God Speaks
The LORD God Pronounces Judgment on People’s Sins, But He Will Restore Those Who Delight in Doing What Pleases Him
Verse of the Day: All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. No one calls on Your name or strives to lay hold of You; for You have hidden Your face from us and have given us over to our sins. (Isaiah 64:6-7 NIV 2011)
Read or listen on BibleGateway.com
Watch TBR Day 213
We Respond
Reflection: Consider the following questions regarding Isaiah 64-66:
1. What does this chapter tell me about God?
2. What does this chapter tell me about the human beings He created?
Here is one possible answer to each of these questions. Ask the Holy Spirit if there are any others for you personally to ponder.
Isaiah 64
1. The LORD God is willing (even eager) for the people who highly revere Him to ask Him to act against their enemies and His.
2. People’s attempts to be righteous apart from God are like filthy rags [dirty, stinky diapers] to Him.
Isaiah 65
1. It is the Sovereign LORD’s prerogative to punish or to bless.
2. People often follow their own evil paths and their own crooked schemes in open defiance of God.
Isaiah 66
1. The Great Creator God promises, “I will bless those who have humble and contrite hearts, who tremble at My word.”
2. People who do not fear God should at least fear the judgment He will bring on those who blatantly disobey and disrespect Him unless they repent.
Prayer:
3. How might I pray regarding Isaiah 64-66?
O LORD God, You created the earth and everything and every person on it. You deserve to be held in highest esteem. I do. I also renounce my attempts to be righteous apart from You. Only Jesus’ blood can cleanse my filthy mind and heart; only by cooperating with the Holy Spirit can I change my sinful ways. It is Your prerogative, Sovereign LORD, to punish or to prosper me according to the condition of my heart–if it is humble and contrite or proud and arrogant. Please replace the later with the former. As David asked, “Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean…. Remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.”* I no longer want to follow my own evil path and my own crooked schemes in open defiance of You, LORD God. Train me to tremble at Your word. Teach me holy fear so that I will not suffer the judgment You will bring on those who blatantly disobey and disrespect You. I want to experience the prosperity You promise to those who trust and obey You. As a result, both now and throughout eternity, I will bring You glory, LORD. AMEN *Psalm 51:7, 9, 10 NLT
Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, if He wants you to work on one of the suggestions below or something else more personal that He points out.)
4. What action does the LORD want me to take in response to Isaiah 64-66? With the help of God’s Holy Spirit:
- As I pray, I will focus on the greatest of God and His actions in the past on behalf of people who revere Him.
- I will love a sinner I know as a beloved child of God (as a mother loves her newborn child), but I will hate their sin like I would hate dirty, stinky diapers. If the person is new in the faith, I will help them to change. As they grow in Christ, I will teach them how to repent and overcome the sin by the washing of the Word of God and dependence on the Holy Spirit. One might call this spiritual “potty training.”
- I will ask the Holy Spirit of God to help me distinguish between a person’s identity and their behavior–hating sin but loving people.
- I will examine my own life to see where I have followed my own evil path and my own crooked schemes in open defiance of God.
Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.