Category: Daily Encouragement

TODAY’S BIBLE READING CHALLENGE:
  Isaiah 45:11-48:11
  Ephesians 4:1-16
  Psalm 68:19-35
  Proverbs 24:3-4

Isaiah 45:12 — Creation is not just a doctrine taught in Genesis. It’s emphasized again and again throughout the Bible (Psalm 102:25; Nehemiah 9:6; Isaiah 40:28, 42:5, 44:24, 45:12, 45:18; Jeremiah 27:5, 32:17; Zechariah 12:1; Hebrews 11:3).

Isaiah 45:18 — Evolution says that modern man (homo sapiens) has been around for only 0.078% of the alleged 4.5 billion years that the earth has been here. Yet, the earth was created to be inhabited. Theistic evolution compromises the authority of God’s Word.

Isaiah 45:22 — God declares a universal invitation – look and live!

Isaiah 45:23 — This promise is echoed throughout the New Testament, but especially in Romans 14:11 and Philippians 2:10. Notice that Isaiah stops short – what will every tongue declare? Paul says in Philippians that they’ll declare Jesus Christ is LORD!

Isaiah 47:10 — “None seeth me.” Throughout the prophets, we’ll see God attacking this false belief.

Ephesians 4:3-6 — The unity of believers is a beautiful thing. However, we must be united in truth.

Ephesians 4:11 — What gift has God given you that you can use for the ministry? We see in this verse the free gifts (vs. 11), the function of the gifts (vs. 12), and the fulfillment of the gifts (vs. 13).

Ephesians 4:15 — The balance between speaking the truth and speaking it in love is tough. On the one hand, you have groups dedicated to “love.” Love is love, according to them, but they never define love. On the other hand, you have the Westboro Baptist Church gang that preaches “truth.” The path of the straight and narrow is framed by deep ditches on each side!

Psalm 68:19 — What a great prayer of thanksgiving to declare each morning!

Proverbs 24:3 — Yes, wisdom is the foundation and the building block of our lives!

Share how reading through the Bible has been a blessing to you! E-mail us at 2018bible@vcyamerica.org or call and leave a message at 414-885-5370.

TODAY’S BIBLE READING CHALLENGE:
  Isaiah 43:14-45:10
  Ephesians 3:1-21
  Psalm 68:1-18
  Proverbs 24:1-2

Isaiah 43:14-15 — Notice the titles for the LORD. Who is this that is addressing us? The LORD, Our Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the Creator of Israel, Our King! Sometimes we forget Who we serve.

Isaiah 43:22 — Have we ever grown weary of our LORD, Redeemer, Creator, and King? Have we gone without calling on the LORD, have we wearied Him with our iniquities (Isaiah 43:24)?

Isaiah 43:25-26 — 

The 1 John 1:9 of the Old Testament! We can have our sins blotted out! Notice the play on words:

• If you remember me – I won’t remember thy sins!
• Instead, we forget God and He remembers our sins!

Isaiah 44:2 — “Jeshurun” – this is the only mention of this name other than in Deuteronomy. Ellicott believes it’s a tender nickname:

“Jeshurun is a diminutive—a term of endearment: either ‘the child of the upright’, or ‘the beloved Israel'”. He suggested that “the letters of the diminutive of Israel, if slightly abbreviated, would make ‘Jeshurun'”

https://biblehub.com/commentaries/ellicott/deuteronomy/32.htm

Isaiah 44:3 — While the verse comes from Isaiah 55:1-2, the chorus comes from Isaiah 44:3 – “Ho! Every One That Is Thirsty“.

Isaiah 44:19 — Jacob (Genesis 35:2) knew God’s commands 400 years before Moses had them carved into stone (Exodus 20:3). Eight hundred years after Moses, God is having to point out to His people the stupidity of idol worship. That which isn’t burned as fuel is worshiped as a god? Really?

