Tag Archives: Isaiah

God will rescue you. (Isaiah 49:8-26), July 26, 2015

Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Isaiah 49:8-26

Set – Isaiah 49; 1 Peter 5

Go! – Isaiah 46-49; 1 Peter 5

Isaiah 49:8-26
8 Eternal One: When the time was right, I answered you;
on the day you were delivered, I was your help.
I will watch over you, and give you
as a promise, a binding covenant to the people.
Through you, My gift to the people, the land of promise will recover.
Ancestral ground, once deserted, will be entrusted to them.
9 Through you, My gift to the people, I will declare to the prisoners,
“Come out. Now you are free”;
To those who are held in darkness, “Come out into the light.”
They will find sustenance wherever they are—
Along the roads or in the open hills—
with peace of mind, in comfort and security.
10 Wherever they are, they will be fine, never hungry nor thirsty.
They will be protected from oppressive heat and the burning sun
Because the One who loves them—as a mother loves her child—will be their guide.
God will lead them to restful places, rejuvenating springs of water.
11 I will make their going easy, level the mountain road
and smooth the path that leads them home.
12 Look! Even now, they are coming from lands far away,
some from the north, others from the west, these from the land of Sinim.
13 Oh joy! Be glad—sky! Take joy—earth! Burst into song—mountains!
For the Eternal, moved to compassion, has comforted and consoled His people.
14 Zion: The Eternal One has abandoned me. God has walked out the door;
my Lord left me alone. He has forgotten all about me.
15 Eternal One: Is it possible for a mother, however disappointed,
however hurt, to forget her nursing child?
Can she feel nothing for the baby she carried and birthed?
Even if she could, I, God, will never forget you.
16 Look here. I have made you a part of Me, written you on the palms of My hands.
Your city walls are always on My mind, always My concern.
17 Now sweet Zion your children are running pell-mell back to you
Just as fast as those who destroyed you are leaving.
18 Raise your head, lift up your eyes,
and watch your heart’s desire come—
All your children, gathered and returning to you. As I live, so I promise.
You will wear them with pride all like shining ornaments;
you will put them on as a bride on her wedding day.
19 Because of all of your destroyed land—the barren fields and abandoned farms—
you are now too small, too cramped for all your citizens;
And those who tried to swallow you whole will be far, far away.
20 The children you mourned, those born in exile, will return and say,
“It is too cramped and crowded for us;
We’re going to need more room if we are to live here.”
21 You’ll say to yourself, “Where in the world did all these people come from?
Could these really be mine?
I thought I’d been desolated, left empty.
Where have you all been? Where did you come from?”
22 This is what the Lord, the Eternal, has to say:
Eternal One: I will lift My hand and signal every nation that holds your people
And they will bring your children back again:
boys bundled in their arms, girls riding on their shoulders.
23 Kings will tend the children of Zion, and their queens will nurse and nurture them.
These greats will humble themselves before you.
They will bow and lick the dust off your feet,
and in the course of it all, you will remember that I am the Eternal.
Whoever trusts in Me will never be put to shame.
24 Jerusalem: Can the spoil of war be taken from the mighty?
Can the captives be freed from the hand of a tyrant?
25 Eternal One: Hard to believe, but it shall be so.
The captives will be taken from the hand of the mighty,
And the spoil of war will be rescued from the tyrant.
I will liberate them from their captors and contend with your enemies.
I will save your children.
26 I will turn your enemies’ violence back on themselves,
and they will suffer their own atrocities:
They will feed on their own flesh and drink their own blood like wine.
Then every person on earth will know for certain that I, the Eternal, am your Savior.
I am your hero, the strong One of Jacob from whom you come.
I will rescue you, whatever the price.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

Can a mother forget the child to whom she gave birth? You mothers know it is impossible. Despite the stories of violence and cruelty and selfishness we see against children at their mother’s hand sometimes, I can tell you those women still feel deep in themselves the knowledge of what they have done to the life they gave birth to. I will judge them accordingly someday. Mothers cannot forget their children.

Selfishness drives people to do incredibly horrible things, but mothers still have a place in their heart for their children. I have a special place in My heart for My highest creation also. You. You are unique in all creation. There is no one like you. You are My masterpiece in all the universe. There exists not one more exactly like you. I did that on purpose when I made you. Be sure, I make no mistakes.

