On my hour-long drive into work, the Lord laid on my heart to listen to Isaiah 40. His presence through the words of Isaiah was so rich that I had to listen to it three times! By the time I got to work, I couldn’t keep it to myself—just how much God is so wonderfully and unfathomably multi-dimensional! There truly is no one we know who is like Him. In my quiet time the next day, I asked God to help me memorialize the comforting and encouraging thoughts He gave me. It’s like eating a great meal though—it’s very difficult to capture the full flavor of the experience through someone else’s words on a page. The powerful experience of tasting God’s Word must be experienced for one’s self. My friend, my prayer is that these encouraging thoughts inspire you to feed yourself on the richness of God’s Word!
[My thoughts are italicized after each section of scripture.]
“Comfort, yes, comfort My people!” Says your God. “Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth; the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Like the nation of Israel, we are all plagued by our own sin and deeply affected by the great stain of humanity’s collective sin. We suffer. We mourn. We live in a hard world with many others who are living on the brink of eternal hell. But because of Jesus, we have a hope that does not die. His gift of salvation purchased our redemption and we are guaranteed eternal life! One day, those who are born again, will experience all that is wrong being made right!
The voice said, “Cry out!” And he said, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.”
All flesh is dying from the moment it is born. We know it. We learn despair very quickly. We learn to expect broken promises. Suspicion and doubt cloud even the best of our best relationships. But God’s Word is our one sure promise. He never fails. He died so that we could live forever!
O Zion, you who bring good tidings, get up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, you who bring good tidings, lift up your voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him. He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young.
Our Almighty God is BOTH strong AND compassionate. He is the best Master we could choose for our life. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He treats us better than we deserve. He rewards us better than anyone. He immeasurably satisfies us with the fruits of His Spirit!
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, measured heaven with a span and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or as His counselor has taught Him? With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of justice? Who taught Him knowledge, and showed Him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, and are counted as the small dust on the scales; look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations before Him are as nothing, and they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless.
Who do we know on this earth who possesses the knowledge of God? Who possesses His wisdom? Who has His power? Whom shall we respect more than God? Yet—He is our Savior, Counsellor, Father, Defender, and Lover of our soul!
To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him? The workman molds an image, the goldsmith overspreads it with gold, and the silversmith casts silver chains. Whoever is too impoverished for such a contribution chooses a tree that will not rot; he seeks for himself a skillful workman to prepare a carved image that will not totter.
Will we foolishly worship those things or people who are created by God? Will we worship the gifts more than the Giver? Or even worse…the things we make with our own hands? Do any of these things merit our worship? Do they leave us in awe? Are the plans you’ve made for today enough to satisfy the greatness God created inside of you?
Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless. Scarcely shall they be planted, scarcely shall they be sown, scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth, when He will also blow on them, and they will wither, and the whirlwind will take them away like stubble.
The Gospel gives us the immense opportunity to experience God, the One who holds our very life’s breath in His hand!
“To whom then will you liken Me, Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, by the greatness of His might and the strength of His power; not one is missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel: “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my just claim is passed over by my God”?
God keeps track of every creature and every star in the universe—do we doubt His love for us, for whom He died? Do we doubt that He loves each human—who is created in His image and for His glory? Do we doubt that He who carefully knit us together in our mother’s womb also cares about each and every one of our problems?
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:1-31 NKJV
Boom! Need we say more? Need we know anything or anyone more—than we know God? He has ALL the answers. In his presence is the repository of ALL strength. To know God, is to live beyond the strength of youth and above wisdom of the ages. He is God. He gives life. He is love. He is our oxygen. Because of Him—TODAY—we can live in great victory as we face each circumstance!
We would love to hear your thoughts about this devotional. Did God speak to you or challenge your daily walk with him? Or is there a topic that you would like Kimberly to cover or expound on? Please share with us in the comments below.
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