KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Wednesday, July 11, 2018
Chapters: Isaiah 1-4
Message: The Mountain of The LORD
Hello My Friend,
The Book of Isaiah is the twenty-third book of the Old Testament/Bible and contains sixty-six chapters. The author of the book is Isaiah and it was written to Judah and all believers. The timeline for these events took place between 766 BC to 679 BC. The purpose of the book was to teach correction and reproof to all believers. What we are to learn from the book is that rebellion leads to destruction, but repentance leads to restoration. “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” – Isaiah 1:18.
Isaiah prophesied during the time that God was starting to judge Israel, no matter what He did, whether it was showing His mercies or bringing calamities, they refused to put away the false gods and turn to Him, and Judah was quickly catching up to them. In fact, they were getting much worse. During the time that his father Amos was in Samaria telling them why they were being judged Isaiah was in Judah, warning them that they were about to be judged, but had a chance to escape that if they just return to God.
“Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” – Isaiah 1:4-6,9-11,16-18.
“Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant,” It is because there are a few faithful to God that nation upon nation is not destroyed as Sodom and Gomorrah were. Did you ever wonder why so many Christians are living their lives in sin? Well, there could be one of two reasons; one, they never really trusted Christ as their Saviour and He really does not live in them, or two, He did everything He could to warn them to stop, but they refused to listen. I always say that when you walk with Jesus He may let you go over the edge of sin and dangle there for a while, but He never lets you fall completely into it. Those whom have fallen deep into it and or walked away from Jesus all together were never walking with Him in the first place. God will help us overcome any sin as long as we one, know Christ as our Saviour, and two, turn it over to Him. “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” – James 4:8-10.
“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord,” God does not want us to suffer, there are things that we go through that were passed down to us from Adam and Even because of the curse that we are all under, like death, disease, even infirmities like being deaf. God uses these things to make us humble and draw closer to Him, in which many cases it does, but there is suffering that we face due to our own actions. It is vital that we as Christians live a life that reflects Christ, not to keep our salvation, but to bring others to Him. If we are living in the world and proclaiming Him at the same time, the world is not going to see the value in knowing Him. One day, we will all face Jesus, those who know Him will join Him in His Kingdom, those who do not will be running for their lives to no avail. Through Isaiah, God tells of the time Christ will come to judge Israel, and all nations.
“And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low: And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. And the idols he shall utterly abolish. And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?” – Isaiah 2:2-3,12,17-22.
“for wherein is he to be accounted of?” We are all accountable for our actions, while our salvation is not based on our works, our works do count after we are saved. What a day it will be when people from all over the world will flock to Jerusalem to see their King. Every knee will bow at His sight because we will all see how unworthy we are of Him, especially when He shows us the opportunities we missed. God continues to reveal the state ins which Jerusalem will be upon Christ’s return.
“For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of his glory. The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves. Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him. As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths. The LORD standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people. Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet: Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover their secret parts.” – Isaiah 3:8-13,16-17.
“Because the daughters of Zion are haughty,” The state of Judah is the same state many of our nations are in today, open sin, flaunted and thrown in our faces, not a care in the world, not a bit of shame in what they are doing. It truly is a woe to their soul and ours as we have to watch be in the midst of it all. It is really kind of sad, when I see a man or woman claiming to be the opposite I do not get disgusted I feel sad because they think that was the answer to all their problems. We cannot hide from our problems, they only bring more, we must confront them, and seek God’s help in how to deal with them. Oddly, the same words that Isaiah spoke here are similar to what Jesus spoke when He was here, we are known by our fruit. “Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.” – Matthew 12:33.
Zion, Jerusalem, at its worse, will one day be cleansed of all its filth, which is the wickedness and corruption brought on by sin. As bad as it is right now the state in which Christ will return will be much worse, so bad that there will even be a shortage of men and several women will seek one man for marriage. However, there is hope because when Christ does return He will not only cleanse Jerusalem, He’ll cleanse the whole earth.
“And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach. In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem: When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.” – Isaiah 4:1-4.
“to take away our reproach.” Those written among the living, this is none other than the Book of life, in which the names of every saved soul will contain. Jesus takes away our reproach, the shame and disgrace we face for our sin. People get the idea that you have to be a certain religion to be saved, this is wrong and will send you to hell quicker than you can blink your eyes. If you think about it, both Jews and Christians have been reduced to a religion, when God has nothing to do with religion. Being Jewish, Catholic, Presbyterian, Baptist, Jehovah’s Witness, Mormon, or Muslim does not save anyone, only Christ does, and to be honest, a Christian is not a Christian unless they personally know Jesus Christ as their Saviour. What counts is if your are among the living.
“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” – I Thessalonians 4:13-17.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.” – Isaiah 2:3.
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank you for sending Your Son to make redemption for our sins a permanent one. We no longer have to offer sacrifices because we are redeemed by the precious blood of Your Son upon our souls. Our redemption does not give us a free pass to live in sin and not suffer for it, it does give us the opportunity to show Your Son to the world and receive heavenly crowns and rewards. Lord, lead us and guide us, help us to seek Your truths and live by them so we can be an honor to You. Put Your hedge of protection around us, and give us the strength and courage to boldly proclaim Your Son to the world. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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