So knowing I love you with love greater than a mother has for her children, you can also know I will rescue you from the evils you face when you call on Me. I will make a way of escape for you. Just look for the exit sign. It will always be there for you. Take it! Let Me fight your fights. I will win. You might not. So when the tempter comes, find the exit and run. I will stay and defeat him for you. You concentrate on escaping.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Indescribable perfect peace (Isaiah 26:1-19), July 15, 2015

Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Isaiah 26:1-19

Set – Isaiah 26; Hebrews 13

Go! – Isaiah 25-28; Hebrews 13

Isaiah 26:1-19
1 When that time arrives, the people of this place called Judah will sing this song:
People: By the grace of God, our city is strong;
its structures and defenses He made secure.
2 Now open the gates to welcome the righteous,
so that those who keep faith may enter in.
3 You will keep the peace, a perfect peace, for all who trust in You,
for those who dedicate their hearts and minds to You.
4 So trust in the Eternal One forever,
for He is like a great Rock—strong, stable, trustworthy, and lasting.
5 He humbles the high and mighty.
Even the indomitable city falls before His strength, reducing it to dust.
6 The feet of the poor, the weak, the infirm and forgotten
will trample the dust of the formerly great.
7 The path of those who do right is straight and smooth.
O God, You who are upright, You make the way of the righteous level.
8 When we act in justice and righteousness—following Your laws—we wait for You.
We are eager to hear Your holy name and remember Your ways.
9 At night I long for You with all that is in Me.
When morning comes, I seek You with all my heart.
For when Your justice is done on earth,
then everyone in the world will learn righteousness.
10 If grace is extended to those who do wrong,
the perpetrators never learn what is right.
Even when surrounded by upright people, they gravitate to evil
and never even notice the awesome beauty of the Eternal.
11 O Eternal One, even when Your hand is raised against them, they do not see it.
When they finally do see how passionately
You act on the people’s behalf, they will be ashamed.
Ah, let the fire that consumes Your enemies consume them.
12 Eternal One, You are preparing peace for us;
in fact, everything we have accomplished has come from You.
13 Others have tried to rule over us,
but You, Eternal One, are our God.
At the end of the day, when all is done,
we acknowledge only You.
14 But now these would-be rulers are dead, never to live again;
these shadowy spirits will never rise.
You have punished and utterly destroyed them—
You erased every memory of them.
15 By contrast You have made this people great, Eternal One—
made this nation vital and strong. To you be all glory!
You have expanded the borders of this land.
16 When You corrected their wrongdoing, Eternal One,
they could hardly even whisper a prayer.
Weak with distress, they looked to You for help.
17 You witnessed us twist and turn before You, O Eternal,
like a birthing woman in agony of labor.
18 We were that woman, laboring to deliver,
but we gave birth only to futility and emptiness.
We couldn’t deliver the earth, save it, renew it.
We couldn’t make it teem with life.
19 But Your dead will live; their lifeless bodies will rise up again!
You who sleep in the dust, get up and shout for joy!
The dew of a new day will wash you glistening fresh,
and the earth will push forth those who had passed before.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

This opening prayer from the book of Isaiah recognizes what I will do for those who trust Me. The people pray, “You will keep the peace, a perfect peace, for all who trust in You, for those who dedicate their hearts and minds to You. ” But what does this perfect peace mean? Certainly it doesn’t mean absence of war because My people have been at war since Cain killed Abel for My acceptace of Abel’s sacrifice and the rejection of Cain’s.

So what is this peace that Isaiah talks about? Every real Christian can tell you they have it, but few can describe it adequately. My peace doesn’t stop violence. Ask those giving their lives for My cause in places like Somalia, Lybia, Iraq, Iran, Syria, and other countries intolerant of Chritianity. Today there are more martyrs for the name of Christ than at any time in history. No, peace doesn’t mean the absence of violence.

Peace doesn’t mean freedom from financial catastrophe. Again, all you need to do is look at the world’s rich versus those who call on My name. Those with the most money seldom have the Chrisian character and faith you might expect I would want from My followers. So peace doesn’t come from worldly riches.

