Text: Isaiah 43:18-19 18 “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. 19 Behold...
Text Suggestions Isaiah 55:6-9 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my...
Isaiah 6:1-8 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the...
"I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make...
I had more energy, I was sleeping better, and I felt happier. The physical exercise affected every dimension of my life.
In your desert moment, don’t fear, but look instead to the promise of a refreshing, rehydrating God.
Shame is like dandelions in springtime. About the time you think you’ve rid your lawn of them, another pops up with a defiant grin on its face.
When my son Stephen was nine, he joined the Cub Scouts, and in no time, the Pinewood Derby was upon us. There stood Stephen in our kitchen doorway waiting for me to help him.
During each of Steve Resch's heart events, he needed a place to stand. God gave it to Steve in His Word.
All week long at The High Calling, we have been talking about storytelling in the workplace. At the beginning of the week...
A few weeks ago, I turned 50. As I was approaching 50, I began thinking a lot about all that has happened since I arrived at an American boarding school as a scared fifteen-year-old from Iran.
A disabled father, a hardworking mother, and a small mercantile store—with one forgotten Bible left by the previous owners.
When the going gets tough, Isaiah reminds the Israelites to remember the Lord. Isaiah recounts God’s steadfast love, remembering everything God had...
The middle section of Isaiah 52 celebrates the coming of God’s salvation to the whole world.
When my daughter was six years old, I got an idea for the perfect Christmas for her: a book written just for...
The most wonderful thing about “God with us” might also be the most perplexing thing. ...
The history of the ancient Israelites presents us with a trajectory that resembles a thrill ride with breathtaking peaks and bleak valleys. They experienced God’s great acts of deliverance on many...
Are you tired of volunteering to bake the cookies, calling the parent list, organizing the family reunion, loading the presentation into the computer, leading the workgroup and shoveling the...
I hung up the phone, shaken and sad. A friend and I were working through a tough spot in our relationship. It...
My workplace is full of chatty, witty, well-informed people who sometimes think we know more than we do.
When our teenage daughter left home one night without our knowing it, it began one of the most difficult times of my...
It sure seems easy to find bad news. All we have to do is turn on the TV or pick up a newspaper to learn of someone’s bad decision, hear about the negative...
We sit in the coffee house and talk about her marriage. I suggest that she pray about the slow demise that is now becoming undeniable. I look across the small table, and she...
Walt Disney created Mickey Mouse, Disneyland, and founded the Disney Empire. Once someone asked him, "How does it feel to be a celebrity?" ...
He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young. Isaiah...
You might expect confession and pardon in church movies, but not in Hollywood. At least not as the climax. This Oscar winner kneels until its sins are no more.
Transcript The word Scrooge, to us, means a miser. Of course, it's from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. You remember: Bob Cratchit's mean and miserly boss is Ebenezer Scrooge. His bah, humbug! drains...
Isaiah 64 is a prayer in which the prophet acknowledges God’s greatness and Israel's great sinfulness.
The prophet yearns for the salvation of Jerusalem. Thus he cannot stop praying for her “until her righteousness shines like the dawn.” A few verses later, he urges his fellow Israelites to “give...
From the beginning, Israel was to play a unique role as a priestly nation to the world. When God first made a covenant through Moses, he said to the Israelites, “Now if you...
If, like me, you’re a lover of Handel’s Messiah, then you can’t read Isaiah 60:2-3 without hearing it in your mind sung by a deep bass voice: “For, behold, darkness shall cover the...
In the time of Isaiah, the Israelites were doing all sorts of religious activities, such as offering sacrifices in the temple or observing the required fasts. But God was not pleased.
Do you ever feel like the “restless sea, which is never still but continually churns up mud and dirt”? I do, though...
Throughout Isaiah we see God’s vision, not only for the people of Israel, but also for all peoples. Though his salvation is focused upon Israel, it is not for Israel alone. Isaiah 5...
The word of God doesn’t just sit there like a museum of antique truth that you can visit if you wish, but otherwise avoid. It is, as we read in Hebrews, “alive and...
When we read this passage from Isaiah 53, we immediately think of the crucifixion of Jesus. He was literally pierced, crushed, beaten, and whipped. Even more painful was the alienation he...
The Servant of God in Isaiah is a “man of sorrows.” The Hebrew phrase (’ish makh’ovot) means, literally, “man of pains,” and...
God works in amazing and surprising ways. Given his glory and power, we might well expect that his Servant would be equally glorious and powerful. In a sense, this is ultimately true. But Isaiah...
In Isaiah 51:17, as in many verses of the Old Testament, drinking the cup is a symbol of receiving God’s judgment. Jerusalem drank “the cup of the LORD’s fury” when the Babylonians invaded,...
