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Search TAG: Nearer to God daily devotional

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Daily devotional

February 3 - The grace of discipline

“And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scatte...
Daily devotional

February 2 - A colourful sign of given grace 

“And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual genera...
Daily devotional

February 1 - Introduction to grace 

The devotional for February will be a journey through the Old Testament in search of grace. What do you think? Will we find an ample supply? How often...
Daily devotional

January 31 - Iniquity forgiven

“And no inhabitant will say, "I am sick"; the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.” - Isaiah 33:24  Scripture reading: Levi...
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Daily devotional

January 30 - Powerless enemy

“Your cords hang loose; they cannot hold the mast firm in its place or keep the sail spread out. Then prey and spoil in abundance will be divided; even the lame will take the prey.” - Isaiah 33:23  Scripture reading: Romans 8:31-39 Isaiah returns with a final description of the Assyrians. It is a final rebuke against the pride of man. Like sailors vainly attempting to re-position the mast of a ship against forceful winds, so the Assyrians will attempt to withstand the judgments of God in vain. By contrast, God's people will divide abundant “spoil.” Whatever treasures would be aboard that “ship” would be plundered, and plundered easily. The Assyrians will be left so helpless and destitute that even the lame will be able to limp in, take their treasures and safely limp away. In another analogy with a similar meaning, Jesus speaks of “binding the strong man”; that is, in His earthly ministry He was taking spoil from the kingdom of Satan. All His teaching and healing was proving the powerlessness of the enemy. God's people were being healed and delivered! The message to us once again is: do not be afraid. Because of Christ and His blood shed for you, God is for you and not against you. No enemy is more powerful than God's love for you in Christ, because Christ is the One Who died and Who was raised, and is at God's right hand interceding for you! Suggestions for prayer Thank the Lord for His great love in Jesus Christ. Praise God for His wisdom and power in defeating the powers through the weakness of the cross of Christ. Rev. Todd De Rooy currently serves in Redeemer URC, in Orange City, Iowa. He has served there since being ordained in 2008. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

January 29 - The Lord our judge

“For the Lord is our Judge; the Lord is our Lawgiver; the Lord is our King; He will save us.” - Isaiah 33:22  Scripture reading: 2 Corinthians 5:11-21 Because He is the King, the Lord is the only just and righteous Judge and Lawgiver. The Lord alone keeps His just law and judges with righteousness. He is the King of kings and He alone. The Lord is our deliverer and administers justice for His glory and our well-being. This is another promise of the Messiah to come. The Messiah was promised to God's people as their Redeemer, but also the One who would rule with a “sceptre from Judah” (Genesis 49:10). Jesus' work for our salvation consisted not only in our redemption, but also His fulfillment of all of God's justice and righteousness, even bearing the curse of the law that we deserved. “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). In the new heavens and the new earth, Jesus will continue to rule as our King. There will be no sin, but He will still be Judge and Lawgiver; because, in all of the new creation, God's Law will be perfectly upheld. Therefore, living in Christ's Kingdom now, yield to His rule and authority. Listen to His voice and obey Him. We have been delivered from the condemnation of the Law and made new in Christ, that we may walk in newness of life. Obey the Word of your King; it is for service that He saves you. Suggestions for prayer Ask the Lord for help to obey His commandments. Give thanks that Christ by His Word and Spirit has made you a new creation in Christ. Rev. Todd De Rooy currently serves in Redeemer URC, in Orange City, Iowa. He has served there since being ordained in 2008. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