My followers, though, have an indescribable peace that lets them sleep soundly at night without fear. The peace I give lets My followers know I love them unconditionally and they can rest in Me. They know there is nothing between us that separates us because I have forgiven their sins and accepted them as My children. I am their God and can provide all they need.

The perfect peace I give brings an unrelenting joy no matter the circumstances surrounding My children. Peace prevails in the darkest hours of life, in the most hectic and difficult circumstances, in the times that disaster seems inescaspable. I am there and I bring My perfect peace. As many of My followers testify, My peace is indescribable, but it exists in the hearts of those who follow Me with their whole heart.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Follow God only – you won’t be sorry (Isaiah 8:11-22), July 11, 2015

Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Isaiah 8:11-22

Set – Isaiah 8; Hebrews 8

Go! – Isaiah 8-10; Hebrews 8

Isaiah 8:11-22
11 See, this is what the Eternal told me. God leaned in close—His strong hand on me—to keep me from following these people.
12 Eternal One: Don’t call for an alliance, like all the rest of this people do.
Don’t fear what they fear, or dread what they dread.
13 After all, only the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, should terrify you.
Only God is holy. Only God should leave you trembling.
14 Look what I’m going to do in Zion:
The Eternal will be for you a sacred place,
But for both houses of Israel I’ll also be a stone that blocks their way
and a rock that trips them up;
For those who live in Jerusalem, I’ll be a trap and a snare.
15 Many will stumble over them. They will trip and be broken;
they’ll succumb to capture and be grabbed up.
16 Now take care to keep this message as it is.
Seal up this teaching
and hand it over to my disciples.
17 As for me, I will wait for the Eternal, even though He feels absent, even though He has hidden His face from the family of Jacob. I will put all hope in Him. 18 You see, I and my children whom the Eternal One gave to me, we personify the promise. We are signs of what God intends and will do in Israel, what amazing things the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies has in mind, the One who is indeed present in Zion, this heaven on earth.
19 People might tell you to ask the fortune-tellers, consult the babbling astrologers, conjure the dead to tell the living what’s to come, but shouldn’t they ask their God? 20 Go to God’s teaching and His testimony to guide your thoughts and behavior! If any response disagrees with the word of God, then it’s muddling and wrong and not the least bit illuminating. 21 It leaves the people bedraggled and desperate, drifting here and there. In their hunger, the people are bound to be infuriated and curse their king and God. They’ll look up to the heavens 22 and down to the earth, yet see nothing but trouble, gloom, anguish, and darkness. They will be driven out into the darkness.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

Be careful in who and what you listen to all the time. Some today will tell you the Old Testament is irrelevant. I will tell you it isn’t. You learn a great deal about Me and about yourself from reading and understanding it. Isaiah talks about his determination and about the path of those who don’t follow Me. I consistently see people running to the wrong sources today for information that will lead them the wrong way.

Isaiah described today pretty well. “People might tell you to ask the fortune-tellers, consult the babbling astrologers, conjure the dead to tell the living what’s to come, but shouldn’t they ask their God? Go to God’s teaching and His testimony to guide your thoughts and behavior! If any response disagrees with the word of God, then it’s muddling and wrong and not the least bit illuminating.”

If you will stick to My word life will turn out well for you. If you don’t you will suffer through consequences that you won’t like. You can trust My word. As creator of all things, you know My word is true. You know I will guide you correctly through life with it. I will not lead you down a path that takes you away from Me, but will draw you closer to Me each day if you let Me.

What the fortune-tellers, astrologers, and others tell you might sound appealing. They might tell you things you want to hear, but they won’t be the things you need to hear. They won’t tell you the things that will lead you to a life of righteousness. You might like what you hear, but it doesn’t help you. Just like going to the doctor, sometimes the treatment is painful, but necessary for the cure. That’s how My teaching and discipline can be. Sometimes the things you need bring some pain but it’s necessary to bring you the growth you need.

Just because you experience pain in your spiritual growth doesn’t mean I don’t love you, though. I do. If I left you to your own devices, you would wallow in your sin and never enter My eternal rest. You would find yourself left out of heaven because of your evil. My remedy sometimes hurts, but will eventually bring you to the realization that I am God and you are not. I know what is best for you each step along the way. I can free you from the chains that bind you. I alone can give you the keys to the joy you long for.

