Daily Devotion

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.


Perspective Matters
The LORD said to Moses, "I will bring one more plague upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go from here; indeed, when he lets you go, he will drive you away. Tell the people that every man is to ask his neighbor and every woman is to ask her neighbor for ob¬jects of silver and gold." The LORD gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, Moses himself was a man of great importance in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's officials and in the sight of the people.
Moses said, 'Thus says the LORD: About midnight I will go out through Egypt. Every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the female slave who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the livestock. Then there will be a loud cry throughout the whole land of Egypt, such as has never been or will ever be again. But not a dog shall growl at any of the Israelites—not at people, not at animals—so that you may know that the Lom makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. Then all these officials of yours shall come down to me, and bow low to me, saying, 'Leave us, you and all the people who follow you: After that I will leave." And in hot anger he left Pharaoh. - Exodus 11:1-8 NRSV

How you perceive God's actions depends on your point of view. God rescued his people from Egypt and set them free. The Israelites saw how much God loved them and cared about them when he slaughtered the firstborn of Egypt. The Egyptians, and especially the parents, probably didn't see it that way. One action gave rise to two points of view and two radically different interpretations of God.

The same fire that warms also burns. How you feel about the fire will depend on whether you're warming your hands on a cold night or you're being burned at the stake. The fire, however, has not changed. It is doing exactly the same thing, no matter how you feel about it. So it is with God. God is love. Whatever he does, he does because of love. He loves the world. And yet, when God showed his love, Egyptians died while Israelites rejoiced and were set free. God does not change. Love always motivates his actions. How we feel about what God does is up to us.

Daily Devotion

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.


God Chose You
The LORD said to Abram:
Leave your country, your family, and your relatives and go to the land that I will show you. I will bless you and make your descendants into a great nation. You will become famous and be a blessing to others. I will bless anyone who blesses you, but I will put a curse on anyone who puts a curse on you. Everyone on earth will be blessed because of you.
Abram was seventy-five years old when the Loan told him to leave the city of Haran. He obeyed and left with his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the posses-sions and slaves they had gotten while in Haran.
When they came to the land of Canaan, Abram went as far as the sacred tree of Moreh in a place called Shechem. The Canaanites were still living in the land at that time, but the Lox) appeared to Abram and promised, "I will give this land to your family forever." Abram then built an altar there for the LORD. - Genesis 12:1—7 CEV

Just because you think you know what to expect from life, doesn't mean you do. Abram was an old man when God called him from the city of Haran. By the world's standards, Abram's life was nearly done. It was past time to retire. He was just an ordinary man living in the Middle East, one of millions of people alive on the planet in that day. And God decided to pick him. What made Abram special was not who he was, but who God was. God did not choose Abram because he was extraordinary. Abram became extraordinary—even in his twilight years—because God chose him. God chose Abram because he loved him.

The promise that God gave Abram when he told him to pack up and move to what would someday be the land of Israel had no strings attached. Regardless of Abram's character or choices, God told him he was going to become famous, he'd be happy, and his descendants would grow to become a great nation. Moreover, God protected Abram and those who encountered him or his descendants—those who blessed Abram would themselves be blessed, and those who cursed him would be cursed. God takes care of those who belong to him, and woe to any who try to harm those God has chosen.

Abram responded to God's promise by going where God told him to go, and by building an altar to God. Abram didn't know much about God, but he paid attention to him. Like Abram, we never know when God might surprise us, or what God might have in store for us.

Daily Devotion

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.


Obedience Is better Than Sacrifice
In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
"Do not fear; Zion, let not your hands be weak. The LORD your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing."
"I will gather those who sorrow over the appointed assembly,
Who are among you,
To whom its reproach is a burden. Behold, at that time
I will deal with all who afflict you;
I will save the lame,
And gather those who were driven out;
I will appoint them for praise and fame
In every land where they were put to shame.
At that time I will bring you back,
Even at the time I gather you;
For I will give you fame and praise Among all the peoples of the earth,
When I return your captives before your eyes,"
Says the LORD. - Zephaniah 3:16-20 NKJV

We'd really like to do most of what tempts us. God tells us "Do not fear." It seems an unlikely commandment. But other things are equally unpleasant even though they may appear desirable or reasonable at first glance. Fear is that way, and Jerusalem certainly had many things to fear. Zephaniah prophesied during Josiah's reign in Judah. Jeremiah was prophesying then too. It was a time of revival, but the international situation was in flux. The balance of power was shifting to Babylon, and Josiah's revival had touched only a few. The rot in the heart of Israel remained festering. The return to exclusive worship of God stopped when he died. God had no solution left but exile. Captivity in Babylon became inevitable, the destruction of Jerusalem guaranteed. How could there be no fear in the face of that?

