Wed.’s Devo - The Importance of the Prophet

Read: Isaiah 41:17-43:13; Ephesians 2:1-22; Psalm 67:1-7; Proverbs 23:29-35 God has great promises for those who search for water. He means more than physical water. Those who realize the need for God’s spirit will be filled to overflowing. God sarcastically told them to present their case for their idols and have them tell the future…if they can. He teased them to tell their idols to do anything - amazing or frightening. Of course, they could do nothing at all. God had an answer and it would come through Cyrus, 150 years later. None of their idols told them deliverance was on the way. Cyrus would be a predecessor of The Messiah who would be filled with God’s Spirit and bring justice to the nations. He will not stop until justice prevails throughout the earth. Only God’s prophet can tell the future before it happens. Isaiah told them to praise the Lord with a new song - one of joy and praise. God was coming like a mighty hero. Isaiah was like a woman in labor birthing a new nation. He was telling them that God was going to level their mountains and hills - the mighty men and government that opposed them and he was going to lead them down a path they had never traveled. He would bring light to their path and if they trusted him they would not be disappointed. God rebuked them for recognizing what was right but refusing to act on it. God had used every method to try to get them to learn to have faith but it had been in vain. But God was calling out his remnant to not be afraid. He was going to be with them through their difficult storms and the trials of life. What God was about to do, no one could have seen it and no one could have done it but the Lord. This is exactly what the Lord is about to do for America. In Ephesians we have the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. God’s will was to save not only Jerusalem and its people but the Jews and the Gentiles. His glorious Spirit and salvation was a gift to the world. We are God’s house built on the foundation of the apostles of the New Testament and the prophets of the Old. Lord, thank you for your fulfilled promises. May we walk in the power of the Holy Spirit living out our destiny. Thank you for your prophets that still speak forth your word and tell us the future before it happens.