Devotional Thoughts

Isaiah 10:20-21    "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God." We saw in the first chapter of this book that Isaiah prophesied during the reign of several kings. One of those kings was Ahaz. He was perhaps one of the most wicked kings to every reign in Judah. He made idols and placed them throughout the city of Jerusalem. He cut to pieces various vessels in the temple. He drew people away from true worship by building high places where they could go into the groves and privately sacrifice to those idols.     In the first verses of this tenth chapter of Isaiah, God speaks of His judgment against Israel and Judah because of this idolatry. He talks of tearing down idols that had been built. He talks of using the king o

Exodus 11:4-10    "And Moses said, Thus saith the LORD, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts. And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more. But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. And all these thy servants shall come down unto me, and bow down themselves unto me, saying, Get thee out, and all the people that follow thee: and after that I will go out. And he went out from Pharaoh in a great anger. And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you; that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt. And Moses a

In one of the great Psalms of thanksgiving, the writer asked a most pertinent question. “What shall I render unto the Lord for all of His benefits toward me” (Psalm 116:12) ? We may observe two elements in this question. The psalmist acknowledges having received many benefits, or blessings, at the hand of the Lord. For the believer, to be the receiver of blessings from the Lord is a fact beyond question. That is one facet of a proper perception of reality. However, for the unbeliever, or even for the nominal believer, such things come in the course of nature, or as a matter of deserving them. But to fail to see that such benefits and blessings come from the Lord is to lose touch with reality. The other element of the question is that the writer expresses a sense of obligation to the Lord and reveals a desire to do something in response to the amazing goodness of God to him. It is the reflex of the godly heart to desire to do something in response to the perceived go

Isaiah 9:8    "The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel." I hope to be able to share my thoughts in a way that is understandable this morning. "The Lord sent a word into Jacob." I am always intrigued by the life of Jacob. I'm afraid I can all too often identify with him. There are two natures of Jacob, just as there are two natures to every child of God. He had the carnal nature that said he could do anything he wanted and achieve anything he set out to do, if he used his own ability. That only took him so far in life until the Lord took hold of him.  Jacob met himself in truth when God sent him back to meet his brother. It was at that moment he realized he needed a power much stronger than himself. He needed the power and wisdom of the God of his fathers, Abraham and Isaac. He wrestled with God all night. God changed his name and his nature to Israel. "It hath lighted upon Israel." He now had the power of God upon which he co