But Zephaniah pointed out that someday their punishment would be past tense. In that day, Jerusalem would stop being afraid. In that day, God's love would quiet them. Their hearts would grow calm and turn to joy. The captives would come home. Whether times are good or times are bad, we, like Jerusalem, are still with God. We do not need to be afraid. With God, we can capture the attitude of joy we will have tomorrow when the pain of today has become yesterday.

Daily Devotion

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.


What Am I Going to Do with You?
People of Israel and Judah, what can I do with you?
Your love for me disappears more quickly than mist or dew at sunrise.
That's why I slaughtered you with the words of my prophets.
That's why my judgments blazed like the dawning sun.
I'd rather for you to be faithful and to know me than to offer sacrifices.
At a place named Adam, you betrayed me by breaking our agreement.
Everyone in Gilead is evil; your hands are stained with the blood of victims.
You priests are like a gang of robbers in ambush.
On the road to Shechem you murder and commit other horrible crimes.
I have seen a terrible thing in Israel—you are unfaithful and unfit to worship me.
People of Judah, your time is coming too. - Hosea 6:4—11 CEV

Human love can be fickle, vanishing over the least offense. Hosea married a prostitute because God told him to, so his wife spent most of her time elsewhere with other men. She didn't love Hosea. Likewise for God, Israel gave him lip service, but Israel's real passion was for the other gods, the ones she really cared about, since she spent all her time with them.

God listed three places where people had been unfaithful to him: Adam, which was near the Jordan River; Gilead, which was a region near Adam; and Shechem, which was in central Palestine. The people were guilty of unfaithfulness to God and unfaithfulness to one another. Even the priests, who were supposed to represent God, acted like a criminal gang. This was nothing new. Even in the days of Samuel, before Saul became king, the priests had taken advantage of those few people who had come to worship Yahweh.

But by the time of Hosea, God's patience was near an end. Hosea's wife wound up sold as a slave. Hosea bought her back from the slave market. The sad events of Hosea's life were pictures of what God intended for Israel. Israel would become captive in Babylon. Eventually God would redeem Israel from Babylon. Neither Hosea's wife nor Israel had done anything to merit being bought back. Hosea rescued his wife because he loved her, even if she didn't love him. God rescued Israel for the same reason. They were both redeemed because God's love is not fickle.

Daily Devotion

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.


Them Bones, Them Bones
The hand of the Loa) was on me, and He brought me out by His Spirit and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them. There were a great many of them on the surface of the valley, and they were very dry. Then He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?"
I replied, "Lord GOD, [only] You know."
He said to me, "Prophesy concerning these bones and say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the Loa)! This is what the Lord Goo says to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you will live. I will put tendons on you, make flesh grow on you, and cover you with skin. I will put breath in you so that you come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD."
So I prophesied as I had been commanded. While I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. - Ezekiel 37:1-7 HCSB

Ezekiel, an exile himself, prophesied to the exiles living in Babylon. The people in exile felt empty, abandoned, and hopeless. Despite the words of Jeremiah and Isaiah, who had promised that they would return home one day, they still doubted. They were unable to see any further than their current pain. So once again, God revealed the future.

God granted Ezekiel a vision of a vast field, filled with bones, metaphori-cally standing for the exiled nation. Then God restored the bones to life, a vast army, and told Ezekiel that they represented the Israelites who were saying, "Our bones are dried up, and our hope is gone; we are cut off." God intended to resurrect them. That is, he would bring them home, to the land of Israel.

