Sun.’s Devo - Victory is the Lord’s

Read: Isaiah 1:1-2:22; 2 Corinthians 10:1-18; Psalm 52:1-9; Proverbs 22:26-27 Isaiah is one of my favorite books in the Bible. Isaiah means “God is Salvation.” He is directly quoted 21 times in the New Testament. *** He prophesied during the reigns of Huzzah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, the kings of Judah. It is believed that he was martyred during the reign of Manasseh, Hezekiah’s son. *** He prophesied during a crucial time in the history of Judah and Israel. Both had experienced about 500 years of increasing prosperity and power. Israel had succumbed to pagan worship and Judah had fallen into moral and spiritual decline also. Secret places of pagan worship were tolerated, the wealthy oppressed the poor, the women neglected their families to go after carnal pleasure and many of the priests had become pleasers of men. God’s covenant with his people had become violated by the people and God had sent his prophets to turn the people around before he would have to judge them for their sins. *** Isaiah was one of these prophets sent to turn the people’s hearts back to him. He claimed that the people didn’t know their master and didn’t realize he cared for them. They continued to go through the motion but their hearts were not in it. God said that he hated the hypocrisy of their acts of worship. He called them to repent. He promised to make their scarlet sins as white as snow. *** God proposed to take care of them and be their providers if they would turn and stop oppressing their neighbors. Isaiah warned them of God’s judgement. *** In the last days, the mountain of the Lord’s house would be the highest of all and the most important place on the earth. It will be the one the people stream to. The people will walk in his ways and obey his teachings. We will no longer war with each other but they will plant for the future. We will plan for life, not death. It will be the enemies of God who will be running to hide under the ground. They will try to escape the judgment of the Lord. *** I can’t think of a time whey Isaiah is not more relevant. This is what we are experiencing in our nation and in the world. We do not need to fear these people who are ruling; the ones who think they are so important. They will soon be hiding in their tunnels and running for their lives. We will occupy their mountains because the kingdoms of the world will become the kingdoms of our God. *** Paul was going through the same spiritual warfare that Isaiah was going through. Paul told us that we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s weapons to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy the pride that keeps people from knowing God. *** Paul defended his God-given authority. His boast was in the Lord and what he had done. *** Lord, our boast is in You and what you have done in our lives and in our nation. You will defeat our enemies because they are your enemies. We will be like olive trees, thriving in the house of God.