The resources God has given us to live a thriving life are His Word, Spirit, and People.
Read God’s Word:
Isaiah 18-22
Act 2: God’s Covenant People
Scene 7: Kings and Prophets: The southern kingdom as God’s people
Background Information: Isaiah 18-22
Isaiah takes us on a geographical/prophetical tour of the nations: Assyria, Babylon, Moab, Cush (Sudan), Egypt, on and on it goes. It is not just Israel who will be judged, but all the nations of the world are under the righteous judgement of God because all have given themselves over to sin. The prevailing sin patterns take different forms in different places, but the root and the fruit are the same everywhere. The root of sin is self-centered pride, and the fruit of sin is judgment and death. Isaiah speaks of judgement on nations, but he often focuses on the political, military, religious, and cultural leaders of those nations. As you read of God’s sweeping judgment on nations, be careful that you don’t mentally gloss over the fact that a nation is a collection of single, individual, humans. This is not judgment on sin in the abstract. It is that person, on that day, doing that thing, in rebellion to God. Then multiply that sin over and over, day after day, from well-known leaders down to the average person on the street. God is no abstraction; he is a living, personal being. His will is not an abstraction, and he has made it clear. An abstraction is something that exists only as an idea in our minds and not a reality in our lives. Read Scripture in the concrete reality of real history, real people, real sin, and real judgment. Behind this concrete reality of history is the concrete reality of the living God, who has existed from eternity past. Just as you will likely drive or walk on actual concrete and not merely an idea of concrete today, so too you will walk around in the concrete reality of God’s world. In this world he has a will for you that includes loving, honoring, and trusting him. His will has concrete manifestation, and he wants you to think, say, and do certain things in certain ways with certain people. Take scripture out of the world of mental abstraction and live it in the concrete reality of your life today.
Pray:
Praise God for…
Thank God for…
Confess your sins to God
Pray for Dalton and Hannah to be encouraged by our youth team that arrived over the weekend. Pray for our youth to help accelerate the work going on among this Buddhist people group.
Ask God for… (what else concerns you?)
Reflect:
Write down one passage of scripture that stood out to you today.
Write down why this passage stood out to you.
Engage Community:
Text or call someone now and tell them…
– What you are praying for.
– What stood out from God’s word today.