God doesn't go back on his promises. But he makes allowances for human fear and weakness. Sometimes we may fear that God has abandoned us. We may fear that we've been too bad, we've gone too far from his will, and that for us it is too late. God reassured the Israelites—even after hundreds of years of their going too far and after years of exile—that it wasn't too late. Like Israel in the days of Ezekiel, even when we're nothing but dried bones, God still has a plan for us.

Daily Devotion

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.


It Was for Your Awn Good
This is what the LORD says:
'A cry is heard in Ramah—deep anguish and bitter weeping.
Rachel weeps for her children,refusing to be comforted—for her children are gone."
But now this is what the LORD says:
"Do not weep any longer,for I will reward you," says the LORD.
'Your children will come back to you from the distant land of the enemy.
There is hope for your future," says the LORD. "Your children will come again to their own land.
I have heard Israel saying,
'You disciplined me severely, like a calf that needs training for the yoke.
Turn me again to you and restore me, for you alone are the LORD My God.
I turned away from God, but then I was sorry.
I kicked myself for my stupidity! I was thoroughly ashamed of all I did in my younger days.'" - Jeremiah 31:15—19 NLT

Augustus Caesar, the first emperor of Rome, once made a wry comment about Herod the Great, the man he had made into the king of Judea. He said, "It is better to be Herod's pigs than Herod's sons." Pigs were not kosher, so he wouldn't touch them. But Herod's family? Herod was paranoid and killed several sons he thought might be plotting against him.

When wise men from Persia came looking for a royal son, Herod was panic stricken. None of his wives had recently given birth. He was not descended from David. If a new king had been born, then Herod had a rival. So he found out where the child had been born, and then he took care of things in his own inimitable style. He killed all the babies in Bethlehem who were close to the right age.

God's prophecy of Rachel's weeping because her children were no more was taken by Matthew and applied to Herod's slaughter. But Jeremiah's original intent was to prophesy about the deportation of the Jews to Babylon. "Rachel," of course, was Jacob's—Israel's—true love, the mother of Joseph and Benjamin. Rachel came to stand in as a poetic reference to the nation of Israel. Why did Matthew use a prophecy of the Babylonian captivity for Herod's slaughter? The thematic parallel in it—Babylon had failed to destroy Israel. Herod had failed to destroy Christ.

God reassured the Rachels of Jeremiah's day, the people of Israel, that those taken from them would one day return. For those murdered by Herod, the resurrection was coming. Those lost to us now will be with us forever someday. Our tears will be wiped away.

Daily Devotion

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.


God Has Plans for You
Thus says the Loan of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, "Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease. Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Loan on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare."
For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Do not let your prophets who are in your midst and your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams which they dream. For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them," dedares the Loup.
For thus says the Low:), "When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans that I have for you," dedares the Loa), "plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart." - Jeremiah 29:4-13 NASB

False prophets predicted good times. They were quick to promise health, wealth, and prosperity. God warned his people not to listen to them because what they said simply wasn't going to be. Instead of good times, God, through Jeremiah, predicted that the false prophets were facing judgment and exile.

This news was hardly good, hardly comforting, and hardly what anyone wanted to hear. No wonder everyone was mad at the real prophets. They made the people think that God hated them and wanted to hurt them.

But God wanted to correct those misunderstandings. In the midst of the pain, God explained that his plans for them were good ones. They had a future to look forward to, and, oddly, in the midst of their misery they would turn to God, the one who seemed to be harming them. When the day came that they were genuinely sorry for what they had done, then he would listen to them and restore their fortunes.

Repentance is more than saying, "I'm sorry." Repentance is changed behavior. We have repented when we will do anything and take any punishment in order to make things right again.

Daily Devotion

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.


Behold, the Days Are Coming
"Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!" says the Loan. Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: "You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings," says the Loan. "But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking," says the Lou).
"Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD,
"That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper,
And execute judgment and righteous¬ness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved,
And Israel will dwell safely;
Now this is His name by which He will be called:
THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. - Jeremiah 23:1-6 NKJV

It's hard to be the boss. Authority is a dangerous thing. The apostle James wrote that those who teach would be judged more harshly than others. Why? While each human being touches more people than he imagines, the impact of a teacher is far greater. A single teacher may train dozens, who then take the teacher's words to others, multiplying the effect exponentially. Similarly, "shepherds"—the leadership in Israel consisting of the king, the bureaucrats, and the religious establishment—affected the lives of all those around them.

