Category: “Listening to God” Devotional

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Isaiah+017

 

Chapter 17 (ESV)

⁴ And in that day the glory of Jacob will be brought low,
and the fat of his flesh will grow lean.
⁵ And it shall be as when the reaper gathers standing grain
and his arm harvests the ears,
and as when one gleans the ears of grain
in the Valley of Rephaim.
⁶ Gleanings will be left in it,
as when an olive tree is beaten—
two or three berries
in the top of the highest bough,
four or five
on the branches of a fruit tree,
declares the Lord God of Israel.

⁷ In that day man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will look on the Holy One of Israel. ⁸ He will not look to the altars, the work of his hands, and he will not look on what his own fingers have made, either the Asherim or the altars of incense.

⁹ In that day their strong cities will be like the deserted places of the wooded heights and the hilltops, which they deserted because of the children of Israel, and there will be desolation.

¹⁰ For you have forgotten the God of your salvation
and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge;
therefore, though you plant pleasant plants
and sow the vine-branch of a stranger,
¹¹ though you make them grow on the day that you plant them,
and make them blossom in the morning that you sow,
yet the harvest will flee away
in a day of grief and incurable pain.

 

REFLECTION:

1. The coalition of Syria and Israel, formed to resist Assyria, was doomed to fail. Damascus, the capital of Syria, would fall, leaving Israel exposed to the brutal invader.  Stripped of national pride and glory, destitute, and starving, “Men will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel” (v.7).
2. What we are likely to see as a disaster can often be used by God for some greater good. Is this your experience?  Recall the incident and how God brought the great good out of your disaster.

 

PRAYER:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.

 

HYMN:

Blessings – youtu.be/Cd6J6Wgnv4M

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Isaiah+016

 

Chapter 16 (ESV)

¹ Send the lamb to the ruler of the land,
from Sela, by way of the desert,
to the mount of the daughter of Zion.
² Like fleeing birds,
like a scattered nest,
so are the daughters of Moab
at the fords of the Arnon.

³ “Give counsel;
grant justice;
make your shade like night
at the height of noon;
shelter the outcasts;
do not reveal the fugitive;
⁴ let the outcasts of Moab
sojourn among you;
be a shelter to them
from the destroyer.
When the oppressor is no more,
and destruction has ceased,
and he who tramples underfoot has vanished from the land,
⁵ then a throne will be established in steadfast love,
and on it will sit in faithfulness
in the tent of David
one who judges and seeks justice
and is swift to do righteousness.”

 

REFLECTION:

1. Isaiah stressed that the Messiah as the only real hope for Israel. In what way is the reign of Jesus Christ the only real hope for people suffering in the world today?  How does His rule serve as a model for how believers ought to respond now towards the poor, the homeless, and the hungry?
2. Refugees from destruction and violence must often seek safety away from their homelands. Do you know of refugees in your city?  How could you help them in a new land?  How can you offer them shelter?  Can people be refugees from things other than war?  Decide what you can do as a family, as a cell group, or any other group of people, to help a refugee family.  Make plans for doing what you decide.

 

PRAYER:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.

 

HYMN:

Humble King – youtu.be/YV_3l6Ng5lA

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Isaiah+015
 

Chapter 15 (ESV)

¹ An oracle concerning Moab.

Because Ar of Moab is laid waste in a night,
Moab is undone;
because Kir of Moab is laid waste in a night,
Moab is undone.
² He has gone up to the temple, and to Dibon,
to the high places to weep;
over Nebo and over Medeba
Moab wails.
On every head is baldness;
every beard is shorn;
³ in the streets they wear sackcloth;
on the housetops and in the squares
everyone wails and melts in tears.
⁴ Heshbon and Elealeh cry out;
their voice is heard as far as Jahaz;
therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud;
his soul trembles.
⁵ My heart cries out for Moab;
her fugitives flee to Zoar,
to Eglath-shelishiyah.
For at the ascent of Luhith
they go up weeping;
on the road to Horonaim
they raise a cry of destruction;
⁶ the waters of Nimrim
are a desolation;
the grass is withered, the vegetation fails,
the greenery is no more.
⁷ Therefore the abundance they have gained
and what they have laid up
they carry away
over the Brook of the Willows.
⁸ For a cry has gone
around the land of Moab;
her wailing reaches to Eglaim;
her wailing reaches to Beer-elim.
⁹ For the waters of Dibon are full of blood;
for I will bring upon Dibon even more,
a lion for those of Moab who escape,
for the remnant of the land.

 

REFLECTION:

1. Moab is a country that has been a perpetual enemy of Israel since the days of the Exodus. Yet, all of sudden, they were faced with devastation.  All the major cities became ruin, there were weeping all over the place.  Even when they fled to foreign lands, their enemies still pursued them.
2. Think of the political chaos and war in the world. Identify one country that you have known or read about.  When you hear the oppression and suffering people of that country/area experience due to these situations, what do you feel?  How do you think God responds to such misery?
3. Pray for people in that country/area. Ask for God’s deliverance that people will live in freedom and peace; and have opportunities to hear the good news of Messiah God.

