Jody's Devotionals

(1) And now thus has YHWH said
the one who created you, Jacob,
and formed you, Israel.
Don’t be afraid, for I have redeemed you.
I have given you your name. You are mine.
(2) When you pass through the waters, I am with you,
and through the rivers, they will not overflow you.
When you go through the fire, you will not be scorched,
and as for the flame, it will not burn you.
(3) For I YHWH am your God,
The Holy One of Israel your savior.
I have given Egypt as your price,
Cush and Seba in exchange for you.
(4) Because you were precious in my eyes,
You were valuable, and I loved you.
I will give all humanity in exchange for you,
and people instead of your life.
(5) Don’t be afraid, because I am with you.
From the east I will bring your seed,
And from the west I will gather them.
(6) I will say to the North, “Give them up!”
And to the south, “Don’t hold back!”
Bring my sons from far away,
and my daughters from the end of the earth!
(7) All who are called by my name,
whom I created for my honor,
I formed them,
indeed I made them. — Isaiah 43:1-7

Yesterday was Valentine’s Day. My devotional wasn’t very much along the lines of a Valentine, so let me talk about it today. Often we’re uncomfortable in church, in Bible studies, in small groups, or in various “spiritual” activities to talk about romantic love. Especially amongst men, “romance” is not a very popular type of literature. We think it’s light, and not worthy. We may read it, but we apologize for doing so. Women who want to be sophisticated and 21st century go right along with the men on this.

But God chose the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and he chose the simple and universal to teach us something complex and uniquely special. Romantic love and sexual passion is God’s best illustration of the way he loves us.

This is emphasized repeatedly in Isaiah. Notice this verse. His people are precious to him, valuable, he loves them. I had this emphasized to me when I noticed that in Deuteronomy 7:7, the same word is used of God’s desire for Israel as Hamor, Shechem’s father, used of his son’s passion for Dinah, a passion that resulted in rape. Now one can make too much of such a connection of words. The word has different precise meanings in different contexts. But God is clearly not afraid to be pictured as passionate.

The extreme desire of sexual passion is the one thing that we have in human life that will serve as an illustration for how much God desires us to be joined with him, to be his people here, and eventually to be with him for eternity. We spend our time worrying about people accidentally ending up in hell. We work desperately to reach someone for Christ because we don’t see how else God will get hold of them. But God isn’t going to be denied that easily. I don’t mean not to work. Be a witness, but do so confidently, not desperately. Do so realizing that God loves each person more than you can imagine.

This is also a good reason for purity. The intensity and focus of romantic love and sexual passion is best shown, and I believe most enjoyable in a one-to-one pure relationship.

Once you realize that God passionately loves you and will passionately and implacably pursue you, add this: His love is unlike our love in that it’s eternal in scope. It’s as much bigger than our love as the universe is than we are. He loves us with an eternal love (Jeremiah 31:3).

Revel in his love today. Embrace his passion.

(24) Who handed Jacob over as plunder,
and Israel to the despoilers?
Was it not YHWH, against whom we sinned?
But they did not want to walk in his ways,
and they did not want to listen to his instruction.
(25) So he poured the heat of his wrath on them,
And the violence of war.
It set them on fire all around,
Yet they didn’t recognize it.
It burned them,
But they didn’t take it to heart. — Isaiah 42:24-25

When we speak at churches or even chat with friends, Jody frequently refers to God’s involvement in our son James’s life, before he went on to glory after his five year fight with cancer, and how God can ask one even for a child, as he did Abraham in Genesis 22. It is a statement that truly frightens people. It is, after all, “a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God” (Hebrews 10:31)! The possibility of God doing something terrible to any person is hard to handle, at best. It doesn’t seem to match with the character of our loving God.

But the affirmation of scripture is that God is ultimately responsible for everything. With the word “ultimately” we become a bit more comfortable. God was “ultimately” responsible for the death of my son, not “immediately” responsible. But “ultimately” for God isn’t really all that far away. Isaiah 42:5 affirms that God gives breath to the people, and life to everyone. Just think about it. Your very next breath is given to you by God. Every moment of continued life is a gift from God. Every action of everyone everywhere happens because God enables people to do it.

