Focus

Prepare yourself to discern what is and what is not of God today. Still yourself so you can hear how God is calling you.

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Read

Isaiah 43:8-15 (NRSV)

Bring forth the people who are blind, yet have eyes,
who are deaf, yet have ears!
Let all the nations gather together,
and let the peoples assemble.
Who among them declared this,
and foretold to us the former things?
Let them bring their witnesses to justify them,
and let them hear and say, “It is true.”
You are my witnesses, says the LORD,
and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
nor shall there be any after me.
I, I am the LORD,
and besides me there is no savior.
I declared and saved and proclaimed,
when there was no strange god among you;
and you are my witnesses, says the LORD.
I am God, and also henceforth I am He;
there is no one who can deliver from my hand;
I work and who can hinder it?

Thus says the LORD,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
For your sake I will send to Babylon
and break down all the bars,
and the shouting of the Chaldeans will be turned to lamentation.
I am the LORD, your Holy One,
the Creator of Israel, your King.

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Reflect

As Christians, it is easy to fall off the path of following God. One Wednesday not too long ago, my youth pastor asked us to draw a line that would represent the ups and downs in our spiritual growth. I’m sure if I were to ask those of you reading to do the same thing, there would probably be some pits of struggle and some peaks of strength. We were asked to think about why we were in those pits and then asked where God was during those times.

In this passage, the people of Israel had turned away from God, which resulted in them falling into a pit of struggle. God showed them mercy and delivered them from their struggles so that the world would know that the God of Israel was the one true God. Only the one true God could have delivered them.

We are called to be witnesses to those who don’t believe in God. They cannot see God, but they can see God reflected in us. Use the ups and downs in your spiritual life as an example. Be the example that Christ has asked us to be. Show them that if they invite God to go with them in their struggles, God will protect them.

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Pray

God, use us as the mouthpiece of your undying love and mercy. Use the struggles that we have faced be the light that someone needs to see. Let the world know that we can cry out to you in times of need and you will be the healing hand we need to help us grow. Use us as the examples even in the darkest hours. Amen.

Go with God.