A Year with God

Selection Taken From:
A Year with God by R.P. Nettelhorst

Make this the year you let God's Word "dwell in you richly"---and marvel at the results! Each entry in this 365-day devotional features Scripture verses in which God speaks, accompanied by insights and applications to enhance your understanding. Learn what God says about hope and fear; perseverance and quitting; companionship and isolation; and more! 384 pages, softcover from Nelson, Copyright 2010.

From the Rising of the Sun

The LORD saw,
And it was displeasing in His sight that there was no justice.
And He saw that there was no man,
And was astonished that there was no one to intercede;
Then His own arm brought salvation to Him,
And His righteousness upheld Him.
He put on righteousness like a breastplate,
And a helmet of salvation on His head;
And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing
And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle.
According to their deeds, so He will repay,
Wrath to His adversaries, recom-pense to His enemies;
To the coastlands He will make recompense.
So they will fear the name of the Loin from the west
And His glory from the rising of the sun,
For He will come like a rushing stream
Which the wind of the LORD drives.
"A Redeemer will come to Zion,
And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob," declares the LORD.
"As for Me, this is My covenant with them," says the LORD: "My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your off-spring, nor from the mouth of your offspring's offspring," says the LORD, "from now and forever." - Isaiah 59:15—21 NASB

Truth and justice are not as popular as some slogans might make us think. Instead, people would rather know what they're comfortable with.

God understands that the world of human relationships and activities sometimes fails to work the way he'd like. In the time of Isaiah, the Israelite government hated his message. Most of the people in the land also disliked what he had to say. The truth can be painful, unpopular, and make no one feel good. God predicted the destruction of his nation by the invasion of powerful neighbors. People were suffering, which is why God would bring judgment. Those who heard God's message accused Isaiah of being a traitor and of hating his own countrymen. They were wrong. He loved Israel just as God loved Israel.

But God's people needed the Babylonians in order to be saved. So God took the task of rescuing his people upon himself. Salvation was dependent upon him alone. He would see to it that his people came back from captivity in Babylon too.