Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 60:20
"Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more;
the LORD will be your everlasting light,
(The Lord repeats His declaration over us
just in case we didn't get it the first time He said it to us.
God Himself illuminates our lives and our path as we live in Him.
Never again will we walk in darkness, hopelessness, fear, oppression, or despair.
As surely as the sun daily rises over our world He has risen over our lives
to shine His righteousness, His truth, His hope, His mercy, and His love
over all of us to show us the way to Him and in Him.
He is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.)
and your days of sorrow will end."
(Because of His victory and reign in us,
He lifts our burdens and oppression and fears and sadness and despair
and exchanges them for His triumph and purpose and freedom.
Here is the truth for us today, and we are invited to walk in that truth
rather than the lies of the enemy that too often prevail in our thinking.
No longer will the sorrows of this life oppress us and hold us down,
but we now have the mighty hope of His calling
and His already achieved victory
over everything that touches our lives today.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,
Blessings!

Sally
513 254 3874

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Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 60:19
"The sun will no more be your light by day,
nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you,
for the Lord will be your everlasting light,
(The Lord's covenant with us, His chosen people,
is that He chooses to be our God,
to be our very source of light in the darkness of our lives,
the source of our very life and its purposes and functions and our very hope.
No longer should we depend on our own inner resources and abilities,
no longer should we depend on what the world offers us,
but here the Lord declares He is everything we need,
even the light to our path that illuminates our way and His purposes.)
and your God will be your glory."
(Not only does the Lord promise to be everything we need to survive
and to live an abundant life of light and purpose,
but He, the Creator, has determined
that He will lavish His own splendor and magnificence
on us, the created, on His chosen ones.
The very glory that accompanies Him wherever He resides
spills over onto us and in us to reflect back
the very wonder of His mighty works and His presence in our lives.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,
Blessings!

Sally
513 254 3874

[category word for today]

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 60:18
"No longer will violence be heard in your land,
nor ruin or destruction within your borders,
(The Lord continues to describe the new Jerusalem,
restored to His dominion and dwelling place with Him in control,
a time of peace and prosperity and victory.
He also gives us a picture for today of His purpose and declaration
to restore us and make us into His desired dwelling place.
With Him in control of our lives, the destruction and ruin we have experienced,
both from the world and even from within ourselves
from our own negative and destructive pronouncements over ourselves,
will no longer have dominion over us.
Rather, He reigns in us with peace and power and dominion
as a dwelling place for the Lord on earth
and sets us free from all encroachments
that try to seize territory in us that belongs to the Lord.)
but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise."
(Where before Jerusalem had to have high walls for protection,
this new Jerusalem will no longer have walls,
but will be open because Salvation has entered there
and now itself serves as the protective "walls" of the city.
The city walls of our own lives do not today
consist of our own defenses and abilities and talents and gifts,
but consist solely in the salvation of the Lord.
His great salvation is our defense, our offense, our protection,
our provision, our hope, our peace, our security, our healing, our prosperity,
everything we need to live out the life He gives us today.
Additionally, this new Jerusalem will proclaim to all
the magnificent and awesome glory of Mighty God.
Because the Lord has chosen us and because He makes us
His very proclamation to the world around us,
the salvation we live out from Him and that we express to the world
also causes us and the world to declare the magnificent glory of God
being manifest in our lives and to give Him praise
that is so abundantly due to Him.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,
Blessings!

Sally
513 254 3874

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Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 60:17b
"I will make peace your governor and well-being your ruler."
(The Lord declares that out of a season of oppression
He will bring in a season of peace and well-being,
that even those having influence over us
will contribute their input in peaceful ways,
that their ways will be filled with peace.
The last phrase of this declaration is translated in another way as
the Lord will make "your exactors righteousness."
The exactors or rulers are the authorities,
more specifically, an allusion to taskmasters
who exacted unfair and harsh taxes,
but who will now conduct their tax-gathering in fairness and integrity.
For us today, the Lord tells us
that even in our unavoidable interactions with the world
He will cause us to be treated fairly and justly
in this new season He brings into our lives.
We can depend on His protection and provision,
even from those in authority over us
who formerly had intended harshness and had inflicted harm,
but who now bow to His rule over us and them.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,
Blessings!

