Category Archives: Character of God

Blessed, Interceding for Others, Learning To Pray Effectively, Loving / Kind

May His Face Radiate with Joy Because of You

What a beautiful blessing we find in Numbers 6, intended for the audience of Aaron and his sons. I pray this now for myself, those close to me, and also for pastors and leaders who follow Christ with a genuine heart. I pray it for those reading through the scriptures with me daily… and I sure appreciate if / when you pray for me as well.

Numbers 6:22-27

      22Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 23“Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them:

      24The LORD bless you, and keep you;

      25The LORD make His face shine on you,
And be gracious to you;

      26The LORD lift up His countenance on you,
And give you peace.’

27“So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them.”

Another translation captures verse 24-26 slightly differently… “may the Lord’s face radiate with joy because of you”. I certainly want to have that relationship with Him and please Him in that way. I want other brothers and sisters in Christ to do so as well.

Numbers 6:24-26 Living Bible (TLB)

24-26 ‘May the Lord bless and protect you; may the Lord’s face radiate with joy because of you; may he be gracious to you, show you his favor, and give you his peace.’

Take some time this morning and pray for yourself, your family, brothers and sisters in Christ, and for whomever else you feel led to pray for today.

May the grace and peace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, be with you.

—-

Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

All Powerful / King of All, Justice / Judgment, Protector / Deliverer, Worthy of Fear / Reverence

God Is in Control Even in Hard Times

Isaiah 13 contains prophecies about Babylon. Isaiah is speaking from before the time when Babylon carried off God’s people into captivity. He does not specifically foretell the captivity, but he prophecies about Babylon facing judgment and being taken down by the Medes and Persians. Babylon was to be used by God to discipline His people, but their pride was not to be ignored. God already knew before He used them that He would also raise up the Medes and Persians to strike down the Babylonians and set His people free from captivity.

While some of these specific prophecies may seem unimportant on the surface to some today as “irrelevant”, I see several ways in which they are encouraging and relevant. When God brings judgment against His people or when we are in a difficult situation, He already knows how to deliver us, assuming we repent and turn to Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Even if we have done nothing wrong and are facing hard times, like Job, then we can still be encouraged that our Father already knows how and when He will deliver us.

This scripture also reminds us that God loves us. He will discipline those He loves. Do not think He is unwilling to use the godless to do so. He uses them for His own purposes. Sometimes they will appear to have victory for a while, and we may wonder why. However, God already knows how it will end.

Isaiah 13

Prophecies about Babylon

      1The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.

      2Lift up a standard on the bare hill,
Raise your voice to them,
Wave the hand that they may enter the doors of the nobles.

      3I have commanded My consecrated ones,
I have even called My mighty warriors,
My proudly exulting ones,
To execute My anger.

      4A sound of tumult on the mountains,
Like that of many people!
A sound of the uproar of kingdoms,
Of nations gathered together!
The LORD of hosts is mustering the army for battle.

      5They are coming from a far country,
From the farthest horizons,
The LORD and His instruments of indignation,
To destroy the whole land.

Judgment on the Day of the LORD

6Wail, for the day of the LORD is near!
It will come as destruction from the Almighty.

      7Therefore all hands will fall limp,
And every man’s heart will melt.

      8They will be terrified,
Pains and anguish will take hold of them;
They will writhe like a woman in labor,
They will look at one another in astonishment,
Their faces aflame.

      9Behold, the day of the LORD is coming,
Cruel, with fury and burning anger,
To make the land a desolation;
And He will exterminate its sinners from it.

      10For the stars of heaven and their constellations
Will not flash forth their light;
The sun will be dark when it rises
And the moon will not shed its light.

      11Thus I will punish the world for its evil
And the wicked for their iniquity;
I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud
And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless.

      12I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold
And mankind than the gold of Ophir.

      13Therefore I will make the heavens tremble,
And the earth will be shaken from its place
At the fury of the LORD of hosts
In the day of His burning anger.

      14And it will be that like a hunted gazelle,
Or like sheep with none to gather them,
They will each turn to his own people,
And each one flee to his own land.