Listen to Me, trust Me, follow Me, you won’t be sorry.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

What does God want you to do? (Isaiah 6), July 3, 2015

Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Isaiah 6

Set – Isaiah 6; 2 Chronicles 26

Go! – Isaiah 6–7; 2 Chronicles 26–27; Philemon

Isaiah 6
1 In the same year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a grand throne way up high with a flowing cape that filled the whole temple. 2 Bright flaming creatures waited on Him. Each had six wings: two covering its face, two covering its feet, and two for flying. 3 Like some fiery choir, they would call back and forth continually.
Flaming Creatures: Holy, holy, holy is the Eternal, the Commander of heavenly armies!
The earth is filled with His glorious presence!
4They were so loud that the doorframes shook, and the holy house kept filling with smoke.
5 Isaiah: I am in so much trouble! I’m ruined!
I’m just a human being—fallible and stammering.
My lips are encrusted with filth;
and I live among people just like me.
But here I am, and I’ve seen with my very own eyes
none other than the King, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies.
6 Then one of the flaming creatures flew to me holding a red-hot ember which it had taken from God’s table, the temple altar, with a pair of tongs. 7 The creature held it to my lips.
Flaming Creature: Look! With the touch of this burning ember on your lips,
your guilt is turned away;
All your faults and wrongdoings are forgiven.
8 Then I heard the Lord’s voice.
Eternal One: Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?
Isaiah: Here I am! Send me.
Eternal One: 9 Go to this people and say,
“Keep listening, but do not comprehend;
Keep looking, but do not understand.”
10 Make their hearts hard, their ears deaf, and their eyes blind.
Otherwise, they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears,
Understand with their hearts, and then turn and be healed.
11 Isaiah: How long, Lord?
Eternal One: Until cities are in ruins, the houses sit empty,
and the land has become a wasteland.
12 You see, the Eternal has determined to move the people far away;
place after place will be completely abandoned.
13 And even if just a tenth survive, it will be burned again;
imagine a terebinth or an oak; once it is cut down, the stump remains.
The holy seed remains in the stump.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

I let Isaiah peek into My throne room. He saw what few have seen. He viewed a scene that thrills Me. My seraphs and seraphim surrounding the throne singing and worshiping Me. They cannot help it. All who see Me worship in My presence. They cry out “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God, Almighty.” When you see Me, you will do the same. You won’t be able to resist.

Isaiah saw something else as He peeked into the My throne room. He listened in on a conversation between Me and My angels. I asked a question to which I already knew the answer, but wanted him to realize the answer. It’s always better to let the owner of the task discover the task themselves. So I let Isaiah hear the conversation and he volunteered.

Like many of My followers, Isaiah didn’t know what the task really entailed. He didn’t know the sacrifices he would eventually make. He didn’t know the resistance he would face. Isaiah was ready to tell the world what he saw. He was ready to proclaim whatever I told him to the world. He didn’t realize that few would believe him just like few believe Me.

That’s what I want from those that follow Me, though. I want you to volunteer to do whatever I want you to do. I want you to be like Isaiah. Just say I’ll go before you even know what I’m asking. Be so willing to do anything that you jump up and down with your hand in the air that I’m reminded of the kindergarteners volunteering for their favorite teacher.

My missions will sometimes be tough. But I’ll be with you. Sometimes what I ask of you will seem impossible, but I’m in the business of the impossible. Remember, I created everything from nothing. The impossible is My specialty. People will often hate you for doing what I ask of you. But don’t worry, I will love you and that’s what counts.

Isaiah had a special viewing before I gave him his task. You might not. I still want you to work for Me. Will you do it? Can you stand up the test? Are you man or woman enough?