Sally
513 254 3874

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Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 60:17a
"Instead of bronze I will bring you gold,
(As the Lord encourages His people to look beyond
the circumstances of their present hardships,
among which was their bondage and exile in a foreign land,
He points them to the future He has planned for them,
a future that they yet cannot see with their own eyes,
but one which He asks them to look to in faith.
His promise is that He will not only rescue His people
and deliver them from their present difficulties,
but that He will bring great reward to them.
As a part of that reward, He will restore them
to the time in their history when Solomon reigned as king
and the riches of Israel made valuable metals widely plentiful.
The promise here also contains an allusion to the Temple itself.
All the items inside the Holy Place were made of gold,
while all the items outside the Tabernacle and in the courtyard bronze.
Gold represents the royalty and kingship of God,
and bronze represents the place of judgment
where God accepts the sacrifice for sin.
Today, this promise says to us that the Lord has not forsaken us
to the hardships of our current situations,
but promises us a future of wealth and prosperity
when He brings us into the new season of His planning.
The promise also reminds us that as sinful human beings
we are under God's judgment, but instead of that judgment
He will give us the gold of His righteousness and kingship.)
and silver in place of iron.
(Just as silver in Solomon's day was so plentiful
it was readily available to all, so in this future season
the Lord is promising His people they will exchange
the heat of the iron hardships they have experienced.for prosperity.
Figuratively, silver represents redemption,
and the Lord indicates here that our glorious redemption, plentifully available,
will take the place of the iron crucibles we have experienced.)
Instead of wood I will bring you bronze, and iron in place of stones."
(As created beings, we are like wood, subject to decay and corruption,
so the Lord promises us today that He will bring us into a place
where His judgment will remove the curse of death and decay over us.
He will also give us the iron of tools with which to forge implements
that serve His purposes in our lives and can be used for the work of our hands
instead of the worthless stones upon which we walk
and that make our path more difficult.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,
Blessings!

Sally
513 254 3874

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Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 60:15-16
"Although you have been forsaken and hated, with no one traveling through,
(Speaking about His beloved Jerusalem, the Lord acknowledges the city's ruins,
that the place and its inhabitants have been despised,
that the city streets are deserted with no one, tragaically,
even interested in going there to the City of God.)
I will make you the everlasting pride and the joy of all generations.
(Now, the Lord declares He will restore and rebuild the city and His people,
causing both to be honored and revered because these are where
the Lord has chosen to place His Name and honor.)
You will drink the milk of nations and be nursed at royal breasts.
Then you will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior,
your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."
(Bringing nurturing sustenance and high honor to His people,
the Lord will ensure that all know Who He is and that He is the One Who reigns,
that He is the One Who provides redemption and salvation, that He is God Almighty.
When we think that the world is against us,
when we think that the situations in our lives are beyond repair,
here is the clarion declaration that the Lord calls out.
He reminds us He is Mighty God. Period.
He will prevail in even the worst places of our lives,
not because we have achieved our own worth,
but because He has declared worth in us through His choosing us.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,
Blessings!

Sally
513 254 3874

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Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 60:14
"The children of your oppressors will come bowing before you;
all who despise you will bow down at your feet
(The Lord declares He will cause those
who had formerly been enemies of His people
to come before them with respect and honor.
Because He had chosen the Hebrews
as a special people set apart to Himself,
He vows they will no longer be overrun, conquered, and oppressed,
but will experience a place of honor in the world
so that even their former enemies will submit to them.
The Lord promises us today that we, too, will be restored
from our former position of hardship and oppression
and will be elevated to places of prominence and honor,
not because of our own intrinsic worth, but because of the worth
that the Lord has placed on us and in us through the salvation of His Son.)
and will call you the City of the Lord, Zion of the Holy One of Israel."
(Because the Lord will be acknowledge as Lord,
His people will also be acknowledged as honored and chosen,
no longer outcasts or living in exile.
Today, we can walk in the truth of who we are in the Lord,
chosen, a City of God and His dwelling place, holy ones of the Lord,
set on a mission of hope and restoration to the world around us.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,
Blessings!

