- …he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” Isaiah 49:6 – God’s purpose for our life is often bigger than we first think. Here God is speaking of Jesus and what the Messiah would be for the world. Israel would have assumed that the Messiah was meant to restore them and only them. God though had much bigger plans, plans to bring the whole world His salvation through the Messiah. Let’s accept the fact that often the plans God has for you are bigger than we think. Further reaching, deeper impact, more lives being changed. As great as all that is, know that means changes to what you think your life’s plans should be so you can step into this bigger purpose God has for you. If you’re willing to follow God through the unexpected changes in your life, He has plans to change the world through each of us. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1250
- Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me. Isaiah 49:15-16 – As you read through this chapter, we ought to read the Servant spoken of as the Messiah. This would have been the future Messiah in Isaiah’s day, and for us we know it to be Jesus. We see how God would use his Messiah to bring salvation to the world, and bring back His people to Himself. Our passage above reveals the Lord’s affections for His people. While it’s hard to imagine a nursing mother forgetting her baby and having no love or compassion for her baby, even still it could. Yet God says His mind is on us greater than that of a loving mother and her child. The Messiah, Jesus, would have us engraved on the palms of His hands to remind Him of us, and likely the nail scars in his hands would certainly do this. Our walls, meaning here the walls of Jerusalem, but also a picture of the life of those who look to God for salvation, are ever behind the Lord’s eyes. Let us walk away from this passage with a reminder of how deeply the Lord loves us and how we are ever on His mind. His compassion is greater for us than the greatest examples of compassion we can find on earth. His eyes are continually on us. As Psalm 8 records, what is man that you are mindful of us Lord? How are we so blessed to have a God like our God that cares so deeply for us and watches over us like this? Remember today you are on God’s mind and you are never forgotten by Him. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2716
Daily DEVO 