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Behind and before…. (devo reflection)

Isaiah 52:12 But you will not leave in haste or go in flight; for the Lord will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
When I read Isaiah 52:12, Psalm 139:5 immediately came to mind as it carries that same idea of being surrounded, before and behind, by the Lord. I’m not surprised that there are a number of verses that talk about the Lord or His angels surrounding His people. He promised never to leave us nor forsake us (Heb 13:5).
Psalm 139:5 You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.
The idea that God is always with me, surrounding me—especially in the difficult times—brings me great comfort. He doesn’t promise to make it all better or make it easy. He just promises that I am not facing life’s trials alone. He is with me—behind and before. He will never leave me nor forsake me. He is in the fire with me. He makes that promise to all of us.
Psalm 34:7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and he delivers them.
Lord, So many of us are struggling right now. Thank You for being with us, for hemming us in before and behind. Thank You for allowing us to draw closer to You during the dark, uncertain times. Help us to feel Your peace that passes all understanding and Your presence to know that we are not alone. Draw us closer. Amen.
Psalm 125:2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds His people, both now and forevermore.
Have a blessed day.
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“Listen to me, my people; hear me, my nation….”

Isaiah 51:1 “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn….”
What I hear clearly in this chapter is God comforting His hurting people. “Listen to Me.” “Hear Me.” He knows they are hurting, we are hurting, and He wants to remind them, to remind us, of His presence, His goodness, His love, His promise.
Isaiah 51:3 “The Lord will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing.”
Isaiah 43:19, God’s promise that He is making a way in the wilderness, is a favorite verse of mine, especially when times are difficult. In Isaiah 51:3, He goes a step further in His promise and reassurance: not only is He making a way in the wilderness, He will transform, He is transforming, the wastelands of my life into the garden of the Lord. He is bringing His beauty from my ashes.
Isaiah 51:4 “Listen to me, my people; hear me, my nation: Instruction will go out from me; my justice will become a light to the nations.”
Lord, Thank You for Your reassurances, Your promises, Your faithfulness. So many people are struggling right now, Lord. Help us to listen, help us to hear, help us—help us all—to be still and KNOW that You are God, that You are present, that You are making a way in our wildernesses, that You are turning our ashes into Your beauty even now, even if we cannot yet perceive it. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You. Amen.
Isaiah 51:7 “Hear me, you who know what is right, you people who have taken my instruction to heart: Do not fear the reproach of mere mortals or be terrified by their insults.”
Have a blessed day.
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The Sovereign Lord who helps me…. (devo reflection)

Isaiah 50:2a …Was my arm too short to deliver you? Do I lack the strength to rescue you?…
I am guilty of doubting. If I’m honest, I’m guilty of it much more often than I’d care to admit. Mark 9:24, “I do believe; help my unbelief” is a verse I feel deeply.
Isaiah 50:2b …By a mere rebuke I dry up the sea, I turn rivers into a desert; their fish rot for lack of water and die of thirst.
But as I ponder the what and the why of my struggles with belief and trust, I see my issue comes down to control again. It’s not that I don’t trust God to act, it is that I want Him to act in a very specific way. I want Him to fix it according to my plans. That’s where my problem lies.
Isaiah 50:7 Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced….
Lord, Forgive me for my insane need to micromanage the God of all creation. Forgive me that I don’t just want You to make a way where I see no way, but I want You to follow my step-by-step guide. Thank You that You are with me always, that You are making a way, even if it looks nothing like I had planned or imagined. Draw me closer. Help me to trust unconditionally, even when I don’t understand, even when it is not what I would have planned. Thank You for Your sovereignty and love. Amen.
Isaiah 50:9 It is the Sovereign Lord who helps me. Who will condemn me?
Have a blessed day.
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The palms of My hands…. (devo reflection)

Isaiah 49:16 See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands. Always in my mind is a picture of Jerusalem’s walls in ruins. (NLT)
The first part of this verse always makes me think of my mom. She used to write notes on her hand all the time to help her remember things. It is a sweet memory for me, and when I mentally personalize this verse, my name is written in God’s hand (which looks suspiciously like my mom’s) in her handwriting. That vision of being personally claimed and loved is a very sweet one to me.
Isaiah 49:16 See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me. (NIV)
For me, this verse also helps underscore the fact that we are not just nameless beings to God. He knows us—individually and by name. That means He knows what each person is going through. He is there with them, beside them, carrying them. He doesn’t turn His back on us—ever—because we are His beloved children.
Isaiah 49:16 Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are ever before Me. (BSB)
Lord, It is easy to feel insignificant in this great big world. Help me never to forget, no matter how small I’m feeling, that You are God of all creation, that You know me by name, that You have my name written in the palm of Your hand. Help me remember that You are always with me. Always. Amen.
Isaiah 49:16 A picture of your city is drawn on my hand. You are always in my thoughts! (CEV)
Have a blessed day.
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Peace like a river…. (devo reflection)