      15Anyone who is found will be thrust through,
And anyone who is captured will fall by the sword.

      16Their little ones also will be dashed to pieces
Before their eyes;
Their houses will be plundered
And their wives ravished.

Babylon Will Fall to the Medes

17Behold, I am going to stir up the Medes against them,
Who will not value silver or take pleasure in gold.

      18And their bows will mow down the young men,
They will not even have compassion on the fruit of the womb,
Nor will their eye pity children.

      19And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldeans’ pride,
Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

      20It will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation;
Nor will the Arab pitch his tent there,
Nor will shepherds make their flocks lie down there.

      21But desert creatures will lie down there,
And their houses will be full of owls;
Ostriches also will live there, and shaggy goats will frolic there.

      22Hyenas will howl in their fortified towers
And jackals in their luxurious palaces.
Her fateful time also will soon come
And her days will not be prolonged.

Be encouraged that God is never surprised. When He brings or allows difficulty for His people, He already knows how and when He will end it. In this way it is not unlike a parent disciplining a child. They may send the child to their room or ground them for a period of time, but they already know it will end. The child need only focus on obedience and humility, not how or when the situation will end.

I invite you to pray with me:

Father, thank You for encouraging us through Your scripture. Thank You for loving us enough to keep directing us back to You. Help us to trust in You even during the hard times or when it seems like the godless have victory over Your people. You are worthy of praise and trust in all situations. Let us be encouraged to know that You are always in control!

Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

 

All Powerful / King of All, Hope, Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Peace / Rest, Prophecy, Through Prophets

Find Peace Today Reflecting on the Return of the King

Isaiah 11 refers to the 1,000-year rule of Yeshua on earth (also referenced in Revelation 20:4-6) after He comes a second time. God brings earth and its people back under His rule. It will be very much like the days of the Garden of Eden before sin entered through Adam and Eve. I find hope, joy and peace fill me when I seriously look forward to such a time. The more real I let it feel in my mind, the greater and more encouraging my experience. It is good to look ahead and understand where we will finish from time to time. It can help take away some of the stress of the current situation in the world.

Isaiah 11

Righteous Reign of the Branch

1Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse,
And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.

      2The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him,
The spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The spirit of counsel and strength,
The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

      3And He will delight in the fear of the LORD,
And He will not judge by what His eyes see,
Nor make a decision by what His ears hear;

      4But with righteousness He will judge the poor,
And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth;
And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.

      5Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins,
And faithfulness the belt about His waist.

      6And the wolf will dwell with the lamb,
And the leopard will lie down with the young goat,
And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
And a little boy will lead them.

      7Also the cow and the bear will graze,
Their young will lie down together,
And the lion will eat straw like the ox.

      8The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra,
And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den.

      9They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain,
For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
As the waters cover the sea.

      10Then in that day
The nations will resort to the root of Jesse,
Who will stand as a signal for the peoples;
And His resting place will be glorious.

The Restored Remnant

11Then it will happen on that day that the Lord
Will again recover the second time with His hand
The remnant of His people, who will remain,
From Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath,
And from the islands of the sea.

      12And He will lift up a standard for the nations
And assemble the banished ones of Israel,
And will gather the dispersed of Judah
From the four corners of the earth.

      13Then the jealousy of Ephraim will depart,
And those who harass Judah will be cut off;
Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah,
And Judah will not harass Ephraim.

      14They will swoop down on the slopes of the Philistines on the west;
Together they will plunder the sons of the east;
They will possess Edom and Moab,
And the sons of Ammon will be subject to them.

      15And the LORD will utterly destroy
The tongue of the Sea of Egypt;
And He will wave His hand over the River
With His scorching wind;
And He will strike it into seven streams
And make men walk over dry-shod.

      16And there will be a highway from Assyria
For the remnant of His people who will be left,
Just as there was for Israel
In the day that they came up out of the land of Egypt.

Take some time to imagine yourself in this place in the future, under Yeshua’s rule on the physical earth. Experience the peace and hope in your mind and soul. Let it refresh you as you remember that God is ultimately in control of all that is going on around us.