Isaiah 44:25 — Speaking of foolish:

Andrew Grove was one of the founders of Intel, which profoundly shaped the semiconductor industry. He was Time Magazine‘s Man of The Year in 1997. Yet in 1992 he made a prediction that looks amazingly shortsighted in retrospect.

A New York Times article described Grove as standing diametrically opposed to the position taken by Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) that smartphones, then imagined as “personal communicators,” might develop into a huge business.

Grove disagreed. The idea of a communicating device that people carried around with them is “a pipe dream driven by greed,” he said.

https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/02/26/3-horrendously-bad-stock-market-predictions-from-o.aspx

Isaiah 44:28 — Cyrus? No, we’re not teaching the Donald Trump Prophecy! The more exciting prophecy is that Cyrus was called out by name 150 years before he was born over 2,000 kilometers away. We read the fulfillment of this prophecy in 2 Chronicles 36:22-23. It is rumored that Daniel was the one who showed Cyrus the prophecies. By the way, liberals see this verse as proof that Isaiah was written after Cyrus was king! From Josephus:

This was known to Cyrus by his reading the book which Isaiah left behind him of his prophecies. For this Prophet said, that God had spoken thus to him in a secret vision: “My will is, that Cyrus, whom I have appointed to be King over many and great nations, send back my people to their own land, and build my temple.” This was foretold by Isaiah one hundred and forty years before the temple was demolished. Accordingly when Cyrus read this, and admired the divine power, an earnest desire and an ambition seized upon him, to fulfil what was so written. So he called for the most eminent Jews that were in Babylon, and said to them, that “He gave them leave to go back to their own countrey, and to rebuild their city Jerusalem, (3) and the temple of God; for that he would be their assistant; and that he would write to the rulers and governours that were in the neighbourhood of their countrey of Judea, that they should contribute to them gold and silver, for the building of the temple; and besides that, beasts for their sacrifices.”

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/ant-11.html

Ephesians 3:6 — Paul has been hinting at the mystery (Ephesians 3:3, Ephesians 3:4) that the Gentiles would be part of the same body as God’s chosen people, the sons of Jacob! And not only that, but God called Paul “less than the least of all saints” to preach this mystery (Ephesians 3:8)!

Ephesians 3:13 — Notice Paul’s attitude. He does not chide the Ephesians (see Galatians 3:1); he is praying for them to continue to be:

• strengthened (Ephesians 3:16)
• indwelt (Ephesians 3:17)
• rooted (Ephesians 3:17)
• grounded (Ephesians 3:17)
• comprehending (Ephesians 3:18)
• knowing (Ephesians 3:19)
• filled (Ephesians 3:19)

Psalm 68:9 — I was at the 2017 Presidential Inauguration, and Franklin Graham said that rain was a sign of God’s blessing.

Psalm 68:18 — Tomorrow, we’ll read about this verse in Ephesians 4:8!

Proverbs 24:1 — A message to Asaph in Psalm 73! We’ll read about him in a few days.

Share how reading through the Bible has been a blessing to you! E-mail us at 2018bible@vcyamerica.org or call and leave a message at 414-885-5370.

TODAY’S BIBLE READING CHALLENGE:
  Isaiah 41:17-43:13
  Ephesians 2:1-22
  Psalm 67:1-7
  Proverbs 23:29-35

Isaiah 41:23 — God dares the other gods to a challenge. Can they prophesy the future? What are they? Nothing (Isaiah 41:24)!

