Category: “Listening to God” Devotional

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Isaiah+007

 

Chapter 7 (ESV)

¹ In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it. ² When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league with Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.

³ And the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer’s Field. ⁴ And say to him, ‘Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah. ⁵ Because Syria, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying, ⁶ “Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” ⁷ thus says the Lord God:

“‘It shall not stand,
and it shall not come to pass.
⁸ For the head of Syria is Damascus,
and the head of Damascus is Rezin.
And within sixty-five years
Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.
⁹ And the head of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.
If you are not firm in faith,
you will not be firm at all.’”

 

REFLECTION:

1. King Ahaz of Judah missed a crucial opportunity to trust God in troubled times. He was too frightened to trust God and too vain or proud to ask for the offered sign (v14). Ahaz’s leadership can be summarized in this way: “Faith played no part in his religion or his politics”.
2. When have you found verse 9—”If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all”— to be true for you? Recall the situation and your response.
3. Have a conversation with God about how you can better prepare to meet some real or imagined crisis. Pray that you will not lose heart.

 

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:

I Have Decided To Follow Jesus – www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7XHeCZB5KU

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Isaiah+006

 

Chapter 6 (ESV)

¹ In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. ² Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. ³ And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”

⁴ And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. ⁵ And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷ And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

⁸ And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”

 

REFLECTION:

1. Read this passage, paying attention to the dialogue between the angels and Isaiah.
2. As God’s mouthpiece to the nations, Isaiah experienced this unforgettable encounter with the Lord at the outset of his ministry. An angel-seraph flew down to Isaiah and touched his mouth with a burning coal.
3. The mouth is one of the most sensitive parts of the body. Explore your spiritual life to identify sensitive areas that would hurt deeply at God’s touch.  Why are these areas the most sensitive?  Consider what your relationship with God might look like, now and in the long term, if He purified these areas of your life.
4. Invite God to burn these sensitive areas of your life so you can serve him more effectively. Ask two people who are close to you what they believe to be areas of your life in need of refining of God’s touch.  Be prepared to consider answers that may be hard to hear but are beneficial.

 

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:

Make Me Holy – youtu.be/YR0QKyKNgZw

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Isaiah+005

 

Chapter 5 (ESV)

¹ Let me sing for my beloved
my love song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
² He dug it and cleared it of stones,
and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
and hewed out a wine vat in it;
and he looked for it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes.

³ And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem
and men of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
⁴ What more was there to do for my vineyard,
that I have not done in it?
When I looked for it to yield grapes,
why did it yield wild grapes?

⁵ And now I will tell you
what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove its hedge,
and it shall be devoured;
I will break down its wall,
and it shall be trampled down.
⁶ I will make it a waste;
it shall not be pruned or hoed,
and briers and thorns shall grow up;
I will also command the clouds
that they rain no rain upon it.

⁷ For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah
are his pleasant planting;
and he looked for justice,
but behold, bloodshed;
for righteousness,
but behold, an outcry!

 

REFLECTION:

1. Read this passage slowly as if you were with the owner in the vineyard. Notice the care that was lavished on the vineyard, the sweat, the hard labour, and the anticipation.  Then go with the owner at harvest time, and observe the owner’s dismay when the product was only evil-smelling, bitter, wild grapes.
2. In which ways has God lavished his care on you? Was it a bumper crop?  Or a bitter harvest?  How is God’s work in you similar to that of the vineyard owner?
3. God calls you to respond to Him. Pray for one specific sweet fruit to grow in your life.

 

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:

More Like Jesus – youtu.be/chbMVsgGbgs

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Isaiah+004

 

Chapter 4 (ESV)

² In that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel. ³ And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, ⁴ when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning. ⁵ Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a canopy. ⁶ There will be a booth for shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.