I invite you to pray with me:

Father, thank You for showing us a glimpse into the hopeful future! Thank You for Your promise to gather us together again when You return. Thank You for blessing and showing favor upon Your remnant that we flourish even in difficult times. In the name of Yeshua, our Messiah, we pray. Amen. 

Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Blessed, Curse, Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Grace / Forgiveness, Interceding for Others, Obeying God, Repenting from Sin, Seeking God

Pray for the USA to Turn Back to God and Become Again a Light to the Nations

The United States of America was founded based on Christian ideals and beliefs and a population by and large that accepted Christ as God. Unfortunately, over the past few hundred years we, as a nation, have largely turned their back on God and now embrace worship of self, worship of money, and many other sins. The word of God is tossed aside in favor of the wicked desires of men. God’s word shows us that when the people turn away from God, He removes His blessing. That does not mean He gives up on His people there, but rather that the country will suffer. There are consequences. The USA has great potential to serve God across the world if even those who already profess Yeshua with their lips would genuinely turn toward Him and change their behaviors and change what they accept from government policy. If the people demanded it from their politicians and leaders, our nation could once again be a light to the nation and the world. It starts with the people, not the politicians. It starts with you and me.

2 Chronicles 7:12-22

     12Then the LORD appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. 13“If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, 14and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15“Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place. 16“For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that My name may be there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. 17“As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, even to do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep My statutes and My ordinances, 18then I will establish your royal throne as I covenanted with your father David, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to be ruler in Israel.’

      19“But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, 20then I will uproot you from My land which I have given you, and this house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of My sight and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 21“As for this house, which was exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and say, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?’ 22“And they will say, ‘Because they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers who brought them from the land of Egypt, and they adopted other gods and worshiped them and served them; therefore He has brought all this adversity on them.’”

Please take some time to pray for repentance and mercy for the USA as leader of the free world but also for other nations globally in which there still remains a remnant of true disciples seeking to follow the Lord’s will.

Psalm 85

Prayer for God’s Mercy upon the Nation.

For the choir director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

     1O LORD, You showed favor to Your land;
You restored the captivity of Jacob.

      2You forgave the iniquity of Your people;
You covered all their sin.

Selah.

      3You withdrew all Your fury;
You turned away from Your burning anger.

      4Restore us, O God of our salvation,
And cause Your indignation toward us to cease.

      5Will You be angry with us forever?
Will You prolong Your anger to all generations?

      6Will You not Yourself revive us again,
That Your people may rejoice in You?

      7Show us Your lovingkindness, O LORD,
And grant us Your salvation.

      8I will hear what God the LORD will say;
For He will speak peace to His people, to His godly ones;
But let them not turn back to folly.

      9Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him,
That glory may dwell in our land.

      10Lovingkindness and truth have met together;
Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

      11Truth springs from the earth,
And righteousness looks down from heaven.

      12Indeed, the LORD will give what is good,
And our land will yield its produce.

      13Righteousness will go before Him
And will make His footsteps into a way.

Grace and peace of Yeshua be with you.
For more Biblical examples of prayer, and for personal prayer requests, please visit our Prayer Requests page.
Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.
Discipline / Guidance From God, Encouragement, Grace / Forgiveness, Hope, Justice / Judgment, Unteachable / Foolish, Wickedness / Evil, Worldliness

He Disciplines and Forgives Those He Loves

God has a pattern with His people. He brings correction when they turn away from Him and then He sustains a righteous remnant. Overall, He loves His people and wants them to return to Him. He wants what is best for them. If they have gone astray, they need correction to put them back on the right path. He gives them that. In some ways it is like how we guide our children that go astray. We discipline them but also accept them back in love. If you have ever met children that receive no boundaries or discipline, then you know why this is important. They are a mess. They get off track and stay there. Compare that to children who seem to always be on the right track… well mannered, respectful, helpful, etc. They have received discipline when needed and it shows.

