Month: May 2024

Romans 8:5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

This has been a tough week for a host of reasons, but I realized last night that I was allowing the events of the week to become way bigger, way more disastrous than they had any right to be.

Romans 8:6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.

The result was that life felt interminable and disastrous, neither of which it truly is. I was focusing on the concerns of the flesh, the body, and it caused me to completely lose the peace of the Spirit.

Romans 8:7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.

Precious Savior, Thank You for allowing me to see that I had taken my eyes off of You. Thank You for allowing me to understand that my shift in focus was robbing me of Your peace. Help me to stay focused on You and not on this world. Amen.

Romans 8: 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

Have a blessed day.

Isaiah 40:29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

Three times in the last four verses the word weary is used. I feel that—weariness—deep in my bones at present. But we are given an antidote to weariness in this section of scripture as well—hope in the Lord.

Isaiah 40:30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;

There is no way to avoid weariness altogether. That’s part of life. But there is a way to overcome the weariness of this world: “[T]hose who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.”

Isaiah 40:31a but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles….

Precious Savior, It’s that time of year. I am so tired, so weary. Help me to accept it as a part of life. Help me overcome it by hoping in You alone, by resting in You alone. Thank You for seeing me, for understanding my weariness, for giving me rest. Amen.

Isaiah 40:31b …they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Have a blessed day.

Isaiah 40:28a Do you not know?

We had quite a storm last night. Thunder. Lightning. Heavy rain. The storm even knocked our internet out. It’s still out this morning. It’s ironic and disconcerting that all our connectivity, all our digital power can be severed so easily.

Isaiah 40:28b Have you not heard?

But God’s power doesn’t depend on the internet. God’s power and sovereignty are independent of everything man created. They are lasting, eternal. Nothing can separate us from God. Not storms, not tragedy, not internet outages, nothing.

Isaiah 40:28c The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.

Precious Savior, Our connectivity makes us feel so powerful, so connected, but that power can literally be severed in an instant. Thank You that Your sovereignty reigns eternal. Help me to trust You always, even through life’s storms. Amen.

Isaiah 40:28c He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.

Have a blessed day.

Isaiah 40:28a Do you not know? Have you not heard?

At this time of the school year, these verses truly resonate with me. The Lord does not grow weary? He gives strength to those who are weary? I’m feeling weary to my core. I can use His strength. I can learn from his indefatigability.

Isaiah 40:28b …The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.

Yet if I just attach myself to His tirelessness, there is all kinds of potential for this to go awry. He’s not only tireless, He possesses unfathomable understanding. I think that understanding is key to who He is, yet there is so very much that I do not understand.

Isaiah 40:28c …He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.

Precious Savior, Thank You that I can come to You when I am weary, so weary. Thank You for the strength that can only come from You. Help me to cling to You always, for rest, for renewal, for equanimity when understanding is so far out of my reach. Help me. Amen.

Isaiah 40:29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

Have a blessed day.

Isaiah 40:25 “To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.

I’ve always believed that I can pray to God for silly things like close parking spaces or a break in the rain. These aren’t earth shaking requests. Sometimes God doesn’t grant them, but I ask because I know I can. He is my father. He loves me.

Isaiah 40:26a Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name….

Sometimes, though, it feels like He is not listening, He is not giving me answers that I feel like I *need* in order to understand, in order to persevere. That’s frustrating. Sometimes I’m tempted to complain. Sometimes I *do* complain. But I have found that even then the Lord is at work. He is with me.

Isaiah 40:26b …Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.

Precious Savior, You don’t owe me an explanation. You never promised me that You would explain all things on this side of the veil. You promised never to leave me, never to forsake me. Thank You for keeping Your promises, always, even when I don’t understand. Amen.

Isaiah 40:27 Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God”?

Have a blessed day.

Isaiah 40:21 Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded?

Not going to lie, I’m struggling a bit with this chapter in Isaiah. It began with “Comfort my people,” but the last several verses have established how fragile and ephemeral people are and how awesome and mighty God is. So what’s the ultimate lesson we are to learn here?

Isaiah 40:22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.

If I had to guess, I think that Isaiah is trying to help us keep our faith in the right place. God is sovereign and eternal. People are fragile and ephemeral. We can love them–God certainly loves His creation fiercely–but our faith must stay in God, our roots must sink into God, our hope must center on God. He’s up to the task. Humans are not.

Isaiah 40:23 He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.

Precious Savior, Thank You for the truth You have laid on my heart this morning. Thank You for the reminder of how deeply You love your children. Thank You for the caution that our hope, our faith, our eternal joy must stay rooted in You alone. Help us to love others as You love while staying deeply rooted in You alone. Amen.

Isaiah 40:24 No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

Have a blessed day.

Isaiah 40:18 With whom, then, will you compare God? To what image will you liken him?

When I read verse 18 this morning, Isaiah 55:8 came immediately to mind: “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.”

Isaiah 40:19 As for an idol, a metalworker casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it.

It is human nature to try to understand God through comparisons to things we already experience, but God is so unlike anything we know, that comparison will never be anything close to accurate.

Isaiah 40:20a A person too poor to present such an offering selects wood that will not rot;

Precious Savior, I struggle to understand who You are in relationship to things that I understand. I know that that can be a futile task. Help me to keep striving to know you more, know you better. Help me to keep seeking to draw closer to You. Amen.

Isaiah 40:20b …they look for a skilled worker to set up an idol that will not topple.

Have a blessed day.

Isaiah 40:15 Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.

Commentary says that verse 15 means that even the finest city with the best reputation is not worth much in comparison to God. Since humans tend to see things in comparative terms–Charlotte is a fabulous city. God is a fabulous God. God’s glory must be similar to Charlotte’s reputation.–It makes sense to me that when it comes to God, the syllogism doesn’t hold up. Bless us, humans need that confirmation.

Isaiah 40:16 Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires, nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.

And I find that, repeatedly, despite the fact that I know God cannot be compared to anything that I know, my mind tries to make sense of God in human terms, with human comparisons. Today’s scripture reminds me that that’s not possible. God is so far beyond humans that any comparison to help me understand is pale at best.

Isaiah 40:17 Before him all the nations are as nothing;

Precious Savior, It is human to try to make sense of things we don’t understand in terms of things that we know. Thank You for the reminder that You do not, cannot, will not fit neatly into any models of understanding that I have. But just because I can’t truly comprehend You doesn’t mean I can’t understand who You are and who You are to me. Thank You. Amen.

Isaiah 40:17b …they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing.

Have a blessed day.