Isaiah 45 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

(Has God spoken to you lately if not click to listen to God's teaching?)

Max Lucado Daily: God Listens

You and I live in a loud world.  To get someone’s attention is no easy task. But when someone’s willing to silence everything else so he can hear us clearly, it’s a privilege.  A rare privilege indeed!  You can talk to God because God listens.  Your voice matters in heaven.  He takes you very seriously.  No need to fear that you’ll be ignored. Even if you stammer or stumble, even if what you have to say impresses no one, it impresses God—and He listens. Intently.  Carefully.

Your prayer on earth activates God’s power in heaven, and Scripture says, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  (Matthew 6:10)

Your prayers are honored as precious jewels. You may not understand the mystery of prayer. You don’t need to. But this much is clear:  Actions in heaven begin when someone prays on earth. What an amazing thought!

 from The Great House of God

Isaiah 45

“This is what the Lord says to his anointed,
    to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of
to subdue nations before him
    and to strip kings of their armor,
to open doors before him
    so that gates will not be shut:
2 I will go before you
    and will level the mountains[a];
I will break down gates of bronze
    and cut through bars of iron.
3 I will give you hidden treasures,
    riches stored in secret places,
so that you may know that I am the Lord,
    the God of Israel, who summons you by name.
4 For the sake of Jacob my servant,
    of Israel my chosen,
I summon you by name
    and bestow on you a title of honor,
    though you do not acknowledge me.
5 I am the Lord, and there is no other;
    apart from me there is no God.
I will strengthen you,
    though you have not acknowledged me,
6 so that from the rising of the sun
    to the place of its setting
people may know there is none besides me.
    I am the Lord, and there is no other.
7 I form the light and create darkness,
    I bring prosperity and create disaster;
    I, the Lord, do all these things.
8 “You heavens above, rain down my righteousness;
    let the clouds shower it down.
Let the earth open wide,
    let salvation spring up,
let righteousness flourish with it;
    I, the Lord, have created it.
9 “Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker,
    those who are nothing but potsherds
    among the potsherds on the ground.
Does the clay say to the potter,
    ‘What are you making?’
Does your work say,
    ‘The potter has no hands’?
10 Woe to the one who says to a father,
    ‘What have you begotten?’
or to a mother,
    ‘What have you brought to birth?’
11 “This is what the Lord says—
    the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker:
Concerning things to come,
    do you question me about my children,
    or give me orders about the work of my hands?
12 It is I who made the earth
    and created mankind on it.
My own hands stretched out the heavens;
    I marshaled their starry hosts.
13 I will raise up Cyrus[b] in my righteousness:
    I will make all his ways straight.
He will rebuild my city
    and set my exiles free,
but not for a price or reward,
    says the Lord Almighty.”
14 This is what the Lord says:

“The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush,[c]
    and those tall Sabeans—
they will come over to you
    and will be yours;
they will trudge behind you,
    coming over to you in chains.
They will bow down before you
    and plead with you, saying,
‘Surely God is with you, and there is no other;
    there is no other god.’”
15 Truly you are a God who has been hiding himself,
    the God and Savior of Israel.
16 All the makers of idols will be put to shame and disgraced;
    they will go off into disgrace together.
17 But Israel will be saved by the Lord
    with an everlasting salvation;
you will never be put to shame or disgraced,
    to ages everlasting.
18 For this is what the Lord says—
he who created the heavens,
    he is God;
he who fashioned and made the earth,
    he founded it;
he did not create it to be empty,
    but formed it to be inhabited—
he says:
“I am the Lord,
    and there is no other.
19 I have not spoken in secret,
    from somewhere in a land of darkness;
I have not said to Jacob’s descendants,
    ‘Seek me in vain.’
I, the Lord, speak the truth;
    I declare what is right.
20 “Gather together and come;
    assemble, you fugitives from the nations.
Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood,
    who pray to gods that cannot save.
21 Declare what is to be, present it—
    let them take counsel together.
Who foretold this long ago,
    who declared it from the distant past?
Was it not I, the Lord?
    And there is no God apart from me,
a righteous God and a Savior;
    there is none but me.
22 “Turn to me and be saved,
    all you ends of the earth;
    for I am God, and there is no other.
23 By myself I have sworn,
    my mouth has uttered in all integrity
    a word that will not be revoked:
Before me every knee will bow;
    by me every tongue will swear.
24 They will say of me, ‘In the Lord alone
    are deliverance and strength.’”
All who have raged against him
    will come to him and be put to shame.
25 But all the descendants of Israel
    will find deliverance in the Lord
    and will make their boast in him.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion


Read: Colossians 3:22-24

22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Is Ambition Wrong?

April 9, 2013 — by Randy Kilgore

Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord. —Colossians 3:23

Is ambition wrong? Is it wrong to be driven, to push to be the best? It can be. The difference between right and wrong ambition is in our goal and motivation—whether it’s for God’s glory or our own.