The leaders of Israel had been made responsible for the spiritual safety of their people. But rather than leading them toward God, they led them away. They seduced them with other deities. God was going to take the power of the shepherds from them and pass it on to someone else, someone who would actually do right by those under them—a good shepherd.

Jeremiah prophesied while Zedekiah, whose name meant "righteousness of the Lord," ruled as the final king of Israel before Nebuchadnezzar took him into exile. God reassured the Israelites that one day they would have a king who actually lived up to that name, who would really be "the Lord our righteousness." God's words to Jeremiah found their fulfillment in Jesus, the son of David, the Good Shepherd (John 10:11).

Daily Devotion

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.


Behold, the Days Are Coming
"Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!" says the Loan. Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: "You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings," says the Loan. "But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking," says the Lou).
"Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD,
"That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper,
And execute judgment and righteous¬ness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved,
And Israel will dwell safely;
Now this is His name by which He will be called:
THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. - Jeremiah 23:1-6 NKJV

It's hard to be the boss. Authority is a dangerous thing. The apostle James wrote that those who teach would be judged more harshly than others. Why? While each human being touches more people than he imagines, the impact of a teacher is far greater. A single teacher may train dozens, who then take the teacher's words to others, multiplying the effect exponentially. Similarly, "shepherds"—the leadership in Israel consisting of the king, the bureaucrats, and the religious establishment—affected the lives of all those around them.

The leaders of Israel had been made responsible for the spiritual safety of their people. But rather than leading them toward God, they led them away. They seduced them with other deities. God was going to take the power of the shepherds from them and pass it on to someone else, someone who would actually do right by those under them—a good shepherd.

Jeremiah prophesied while Zedekiah, whose name meant "righteousness of the Lord," ruled as the final king of Israel before Nebuchadnezzar took him into exile. God reassured the Israelites that one day they would have a king who actually lived up to that name, who would really be "the Lord our righteousness." God's words to Jeremiah found their fulfillment in Jesus, the son of David, the Good Shepherd (John 10:11).

Daily Devotion

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.


What Good Is an Idol?
Hear the word that the LORD speaks to you, 0 house of Israel. Thus says the LORD:
Do not learn the way of the nations, or be dismayed at the signs of the heavens; for the nations are dismayed at them.
For the customs of the peoples are false: a tree from the forest is cut down, and worked with an ax by the hands of an artisan;
people deck it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move.
Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, nor is it in them to do good. - Jeremiah 10:1-5 NRSV

For most people in the modern world, idols are merely works of art. We are never tempted to worship them. Some art historians are dismayed that as Christians became dominant in the old Roman Empire, they destroyed the pagan temples and wrecked the images of the gods. Two thousand years later, it is easy to think only in terms of the destruction of art. Keep in mind, however, that for those who had turned from paganism to Christianity, idols held power. They symbolized something evil and wrong. They oppressed the hearts and minds of countless human beings, blinding them to the truth. People had devoted themselves, their money, and even their lives to things that were useless. Idols were a lie and a delusion.

Following the destruction of any totalitarian regime, whether that of Nazi Germany, Communism, or Saddam Hussein's dictatorship, the people freed from tyranny quickly destroyed statues and images of the hated regime. Statues of Stalin and Lenin were knocked down and dragged away; swastikas atop buildings in Berlin were dynamited; Saddam's statue in the center of Baghdad was toppled by tanks. Two thousand years from now, some might be appalled at the destruction of art and culture in these places, but those destroying the images were striking blows for freedom. For those who worshipped idols, the idols were not art. They were tyrants who had blinded their worshippers. Whatever idols oppress you today—fearful circumstances or material belongings—God has set you free from them. Your idols are nothing but objects made by men.

Daily Devotion

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.

