Wed.’s Devo - The End!

Read Isa. 66

This is the final message of Isaiah describing true worship in the millennial reign. God is responding to Isaiah’s prayer. He made everything there is so there is nothing that we can give to God that he could inhabit except a contrite spirit who feared him. All our sacrifices mean nothing without the right heart. Because his people refused to listen to his prophets he will cause the things that they feared upon them. He will not listen when they cry out because they chose to sin and turn from his ways. But to those who do fear him and love him God will exalt in front of their enemies.

Jerusalem is pictured as a woman bringing forth a baby. She is to rejoice for she will bring this child forth in joy. She will prosper in peace and many Gentile will call her their home. God will once again bring comfort and blessing to Jerusalem. He will extend his hand and do wonders for his people and turn against their enemies. He will come with fire and judgment. He will kill many of his enemies. The nations shall be gathered to see his glory. People in far away places that haven’t heard of the power of God will hear and glorify God. They will come as an army to the mountain of Jerusalem bringing gifts into the house of the Lord. God will appoint from them new priests and Levites for the temple. The new heavens and the new earth will remain forever. They will look on the judgment of the wicked and be repulsive to everyone who sees them.

Lord, you are God Almighty who is all-knowing, all-seeing, and all wisdom. To your name be the glory! Amen!

Tues.’s Devo - God’s Response

Read Isa. 65:1-25

This is God’s response to Isaiah’s prayer. God has made himself available to those that were not even looking for him. He has reached out to nations that were not called his. He has reached out to people who did not reach back, whose thoughts were only of themselves. He has endured their idol worship, their detestable sins, and their arrogance till his cup of anger is finally full. It is time for judgment. But even though the sins of their fathers have caused most of God’s anger he sees that there is this remnant he refers to as “new wine” that has come forth and for their sake he will save them. From this remnant he will bring forth Jesus from the tribe of Judah. He will inherit the mountains of Jerusalem and my people will live there. But for those who forsook the Lord, they will die in battle. They will die spiritually hungry, thirsty, and ashamed. While my true disciples will be singing and rejoicing, they will be crying for sorrow and affliction. Their name will be remembered as a curse because God will kill them and leave their inheritance to his people. Then God will usher in a new millennium: new heavens and a new earth and we will not even remember the last earth. We can rejoice is what God is going to do because it will cause Jerusalem to rejoice and the people to have joy. They will no longer cry or weep. People of that dispensation will not die before their time. They will live to be 100 and build houses and live in them. We will eat the fruit of our labor and not have loss. They will be a righteous seed so whatever we plant will be blessed of the Lord. They will walk with God like Adam did in the garden. God will hear their thoughts and answer them before they have time to voice their petition. Even the animals will live in peace with one another. There will be no violence in Jerusalem. Whether or not we will be present in this millennium I don’t know but I do know that if will be glorious and God does all things good.

Lord, you always have a happy ending for you children. Thank you, that we can trust you even if we don’t understand it all.

Mon.’s Devo - Deliver us!

Read Isa. 63:15-64:12

We are in the middle of Isaiah’s prayer to the Lord for deliverance. He is crying out for mercy. He reminds God that they are his children even though they have never met Abraham. Since God has redeemed his people in the past, he is asking God to do it again. He is asking God the age-old question: Why did you make man to sin? He reminds God that they are his inheritance. They had once worshiped Him in the Temple in Jerusalem until the Babylonians destroyed it. He pleads with God to rip open the heavens and come down and let his fire burn up his enemies. If God did what he did on Mt. Sinai then the people would tremble. God has done great things on the earth, so great, that we could not have imagined them. In the same way, God has prepared some great things for his people to walk in, so great, that we could not have imagined them either. We can identify with their prayer in that we are all sinners who have fallen short of God’s righteousness but we acknowledge that God made us and we are the work of his hand sent to this earth to display his glory and works. We can join Israel in crying out for the Lord to visit us and deliver us from the oppression we are in.

Lord, bring salvation to the world and let us be a part of it. Let our lives shine forth your light to a dark and dying world.