Sally
513 254 3874

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Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 60:13
"The glory of Lebanon will come to you,
the juniper, the fir and the cypress together, to adorn My sanctuary;
(As the Lord describes the restoration of His city and His Temple,
He specifically refers to the glorious renewal of His place of residence on earth.
In Solomon's day when the Lord instructed him in building the Temple,
He told him to gather the prized wood from Lebanon, the prized cedars of Lebanon.
The Lord describes here a picture of the restored glory
of His chosen city and dwelling place,
and He declares that the Temple ruins will be rebuilt and, furthermore,
they will be rebuilt by the riches and resources of the surrounding nations
who had formerly been Israel's enemies.
This promise to Israel is also a promise to us today,
that the ruins of our lives will be restored and that the Lord will cause
even what has seemed to work against us to work for us in His rebuilding.)
and I will glorify the place for My Feet."
(When Solomon completed the Temple, the Lord said He would reside
between the cheribim above the ark which was covered by the mercy seat
and served metaphorically as God's footstool.
Here is an assurance to all of us today that the Lord is over all
and has put everything on this earth under His feet.
When He looks on us from His position above the ark,
He sees the very mercy seat on which the blood of the sacrifice,
the spotless and perfect Lamb of God, was sprinkled
and through which our atonement is established.
Here is a reminder that nothing can come between us
and the provision the Lord has put in place for us,
that He has conquered and holds supremacy over all sin
and over all the situations in our lives today.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,
Blessings!

Sally
513 254 3874

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Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 60:11-12
"Your gates will always stand open, they will never be shut, day or night,
so that people may bring you the wealth of the nations—
their kings led in triumphal procession.
(Referring to the City of God, the Lord tells His people
not only will they be returned to their city from which they have been exiled,
but they also will experience great peace and prosperity.
People of all nations, even the rulers of nations, will be drawn to Jerusalem,
drawn to the place where the Lord has established His presence.
Today, the picture of the peaceful and prosperous city of God drawing people into it
is also a picture of who we are in the Kingdom of God today.
The lives we live are a dwelling place for the Lord,
and, as He lives His life through us,
we will not only experience peace and prosperity ourselves in Him,
but we will also be a source of His love to others that draws people to Him.)
For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish;
it will be utterly ruined."
(The Lord is so serious about honoring His city, His people,
that He assures us anyone who does not yield to His dominion
not only will never prosper, but also will destroy themselves.
The Lord is calling us today to serve Him,
to come into His place of love and redemption
so that we, too, are saved, so that we do not perish.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,
Blessings!

Sally
513 254 3874

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Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 60:10
"Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you.
(The Lord declares that He will cause foreign nations to rebuild His city,
either through willingness or by coercing,
that those who before had been opposed to Him
and to His people will come to their aid.
They will help rebuild the walls of Jerusalem
that had been destroyed by the Babylonian invasion.
In fact, much later, Cyrus fulfilled this prophecy
when he himself, a foreigner and a king,
ordered and supported the rebuilding of the walls of God's city.
For us today, the Lord has also declared
that the walls of our lives will be rebuilt.
He will even send people into our lives today
to help us rebuild the brokenness in our lives.
He causes people and events to intervene in our situations,
and He uses them to build us up when we have been broken and in ruins.
Whether willingly or by coercion, the people and situations in our lives
all ultimately bow to His purposes in our lives.)
Though in anger I struck you, in favor I will show you compassion."
(While we prefer to think more on the Lord's rich and unfailing mercies
and compassionate love, we can also be comforted by His discipline
and know that, like the holy and righteous parent that He is,
He will never allow us to continue in disobedience and rebellion
without allowing us to experience the consequences of such behaviors
and His displeasure at any sin in our lives.
The Lord reminds Israel of old and us today that His judgment always prevails,
that we will experience the consequences of our foolish and even wicked choices,
but that His love and compassion for us lasts throughout His discipline
and carries us into His forgiveness and redemption.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,
Blessings!