 

REFLECTION:

1. This chapter issues the hope for those survive God’s punishment upon Judah and Jerusalem. For after God’s judgment has removed sinners and purified survivors, a cleansed and holy Jerusalem will serve as a shelter and shade for people.
2. But this will only be accomplished by a person called “the Branch of the Lord’. This is referred to Messiah who is to come from David’s family line and to accomplish the ultimate deliverance of the Jews and all humankind.
3. Therefore, God’s ideal surely will be achieved but it is more than we can accomplish in our own strength. God Himself has acted in Christ to make it possible for you and me to walk in the light of the Lord.  We are His new creation.  All we can do is to honour the Lord by living righteous lives, however dark the ways of this present world.

 

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:

The Power Of The Cross – youtu.be/uS7fc7VTJZs

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Isaiah+003

 

Chapter 3 (ESV)

¹⁶ The Lord said:
Because the daughters of Zion are haughty
and walk with outstretched necks,
glancing wantonly with their eyes,
mincing along as they go,
tinkling with their feet,
¹⁷ therefore the Lord will strike with a scab
the heads of the daughters of Zion,
and the Lord will lay bare their secret parts.

¹⁸ In that day the Lord will take away the finery of the anklets, the headbands, and the crescents; ¹⁹ the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarves; ²⁰ the headdresses, the armlets, the sashes, the perfume boxes, and the amulets; ²¹ the signet rings and nose rings; ²² the festal robes, the mantles, the cloaks, and the handbags; ²³ the mirrors, the linen garments, the turbans, and the veils.

²⁴ Instead of perfume there will be rottenness;
and instead of a belt, a rope;
and instead of well-set hair, baldness;
and instead of a rich robe, a skirt of sackcloth;
and branding instead of beauty.
²⁵ Your men shall fall by the sword
and your mighty men in battle.
²⁶ And her gates shall lament and mourn;
empty, she shall sit on the ground.

 

REFLECTION:

1. This passage describes vividly the dismay and demise that come when life is out of sync with the will of the sovereign God. It reminds us that people who refuse to walk in the light of the Lord will not prosper.
2. How do you see the haughty, self-centered attitudes reflected in men and women around you? How does their idea of beauty compare with that of 1 Peter 3:3-4?  Do you think such inner beauty applies to men, as well?
3. How have you tried to develop this inner beauty on your own? How has God’s discipline of you led to growth and purity?

 

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:

Change My Heart O God – youtu.be/OyhM4KapVDM

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Isaiah+002

 

Chapter 2  (ESV)

¹⁰ Enter into the rock
and hide in the dust
from before the terror of the Lord,
and from the splendor of his majesty.
¹¹ The haughty looks of man shall be brought low,
and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled,
and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.

¹² For the Lord of hosts has a day
against all that is proud and lofty,
against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low;
¹³ against all the cedars of Lebanon,
lofty and lifted up;
and against all the oaks of Bashan;
¹⁴ against all the lofty mountains,
and against all the uplifted hills;
¹⁵ against every high tower,
and against every fortified wall;
¹⁶ against all the ships of Tarshish,
and against all the beautiful craft.
¹⁷ And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled,
and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low,
and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
¹⁸ And the idols shall utterly pass away.
¹⁹ And people shall enter the caves of the rocks
and the holes of the ground,
from before the terror of the Lord,
and from the splendor of his majesty,
when he rises to terrify the earth.

²⁰ In that day mankind will cast away
their idols of silver and their idols of gold,
which they made for themselves to worship,
to the moles and to the bats,
²¹ to enter the caverns of the rocks
and the clefts of the cliffs,
from before the terror of the Lord,
and from the splendor of his majesty,
when he rises to terrify the earth.
²² Stop regarding man
in whose nostrils is breath,
for of what account is he?