 

PRAYER:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.

 

HYMN:

Way Maker – youtu.be/SE_M9noEhNE

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Isaiah+014

 
Chapter 14 (ESV)

³ When the Lord has given you rest from your pain and turmoil and the hard service with which you were made to serve, ⁴ you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon:

“How the oppressor has ceased,
the insolent fury ceased!
⁵ The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,
the scepter of rulers,
⁶ that struck the peoples in wrath
with unceasing blows,
that ruled the nations in anger
with unrelenting persecution.
⁷ The whole earth is at rest and quiet;
they break forth into singing.
⁸ The cypresses rejoice at you,
the cedars of Lebanon, saying,
‘Since you were laid low,
no woodcutter comes up against us.’
⁹ Sheol beneath is stirred up
to meet you when you come;
it rouses the shades to greet you,
all who were leaders of the earth;
it raises from their thrones
all who were kings of the nations.
¹⁰ All of them will answer
and say to you:
‘You too have become as weak as we!
You have become like us!’
¹¹ Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,
the sound of your harps;
maggots are laid as a bed beneath you,
and worms are your covers.

¹² “How you are fallen from heaven,
O Day Star, son of Dawn!
How you are cut down to the ground,
you who laid the nations low!

 

REFLECTION:

1. This is a taunt song which celebrates the overthrow of the ruler of Babylon who personifies the pride that marked the nation as a whole.
2. The words “suffering”, “turmoil”and “the harsh labour” are used to describe the cruel oppression by the Babylonian king; and “at rest” and “at peace” describe the state of the people after the death of the tyrant.
3. Is there anybody who may think that you are a “tyrant” who always gives people hard time by causing “suffering, turmoil and harsh labor”? If you are taken from your position, will that make others feel “at rest”, “at peace”?  Why?
4. Talk with God of this revelation and ask help for you to change.

 

PRAYER:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.

 

HYMN:

Humble Heart – youtu.be/E6P858RiYiA

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Isaiah+013
 
Chapter 13 (ESV)

¹ The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.

² On a bare hill raise a signal;
cry aloud to them;
wave the hand for them to enter
the gates of the nobles.
³ I myself have commanded my consecrated ones,
and have summoned my mighty men to execute my anger,
my proudly exulting ones.

⁴ The sound of a tumult is on the mountains
as of a great multitude!
The sound of an uproar of kingdoms,
of nations gathering together!
The Lord of hosts is mustering
a host for battle.
⁵ They come from a distant land,
from the end of the heavens,
the Lord and the weapons of his indignation,
to destroy the whole land.

⁶ Wail, for the day of the Lord is near;
as destruction from the Almighty it will come!
⁷ Therefore all hands will be feeble,
and every human heart will melt.
⁸ They will be dismayed:
pangs and agony will seize them;
they will be in anguish like a woman in labor.
They will look aghast at one another;
their faces will be aflame.

⁹ Behold, the day of the Lord comes,
cruel, with wrath and fierce anger,
to make the land a desolation
and to destroy its sinners from it.
¹⁰ For the stars of the heavens and their constellations
will not give their light;
the sun will be dark at its rising,
and the moon will not shed its light.
¹¹ I will punish the world for its evil,
and the wicked for their iniquity;
I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant,
and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless.
¹² I will make people more rare than fine gold,
and mankind than the gold of Ophir.
¹³ Therefore I will make the heavens tremble,
and the earth will be shaken out of its place,
at the wrath of the Lord of hosts
in the day of his fierce anger.

 

REFLECTION:

1. Read slowly this passage a couple of times and let the language and imagery sink in.
2. What was your emotion as you read this passage? How would “the day of the Lord” in this passage compare with your notion of the day when Jesus comes back?  Are they different?  How so?  And why?
3. How would reading this passage alert you of the immensity of God’s power and his judgment when Jesus comes back?

 

PRAYER:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.

 

HYMN:

Even So Come – youtu.be/4s0Zb189Sco

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Isaiah+012

 

Chapter 12 (ESV)

¹ You will say in that day:
“I will give thanks to you, O Lord,
for though you were angry with me,
your anger turned away,
that you might comfort me.

² “Behold, God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the Lord God is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation.”

³ With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. ⁴ And you will say in that day:

“Give thanks to the Lord,
call upon his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples,
proclaim that his name is exalted.

⁵ “Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;
let this be made known in all the earth.
⁶ Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

 

REFLECTION:

1. This is a short hymn that celebrates the coming goodness “in that day”. They will know the full meaning of salvation, and will together sing praises and give thanks.  The people, inspired by this vision of the future, were filled with hope.
2. Songs of praise were often written to acknowledge God’s goodness and everlasting protection.
3. What are some of the events in your life that show God’s love toward you? How has God strengthened you?  Focus on ways God has made you stronger.
4. Close this time with God by singing: Father I adore you.

