God with us, we with God!

Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Devotions: Ps 46, 96, 97, 100; Isa 52:7-15; Rev 21:22-27; Mt 12:14-21

God Is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble!  Therefore, we will not be afraid, even if the very earth changes--earthquakes shake the mountains on land and sea.  For there is a river that gladdens the city of God, His holy habitation.  For YHWH Sabaoth is with us; He Is our refuge.  Consider God's works, and be still; know that I Am God, exalted in all creation.  Sing to our God a new song, all the earth!  Tell of His salvation day by day; speak of His glory before all the nations, for YHWH is great and greatly to be praised.  Other 'gods' are mere idols; but this, the true and living God, made all that is; honor and majesty are before Him, strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.  Worship the Lord in holiness and proclaim His reign.  Let all creation shout His praises, our Maker and our Judge.  You, O Lord are most high over all creatures and over every other deity.  YHWH loves those who hate evil; He preserves the lives of His sanctified ones; we have light and joy, by His grace.  Give thanks to Him, and praise His awesome name!  Serve Him with gladness and come into His presence with a son.  Know that YHWH Is God; He made us; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.  Come into His gates with thanksgiving; enter His courts with praise.  For the Lord Is god; His steadfast love endures for ever and his faithfulness to all generations. 

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good tidings, who published peace.  The watchmen cry out in joy as He returns to Zion.  The waste places around Jerusalem burst into song; for YHWH has comforted His people.  And all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.  Be set apart; touch no unclean thing.  Look!  God's holy Servant will be exalted.  Before, many were appalled at His disfiguration, marred beyond human semblance.  But witnesses will see and hear things beyond our comprehension. 

John saw no temple in the New Jerusalem, for its temple Is the Lord God and the Lamb.  Nor does that city have need of sun or moon, for God's glory is its light and the Lamb Is its lamp.  All the nations shall walk by this light; the kings of earth will bring their glory into the city.  Its gates will never shut, for there will be no night there.  And nothing unclean will ever enter that city, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood--only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. 

The Pharisees were plotting to destroy Jesus.  Knowing this, He withdrew to the countryside.  Many followed Him there, and He healed them all, and commanded that they not make Him known.  All this fulfilled what Isaiah had written:  'Behold My Servant, Whom I have chosen, My Beloved, with Whom My soul is well pleased.  I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles.  He will not wrangle or cry aloud, nor will any hear His voice aloud in the streets. He will not break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick, till He brings justice to victory; and in His Name will the Gentiles hope.'