LEARNING DAILY

 

Isaiah 48:16c-18, And now the Sovereign Lord and His Spirit have sent me with this message: “The Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, says: I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is good and leads you along the paths you should follow.  Oh, that you had listened to my commands!  Then you would have had peace flowing like a gentle river and righteousness rolling like waves.”

 

Chapter 48 of Isaiah is quite interesting as it tells us important information about God.  He is about to lead Israel out of captivity but before He does, He reminds them of the sin that got them there.  In the last page of the blog, we discussed how they worshipped God with their mouth but not with the way they lived their lives. God does not want them to return to their sinful ways.  However, they do not listen to Him.  God is patient with them and tells them He will not destroy them.  In the verses above, He tells His people through Isaiah that He only wanted the best for them and is disappointed that they were stubborn in their disobedience.  If they had only listened and been obedient, they would have enjoyed great peace and prosperity because of His protection and His provision. (Thoughts taken from Bridgeway Bible Commentary)

 

I have said before that this blog is written to be an encouragement to walk on the narrow way to eternal life; it is probably written for me more than anyone else.  Writing this keeps me focused (at least for a while).  Accepting the Lord’s offer of salvation through the cross redeems all from the “captivity of sin”.  As with Israel, God does not want us to return to the sinful life we led before we were saved.  I speak only for my personal walk – I am so thankful that He is patient with me even when I have been disobedient.  As I look back over the forty-five years since I gave my life to Him, I have spent a lot of time asking for His forgiveness for failing Him.   

 

The Bible gives us the direction we need to walk in obedience or to walk on the narrow way.  The devil does his best to keep each of us from reading and studying and understanding it.  He does not want us to know what is in it because he would have an easier time destroying us if we had no knowledge of God’s way.  God, on the other hand wants the very best for each of us just like the verses of Isaiah state.  You and I must know how the Bible instructs us to live and live obediently!  Hebrews 12:1-2 tells us “To run the race God has set before us with endurance.  The only way to do that is to keep our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish” (paraphrased from the NLT).  Our race of faith must be run with our eyes on Jesus alone as our example of trusting God and being committed to do His will.  That is the only way we will be able to overcome temptation, possible suffering, and to remain loyal to God.   It is our source of strength, love, grace, mercy and help in time of need.  By keeping our eyes on Jesus, we can enjoy the peace Isaiah speaks of.

 

From now on DJSB will be used to note information or quotes from the David Jeremiah Study Bible and LSSB will refer to information and quotes from the Life in the Spirit Study Bible.  I have added Jimmy Swaggart’s Expositor’s Study Bible to be referred to from now on as JSESB.