January 28 - Forever safe

“But there the Lord in majesty will be for us a place of broad rivers and streams, where no galley with oars can go, nor majestic ship can pass.” - Isaiah 33:21  Scripture reading: Revelation 22:1-5 Isaiah's vision of a fully protected, fully sanctified, filled Church continues here. Not only will God's people feast in joy and peace because God is with them, but there will be ample supply forever. Broad rivers and streams carry with them the promise of fertile land, bountiful harvests, luscious vegetation and productive trees and vines. What is more, is that even though these rivers and streams will be broad and flowing, no passage will be given to any invaders coming by ship. Nautical raiders will not be permitted to pass through and threaten God's people. These rivers and streams will only bring life. In Revelation, the New Jerusalem is pictured as having the “water of life” running through its midst, proceeding from the throne of the Lamb. There is life there, and much fruitfulness. Notice that in both Revelation 22 and here in Isaiah 33 that this life-giving water has Jesus Christ as its source! Life is not life without Jesus; He is the Life! So all life and all joyful blessedness will come from Jesus Christ, even as life came into being through Him (Colossians 1:15-20). Believe in Jesus Christ and be enlivened in His saving grace and righteousness! May you have a foretaste on this Lord's Day of the eternal rest Christ holds for us. May you have that longing to be at home with the Lord where Christ will give us life and rest eternally! Suggestions for prayer Give thanks to God for Christ's eternal salvation and that by His life we may have life. Pray for faith to be hopeful for resurrection on that Day.  Rev. Todd De Rooy currently serves in Redeemer URC, in Orange City, Iowa. He has served there since being ordained in 2008. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

January 27 - Jerusalem untroubled and immovable

“Behold Zion, the city of our appointed feasts! Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an untroubled habitation, an immovable tent, whose stakes will never be plucked up, nor will any of its cords be broken.” - Isaiah 33:20  Scripture reading: Psalm 48:1-14 Here is God's promise to restore the Church. He will not only deliver it from its enemies, but also establish the Church in favour and prosperity. The Church is here called “Zion” as throughout the Psalms and Prophets. It is identified primarily as the people of God who assemble for “appointed feasts.” It was in the feasts that salvation was proclaimed through symbols and signs, the law of the Lord kept and the covenant renewed. What Isaiah promises here, by way of God establishing His Church, is an eternal promise. We see it in shadows yet today. Tomorrow, God's people are called once again to “assemble.” The Word of God gives us the basis and direction for all of our worship. Christ is central in the preaching and the sacraments—so once again God's salvation in Christ is proclaimed promiscuously! The law of the Lord is kept in keeping the Sabbath day holy, reading His law and being instructed in it. And the Lord graciously renews His covenant with us as He speaks His promises through His Word and we respond humbly with thankful praise, prayers, and offerings. Without God's grace and patience with us, we'll never be untroubled. We would be a tent blown about in the wilderness winds. Nothing would tie us down. We are covenant-breakers who need God's covenant renewal. He restores us and establishes us in Jesus Christ. Suggestions for prayer Rejoice in the privilege of assembling for the festive Day of Rest and seek the Lord's help to be prepared in heart and mind and body for the Lord's Day. Rev. Todd De Rooy currently serves in Redeemer URC, in Orange City, Iowa. He has served there since being ordained in 2008. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

January 26 - Insolent people of obscure speech

‘You will see no more the insolent people, the people of an obscure speech that you cannot comprehend, stammering in a tongue that you cannot understand.” - Isaiah 33:19  Scripture reading: Mark 15:16-20 The present verse strengthens what we read in yesterday's passage about the removal of the Assyrian officials. Now we are told that the Assyrian people themselves will also be gone. Part of the oppression against the Jews was the “obscure speech” of the Assyrians—they could not understand their language, could not understand the commands and instructions they were given and were unable to have any meaningful communication with their oppressors. You might not know how that feels. But you do understand that universal shame, embarrassment and hurt when a group points their fingers at you while laughing hysterically, even if you cannot understand their language. God's deliverance of Judah will include the silencing of these insolent people of obscure speech. He will completely remove them. Have you ever considered the suffering Christ endured in the mocking words of the people and their leaders? They hurled words of abuse at Christ. They spoke Christ's own Word against Him! This was part of Christ bearing our curse; it was also that God might judge the world for its unrighteousness. While God the Father did not silence the mocking tongues in Christ's life, He will ultimately turn those mocking tongues to praise Christ the Suffering Servant: “At the Name of Jesus every knee should bow...and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord...” (Philippians 2.10-11). Suggestions for prayer Give thanks to God that He speaks to us through His Son and His Word in language we can understand. Give praise to Jesus for enduring hateful mockery for your salvation. Rev. Todd De Rooy currently serves in Redeemer URC, in Orange City, Iowa. He has served there since being ordained in 2008. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