Fri.’s Devo - Mighty to Deliver

Read Isa. 63:1-14

This chapter is a description of the “day of vengeance when Jesus comes back”. He is depicted as a warrior coming back from battle stained with the blood of the enemies of the Israelites from Edom and Bosrah. When Jesus returns he will avenge Israel in the battle of Armageddon. In verses 7-12 the righteous remnant cry out to the Lord for help. They are in captivity in Babylon. Isaiah is praying for the nation, looking back to what God has done for them in the past. He delivered them from the bondage of the Egyptians and became their Savior. But Israel rebelled against the Lord, so He disciplined them . then the Lord sent Moses to deliver them from Egypt., bringing them safely through the Red Sea by miraculously dividing the waters. The Lord brought them safely into the promised land and gave them rest. This is God’s whole plan. He wants us to realize the bondage of the devil that we live in and cry to him for salvation. Once saved then He goes with us through out lives giving us peace from our enemies and teaching us to fight that he might bring us into a place of rest in Him. We can experience this rest right here on earth or we can wait to get it in heaven but God’s desire is that we experience it here on earth. It gives him more glory that way. What ever we are going through it is good to know that God is not lost and he has already planned our deliverance. We just need to trust in Him.

Lord, you are the mighty deliverer; great in battle. Thank you that you fight for us and you bring victory. We give you our failures and our weaknesses and we trust in you power to deliver.

Thurs.’s Devo - Redemption for Israel

Read Isa. 62:1-12

Most commentators put this chapter in the Millennium but I am not sure. It is too easy to put everything in the Millennium that we don’t understand. I believe that Israel is going to be the head and not the tail here on earth before this whole thing comes to an end. So whether this is pre or post-millennium it still means the same. God’s righteousness is going to shine forth as a lamp. I think we are living in verse 2 where the Gentiles see this righteousness and receive a new name. We have come to the truth and are waiting for Israel to have their eyes opened to the truth of Jesus, the Messiah. When they do God is going to redeem their land and marry them once again. Prophets will prophecy once again in the streets of Jerusalem the word of the Lord. Jerusalem will be exalted in all the earth. They will harvest what they plant and get to keep it for themselves. They will once again do everything for God’s glory and he will set his blessing upon Jerusalem once again. Everyone will understand that Israel is God’s people and He did not forsake them.

Lord, you are the hope of your people and you never disappoint. Open the eyes of your people to see your loving hand extended to them.

I dreamed last night that I was in a strange place. An old Asian man asked me if I knew how to live forever. I told him I did and he listened intently as I told him God’s plan of salvation. We both teared up when I talked about Jesus. I asked him if he had ever heard of the name Jesus and he said “No”. He asked me why I didn’t tell everybody about this. Good question!

Wed.’s Devo - Why He Came

Read Isa. 61:1-11

This is another favorite chapter in Isaiah. It is a Messianic prophecy. Jesus quoted the first 2 verses in Luke 4:18 only he stopped before he got to the place that said ”the day of vengeance of our God”. He then closed the book and said, “today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” He stopped there because it was not the time of vengeance but of salvation. When he comes back he will be able to fulfill the last part. Jesus came with a mission which was to preach the good news, heal the broken hearts, speak freedom to those who were in bondage, to set free those who were in prison and to proclaim that this was the day of salvation. He came to give comfort to all who were mourning and to turn their failures to something beautiful and to give them joy instead of sadness, joy instead of depression, and that they may be firmly planted in God. He came to build back things that had been torn down in their lives and repair things that had been destroyed. He was speaking of bloodline curses and old prophesies that they hadn’t seen come to pass. He came to give them hope and faith. He came to make them the head and not the tail - the ruler and not the slave. He came to let them know who they were in him: Priests of the Lord, Ministers of the Lord. He came to give them a double portion of inheritance. He came to clothe us in the robes of righteousness so that we could bloom on the earth.

Lord, may we live out everything you came for. May our lives make you glad you came and make you smile.

Tues.’s Devo- Jerusalem in the Millenium

Read Isa. 60:1-22

These verses describe the what will happen on the earth in Jerusalem during the Millennium . The glory of the Lord will shine over the earth and dispel the darkness. The Gentiles and all the leaders of the earth will come to the light and knowledge of the Lord. God’s people from all over the earth will stream to Jerusalem bringing wealth and praise. They will all come with one purpose in mind: to worship God and the place will be full of the glory of God. The gates of Jerusalem will stay open day and night because of the great influx of people streaming to Jerusalem. Israel’s enemies will humbly come and acknowledge that Jerusalem is the city of the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. Jerusalem that was once a desolate land will become excellent and full of joy. Wisdom, knowledge, understanding, peace and righteousness will reign. The natural sun will be replaced with the light of God just like it was at the beginning of time. Israel will be their inheritance forever and its inhabitant will be righteous because God’s promises are true. He will do what he has promised he will do.

Lord, what a day this will be. Thank you that you are true to your promises.