Consider this example in Isaiah 9. God uses a godless nation to be His instrument of discipline to bring His people back to Him.

Isaiah 10

Assyria Is God’s Instrument

1Woe to those who enact evil statutes
And to those who constantly record unjust decisions,

      2So as to deprive the needy of justice
And rob the poor of My people of their rights,
So that widows may be their spoil
And that they may plunder the orphans.

      3Now what will you do in the day of punishment,
And in the devastation which will come from afar?
To whom will you flee for help?
And where will you leave your wealth?

      4Nothing remains but to crouch among the captives
Or fall among the slain.
In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away
And His hand is still stretched out.

      5Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger
And the staff in whose hands is My indignation,

      6I send it against a godless nation
And commission it against the people of My fury
To capture booty and to seize plunder,
And to trample them down like mud in the streets.

      7Yet it does not so intend,
Nor does it plan so in its heart,
But rather it is its purpose to destroy
And to cut off many nations.

      8For it says, “Are not my princes all kings?

      9“Is not Calno like Carchemish,
Or Hamath like Arpad,
Or Samaria like Damascus?

      10“As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols,
Whose graven images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,

      11Shall I not do to Jerusalem and her images
Just as I have done to Samaria and her idols?”

      12So it will be that when the Lord has completed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the pomp of his haughtiness.”

13For he has said,
“By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this,
For I have understanding;
And I removed the boundaries of the peoples
And plundered their treasures,
And like a mighty man I brought down their inhabitants,

      14And my hand reached to the riches of the peoples like a nest,
And as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth;
And there was not one that flapped its wing or opened its beak or chirped.”

      15Is the axe to boast itself over the one who chops with it?
Is the saw to exalt itself over the one who wields it?
That would be like a club wielding those who lift it,
Or like a rod lifting him who is not wood.

      16Therefore the Lord, the GOD of hosts, will send a wasting disease among his stout warriors;
And under his glory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame.

      17And the light of Israel will become a fire and his Holy One a flame,
And it will burn and devour his thorns and his briars in a single day.

      18And He will destroy the glory of his forest and of his fruitful garden, both soul and body,
And it will be as when a sick man wastes away.

      19And the rest of the trees of his forest will be so small in number
That a child could write them down.

A Remnant Will Return

      20Now in that day the remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.

      21A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.

      22For though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea,
Only a remnant within them will return;
A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.

23For a complete destruction, one that is decreed, the Lord GOD of hosts will execute in the midst of the whole land.

      24Therefore thus says the Lord GOD of hosts, “O My people who dwell in Zion, do not fear the Assyrian who strikes you with the rod and lifts up his staff against you, the way Egypt did. 25“For in a very little while My indignation against you will be spent and My anger will be directed to their destruction.” 26The LORD of hosts will arouse a scourge against him like the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb; and His staff will be over the sea and He will lift it up the way He did in Egypt. 27So it will be in that day, that his burden will be removed from your shoulders and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be broken because of fatness.

      28He has come against Aiath,
He has passed through Migron;
At Michmash he deposited his baggage.

      29They have gone through the pass, saying,
“Geba will be our lodging place.”
Ramah is terrified, and Gibeah of Saul has fled away.

      30Cry aloud with your voice, O daughter of Gallim!
Pay attention, Laishah and wretched Anathoth!

      31Madmenah has fled.
The inhabitants of Gebim have sought refuge.

      32Yet today he will halt at Nob;
He shakes his fist at the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.

      33Behold, the Lord, the GOD of hosts, will lop off the boughs with a terrible crash;
Those also who are tall in stature will be cut down
And those who are lofty will be abased.

      34He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an iron axe,
And Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.

We can find great hope and encouragement in these words as well as a stout warning against straying from God and His ways. Consider verses 24-25:

24Therefore thus says the Lord GOD of hosts, “O My people who dwell in Zion, do not fear the Assyrian who strikes you with the rod and lifts up his staff against you, the way Egypt did. 25“For in a very little while My indignation against you will be spent and My anger will be directed to their destruction.”