January 25 - Making all things new

“Your heart will muse on the terror: "Where is he who counted, where is he who weighed the tribute? Where is he who counted the towers?"” - Isaiah 33:18  Scripture reading: Revelation 21:1-8 In a series of three questions, Isaiah makes an even sharper contrast between Assyria's tyranny and the deliverance of the people. Judah will recall the time of their affliction with a kind of relish, delighting in their new freedom from the oppressor's heel. Assyria had dominated every part of life, but no more! “Where is he who counted?” This representative of the enemy counted, presumably, the tribute (taxes) the people brought. He was a constant reminder of the enemy's daily presence. “Where is he who weighed the tribute?” This was the one who weighed the gold or silver for the tribute. Such “weighers” were probably corrupt, skimming to pad their own pockets, testifying to the inherent corruption. “Where is he who counted the towers?” This man would have made measurements with respect to Judah's forces and fortresses. Assyria would have limited their armaments, for obvious reasons. But notice the certainty of the opening line of this verse: there will barely be the memory of it left, and if that, only a satirical joke. There will not be anything left of Assyria's oppression. This is the beginning of restoration. Romans 6:6 says: “We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” Christ will make all things new. It is guaranteed by His resurrection and ascension. Suggestions for prayer Give thanks to the Lord for Christ's ascension to God's right hand, for His intercession for us, and for the hope we have for the new heavens and the new earth because Christ is there. Rev. Todd De Rooy currently serves in Redeemer URC, in Orange City, Iowa. He has served there since being ordained in 2008. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

January 24 - As far as the eye can see

“They will see a land that stretches afar.” - Isaiah 33:17b  Scripture reading: Matthew 13:31-33 Even though wickedness spreads, seemingly so easily, in the hearts of people and throughout the nations, we look to our King with a firm hope. His Kingdom might look small and weak to the world, even as the world looked on Jesus with contempt instead of worship (see Isaiah 53:2); but Christ's power and greatness are not of this world. Judah would see a return to the promised land, as a foretaste of the eternal fulfillment of this promise. And this promise here lies in contrast to the desolation that the land is experiencing (see v. 9). When the land was under siege by the Assyrians, it was confined, narrow and desolate. When God restored His people to the promised land, the land stretched out far again and it was fruitful again. We may look forward to the fulfillment of these promises. But we do not merely look to a future “then” without considering the increase of Christ's Kingdom today. A Kingdom needs people. Christ is ruling in hearts already as King. He is also executing His rule through all His servants, even kings, presidents, prime ministers, and nations. Let us rejoice that we are ruled by Christ's Word and Spirit, when His church is strong and growing, and when the devil's work and every force that revolts against Christ is destroyed. Suggestions for prayer Pray that Christ may rule you by His Word and Spirit, keep His church strong and growing. And that the devil and every force against Christ would be destroyed until Christ is all in all in His Kingdom. Rev. Todd De Rooy currently serves in Redeemer URC, in Orange City, Iowa. He has served there since being ordained in 2008. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

