KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Thursday, July 12, 2018
Chapters: Isaiah 5-8, II Chronicles 27
Message: Standing Out From the Crowd
Hello My Friend,
There is a difference between those who are Christians and live in the world and those who are saved Christians and live in the world, those who are saved truly belong to Jesus, they have at some point turned to Jesus alone for their salvation. When you belong to Jesus that means your soul is preserved, it cannot be cast into hell when it separates from the body. A saved soul does not mean that we do not face the consequences for our actions here on earth if we are living in sin, and it does not mean we are not going to have any problems to deal with when we are not. But it does mean that Jesus has our back whether it be that we get persecuted for our faith or chastened for doing something we know we should not have done in the first place. Let me tell you, salvation does not exempt us from the sin nature we fight with every day, we need help, and that kind of help only comes from Christ Himself. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28-30.
“and learn of me;” Do you see where the problem lies for thousands of people who do get saved and are living as though they do not even know who Christ is? They got saved on a whim. It was like something happened to them that showed them Christ, it sounded good so they got saved, but never took the time to get to know Him beyond their salvation. The only way we stand out from those among the world is by taking His yoke upon us, become one with Him, walk with Him, talk with Him, the more we do the more we mimic and become like Him. The hardest part of going to Jesus in the first place is confessing our sins, no one wants to stand before Jesus and tell Him all the things they did, but the truth is, He already knows. Through Isaiah, God upbraids Judah for allowing themselves to be taken captive to the corrupted world.
“What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it. Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope: That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it! Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!” – Isaiah 5:4,13-14,18-23.
“because they have no knowledge:” The world is oblivious to the things of God, in fact, they despise the very teachings of God because it does, in fact, go against the very things they build their lives upon. Many who are saved are no better, in fact, some are worse because they have no knowledge, they are only doing what they were taught by some corrupt church, and some even disregard the Word of God using their salvation as justification of their wrong doing. Our salvation may not be based on our works, but it does not give us the liberty to live in sin and not expect God to respond without judgment. Remember, judgment begins with the house of God. God pleads with His people every day to get the sin that causes so much pain in their lives out, and Jesus can help with that, but they must come to Him willingly about it. God gives Isaiah an amazing vision of a heavenly throne, and Jesus, one in which brought great conviction to him.
“Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,” – Isaiah 6:5-11.
“and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes,” Jesus only shows Himself to those who truly want to see Him. While Isaiah was in Judah he conferred with a few kings, one being Uzziah. Jotham, his son he had to take over as king when Uzziah had become leprous for going into the temple and burning incense. Jotham was a good and godly king, he and Judah prospered greatly because He prepared his ways through God’s ways.
“Jotham was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also was Jerushah, the daughter of Zadok. And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Uzziah did: howbeit he entered not into the temple of the LORD. And the people did yet corruptly. He built the high gate of the house of the LORD, and on the wall of Ophel he built much. Moreover he built cities in the mountains of Judah, and in the forests he built castles and towers. He fought also with the king of the Ammonites, and prevailed against thm. And the children of Ammon gave him the same year an hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand measures of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. So much did the children of Ammon pay unto him, both the second year, and the third. So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the LORD his God. And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.” – II Chronicles 27:1-6,9.
“because he prepared his ways before the LORD his God.” Our ways are not God’s ways, they never have been and never will be. The key to Jotham’s success was not that he was perfect, it was because he did everything knowing that the LORD was his God. We will never be prefect until Christ returns or we are in heaven, but we do not have to be, we just have to know that the LORD us our God. The only way to know that the LORD is our God is by receiving His Son as our Saviour. In fact, through Isaiah, God gives the wonderful prophecy of Jesus.
“And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it. Then said the LORD unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shearjashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller’s field; And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah. Thus saith the Lord GOD, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass. Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD. And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.” – Isaiah 7:1,3-4,7,11-15.
“but will ye weary my God also?” People of the world do not want to hear the truth, they do not want to hear that they are sinners and their sin will send them to hell, that nothing they do on their own will save them from hell, and they do not want to hear that a man born of a virgin can save them. It is really sad that most Jews refuse to acknowledge Jesus Christ and it is all right here in the Scriptures. God does not look at us through our flesh, but through Christ, if He is in us, He sees goodness, if He is not He sees evil. Through Isaiah, God foretells of the judgment, those who reject Him, and how a person with a saved soul turns from Him.
“Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion. And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward. And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.” – Isaiah 8:18-22.
“it is because there is no light in them.” Those who truly know Christ as their Saviour will by led upon His Light, they well no longer be in the dark. Jesus knows who are His, He knows who truly believe in and accept Him to save them from their sins. Those who never really believed will turn into something very dark, in fact, they will despise Christ and have a hatred for God. Jesus is the Light of every Christian, He shines upon them and brings hope to every situation, even if we caused it ourselves. “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” – I John 1:7-8.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness.” – Isaiah 5:16.
Today’s Prayer: Jesus, It still amazes me that You went through so much pain to save me and only my simple faith and trust in Your finished work is all I need to be saved from my sins. I have Your seal, Your blood in me and when I think of where I would be if I died before I knew the truth, I cringe. Lord, I want to live my life as a Godly example, one in which You shine through me every day, give me Your power, strength, and wisdom to glorify You. Use me to be a witness to the lost, and help me to be bold enough to tell all how they can know You. In Your name Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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