April 12 – All He Did For All

“Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. As many were astonished at you—his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—” – Isaiah 52:13-14 (ESV)

This is a good passage for an after-Easter consideration so that we do not let the importance of what Christ was willing to do and did for us be quickly forgotten.  His resurrection is so important because his death is so very important to our lives. Today, if you have a moment, take it and read Isaiah 52:13-53:12. The Isaiah 53 is well known for its prophecy of the torture, suffering, and crucifixion of Jesus Christ. However the section begins in Isaiah 52:13. These are some of the words describing what Jesus went through in order to pay the price of our sin. In Isaiah 53 there are 29 words or combination of words which describe the suffering Christ did.  Words like: despised, rejected, esteemed not, grief, sorrow, smitten, pierced, crushed, wounds, oppressed, and slaughter.  After all this torture at the hands of the Romans and others, Jesus was so marred he was unrecognizable. The last verse in the chapter is our promise too,  “yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors. After all he did, he became our intercessor before God the Father. That is a promise that fills our heart with joy. 

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February 28 – Sheltering in the Keep

“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge.” Psalm 46:10-11 -  (KJV)

Yesterday we read the first three verses of this Psalm 46 Today the final two are what we want to consider. God promises to be our refuge (shelter) and strength in any threat. Because we have that promise we need not worry.  We can “Be Still” because we know who our God is.  Our God will be exalted among the heathen and unbelieving world where nations reject and despise the truth of God. Even His existence is denied. For those who believe in God and in the Son of God who sacrificed Himself so that we can be redeemed and receive eternal life, danger may seem to exist from the nations that hate God. But God says that one day all the nations, all the heathen unbelievers will exalt the name of God. They will be impotent before the creator of all things created. And were are we? We are with the LORD of hosts. God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is our God and our refuge (like fortress on high ground). God is a refuge in so many ways. From the unexpected dangers and from the known threats from enemies.  God is our stronghold that will never fail.   

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February 24 – A Win-Win Outcome

“Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” – Philippians 1:20b-21 (NASB)

The Apostle Paul dedicated his life to work for the exaltation of Jesus Christ from the moment of his conversion to believe Jesus was the promised Messiah. Another version uses the word ‘magnified’ to describe Paul’s main purpose – the glorification of Christ. So Paul could say “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” After years as a prisoner in Rome, his appeal was still pending before Caesar, he was at a fork on the road in the journey of his life.  On one hand, he knew he could be martyred. He was ready for that. Or, he might gain his freedom (we don’t know the details). He did not fear martyrdom  and saw benefit for others if he remained. Paul declared in either outcome, dying or living, Christ would be magnified. Both of these options, continuing to live for Christ, or gaining his access to glory through dying would result in Christ being glorified. This is to what God calls us in our lives. As believers we are promised that dying is a glorious thing, and remaining alive on earth is opportunity to bring glory to Christ through our obedience and service. It is a win-win situation.

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October 17 – Only the Very Best

“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.”  1 Chronicles 29:11 (ESV)

The words of praise in this verse were spoken by David at the time that his son Solomon was installed as King of Israel.  David had been collecting gifts to be used in the building of the temple of God in Jerusalem. Until that time, the Israel had been worshiping in the Tabernacle* – the tent used in their desert wanderings before entering the Promised Land.  David wanted God to have the best in order to acknowledge the truths we read in our verse.  That should be our desire too because we have the same God that David did.  We should be ready to give Him our very best in everything we do.  Let us remember everyday that all belongs to God.  Everything in heaven and earth.  What we have, has come from our God.  When we give  Him something we have or do something for Him we are expressing the truth of the promises David acknowledged about God.  

* The Tabernacle and Temples of Israel

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March 1 – Knowing God by Name

“Blessed are the people who know the festal shout, who walk, O LORD, in the light of your face, who exult in your name all the day and in your righteousness are exalted.” Psalm 89:15-16 (ESV)

Remembering our verse from yesterday and looking again at our verses from two days ago. In yesterday's verse God gave Moses a reply to a question about his divine name – His identity. God told Moses that His was “I AM who I AM” and Moses was to tell his people in Egypt that I AM had sent him. Actually it means the same as the name Yahweh which is translated in most of our bibles as LORD and printed in all capital letters.  (Some versions use Jehovah and others use Yahweh.) The verses we looked at includes LORD as God's name and we share them again today.  Why is is possible for believers to walk in the light of the presence of God?  It is because He is LORD, the One who exists forever, the One who is always there. Our promise today is a blessing for those who have learned this and received it and believe it by faith. In His name we exult all day long and in His righteousness, we are lifted up.

Notes on the Name of God

January 21 – Lowly and Contrite

“For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, “I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite.” Isaiah 57:15 (NASB)

This is a wonderful promise and word of assurance from our God. God gave these words to His prophet Isaiah to deliver to his people at a time that they needed encouragement. We are reminded of His exalted greatness and we should never forget how great our God is. At the same time, God wants us to know that He is anxious to be part of our lives. Yes, God is in heaven but he also want to be close to us. For that to happen we must have the proper attitude of humility. We must recognize that we can't do it on our own. We need our God to be with us. The promise in today's verse tells us what He does when He comes to live with us. He revives the heart of the contrite, the humble believer. Today, let's believe and be thankful that God revives our lowly spirit when we come to Him. 

June 24 – Revive

“For this is what the high and exalted One says—he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.” Isaiah 57:15 (NIV)

We can be so glad that our God has given us the Bible to reveal to us what He is like. This verse is again God's words sent through the prophet Isaiah. What a wonderful statement this is. It reminds us how great our God is and also how He meets our needs.  He dwells in a high place and a holy place and he has lived and will live forever. But even though he is far above us He does pay attention to us. Although He lives in heaven, above all, He also lives right here with us if we give Him a chance. Have we encountered testing and maybe our our hearts are broken?  Have the pressures of our daily lives pushed us down we find our selves low in spirit?  We need help and He is ready to revive our hearts when we turn to Him. So let's open our hearts today and allow God to live with us and to show us how much He loves us.

January 20

“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,” Philippians 2:9 (NIV)

We do have a wonderful God and a wonderful Savior. Our verse today reminds us of how important the name of Jesus is. These verses were written by the Apostle Paul to teach us what God the Father did after Jesus willingly went to the cross and died for us. It was God the Father who chose the name Jesus which means Savior and our verse reminds us that this name is above every name. Yes, my friend, we come to God our heavenly Father in the name of Jesus and God recognizes us as His children. Our great creator, the Almighty God, wants us to call on Him in the name of Jesus in humility. Let us rejoice in His name today and bow before Him.