105th Week Isaiah Chapters 45-49 ( Click on Title for Video Introduction)

Click on Title for Video Introduction

Monday, Isaiah Chapter 45

Isaiah 45

Verse 7

Jane Jones

Verse 7:  “I form the light and create darkness, 

             I bring prosperity and create disaster;

               I, the Lord, do all these things.”

THOUGHT

God is ruler over light and darkness, over prosperity and disaster. Our lives are sprinkled with both types of experiences, and both are needed for us to grow spiritually. When good times come, thank God and use your prosperity for Him. When bad times come, don’t resent them, but ask what you can learn from this refining experience to make you a better servant of God. When bad times or hurts come, our first reaction is ‘why’ to God. We feel hurt, angry, depressed, and lonely.  Next time when that happens, let’s try to ask what we can learn from all of this, as hard as this is. Who knows, we may be surprised by the quick response from God.

God isn’t going to let us see the distant scene, so we might as well quit looking for it.  He promises a lamp unto our feet, not a crystal ball into the future.  We do not need to know what will happen tomorrow.  We only need to know He leads. Thank You, God.

PRAYER

In the quiet of the late evening, Jesus, I just ask for Your miraculous intervention in my families’ circumstances. We all have things we are dealing with right now. You know them all by name, and You know each and every circumstance. Please teach us through our trials. We pray that we will give You time to speak to us.  We love You, Jesus. AMEN

Tuesday, Isaiah Chapter 46

Isaiah 46

Verse 4

Jane Jones

Verse 4:  Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, 

            I am He who will sustain you.

          I have made you and I will carry you;

            I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”

THOUGHT

Our God created us and cares for us. His love is so enduring that He will care for us throughout our lifetime and even through death. The part of the verse that I love is “I have made you and I will carry you”. This tells me that even in our fatigue and exhaustion, our sickness and sorrow, our brokenness and tiredness, He will always carry us. 

“Footprints in the sand.” How awesome to refresh our minds on this before we go to sleep. Tanya Jane, in your stress and exhaustion tonight from moving, look to God to carry you tomorrow, and He will. Heather, look to God to carry you home to Jeanie and Rory safely in your new car. Matt and Kristen, look to God to carry you through one more week with His unfailing love.

“Why would heaven’s finest son endure earth’s toughest pain?"

  So you would know that

    “he is able...to run to the cry of...

      those who are being tempted and tested

        and tried” Hebrew 2:18

WHATEVER YOU ARE FACING, HE KNOWS HOW YOU FEEL.

PRAYER 

Philippians 4:6-7 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” AMEN 

Wednesday, Isaiah Chapter 47 (A thought for Moms and family)

Isaiah 47

Verse 11

Jane Jones

Verse 11:  “Disaster will come upon you,

              and you will not know how to conjure it away.

            A calamity will fall upon you

              that you cannot ward off with a ransom;

            a catastrophe you cannot foresee

              will suddenly come upon you.”

THOUGHT

Isaiah predicted the fall of Babylon more than 150 years before it happened. Caught up in the pursuit of power and pleasure, Babylon believed in its own greatness. People believe that disaster won’t hit with plenty of power.  But woe to those who believe that. Our society is addicted to pleasure and power, but these can quickly pass away. Look at your own life and ask yourself how you can be more responsible with the talents and possessions God has given you. How can you use your life for God’s honor rather than your own?

Family, in closing my week out and with Mother’s Day near, I can’t help but take this time to pay tribute to my Mom. She was a great lady. One who I tried to emulate on a daily basis. For all of those who knew her not, I so wished you had. For all of those who knew her, what a blessing your life has been given. She was a friend, a mentor, and a living example of what it meant to be a Christian and live and walk as Christ walked.

On our bedroom wall I have a frame that Gary made for me. It is a side by side 5x7 one. Mom’s picture is on one side and a sympathy card we received at her funeral on the other. It reads as follows:

‘We can’t know why some things happen...but we can know that love and beautiful memories outlast the pain of grief. And we can know that there is a place inside the heart where love lives always, and where nothing beautiful can ever be forgotten.”

Mom, you will never be forgotten. You will live on and on in your children and their children and their children and their children...for you are that beautiful creation of God’s that will never be forgotten. Thanks for everything, Mom. We love you.