January 23 - The King in his beauty

“Behold, your eyes will behold the king in his beauty; they will see a land that stretches far.” - Isaiah 33:17  Scripture reading: Psalm 45: 1-17 This was an important and immediate promise for the Jews to hear. Their king, Hezekiah, was shut up inside the kingdom and rendered helpless, surrounded by this opposing force. The state of the people and the kingdom was desperate and lamentable. Yet, the promise is the restoration of the line of kings of David. Even in Hezekiah, there remains God's faithful promise that one of David's sons would be on the throne. It is a pledge of God's love for His people. Even though Hezekiah may be “clothed” with weakness, he is a token of God's promise and the former beauty and splendour and greatness of the king will be restored. But the people must see Hezekiah as a sign of God's covenant promise, not its ultimate fulfillment. The church sings of the beauty of the King in Psalm 45. For the King that will restore strength and glory to the Kingdom is Jesus Christ, the Messiah. It is through Christ that God reigns and rules with justice and righteousness, and by Christ's rule that we are secured and restored. The church may look frail and weak today, and while the Kingdom of God has been at hand since Christ's coming, it sometimes seems powerless against the kingdom of darkness. Any kingdom is only as powerful as its king. The Kingdom of God has an Almighty King in Christ. Christ is now arrayed in beauty and regal splendour, even though He first came with “no form or majesty” (Isaiah 53:2). Suggestions for prayer Exalt the Lord Jesus Christ with praise for His majesty. Thank Him for His faithful and just rule over all things by His Word and Spirit. Rev. Todd De Rooy currently serves in Redeemer URC, in Orange City, Iowa. He has served there since being ordained in 2008. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

January 22 - Impenetrable defense

“He will dwell on the heights; his place of defense will be the fortress of rocks; his bread will be given him; his water will be sure.” - Isaiah 33:16  Scripture reading: Revelation 7:9-17 Because this Man, Jesus Christ, is righteous, He has a secure place with the Lord. Such a place “on the heights” and a “place of defense” evokes the image of a fortified tower high above the reach of enemies, or a naturally rocky crag atop cliffs that cannot be scaled. With such an impenetrable fortress, “What can man do to me?” (Psalm 56:11). The strategic risk of dwelling in such a fortress, especially one up high, is being able to gather food and drink. If a people has protected itself within a strong city wall, an army laying siege will attempt to cut off the food and water supply. God will provide here as well. Food and water will be constantly available. God will never fail, nor will this Man diminish. There is eternal security here. This is the hope we have as Christians: eternal security by faith in Jesus Christ, where no enemies will threaten. We will lack nothing for our daily needs or supplies. These are rich gifts of grace in Christ! As it says in Revelation 7:16: “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their Shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” So we must always trust God to provide for all our needs and be content with what He provides. Suggestions for prayer Pray these petitions of the Lord's Prayer: for your daily bread, deliverance from the evil one. Praise the Lord that His is the Kingdom and the power and the glory. Rev. Todd De Rooy currently serves in Redeemer URC, in Orange City, Iowa. He has served there since being ordained in 2008. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

January 21 - Christ walks and speaks righteously

“He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hand, lest they hold a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking on evil…” - Isaiah 33:15  Scripture reading: Matthew 4:1-11 Only this Man can enter the new Zion and dwell in the presence of God's holy fire. It is noteworthy that the verbs in this verse refer to a singular, individual man. Jesus Christ is this Man of righteousness. His walk is righteous; surely Jesus Christ kept God's will, never straying to the left or the right. He came to do His Father's will and He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane (John 17) that He had accomplished that work. Jesus' speech was righteous; He proclaimed God's glory and God's Word. Jesus knew what was in the heart of man, but did not shrink from proclaiming the whole counsel of God. He said to Satan, “It is written”; He would not allow Satan to twist and stretch God's Word of truth. Jesus was tempted and bribed by the devil in Matthew 4 when the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness. Satan offered Jesus food, personal safety and the kingdoms of the world. Jesus rejected these temptations and did not sin. If Jesus had failed the temptations in the wilderness, bloodshed is what would have ensued, for that is what Satan wanted: the eternal condemnation of all people. Jesus' righteousness was necessary to save us. Finally, Jesus never sinned through His eyes. Rather, Hebrews 12:2 calls Jesus “the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Suggestions for prayer Give thanks to the Lord that even though Jesus was tempted as Adam was, He did not sin. Praise the Lord for the last Adam Who is our life-giving spirit. Rev. Todd De Rooy currently serves in Redeemer URC, in Orange City, Iowa. He has served there since being ordained in 2008. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

January 20 - Who then is worthy?

“Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?” - Isaiah 33:14b Scripture reading: Hebrews 10:11-25 This is another thematic verse in this chapter: a confession of our unworthiness to enter God's holy presence because we are sinful. Psalm 130:3: “If You, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?” If you follow the description of the worthy person who could stand in the Lord's judgment on his own or her own, you will quickly see it is not a description of you. Except for Jesus Christ! We will see how Jesus in His righteousness fulfills the requirements in the following verses. Christ's sacrifice for sin was “once-for-all.” We cannot escape God's consuming fire. When offerings were burned before God, it showed the people that His wrath is all-consuming. Jesus' sacrifice is better. Those other sacrifices “can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:12-13). He sat down because His saving work was complete; “It is finished,” He said. Only by faith in Jesus Christ can we enter God's holy presence. We “have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that He opened for us through the curtain, that is, through His flesh” (Hebrews 10:19-20). Tomorrow, you will enter God's holy presence with the assembly of God's people. Christ's righteousness and atoning blood cover you that you may enter with fear of God's consuming fire, but enter in the joy of Christ's salvation. Suggestions for prayer Give thanks to the Lord that He joyfully welcomes us into His presence because of Christ's sacrifice and righteousness. Give thanks to the Lord that we can know Him through Christ. Rev. Todd De Rooy currently serves in Redeemer URC, in Orange City, Iowa. He has served there since being ordained in 2008. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

January 19 - Judgment at the household of God

“The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the godless…” - Isaiah 33:14a  Scripture reading: 1 Peter 4:12-19 With this prophecy of such vivid descriptions of Assyria's destruction, Judah might be tempted to respond with smugness, rather than humility. There's a little bit of the Pharisees in us all. We think we're better than “them.” That smugness is usually accompanied by a second course: hubris. Hubris is a false sense of security, and over-confidence, which is based on the past. In Judah, it would have sounded like this: “Assyria is going to get it; we in Judah are secure because we're Judah.” What both Peter and Isaiah say is jarring to this false sense of security. We forget what we were in our sins: “But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). We were God's enemies, but still, Christ died for us. We're not better than “them”; we're not better than anyone! We're sinners, saved only by grace in Christ! So when judgment comes against God's people, those who have put their trust in themselves and their privileges, will surely tremble. Their faith is not in God. This is what God's judgment upon the church does: it purifies the church of false confessors. Hypocrites are exposed. Pharisees are rattled. Rather than smugness or hubris, respond to Isaiah 33 with repentance. Acknowledge that your own sins deserve the same destructive condemnation. God spares His people because He did not spare His own Son, but “gave Him up for us all” (Romans 8:32). Suggestions for prayer Confess your sins to the Lord and thank Him for giving His only-begotten Son for your salvation. Ask for forgiveness for the pride that believes we are better than other people. Rev. Todd De Rooy currently serves in Redeemer URC, in Orange City, Iowa. He has served there since being ordained in 2008. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

January 18 - Acknowledge God’s might

“Hear, you who are far off, what I have done; and you who are near, acknowledge My might.” - Isaiah 33:13 Scripture reading: Psalm 71:1-24 The Lord now addresses those “who are far off” (the nations), and those “who are near” (Judah), so that there is a total summons to the whole world. The Psalms often include a call to the nations and all the earth to praise the Lord and acknowledge His wondrous works (see Psalms 47:1; 96:3; 98:4, for example). God commands here that all people might hear about His mighty work of salvation and that those who are close (that is, in covenant with Him) should understand its significance. This comes forward more clearly in the New Testament with Jesus' command to “make disciples of the nations” (Matthew 28:18-20), and for His apostles to be His “witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). But the message of the gospel came to Jews first and then to Greeks. John summarizes his gospel's purpose in 20:31: “But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that by believing you may have life in His Name.” God's work of salvation in Christ continues, and those who are far off must hear, and those who are near must acknowledge and understand. In your prayers, do you openly acknowledge the glory of God's saving work in Christ? Are you thankful for Christ? How are you bearing witness to Christ to people around you? How are you “proclaiming God's might to the next generation”? (Psalm 71:18). Suggestions for prayer Give praise to the Lord for His mighty works in creation and in salvation. Ask the Lord for opportunities to bear witness of His mighty works to a neighbour. Rev. Todd De Rooy currently serves in Redeemer URC, in Orange City, Iowa. He has served there since being ordained in 2008. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

