Daily Bible Study

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Day 35 Isaiah 40 40:1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, says your God. 2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins. 3 The voice of him that cries in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: 5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. 6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: 7 The grass withers, the flower fades: because the spirit of the LORD blows upon it: surely the people is grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades: but the word of our God shall stand forever. 9 O Zion, that bring good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bring good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! 10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. 11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. 12 Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? 13 Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him? 14 With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding? 15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he takes up the isles as a very little thing. 16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. 17 All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity. 18 To whom then will ye liken God? Or what likeness will ye compare unto him? 19 The workman melts a graven image, and the goldsmith spreads it over with gold, and casts silver chains. 20 He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooses a tree that will not rot; he seeks unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved. 21 Have ye not known? Have ye not heard? Hath it not been told you from the beginning? Have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22 It is he that sits upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretches out the heavens as a curtain, and spreads them out as a tent to dwell in: 23 That brings the princes to nothing; he makes the judges of the earth as vanity. 24 Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. 25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? says the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that brings out their host by number: he calls them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one fails. 27 Why say thou, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God? 28 Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faints not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding. 29 He gives power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increases strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. People want to trust in a god. They want a god they can see and touch. They give their gods strengths and weaknesses, so they can identify with their god. People do not realize that while they are creating gods in their image, after their likeness, they are seeking the invisible God who created them. God told Isaiah that he alone is God eternal. No one instructs him, taught him knowledge or wisdom, counsels him in judgment. God is the one who instructs, counsels, and gives wisdom. He alone, and it is us who must listen and obey and wait on him. When we do, we will gain his strength for the task he has given us. He will carry us when we are weak and faint. He renews us so we can mount up with wings as eagles, run and not be weary, walk and not faint. He is the everlasting God who rules over heaven and earth. As Christians, you have the eternal, everlasting God living in you, guiding, teaching, and giving you wisdom in everything you do. You have no need to run after the things of this world that are temporary, fading and withering as the grass, which is here today and tomorrow is burned in the fire. Whenever you open God’s Word, you gain strength. Whenever you pray, God gives you power to overcome every obstacle. There is nothing you can’t do when God is your God, teaching and guiding you with all wisdom. Let the truth God seals in your heart keep you steadfast in him, so that you are able to do whatever he called you to do. Let’s pray: Father, you are my God. Teach me your Word so I can be strong in you. Let me run with your Word to every person who is willing to listen. Send me in your strength so I will not faint during the journey you placed me on. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen. Copyright © 24 September 2017 by Valerie Routhieaux Image courtesy of Pixabay