What God Has to Say for Himself

Daily Reading: Isaiah 48

Scripture Focus: 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)

Devotional Thought:  In today's "woke" culture, many people are defining and "cancelling" others by what somebody else writes about them.  But, is that the best way to understand another?  Shouldn't you get to know them and hear what they have to say for themselves?

In Isaiah 48, God had two things to say about himself:

1.     Who he is...

·       The LORD: The name God calls himself is YHWH or Yahweh.  It simply means "I am."  God is the ultimate reality. 

·       Your Redeemer:  God wanted to be more than a transcendent idea to his people.  He wanted to be in relationship with them.  Ultimate reality means little to me if I can't grasp it.  God has made it possible for us to know him by redeeming us from sin and death and making us a part of his family.

·       The Holy One of Israel: Their knowledge of God was not something recent or temporary.  It was rooted in their holy history with God. 

2.     What he does…

·       Teach you to profit: The word for teach indicates a dynamic involvement of the student with the subject matter.  The children of God learn about God by acting in godly ways.  Those ways, God says, are profitable.  We gain great benefit when we lead godly lives.

·       Lead you in the way you should go: The word for lead is used to indicate an orderly march, as in a military procession.  Just as God led the children of Israel out of Egypt, he continued to lead them with his living presence among them!

Do you want to understand God better?  Don't take someone else's word for it.  Find out what he says about himself!

Prayer: Lord, you have been so good to me.  You have been my guide, my companion, and my teacher.  You have led me in the way of goodness and abundance.  Help me to walk with you in faithfulness and obedience.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 78.32-39

32 In spite of all this, they still sinned; despite his wonders, they did not believe.

33 So he made their days vanish like a breath, and their years in terror.

34 When he killed them, they sought him; they repented and sought God earnestly.

35 They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their redeemer.

36 But they flattered him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues.

37 Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not faithful to his covenant.

38 Yet he, being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them; he restrained his anger often and did not stir up all his wrath.

39 He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again.