January 17 - God is a consuming fire

“And the peoples will be burned as if burned to lime, like thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.” - Isaiah 33:12  Scripture reading: Hebrews 12:18-29 The imagery of Assyria's destruction continues in this verse. Assyria was a fierce nation with strong warriors and was formidable in conquest. Everyone feared them. They had been undefeated to this point. As powerful and ruthless as they were, they would not be strong enough to withstand God's judgment. As hard as limerock may be, it can be burned by fire; today, lime is even used in making glass. Thorns prick and sometimes draw a drop of blood or two, but when dried up, thorns make great kindling and no fire is pricked by a thorn. “Our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29). The wrath of the Lamb of God will sweep upon His enemies suddenly and destructively; they will be consumed. This is nothing short of what all sinners deserve. Sin has eternal consequences and must be punished with eternal judgment. Unrepentant sinners will endure God's consuming fire in hell forever. Praise the Lord that His wrath was poured out on Jesus Christ in our place so that we would not be consumed! Praise the Lord that the Day of Judgment will be the Day of our full redemption because of Christ! Suggestions for prayer Repent of your sins and praise and thank the Lord for Jesus Christ, our Saviour. Praise the Lord for the righteousness of His judgment. Rev. Todd De Rooy currently serves in Redeemer URC, in Orange City, Iowa. He has served there since being ordained in 2008. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

January 16 - Conceiving chaff

“You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble; your breath is a fire that will consume you.” - Isaiah 33:11 Scripture reading: James 4:1-12 When God arises in His power and acts to deliver His people and vanquish the enemy, He will also show how futile the Assyrian effort was. All their power, their threats, their plan of war—it is all chaff, easily lifted by the wind and blown away to where no one knows, and no one cares. They will also produce stubble—like shortened stalks of corn left in the field after the combine has passed over and chopped it down. All their warmongering produces combustible products. Like their war efforts, they themselves will be consumed by fire. What is more—the fire that will kindle the chaff and stubble will be their own “breath.” Their raging and furious anger will consume them. All their cries of war will later turn into the weeping of defeat. Even Sennacherib, for all his boasting,was killed by his own sons upon his return to Nineveh. God breaks human pride with divine power. The strong cannot withstand Him. “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6; see Proverbs 3:34). Pride, worldly living, human vanity, and careless frivolity only conceive chaff. It is only by faith in Jesus Christ that we can please God (Hebrews 11:6). Suggestions for prayer Pray that you may not be tempted by the world or by pride. Ask the Lord for grace to keep you humble, doing good works that please Him. Rev. Todd De Rooy currently serves in Redeemer URC, in Orange City, Iowa. He has served there since being ordained in 2008. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

January 15 – The Lord will arise

“Now I will arise," says the Lord, "now I will lift Myself up; now I will be exalted.” – Isaiah 33:10 Scripture reading: Ps. 42:1-11 We do not trust God's wisdom as we should. Not only will God keep His promises, but He fulfills them in the best way, at the best time. We often wonder, why should God wait to deliver us? What purpose is there in His delay? Put these questions another way: would we learn to trust God if He answered us immediately? Does your faith grow more in comfort, or in adversity? So when it appears that the church is in utter ruin, God intervenes. He once again declares that He is Judge over all peoples. Yes, the Jews faced tremendous oppression. They were fearful. They were brought very low. God promises to arise, and we learn that our help is in the Name of the Lord! It is often in the Word of God when God's people are low and oppressed that He arises and shows His might. When God acts powerfully out of earthly weakness and lowliness, the message is clear: God's power does not depend on mankind, and His strength and wisdom are not of this world. God sometimes brings us low and under affliction to teach us that what we need most is Him. He is always with us; He never forgets His own! He will arise, and He will act. Just as He sent Jesus “at the right time” (Romans 5:6; Galatians 4:4), the perfect Saviour. When God determines to save His people, their deliverance is certain!  Suggestions for prayer Give thanks to the Lord for His faithful presence with us and for drawing us near to Himself in our trials and afflictions. Praise the Lord for sending Christ—the right Saviour at the right time!...