In 1 Thessalonians 4:1, Paul tells us that Christians are to live lives “to please God.” For some, the drive to please Him is an instant transformation at the time of salvation; for others, the transformation is full of stutter-steps and mis-starts. Whether the change happens instantly or gradually, the Christian is to pursue God’s goals, not selfish ones.

So, in the workplace we ask: “How will that job change help me serve others and glorify God?” Ambition oriented toward God is focused outward on Him and others, always asking how He has gifted us and wants to use us.

Paul suggests we work with “sincerity of heart, fearing God” (Col. 3:22). Whatever we’re doing—in the board room, on the docks, wherever we’re working—we’re to serve as if doing it for God (vv.23-24).

We glorify Him most and enjoy Him most when we work with fervor and excellence for His pleasure, not ours. For His service and the service of others, not self-service and personal gain—because He deserves our all.

Lord, help me to apply zest to my work efforts
that I might please You. I offer my actions and words
today as a testimony to bring You glory.
Use me today to point others to You. Amen.
“We grow small trying to be great.” —Eli Stanley Jones, missionary


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
April 9, 2013

Have You Seen Jesus?

After that, He appeared in another form to two of them . . . —Mark 16:12

Being saved and seeing Jesus are not the same thing. Many people who have never seen Jesus have received and share in God’s grace. But once you have seen Him, you can never be the same. Other things will not have the appeal they did before.

You should always recognize the difference between what you see Jesus to be and what He has done for you. If you see only what He has done for you, your God is not big enough. But if you have had a vision, seeing Jesus as He really is, experiences can come and go, yet you will endure “as seeing Him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27). The man who was blind from birth did not know who Jesus was until Christ appeared and revealed Himself to him (see John 9). Jesus appears to those for whom He has done something, but we cannot order or predict when He will come. He may appear suddenly, at any turn. Then you can exclaim, “Now I see Him!” (see John 9:25).

Jesus must appear to you and to your friend individually; no one can see Jesus with your eyes. And division takes place when one has seen Him and the other has not. You cannot bring your friend to the point of seeing; God must do it. Have you seen Jesus? If so, you will want others to see Him too. “And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either” (Mark 16:13). When you see Him, you must tell, even if they don’t believe.

O could I tell, you surely would believe it!
O could I only say what I have seen!
How should I tell or how can you receive it,
How, till He bringeth you where I have been?


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Something Worth Getting Up For - #6847

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

I think in a way, life is kind of like 365 deaths and resurrections every year. You know, you go to bed at night. It's kind of like you die, and then you come back to life the next morning. Now I know some mornings those resurrections look a little doubtful, like they may not happen. There's the sound of a buzzer, or a bell, or a radio going on, and then no signs of life. But eventually, sooner or later, there are signs of stirring and the dead person returns to life--another new start in a lifetime full of new starts. Whether or not you find those early moments of your day a little tough, I think I've got something that just might help you get out of the gate each morning.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Something Worth Getting Up For."

Our word for today from the Word of God is found in Ephesians 2:10. I think this is I guess I'd call it a cosmically exciting verse. Listen to this: "For we are God's workmanship." Well, that's pretty good, but he's not done yet. "...created in Christ Jesus..." Okay, it's getting better. "...to do good works." All right. "...which God prepared in advance for us to do." Now, think about this. The Word of God is saying that you are uniquely crafted by God. You're His workmanship. All the experiences, the education, the people, even the hurts of your life (maybe especially the hurts of your life) have shaped you for some special assignments from God. He's given you gifts that will enable you to go and make a difference in your world. You have "make a difference" equipment that God has literally built into you.

And now this verse tells us that there are, throughout your life, assignments specially prepared for you to do. I can't do them; they were prepared for you. Now, he doesn't say great works. He says good works. We're sometimes waiting around for some giant thing to do. "I want something big to do for God." He says, "I just want you to do a lot of little good works."

See, God is daily bringing into your life people that He's planned for you to touch; to help with what you know; to help with what you can do. He's daily setting you up for a cup of cold water that you were destined to give in His name to someone. Or a compliment, or a word of encouragement that you were destined to give, an insight that maybe will lift someone's load or change their life. A pre-destined contact with someone who needs what you uniquely can give them.

So when you're starting a new day and resurrecting from the night before, you don't have to say, "Oh, here we go again! Seen one day, seen them all." Uh-uh! No way! You can wake up and say, "This is the day the Lord has made." Not, "This is the day the boss has made, or the weather has made, or that my husband or wife has made, or my kids have made, or my To Do List has made. No, "This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it!"

Right now God is maneuvering your life and someone else's so that they will intersect at just the right time; so they will come together for His glory today. But you can miss it. You have to look for it. You have to expect it in each new day, because God promised "good works that were prepared in advance for you to do."

Today you will discover the good works He's prepared in advance for you to do. That should help you resurrect each morning. That daily destiny? That's something worth getting up for.