Wed.’s Devo - God is in Control

Read: Isaiah 43:14-45:10; Ephesians 3:1-21; Psalm 68:1-18; Proverbs 24:1-2 This is a long reading today but as you are reading it notice how God takes responsibility for all he did. He forced the Babylonians to flee from the army he sent. He called the army of Egypt to chase them to the Red Sea so He could drown them. He made a river through the desert for them. *** Then God let them know what they did. They burdened him with their sins and wearied him with their faults. They refused to give him the correct offerings but instead made idols and worshipped them. So God had to proclaim their sentence. Their priests would be disgraced, Jacob would be destroyed and Israel would be shamed. *** Still, God forgives their sins, helps them and promises to pour out his Spirit on their descendants. They would be blessed and honor the Lord. Those who worship idols would be shamed and disgraced. *** God calls them to return to him. He calls his creation to respond to what he is doing on the earth. Creation will sing and shout for joy when God redeems his people and is glorified through them. *** The Lord makes sure we know that he is in control. He is the one who created the earth and the heavens. He will expose the false prophets, the fortune tellers and the wise men of the day. They are all fools compared to his wisdom. *** God named the person who he would make things right through. His name is Cyrus. This was prophesied 200 years before Cyrus came to power in Persia and declared he wanted to rebuild a Temple to the Lord in Jerusalem. God carries out the words of his prophets. Cyrus would take down the mighty kings around him and he would control their treasures. *** Righteousness and salvation would be poured out on the earth. God would do all this for his chosen people. But, woe to those who opposed him and those who didn’t recognize how he was using Cyrus for his purposes. It is God’s business why he chose Cyrus. *** Today, we have a modern day Cyrus named Donald John Trump. He is doing this exact thing on the earth. He had brought peace to seven wars and is establishing peace and God’s honor back to the whole earth. God is doing this for his name sake and because of his great love for us. *** God was doing something new in the days of the apostles. Jesus had opened the way for all men, Jews and Gentiles to come into his family. God’s plan was to use the Church to display God’s wisdom to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. *** Lord, I pray that you will empower us through your Spirit with strength so that we can understand, experience, and be filled with God’s love and power.