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Choose your path wisely (Isaiah), July 2, 2015

Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Isaiah 5:1–7

Set – Isaiah 5; Jude

Go! – Isaiah 4–5; Psalms 115–116; Jude

Isaiah 5:1-7
1Let me now sing for my dear friend,
a love song about his vineyard.
My friend, whom I dearly love,
had a vineyard on a fertile hill.
2 He labored to prepare the ground, tilling the soil and digging out rocks,
and then he planted it with the best plants he could find.
In its midst, he built a watchtower over it
and cut out a winepress in the hill nearby;
Then he waited, hoping it would be bountiful.
But the vineyard produced only wild, bitter grapes.
3 Eternal One: That’s it. Enough. Now, you who live in My special city, Jerusalem,
you people of this choice country, Judah,
Who’s in the right—Me or My vineyard?
4 What else could I possibly have done to make it flourish?
Why, when I had every reason to expect great beauty and bushels of grapes,
Did it yield only wild, bitter fruit?
5 I’ll tell you what I’m going to do,
what I’ve determined to do to My vineyard:
I’m going to take away its protective fence
and let the deer, raccoons, and rabbits devour it.
I’ll break down its wall,
let the vines be eaten and trampled.
6 I will set it up for destruction—
do no pruning, no tilling—
And it will be overrun with nasty briars and thornbushes.
I will even order the clouds not to water it.
7 See here, the vineyard of the Eternal, the Commander of heavenly armies,
is the house of Israel, His special people.
And the shoots and buds He nursed so lovingly along
are the people of this choice country, Judah.
He expected a paragon of justice and righteousness—
but everywhere injustice runs bloodred in the streets, and cries echo in the city!

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

I try hard to bring you to Me. I want you in My home. But I’m a holy God. I cannot tolerate sin. So I made a away to teach you right from wrong. I made a way of escape for you so you can choose right instead of wrong. But you still have a choice. I created you with that capability. Unfortunately, as much as I try, you often choose the wrong over the right. It’s your choice, but you must understand, I have not changed. I still cannot tolerate sin and ultimately, I will destroy every vestige of sin that exists.

I separated the Israelites as My chosen people to especially teach them My ways so they could then teach them to the rest of the world. Instead, they turned from Me and chose their own path. It led to their destruction at the hands of other nations. Only in the last century have I allowed them to stand up as a nation again with national boundaries and their own government. But time for them to truly return to Me is drawing short.

I raised up a nation across the seas with individual freedoms like no other nation. I gave it democratic rules and representative government. I blessed it with men who saw far beyond themselves and established laws that would give self-government to individuals and cities as far as possible to protect freedom from tryanny. You called yourselves Americans. I hoped this new democracy would follow Me based on the people who fled the persecutions they faced in Europe.

The new settlers followed Me for a while, but like Israel, when you gained prosperity and power in the world, you forgot Me. You felt self-sufficient and thought you no longer needed Me. Despite the fact I gave you what you needed to begin this experiment in self-government, you cast Me aside. Now you begin to feel the payment for your arrogance. As with Isaiah’s prophecy so many centuries ago, the metaphor still holds true.

I am like a the farmer who planted the vineyard and did everything I could do to create a good crop, but the vineyard produced only wild, bitter grapes. You are that vineyard and will leave you to your own destruction. I will no longer tend to you or help you in times of despair. You have chosen your path by the actions you take in your courts, your legislature, you seats of power. You choose the wrong path instead of following Me. You choose to tickle your ears with personal pleasure, you hear only what you want to hear to satisfy your base desires instead of listening to what separates you from the rest of the animals in creation.

So since you have chosen your path, I will leave you to your own ends. I will let you see what it is like to live as a nation without Me. I will allow you to become the wild, wanton creatures you choose. It pains Me to watch, but I gave you freedom to choose and I will not withdraw that freedom. Remember, however, you do not choose the consequences of your choice. I do. You will not like the consequences of the path you follow apart from Me.

For 20 centuries, the Israelites wandered without a country to call their own. They were My chosen people. What do you think will happen to you when I withdraw My protection from you? Choose your path carefully. As a nation, it is done. As individuals, you still have a choice. Choose wisely!

