Title: God's Broken Heart / Topic: Handling Betrayal

Today’s Reading: Isaiah 63,64; Psalm 107; John 2

Scripture: Isaiah 63:8-10 --- He said, "Surely they are my people, sons who will not be false to me"; and so He became their Savior. In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of His presence saved them. In His love and mercy He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. Yet they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy and He Himself fought against them.

Observation: No one can break our hearts like our children. Here the prophet describes with great pathos the broken heart of God and His sense of betrayal at the hands of those He loved the most---His children for whom He had given everything. Any caring parent can relate to God's feelings of being distressed when His kids are distressed. Most every parent I know wants to alleviate the suffering of their children, to protect them from bullies and people of evil intent and to love and provide well for them. In return, what do we expect? Love, respect and an embracing of the values we've worked hard to model and inculcate in them. And, like God, when our kids rebel, we are grieved to the core of our being. I find the last line of verse 10 quite intriguing. How can a loving, perfect God turn and become an enemy to His beloved children, even though they broke His heart? His perfection demands that He not compromise principles of truth. Often we human parents will compromise what we know is right for the sake of being friends with with our kids. We can't stand to have them be upset with us or emotionally distant from us. Also, because god has perfect knowledge, He knows just how much punishment is needed to restore someone; we do not. That is why we must forgive our children (or any one else who betrays us) and leave the judgment to God.

Application: Based on this passage, how should we respond to betrayal? 1) Know that God understands exactly how we feel and we can pour out our hearts to Him and receive His comfort. 2) Forgive those who offend you completely. 3) Never compromise God's standards for the sake of "peace" even with those you love the most. 4) Don't rescue your loved ones from the consequences of their rebellion; you may hinder their return to God if you do. 5) Trust God for your loved ones and don't react out of pain. Better to spend minimal time with those who hurt you if they continue to cause you pain so you can keep your thoughts where God wants them. And pray!

Prayer: Lord, help us to respond with the wisdom,discernment, forgiveness and love of Your Spirit whenever we face the betrayal of loved ones.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Title: The Power of Persistence / Topic: Prevailing Prayer

Today’s Reading: Isaiah 60; Isaiah 61; Isaiah 62; John 1

Scripture: Isaiah 62:6 I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD, give yourselves no rest, 7 and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.

Observation: God is giving his people instructions on praying for Jerusalem. He tells them to keep praying and to give Him (God) no rest until they see the results of their prayers manifested in the physical world. God is giving us the key to prevailing prayer (the kind that gets answered); it's persistence! Other scriptures in the New Testament make the same point (see I Thess. 5:17; Luke 18:1-6). God himself says this kind of "nagging" is a good thing!

Application: These verses are a challenge to me. In our world of quick fixes and media that constantly overstimulates our brains, I think we've all developed short attention spans. Praying persistently seems monotonous, laborious and pointless to us. We want results instantly and if we don't get that we tend to just give up. If we want the miraculous happening with regularity, we must learn patience and persistence in order to prevail. Prayer is a powerful weapon in our spiritual arsenal but most of us need practice on the shooting range. I know I do! Let us renew our efforts and commit to becoming powerful prayer warriors so that we can see God's kingdom established on earth as it is in heaven.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, Help me to discipline myself to quiet my soul before you and engage in intercession with the faith and regularity that brings about the manifestation in the physical realm of what I pray for in the spiritual realm. This world has so many hurting and spiritually blind people that need Your deliverance, so many sick that need Your healing, and so much demonically inspired hate that needs Your angelic forces to defeat it. Help us to give up some of our personal entertainment and "down-time" to engage in the intercession that will set captives free and establish Your kingdom here.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Title: The Perfect Father / Topic: love

Today’s Reading: Isaiah 57, 58, 59; Psalm 103; 2 Pet. 3

Scripture: Psalm 103:2-5, 8, 10-12: Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits---who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's....
The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love...
he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Observation: These are some of my favorite verses from one of my favorite Psalms. They describe God's character so beautifully. He is pictured as the best of fathers here; one who loves his children without measure, delights to give them treats, is patient and able to keep an even temper, and forgives without ever bringing up the past against his kids. And who gets to be loved by this Father God? Anyone who fears (respects and honors) him. Those who don't fear him don't experience any of His blessings because their self-reliance or bitterness has cut them off from receiving any of them. They've believed a lie and deluded themselves that they either don't want or don't need His love. How sad! Everyone needs this kind of love and the joy it brings.

Application: What should be our response to all this love from our Heavenly Father? Gratitude and praise, a desire to please Him, to never bring dishonor to His Name, and to imitate Him so that others may see and know His loving nature. As a parent, I want to show these characteristics to my children. As a Christian, I want the people around me to see His reflection in how I act (and react) toward them. It's a high calling and not always easy to do. I need to spend plenty of time "soaking up" His love for me so that even when I'm around people who don't treat me with kindness or respect I can give to them out of the reservoir He has put in me.