Good Times Are Coming

"Never again will there be in [Jerusalem] an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who
dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed.
They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the works of their hands.
They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD, they and their
descendants with them.
Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.
The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent's food.
They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain," says the LORD. - Isaiah 65:20—25 NIV

People had lived in the dark for a long time. But the dawn finally came. The last of Isaiah's prophecies predicted new heavens and a new earth, a time when weeping would cease, when infants would not die, when people would live well into old age, when they would build houses, plant vineyards, and harvest the fruit, keeping it all for themselves instead of giving it to others.

When we read that God told his people about the "new heavens and a new earth" (Isaiah 65:17 Mv), we are tempted to imagine that God was talking about the eternal kingdom. When we read about the wolf and the lamb feeding together, the lion eating straw, and dust becoming the food of serpents, it is hard to think of anything else but the kingdom. But between those words that sound like the kingdom, God said that those who died at a hundred were dying young. God spoke about babies being born. Neither death nor birth seems to fit the usual notion about the kingdom of heaven. So what are we to make of the passage?

Are the blessings of the passage literal, or are they figurative? A clue comes from remembering that God chose to speak in poetry. This passage expressed the hope that was to come when God finally reigned in the lives of his people. The serpent eating dust reminds us of the curse in Genesis. God proclaimed victory over that old curse. The kingdom of heaven lives in our hearts. No matter what the world may throw at us today, God still reigns there.

Daily Devotion

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.


Good Times Are Coming
"Never again will there be in [Jerusalem] an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who
dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed.
They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the works of their hands.
They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD, they and their
descendants with them.
Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.
The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent's food.
They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain," says the LORD. - Isaiah 65:20—25 NIV

People had lived in the dark for a long time. But the dawn finally came. The last of Isaiah's prophecies predicted new heavens and a new earth, a time when weeping would cease, when infants would not die, when people would live well into old age, when they would build houses, plant vineyards, and harvest the fruit, keeping it all for themselves instead of giving it to others.

When we read that God told his people about the "new heavens and a new earth" (Isaiah 65:17 Mv), we are tempted to imagine that God was talking about the eternal kingdom. When we read about the wolf and the lamb feeding together, the lion eating straw, and dust becoming the food of serpents, it is hard to think of anything else but the kingdom. But between those words that sound like the kingdom, God said that those who died at a hundred were dying young. God spoke about babies being born. Neither death nor birth seems to fit the usual notion about the kingdom of heaven. So what are we to make of the passage?

Are the blessings of the passage literal, or are they figurative? A clue comes from remembering that God chose to speak in poetry. This passage expressed the hope that was to come when God finally reigned in the lives of his people. The serpent eating dust reminds us of the curse in Genesis. God proclaimed victory over that old curse. The kingdom of heaven lives in our hearts. No matter what the world may throw at us today, God still reigns there.

Daily Devotion

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.


Nothing Is Too Hard for God
The LORD says,
Who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
To bring Jacob back to Him,
So that Israel is gathered to Him
(For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the LORD,
And My God shall be My strength),
Indeed He says,
"It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob,
And to restore the preserved ones of Israel;
I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles,
That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth."
Thus says the LORD,
The Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One,
To Him whom man despises,
To Him whom the nation abhors,
To the Servant of rulers:
"Kings shall see and arise,
Princes also shall worship,
Because of the LORD who is faithful,
The Holy One of Israel;
And He has chosen You." - Isaiah 49:5—7 NKJV

God is not in hiding. He is standing out in the open, shining brightly. The servant of this passage from Isaiah is someone other than Israel. And the servant is someone other than the prophet Isaiah, since Isaiah was not the one to "raise up the tribes of Jacob." Nor was Isaiah the one to give "light to the Gentiles." Paul quoted from this passage in Acts 13:47 and applied it to himself and Barnabas as missionaries to the Gentiles. In Acts 26:23, when he explained the gospel to King Agrippa, he said that the Messiah would suffer, rise from the dead, and "proclaim light to his own people and to the Gentiles" (NIV).

Simeon was an old man living in Jerusalem when Jesus was born. God had told him that he would live to see the Messiah with his own eyes. When Jesus' parents brought him to the temple to consecrate him to God and offer the sacrifices required of a newborn son, Simeon took the infant Jesus into his arms and quoted Isaiah's passage. He told Mary and Joseph that Jesus would bring the light of revelation to the Gentiles (Luke 2:29—32).

