Post by Woody Williams on Aug 25, 2005 7:49:57 GMT -5
Text for the Day -- Isaiah 28:14-18
----------
Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem. Because you have said, 'We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we have an agreement; when the overwhelming scourge passes through it will not come to us; for we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood we have taken shelter'; therefore thus says the Lord GOD, See, I am laying in Zion a foundation stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation: 'One who trusts will not panic.' And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plummet; hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and waters will overwhelm the shelter. Then your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; when the overwhelming scourge passes through you will be beaten down by it.
Devotional
----------
Why do we "cave in" so easily with our faith when things turn bad? So often we take things into our own hands and forget to trust in God's care. The leaders in Jerusalem made a deal with the enemy with what they thought would provide security and freedom from being killed. They thought that they had made a deal with death. But God is Lord of death and God is the one who they should have been dealing with. Isaiah prophesies against the leaders in this text. God will lay a cornerstone in Zion. This cornerstone was named, "One who trusts will not panic." It reminds me of Jesus in Gethsemane when he was facing death. His conclusion was, "Father not my will, but yours be done." He made no deal with death. He trusted in the Lord of life and death and he did not panic.
Prayer
----------------
Lord, I pray for your Holy Spirit to strengthen my trust in your care. Amen
----------
Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem. Because you have said, 'We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we have an agreement; when the overwhelming scourge passes through it will not come to us; for we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood we have taken shelter'; therefore thus says the Lord GOD, See, I am laying in Zion a foundation stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation: 'One who trusts will not panic.' And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plummet; hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and waters will overwhelm the shelter. Then your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; when the overwhelming scourge passes through you will be beaten down by it.
Devotional
----------
Why do we "cave in" so easily with our faith when things turn bad? So often we take things into our own hands and forget to trust in God's care. The leaders in Jerusalem made a deal with the enemy with what they thought would provide security and freedom from being killed. They thought that they had made a deal with death. But God is Lord of death and God is the one who they should have been dealing with. Isaiah prophesies against the leaders in this text. God will lay a cornerstone in Zion. This cornerstone was named, "One who trusts will not panic." It reminds me of Jesus in Gethsemane when he was facing death. His conclusion was, "Father not my will, but yours be done." He made no deal with death. He trusted in the Lord of life and death and he did not panic.
Prayer
----------------
Lord, I pray for your Holy Spirit to strengthen my trust in your care. Amen