Quick summary of the last few weeks:
Chapter 43
–God says you are my redeemed. You are
my witnesses. Gave us a message of
comfort, protection, hope, steadfastness.
We will be tested, but God will remain faithful.
·
The
question to you is, are you a good witness for God?· If you were on trial, would you be convicted of being a Christian?
Chapter 44
–Idolatry is a lie. Recognize
that God is the Creator, and that He has not left His creation to determine its
own path. God is continually working
within creation. Though the events, powers, and strategies of the world may
hide God’s work, God has made promises to His chosen people Israel to remind
them that God has not abandoned them.
Chapter 45
starts off with a big intro to Cyrus. He
was mentioned in 41 but now we see more detail.
The surprise to the Israelites is that Cyrus is called the Lords
shepherd and his anointed. For Cyrus
himself was a pagan idolater! God may
disapprove of idolatry but use an idolater for some good purpose. The fact that
he uses someone in a specific way does not mean that he approves of that
person’s total lifestyle. That is great
news for me. It means that He can still
use me even though I have idols in my life!
In Isaiah 45, God is explaining why idols get in the way
of allegiance to Him. So my challenge to you this week is to
repeat the challenge from last week.
Spend time identifying what you place more importance than your
Creator. Where is your security? Where is your control? What can you not live without? Where, what, or who do you go to for rest,
hope, security, etc.?
Be intentional.
Travis
