Monday 22 Dec 2014

December 22: Isaiah 7:13-17

Key Verse: Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.

Devotion:
What sort of a panic do you get into when you are told about something really important that is going to happen in the next few minutes or even the next day? But is that panic anything like it when you are told a month or two in advance? Somehow telling us of an important event a long time in advance gets us into a place where we will think we will be prepared for the event so we do not prepare as well as we should maybe prepare!

I wonder whether this is what was happening when God used the prophets to tell of the coming of the Messiah hundreds of years before He actually came to us. I wonder whether the people were a bit too comfortable with life and allowed a false sense of security and safety to surround themselves. God has continued to warn us about the impending doom or the dangers of what lies ahead; and yet we continue to choose to put aside the law and live what we think is a life OK in our books!

Don’t ever think that God is going to sweep everything under the carpet just because it is many years since we got warned. Don’t assume that God is going to forget. This is our perfect God, the one who does not change! So take on board all that He is doing for us and all that He is going to do; this has all been written down in our bibles for us to know and learn.

Don’t be like the people of Israel and turn your backs on God. Don’t be like the rest of the world and think that there is safety in numbers. God continues to uphold the poor. God continues to uplift the righteous. God will not sweep everything under the carpet just because He loves us. God is just. That means He will uphold His Law. It will not be cast aside just to please us or pacify us. God continues to be the same yesterday, today and forever or upholds what is right. Trust him.

Points to Ponder:
Nothing is impossible with God!

Do you test God with every decision you make?