July 26 – He Knows Best

Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, 
“I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit,
Who leads you in the way you should go.” – Isaiah 48:17 (NASB)

These words were delivered by God's prophet Isaiah and we apply them to our lives today because we believe that what is given to us in the Bible is for our edification, instruction, and correction. God wants to teach us what is best for us. When He says that, He reminds us that He knows what is best for us. We need to always remember that truth. It is true that God sent Isaiah the Profit to give these words to the people of Israel. They had difficult time obeying God’s Words. It was frequent that God had to discipline and hold them accountable and he was always do so to teach them the way He wanted them to go. Our God knows everything about everybody and He know what is best for each and every individual. It is so very encouraging to know that God is concerned enough about each one of us that He gets involved in teaching us what He knows is best for us.  He does not leave us to figure out the path of our lives on our own. So what do we do? We want to pay attention to His teaching.

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March 22 – He Truly Is

“Yahweh* is my shepherd; I will not lack for anything. In grassy pastures he makes me lie down; by quiet waters he leads me. ” – Psalm 23:1-2 (LEB)

We look today at a very familiar verse from a version that is not so common. Such comfort and truth are packed in this Psalm and it is well worth returning to it over and over again. Living like a sheep can bring you incredible peace of mind! The shepherd in Old Testament times knew his sheep. He knew each one and understood what foods were best for them, what they needed to thrive, and what dangers there were that could harm them. God knows us this way too. In the Gospel of John 10: 11,14  Jesus declares Himself explicitly to be the good shepherd two times. It is by His very nature that our Good Shepherd laid down His life for us. It is a promise from Him. He declares that He knows His own sheep and they know Him. We have a relationship with Him. This gives us reason to have absolute trust in our Good Shepherd and to value the nourishment that comes from more than anything else in our lives or in the world. Jesus did not simply identify as our good shepherd. No. He is by nature our good shepherd and cares for us always. 

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* The name of God, as revealed in the Hebrew Scriptures, is YHWH (the closest English equivalents to the Hebrew letters). Ancient Hebrew did not have vowels, so the exact pronunciation of YHWH is uncertain. The vast majority of Hebrew and Christian scholars believe the name to be Yahweh, pronounced /ˈyä-wā/, with Yehowah, pronounced /yi-ˈhō-və/, being the second most popular possibility.

The Lexham English Bible (LEB) uses the "formal equivalence" method of translation, resulting in a quite literal rendering. Reviewers have gauged the Lexham English Bible as slightly more literal than the New American Standard. The publishers of the LEB have strived to be as transparent as possible in the translation process, providing interlinear versions that keep the Greek and Hebrew words in their original order as well as provide root words and define each word contextually and noncontextually.

July 26 – Following His Lead

“Thus says the Lord,  your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:  “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go.”  Isaiah 48:17 (ESV)

God, who is our God, is the only true God and is who we worship.  He has a real desire to be involved in the things which we do everyday.  When God promises, as He does in today's selected verse, to teach us what is best for us, we can be encouraged to trust Him to guide us each day.  God does know everything and He assures us that He does know what is best for us.  Therefore, let us be sure that we are putting our trust in Him to show us what is best and to give us the ability to trust Him for every thing in our lives.  Our specific promise today is that the Lord our God is leading and teaching us to profit – which means finding the benefits available to us from God and we end up with a better result than if we go it alone.  Every step we take following God's leading will be the very best for us to take today, tomorrow and whenever we follow where He leads us.

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