Jesus follower

SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 58 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. [Isaiah 58:2] They…

SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 57 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death. [Isaiah 57:1-2] These opening words caught my…

So here is the question of the week: If Jesus’ birth was really in a stable, do our festive traditions (lights, tinsel and presents) trivialize His birth?

SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 56 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to serve him, to love the name of the Lord, and to worship him, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant– these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house…

SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 55 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. [Isaiah 55:1] Thirsty, hungry, needy, poor, desperate – these adjectives describe the human condition well. Looking for love, belonging, acceptance, significance, recognition, for…

SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 54 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: For your Maker is your husband– the Lord Almighty is his name– the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth. [Isaiah 54:5] Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my…

SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 53 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him…

SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 52 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: Just as there were many who were appalled at him — his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness– so will he sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see,…

SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 51 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: Therefore hear this, you afflicted one, made drunk, but not with wine. This is what your Sovereign Lord says, your God, who defends his people: “See, I have taken out of your hand the cup that made you stagger; from that cup, the goblet of my wrath, you will never drink again….