Isaiah 48:17 This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.”
As a parent, I want what is best for my children, I want them to grow and flourish, so when I see them make bad choices and know they will have to live with the consequences, it hurts my heart because I know the situation could have easily been avoided. That’s the sense I get from the verses here.
Isaiah 48:18 “If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the waves of the sea.”
God is the ultimate parent. He wants the absolute best for us. He loves when we make good choices. It hurts His heart when we have to live with negative consequences because of our poor choices. He knows it could have been easily avoided by following Him.
Isaiah 48:19 “Your descendants would have been like the sand, your children like its numberless grains; their name would never be blotted out nor destroyed from before me.”
Lord, I want peace like a river and well-being like the waves of the sea—instinctual, overlapping, eternal. Thank You for being the God of second chances. Help me to follow Your commands, to put aside my foolish pride, to live for You and not for myself. Draw me closer. Amen.
Isaiah 48:22 “There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.”
Have a blessed day.
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“God is my rock….” (devo reflection)

Isaiah 47:13 All the counsel you have received has only worn you out! Let your astrologers come forward, those stargazers who make predictions month by month, let them save you from what is coming upon you.
Lord, Forgive me when I put my faith, my trust in someone or something besides You. Help me always to listen for and listen to Your still, soft voice, which guides me.
Isaiah 47:14 Surely they are like stubble; the fire will burn them up. They cannot even save themselves from the power of the flame. These are not coals for warmth; this is not a fire to sit by.
Lord, Forgive me when I act out of pride or arrogance. I do it so often in so many ways. Help me to “breathe in Your grace and breathe out Your grace” and to slow myself down so that I can act in that grace instead of acting from a place of pride or arrogance.
Isaiah 47:15a That is all they are to you—these you have dealt with and labored with since childhood.
Lord, Thank You for being “my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold” (Psalm 18:2). Thank You for creating me, for claiming me, for loving me fiercely. Amen.
Isaiah 47:15b All of them go on in their error; there is not one that can save you.
Have a blessed day.
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When life is chaotic…. (devo reflection)

Isaiah 46:4a Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he….
Commentary on verse 8 says, “How much defeat we suffer in the Christian life through simply forgetting.” To me, that sentiment feels incredibly relevant to verse 4 as well.
Isaiah 46:4b …I am he who will sustain you….
The older I get and the more I seek, the more I am able to see God in my life, the ways He has worked throughout my life, even when I didn’t understand. It is easier (still not easy, mind you), when I remember His provision in earlier times, for me to trust that He is in control when life feels out of control.
Isaiah 46:4c …I have made you and I will carry you….
Lord, Thank You that when life is chaotic, it is getting easier to trust You when I am able to remember all the times in the past that You have been with me. Forgive me that I still struggle to trust, and thank You that I am finally learning to remember Your goodness and mercy. Amen.
Isaiah 46:4d …I will sustain you and I will rescue you.
Have a blessed day.
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God’s mysterious ways…. (devo reflection)

Isaiah 45:1 “This is what the Lord says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:
We’ve all heard the expression “The Lord works in mysterious ways.” This chapter in Isaiah, where Isaiah prophesies 200 years in advance about a pagan king who is equipped by God for His purpose, specifically to deliver His people, is one such example of the Lord’s mysterious ways.
Isaiah 45:2 I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron.
But I have found that if I respond to God’s nudges, He works in mysterious ways all the time. I don’t understand why or how, but when God lays a person on my heart and gives me a direction, I try to act without delay, knowing His mysterious ways are at work and He’s calling me to participate.
Isaiah 45:3 I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.
Lord, Thank You for this day and this  scripture. I do not understand Your ways, but thank You for nudging me in ways that affect other people positively. Thank You for the beautiful mystery that surrounds You and for allowing me to draw closer to You. Amen.
Isaiah 45:4 For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me.
Have a blessed day.
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Return to me…. (devo reflection)

Isaiah 44:21a “Remember these things, Jacob, for you, Israel, are my servant….”
Lord, I feel so inadequate some days to the task of drawing closer to You. I am not a Bible scholar. But I love You so deeply, and I want to know You better. Thank You for knowing my heart.
Isaiah 44:21b “…I have made you, you are my servant; Israel, I will not forget you.”
Lord, Thank You for showing up every morning, for meeting me here, for showing me glimpses of who You are and who You are to me. Thank You for not caring that I am no Bible scholar, for understanding the desire in my heart to know You more.
Isaiah 44:22a “I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist….”
Lord, Thank You for redemption, grace, and forgiveness, for Your fierce love of me even though I am spectacularly human and fallible. Help me to love others as You love me. Help me to shine Your light for all. Amen.
Isaiah 44:22b “…Return to me, for I have redeemed you.”
Have a blessed day.
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A way in the wilderness…. (devo reflection)

Isaiah 43:1b “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.”
Isaiah 43 is a favorite of mine. I find much comfort there. In verse 1, God claims us as His own. In verse 2, He reminds us that when tough times come (and they WILL come), that we are not alone, that He is with us, strengthening us, protecting us.
Isaiah 43:2a When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you….
Verse 19, one of my favorites, is an invitation: “See, I am doing a new thing! … Do you not perceive it? I am making a way….” This is an invitation to trust and believe God’s promises, even when all we see are tangled roots and looming trees. He’s already making a way. He’s already begun. It may look nothing like we’d hoped or imagined, but if we just trust and believe, He will show us His glory and goodness, even now.
Isaiah 43:2b …When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
Lord, I am so humbled and grateful for Your fierce love. I am so thankful for the invitation to trust You. Help me, when I am facing one dead end after another, to trust and believe in Your faithfulness. You are making a way, even now, even through this. Thank You. Amen.
Isaiah 43:19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
Have a blessed day.