PRAYER

Lord in Heaven, I pray for all the Moms in our Bible Study - Jeanie, Linda, Tanya, Delores, Jan-O, Stacy, and Jane. We thank You for these moms and for the sacrifices they have made in being a mom. Some days are really hard, Lord. But some days are so rewarding. We thank You for the examples that have been placed in front of us as tools to show us the way. Lord, Your greatness is so awesome.  The love You put in a Mother’s Heart is indescribable. Happy Mother’s Day!! I love you all. I love, You, Jesus. AMEN

Thursday, Isaiah Chapter 48

Isaiah 48

Verse 20

Bart Strayer

Verse 20:  Go forth from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! Declare with the sound of joyful shouting, proclaim this, and send it out to the end of the earth; Say, “The LORD has redeemed His servant Jacob.”

Jeremiah 50:8 (NAS) Wander away from the midst of Babylon and go forth from the land of the Chaldeans; Be also like male goats at the head of the flock. “For behold, I am going to arouse and bring up against Babylon a horde of great nations from the land of the north, and they will draw up their battle lines against her.

THOUGHT

The nations from the north were the Meso—Persian Empire that would then capture Babylon. Can you image the joy that the people were feeling after the repression of an entire nation?

I have to mention these verses.  These words in Isaiah and Jeremiah are biblically and historically significant. After the capture of Judah (end of  2 Kings) the people of Israel/Judah spent 70 years in captivity in Babylon. Both Isaiah and Jeremiah foretold of their release (release is documented in the book of Ezra).  It represented the end of a long journey of the destruction of the nations of Israel/Judah.

Like these people, when we are neck deep in discouragement, it is easy to forget/underestimate the promises of God.

PRAYER

Dear Jesus, we thank You for this time in Your Word this week. We thank You for the words You spoke through Your prophets. Speak to us through Your Word. Lift us up during our times of difficulty and uncertainty. Help us to understand the fullness of the love You have for us so that we may show the world the love of Jesus Christ. We love You!  In Your Name we pray. AMEN

Friday, Isaiah Chapter 49

Isaiah 49

Verses 14-16

Mindy Strayer

Verses 14-16:  (The Message) But Zion said, “I don’t get it. GOD has left me. My Master has forgotten I even exist.” Can a mother forget the infant at her breast, walk away from the baby she bore? But even if mothers forget, I would never forget you--never.  Look, I’ve written your names on the backs of my hands. The walls you’re rebuilding are never out of my sight.

THOUGHT

Through Isaiah, God speaks to Israel and tells the people of His promise for restoration and victory. Isaiah speaks of the Messiah who would come to redeem not only Israel, but also the whole world unto Himself.  In waiting for God to act on their part, Israel felt that God had left and forgot them.

The commentary on the application part of my Bible spoke about why Israel had felt God had left them. What is it that keeps God apart from us? Is it God just choosing out of the blue to say, “Oh, I think I will stay away from my people for a time, I’ve lingered on in their lives for too long, I’ve blessed them one too many times, I’m bored with them, I need to move on.”  No, we know that God has told us, “I will never leave you nor will I forsake you.” 

So why did Israel feel like God had forgotten them? The fault lay within themselves. They had sinned against God, and the sin had pulled them away from God. The sin covered their faces, and they could no longer see God. God cannot be near to us when we sin.  But, praise Him because He is gracious and full of mercy. When He does withdraw His presence, He returns to His seat of mercy, and waits until His people feel His absence, confess their sin and return to Him.  HOSEA 5:15 says, “I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.”  

Praise God for Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross!! Our names are written on the back of His hands.  One Bible translation says that our picture is tattooed on Christ’s hands, never to be forgotten. When judgment of sin comes upon us, Christ covers us up with His nail-scarred hands, and the wrath of God passes us by. Our sin has been erased, and we are holy before God the Father.

Remember that God NEVER forgets about us. If ever we begin to feel as if we are not close to God, we must look within ourselves to find out why.  Even in that, we are not alone. Ask God to point out what is blocking you from Him. He will show you. He has promised us that when we seek God we will find Him.

PRAYER

God, we pray that Your Word would be tattooed in our hearts so that we would not be apart from You. Thank You, God, for sending us Your Son. How grateful we are for Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross. Jesus himself is Your promise to us that we will never be forgotten. Jesus, how precious You are to us. We thank You for the work of Your hands on Calvary, and now in heaven as they are ever making intercessions before the Father on our behalf. We love You, Lord. AMEN