Tues.’s Devo - Victory in Jesus

Read: Isaiah 30:12-33:9; Galatians 5:1-12; Psalm 63:1-11; Proverbs 23:22 The Israelites heard that the Assyrians were coming and panicked. Instead of asking God, they looked to Egypt for help. They tried to pay the Egyptians to come and defend them. Isaiah told them that the only way they were going to be saved was in returning to the Lord and resting in him. Since they wouldn’t do that, what they feared would happen came upon them. God would wait for them to come to him. *** Our enemies are planning another pandemic and are going to try to shut down the nation again. Are we going to listen to their lies or are we going to trust God this time and not comply to their lies? I hope we are. We choose how our nation will go because we are God’s children. He will listen to us (30:19). *** Isaiah tells them that when the people turn to the Lord, he will bless them and give them abundant harvests. God will sift out the proud nations and lead them away to ruin but His people will sing for joy. God will destroy the enemy with flood, thunderstorms and huge hailstones. Fire will burn them, but God’s people will rejoice. *** Those who trusted in Egypt will be greatly disappointed. But, God will protect Jerusalem and guard it as a shepherd. Though his people are stubborn and rebellious now, Isaiah sees ahead to the day they will do away with their idols and trust in Him. *** God will defeat the Assyrians, not man. A righteous king is coming who will have princes who will rule with integrity. They will be shelters for the people. They will be shadows of the great rock. *** Jesus is the righteous king and his believers are the prince’s. They will be a shadow of Jesus and walk in his authority. Then, those who have eyes to see and ears to hear will understand what is going on. They will speak out. The ungodly leaders will be exposed as fools and lose their reputations. They have not given to the poor but devised wicked schemes to convict the poor and just. *** This is happening in our day as “whistleblowers” are coming out of the woodwork to expose the wickedness of our leaders. God is bringing justice to our land. *** God has a word for women who live in ease and think it won’t affect them. It will affect them when it affects their pocketbook and they can’t buy the things they once could. This is not a time to ignore what is going on but to repent and get involved in helping in some way. They were going to be going into captivity and the land was going to enjoy its Sabbaths and it would rejoice. Nature would be preparing for the day God’s people would return,. *** No matter what happened to the land of Israel, God would bring his people back and they would live in safety and peace. Everything they do would be blessed. *** The evil Assyrians would experience everything they had dished out on others. The tables would be turned and God would avenge his people. *** At the time of chapter 33, the Assyrians had broken their treaty with Israel and had attacked and taken many prisoners and killed others. Isaiah cried out for God to be merciful to them and help them. *** Paul is very concerned that the people have been listening to a false teacher who taught that they please God by what they do and not by whose they are. His teachings are powerless because there is no way to win or overcome. God wants us to be overcomes and powerful warriors in his army. We do that by putting our sins behind us and trusting in Jesus who took them away. We no longer walk in sin but in power and righteousness. We may stumble, but God helps us back up. We may be oppressed by the enemy, but we know who our God is and that we have already won this fight because God says so. We fight with weapons of our arsenal that are not physical but powerful to the bringing down of strongholds. We are a huge threat to the enemy. *** Lord, help us to walk in power and authority. Jesus lead us to battle and be our Commander in Chief. May we hear your whispers telling us which way to walk.