Isaiah 45:7 gets even more direct, describing God as “maker alike of well-being and disaster.” When we experienced Hurricane Ivan here in Pensacola, I don’t recall too many people talking about how God made the hurricane. We’re a bit embarrassed to name God as the author of the things we don’t like. That was somebody else. As when the weeds mixed in with the wheat, we want to say, “An enemy has done this” (Matthew 13:28).

And indeed an enemy has done this. But the Bible is not in any shy about giving God all the credit, all the glory, and even all the blame. Think of it this way. God loves us so much and desires so much that we be free, that he is willing to allow—and enable—all the horrible consequences of our own actions. But make no mistake. God is still there, working in and through everything.

So is it possible that there’s good news in all this? Or is this maybe just a “downer” devotional. “[Moan] [groan]! God is doing it all, so I’m doomed.” Absolutely not! The good news is simply this: God is involved, so there is a limit to the nastiness. God is involved, so there will be good fruit even from terrible disasters. God is involved, so that ultimately there will be an end to it all.

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God. But it would be far more terrifying to fall into the hands of the evil one.

When things start going wrong, remember this: God is still here, ready to limit my disaster, and to bring good fruit from hardship. Or to switch metaphors, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, and it’s God, not a train!

(10) Don’t be afraid! For I am with you.
Don’t be dismayed! For I am your God.
I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you,
Yes, I will support you With righteousness, my right hand! — Isaiah 41:10

This is one of the precious promises of the Bible, and I don’t want you to lose that as I talk about it, but I want to try to widen it and deepen it just a bit.

Picture the Israelites at the time they probably heard this verse. We can ignore debates about precisely when it was written. It was heard by the people of Judah in exile waiting for God’s salvation, which is brought by Cyrus, king of Persia. They were promised a return from exile many times, but they never really caught the message until the end, and then only a small number did. Many chose to stay behind in Babylon.

They had been beaten in a series of wars, their homeland had been destroyed, they had been marched into exile—a horrifying journey which the Babylonians had no reason to make comfortable, and they had been told to settle down in a new country. What hope was there?

Then comes this promise. You don’t need to be afraid. I’m going to support you, strengthen you, help you! It’s going to be alright!

But for many of the Israelites, it probably didn’t seem miraculous at all. God didn’t call a Moses to come to the court of Babylon and demand freedom for his people. He didn’t send plagues on the Babylonians and make them long for the departure of the Jews. He didn’t raise up a Jewish leader amongst the exiles, or bring a new heir of David to solve their problems and lead them to new and glorious freedom. I suspect many of the exiles were convinced God wasn’t involved at all.

He sent Cyrus, an unknown Persian king. Isaiah calls him “Cyrus, his (God’s) anointed.” Wow! How disappointing! Then the people have to return to Judah in relatively small numbers and groups. They have to work to rebuild the country. They have to steward limited resources and resist enemies. They have to ask for help from heathen governors and kings. It was all most unspectacular. But it was still God’s plan, and God’s work.

Are you wondering whether God is active? Are you waiting for miracles? Perhaps you need to look around you and ask simply, “God, where are you working?” Perhaps you’ll find him in the smile of a coworker, the protection of a police officer, a gift from a friend, or even the wagging tail of a dog. Perhaps you’ll find him in your next breath, and the next, and the next . . .

He will strengthen you, help you, and hold you up. And if you ask, he’ll grant you spectacular vision to see how much is really doing in your life.

Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. Matthew 27:27-29 (NIV)

A few years ago, I heard “someone” teach about this passage and I made a note of related scriptures in my Bible. I went back to this study again and gave them some thought this weekend. I thought about “a crown of thorns” and my sins.

To Adam he [God] said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’
“Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you…” Genesis 3:17-18 (NIV)

In the paths of the wicked lie thorns and snares, but he who guards his soul stays far from them. Proverbs 22:5

When I look at my sins, my mind immediately goes to the awesomeness and joy of knowing I have a Savior who has covered those sins with His blood. I am, and will forever be, a child of God. My sins are covered but there are still consequences for my sins.

