Daily Bible Study

Tweet

Day 45 Isaiah 51 51:1 Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are dug. 2 Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bore you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him. 3 For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. 4 Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people. 5 My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust. 6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished. 7 Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings. 8 For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be forever, and my salvation from generation to generation. 9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon? 10 Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over? 11 Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. 12 I, even I, am he that comforts you: who art thou, that thou should be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass; 13 And forget the LORD thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? And where is the fury of the oppressor? 14 The captive exile hastens that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail. 15 But I am the LORD thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The LORD of hosts is his name. 16 And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people. 17 Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out. 18 There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought forth; neither is there any that takes her by the hand of all the sons that she hath brought up. 19 These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? Desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: by whom shall I comfort thee? 20 Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as a wild bull in a net: they are full of the fury of the LORD, the rebuke of thy God. 21 Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine: 22 Thus says thy Lord the LORD, and thy God that pleads the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again: 23 But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over. In a time when tragedy has raised her ugly head, in a time when natural disasters have devastated thousands of people, in a time when chaos more than safety seems the norm, there is one thing that stands firm and will never change. God told Isaiah, he would comfort his people. He would make the deserts bloom, and joy and gladness would be heard from his people. God told Isaiah the earth would wear out and wax old. What is everyone complaining about, if not global warming. Climate change has affected every place on earth. We’ve been seeing it more every year. We’ve seen an increase in natural disasters – hurricanes, typhoons, mudslides. Shorelines are changing as erosion eats away at our coasts. Two things God said would stand forever – his salvation and righteousness. Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. (KJV) 2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness. The Day of the Lord is coming. You can see the signs everywhere. And because the day of God’s judgment is near, Satan is doing all he can to destroy God’s people. He does this by destroying families, causing terror in our streets, stealing our time from God and putting it on temporary situations that have no eternal value. Now is the time to turn to God. Now is the time to give him your undivided attention. Now is the time to draw near to him and he will draw near to you. As Christians, now is the time to pray. Now is the time to stand firm on God’s Word and not allow Satan a foothold in your life. Allow the Holy Spirit to give you the peace that passes all understanding, to guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Now is the time, tomorrow will be too late. Let’s pray: Father, help me stand firm on your Word, looking to you as the author and finisher of my faith. Don’t allow Satan a foothold in my life, but keep me steadfast in you, guarding my heart and mind against what Satan would attempt to do. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen. Copyright © 4 October 2017 by Valerie Routhieaux Image courtesy of Pixabay