Isaiah 50 begins with God’s word to the prophet. He responds by saying, “The Sovereign LORD has spoken to me, and I have listened.” This captures the meaning of the original Hebrew, which...
This verse from Isaiah is doubly shocking.
In Isaiah 49, the Lord speaks to his Servant, sometimes pictured as Israel, and at other times pictured as an Israelite who...
Though, in the past, God had done marvelous things for his people, most of all delivering them from Egypt (43:16-17), he wasn’t finished. In fact, he was beginning through the prophecies of Isaiah...
Isaiah 42 begins the first of the so-called “Servant Songs” of Isaiah.
When I was in my early 20s, I jogged for exercise on a fairly regular basis. One day I thought I’d try to run a marathon. There wasn’t an official race. I just...
I want to spend another day reflecting upon Isaiah 34.
When we read a chapter like Isaiah 34, we can easily feel confused, even distressed.
I can still hear echoes of my Sunday School teacher quoting Isaiah 26:3 in the classic language of the King James Version: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee:...
Often schools and churches sponsor international banquets, festive meals in which people bring foods representing diverse cultures. At such a feast you...
We pray, not only for ourselves, our families, and our churches, but also for the whole world, including the nations.
Do you drink deeply from the fountain of salvation? Or do you simply take a sip every now and then? Sometimes we...
Throughout the Scriptures, God cares profoundly about justice. As it says in Psalm 99:4, he is the “Mighty King, lover of justice.” In particular, God seeks justice for those who aren’t in...
I can’t read this passage without hearing echoes of the glorious chorus from Handel’s Messiah: “For unto us a child is born. . . .” I envision a booming choir and a sanctuary...
Isaiah 6 begins with the prophet’s vision of a thrice-holy God. Isaiah’s first response is to lament his own sinfulness. Yet, through an angel, God removes Isaiah’s sin. Then the Lord poses a.....
In Isaiah 5, the people of Israel are portrayed as God’s vineyard, with God as the owner and tender of the vineyard. Even though God invested great effort, lovingly caring for his vineyard...
Praise be to you, Lord Jesus, our healer!
When my son Howard was about four, every morning as I left for work, he had a set little question: "Daddy, where are you going?" And every morning, I'd say, "Son, I'm going...
Called by God and filled with God’s Spirit, a prophet spoke God’s word to people who had in one way or another distanced themselves from God. In one sense, a prophet is a...
The records of the earliest prophets are woven into the history of Israel in the books of Joshua through 2 Kings, rather...
The table below shows where in time the prophets fit within the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. Period Northern Kings Northern Prophets Southern Kings Southern Prophets United kingdom...
This commentary on Isaiah helps readers understand the book's original setting and apply it to today's circumstances.
The Prophet Isaiah received a vision of God — of his great power, his glorious majesty, and his purifying holiness. Glimpsing God’s majesty led him to a humble view of himself and his...
According to Isaiah 1:1, the prophet Isaiah’s career extended through the reigns of four kings in the southern kingdom of Judah: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. He served as God’s emissary to Judah...
Seven major themes touching our work emerge from Isaiah’s writings: (1) there is an integral connection between our worship and our work life, (2) arrogant pride and self-sufficiency in our work will bring...
Isaiah begins by insisting that religious rituals nauseate God when accompanied by sinful living: What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt-offerings of...
In the writings of Isaiah, arrogant pride and self-sufficiency are particularly related to the denial of the authority and majesty of God...
In contrast to the arrogant pride and self-sufficiency that will bring us down or the exploitation of the poor in order to...
More than any other writing prophet, Isaiah takes us repeatedly to a vision of God that, once grasped, will cause us to...
Isaiah paints a picture of the values that must characterize the people of God.
Throughout the book, Isaiah encourages Israel with the hope that God will eventually put to right the wrongs the people are suffering...
As Christians living in the tension between the inauguration of God’s kingdom and its coming fulfillment, our enjoyment of our work and the fruit of our labor to the praise of God’s glory...
Passage (in order of chapter and verse) Discussed in which theme section of this article (Click link to jump there) Is. 1:11-1...
A good friend of Wayne’s is a classic hoarder – but with a difference. He takes great delight in recycling used engine...
Wayne’s upstairs home office has a splendid vista looking out over trees to the hills beyond. And when he goes downstairs, the...
Do you wonder if God has anything to say about your work? Explore key verses from each chapter of the Bible that...
The poor and underprivileged have limited access to justice as they do not have the means to pay for it. Yet many lawyers got into law in the first place as they felt...
It is surprising that few systematic theology texts or courses demonstrate interest in exploring the meaning of work from a theological perspective...
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