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#DailyDevotion Good News! Jesus Has Found You.

#DailyDevotion Good News! Jesus Has Found You.

Isa 65:1-5  I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, “Here I am, here I am,” to a nation that was not called by my name.  (2)  I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices;  (3)  a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens and making offerings on bricks;  (4)  who sit in tombs, and spend the night in secret places; who eat pig’s flesh, and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels;  (5)  who say, “Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.” These are a smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all the day.

The Lord God, the God of Israel is very patient with his people. We see even in Isaiah’s day they were rebellious against the Lord. This was 8 centuries before Jesus. They were a stiff-necked people in the wilderness coming out of Egypt. They were stiff-necked in the Promised Land. Some are still stiff-necked unto this day. They provoke the Lord their God by not believing what he has told them. In ancient times, in Isaiah’s day they worshipped as they pleased and worshipped other gods, even in the Temple.

In Jesus’ day and to this day they add and subtract from the Torah of the Law in vain attempts to keep it. Their teachers made the Law easier in some places; harder in other places. Jesus had said of them, Mat 15:8-9 ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;  (9)  in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” They think they are falling into the idolatry of their fathers but it is the same.

Finally, the leaders of the Jews and those who followed them rejected their Lord as he came to them in their own flesh as predicted through Moses and the prophets. In the height of their idolatry they said, “We have no kind but Caesar.” Caesar would later burn Jerusalem and tear down the temple.

Yet, the Lord was ready to be sought by those who did not seek him or ask for him. Jesus sent forth his apostles into the world, first to the Jew and then to the Gentile the message of salvation. Here, in Isaiah, we see the mystery of Christ. Through faith in Jesus, the Lord, the Gentiles, non-Jewish people, are included with Israel. They are both made a new creation in Jesus. Through his apostles, evangelists and pastors Jesus stands with his arms out inviting us, “Here I am, here I am.”

We were not called by name of the Lord. Our ancestors worshipped false gods, spirits, and the elements. But God in his great mercy has sent to us the message of salvation. Be repentant, have a change of mind, confess your sins, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be baptized into his name and you will be saved. The Lord, the Lord, merciful, kind, loving and faithful will forgive your sins and remember them no more. Be baptized into his name, be joined with him through the Spirit given there, trust that he has fulfilled the Law for you. Believe that his sacrifice has atoned for your sins. The penalty for your sins, death, has been paid by Jesus. His life he now offers to your freely to partake without cost.

So what are you going to do? Are you going to continue in your stubbornness and die? Will you continue to trust things that are not the Living God? Or will you confess your sins, repent of them and turn to Jesus for your salvation? Be smart, trust Jesus.

Heavenly Father, without your help, we cannot truly repent of our sins and trust in your son Jesus Christ. Grant unto us the gift of repentance and faith that we may turn from our lives of death and walk in the path of Life. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

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Rev. Guillaume J. S. Williams, Sr.

The Reverend Guillaume Williams is the Pastor of Hope Lutheran Chapel of Osage Beach, Missouri. His pastoral ministry with Hope began in 2005 where he preaches the Christ crucified.

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