Jesus and his body and bride—the church—have done and are doing just what was predicted of them by God's words to the prophet Isaiah. They have brought the light of salvation to everyone.

Daily Devotion

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.

Nothing Is Too Hard for God

The LORD says,
Who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
To bring Jacob back to Him,
So that Israel is gathered to Him
(For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the LORD,
And My God shall be My strength),
Indeed He says,
"It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob,
And to restore the preserved ones of Israel;
I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles,
That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth."
Thus says the LORD,
The Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One,
To Him whom man despises,
To Him whom the nation abhors,
To the Servant of rulers:
"Kings shall see and arise,
Princes also shall worship,
Because of the LORD who is faithful,
The Holy One of Israel;
And He has chosen You." - Isaiah 49:5—7 NKJV

God is not in hiding. He is standing out in the open, shining brightly. The servant of this passage from Isaiah is someone other than Israel. And the servant is someone other than the prophet Isaiah, since Isaiah was not the one to "raise up the tribes of Jacob." Nor was Isaiah the one to give "light to the Gentiles." Paul quoted from this passage in Acts 13:47 and applied it to himself and Barnabas as missionaries to the Gentiles. In Acts 26:23, when he explained the gospel to King Agrippa, he said that the Messiah would suffer, rise from the dead, and "proclaim light to his own people and to the Gentiles" (NIV).

Simeon was an old man living in Jerusalem when Jesus was born. God had told him that he would live to see the Messiah with his own eyes. When Jesus' parents brought him to the temple to consecrate him to God and offer the sacrifices required of a newborn son, Simeon took the infant Jesus into his arms and quoted Isaiah's passage. He told Mary and Joseph that Jesus would bring the light of revelation to the Gentiles (Luke 2:29—32).

Jesus and his body and bride—the church—have done and are doing just what was predicted of them by God's words to the prophet Isaiah. They have brought the light of salvation to everyone.

Daily Devotion

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.

Nothing Is Too Hard for God

The LORD says,
Who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
To bring Jacob back to Him,
So that Israel is gathered to Him
(For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the LORD,
And My God shall be My strength),
Indeed He says,
"It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob,
And to restore the preserved ones of Israel;
I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles,
That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth."
Thus says the LORD,
The Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One,
To Him whom man despises,
To Him whom the nation abhors,
To the Servant of rulers:
"Kings shall see and arise,
Princes also shall worship,
Because of the LORD who is faithful,
The Holy One of Israel;
And He has chosen You." - Isaiah 49:5—7 NKJV

God is not in hiding. He is standing out in the open, shining brightly. The servant of this passage from Isaiah is someone other than Israel. And the servant is someone other than the prophet Isaiah, since Isaiah was not the one to "raise up the tribes of Jacob." Nor was Isaiah the one to give "light to the Gentiles." Paul quoted from this passage in Acts 13:47 and applied it to himself and Barnabas as missionaries to the Gentiles. In Acts 26:23, when he explained the gospel to King Agrippa, he said that the Messiah would suffer, rise from the dead, and "proclaim light to his own people and to the Gentiles" (NIV).

Simeon was an old man living in Jerusalem when Jesus was born. God had told him that he would live to see the Messiah with his own eyes. When Jesus' parents brought him to the temple to consecrate him to God and offer the sacrifices required of a newborn son, Simeon took the infant Jesus into his arms and quoted Isaiah's passage. He told Mary and Joseph that Jesus would bring the light of revelation to the Gentiles (Luke 2:29—32).

Jesus and his body and bride—the church—have done and are doing just what was predicted of them by God's words to the prophet Isaiah. They have brought the light of salvation to everyone.

Daily Devotion

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.

Fading Flowers

Our God has said:
"Encourage my people! Give them comfort.
Speak kindly to Jerusalem and announce:
Your slavery is past; your punishment is over.
I, the LORD, made you pay double for your sins."
Someone is shouting:
"Clear a path in the desert! Make a straight road for the LORD our God.
Fill in the valleys; flatten every hill and mountain.
Level the rough and rugged ground.
Then the glory of the Lorw will appear for all to see.
The LORD has promised this!"
Someone told me to shout, and I asked, "What should I shout?"
We humans are merely grass, and we last no longer than wild flowers.
At the LORD'S command, flowers and grass disappear, and so do we.
Flowers and grass fade away, but what our God has said will never change. - Isaiah 40:1—8 CEV

Payback time, with interest. With this chapter; the prophet Isaiah shifted gears. Where before he had predicted the necessary punishment against God's people Israel, he suddenly predicted what would come after the punishment. He told them that God intended to restore the relationship their idolatry had destroyed.