God is holy. God is the standard and His standard does not waver. Scripture tells me that God is “jealous” of anything or anyone that I put above Him – including my own standards and ideas of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. Scripture tells me that God will allow harsh consequences to happen in response to intentional sin. David knew that what he did to Uriah was wrong. The death of his son with Bathsheba was a consequence. Harsh? David’s sin was harsh against God.

I don’t know all the checks and balances of sin, consequences/punishment, and God’s mercy. That is God’s job. He is the only Judge. I only know that as I thought about the crown of thorns on Jesus’ head I could see my sins had wove that bloody headdress. It took Jesus to make the balance. My sins are great. God’s love for me is greater. May my time of pondering bring me to a greater realization of my God who is King of kings and Lord of lords. May I know more about ‘holy fear’ and ‘extravagant love’ when I am in God’s presence. May my worship of God be more than just the music and words inside a sanctuary. May my worship of God be the life that I walk in holiness following Jesus. (Romans 12)

⁷But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. And the blood of his Son Jesus Christ is cleansing us from every sin. — 1 John 1:7

⁶There was a man, sent by God, whose name was John. ⁷He came as a witness, to give testimony about the light, so that everyone can believe through him. ⁸He was not that light, but he came to bear testimony concerning it. ⁹It was the genuine light that enlightens every person when it comes into the world. — John 1:1-9

Have you ever been working in a dark room with just one light shining on what you are doing, and someone comes into the room and stands between you and your light? You certainly hope they’ll move, and depending on the circumstances, you may tell them to. “Get out of my light!”

Jesus came as a witness to God’s light. In fact, he was the light, but he had to live here as we do, and so he practiced reflecting God’s light to the rest of the world.

As Christians, we are sent into the world with a similar mission. We are God’s witnesses—witnesses to Jesus the Christ—who are to show God’s light to the entire world.

But some of us, and I’m afraid nearly all of us at one time or another, have a great deal of problem with walking in the light. Instead, we stand in the light. What do I mean? Well, what I ask myself is this: When someone looks at me, knowing I’m a Christian, are they more or less likely to consider the claims of Jesus to be the savior of the world?

It’s a fairly simple question to answer, and 1 John 1:7 tells us how to check. If we are walking in the light, then we will have fellowship with each other. We have a habit in our churches of checking our Christian walk by our tithing, our participation in church committees, our attendance at church services, and other activities that publicly display the fact that we are part of a church. Now all of those things are going to be part of an “enlightened” Christian life, but that’s not the key. You can be paying your tithe, but doing so grudgingly, complaining all the way to the offering plate. You can participate on church committees—to disrupt them. You may be coming to church in order to gossip. But check your fellowship. Is “fellowship” the right word for the way you interact with other church members?

Another option for checking someone’s walk is to compare their doctrinal beliefs with some standard statement. Beliefs are important, but you can believe the right doctrines and still not have fellowship with other believers. If you are walking in the light, however, you will have fellowship.

You can test one more thing, but it’s one between you and God. Have you been cleansed by the blood of Jesus? Is God’s work in your life continuing to go forward?

On the other hand you may be standing in the light. The results are simple: A lack of fellowship! If you do not have fellowship with fellow-believers, you are standing in somebody’s light, pushing away from the church. It has been said that the biggest test of faith for a new believer will be getting involved with church organization; so many horrible things go on in church committees that many new Christians don’t have the stomach for it. But it shouldn’t be that way.

Check your fellowship. Do you need to get out of someone’s light?

(18) What will you find that is like God? To what example will you compare him?
(19) Will it be an idol that a craftsman casts, and a refiner overlays with gold, and then decorates with silver?
(20) Or will it be an image of the best wood, chosen wood that will not rot?
Will you seek out a skilled craftsman for it, to create an idol that will not be moved? — Isaiah 40:18-20

He stretches out the heavens like a veil, and spreads them out like a tent to live in. — Isaiah 40:21-22

I have a number of pictures hanging in my office. Quite a number of them are from my grandchildren. I love those pictures. It’s not because they are great art. It’s because of who made them. I can picture them lovingly bent over the paper with crayons, coloring the picture and sending them off to Poppa.

