Truth Has Stumbled in the Streets
As I reflect on Isaiah 59:14, I’m struck by the phrase, “Truth has stumbled in the streets.” A more literal translation might read: “Truth totters in the square.” According to Isaiah, honesty was disappearing from the gathering places in towns and cities. This criticism applied to public officials as well as to everyday citizens. Deceit ruled the day. Sound familiar?
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Do You Delight in the Lord’s Day of Rest?
It’s easy for Christians to think of the Sabbath as a legalistic burden that the Jews are required to carry. Yet this is not how the Lord speaks of the day of rest. In Isaiah 58 he tells his people to “call the Sabbath a delight,” not a burden (58:13). Those who honor the Sabbath will also delight in the Lord, who promises the blessings of honor and an inheritance.
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Caring for the Hungry
As God’s people through Jesus Christ, we cannot ignore the reality of hunger in our world. Nor can we sit by while millions starve. Simple compassion, not to mention Christ-like love, calls us to act.
In the time of Isaiah, God promised that if his people would feed the hungry and help those in trouble, then “[their] light will rise in the darkness, and [their] night will become like the noonday” (58:10).
What Kind of “Fasting” Does God Desire from Us?
I admit it’s a bit ironic to talk about fasting the day before Thanksgiving Day in the United States. But our slow devotional walk through Isaiah brings us to chapter 58, a chapter that has much to say about fasting… and much to say that is as surprising to us as it is challenging.
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Are You Like the Tossing Sea?
When I back away from God, I lose touch with his peace. Yet God, in his mercy, doesn’t leave me in my restlessness. He finds ways to remind me of his presence. When I turn to him in desperation, he meets me… sometimes in that very moment, sometimes later. I realize that my life is never what it ought to be except when I rely fully on the Lord.
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Is the Sabbath for Us Too?
Scripture reveals that God created us with a need for weekly rest. We live most fully when we imitate him by setting aside a day each week for rest and refreshment… Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath, invites us into the joy of his rest. Sabbath is not so much a requirement as it is a gift.
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True Satisfaction
Psalm 90 reminds us that this kind of deep, lasting satisfaction does not come from the inconsistent, unreliable circumstances of life. Rather, it comes from the experience of being filled with God’s love on a daily basis. It comes as we allow our hearts to be inundated with the implications of the cross of Christ.
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God’s Word Will Achieve God’s Purpose in You
For the most part, our daily meditation upon God’s word will have a modest, perhaps even an intangible, impact. We may wonder if it is actually active in our lives. But, over time, the more we reflect on the truth of God, the more we will be changed, becoming more like him.
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God’s Thoughts Are Not Your Thoughts
God’s ways are often mysterious. Sometimes they are gloriously mysterious. Sometimes they are frustratingly mysterious… Yet, the greatest mystery of God’s nature leads us not to exasperation but to exaltation. I’m talking about the wonder of God’s grace, his limitless mercy, his unfathomable love.
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Are You Thirsty? Come and Drink!
Our souls are thirsty for the water that God alone provides. Nothing else will satisfy. The good news is that God invites us to come and drink from his well, and it’s completely free. Through Jesus, the deepest yearnings of our souls are satisfied.
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God’s Love for You Will Not Be Shaken
God’s love is more stable and lasting than the mountains and the hills. It will remain forever, never to be eroded away. When God commits himself to us, that commitment will never be broken… What marvelous news… something upon which to base our lives! Something more solid than the mountains. Something more lasting than the hills.
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How Can a Loving God Be Angry?
Over the years, I have become more accepting—but not completely comfortable— with the biblical picture of an angry God. I realize that anger is sometimes an appropriate emotion… I know that God is completely just and completely loving. I can begin to understand how anger is not inconsistent with deep, lasting love.
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The Right and Right-Making Servant of God
Here is what cannot be denied: We can never earn our own righteousness through our good deeds. We can never make ourselves right enough to have a right relationship with God. Without God’s help we are lost and without hope. But the good news is that we don’t have to do what we cannot do because our righteousness comes through Christ.
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Live in the Wholeness of Jesus
How might we respond to what Jesus has done for us as the Suffering Servant of God? Gratitude is the beginning. When we realize that Jesus suffered for our sake, our hearts fill with thanksgiving. Truly, the Christian life is one, long expression of thanks to the Lord for his magnificent mercy.
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A Man of Suffering
When we hurt, we find comfort in the fact that Jesus is a man of sorrows. He knows what it’s like to feel as we do. Thus his empathy isn’t theoretical. God the Son knows and shares in our suffering. He is with us, even when we are overcome by grief and despair.
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