God promised his people that he would restore them just as surely as he had punished them. God was offering comfort to the Israelites. He was letting them know that their time in captivity was ending and that they would soon return to their land. Their sins had been paid for; their punishment was completed. Compared to God, the life of a human being was remarkably short. But God's purposes and promises, like God himself, would last forever.

The New Testament authors of the Gospels identified John the Baptist as the one calling in the wilderness to make a straight way for God. The one for whom John made a straight way was Jesus: the Messiah and the Son of God, whom the Gospel writers and John, by the use of this passage from Isaiah, identified with Yahweh, the God of Israel. How could that prophecy be applied by the New Testament authors to John the Baptist and Jesus? Just as God had rescued his people from exile in Babylon and forgiven them for all their unfaithfulness to him, so Jesus would rescue his people—all humanity—and forgive them. The forgiveness God offered to Israel he extends to all of us.

Daily Devotion

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.

It Won't Be Long Now

Soon—and it will not be very long—the forests of Lebanon will become a fertile field, and the fertile field will yield bountiful crops.
In that day the deaf will hear words read from a book, and the blind will see through the gloom and darkness.
The humble will be filled with fresh joy from the Lou).
The poor will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
The scoffer will be gone, the arrogant will disappear, and those who plot evil will be killed.
Those who convict the innocent by their false testimony will disappear.
A similar fate awaits those who use trickery to pervert justice and who tell lies to destroy the innocent.
That is why the Loiw, who redeemed Abraham, says to the people of Israel,
"My people will no longer be ashamed or turn pale with fear.
For when they see their many children and all the blessings I have given them, they will recognize the holiness of the Holy One of Israel.
They will stand in awe of the God of Jacob.
Then the wayward will gain understanding, and complainers will accept instruction." - Isaiah 29:17—24 NLT

Sooner, rather than later, the people of Israel would get a clue. When Isaiah volunteered to become God's prophet, God told him that the people he went to would "be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving" (Isaiah 6:9 NN), and that it would remain thus until the nation was destroyed. But afterward, the blind would finally see and the deaf would finally hear, and then the wicked would finally be gone.

The forests of Lebanon were famous for their cedar trees, not for being good farmland. God used that as a metaphor. What you'd least expect to be possible is just what God can do. Those who were most disadvantaged in society—the handicapped, the poor, the humble of whatever sort—would find joy in God, while those who had oppressed them would be destroyed. The destruction of the wicked was not necessarily by their deaths, however. God explained that the wayward and complainers would gain understanding. The wicked would be destroyed by being transformed into the righteous. Some of the wicked would have their old hearts changed. They would die to their past way of life. They would be renewed in God. Their fear of destruction would become a fear of God, their redeemer who had saved them.

Daily Devotion

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.

The Only One to Fear Is God

The LORD spoke to me with mighty power and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,
"You are not to say, 'It is a conspiracy!' In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy, And you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it.
"It is the LORD of hosts whom you should regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, And He shall be your dread.
"Then He shall become a sanctuary; But to both the houses of Israel, a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over, And a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
"Many will stumble over them, Then they will fall and be broken; They will even be snared and caught." - Isaiah 8:11—15 NASB

People are afraid of many things. A lot of those things don't even exist. They imagine dark conspiracies and worry about things that are unlikely, even as they happily ignore real dangers. The Israelites worshipped gods other than Yahweh and bent themselves beneath ridiculous superstitions, imagining that the motions of stars influenced their destinies or that animal innards and tossed piles of bones could give them answers. They gave money and attention to mediums and spiritists, carried lucky charms, and spoke magic incantations or waved their hands in special ways to ward off imagined curses.

