Tues.’s Devo - The Best is Yet to Come

Read: Isaiah 62:6-65:25; Philippians 2:19-3:4a; Psalm 73:1-28; Proverbs 24:13-14
Isaiah was prophesying over a time that was coming and of a day that we are still looking forward to. The watchmen he was saying would be posted on the walls of Jerusalem was referring to the prophets that would never stop speaking God’s promises and what he was going to do. Prophets will prophesy till Jesus returns and then probably in the millennium. Isaiah makes a call to rally the nation to prepare for the rebuilding of their nation. He wants them speaking it and believing it so they will actively be ready.
At that time, God will fight all our enemies and defeat them with his army. You can feel Isaiah’s frustrations as he waits for God to do this. He is ready to see God rend the heavens and come down. He keeps reminding God that he is their Father and he has promised never to leave or forsake them.
In Chapter 65, Isaiah prophesies of the Gentile people coming to God and becoming his people because Israel refused to repent. There will always be a remnant of Jews who will stay true to the Lord, but many will turn to the god of luck and destiny instead of the God of blessings and the King who determines their destiny.
When God creates the new heavens and the new earth, everything will be in our favor. We will return to life as it was in the garden of Eden. The curse of labor and pain will be gone and there will be peace on this new earth with Jesus as our King.
In Philippians, Paul was hoping to send Timothy to them since he couldn’t come himself right then. He also wanted to send Ephaphroditus to them again, now that he was over his sickness. He had almost died and Paul wanted them to hear his testimony since they had walked with him through his near death experience.
His parting words were for them to rejoice in the Lord. This was his secret of joy in the midst of everything he went through. He warned them to beware of the Judaizers and those who did evil but admonished them to remember that they had been crucified with Christ and have no room for pride in the flesh. Our Psalm is probably the picture of what they were being faced with. It is sometimes hard to understand why the wicked seem to float through life with no consequences when we suffer and wait, but one day we will see the whole picture and realize how short our sufferings were in comparison to an eternity of goodness and reward.
Lord, help us to wait patiently for your favor to come. We trust your timing and your goodness.