prayer: Your grace Lord Jesus IS sufficient....it IS all that I need.  Your grace has carried through light and darkness.  You have been there and will be there always.  Yet I don't often trust in this grace and as well I sin in other ways, liking speaking badly of others, particularly of leaders in the political realm and at work.  This is wrong and sinful.  I thank You that You love me anyway but please forgive me for these sins.  Refine me, purify me and help me trust in You alone and Your grace.

Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.

Isaiah 5

Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes
    and clever in their own sight. v21

Many a times have I heard God speak a message warning of arrogance and pride.  For example, I have recently read these words in Proverbs.

In Isaiah 5, "woe" has severe consequences:

for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty
    and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel.
Therefore the Lord’s anger burns against his people;
    his hand is raised and he strikes them down.
The mountains shake,
    and the dead bodies are like refuse in the streets. v24-25

My Prayer: Lord, it is only You who are wise - it is through You that all wisdom exists.  I have none except through You.  Yet I continue to believe and have faith in my self and my own wisdom.  Deeply sinful!!  I know You love me anyway, but please forgive me Lord Jesus...rid of this pride and arrogance.  Help me draw close to You.  Fill my heart with Your words and Your wisdom.  Help me act out my faith and be Jesus to others.  I seek to please and honor You Lord Jesus.

The Lord takes his place in court;he rises to judge the people.

Isaiah 3

The Lord takes his place in court;
    he rises to judge the people. v13

This morning I reflect on how I have neglected the Lord, and turned my back on Him.  I have not reached to the Lord in study, prayer, reflection in over a week.  I have worried about work and school and other matters.  I have also judged others and said awful things about them.

This morning I am reminded that Lord is judge and that I deserve punishment for my sin.

 I am reminded as well that if I am punished it will be for my own good and for God's glory:

Whoever spares the rod hates their children,
    but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them. Proverbs 13:24

My Prayer: Lord,  You are perfect, pure, and holy.  Everything You have done and will do is with both a pure motive and with a perfect outcome.  I have seen the precision of Your design and the beauty of Your outcomes in my own life, in the lives of others, and in creation - in nature.  Amazing.  Yet, in contrast, I have impure motives AND I have imperfect outcomes with all of the sin in my life.  I know that You love me anyway, so I am deeply grateful for that, but I ask that You forgive me.  Help me deepen my faith and love of You.  Give me strength to be bold and to carry out Your plan for me.