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Isaiah 24:1-27:13; Isaiah 29:1-24<\/strong><\/span> Isaiah chapter 24 today begins 4 chapters of judgment and blessing in the final days!\u00a0 The time of God\u2019s final victory over evil.\u00a0 There is some pretty \u201cheavy\u201d stuff to consider about the last days when reading this chapter, to say the least.\u00a0 But, I absolutely love the way the chapter ends \u2013 as God\u2019s story truly will end as we\u2019ll read about more in the book of Revelation later this year \u2013 with verses 21 through 24: \u201cIn that day the LORD will punish the fallen angels in the heavens and the proud rulers of the nations on earth. They will be rounded up and put in prison until they are tried and condemned. Then the LORD Almighty will mount his throne on Mount Zion. He will rule gloriously in Jerusalem, in the sight of all the leaders of his people. There will be such glory that the brightness of the sun and moon will seem to fade away.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Are you looking forward to this moment of the Lord\u2019s final victory?<\/span><\/p>\n We have great readings in Isaiah today about the judgment and restoration of Israel!\u00a0 Below is a great image for Isaiah 26:9 from today\u2019s readings \u2013 <\/span><\/p>\n I think Isaiah chapter 27 verses 11 through 13 capture the essence of today\u2019s readings: \u201cThe people are like the dead branches of a tree, broken off and used for kindling beneath the cooking pots. Israel is a foolish and stupid nation, for its people have turned away from God. Therefore, the one who made them will show them no pity or mercy. Yet the time will come when the LORD will gather them together one by one like handpicked grain. He will bring them to his great threshing floor\u2013from the Euphrates River in the east to the brook of Egypt in the west. In that day the great trumpet will sound. Many who were dying in exile in Assyria and Egypt will return to Jerusalem to worship the LORD on his holy mountain.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Isaiah chapter 29 verses 15 and 16 I found to be so powerful to consider\u2026 \u201cDestruction is certain for those who try to hide their plans from the LORD, who try to keep him in the dark concerning what they do! \u201cThe LORD can\u2019t see us,\u201d you say to yourselves. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t know what is going on!\u201d How stupid can you be? He is the Potter, and he is certainly greater than you. You are only the jars he makes! Should the thing that was created say to the one who made it, \u201cHe didn\u2019t make us\u201d? Does a jar ever say, \u201cThe potter who made me is stupid\u201d?\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 How true are these words?\u00a0 Have you ever tried to hide your plans from God?\u00a0 Did it work out?\u00a0 How apropos the point in verse 16 is where some people said: \u201cGod didn\u2019t make us!\u201d\u00a0 Ever hear words like this today from others?\u00a0 How sad is this?\u00a0 Will you pray for others in your life today who may feel that God didn\u2019t make them?\u00a0 Will you pray for those in your life today that do not believe in God?\u00a0 Will you pray for them to learn that indeed the potter who made them is not stupid?\u00a0 Will you pray that they learn that the Potter who made them is God who loves them so very dearly!<\/span><\/p>\n Worship God: <\/strong>Rich Mullins\u2019 song \u201cCreed\u201d with the line of \u201cI did not make it, though it is making me\u201d is a great reminder of us being made by the Potter per our Isaiah readings:<\/span><\/p>\n \n
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