 

REFLECTION:

1. This passage mentions a number of great things (natural or human-made) which the Israelites must have been boastful of. Yet, Isaiah warned his fellow countrymen that God would act to judge the arrogant people by bringing low these great things among them in the day when the splendor of God’s majesty is revealed.
2. Isaiah prophesied that on the Day of the Lord, the pride of men will be no more. We know that arrogance is not a desirable trait, yet many of us fall victim to our own arrogance.
3. Ask God to teach you what it means to stop trusting in humanity (v22) and to only rely on 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:

In God We Trust – youtu.be/Uy2EtG3UkL8

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Isaiah+001

 

ISAIAH

INTRODUCTION

The prophet Isaiah addressed the kingdom of Judah for forty years, beginning in the year that King Uzziah died (around 740 BC) and continuing at least to the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem in 701 BC. As with all the prophets, Isaiah based his message on the deep covenant bond between God and his people Israel. Prophets typically delivered their messages by composing oracles—poetic speeches they recited in public. Unlike some other prophets, Isaiah had personal access to the kings of his day. He was able to bring godly counsel to kings Ahaz and Hezekiah when the powerful Assyrian Empire threatened the life of the nation. Isaiah maintains an international perspective throughout his book, revealing that Israel’s life is bound up with the affairs of the broader world.

Isaiah urges the people to care for the poor and needy, commit to follow God’s ways, and pursue social and economic justice. In typical prophetic pattern, he speaks of coming judgment because of Israel’s failure, but also of promised restoration, and moving from Israel to the wider world. God’s correction is in the service of renewal. Isaiah’s later oracles introduce the complex figure of the servant, whose personal sacrifice brings healing. These “servant songs” fit into the bigger picture of Israel’s return from exile, the Lord’s return to his people, and the nations turning to God. New Testament writers will turn to Isaiah often to explain how Israel’s ancient commission to bring blessing to the world was fulfilled.

 

www.bible.com/zh-TW/bible/111/ISA.INTRO1.NIV

 

The First Book of Isaiah — Book of Judgment

Chapter 1 (ESV)

¹⁰ Hear the word of the Lord,
you rulers of Sodom!
Give ear to the teaching of our God,
you people of Gomorrah!
¹¹ “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
says the Lord;
I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of well-fed beasts;
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
or of lambs, or of goats.

¹² “When you come to appear before me,
who has required of you
this trampling of my courts?
¹³ Bring no more vain offerings;
incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations—
I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.
¹⁴ Your new moons and your appointed feasts
my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.
¹⁵ When you spread out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.
¹⁶ Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
¹⁷  learn to do good;
seek justice,
correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless,
plead the widow’s cause.

 

REFLECTION:

1. Isaiah described a religious people whose ritual seems to be according to the law. These people went up to the temple dutifully for the required festivals; they offered sacrifices correctly, made long and impressive prayers.  But God called all these meaningless.  They seem to believe that following rituals will guarantee God’s blessings.  But God totally rejected it.
2. The people were, instead, summoned to obedience, focusing particularly on justice toward the oppressed, widows, and orphans, people who are vulnerable and without social protection.
3. The point is that a real and vital faith is not that we appear and do right, but that our relationship with God has produced righteousness.
4. Is your involvement in church activities, or prayer has become empty ritual, or do you serve the Lord from a heart of love and devotion?

 

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:

Abide In Me – youtu.be/7BjwdBmb37E

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Philemon+001

 

PHILEMON

Introduction

One of the people Paul chose to deliver the letters we know as Colossians and Ephesians was a man named Onesimus. Onesimus was originally from Colossae, and would have been known to the people there. But Paul was compelled to write a separate letter for him. This was because Onesimus had been the slave of a wealthy Colossian named Philemon, in whose home the church met. Onesimus had run away, probably robbing Philemon in the process. In Rome he had become a follower of Jesus. He’d been helping Paul in prison, but now Paul needed him to return to Colossae. Paul’s hope was that Philemon would not only forgive Onesimus, but welcome him as a brother and no longer a slave.

Paul’s brief letter to Philemon stresses the change in Onesimus’s life. His name meant useful in Greek, and Paul tells Philemon that while he had formerly been useless (a servant Philemon couldn’t count on), now he could be useful to both of them. Paul doesn’t put Philemon under any obligation. His appeal is on the basis of love, and he promises to honor the demands of justice by making restitution himself if necessary.