Isaiah 42:1 — If you feel whiplash reading Isaiah, don’t worry. Matthew Henry felt the same way:

The prophet seems here to launch out yet further into the prophecy of the Messiah and his kingdom under the type of Cyrus; and, having the great work of man’s salvation by him yet more in view, he almost forgets the occasion that led him into it and drops the return out of Babylon; for indeed the prospect of this would be a greater comfort and support to the believing pious Jews, in their captivity, than the hope of that. And (as Mr. Gataker well observes) in this and similar prophecies of Christ, that are couched in types, as of David and Solomon, some passages agree to the type and not to the truth, other to the truth and not to the type, and many to the type in one sense and the truth in another.

https://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/matthew-henry-complete/isaiah/42.html

Isaiah 42:8 — The LORD God is a jealous God. This is repeated in Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, 1 Kings, Psalms, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Joel, Nahum, Zephaniah, and Zechariah. Elijah was jealous for God (1 Kings 19:20), and Paul was jealous (2 Corinthians 11:2). God was jealous because He has a right to be unrivaled.

Isaiah 42:10 — Sing to the LORD a new song!

Isaiah 43:1 — From Earl Martin:

Isaiah 43:2 — ”Be Not Afraid” is based on this verse.

Isaiah 43:11 — The Acts 4:12 of the Old Testament!

Ephesians 2:4 — Only God could do this! From children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3) to seated in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6)! From aliens and strangers (Ephesians 2:12) to made right by the blood of Christ (Ephesians 2:13)! From strangers and foreigners (Ephesians 2:19) to fellow citizens of the household of God (Ephesians 2:19)!

Ephesians 2:7 — Stop and think about that for a moment … we have no clue what all God will show to us in the ages to come. God’s grace to us has only just begun!

Ephesians 2:8-9 — From Earl Martin:

Psalm 67:3 — Praise the Lord for His mercy and His grace!

Proverbs 23:33 — Pew Research found in 2020 that approximately 1 out of 8 people meet their spouse in a bar. Solomon says it’s a great place to also find the strange woman!

Share how reading through the Bible has been a blessing to you! E-mail us at 2018bible@vcyamerica.org or call and leave a message at 414-885-5370.

TODAY’S BIBLE READING CHALLENGE:
  Isaiah 39:1-41:16
  Ephesians 1:1-23
  Psalm 66:1-20
  Proverbs 23:25-28

Isaiah 39:3 — Joshua said the same thing about the Gibeonites (Joshua 9:6). Seek the LORD first before you start making alliances (2 Corinthians 6:14).

Isaiah 40:3 — John the Baptist quoted this to identify his role (John 1:23, Mark 1:3).

Isaiah 40:5 — The Lawrence University Orchestra performed this part of Handel’s Messiah:

Isaiah 40:8 — The only two things that will live forever are God’s Word and a person’s soul. Spend time in God’s Word and with people!

Isaiah 40:11 — The Shepherd of Psalm 23 will come (from Isaiah’s perspective) and has come (from ours)!

Isaiah 40:12 — This sounds a lot like the end of Job. This wisdom poetry reminds us that we are unable to compare the LORD to anyone (Isaiah 40:25)!

Isaiah 40:28 — This is a great memory verse on the nature of God: His infinitude!

Isaiah 40:31 — This is an incredible chapter we’ve read, ending with the phrase “wings as eagles.” From our good friend, Ron Hamilton:

Isaiah 41:10 — Another great verse to memorize thanks to another good friend, Earl Martin:

Ephesians 1:1 — We’ve read Paul’s doctrinal discussions with the Romans, his dealings with the deep troubles of the Corinthians, his disputations with the defecting Galatians, but now we read of his delight in the Ephesians!

Ephesians 1:7 — Redemption through his blood! Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb!

Ephesians 1:11 — Notice how “inheritance” is used three times – we’ve obtained an inheritance through Christ (Ephesians 1:10), the Holy Spirit is the “down payment” (Ephesians 1:14), and there is unknown riches of glory ahead (Ephesians 1:18). All things, starting with our redemption, are through Jesus Christ!

Psalm 66:3 — As we mentioned before, the English language has devolved. “Terrible,” from the Latin “Terreo“ 66:18 — The psalmist shares with us this important truth about prayer. As we see sad tales of pastors falling into sin, we realize that their sins were done in secret. What’s sad is that, like David, it’s possible to spend a year as the leader of God’s chosen people, and yet not spend any time with God (2 Samuel 11:27).

