Day 282: God is Invested in Us

1 Thessalonians 5; Isaiah 23-24; Psalm 116

I love the metaphor of light and darkness. Followers of Christ should live in the light, which I kind of equate with transparency, authenticity, purity, and awareness. The darkness, to me, represents secrecy, lostness, and hiding. Paul encourages believers to live in the light, that that is what God saved us for. He goes on to say a little more about how we should live: get along with each other, warn people who aren't living right, encourage and help people who feel left out or weak, be patient with people, and don't hate anyone. It's a lot harder to live out those things, than it is to list them off, but these should be some of our goals, some tangible ways to live out the gospel and love of Jesus.

Isaiah is pretty doom and gloom. For these two chapters, Isaiah shares of the destruction God is going to cause the earth. I think what is significant about this is that the people of these places saw themselves as being so secure, so wealthy, as if they had it all together. They weren't worried, thought highly of themselves, and trusted in their position and wealth. Then God shows up and with one swipe, knocks them on their rears and ruins everything they had built. This is a good reminder that the stuff I accumulate, whether it be money, possessions, popularity, status--they will not last if God's plan is to eliminate them.

This psalm is all about how God is personally invested in us and saves us. He pays attention to us, our prayers, our needs, our hurts, and wants to restore us. The psalmist wonders what he should give God for being so kind and merciful, but all he can really do is give a sacrifice or offering and his praise. Today, that sacrifice and offering is ourselves, our obedience. I love these verses especially: "You, Lord, have saved my life from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. Now I will walk at your side in this land of the living."

Day 281: Naked Isaiah

1 Thessalonians 4; Isaiah 20-22; Psalm 115

Paul instructs the Thessalonians how to live. He talks about living a holy life, not immoral, not disrespectful, not as a slave to our desires like those who do not love God. We are to be pure and honorable because God chose us so that we would live that way. He continues by saying, "Try your best to live quietly, to mind your own business, and to work hard." Why? So they will "be respected by people who are not followers of The Lord" and they won't have to be dependent on anyone. We should live a respectful life filled with love, according to Paul, not taking advantage of others or doing anything immoral whether sexually, financially, or anything else. I think the most important thing is that we live differently. People should know that we love Jesus and follow God without having to say a word about our faith.

Isaiah, shocking! God told him to take off everything and for three years, Isaiah walked around naked! Whoa! All for God to make a point. I'd pay attention, maybe thinking he was crazy, but if someone was walking down the street in their birthday suit proclaiming a message from God...well, I don't know, it'd be weird. Nonetheless, Isaiah obeyed and people heard the message. I pray that God doesn't ask me to do something like that, but God does ask for obedience from us.

This psalm has some really poignant verses. First, it begins, "We don't deserve praise! The Lord alone deserves all of the praise because of his love and faithfulness." God alone deserves praise. Why? Because of his love and faithfulness. It's amazing that people can read scripture and NOT see how faithful God is in fulfilling his promises, and how loving he by giving people 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. chances to repent and return to him.

Then in the psalm it says that those "who made the idols and all who trust them are just as helpless as those useless gods. If we worship something inanimate, something powerless, what can we expect but a dead response? Worshipping the living, almighty, merciful Creator, we can expect a living, meaningful, powerful response.

Finally, there is a verse that says "all of you worship The Lord, so you must trust him to help and protect you." In this I see a conundrum that a lot of Christians struggle with. We worship God at church but the other 6 days a week we fail to truly trust him with our problems. If we worship him, sing and speak his praises, then we should believe in him to help us when we need it. We should expect nothing less and give nothing less to a loving and faithful God.

Day 280: Knowing Brokenness

1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:13; Isaiah 17-19; Psalm 114

Paul's words are so encouraging. He builds up these followers of Jesus, simply by telling them how happy their faith made him. He was so excited to hear of how God was growing their faith, so much so that he barely mentions his own sufferings, as if they are not important in light of the incredible prosperity of the faith of the Thessalonicans. I feel like sometimes I make my suffering the priority, rather than other people's successes. We sometimes dwell on ourselves as victims, rather than looking for opportunities to encourage others' blessings.

I don't know much about the relationships between Israel, Egypt, and Assyrians. I think it might be tense. Nonetheless, these are the groups that these passages in Isaiah are talking about. When do the Israelites stop worshiping idols? When they are like an olive orchard devoid of any fruit or life, at their lowest. When will Ethiopia come and worship God? When they are like road kill for buzzards and wild animals, when they are basically dead. When will Egypt become followers of The Lord? When they have experienced civil war, are hungry, and feel completely lost, at their most helpless. When do people turn to God? When they have reached their lowest. I don't believe God likes to see us hurt, but his purpose is to draw us to him so that he can heal. When do we know we have been healed? Well, we have to be broken to experience healing. It's awesome that God takes these nations who were broken for various reasons and it is in their brokenness they turn to Him, and he blesses them.

