ISAIAH 60

Key Verse: Isaiah 60:19 “The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.”

1.  You Shall Be Glorious

V19 “… the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.”

Are you discouraged and distressed by the constant difficulties and struggles in your health, family, relationship, work, career, ministry, etc? Hope in God and keep on doing your best and leave the rest to God. God shall lead and deliver you in all your challenges and one day you shall be glorious before Him!

Romans 5:2 “By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

2.  You Shall Be Rejoicing

V20 “Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.”

What a day it shall be when we see God face to face in heaven glorious day! There shall be no more mourning or weeping but there shall be great rejoicing and celebration with God and all His saints who have gone ahead of us. I greatly rejoice that one day I shall see my beloved father who went to be with the Lord on 11th October 2003.  I miss him very much. Though he has weaknesses, he also has strengths and one of which was his humor and wit. Praise God, I shall be with him one day and enjoy his humor and wit forever!

Revelation 21:4 “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”

3.  You Shall Be Strong

V22 “A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the LORD will hasten it in his time.”

Are you weak and wearied? One day the weak, the wearied, the sickly and all who hope in God shall be strong and shall reign with the Lord God forever!

Revelation 22:5 “And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.”

Action of the Week

Always hope in God as one day you shall be glorious, rejoicing and strong in the LORD.

ISAIAH 59

Key Verse: Isaiah 59:2 “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear.”

1.  God’s Hand

V1 “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; ..."

God is the Creator of this entire universe. He is the Maker of all living creatures as well as the entire creation of this world. Everything is created and made by God.

Genesis 18:14 “Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.”

God encouraged and assured Abraham after many years of waiting for his first child that He shall provide him and his wife, Sarah, with a son. Indeed, God can save mankind and He can do all things and nothing is impossible with Him.

2.  God’s Ear

V1 “… neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear:”

God loves, cares and knows all your needs. When you ask and pray to God, He shall answer you and provide all your needs.

Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; …”

3.  Man’s Sins

V2 “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear.”

God’s hand is not short nor his ear heavy that they cannot do or hear, but it is because your sins have separated you from God.

Matthew 27:46 “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? That is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

Even God hid His face and did not answer His Son’s prayers because Jesus bore the sins of the entire human race!
 
Psalm 66:18 “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:”

Indeed, it is not that the Lord cannot hear your prayers but He will not hear because of your iniquities or sins in your hearts.

Action of the Week

Confess and forsake your sins and the Almighty God shall answer your prayers today!

ISAIAH 58

Key Verse: Isaiah 58:13 “If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:”

1.  Do What God Does

V13 “... not doing thine own ways, ...”

It is very easy to do our own ways. Whatever we feel like doing we just do. However, in order to honour God, we must do what God commands us to do.

2 Corinthians 5:20 “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, ..."

Just like the ambassadors of Singapore to the United Sates will only do or speak to the American government according to the views and policies of the Singapore government, the ambassadors for God will only do or speak according to the commandments of God.

2.  Seek What God Delights

V13 “... nor finding thine own pleasure, …”

All of us enjoy the pleasures of life. However, some of the pleasures of life are dishonorable to God. One of the common pleasures of most young people is go to the pub to dance, drink, smoke and chill their Saturday night away just before the Lord’s Day on Sunday.

Do you know you dishonor God when you miss church the next day? Do you know you dishonor God by not taking care of your health and your testimony when you find your own pleasure? Let us seek what God delights and His delight is when we seek Him and His righteousness first!

Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

3.  Speak What God Says

V13 “... nor speaking thine own words:”

It is very easy to speak what comes into your minds. However, as ambassadors of Christ, we must be careful of what we say as we are God’s representatives.

1 Samuel 2:30 “... but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.”

Action of the Week

Honour God by praying and asking Him for His directions in all your decisions be they big or small.

ISAIAH 57

Key Verse: Isaiah 57:15 “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”

What is revival?

Revival is a time when you are brought back to a level of zeal, joy, interest and enthusiasm in God and His Word and in serving and worshiping Him in your utmost best. Many times, we pray for revival in the church that hearts shall be drawn closer to God and lives changed but do you know that revival begins with you and me! 

1.  God Revives You When You Are Holy

V15 “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place,…”

Sometimes we wonder why we are not as zealous and enthusiastic as we used to be. We feel like God is very far from our hearts. We feel like we are not growing and we are stagnant. My friends, pray for holiness in you. God is Holy and the only way you can be revived is when you are holy or without sins. In other words, repent your sins and wrong doings, and pray, read God’s Words and worship God in the beauty of His holiness.
 
2.  God Revives You When You are Humble

V15 “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”

We can never have revival when we only think of ourselves, our career, our possessions, our family and our future. We are proud when we are self-centered. God can only revive and give us grace when we humble ourselves and are God-centered and think of others, and do what He commands us.

James 4:6 “But He giveth more grace. Wherefore He saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.”

3.  God Revives You When You Are Healed

V19 “I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him.”

As you repent of your sins and humble yourself before God, He shall give you perfect peace, heal your sins and revive you.

Action of the Week

Set aside a daily time of prayers and reflection upon God’s Word to stay holy, humble and healed.

ISAIAH 56

Key Verse: Isaiah 56:7 “Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.”

The Church comes from the Greek word, Ecclesia, which means a called out assembly of Christians. The church is you and me, the Christians!

1.  The Church Is Not A House Of Party

V7 “Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer:…”

Many people come to church as though they are in the House of Party. There will be great celebration, great music, great singing, great dancing and great merry making. They expect to hear a great message of how great they are and how successful they can be in life.  But do they come as a church praying that they shall be holy as God is holy?

2.  The Church Is Not A House of Politicians

V7 “Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar;…”

Many people come to church as though they are in the House of Politicians. They will dress well, greet well, speak well, donate well in their so-called burnt offerings and sacrifices and do everything to please everyone. But do they come to church praying that their burnt offerings and their sacrifices be holy and acceptable before a holy God?

3.  The Church Is A House Of Prayer

V7 “Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.”

Indeed, the church is a house of prayer. The Christians are to humble ourselves and realize that we are nothing and God is everything and we pray for His presence, power, providence and protection upon us. We may worship God, hear God’s message and serve God as teachers, choir members, ushers, greeters, etc., but the top requirement of God for His church or for you and me is that we pray, pray and pray!
 
Prayer of the Week

God, help me to truly pray to you as we are the house of prayer.

Action of the Week

Set aside a regular time of prayer alone with God; a time of prayer with your family; a time of prayer with your fellow Church members or Christian colleagues or friends.