Daily devotional

January 14 - The Lord lifted up

“Now I will lift Myself up; now I will be exalted.” - Isaiah 33:10b  Scripture reading: Acts 17:22-34 The kingdom of man has exalted itself and spread itself over the world since the Fall. God bides His time; these “times of ignorance God overlooked, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent, because He has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by a Man whom He has appointed; and of this He has given assurance to all by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31). He tells Judah that He is ready to act, to encourage and comfort them. God's actions are not haphazard, but determined and then carried out according to His holy will. God's people see that all other helpers are no help at all, but we must wait patiently for the Lord to deliver. God is no greater exalted than through Jesus Christ. Isaiah will later proclaim the exaltation of the Servant of the Lord in 52:13. Jesus Christ is exalted because of His “wisdom”, but also because “He was despised and rejected by men; a Man of Sorrows, and acquainted with grief...” (v. 3a). Would you bow humbly to Jesus Christ, exalted at God's right hand? Would you repent of your pride and confess your need for His mercy? When the kingdom of man gets proud with God, He declares, “Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations...” (Psalm 46:10a). Let us not be proud and foolish like the nations, but with humble faith bow to Christ. Suggestions for prayer Give thanks to God for delivering you from the foolishness of unbelief and giving you saving faith in Jesus Christ. Exalt the Lord of glory for His glorious works. Rev. Todd De Rooy currently serves in Redeemer URC, in Orange City, Iowa. He has served there since being ordained in 2008. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

January 13 - Even the land mourns 

“The land mourns and languishes; Lebanon is confounded and withers away; Sharon is like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.” - Isaiah 33:9  Scripture reading: 2 Timothy 1:1-18 This language is not to be taken literally, even though Sennacherib and his army did march down the forests of Lebanon (see 37:24), and did pass through Sharon (see Isaiah 36). This figurative description means that even the land mourns with the people; everywhere you could look, there was a sense of fading, diminishing, or “languishing.” Life, as it were, had gone out of the land. This is used as a picture of the sad condition that the coming of the Assyrians had brought on the land and its people. Lebanon, known for its stately cedars, is now browned out; its leaves have fallen and Lebanon is ashamed. Sharon was also known for beautiful blossoms, but is now a desert region. Bashan and Carmel had verdant trees that were not only bare, but had lost their leaves early. The fear of Assyria has gripped the land; all stands still, cold and lifeless in the grip of dread terror. How can we press on in our present spiritual battle? Fear and dread easily grip us when the present enemies flex and strut. Our weakness in putting sin to death sometimes gives us the same cold and lifeless chill. But “God gave us not a spirit of fear, but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7). Jesus Christ gave His Spirit to fill us with power and courage and strength, that we might persevere and not wither, even when the enemies seem so close and so powerful. Suggestions for prayer Ask the Lord to strengthen your faith in Jesus Christ so that by His Spirit you might not languish, but press on in this spiritual battle. Rev. Todd De Rooy currently serves in Redeemer URC, in Orange City, Iowa. He has served there since being ordained in 2008. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

