Category: Isaiah
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Worthless, Wild Grapes
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5:20) This warning was specifically delivered to God’s people, the people of Israel, by the mouth of his prophet Isaiah. It was his people who were no…
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lost causes
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned – every one- to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6) All. Everyone. There isn’t a single person who has not chosen sin and his own way. Like sheep, we wander far from the loving…
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true strength
In quietness and in trust shall be your strength. Isaiah 30:15 (This was a picture I took on Sunday from our car on the way back from my brother’s wedding in VA & family vacation in NC. Isn’t God’s “art” far more exquisite than the best of man’s?!) There is a strength that only comes…
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the power of the mind
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. (Isaiah 26:3 – emphasis mine) We don’t often give much thought to our thoughts. As a result, it is easy to become a “victim” of negative and anxious thoughts that distract us from what is important and literally…
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filthy rags
We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. (Isaiah 64.6) When the bible says something, or someone, is unclean, it doesn’t just mean that it’s dirty and needs to…
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then shall your light rise
if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. (Isaiah 58:10) Chapter 58 of Isaiah starts with a description of religious activity, fasting, that is far from the heart of God. It is fire…
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no weapon formed against you
no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from me, declares the Lord. (Isaiah 54:17) This is a popular coffee cup, t-shirt, and tattoo verse. Just do a google…
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your God reigns
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” (Isaiah 52:7) This is a coffee cup verse if ever there was one. Yet I think that removed from its context and…
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the dry sea
Behold, by my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a desert; (Isaiah 50:2) A recurring theme throughout Isaiah is the power and authority of God. He keeps reminding his people that he is Almighty. There is no one like Yahweh. He alone is God. In times of distress, we often think…
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peace like a river
Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea; (Isaiah 48:18) This verse sounds, at first, like an indictment against God’s people, against every sinner who has failed to keep the perfect law of God. If only…