Sunday, July 31, 2016

Sunday, July 31st: Isaiah 51-53 ~ Jay

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is: Isaiah 51-53

A couple of thoughts that jumped out at me from today's passages:

1) To me it is great comfort that no matter what happens in the world around us...war, earthquakes, floods, etc....Salvation is an eternal promise and God's righteousness will never go away.  What a promise and a comfort!
Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath;
the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment
    and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation will last forever,
    my righteousness will never fail.
2) Our God has strength and power beyond our comprehension.  In verses 12-16 of chapter 51, God's people were in fear of oppression by their enemies.  God reminds them of just how powerful He is and men (enemies) are like blades of grass. This drew a vivid picture for me relative to any struggles I might face and the need for me to be in constant prayer / communication with God.

12 “I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mere mortals,
    human beings who are but grass,
13 that you forget the Lord your Maker,
    who stretches out the heavens
    and who lays the foundations of the earth,
that you live in constant terror every day
    because of the wrath of the oppressor,
    who is bent on destruction

3)    In Isaiah 53 verses 3-6 stood out to me.  It describes how rejected Jesus would be when he came to earth...yet despite the rejection of man He still would go to the cross and bare our sins.  What we deserved he would bare for us, in spite of the fact that we would want nothing to do with Him.  This is obviously a fulfilled prophesy in the New Testament.  The thing that stood out to me was that Jesus was fully aware of the rejection He would face and what was going to happen to him, well in advance of coming to earth and taking the form of a man...yet He was still willing to do this for us. How often do I take time to sit back and thank God for his willingness to go through this for me...knowing full well it was coming and would be utterly painful for him.  Thank you Lord for your willingness to be rejected, suffer and die on my behalf...a fate that I fully deserved.






 




Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage: Isaiah54-56

3 comments:

Nathan said...

Good points, especially the last part. Jesus came and suffered for each of us, do I think if this and thank Him regularly? He is holy and He is God, yet He humbled himself and came to earth to suffer so that we might come to know Him and live for Him, a debt we could never come close to repaying.

Isaiah 53:5
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.

Conrad said...

Your last point in Isaiah 53:3-6 stood out to me too. Jesus did such a selfless act for selfish people. Something we definitely should take time to reflect back on.

Tammy said...

52:7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns!

We sang a song in church today that referenced this verse. Are our feet beautiful? Are we living out the gospel message and bringing others the good news of peace and salvation?

So humbling that Jesus would leave the splendor of heaven to come to earth, knowing the suffering He would endure in order to save us. What a Saviour!