I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. In order to make that possible I read the passages and write my thoughts a day in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.
Through the prophet Isaiah God said that he was going to force the Babylonians to flee in much the same manner which he had brought the Israelites out of Egypt on dry land through the sea. The Babylonian forces would be destroyed just as the Egyptian forces were. However, these acts are as nothing compared to what God was going to do for His people. He prophesied that, despite the fact that they refused to call on Him for help, He would blot out their sins and pour out His Spirit on their descendants.
There is no other God like our God. He is the first and He will be the last. There were none before Him and there will be none after Him. There is none other like Him. There are people who think that the works of their own hands are worthy of worship and can be relied on to rescue them when things go bad. They can never admit that they are relying on what they have made to rescue them from problems that they cannot overcome. If you dig down deep enough into the thinking of those who refuse to worship God, you will discover that it is because they are worshiping themselves.
God has a plan for the salvation of all people, bringing all who are willing into unity as one body. By His power and grace we have been given the privilege of explaining His plan to those who have not yet heard it. We are not worthy of this privilege, yet God has chosen us for this mission. We were chosen in order to display God’s wisdom, love, and power. It is because of Christ that we can enter into God’s presence with freedom and confidence. Let us fall before God in prayer, requesting that He give us inner strength through His Spirit. If we root and establish ourselves in the love of God we will have the power to grasp the extent of Christ’s love and thus be able filled with the fullness of God.
As we grasp the extent of Christ’s love and are filled with the power of God’s Spirit we will extend that love to those around us, forgiving those who we feel have done us wrong. How could we do otherwise when we grasp what God has done for us? Let us remember that God is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine, and that power resides within us. That is an amazing thought, God has put the power to do more than we can ask or imagine within us. Every now and again someone will make the comment, “I don’t know about that, I can imagine an awful lot.” But I do know about that, we have within us the power of the God who created the entire universe, and yet just imagining the scale of our solar system is beyond the capability of everyone I have ever met.
God will rise up and scatter His enemies. He is the father to the fatherless and the defender of widows. He gives the lonely a family. He causes armies to flee so that non-combatant may gather the plunder. Even the lowliest and weakest gather wealth beyond measure. Those who have rebelled against Him will be forced to sing His praises.
There is nothing to be gained by envying those who are evil or desiring to be their companion. They are constantly stirring up trouble, they will even bring trouble and violence on those they call friends.