Abundant Grace

Thursday, October 29, 2015

The Only True Life Coach

“Should not a people seek their God?” Isaiah 8:19

The occult is not a new phenomenon. It has been around as long as mankind has abandoned God and sought another means for answering life’s mysteries. Mediums and witches were under the edict of death in the Old Testament law. They were a threat to the right thinking of God’s people. In the days of Isaiah, nearly one thousand years after the law was given, Israel still hadn’t gotten rid of the mediums. The people still sought their direction from spiritualists and not from God. God challenged them to think about Who was really in charge.

Today we seek advice from so many worldly sources for advice on every conceivable area of our lives. Life coaches who don’t know the Life giver are becoming increasingly popular. They are in a way the spiritualists of today. God says that we should seek Him. He alone knows the way because He alone is the Way. Seek Him and He will show us the true way to life and understanding.

Dear Father, You alone are all wise; let us seek You alone for guidance in our life. Amen.

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Wednesday, October 28, 2015

If Anything is Worthy of Praise -- Think on These Things

“Do not say, ‘A conspiracy’, nor be troubled.” Isaiah 8:12

Times are not really so different from one age to another. In the days of Isaiah there were constant fears regarding conspiracies just as there are today. God simply told Isaiah not to listen to nor be frightened by such talk. He was to fear God alone for God alone was in charge. Many years ago I challenged my congregation to “fast from the news channels” during Lent. So many of the people were constantly complaining of all the fearful events, and yes, conspiracies, that surround us in our world today. No one took me up on the call for that fast, but God does call us to observe it.

The world is corrupt because Satan is called the god of this world. But he is not the God of this world. That distinction belongs to God alone. God is in charge and nothing will happen aside from His sovereign control. There is no work of man, no conspiracy that can disrupt God’s plan – so fear not. God told it to Isaiah and He says it to us as well.

Dear Father, Increase our trust in You. Amen.

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

The Virgin Born Son

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son.” Isaiah 7:14

Here is one of those absolutely defining verses of Scripture. It is included in the great confession of faith, “conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary.” Either this is true or it isn’t. If it is, God is faithful. If it isn’t, God is a liar. Too many so called Christian groups today try to make God out to be a liar. They insist that virgin doesn’t mean virgin. They do this because they don’t believe in miracles or the truth of God’s word.

The Jewish people always believed this verse meant a true virgin. When the Old Testament was translated from Hebrew into Greek over a hundred years before the birth of Christ, the Jewish translators specifically used the word for true virgin in the Greek text. They knew what it meant. It meant the Messiah would be unique, a virgin born child. This isn’t a verse we can lightly overlook or try to deemphasize. It is true and it points to the one and only Savior of mankind – the Virgin born Jesus Christ.

Dear Father, Thank You for the Virgin birth of Christ. Amen.

Monday, October 26, 2015

The Perfect Sign Has Been Given

“Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord.” Isaiah 7:11

Millions of people have eagerly desired the offer God made to Ahaz, “Ask Me for a sign.” The thing is, Ahaz turned God down. His excuse was lame. “I will not test the Lord.” Why would he do that? Why do people always ask for a sign? Ahaz knew he wouldn’t believe anything God said anyway, so why ask. Others ask for a sign to prove God exists, but He has said the resurrection of His Son is the sign we would receive. If we won’t believe in the resurrection, what greater sign could He give?

Paul tells the Corinthians to walk by faith and not by sight. Ahaz had no faith and didn’t care about God. As believers we confess our faith in God, but we too often are asking for what God has already given – proof of His care for us. There is no greater hope than the resurrection from the dead. With this sign and promise we are now to walk in faith with the very God who can indeed do all things.

Dear Father, Help me to walk by faith in You. Amen.

Friday, October 23, 2015

A Reasonable Response

“Then I said, ‘Here am I! Send me’.” Isaiah 6:8

What other response could we possibly give to the One who has washed away our sin and given us eternal life? Can we really say, “Thanks, now so long”? If we were condemned to death and someone came along and said, “I will take your place”, would we say, “Thanks, so long”, or would we say, “I will remember you forever and take care of your family as long as I live”? God has just revealed Himself to the prophet and cleansed his sins. Isaiah’s response was the only possible and reasonable response, “Here I am! Send me.”

Paul echoes this scene in Romans 12:1. “I beseech ye therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” Paul says that after we have received God’s mercy we have only one reasonable response. “Here I am! Send me.” We have, after all, been sent into the world to reveal the light of Christ. It is reasonable that we obey that commission.

Dear Father, Thank You for forgiveness and new purpose in life. Amen.

The Friday Benediction

Until Monday, my friends, may the good God envelop you with His grace; may you prove the common confession of faith, “I believe in the holy Christian church and in the fellowship of the saints”, and may you be enriched with joy and hope as you exercise that confession this weekend. Amen

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Holy, Holy, Holy

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory.” Isaiah 6:1

The holiness is God is the eternal anthem of the angelic host. His character is holy. His work is holy. His name is holy. This holy God made the earth and all that is in it. He made the universe and every galaxy and star and planet. Isaiah moves in chapter 6 from the denunciation of the sin of man to the glory and holiness of God. Even Isaiah the prophet saw how unclean and sinful he was when He encountered God’s holiness.

The contrast between fallen man and the holy God is pictured in scripture as the full contrast between brilliant light and total darkness. That God would bridge that gulf with the gift of His Son reveals the character of God’s immeasurable grace and love. We, like Isaiah, can only declare, “I am a man of unclean lips,” and then receive the forgiveness of God that He gave to the prophet.

Dear Father, Thank You for shining light in our darkness and giving us forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ. Amen.

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

The Ruin of Rotten Roots

“So their root shall be rottenness because they rejected the law of the Lord.” Isaiah 5:24

God continues to warn His people not to be fooled by appearances. The loud denouncer of God may have power, prestige, or great wealth in this life, but in the life to come, the one that is everlasting, they have no account at all. Their arrogance will fan the flames of their eternal destiny. This is not my word, but God’s. “Therefore the anger of the Lord is aroused against them. And the flame consumes the chaff.” (Isaiah 5:24-25)

God loves us so much that He sent His Son to die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. But Jesus said that there would be those who loved the darkness rather than the light. For them there was only condemnation. The Christian must be ready to always share the Gospel in order that the scoffer might hear and be saved, but their end is not determined by their position with men but by their position with God.

Dear Father, Let us not despise the souls of the scoffers but pray for them and share Christ with them. Amen.