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

You know what God wants, do it (Isaiah 1:2-20), July 1, 2015

Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Isaiah 1:2–20

Set – Isaiah 1; Titus 3

Go! – Isaiah 1–3; Titus 3

Isaiah 1:2-20
2 Listen and take note,
from the farthest reaches to the nearest!
Listen up heaven and earth,
for the Eternal One has spoken.
He is not happy with the children He raised.
Eternal One: Despite all I’ve done,
My children have rebelled against Me.
3 Oxen know their owners;
even donkeys know where their master feeds them,
But Israel is ignorant.
My very own, they ignore Me.
4 Truly this is a wicked nation,
a people fat with wrongdoing,
Like a litter of miscreants,
a pack of wilding adolescents.
They’ve rejected the Eternal,
despised the Holy One of Israel;
they’ve turned their backs on Him.
5-6 Why do you insist on taking a beating?
Why do you persist in such reckless rebellion?
Your bodies already suffer head to toe—
your heads ache and hearts flutter;
Your skin is covered with bruises,
swollen with welts, and gaping with wounds,
with no tending, no healing, no soothing.
7 Your country is a waste.
Your cities are dead, sooty rubble.
Your farms and fields are consumed,
everything you worked for destroyed
by foreign armies as you look on—helplessly.
8 Zion, our portion of heaven on earth, is no longer protected;
Jerusalem stands like a watchman’s shelter in a vineyard,
Like a hut in a melon field,
like a city assaulted and besieged.
9 Except for the fraction of us who hang on
by the grace of the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies,
We’d be destroyed and deserted
like Sodom and Gomorrah, utterly done in.[a]
10 Listen to the word of the Eternal One,
you rulers of Sodom!
Attend to God’s instructions,
citizens of Gomorrah!
11 **Eternal One**: What do I care for all of your slaughter-gifts?
I have had enough of your burnt offerings.
I’m not interested in any more ram meat or fat from your well-fed cattle.
The blood of bulls, lambs, or goats does not please Me.
12 When you come into My presence,
who told you to trample down the courtyard of My temple bringing all of this?
13 Just stop giving Me worthless offerings;
your incense reeks and offends Me!
Your feasts and fasts, your new moons and Sabbaths—
I cannot stand any more of your wicked gatherings.
14 Likewise, I deplore your holidays,
those calendar days marked specially for Me;
They weigh Me down.
I am sick and tired of them!
15 When you summon Me with your hands in the air, I will ignore you.
Even when you pray your whole litany, I won’t be listening
Because your hands are full of blood and violence.
16 Wash yourselves, clean up your lives;
remove every speck of evil in what you do before Me.
Put an end to all your evil.
17 Learn to do good;
commit yourselves to seeking justice.
Make right for the world’s most vulnerable—
the oppressed, the orphaned, the widow.
18 Come on now, let’s walk and talk; let’s work this out.
Your wrongdoings are bloodred,
But they can turn as white as snow.
Your sins are red like crimson,
But they can be made clean again like new wool.
19 If you pay attention now and change your ways,
you can eat good things from a healthy earth.
20 But if you refuse to listen and stubbornly persist,
then, by violence and war, you will be the one devoured.
These things were spoken by the very mouth of the Eternal.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

I don’t care about the stuff you try to give Me or the rituals you perform. I established the system of sacrifices and offerings Moses presented to the Israelites at Mout Sinai and carried out in the tabernacle and the Temple before their exile. But when the system becomes mindless ritual, I’m no longer interested in hearing it. I want your worship to come from the heart.

I used Isaiah to give that message to the Israelites and the message hasn’t changed. The only real sacrifice I want is you. I want you to willingly give of yourself. The bulls and rams and grain offereings only symbolized what I really want from you. Those give their all when they are laid on the altar. They give their life’s blood as a symbol of devotion. But it’s only a symbol.

What I want is you. I want your total devotion. Your total dedication. Your total worship. I want your willing acceptance of the tasks I give you to perform. I want you to lift your hands, not because some worship leader asks you to, but because you feel something in your spirit that stirs you to point to Me as the supreme entity. I want you to realize I am above everything. All except Me is part of creation. Everything has been created except Me and I am the One who began all of creation put it into order.

As you understand who I am, you will understand why nothing short of you is acceptable as an offereing to Me. Paul tells it best. “Offer yourself as a living sacrifice – this is your spiritual worship.” One day you will bow to Me and know I alone am worthy of worship. I ask you to do it now so you can do it throughout eternity with Me instead of apart from Me.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
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