When you find yourself receiving discipline and correction from our Father, be encouraged. If you turn to Him with all your heart, His indignation against you will only last a little while. Then He will restore you, just as we would a loving parent to their child.

I invite you to pray with me:

Father, thank You that You are slow to anger. You are patient and loving and kind with Your people. Help us to be tuned in and listen well as the Spirit guides. Help us not to stray from You. If we do, thank You that You have made a way for us to be forgiven and reconciled through Yeshua. Thank You that You will give us the discipline we need but also invite us back to right relationship with You. Thank You that Your indignation will only last a little while. Your grace and mercy and forgiveness are enduring. Praise You in all things and all situations! We pray this in the name of Yeshua. Amen. 

Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Discipline / Guidance From God, Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Justice / Judgment, Loving / Kind, Rebuke Wrong Behavior, Repenting from Sin, Unteachable / Foolish, Worthy of Fear / Reverence

When God Calls Us to Change Course, We Have a Decision to Make

When God is sending a message to you to repent and turn back to Him, take heed. Do not ignore the difficulties he is sending your way or He may simply escalate them. He is calling you to repent. He is calling you to come back humbly to Him. He is calling you to walk away (or run away) from the things in your life that are not of Him.

Do not take the attitude that Israel took with God as recorded in Isaiah 9. They were arrogant and simply kept assuring themselves that they could handle it their own way, without turning back to God. If He loves you, and you are not listening, He will turn up the volume to get your attention. Better to listen early than to wait until full volume.

Isaiah 9:8-21

God’s Anger with Israel’s Arrogance

8The Lord sends a message against Jacob,
And it falls on Israel.

      9And all the people know it,
That is, Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,
Asserting in pride and in arrogance of heart:

      10“The bricks have fallen down,
But we will rebuild with smooth stones;
The sycamores have been cut down,
But we will replace them with cedars.”

      11Therefore the LORD raises against them adversaries from Rezin
And spurs their enemies on,

      12The Arameans on the east and the Philistines on the west;
And they devour Israel with gaping jaws.
In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away
And His hand is still stretched out.

      13Yet the people do not turn back to Him who struck them,
Nor do they seek the LORD of hosts.

      14So the LORD cuts off head and tail from Israel,
Both palm branch and bulrush in a single day.

      15The head is the elder and honorable man,
And the prophet who teaches falsehood is the tail.

      16For those who guide this people are leading them astray;
And those who are guided by them are brought to confusion.

      17Therefore the Lord does not take pleasure in their young men,
Nor does He have pity on their orphans or their widows;
For every one of them is godless and an evildoer,
And every mouth is speaking foolishness.
In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away
And His hand is still stretched out.

      18For wickedness burns like a fire;
It consumes briars and thorns;
It even sets the thickets of the forest aflame
And they roll upward in a column of smoke.

      19By the fury of the LORD of hosts the land is burned up,
And the people are like fuel for the fire;
No man spares his brother.

      20They slice off what is on the right hand but still are hungry,
And they eat what is on the left hand but they are not satisfied;
Each of them eats the flesh of his own arm.

      21Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh,
And together they are against Judah.
In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away
And His hand is still stretched out.

Take a few minutes to pray and quietly reflect on your own life. Ask the Spirit to show you specific areas in your life in which you need to repent and turn back to God. He may not answer you directly in your prayer time. He may answer you later. But try to take at least 5 minutes now and perhaps more later in the day and prayerfully reflect on this area of your life.

Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Blessed, Grace / Patience, Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Joy / Happiness / Rejoicing, Love, Money / Finances / Wealth, Patient, Peace / Rest

What Did Jesus Mean When He Promised an Abundant Life?

Today I am sharing some thoughts around abundant life which I found on GotQuestions.org. While we always want to test everything against scripture, I find that this is a well laid out site that has generally sound answers to many questions.

What did Jesus mean when He promised an abundant life?  (GotQuestions.org)

In John 10:10, Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (ESV). Unlike a thief, the Lord Jesus does not come for selfish reasons. He comes to give, not to get. He comes that people may have life in Him that is meaningful, purposeful, joyful, and eternal. We receive this abundant life the moment we accept Him as our Savior.

