Tag: isa43

Finding Hope In God’s Mercy!

You welcome those who gladly do good, who follow godly ways. But you have been very angry with us, for we are not godly. We are constant sinners; how can people like us be saved? (Isaiah 64:5, NLT)

Can We Be Saved?

As we finish the Book of Isaiah, we face a legitimate, scary question: How can people like us be saved? Notice Isaiah’s description of these people. But we are all as an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; And we all do fade as a leaf; And our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. (Isaiah 64:6, KJV) I am reminded of a New Testament cross-reference to this verse. For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. (Titus 3:3, KJV) Yes, how can we be saved?

The Kindness and Love of God

Notice the answer! But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; (Titus 3:4–6, KJV) Can people like us be saved? Yes! How? Through Jesus Christ, our Saviour! 

God Is Doing Something New

Believer, does the devil have you down? Have you been dwelling on past and present failures? Does your future seem like a predictable flop? Are you overwhelmed? If we are not careful, the adversary can get our minds focused on a doom loop, wondering if there is hope for people like us. Think upon God’s continued and abundant mercy in your life! God is at work! He is doing something new with you (Isaiah 43:18–19)!

Thank you for joining me as I read and journal chronologically through the Bible! This devotional reflection comes from Isaiah 64-66.

The Good Old Days?

I came across Israel’s nostalgic lament three verses into my Bible reading this morning. 

“If only the Lord had killed us back in Egypt,” they moaned. “There we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted. But now you have brought us into this wilderness to starve us all to death.” (Exodus 16:3, NLT)

Nostalgia, the “good old days,” how things used to be, oh, how these are deceitful friends! Why? Because they don’t tell the whole story. The Egyptian diet is not the whole story; what about their slavery?

The truth is God’s goodness follows us all the time and in every decade and generation. “Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23:6, NLT) But times were better back then; they were simpler and happier. No, not really! God’s grace and goodness are as powerful now as they were then. “For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.” (Psalm 100:5, NLT)

Does God still love us? Yes! Is God still helping us? Yes! Is God still showing Himself mighty in our lives? Yes! Does God still have a good plan and expected end for our lives? Yes! Can we still see God’s salvation in our day? Yes! Well, then, today and tomorrow are full of promise! And those good old days, don’t believe the hype. Let’s look for the new thing that God is doing today!

“For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:19, NLT)