From: September 27, 2024
“For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight, for the LORD will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard” (Isaiah 52:12 ESV).
Isaiah had prophesied that Judah would one day be taken captive by Babylon, but now he speaks of a time when they would return again to Jerusalem. When they are taken captive, they will be forcibly marched away with only the clothes on their backs. Yet when the time comes for them to return, they will not be hurriedly running away, but joyfully packing their belongings and happily heading home. For instead of hateful Chaldean solders urging them forward, the LORD Himself will go before them and be their rear guard.
This was a wonderful prophecy for Israel and it was fulfilled just as God had said. Yet, how might we apply this word today? One way is to consider how this word might help us leave a tragic or difficult situation behind and move forward into an unknown, but hopefully better future. Consider these three takeaways for how to leave and move forward.
First, we can leave yesterday in God’s care. He is our “rear guard.” We don’t have to leave in “haste,” nor go in “flight.” For God has our backs. We can view past events from His perspective. With God’s guidance, all things should be considered and then some things forgotten and some things faithfully remembered.
Second, we can trust tomorrow to God’s good plan for us. For He goes “before” us. We can rest in His promises and protection. As the Lord told the prophet Jeremiah, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jer. 29:11).
Finally, we can be fully at rest today in God’s presence. Knowing He is the rear guard for our past and the one who goes before us for our future, we can rest in His presence today.
PRAYER: Dear Father, there are some things in our past that cause us pain and some that we remember with joy. Some things cause shame that we’d like to forget. Some things we’ve bottled up that still trouble us. Would you be our Rear Guard? Show us what to leave behind. And Lord, we trust You with tomorrow. Help us to fully rest in Your presence today. In Jesus’ name, amen.
From: September 27, 2023
“Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18 NLT).
Two commands are given here, with the first being illustrative to help understand and emphasize the second. They are: First, Don’t allow your mind and senses to be dulled and dissipated under the influence of alcohol. And second, instead, be continuously filled with the Holy Spirit, so that your mind and body are always under the Spirit’s influence.
Being filled with the Spirit is not a one and done command, but a continuous, moment by moment one. Not because the Spirit leaves us, for He never leaves those He has sealed. But because we must continually drink from the Spirit as from a fountain that abides within us. Remember that Christ told the woman at the well that those who asked from Him would receive “living water” that would become in them a “fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14).
Wine has the effect of dulling our senses and inhibitions, so that we are more exposed to temptation and apt to sin. This degraded state of mind leads to “ruin.” However, being under the Spirit’s control, our conscience is renewed and our discernment enlarged, so that we have increased power to resist sin. When we drink to get drunk, we develop a dependency on alcohol. We tell ourselves that we need it; that we must have it to cope with life. Yet, the secret of living the abundant life is continuously drawing on and living according to the Spirit’s filling, so that our dependency is on the life of the Spirit to live.
PRAYER: Dear Father, thank You for giving us Your Holy Spirit on the day of our salvation. We put off dependency on anything that isn’t of the Spirit. We want to depend “wholly” on the “Holy” Spirit. Fill us afresh today. We would drink deeply until every aspect of our lives come under His divine influence and power. In Jesus’ name, amen.
From: September 27, 2022
GOD HAS LAID OUR SINS UPON CHRIST JESUS
Seven hundred years before Christ Jesus, the Lord gave the prophet Isaiah a description of His coming. There are two types of Messianic prophecies revealed in the Old Testament. Both are seen in Isaiah. The first is the Messiah as conquering king, who will rule the nations from the throne of David. Isaiah spoke of Him, saying, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder…” (Isa. 9:6). Yet, the Messiah as conquering king prophecies have yet to be fulfilled.
The second type of Messianic prophecy is that which Isaiah described in chapter 53. The Messiah he foretold in this passage would come not as a conquering king, but as a suffering servant. For the Lord would lay on Him the sin of us all. Why? Because we have all gone our own way, rather than God’s way. This is a simple description of what the Bible calls sin; that we have rebelled against God and “left God’s paths to follow our own.”
The “suffering servant” prophecies were fulfilled at Christ’s first coming. He has taken our sin, our separation and our death upon Himself. And He offers His righteousness, Sonship and eternal life to those who would believe on Him.
Have you stopped straying from God and turned to Christ for forgiveness of sins? He has already fulfilled the suffering servant prophecies and one Day soon, He will come again to fulfill the conquering king prophecies as well.
PRAYER: Dear Father, thank You for Jesus! He is our Lord and Savior. We look forward to His second coming, but until then, we look to You for strength and encouragement that we might be His ambassadors in this world. Open people’s eyes and hearts that they might receive the message that You have laid our sins upon Him, so that we are set free from sin’s penalty and adopted as Your children. In Jesus’ name, amen.
From: September 27, 2017
This is the summary of Paul’s instruction to husbands and wives. Husbands are to “love” their wives. This is the sacrificial love (Greek: “agape”) of Christ, which He expressed by laying down His life for us. Husbands are to be servant-leaders. Wives are to “respect” their husbands. A surprising command in light of the husband’s command to “love.” Shouldn’t the wife also love her husband? Yet, “respect” is the way most men receive love. So, respecting her husband is the best way to show her love. When the husband loves his wife with sacrificial love and the wife loves her husband with respectful love, then their house becomes a lighthouse, showing forth the “mystery” of Christ’s love for the church.
From: September 27, 2016
Isaiah prophesied 700 years before the Messiah’s coming of the rejection and hatred that the He would endure. Isaiah described in incredible detail the circumstances surrounding Christ’s crucifixion and even His burial (“with a rich man” v.9), yet as his prophecy predicted, He was “rejected by men.” Christ Jesus took on our sin and our sorrow. He suffered great physical pain at our hands, but perhaps His greatest pain was that of our rejection and disdain. As the gospel of John declared, “He came to his own and they did not receive him. Yet, as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:11-12).
From: September 27, 2015
Not living under the influence of alcohol, but under the Spirit’s control. Two commands are given here, with the first being illustrative to help understand and emphasize the second. They are: 1) Don’t allow your mind and senses to be dulled and dissipated under the influence of alcohol by getting drunk. 2) Instead, be continuously filled with the Spirit, so that your mind and body are always being submitted to the Spirit’s influence. This “filling” is not a once in a lifetime command or need, but a continuous, moment by moment one. Not because the Spirit leaves us, for He never leaves those He has sealed. But because we must continually drink from the Spirit as from a fountain that lives within us. Remember that Christ told the woman at the well that those who asked from Him would receive “living water” that would become in them a “fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14). The secret of living the abundant life is continuously living according to the Spirit’s filling, rather than by our own strength.
From: September 27, 2013
This Messianic prophecy was written 700 years before Christ. Chapter 53 describes in chilling detail the crucifixion of Jesus. There are two threads of prophecy in the Old Testament concerning the Messiah. One, describes him as the Suffering Servant who will take on our sin, and the second, which describes him as the coming king that will put everything right in the world. Jesus has already fulfilled the first. The second is coming soon.