100th Week, Isaiah Chapters 24-27 (Click on the Title for Video Introduction)

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Click on Title for Video Introduction


Monday, Isaiah Chapter 24
Isaiah 24
Verse 16
Mindy Strayer

Verse 16:  From the ends of the earth, we hear singing: “Glory to the Righteous One.”

THOUGHT
This is one of those chapters where one can gain a better understanding of God’s judgment on earth and why He is a God to be feared. 

The Lord God Almighty does hate sin. He will punish and destroy all sin one day. When Christ returns, all will be affected. The lowliest of people will confront Christ. Those with power, authority, and rank on earth will answer to the Lord as well. No one can ignore His Lordship. Those who have rejected
Jesus Christ will be punished. Those who have accepted Christ and are covered with the blood of Jesus, those who have lived according to God’s will, will all be singing praises to God. Glory to the Righteous One!  Justice has been served, and we will live and reign with Him forever.

It is so important for us to tell of God’s love. To tell about the life found in Jesus Christ. God’s greatest desire is that all come to Him through faith in Jesus Christ. To love Him as He loves us. That should be
our most important desire as well, to love God and to help bring others into His kingdom so that they too can know the Lord and reign with Him forevermore.

PRAYER
Lord, we give You praise. We give You glory. We give You honor. We are thankful for Your Word that tells us of Your holiness and righteousness.  We are so thankful that You are a God that hates sin, for where would we be if You did not. We are thankful that You loved us so much, that You sent us a Savior, Your only Son, to die and take away the sin of the whole world. Help us to lead lives that glorify and honor you. In Jesus Name. AMEN


Tuesday, Isaiah Chapter 25
Isaiah 25
Verse 1
Mindy Strayer

Verse 1:  O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.

THOUGHT
I loved this chapter! What an awesome time it will be when Christ returns!  I can’t wait for this big feast that God is going to prepare. I sure hope he has desert! HA!!! God has great and marvelous things planned for when Christ returns.

Chapter 25 says that God will silence those that work against Him, He will prepare a feast for all people, He will swallow up death, He will wipe away tears from all faces, He will permanently remove sin. How incredible!

Verse one of Chapter 25 makes a statement as to exalting and praising God for all the marvelous things that He has done. This made me think about what awesome things God has done for us already and is doing for us right now. If we were to sit down and make a list of all the times God did marvelous things for us, we would never stop writing. Christ lives in us today. 

We don’t have to wait around for the 2nd coming to enjoy God’s perfect faithfulness. He is faithful now and always! I know that sometimes for me God’s faithfulness goes completely unnoticed or easily forgotten at best. We get caught up in life’s events without giving a thought to who it was that planned those events in the first place. This is one reason why our prayer time with the Lord is so important. We need to reflect back on what God is doing in our lives, say thank you, and give Him praise.

PRAYER
God, we praise You for Your never-ending faithfulness. We say thank You for all of the wonderful and awesome plans that You have made for all of our lives. Thank You for the gift of prayer. I pray that our prayer lives would grow stronger every day. Thank You, Jesus, for being God’s greatest example of faithfulness. AMEN


Wednesday, Isaiah Chapter 26
Isaiah 26
Verse 3
Mindy Strayer

Verse 3:  You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.

THOUGHT
How fortunate we are as Christians to be able to have real peace, perfect peace. Because of God we always have hope, no matter what the situation. When hardships come our way, our faith in God supports us and gets us through. God doesn’t run away when we struggle in life. He stays close. He is the one who keeps our attitude steady and stable.

Have you ever thought about those times when you are facing a difficult challenge or are hearing some bad news? And instead of feeling down and depressed, or angry and frustrated, you feel calm, reassured, and confident. The feeling might even cause you to smile, not a toothy, “I am having a blast” smile, but a, “I’m at peace because God is in control.” kind of smile. It certainly doesn’t happen in every situation, for some things are too painful. But, when you do get hit with that comforting peaceful feeling, that is God protecting you. 

Philippians 4:7 says that the peace of God transcends all understanding, and it will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Before even asking God for peace,  He provides it. Keeping our hearts and minds centered on God and trusting Him with our whole life will get us through any and all situations. I pray we can remember that the next time we face a trial.

PRAYER
Lord, we thank You for providing us with Your peace. We thank You for staying near to us and being our support, our Rock for eternity. Thank You for smoothing out the bumps in our life and making our paths straight when we get turned around. Help us to trust You with everything in our life knowing that You are in control and love us unconditionally forevermore.  In Jesus Name. AMEN


Thursday, Isaiah Chapter 27
Isaiah 27
Verse 11
Mindy Strayer

Verse 11:  And it’s not a bad place to get firewood. Dry twigs and dead branches are plentiful. It’s the leavings of a people with no sense of God. So, the God who made them will have nothing to do with them. He who formed them will turn his back on them.

THOUGHT
This is Isaiah describing the state of Israel’s spiritual life. For me, it made me think of this being a description of what will be left in the world when Christ returns and takes His followers home with Him. The spiritual life of the people left is being compared to dried-up twigs and dead branches. The people will be useless and dead in sin. They are equated to nothing more than being good for firewood to be burned up.  Much worse is that God will leave them for good, because they never knew Him; because they chose not to understand Him. 

I am at a loss for words in describing how horrid that would be. Just hearing the words, ‘God will have nothing to do with them, and He will turn His back on them.’ says it all.  There is coming a time when God’s patience will run out on those with whom His favor does not rest. We know that God is longsuffering, because His desire is that none would perish but all come to repentance. However, He will not put up with the sin and iniquity of His people forever. 

Eventually, God will destroy the sin of the earth. The world’s views will not gain favor with God. We must live according to God’s views. We must pray for discernment between what is of God and what is not of God. So, knowing the outcome of the world, and its views, and its standards, why do we put our hope, our confidence, and our expectation in the world? Let us put our hope, our confidence and our expectation in God. Let us trust in Him.

PRAYER
Lord, give us the strength to continue to spread the good news of Jesus Christ to all! Buildup in our hearts a strong desire to tell the world of Your goodness and love. Give us the spirit of discernment so that we may live as You have called us to. Help us to continue to trust You with our whole life knowing that You will never leave us. In Jesus Name. AMEN


Friday, PEACE
Perfect Peace Devotion taken from Max Lucado's book Grace for the Moment.

Verse:  Phil. 4:7   His peace will guard your heart and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.  

Believing prayer ushers in God's peace.  Not a random, vague, earthly peace, but his peace.  Imported from heaven.  The same tranquility that marks the throne room God offers to you.  

Do you think he battles anxiety?  You suppose he ever wrings his hands or asks the angels for antacids?  Of course not.  A problem is no more a challenge to God than a twig is to an elephant.  God enjoys perfect peace because God enjoys perfect power.  

And he offers his peace to you.  A peace that will "guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."  Paul employs a military metaphor here.  The Philippians, living in a garrison town, were accustomed to the Roman sentries maintaining their watch.  Before any enemy cold get inside, he had to pass through the guards.  God gives you the same offer.  His supernatural peace overshadows you, guarding your heart.  




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