A thought from John 12:37-50 is that receiving approval from others gives a good feeling but is only short term. On the other hand, approval from God brings joy forever! You are approved by God by accepting Jesus in your heart. That’s when victory in life truly takes place as the Spirit lives inside and you live in the Light of His goodness.
Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;
therefore he will rise up to show you compassion
For the Lord is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him! - Isaiah 30:18
A lesson of “In Awe of the One Who Has Given All” is to turn to God for protection and refuge during difficulty or fear. When afraid, trust in God. Only God can give true confidence so be in awe of the One who has given all. Be committed to Him, plan with Him, and focus on acting on those plans.
Here is a song about having the ability to see our God at work in the things around you. The song is I Saw God Today by George Strait. God’s fingerprints are everywhere so see God in the birth of a newborn, in other people, and in all of His creation.
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So many in our world today prefer lies rather than the truth. This day with God, ask for the truth which is found in His Word. Read the scriptures and ask that He reveals a lesson to apply in life. Ask that He reveals himself through His Creation. He’s near and knows your name and has a great purpose for you.
Reading today in Isaiah 30:1-17, we get a prophecy of invasions of Assyria and Babylon which will cause destruction to the city. Israel in their fear, looked down to Egypt for help. They wanted to form an alliance with Egypt for immediate sanctuary.
I remember while off during summers going through college, I worked for a construction company. One summer we worked to repair the roof of an historic train depot. It was hard work, hot, and gave you motivation to get a college degree so you could someday work in a climate-controlled environment.
Not only was it hot, but the roof was 40 feet high and somewhat steep. I found out after a while to stop looking down because my focus was on the negative impact of my body if I were to fall. Would I break a leg, a shoulder, my hips, or scull? Would I survive the fall?
The lesson was to not look down. Like in today’s passage or in my experiences of working construction during my summers while going through college, do not look down. Instead … look up. Look up to God and ask for His help.
In today’s prophecy from Isaiah, there was no consultation with God about an alliance with Egypt. God was not pleased with Egypt because the people of Egypt had rejected Him. They were rebellious and unwilling to listen to His instructions. He says that the help of Egypt would utterly be useless (v. 7).
Like Israel during this time of today’s prophecy, the warning for us is to turn to God for our protection and refuge during difficulty or fear. When afraid, trust in God. Only God can give true confidence so be in awe of the One who has given all. Be committed to Him, plan with Him, and focus on acting on those plans.
Lord, things are scary in this world, but we can take refuge in You. We are focused on You and know You will get us through the scary times. Instead of looking down, we look up to You and our confidence is restored. We can trust Your plan and can step ahead with purpose in every step. Amen.
In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll,
and out of gloom and darkness
the eyes of the blind will see. – Isaiah 29:18
A thought from “Acquire Faith” is that we are not born with faith but it is something we can acquire by trusting, taking action, and continuing to work towards. Step by step, we gain confidence that the results will come.
Step ahead towards heaven
Each doing our part
Giving a lesson
A gem for the heart
As the song The Lord’s Prayer by Matt Maher goes:
Father let your kingdom come
Father let your will be done
On earth as in heaven
Deliver us from the evil one
Let your kingdom come.
Thanks for reading. Please like, follow, and pass on to others … sharing a gem for the heart!
We are not born with faith but it is something we can acquire by trusting, taking action, and continuing to work towards. Step by step, we gain confidence that the results will come. This day with God, let us step ahead to Isaiah 29.
This chapter is a prophecy of God’s judgment for sin. Ariel stands for Jerusalem and Isaiah tells about the invasions of Assyria and Babylon which will cause destruction to the city. The people were insensitive to their wrongdoing to the point that they could not hear or feel any pain. They were completely absorbed in their own self-indulgences.
Many today continue to think that humanity is in control of everything. It’s an upside down relationship where many think they can play God to control the future. When they find out that they are not in control, there is a lot of pain.
Sometimes we need to feel the pain so we can ask God to help us see our own sin in our own land. This day with God, share the Word with others and hope:
Things will become clear,
The deaf will hear,
The blind will see,
And more will be set free.
Sow the seeds of God’s Word, cultivate, and share with others so they can participate in the harvest.
This day with God, we ask that we believe before we even receive and we go before we even know as we continue to grow in faith. Let us build our life upon the word of God as our foundation and with Jesus as the cornerstone. May each lesson help us step ahead on the way to heaven! In Jesus’ name we pray with assurance of joy and peace in our future. Amen.
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This Day With God - A Spiritual Journey 