Isaiah 40: Part 2 — A ‘Time With God’ Audio Devotion

Subscribe to the ‘Time With God’ Podcast

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.

As we get into the morning, it’s so great, isn’t it, that God has made our lives so that there are days in them. I mean, imagine if there was no sleep and we just went on and on and on in one long day of our lives.

Hope 103.2 is proudly supported by

It would be difficult to start anew, to have a fresh outlook on life if you were just going on with your life with no break, but God has made life with days and weeks and months and years and seasons. It’s so great. And as we start this day, let’s start it with this sense of thankfulness to God for a new opportunity to make our lives meaningful.

Let’s read a few verses from Isaiah chapter 40 in verse 9.

Isaiah says,

Get yourself up on a high mountain, O Zion, bearer of good news. Lift up your voice mightily, O Jerusalem, bearer of good news. Lift it up. Do not fear. Say to the cities of Judah, Here is your God.

Behold, the Lord God will come with might, with his arm ruling for Him. Behold, his reward is with him and his recompense before him.

Like a shepherd, he will tend his flock in his arm. He will gather the lambs and carry them in his chest. He will gently lead the nursing ewes.

Well, it’s a promise that God is coming to do two kinds of business.

Behold, his reward is with him and his recompense is before him, that is, to some people, God’s coming is going to be a beautiful thing.

When God returns to close up life on this world and to bring ultimate justice and to hold people accountable for the actions of their lives, for some people it’s going to be an awesome time of fellowship with their father, their Maker.

The one they’ve lived for and loved in life. Yes, all of us have sinned and failed God so many times, but we’ve found forgiveness through what Jesus did for us at the cross, and our relationship with God is good. His reward is with Him. It’s going to be an incredible day of gladness.

But also his recompense is before him, that is God’s justice is coming, and for those who’ve not found forgiveness in Jesus Christ, it’s not going to be an exciting day.

That day when God wraps up life on this world as it is right now and brings ultimate justice, it’s going to be a pretty terrifying day.

Which side of that equation do you want to be on? I know which side I want to be on. That description of God’s relationship with us who are His children. In the next verse, like a shepherd, he’ll tend his flock. In his arm he’ll gather the lambs and carry them in his chest. He’ll gently lead the nursing ewes. It’s this beautiful picture of God’s provision, his loving care.

His tenderness towards us.

You know, in life, you need to know God’s loving care for you. God made you to know Him. There’s an emptiness in life that we can never fill unless we fill it with God.

That’s the whole reason God went through that very painful experience for Him of coming into our world in the person of Jesus Christ and dying on the cross. He sacrificed so much to make a way for us to be right with Him.

Have you ever turned to Jesus Christ in faith and received his forgiveness in your life? It’s the beginning of a whole new way of life.

I’m John North.

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

Feature image: Canva