This word “abundant” in the Greek is perisson, meaning “exceedingly, very highly, beyond measure, more, superfluous, a quantity so abundant as to be considerably more than what one would expect or anticipate.” In short, Jesus promises us a life far better than we could ever imagine, a concept reminiscent of 1 Corinthians 2:9: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.” The apostle Paul tells us that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, and He does it by His power, a power that is at work within us if we belong to Him (Ephesians 3:20).

Before we begin to have visions of lavish homes, expensive cars, worldwide cruises, and more money than we know what to do with, we need to pause and think about what Jesus teaches regarding this abundant life. The Bible tells us that wealth, prestige, position, and power in this world are not God’s priorities for us (1 Corinthians 1:26-29). In terms of economic, academic, and social status, most Christians do not come from the privileged classes. Clearly, then, abundant life does not consist of an abundance of material things. If that were the case, Jesus would have been the wealthiest of men. But just the opposite is true (Matthew 8:20).

Abundant life is eternal life, a life that begins the moment we come to Christ and receive Him as Savior, and goes on throughout all eternity. The biblical definition of life — specifically eternal life — is provided by Jesus Himself: “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3). This definition makes no mention of length of days, health, prosperity, family, or occupation. As a matter of fact, the only thing it does mention is knowledge of God, which is the key to a truly abundant life.

What is the abundant life? First, abundance is spiritual abundance, not material. In fact, God is not overly concerned with the physical circumstances of our lives. He assures us that we need not worry about what we will eat or wear (Matthew 6:25-32; Philippians 4:19). Physical blessings may or may not be part of a God-centered life; neither our wealth nor our poverty is a sure indication of our standing with God. Solomon had all the material blessings available to a man yet found it all to be meaningless (Ecclesiastes 5:10-15). Paul, on the other hand, was content in whatever physical circumstances he found himself (Philippians 4:11-12).

Second, eternal life, the life a Christian is truly concerned with, is not determined by duration but by a relationship with God. This is why, once we are converted and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, we are said to have eternal life already (1 John 5:11-13), though not, of course, in its fullness. Length of life on earth is not synonymous with abundant life.

Finally, a Christian’s life revolves around “grow[ing] in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). This teaches us that the abundant life is a continual process of learning, practicing, and maturing, as well as failing, recovering, adjusting, enduring, and overcoming, because, in our present state, “we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror” (1 Corinthians 13:12). One day we will see God face to face, and we will know Him completely as we will be known completely (1 Corinthians 13:12). We will no longer struggle with sin and doubt. This will be the ultimately fulfilled abundant life.

Although we are naturally desirous of material things, as Christians our perspective on life must be revolutionized (Romans 12:2). Just as we become new creations when we come to Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), so must our understanding of “abundance” be transformed. True abundant life consists of an abundance of love, joy, peace, and the rest of the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), not an abundance of “stuff.” It consists of life that is eternal, and, therefore, our interest is in the eternal, not the temporal. Paul admonishes us, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:2-3).

When I think of the reasons why Jesus came, two come to mind. One is to live the perfect example we are to try to follow. The other is that our sins would be forgiven, and we can be reconciled to God. So then, I also conclude that if Jesus came so that we could live abundantly, that these two things are part of the abundant life. We are set free from bondage to sin so that we can walk in the ways of the LORD with the Spirit dwelling inside of us. Who the son sets free is free indeed!

I invite you to pray with me:

Father, thank You that Yeshua came that we may have abundant life. Help us to walk closely with You and to achieve that abundance. Let us not miss out on the best life that You have planned for us. Help us to renew our minds and walk in intimacy with You through the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us. Help us to live our lives full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Help us draw near to one another as fellow disciples and to You as our Lord and Father. In the name of Yeshua we pray. Amen. 

Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ

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The LORD Is Sanctuary for the Believing Remnant

God always seems to sustain a righteous, believing remnant among His people. Even as the nation around them falls away from God, there are some who still seek Him and who still try to live according to His ways. The context in Isaiah is similar. The nation has fallen away from God. There is war. There is a believing remnant.