Day 279: Some Fear is Ok

1 Thessalonians 2:1-16; Isaiah 14-16; Psalm 113

Paul describes what happened in Thessolonica with the sharing of God's message. First, they came with pure motives, simply to spread the message of life and salvation of Jesus. They weren't trying to get rich, gain power, corrupt, control, or benefit personally. Their hearts were loving, in the purest sense. Then, they faced persecution. That could have stopped them from sharing the message, and Paul hints that yeah, they might have been a little discouraged because he says that "God gave us the courage." It's ok to feel some fear or uncertainty, it's not good when that stops us in our purpose-driven tracks. He goes on to say just how much these people, their salvation, and their devotion to The Lord meant to him: "We cared so much for you, and you became so dear to us, that we were willing to give our lives for you when we gave you God's message." Wow, that's compassion and love. Sometimes I miss out on opportunities to love or make Jesus known because, while I'm compassionate, I limit it to people I think deserve it. That is NOT what Paul did, nor what Jesus wants. I need to love each person and see each person as an eternal soul in need of the healing power of Jesus, willing to give my life to share the gospel with them. In America, I think there is less of a sense of urgency and devotion to this idea simply because we don't struggle with persecution and we have everything we need, so we don't feel like we really need Jesus. Paul's pure passion for the gospel of Christ and his live-giving love for the people is powerful.

These three chapters of Isaiah are all about destruction. God is going to come through and teach them a lesson or destroy nations that do wrong, whether that be Israel for being disobedient, Babylon and Assyria for being evil, or Moab for being prideful.

This psalm reveals God's heart. His name deserves praise, when? From sunrise until sunset! And what does he do that deserves praise? He cares for the needy and those that are hurting and helpless. His love for those who are mistreated or broken is so significant. I need to reflect that so much more. Praise God that he is a God who loves without limits or prejudices.

Day 278: Faith

1 Thessalonians 1; Isaiah 11-13; Psalm 112

I want to be like the church in Thessolonica! In this first chapter, Paul is so excited about them! His prayers are of thanksgiving for them, they followed Paul and Christ's example, were glad in their suffering, turned from their idols, and spread the message of Jesus everywhere! If there was a way to do this Christ-following thing right, I suppose this church was pretty close. I want my life to be like this too; that people are thankful they know me, I follow Jesus' example for living, I turn from my sins, and spread the gospel to everyone. These people were an example for others and I believe we should strive to do the same. People watch and follow you more than you think. May we believers be people who live like Jesus so that people know what kind of example to follow.

There is POWER in these three chapters in Isaiah. First, it talks about a peace for God's people that will be perfect. Not even animals will pursue one another. God's people will be gathered together in this place of complete love and tranquility. Then there is the song of praise that the Lord's followers will sing (something I've been wanting to memorize because it's awesome):

"I thank you, Lord! You were angry with me, but you stopped being angry and gave me comfort. I trust you to save me, Lord God, and I won't be afraid. My power and strength come from you, and you have saved me." With great joy, you people will get water from the well of victory. At that time you will say, "Our Lord, we are thankful and we worship only you. We will tell the nations how glorious you are and what you have done. Because of your wonderful deeds we will sing your praises everywhere on earth." Sing, people of Zion! Celebrate the greatness of the holy Lord of Israel. God is here to help you.

Then, a chapter of incredible destruction and victory over evil. When I think about how much pain is in this world, how many people are hurt by others, I long for the day when God will defeat those things.

There seems to be a recurring theme in these passages today: being remembered. This psalm talks about how God is going to abundantly bless his followers because they "gladly obey" his teaching, will "be remembered for their fairness," are a light in the dark for others, are "honest in business," and it goes on and on of qualities of these people. The part that I really like are the next couple of verses: "Bad news won't bother them; they have decided to trust The Lord. They are dependable and not afraid, and they will live to see their enemies defeated." They aren't scared. Why? Not because they are so awesome, are super spiritual, or have the whole Bible memorized. It is simply because they have DECIDED to trust God. They made a conscious choice to recognize that God is who he says he is and comes through in his promises of hope and provision, and so there is no reason to fear anything. WOW. What kind of trust that is! And these people are remembered for this kind of faith. So awesome.