Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / December 13 - Isaiah 63

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December 13 - Isaiah 63 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends. Sean here.
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  Great to have your company. Thank you for tapping on play
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  and drawing me into your day so that together you and I can open
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  up this mighty mighty book of ours and hear the God of the
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  universe speak to us. Just wows us.
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  How good is that? Well, it's the middle of the
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  week. It is a Wednesday, and while we
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  might be in the middle of the goings of the week, this is all
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  about the end. This is God wrapping up his
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  plans in a big red shiny bow, getting the scissors and
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  twirling the ribbons on the other end.
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  God is going to, in this chapter, tell us that in the
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  end, he will defeat his enemies and he will forgive his people
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  and all will be right. It's it's the broad, sweeping
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  statements of a God who wants to bring comfort and hope to his
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  people as they are busy doing that work of restoring and
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  rebuilding their homeland. So it's good for them to know
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  that actually this is God's work and this is going to be the
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  place where God can finally bless his people.
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  And of course for us, we know that this is our future, where
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  God destroys and defeats all that is evil and restores us to
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  Him in His beautiful city. So let us read together Isaiah
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  chapter 63. Who is this?
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  Who comes from Edom? From the city of Basra, with his
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  clothing stained red? Who is this in royal robes,
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  marching in his great strength? It is I, the Lord announcing
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  your salvation. It is I, the Lord who has the
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  power to save. Why are your clothes so red, as
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  if you have been treading out grapes?
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  I have been treading the winepress alone.
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  No one was here to help me. In my anger I have trampled my
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  enemies as if they were grapes. In my fury I have trampled my
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  foes, their blood stains my clothes.
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  For the time has come for me to avenge my people, to ransom them
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  from their oppressors. I was amazed to see that no one
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  intervened to help the oppressed.
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  So I myself stepped in to save them with my strong arm and my
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  wrath sustained me. I crushed the nations in my
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  anger and made them stagger and fall to the ground, spilling
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  their blood upon the earth. I will tell of the Lord's
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  unfailing love. I will praise the Lord for all
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  He has done. I will rejoice in His great
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  goodness to Israel, which he has granted according to His mercy
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  and love, he said. They are my very own people.
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  Surely they will not betray me again.
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  And He became their Saviour. In all their suffering He also
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  suffered, and He personally rescued them.
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  In His love and mercy He redeemed them.
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  He lifted them up and carried them through all the years.
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  But they rebelled against Him and grieved His Holy Spirit.
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  So He became their enemy and fought against them.
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  Then they remembered those days of old when Moses led his people
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  out of Egypt. They cried out.
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  Where is the one who brought Israel through the sea, with
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  Moses as their shepherd? Where is the one who sent his
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  Holy Spirit to be among his people?
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  Where is the one whose power was displayed when Moses lifted up
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  his hand? The one who divided the sea
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  before them, making himself famous forever?
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  Where is the one who led them through the bottom of the sea?
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  They were like fine stallions, racing through the desert, never
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  stumbling as with cattle going down into a peaceful valley.
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  The spirit of the Lord gave them rest.
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  You led your people, Lord, and gained A magnificent reputation.
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  Lord, look down from heaven. Look from your holy, glorious
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  home and see us. Where is the passion and the
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  might you used to show on our behalf?
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  Where are your mercy and compassion now?
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  Surely you are still our father. Even if Abraham and Jacob would
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  disown us, Lord, you would still be our father.
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  You are our Redeemer from ages past.
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  Lord, why have you allowed us to turn from your path?
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  Why have you given a stubborn heart?
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  So we no longer fear you. Return and help us.
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  For we are your servants, the tribes that are your special
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  possession. How briefly your holy people
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  possessed your holy place, and now our enemies have destroyed
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  it. Sometimes it seems as though we
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  never belong to you, as though we had never been known as your
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  people, My Lord. We hear the cries of the people
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  of Israel in despair as they return to their desolated land,
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  and there's so much work to be done, and they wonder, they
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  wonder whether they were ever your people.
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  But Gee can feel like that for us too, can feel like we are in
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  a desolate place sometimes. And when we just make a mess of
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  our life, we make terrible decisions and we can be filled
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  with shame and regret. But we see here that even when
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  everyone else ought to disown us, our very own fathers, you
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  don't. You remain faithful.
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  You remain our loving, saving God.
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  And so right now, I just thank you, our wonderful, generous,
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  saving God, that you continually love us no matter what the
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  season, no matter what happens, no matter what we do or fail to
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  do. You love us, and you hold us as
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  your prize and your possession. And so we feel your embrace.
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  We feel your loving arms holding us close, and we thank you.
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  And it's all in the name of Jesus that we can pray these
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  things. Amen.