Reading your Bible for today September 8

September 8: Isaiah 50:4-9

KJV Key Verse: Isaiah 50:8
8 He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary*? let him come near to me.

Devotion:
What does God do for those who listen to Him? Well, we do have many examples in our bibles from many years ago how God has done things for people when they did stop and listen to Him. From those who listened directly, the prophets who heard directly from God, to those who heard second or third hand, the people who listened to the priests – God continues to uphold His scriptures.

Who is the one who gives you the right things to say? It is God – so long as you are listening to Him. The more you listen and obey, the more you get to hear. But, conversely, the more you focus on your own achievements or your own strengths the more you think you know what you are doing and the wider the gap between what God wants and what you are doing becomes. It is so easy to walk off in your own strengths, thinking you know better, even convinced you think you know better; but is what you are doing actually agreeing with the scriptures, or are you now at the stage where you are justifying what you do with words you think should be there?

God does not say everything will go our own way or that we will get all we want; His words are closer to us getting what we need, and not what we need to make us happy, but what we need to fulfil His Word and obey His commands. He alone is our judge and He is also our great defender. When we think things are going to get too tough for us to continue – we need to rest in Him and obey Him, knowing we will come our the other end being able to bring glory to our God!

God is always going to be close to us; but if we continue facing the other direction, we will not get to see too much of Him! When we turn round and face Him directly, we will be able to see Him and gain the encouragement we need to get to the next step of our journey with Him. All the results from our own actions will wear out like rags which continue to be used – but when we allow God to replenish those rags daily, we continue to have all we need!

Points to Ponder:
How good do you think you are at your work?

Are you listening to God to find out how best to do your work?