Meanwhile, they ignored the real God, the one who could actually influence the events of their lives, the one who was about to bring his judgment against them. God told Jeremiah to ignore all the silliness that consumed the attention of the people around him. God alone was to be feared, and God alone, as a result, would be Jeremiah's sanctuary. God would protect him from the coming destruction of Judah, just as he had protected Moses from the plagues of Egypt. Judah would learn to fear God alone. As they came to understand God and his reasons for judgment, they would learn to love him. In that love, their other fears would fade away. They would come to know that God was the one who controlled their destinies rather than shadowy conspiracies or the motions of the stars. They would ultimately find great comfort in that realization, as should we. God can drive groundless fear away and give us minds and hearts at peace.

Daily Devotion

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.

What Are You Worried About?

Can you arrange stars in groups such as Orion and the Pleiades?
Do you control the stars or set in place the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper?
Do you know the laws that govern the heavens, and can you make them rule the earth?
Can you order the clouds to send a downpour, or will lightning flash at your command?
Did you teach birds to know that rain or floods are on their way?
Can you count the clouds or pour out their water on the dry, lumpy soil?
When lions are hungry, do you help them hunt?
Do you send an animal into their den?
And when starving young ravens cry out to me for food, do you satisfy their hunger? - Job 38:31-41 CEV

When God asks a question, it isn't because he doesn't know the answer. Job had lost his family, his livelihood, and his health. He wondered why it had all happened, and his question made him doubt God's goodness. God responded by asking him other questions that Job wouldn't have answers for. An interesting question God asked Job was "Do you know the laws that govern the heavens and can you make them rule the earth?" When God asked Job the question, Job had no answer. Today, Job would have probably answered yes, thanks to the physicist Sir Isaac Newton. Newton discovered that the laws of nature are universal. What is true in the heavens is true on the earth. The falling of an apple is caused by the same force that keeps the moon swinging around the earth and the earth swinging around the sun.

But God's point was not to quiz Job about physics. God wanted Job to realize there was no difference between the questions God was asking and the question Job was asking. Not knowing how to arrange the stars didn't keep Job up at night questioning God's goodness. So why did not knowing why he suffered make him do that?

Job couldn't control the clouds. He didn't understand how they worked. He couldn't take care of hungry birds. But God does understand. God can take care of them. God's real point for Job was simple: "Why are you so worried and afraid? You don't know much and can't do much. But I do. I'm God, so relax."

Daily Devotion

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.

God Knows What's Going On

[Jahaziel] said, "Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the Loan to you: 'Do not fear or be dismayed at this great multitude; for the battle is not yours but God's. Tomorrow go down against them; they will come up by the ascent of Ziz; you will find them at the end of the valley, before the wilderness of Jeruel. This battle is not for you to fight; take your position, stand still, and see the victory of the LORD on your behalf, 0 Judah and Jerusalem: Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, and the LORD will be with you."
Then Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the LORD, worshiping the LORD. And the Levites, of the Kohathites and the Korahites, stood up to praise the LORD, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice. - 2 Chronicles 20:15-19 NRSV

God has his own ways of taking care of things. No matter what methods he ( peens to use, all God's people have to do is believe him and do what he says. God makes it all work out.

Jehoshaphat was facing an invasion of the Moabites and Ammonites coming from Edom on the other side of the Dead Sea. He was the king. This was his responsibility. It was his job to do something. But Jehoshaphat didn't have any way of stopping the invasion. So he called all the people to fast. The people of Judah and Jerusalem came to Jerusalem and sought help from God. Jehoshaphat led them in prayer, concluding that "we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you" (2 Chronicles 20:12 NIV).

God's spirit came upon one man, a Levite named Jahaziel, and God told him what to do. Jehoshaphat and the people responded by bowing down, worshipping God, and thanking him. Jehoshaphat then sent his army to face the enemies approaching Jerusalem. At the front of his army, people sang and praised God, and his army never had to face the enemy. Instead, God made the enemies fight among themselves. They destroyed one another. All Jehoshaphat's army had to do that day was gather the plunder left behind.

Since God is with us, we should never be afraid. When we understand that our own abilities are weak but that God is strong, and when we know in our hearts that what God wants is what we want, we can ask for and receive God's help.