Today’s Reading: Isa 30:18–32:20, Luke 11:1–36, Job 7:11–21
Today’s Theme: God, Our Gracious Deliverer
Today’s theme is about God our great and gracious deliverer. God is so gracious to His people. If it were not for His grace, we would be without hope. God seeks to deliver us from evil and bondage, for His glory and our joy.
Isaiah 30:18–32:20
God waits
Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him. Isaiah 30:18 (ESV)
God declares to Judah, in light of their faithlessness in running to Egypt for deliverance, and in response to their cry of how long oh Lord – “I am waiting right here where you left me, whenever you are ready receive the grace and deliverance I’m holding out to you”.
Like Judah, we need to realise that God stands and offers grace to us but He will not follow us and so compromise His holy stand. He stands in His place and offers grace on His terms, we need to put ourselves in the place to receive His grace.
We should wait for the God who waits for us. The sense, when the verse says ‘wait’, is “to tarry, delaying an action, longing or hoping for something to happen”.
So, long and hope for God’s grace and mercy and you will receive it because He longs to show it to you but holds it back until you are in a place to receive it.
God’s guidance
And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. Isaiah 30:21 (ESV)
God’s guidance will gently lead us from bondage to deliverance, but we must have soft hearts, sensitive to the voice of the Spirit, to hear God say this is the way to go.
Ask God to help you to be quiet and hear His voice guide you. God will guide our feet to freedom in Christ.
Jesus told us in John 16:13 “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come.”
Light and healing
Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the LORD binds up the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow. Isaiah 30:26 (ESV)
If this verse were taken literally, a sun seven times brighter than normal would blind and scorch the people, so there is something deeper being pointed at here.
God is light, in Him is no darkness at all. The light of the sun speaks of God Himself, He is the one who brings healing to His people. 1 John 1:5
Light and healing are associated in the natural world and in the spiritual world, as darkness and disease are. We can literally draw health and strength from the sun.
Enter the warmth and brightness of God today and be healed from the brokenness and wounds you have, even if they were inflicted by the Lord in discipline.
God’s light is seen practically in the truth of His word. Soak in the scriptures today, to bring healing and deliverance to your soul.
Like the bright moon, allow the light of God to be reflected from your life today, to bring healing to others.
Who are you going to trust in?
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the LORD! Isaiah 31:1 (ESV)
What is Egypt for you? Do not trust in anyone or thing other than God, for your deliverance. Take this as a personal prayer point today.
We can sometimes drift into depending on our jobs, money, certain people etc. Realign your trust in the Lord today, as your help and deliverer.
God, The Restorer
Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed, and the ears of those who hear will give attention. The heart of the hasty will understand and know, and the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak distinctly. The fool will no more be called noble, nor the scoundrel said to be honorable. Isaiah 32:3–5 (ESV)
In these verses we read about the restoration of Israel and see a glimpse of the kingdom Jesus will rule over in the end, when fools will no longer rule.
We also see God’s heart to reverse the slumber on those who hear and see, but do not understand.
God seeks to restore and heal His people, the deaf, blind, hasty and stammerers will know the truth.
All of this gives us prayer fuel for Israel and our own lives and nations today.
Don’t be complacent
Rise up, you women who are at ease, hear my voice; you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech. Isaiah 32:9 (ESV)
Complacency will lead to bondage, so don’t be complacent, stay alert and keep moving, listen to God and live, live as He has called you to and be led by His Spirit.
Peace and quiet
And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. Isaiah 32:17 (ESV)
God brings us to a place of peace and blessed quiet, when we walk in righteousness before Him.
Our soul can be still, we can experience peace in the middle of storms and adversity and quiet in the middle of busyness and stress.
Our world has so many voices competing for our attention, it seems hard to find a time of quiet, but with God we can find the quietness our souls need.
Make it a practise to find quiet times each day (for me the morning is always best), when you can just listen to God and be still, find times of quiet before God.
Luke 11:1–36
Just ask
For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Luke 11:10 (ESV)
Jesus taught us to be bold, because our God is a good father. We address Him as Father when we pray, He gives us our needs and delivers us from evil.
We should ask, seek and knock (Pastor Dennis has a great teaching on the three levels of prayer in regard to this), in prayer before God, tell Him your need today, He rejoices over you to do you good.
Don’t listen to the lies of the enemy, open your mouth and speak to God. Tell God all about it, make clear requests in faith and God will answer. Jesus said those who ask, seek and knock, will receive, find and have the door opened to them.
Stop now and ask God about it in prayer, seek Him about it in His word and intimately knock on the door in the Spirit.
The reality of spirits
“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ Luke 11:24 (ESV)
Jesus taught about the reality of unclean spirits and demons, deliverance is always available from God, but to take God’s grace for granted and continually giving place to the enemy, will lead to even deeper bondage.
God wants us to be free from the power of unclean spirits, so as we read earlier, ask God for the Holy Spirit which He will give abundantly, be filled with the Spirit and there will be no room for any other spirit.
Dark light
Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. Luke 11:35 (ESV)
What we let into our souls through our eyes, can bring us into bondage. Be careful what you watch.
There is a lot of the dark light Jesus spoke about, coming through our eyes in the media rich day that we live in. So guard your eyes and your soul from the bondage of darkness.
As Jesus said in verse 27, blessed are those who hear and keep His word. Be filled with the word of God which is pure light.
Job 7:11–21
Because He loves you
What is man, that you make so much of him, and that you set your heart on him, visit him every morning and test him every moment? Job 7:17–18 (ESV)
The reason God takes any concern with man is because of His love. God wants to see us healed and delivered, that is why He makes much of us for His glory and our Joy. Be encouraged that God has your best interest at heart today.
Most of the above post is a copy of the original notes from the same date in 2014.
Additional resources
The Gospel Coalition on Luke 11