Thankful Thursday–God’s Word

Today I am thankful for God’s Word, and for the Holy Spirit who ministers it to my heart.  Sometimes it is convicting, sometimes comforting.  I have been reading Isaiah in my devotions.  Here are some of my favorite verses:

God’s Call - Isaiah 6:8 
Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

I learned in Hebrew class with Ben that Here am I comes from a Hebrew word that means literally, “Behold, me.”  I love the picture of surrender in those words – when God calls, just say “behold – me.  Here I am.”

God’s Peace - Isaiah 26:3-4 
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. 
4 Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:

God’s Provision – Isaiah 31:1
Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD!

This verse spoke to me a couple of weeks ago about where I place my trust.  Living in NYC has been financially hard.  Every month it seems there is an unexpected expense or a shortfall in the budget.  I am tempted to find a way to make the ends meet in my own strength.  But we are not to trust in Egypt (a Biblical type for the world) for our help – our help comes from the Lord.  And since we’ve been living here, I can say with the Psalmist, “…yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” (Psalm 37:25.  God has met our needs every single time!

God’s Power – Isaiah 40:13-15
Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him? 
14 With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding? 
15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.

God’s Strength - Isaiah 40:27-31 
Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God? 
28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. 
29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. 
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 
31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

God’s Presence - Isaiah 41:10, 13 
Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
13 For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.

God’s Forgiveness - Isaiah 43:25 & 44:22
I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. 
44:22   I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.

God’s Treasure – Isaiah 45:3
And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. 

God’s Uniqueness – Isaiah 45:5-8
I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: 
6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. 
7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things. 
8 Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.