Prayer: O Father, how I thank You for Your great, immeasurable love for me! How I need it Lord! I've been so damaged by being used and abused by others that Your love is like a healing balm to me. I know that because I'm a damaged sinner, I've also hurt others. Forgive me, and help those I've wounded to receive healing from You and to forgive me. May I show You how much I love You by how I act toward others. Let Your Spirit speak to me and let me always be sensitive to His voice so that I may live rightly. I love You so much; You are all my hope and stay.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

But Why Me God? / subject: suffering

Scripture: Isaiah 53: 10,11 -- "Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied... "

Observation: The above verses are a prophecy about Jesus. Though we all know that Jesus suffered and died for our sins, I don't think we really consider these verses and their implications for us very deeply. How do these verses apply to our own suffering? Is it ever God's will to crush us and cause us to suffer, as it clearly states here was Father God's intention for Jesus? If the answer is yes, then what is the purpose for our suffering and how should we respond to it? We know the purpose for Jesus' suffering; it was for our healing, forgiveness, and restoration to relationship with God. Rarely do we know the reason for our own suffering. Can we take some lessons from the life of our Lord when it comes to responding to suffering? Notice that in these verses the after-effects of suffering are good. Jesus is said to "see his offspring"(that's us) and "see the light of life and be satisfied". He also has the promise of having the will of the Lord prosper in his hand --- all due to suffering.

Application: Jesus told us that the student isn't greater than the master; If He suffered persecution, we would too. IITim. 3:12 reiterates this, stating that "all who live godly shall suffer persecution". Why, then, are we surprised when we suffer? And what does the Word tell us about how we should respond? First, I would like to say that there are 2 reasons we suffer: We suffer for our own sin and we also suffer for righteousness' sake. The first is a reaping of the disobedience we have sown in our lives. Yet I'm amazed at how some Christians get angry with God when they endure this kind of suffering. I once talked to a young mother whose baby was born with birth defects and she was very angry with God, even though she had been taking drugs and smoking when she got pregnant. Her response reminded me of the verse in Prov. 19:3 which says, "A man's own folly ruins his life, yet his heart rages against the Lord". We really have no right to complain if we willfully sin and then reap a bad harvest. By God's grace we often don't reap all the "bad harvests" we have sown, but we should not expect God to stop them all. Obedience would hold no reward if He did. The other kind of suffering is more difficult for us to understand. I, myself, like most Christians, have gotten caught up in the "Why me?" syndrome when I've obeyed God and yet have suffered. But the word tells us we will go through this. James tells us to "count it all joy" when we suffer for righteousness sake". Rom. 12:4 says that in our struggle against sin, we haven't yet had to shed our blood as Jesus did. (Translation: "Quit your whining! Jesus suffered a lot more than you ever will!). We need to do as Jesus did when he suffered: We need to look to our future reward! We're so used to our comforts in the here and now that we don't like the idea of delayed gratification. But God promises us a reward for suffering for His sake. And if we allow it to, that kind of suffering will draw us into a more intimate relationship with our Lord. We "share in the fellowship of His sufferings" (Phil. 3:10) and so come to understand and know Him better. This is the attitude we need to adopt when we go through undeserved trials.

Prayer: Father, help us to learn from everything we go through; help us to "grow" through it all. Thank You for suffering for us so that we may know the wondrous bounty of Your love and forgiveness and JOY. Make us into BIG people like You are and help us to have a right perpective on all that happens in our lives. In Jesus' Name I pray, Amen.

Walking in His Light/ subject: self-reliance

Scripture: Isaiah 50:10,11 Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the word of his servant? Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God. But now, all you who light fires and provide yourselves with flaming torches, go, walk in the light of your fires and of the torches you have set ablaze. This is what you shall receive from my hand: You shall lie down in torment.

Observation: In this passage, God tells the person who fears the Lord and obeys the word of His servant to trust in the name of the Lord and rely on Him whenever they feel like they are walking in darkness with no light to guide their way. In other words, when we are confused about which direction to take in life, seek God and trust Him. The next verse has a severe warning for all who, when facing indecision and "darkness", choose to provide their own light. "But now, all of you who light your fires and provide yourselves with flaming torches, go, walk in the light of your fires... This is what you will receive from my hand: You shall lie down in torment." Ouch! That's extreme!

Application: Apparently God doesn't think much of our American cultural value of "pull yourself up by your own bootstraps". We hail those who become successful by their own cleverness and ambition as heroes. Since, as believers, we are products of our culture, I think we often approach our spiritual life with God from this American "self-reliant" paradigm. We do what we can for God on our own, and then, if we get stuck, we ask for His help. Or worse yet, we simply ask Him to bless what we've already decided is best to do and expect that He'll be proud of us in the same way we are proud of and inspired by those who've "made it" by their own giftedness and determination. Where our cultural paradigm clashes with God's, it's we who must change our thinking to align with His. He wants us to have humble hearts and to seek Him FIRST --- before we make our plans. He's most pleased when we continue to seek Him for light instead of walking in our own.

Prayer: Father, help us to learn to seek You when we're in the darkness. You are not embarrassed by us being in darkness because there is no darkness in You. It is so contrary to our nature to come and ask for help first before trying to work it out ourselves. Show us Your ways O Lord, that we may walk in Your light and have Your blessing on all we do.