Now if you were to come to my office, and I said to you with a straight face, “These are great art. Someday they will hang in famous galleries, and fetch millions of dollars,” you would quite rightly laugh at me. “Proud grandfather has gone around the bend,” you’d say. And you’d be right. I don’t want to limit my grandchildren. If they so desire, any one of them may become a great artist. But they haven’t done so yet.

In our passages today I see God looking down on us with pity, as we make our childish impressions of what a god should be like, figuratively using the coloring book pages and crayons of our lives to create something secure, something dependable, something that will not fail. We choose the best stuff, the best insurance company, the best vehicle we can afford, the best financial institutions, even the best churches and pastors to depend on. But after all that what we produce is refrigerator art. We don’t even match up to what the creator creates!

Now as long as we realize that, I suspect God hangs our work on a heavenly refrigerator, smiles, and says, “My children are really working hard. They’re doing their best, and they’re growing. Look! That latest picture actually has most of the color between the lines!”

But when we turn around and declare that what we made is not merely great art—a shocking idea in itself—but even more declare it to be the artist, imagine how that makes him feel?

But it’s not just that God feels bad, or angry, that we’ve compared him to our not very great creations. He knows that we are trying to depend on those not very good creations for our livelihood and our security. That is the most serious problem.

One of the most pitiful verses in scripture is found in the book of Judges. Micah made some images, acquired a priest to help him worship them properly, and then some tougher guys than he was came and stole them. He chases after them. After all, what will he do without his gods? Think about it! He’s rescuing his gods after they’ve been kidnapped—or godnapped.

(18) And he said, “You took my gods, which I made, and my priest, and you left! What more do I have?” — Judges 18:18a

Can your god be godnapped?

*Note: The Revised English Bible places these verses in this position in its translation. I do not support that position. They work quite well in chapter 41 describing what the nations do to resist God. I placed them in this position here to combine the various things said about idols in the two chapters.

(1) At that time the king of Babylon, Merodach-Baladan, son of Baladan, sent messengers with a gift for Hezekiah, because he heard that he had been sick, and had recovered. (2) Hezekiah was delighted about their visit, and he showed them his treasure-house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the fine oil, in fact, everything he had stored up, and everything that was in his treasuries. There was nothing that Hezekiah didn’t show them in his palace or in his kingdom. (3) Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and asked, “What did these men say, and where did they come from?”

(8) And Hezekiah said, “YHWH’s word that you have spoken is good.” Then he said, “Because there will be peace and stability in my time.” — Isaiah 39:1-8

I hope you spent some time thinking about the question: What have they seen in your house? It’s an important one!

In chapters 36-38 of Isaiah we see a very different view of King Hezekiah than we see in chapter 39. There his first reaction is to consult with the prophet. He listens to what the prophet has to say. He spends his time in prayer. He lays out his problems before God. If we only had those chapters, we could say that Hezekiah was truly and fully a man of God, without exception. But unfortunately there is this one exception.

What is the difference between the Hezekiah of chapters 36-38 and the one we meet in chapter 39? It’s quite simple! In chapters 36-38, Hezekiah was in trouble. He saw no possibility of escape, whether from the king of Assyria, or from his own illness. In trouble, Hezekiah looked to the Lord.

In chapter 39 we find him rescued from the Assyrians, and cured of his own illness. Now he wants to establish his own place of safety. He’s going to find allies and make sure that none of these things happen to him again.

Hezekiah’s response to the question, “What have they seen in your house?” is that they have seen Hezekiah, and how important he is. They have not heard the whole story. They were not introduced to the prophet. Isaiah was an embarrassment at that point, the person that Hezekiah had needed in his weakness.