Share how reading through the Bible has been a blessing to you! E-mail us at 2018bible@vcyamerica.org or call and leave a message at 414-885-5370.

TODAY’S BIBLE READING CHALLENGE:
  Isaiah 37:1-38:22
  Galatians 6:1-18
  Psalm 65:1-13
  Proverbs 23:24

Isaiah 37:1 — We read earlier in Kings and Chronicles that Hezekiah finally, after losing 46 cities and strip mining the Temple for the gold, entered the Temple to pray.

Isaiah 37:2 — Interesting that Eliakim and Shebna are working together. Isaiah 22:20 says that Eliakim was more devout and replaced Shebna from his position. Also, interesting that instead of Isaiah speaking, Isaiah is spoken to.

Isaiah 37:6 — “Fear not” is found 48 times in the Old Testament. “Be not afraid” is found 19 times.

Isaiah 37:14 — God had delivered once through disinformation (Isaiah 37:7) but allowed the threat to return – this time Hezekiah went to God first!

Isaiah 37:16 — What makes the God of Israel different from other gods (Isaiah 37:12)? This God is the Creator of heaven and earth! No other god has created anything – much less heaven and earth! In fact, they were not gods at all (Isaiah 37:19)!

Isaiah 37:33 — He shall not shoot an arrow? Nor come with shields? Let’s look at the Lachish Reliefs (now in the British Museum). This miracle would be done not for the faithfulness of Hezekiah (took him 46 losses to turn to the LORD), but for the LORD’s own name’s sake!

Sennacherib’s Siege of Lachish

Isaiah 38:5 — The LORD who took life in Isaiah 37:36, now gives life (Isaiah 38:5).

Hezekiah shares his testimony: “My life was miserable (‘great bitterness’), but God so loved me that I should not perish because He has forgiven me!” As the psalmist says, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered!” (Psalm 32:1)

Hezekiah was a good king (Isaiah 38:3), but his goodness could not save him for Hezekiah was still a sinner (Isaiah 38:17). But God forgives those who call upon His name – the LORD is ready to save (Isaiah 38:20)!

Galatians 6:1 — At the Christian school I work at, this was one of the verses I challenged our staff with at In-Service. We have a responsibility not just for ourselves but for our fellow brethren as well. Restore the fallen. Bear their burdens (Galatians 6:2). It’s not enough to say, “I’m ok – but the Joneses are struggling.” Love one another!

Galatians 6:6 — It is appropriate and good to share financially with those who have shared with you spiritually.

Galatians 6:7 — From our friend Patch the Pirate – “You Reap What You Sow!“

Galatians 6:9 — The Christian School teacher’s life verse! Pray for those who are serving in high stress fields!

Galatians 6:13-14 — Paul exposes motives. Those teaching obedience to the Law really don’t care about the Law, only about getting a following. Paul didn’t care about a following but in being faithful!

Psalm 65:7 — Who stills the noise of the seas (Psalm 89:9, Psalm 107:29)? The God of our salvation (Psalm 93:4)! Interesting that this predated God’s calming of the seas after Jonah (Jonah 1:15), and the LORD’s calming of the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 8:26). Yet the disciples didn’t connect His action to His deity (Matthew 8:27).

Proverbs 23:24 — Is the joy of a father found in the hours spent at the office or in the raising of a wise and godly son? Steve Jobs was an interesting example. A brilliant inventor, but by most accounts, he was a bad father. While he was alive, his fame for invention grew, but now his tales of parenting are edging out his reputation.

Share how reading through the Bible has been a blessing to you! E-mail us at 2018bible@vcyamerica.org or call and leave a message at 414-885-5370.

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Image Credit: Sennacherib’s Siege of Lachish. generationword.com/bible_museum/biblical_artifacts/Sennacherib_siege_of_Lachish.html.