What is fascinating is that in verse 14 we see that God can at once be a sanctuary for His remnant and also a stone to strike or stumble over for the rest of the nation. There is reason to be encouraged and hopeful for the remnant. God will come. Wait for the LORD and eagerly seek Him.

Do not be drawn astray by the rest of the lost in your nation, even those who claim to follow the LORD. Seek the LORD and wait for Him. Hold fast to His instructions. Seek God and God alone for sanctuary.

Isaiah 8:9-22

A Believing Remnant

9“Be broken, O peoples, and be shattered;
And give ear, all remote places of the earth.
Gird yourselves, yet be shattered;
Gird yourselves, yet be shattered.

      10“Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted;
State a proposal, but it will not stand,
For God is with us.”

      11For thus the LORD spoke to me with mighty power and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,

      12“You are not to say, ‘It is a conspiracy!’
In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy,
And you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it.

      13“It is the LORD of hosts whom you should regard as holy.
And He shall be your fear,
And He shall be your dread.

      14“Then He shall become a sanctuary;
But to both the houses of Israel, a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over,
And a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

      15“Many will stumble over them,
Then they will fall and be broken;
They will even be snared and caught.”

      16Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. 17And I will wait for the LORD who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; I will even look eagerly for Him. 18Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.

      19When they say to you, “Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,” should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? 20To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. 21They will pass through the land hard-pressed and famished, and it will turn out that when they are hungry, they will be enraged and curse their king and their God as they face upward. 22Then they will look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be driven away into darkness.

I continue to be struck by how closely the book of Isaiah applies to our nation even today. Most of what was a godly nation are lost. Many claim God in name only. Those of us who find ourselves the seemingly small but faithful remnant, should not lose heart. Be encouraged. Seek the LORD earnestly and eagerly. Trust in His instructions while we wait and do not listen to the ways of the nation around us.

I invite you to pray with me:

Father, thank You for hope and encouragement for Your faithful remnant. We eagerly seek You. Please turn the people’s hearts to You, many for the first time. Raise up the righteous to lead and have positions of authority throughout our nation in government, business, healthcare, education, and absolutely in Your church. Enlighten the minds of the people to understand and apply Your word and Your truth in our lives. In the name of Yeshua, our Messiah, we pray. Amen

Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

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The LORD Can Bring Down Your Enemies

The LORD has the power to bring down your enemies. When we face trial and tribulation in this world, we are not alone.

Isaiah 8:1-8

Damascus and Samaria Fall

      1Then the LORD said to me, “Take for yourself a large tablet and write on it in ordinary letters: Swift is the booty, speedy is the prey. 2“And I will take to Myself faithful witnesses for testimony, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.” 3So I approached the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. Then the LORD said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz; 4for before the boy knows how to cry out ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”

      5Again the LORD spoke to me further, saying,

      6“Inasmuch as these people have rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah
And rejoice in Rezin and the son of Remaliah;

      7“Now therefore, behold, the Lord is about to bring on them the strong and abundant waters of the Euphrates,
Even the king of Assyria and all his glory;
And it will rise up over all its channels and go over all its banks.

      8“Then it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass through,
It will reach even to the neck;
And the spread of its wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.

As we face difficulty and trials, remember that our LORD is in control. He can bring low our enemies before us. He can deliver and protect us. Let this thought be a comfort and encouragement to you. However, we should also remember, as in this case recorded in Isaiah, that if we rebel and move away from God and His ways He may bring the enemies against us to discipline us and get our attention. Thus, it is important that we focus on our relationship with God and be willing to pivot and change if the Holy Spirit gives us a nudge that we have changes to make.

I invite you to pray with me:

Father, thank you for Holy Spirit to guide us. Thank You for reminding us that You are in control, even of our enemies. Your mighty hand rules over everything. We can take comfort in that, even if we are receiving discipline. In all things we can thank You and praise You. In the name of Yeshua we pray. Amen. 

Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

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Victory Does Not Always Come Quickly or Without Challenges

In our last reading, we focused in on the first 9 verses of Isaiah 7. Today we zoom out the focus a bit and take in the whole of chapter 7 to see what message it may reveal to us.

It starts with a war against Jerusalem. God speaks through Isaiah a message of encouragement to the king of Judah, Ahaz. Though the enemies are feared, God says in verse 4 to remain calm and do not fear. Picking up in verse 9, we see emphasis that if he does not believe, then he will not last. This certainly gives a hint that there are some hard times coming for Jerusalem. In fact, as we read the rest of the chapter, we get just that message.

How many times in our own lives do we feel like we face something overwhelming? We should seek God first. Trust in what He tells us. If He tells us that we will have victory and not to fear, but to remain faithful, that that indeed is what we need to focus on in our situation, just like Ahaz and Jerusalem. Just because God gives us victory does not mean it will be easy or quick. Sometimes we must be prepared to wait faithfully for it.

Isaiah 7

War against Jerusalem

      1Now it came about in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not conquer it. 2When it was reported to the house of David, saying, “The Arameans have camped in Ephraim,” his heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake with the wind.

      3Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway to the fuller’s field, 4and say to him, ‘Take care and be calm, have no fear and do not be fainthearted because of these two stubs of smoldering firebrands, on account of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah. 5‘Because Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has planned evil against you, saying, 6“Let us go up against Judah and terrorize it, and make for ourselves a breach in its walls and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” 7thus says the Lord GOD: “It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass. 8“For the head of Aram is Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another 65 years Ephraim will be shattered, so that it is no longer a people), 9and the head of Ephraim is Samaria and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you will not believe, you surely shall not last.”’”

The Child Immanuel

      10Then the LORD spoke again to Ahaz, saying, 11“Ask a sign for yourself from the LORD your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” 12But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the LORD!” 13Then he said, “Listen now, O house of David! Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well? 14“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel. 15“He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. 16“For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken.

Trials to Come for Judah

      17“The LORD will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house such days as have never come since the day that Ephraim separated from Judah, the king of Assyria.”

      18In that day the LORD will whistle for the fly that is in the remotest part of the rivers of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 19They will all come and settle on the steep ravines, on the ledges of the cliffs, on all the thorn bushes and on all the watering places.

      20In that day the Lord will shave with a razor, hired from regions beyond the Euphrates (that is, with the king of Assyria), the head and the hair of the legs; and it will also remove the beard.

      21Now in that day a man may keep alive a heifer and a pair of sheep; 22and because of the abundance of the milk produced he will eat curds, for everyone that is left within the land will eat curds and honey.

      23And it will come about in that day, that every place where there used to be a thousand vines, valued at a thousand shekels of silver, will become briars and thorns. 24People will come there with bows and arrows because all the land will be briars and thorns. 25As for all the hills which used to be cultivated with the hoe, you will not go there for fear of briars and thorns; but they will become a place for pasturing oxen and for sheep to trample.

Remember from the earlier chapters of Isaiah, that God’s people had rebelled and were far from Him. This war and these tough times were brought as a result of that, perhaps to cleanse and refine them and bring about a repentance among the people. They needed a shakeup to return to the LORD. This is not a cruel God but rather a Father helping to steer His children back to the right path. Maybe a good lesson for us would be take care that we are not so hard hearted that God needs to be this direct with us when we need correction in our lives! Let us seek and expect the Spirit to guide us and be responsive with a lighter touch from the LORD.

I invite you to pray with me:

Father, please strengthen our faith in times of challenge and hardship. Help us to seek and find You. Help us to grow and remain strong in our faith, even facing tough circumstances. It is little test of faith when all is going well. All praise and honor to You, O Lord my God. You are all powerful and all knowing. You know what is best for us as Your people and can bring it about, even if it is uncomfortable for us. If we need discipline to get back in right relationship with You, then please bring that as You see fit. We want to walk in Your ways and in Your presence.  In the name of Yeshua, our Messiah, we pray. Amen. 

Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.