There’s one more thing, though. Hezekiah’s response to the judgment was thoughtless. There will be peace while I’m alive. None of it matters, because Hezekiah is safe. He wasn’t even concerned that his own son might be carried into exile.

The true answer to this major question will tell whether you are on God’s program, or whether you are pursuing your own agenda. Have they seen all the temporary things that make you happy and comfortable, or have they felt the presence of the Lord? Was the focus temporal and short term, or was it eternal?

(6) A voice said, “Call out!”
And I said, “What shall I call out?”
“All humanity is like grass,
and its faithfulness like a wildflower.
(7) The grass dries up,
The flower fades,
Because YHWH’s wind blows on them.
Indeed! The people are like grass.
(8) The grass dries up!
The flower fades!
But God’s proclamation stands forever.” — Isaiah 40:6-8

(1) At that time the king of Babylon, Merodach-Baladan, son of Baladan, sent messengers with a gift for Hezekiah, because he heard that he had been sick, and had recovered. (2) Hezekiah was delighted about their visit, and he should them his treasure-house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the fine oil, in fact, everything he had stored up, and everything that was in his treasuries. There was nothing that Hezekiah didn’t show them in his palace or in his kingdom.

(8) And Hezekiah said, “YHWH’s word that you have spoken is good.” Then he said, “Because there will be peace and stability in my time.” — Isaiah 39:1-8

Isaiah 39 is a chapter that turns a corner in the book of Isaiah. Up to this time we have heard about future disasters and future deliverance. Chapter 39 gives us the final look as Hezekiah is told that some of his descendants will serve in the court of Babylon, and all his treasures will be taken. Between this chapter and the next there’s a sharp dividing line. In chapter 40, the viewpoint is from the exile in Babylon with God saying, “Enough! It’s time to go home!”

But chapter 39 is of critical importance, because it told the Israelites why they were in Babylon in the first place. It’s only eight verses, and I’ve quoted them all. The story is simple. Hezekiah was healed of an illness, and on hearing of that healing, the king of Babylon sends messengers. Hezekiah is delighted that he has come to the attention of this distant king, another enemy of the Assyrians, and he goes all out to get their attention and their alliance.

When we read this story, we tend to think what a bad idea it was to show off all his treasures, that this might make the Babylonians jealous so they would want to come and take them. But the reality is that Hezekiah clearly wanted to impress these envoys with his value as an ally so that he could get them to ally themselves with him against the Assyrians.

So get the picture here. In the previous chapter, Hezekiah was healed of a disease and given a marvelous sign by God (chapter 38). He has just been rescued from the Assyrians by divine intervention (chapters 36-37). Yet the main opportunity he sees when the messengers from Babylon show up is that he might get their support against the Assyrians.

That is the context of Isaiah’s question: What have they seen in your house?

I’m going to write at least one more devotional from this chapter, but today I just want each of us to focus on that question. Your “house” can be your business, your office at work, your home, your church, or anything else that you steward. When someone from far away comes to your “house,” what do they see? Do they see a person saved by grace and empowered by God, or do they seem someone looking anxiously for an advantage? Do they encounter God’s power in your church, or do they see people playing games?

What do they see in your house?

¹In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans, ²in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years concerning which the word of YHWH came to Jeremiah the prophet, to complete the time of the desolations of Jerusalem, seventy years. ³And I turned my face to the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. . . . ²¹while I was still speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, touched me about the time of the evening sacrifice, because he had been made to fly swiftly. ²²And he instructed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I have come now to give you wisdom and understanding. — Daniel 9:1-3, 21-22

We’ve been talking about how God is in control, no matter what things look like, then looking at Daniel 8, we saw that God has a time. Chapters 1-7 discussed what God was going to do, but paid no attention to when he was going to do it. Chapter 9 lets us in on God’s plan a little bit more.

