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July 16th

The Bible reading today is in Isaiah chapters 13-17.

It is my conviction that God has “always” made good decisions. It is my belief that God has “always” been a good judge for the world He has made.

As human beings, we were made in the image of God like our ancestral parents, Adam and Eve. We were given minds to think with and hearts to love with and souls to respond to God with. But remember, sin came to the garden. And every son of Adam and every daughter of Eve would be born in sin. With a sin nature, with minds that would think evil thoughts, with hearts that would love “selfishly”, and souls that would be dead spiritually.

What man and woman and boy and girl would desperately need would be a do over...a new birth...with a Godly mind that could make good decisions like God. With a Godly heart that could love “selflessly” for a lifetime, and a God soul that could desire to walk together with the Lord.

And by the way...in Christ, we have been born again, with brand new hearts, brand new souls, and the very mind of Christ.

One of my constant prayer requests to God is that He would empower me to think His thoughts and make decisions in harmony with His. You and I are called upon every day to make decisions. Many small ones and some pretty big ones. For the most part, we trust our decision-making abilities. The sad thing is, we find ourselves not trusting in our Savior God’s decision-making abilities. And why is that? Because some of His decisions concerning us have been hard, painful.

In the world in which Isaiah ministered, primarily Israel and Judah, the people had rightly experienced the sting of God’s warnings and judgments. Many turned to the Lord with a contrite heart, “so sorry” for the forgetting of their Savior. Others just refused to turn back to the Lord.

Is there any good news, Isaiah? We know that we have blown it. We know that we have broken the law and we know that we have broken God’s heart. Is there any more mercy and any more grace for God’s chosen ones?

Let us listen to Isaiah...not just for Israel and Judah, but for us in Jesus.

“For the Lord will have “compassion on Jacob” and will “again choose Israel”, and will “set them” in their own land...

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭14:1‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“The Lord will have compassion upon Jacob...” The Lord will show mercy to the children of faith, even after they have strayed away from their Savior.

I remember a police officer named Ben. He and his family got saved and joined our church in Spring, Texas. One day Ben called and asked if he could bring his older brother, Rick, by the house.

Rick had just gotten out of prison after more than a decade. Upon hearing the gospel around our kitchen table, tears began to flow and he asked a question that I will never forget. “How can you say that Jesus can forgive me...? When you don't know what I've done? I said, “You're right, I don't know what you've done, but God does and He loves you despite what you've done.

Isaiah told Israel that God had enough mercy to go around for those that believed Him. And then Isaiah had some more good news for Israel.

“How much is God committed to us since we proved unfaithful to Him?“

Answer...“God always keeps His promises. Therefore, He would still choose you over everyone else...no matter what,”

That was good news. But 1400 years later better news came. Not just for Israel but for Gentiles as well. Jesus the Messiah Savior God who came to save us from our sins and give us eternal life both in the now and the forever.

Have a great day.