Isaiah 40: Part 1 — A ‘Time With God’ Audio Devotion

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Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.

A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

A voice says, “Cry out.” 
And I said, “What shall I cry?”

“All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.
The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”

Isaiah 40:1-8

Transcript

Good morning.

Hope your day is starting well, and as we get going, we want to open God’s word, the Bible, and just see some thoughts that He is giving to us. And I hope your heart is open to God, because you know, when you read the Bible, it can just be words off the page like any other book, or it can be a spiritual encounter with God because God wants to speak to you and your life through His word, the Bible.

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And we want to go this week through one of the great chapters of the Bible, Isaiah chapter 40.

And Isaiah the prophet is speaking to the people of Israel, and he’s writing to them about a time coming when God’s time of serious judgment of the nation of Israel for their sinfulness is over, and this is what he says.

Comfort, O comfort, my people, says your God.

Speak kindly to Jerusalem and call out to her that her warfare has ended, that her iniquity has been removed, that she has received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.

A voice is calling. Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness. Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.

Let every valley be lifted up and every mountain and hill be made low.

And let the rough ground become a plain and the rugged terrain, a broad valley. Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

A voice says call out.

Then he answered, What shall I call out?

All flesh is grass. And all its loveliness. It is like the flower of the field. The grass withers. The flower fades. When the breath of the Lord blows upon it, surely the people are grass. The grass withers. The flower fades. But the word of our gods stands forever.

Boy, we know the truth of that, don’t we? How quickly the years go by, and especially when you have kids and you see them growing up fast and the wrinkles starting to creep in around your own eyes, your body shape changes, and you know, the flower is beautiful, but it fades.

The grass withers. The flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.

No matter what happens in your life, no matter what changes in your life, no matter how your life changes, there’s one thing that is absolutely steadfast, that doesn’t change, that is always dependable, and that is the person of God Himself.

God has always been here. He will always be here. He hasn’t changed. He never changes. He responds to changing situations, yes, but he himself is always the same.

And as you go through life, you need to learn to depend on God to find your strength in Him because He’s like an anchor for your life. The thing that doesn’t change, the rock that doesn’t move no matter how the sea pounds on it, it’s always there, it’s always the same.

In your life you need that something you can always go back to.

And that is God.

Is God reaching out to you today and encouraging you to get your mind and your security off all those changeable things in your life, and a lot of things are changing these days, aren’t they?

And get it onto him and your relationship with him.

I’m John North.

To go deeper in your faith, visit AFCI.com.au.

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