There are lots of things that can be learned from Daniel 9, but I just want to focus on God’s plan as it’s shown here. Notice that right after asking “How long?” we see Daniel doing two very important but commonly neglected things: Studying the scriptures, and praying. I could spend hours discussing Daniel’s prayer in chapter 9, because it is such an excellent example of intercession. Sometimes in intercessory prayer we stand at a distance and intercede for “those other people.” But Daniel, who was known for his righteousness, included himself fully in the confession and repentance.

And that is the key to the story. What God expects during the intervening time is simply that his people get busy, confess their sins, repent, and carry out his commands. For us as Christians, this involves things such as loving our neighbors as ourselves, and carrying out the gospel commission. “Preaching love” is often ridiculed as a sort of easy gospel, but truly loving your neighbor as yourself is anything but easy. Recruiting your neighbor to start loving other people as he loves himself is even tougher. But it’s the thing that God is looking for.

Notice what happens with Daniel. As he is still praying, the angel comes to him with enlightenment—to give him wisdom and understanding. We are very limited in the ways we use prayer. Generally we wait until we have an emergency, but even when we’re praying well ahead of the emergency we need an excuse—something specific to thank God for (heaven forbid it’s something we’ve already thanked him for!) or something to ask for. The conversation has to have purpose.

Some of my atheist friends will say that Christians have an invisible friend. It’s a way of saying, “Show me!” But I actually wish we behaved more like we have an invisible friend. You can talk to an invisible friend and tell him or her anything. Our prayers our not very much like conversations with invisible friends. But they should be!

Everything will go better if you talk to God about it. Perhaps God won’t send a major angel to help you out—or perhaps he will. But he will help you gain wisdom. And that’s his plan—to get us on his plan to reach the world and solve the problem. We aren’t told to pray for our persecutors because we’re masochists. It’s because we want even them to come to know the joy that we have.

How about chatting with God about his plan today? How about chatting with him about everything that interests you? He has the time for you! It’s his plan.

¹³And I heard one of the holy ones speaking, and one of the holy ones said to his companion, “How long is the vision of the continual offering and the transgression that desolates, giving over the holy place and the host to be trampled. ¹⁴And he said to me, “After 2,300 evening and morning sacrifices have passed, then shall the sanctuary be restored.” — Daniel 8:13-14

I’m really involved with the book of Daniel right now for these devotionals. It’s not a special study I’m making for anything else, but I see some real lessons for modern living as God’s people in the world in this little book. In a previous devotional I commented that we often miss the message of Daniel because we’re so busy interpreting the symbols and figuring out the timeline. I outlined the teaching up through chapter 7:

In the first chapter we find that even though God’s people may be taken into exile in a foreign land, God is still the one who guides and blesses their lives. In the second chapter we learn that it is God who knows and controls the flow of history. The third teaches us that no matter how much effort we go to in order to avoid that lesson, God will still get in the last word. The fourth chapter tells us that God not only rules in the kingdoms of men, but he pursues those he loves implacably, even when he has to make it quite hard on them! The fifth chapter, we saw, shows God getting the last word on a king who refused to see what God was doing. In the sixth God prospers his servant who stands for him in the face of death. Here in the seventh chapter we see that no matter how many beasts Satan sends, God will have the last word.

Now we get to chapter 8, and we find that the beasts are still there, different beasts, but with similar interpretations, though in much more detail. We have seen how Daniel and the various other characters learned that God was in control of everything, and that no matter how much junk came at you, God was going to rule in the end.

But then comes the question everybody asks: How long? When are you going to intervene? It’s the same question asked by the saints under persecution in Revelation:

¹⁰And they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, Holy and true Lord, do you not avenge our blood from those who live on the earth?” — Revelation 6:10

It’s not just toddlers in the car on a long trip. It’s all of God’s people that get around to wondering just how long they have to wait.

So what can we learn from Daniel 8 about God’s timing?

• God is aware of our suffering and hardship. The angels are watching.
• God does have a time—limits on the time that the evil one can keep on acting against us.
• God’s time can be measured in terms of worship. The 2,300 morning and evening sacrifices represented a time of separation for God’s worshipers. The “continual” sacrifice no longer continued.
• At the end, God’s purpose is restoration.

Can there be anything better than that?