Most likely Paul’s appeal was successful, or this letter would not have been preserved. In the life of Onesimus we have a clear example of the kind of transformation that occurred in thousands of lives as the gospel message spread throughout the Roman Empire.

 

www.bible.com/zh-TW/bible/111/PHM.INTRO1.NIV

 

Chapter 1 (ESV)

⁸ Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, ⁹ yet for love’s sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus— ¹⁰ I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment. ¹¹ (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) ¹² I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. ¹³ I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, ¹⁴ but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord. ¹⁵ For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, ¹⁶ no longer as a bondservant but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

¹⁷ So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. ¹⁸ If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. ¹⁹ I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. ²⁰ Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ.

 

REFLECTION:

1. Paul asked Philemon to stop seeing Onesimus as a runaway slave, and to begin seeing him as a dear brother. The Gospel makes the same request of each of us. We’re to see everyone as individuals of infinite worth and value, for whom Christ died. And we are to see Christians as dear brothers/sisters and to love them as members of our family.
2. Are there one or more Christians that you have a hard time accepting as brother or sister in Christ? Why is it hard to think of this Christian this way? Is it the background, ethnicity, behavior, cultural or theological difference, or something else? What would need to change in you in order to accept this person as a Christian brother or sister?
3. Talk to God about your struggle of accepting others. Thank God that He accepts you and sees you and other believers as no less than His very own children. Ask God to help you see others with the same eyes.
4. As you encounter people this week who are different from you, remind yourself that God sees them with the label “my children”—and that means you too.

 

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:

No Longer Slaves – www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8TkUMJtK5k

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Titus+003

 

Titus Chapter 3 (ESV)

¹ Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, ² to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.³ For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. ⁴ But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, ⁵ he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, ⁶ whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷ so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.⁸ The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. ⁹ But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. ¹⁰ As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, ¹¹ knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.

 

REFLECTION:

• This letter is full of ethical admonition and moral exhortation. Yet Paul, in closing, reminds us again that we do good works not in order to win the favour of God, but because God’s favor has been graciously given to us in Christ. Therefore, we ought to live like it. We are to live disciplined, purified, spiritually committed lives—lives that put faith into practice—not in order to get somewhere with God but rather, because of the mercy of God.
• In doing what is good, which are you more motivated by: the call of duty? Fear of judgment? Hope of Christ’s return? Gratitude for what God has done for you? Desire to work for peace in your relationships? Needs of others?
• Read verses 4-6 again slowly. What do you know about God’s grace? How does this knowledge affect your desire to do good? Tell God about it.

 

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:

I Will Wait For You – youtu.be/8C3WQ1G1Uso

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Titus+002

 

Titus Chapter 2 (ESV)

¹ But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. ² Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. ³ Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, ⁴ and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, ⁵ to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.⁶ Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled.⁷ Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, ⁸ and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. ⁹ Bondservants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, ¹⁰ not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.

¹¹ For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, ¹² training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, ¹³ waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, ¹⁴ who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

¹⁵ Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

 

REFLECTION:

1. Paul exhorts Titus to “speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine.” Such things include the proper conduct expected of Christians, both male and female, young and old, and of those who are servants. Even Titus was to present himself as an example for others to follow.
2. Paul then writes of the grace of God that brings salvation to all men. Grace teaches us about the way we live, for grace teaches us to reject sin and to do good. Jesus Christ redeemed us from sin. But He has a purpose for us beyond that: He wants to purify us, to eliminate the sin, and to create in us a desire for good behaviour “so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour”.
3. People often judge the Gospel by the way Christians live. The way we live, the way we work, the way we treat our families and neighbours, all make a difference in how receptive people will be to the message we share. Do you make the Gospel look good, or do you give people reasons to complain?

 

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:

Your Grace Is Enough – youtu.be/wtnE_e1LylY