January 12 - The fear of man 

“The highways lie waste; the traveler ceases. Covenants are broken; cities are despised; there is no regard for man.” - Isaiah 33:8  Scripture reading: 2 Kings 18:19-37 This is related to the “bitter weeping” of verse 7. The rejection of the tribute is not only a shot against hopefulness, but a breaking of a covenant. The tribute was commanded, with the promise of withdrawal. Not only did Sennacherib refuse to withdraw his forces, but he pressed further, sending his announcers to taunt the Jews. He pressed against the cities and crushed them with little effort. So the highways lie in waste and no one travels out of fear. Here is an enemy who does not care about human life. Here is an enemy who has no honour. There appear to be no limits to his wicked cruelty. We should not live our lives in fear of our great enemies. We should not fear man (Proverbs 29:25). True, our enemies have no regard for man either. But if we fear the Lord, we will fear nothing else. We will continue to worship, work, and enjoy God and His creation, no matter the threats of the enemies. Have you stopped short of serving the Lord in fear of how unbelievers might react? If we give in to the fear of man, it will stifle our God-glorifying service. Christ has given you a spirit of power, not fear. Trust Him to protect you. Suggestions for prayer Pray for courage from the Lord to continue serving Him despite the pressures of the fear of man. Rev. Todd De Rooy currently serves in Redeemer URC, in Orange City, Iowa. He has served there since being ordained in 2008. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

January 11 - In whom do you now trust? 

“Behold, their heroes cry in the streets; the envoys of peace weep bitterly.” - Isaiah 33:7  Scripture reading: 2 Kings 18:13-18 True peace with an enemy is not made by appeasing that enemy. Hezekiah sent envoys with “three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold” (2 Kings 18:14) that he took from the house of the Lord to make the plea bargain. It was not enough. The hope was that this tribute to Sennacherib would pacify him. If there was a ray of hope, that moment passed when Rabshakeh, retorted, “Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me?” (2 Kings 18:20). Peace with such enemies is only achieved through true power. Such power is not the power of Egypt, or of any chariots, horses, or soldiers. It is not the power of money. Such are the powers of the world. The Kingdom of God is of another power: divine, sovereign, wise power. It is hopeless for us to believe that peace can be made with our enemies: our sin, the devil, or the world. They must be defeated by the power of Jesus Christ. His is not the power of earthly might, but of life through death; victory through suffering; strength through weakness. Our trust must not be in princes or wealth. Our trust must be in the Lord. Peace has been made between us and God through the blood of Jesus Christ and He will also achieve peace for His church by destroying His enemies by the Word of His power. Suggestions for prayer Praise the Lord for His powerful Word and Spirit, and Christ's power to defeat our enemies. Confess to the Lord the things in which you have trusted more than Him. Rev. Todd De Rooy currently serves in Redeemer URC, in Orange City, Iowa. He has served there since being ordained in 2008. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

January 10 - The fear of the Lord: Christ’s treasure

“And the fear of the Lord will be Zion's treasure.” - Isaiah 33:6b Scripture reading: John 17:1-26 The last part of this verse is better translated “His treasure.” There is an anticipation that the fulfillment of the fear of the Lord will hang on one Man and that this one Man will actually fulfill it in all righteousness. Surely, this one Man is Jesus Christ. He feared the Lord in all things. He was about His Father's business and He esteemed the smiles and frowns of God far more than anything of man. Fearing the Lord was Jesus' treasure, that is, it took precedence over everything else. He came not to do His own will, but the will of God Who sent Him (John 6:38). Fearing God, Jesus not only wanted to do what was right in every situation, but He actually did what was right. Hebrews 4:15b tells us that Jesus is “One who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin”; and Hebrews 12:3 exhorts us to look to Jesus, “the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despised the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Throughout His entire life, Jesus obeyed God, loved Him, praised Him and denied Himself. As Psalm 119 sings with delight in God's commandments, statutes, rules and precepts, David, in the Spirit, is merely taking up Jesus' words of praise and delight in His Father's will. Jesus' treasuring the fear of the Lord is His glorious righteousness! Suggestions for prayer Give thanks to the Lord for Christ's perfect righteousness and His fear of the Lord. Rev. Todd De Rooy currently serves in Redeemer URC, in Orange City, Iowa. He has served there since being ordained in 2008. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

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