- Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake yourself from the dust and arise; be seated, O Jerusalem; loose the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion. Isaiah 52:1-2 – God is leaning in and speaking to His people who have been abused by their enemies. He’s saying, get up for you have been saved by me. Yet this passage opens up an idea we need to talk about. Sometimes we can remain in a state or place even after we’ve been saved from it. Know today if God has saved you from something then it’s not a place He wants you to remain in. If scripture has told you that you’ve been set free from something don’t let any other voice, even the voice of our common enemy, tell you that you can’t get up and walk away from it. Awake, put on strength, put on the new clothes God has brought for you, shake off the dust, and arise. The bonds that once held you down no longer do all because of Jesus our Savior. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1253
- Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am. Isaiah 52:6 – The language of this verse is so promising! God is declaring His presence with His people and speaking about how in this day of salvation His people will know His name and know it is He who has spoken to them all along. While this is beautiful, there is a saddening element to it. For if God’s people would come to know in that day what His name was and come to know that it was Him who was speaking to them, that means there was a time when His people didn’t know such things. God’s own people didn’t know His name and didn’t know it was Him speaking to them. Their choice of idolatry had closed their heart and minds to the God who had first chosen them as His own. As a commentary I studied today put it, it sad to think that the lost world doesn’t know God, but how terrible is it when those who are God’s own people forget His name and His word to them. While I’m almost certain today if you are reading this, you haven’t forgotten the name “Jesus,” but has some of the names of our Lord outlined to us in His word been forgotten by you? That He is the Prince of Peace, that He is the Wonderful Counselor, that He is Emmanuel, God with us. Sin and the enemy can blind us to God’s presence with us and deafen us to the words God is speaking to us. Let us today come to really know the name of our Lord, and let His word to us be heard, understood, and followed by us. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2719
Daily DEVO 