 

PRAYER:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.

 

HYMN:

Father I Adore You – youtu.be/Ph-ZBiIETB0

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Isaiah+011

 

Chapter 11 (ESV)

¹ There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
² And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
³ And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
⁴ but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
⁵ Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

⁶ The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
⁷ The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
⁸ The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
⁹ They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.

 

REFLECTION:

1. Read the passage slowly, noting how natural enemies are coexisting side by side (wolf and lamb, cow and bear, young child and serpent). This passage gives us a vivid picture of the kingdom of God as it will exist in the future.  What a different place it will be!
2. With this image in mind, consider the following:
• What would you like best about such a peaceable world – filled with the knowledge of the Lord? What feelings would be present for these creatures to exist this way?
• Name your own enemies and imagine them standing beside you, with you, for you. What will that be like for you?
• Who might perceive you as an enemy or a threat? How can you become at peace with them?
3. Share with God how you feel about such a peaceable world and what you think such a world would show you about God.

 

PRAYER:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.

 

HYMN:

All Creatures Of Our God And King – youtu.be/wSFK7UiH5Us

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Isaiah+010

 

Chapter 10 (ESV)

¹² When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, he will punish the speech of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes. ¹³ For he says:

“By the strength of my hand I have done it,
and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;
I remove the boundaries of peoples,
and plunder their treasures;
like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones.
¹⁴ My hand has found like a nest
the wealth of the peoples;
and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken,
so I have gathered all the earth;
and there was none that moved a wing
or opened the mouth or chirped.”

¹⁵ Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it,
or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?
As if a rod should wield him who lifts it,
or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!
¹⁶ Therefore the Lord God of hosts
will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors,
and under his glory a burning will be kindled,
like the burning of fire.
¹⁷ The light of Israel will become a fire,
and his Holy One a flame,
and it will burn and devour
his thorns and briers in one day.
¹⁸ The glory of his forest and of his fruitful land
the Lord will destroy, both soul and body,
and it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
¹⁹ The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few
that a child can write them down.

 

REFLECTION:

1. Use imagination to read this passage with the appropriate tone of voice and attitude of God and Assyrian King respectively.
2. Assyrian King’s problem is that he did not respect the limits or the intention of God and acted in arrogance, as though God were not the source of its might. In another word, he has taken the credit for what was really God’s work.  Therefore, Assyria is not being punished for having the power God gave, but for its pride and misuse of God-given power.
3. Have you ever taken the credit for what was really God’s work in which you were merely an instrument? How do you actually practice giving credit where credit is due?

 

PRAYER:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.

 

HYMN:

Build This House – youtu.be/vcco3LFoIhM

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Isaiah+009

 

Chapter 9 (ESV)

¹ But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.

² The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shone.
³ You have multiplied the nation;
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
⁴ For the yoke of his burden,
and the staff for his shoulder,
the rod of his oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
⁵ For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
and every garment rolled in blood
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
⁶ For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

 

REFLECTION:

1. Read this passage with excitement and anticipation. King Ahaz has refused to listen to and obey God, but a greater king is coming to put things right.
2. The birth of a child will produce illumination which is a great light to the darkened people.
3. Which of these titles—”Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”—particularly describes God as you have known Him during a time of difficulty? Recall the situation and continue meditate on that name.  Converse with God.

 

PRAYER:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.

 

HYMN:

Wonderful Counsellor – youtu.be/ixoeH-1SRJU

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Isaiah+008

 

Chapter 8 (ESV)

¹⁹ And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? ²⁰ To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. ²¹ They will pass through the land, greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. ²² And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness.

 

REFLECTION:

1. Judah had turned away from the light into the dark: from turning to God for help and forgiveness and heeding His law, to mediums and spiritists, to ghosts that whisper and mutter.
2. Think of a time when you have been overwhelmed with the reality of the darkness and evil which is present in our world. How did you find comfort?
3. If you have ever sought guidance through fortune-telling, divination, witchcraft, evil spirits, or ancestral worship rituals in the past, and have never confessed this to God, please now ask Him for forgiveness. Pray that He will remove any place in your life where demons may have gained control, and ask for His protection and blessing. It is best to share your experience with a pastor or a mature Christian leader, such as a small group leader, and ask them to pray for you. From this point on, break free from Satan’s authority and enter into God’s light and holiness, becoming a victorious and joyful Christian—a follower of Jesus.

 

PRAYER:

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask You to reveal to me any involvement I have had—knowingly or unknowingly—with cults, witchcraft, or teachings and activities of other religions. I now renounce all of these in order to experience the freedom that is found in You. I pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

HYMN:

Christ Be Our Light – youtu.be/caA4sIXkD44