Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / December 14 - Isaiah 64

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December 14 - Isaiah 64 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean. Here it is Thursday.
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  It is the 14th of December, which means in only 10 short
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  days it will be Christmas Eve. And as we lie in bed, we will
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  hear those sleigh bells jingling in the skies.
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  Or maybe not. But did you as a kid, ever lie
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  in bed and listen and and actually really just be 100%
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  sure that you heard those bells? You could hear that activity in
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  the sky, as with great anticipation you knew that some
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  gifts were coming your way. Yeah, I still remember it very
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  clearly. I I would have sworn I would
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  have, underoath testified that I had heard those bells.
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  There you go, Sean, the eternal optimist.
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  Today we have got Israel, the eternal optimists, as today is
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  this beautiful reading. It is a brief one.
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  It is God's people through Isaiah, just begging God to stop
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  being silent and to come out in defence of them and in their
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  favour. It is wonderful and it can be
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  our cry. In fact, it can be our
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  celebration because the God of the universe has spoken, He has
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  revealed himself, and it has all been for our favour and our
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  good. And so we get to read this
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  knowing in the fullness of time that God has already delivered
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  this and will deliver this eternally to us.
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  So let us read together Isaiah chapter 64.
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  Oh, that you would burst from the heavens and come down.
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  How the mountains would quake in your presence as fire causes
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  wood to burn and water to boil. Your coming would make the
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  nations tremble. Then your enemies would learn
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  the reason for your fame. When you came down long ago, you
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  did awesome deeds beyond our highest expectations.
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  And oh, how the mountains quaked.
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  For since the world began, no ear has heard, and no eye has
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  seen, a God like you and works for those who wait for him.
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  You welcome those who gladly do good, who follow godly ways.
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  But you have been very angry with us, for we were not godly.
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  We are constant sinners. How can people like us be saved?
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  We are all infected and impure with sin when we display our
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  righteous deeds. I am nothing but filthy rags.
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  Like autumn leaves. We wither and fall, and our sins
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  sweep us away like the wind. Yet no one calls on your name or
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  pleads with you for mercy. Therefore you have turned away
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  from us and turned us over to our sins.
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  And yet, O Lord, you are our father.
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  We are the clay and you are the Potter.
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  We all are formed by your hand. Don't be so angry with us, Lord,
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  please don't remember our sins forever.
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  Look at us. We pray and see that we are all
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  your people. Your holy cities are destroyed.
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  Zion is a wilderness. Yes, Jerusalem is a desolate
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  ruin. The holy and beautiful temple
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  where our ancestors praised you has been burned down, and all
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  the things of beauty are destroyed.
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  After all this, Lord, must you still refuse to help us?
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  Will you continue to be silent and punish us?
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  Jesus? We thank you for all that you
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  have done for us. We thank you that there you were
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  in the beginning, forming the earth on which we live, and you
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  have been present throughout time, holding time and space and
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  eternity in your mighty hands. And then, because of our sin and
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  stubbornness, you chose to come here and to live amongst us.
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  And we are getting ready to celebrate that this Christmas.
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  But here you are, our eternal God, who has now saved us, who
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  has sacrificed yourself and given up everything so that we
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  can have a way to be drawn back into your presence with you, the
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  Holy Spirit and our Father all together.
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  Thank you, Jesus. You are supreme over all.
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  And you've done all of this out of love for us.
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  Just wow. And so we praise you and place
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  you at the highest place of honor.
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  And we love you. And it's in your name that we
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  pray. Amen.