Sally
513 254 3874

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Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 60:8-9
"Who are these that fly along like clouds, like doves to their nests?
(Isaiah describes the multitudes of God's people
and converts from beyond the Mediterranean Sea
who, in this new season, will flock to dovecotes
in and around the Temple of God where they will make their home.
We who have been God followers and those who are now drawn to Him
will come to Him in great numbers and with great speed
as we realize a new season of need and release is upon us,
and we will make our sure home in His safety and provision.)
Surely the islands look to Me;
in the lead are the ships of Tarshish,
(Even foreigners will understand the call of the Lord on their lives.
The world has longed for a Savior and the Lord will provide Him.
All will realize that we are called to relationship with Him
and eagerly turn to the Savior the Lord has promised and delivered.)
bringing your children from afar, with their silver and gold,
to the honor of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel,
for He has endowed you with splendor."
(Not only will the Lord cause Gentiles and their children to come to Him,
be He will also cause them to bring their wealth to Him and His people.
He will be acknowledged and honored by the world.
He will also cause His people, all of us who know the Lord as Savior,
to be honored and sought out because He has given us the Good News
to share with those who are hungry and seeking salvation.
He reminds us today that we are carriers today,
carriers of His message of hope and forgiveness to all those around us.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,
Blessings!

Sally
513 254 3874

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Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 60:5b-7
"...the wealth on the seas will be brought to you,
to you the riches of the nations will come.
(As the Lord brings His people back to Him out of their exile,
He also declares that prosperity will burst over them.)
Herds of camels will cover your land,
young camels of Midian and Ephah.
(Camels of the day were both a sign of great wealth in themselves,
as well as the transportation of the wealth of the day,
serving as carriers on land even as ships did on the seas.
The trade generated from the descendants of Abraham,
both the Midianites and Ephahites,
who lived to the east of the Dead Sea would flourish.)
And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense
and proclaiming the praise of the Lord.
(Located in the area now known as far-distant Yemen,
Sheba was a wealthy land that the Lord says
will be a part of the wealth increase among His people.)
All Kedar's flocks will be gathered to you,
the rams of Nebaioth will serve you;
they will be accepted as offerings on My altar,
and I will adorn My glorious temple."
(Kedar and Nebaioth, both descendants of Ishmael
and primarily shepherds living in the Arabian desert,
would also bring their wealth to God's people, even supplying
the very renewed sacrifices they would reinstate in the Temple.
The Lord has seen His people in exile and oppression
and declares they are entering a new phase
where even their former enemies would contribute to their prosperity.
He is describing the next season in our lives as well.
We know today that the seasons of our lives
sometimes bring us into challenging and difficult places.
But, here, we are assured that those times
are seasons only and do not last forever.
Further, the Lord will cause even those beyond our normal influence
to acknowledge us and to bless us and to prosper us,
yet another way the Lord intervenes on our behalf in unexpected ways
and causes us to refocus our worship once again on Him.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,
Blessings!

Sally
513 254 3874

[category word for today]

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 60:4-5a
"Lift up your eyes and look about you:
All assemble and come to you;
(When the Lord expressed the fullness and light of His glory,
a glory fulfilled through His Son Jesus,
He says that expression will draw people to Him from across the nations.
He is saying He will vindicate His people
because out of them has come the Savior of the world.
Today, we have experienced this very glory through Christ's salvation.
We have the answer in us that people are seeking.
They look to us because what is in us resonates with them
and the glory of the Lord entices them.
As we live for Christ, He says when He is lifted up
He will draw all men to Him.)
your sons come from afar,
(Even those relationships and sons who have been exiled to far places
will be restored and reinstated under the light of God's presence
because of the powerful draw that God's glory expressed in His Son has for men.
We as God's sons are drawn to Him no matter where we are in our lives.)
and your daughters are carried on the hip.
(The Hebrew for this picture of children carried at the sides of the mothers
shows the tender-loving care of a mother
and refers to the nurturing and love that is prevalent in this glory of the Lord.
The word for daughter shows that the children of God's people
are the apple of His and their eye, that their care is paramount.
It is a picture of the Lord's tender nurturing of us all as His Own daughters.)
Then you will look and be radiant,
your heart will throb and swell with joy;"
(When we walk into the glory presence of the Lord,
His closeness chases away everything except pure and joyous exaltation.
Where He is no fear or despair or uncertainty exists--only delight and security.
Our promise today is to look to Him as our Source for joy and satisfaction.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,
Blessings!

Sally
513 254 3874

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Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 60:1-3
"Arise, shine, for your light has come,
(The Lord's message through Isaiah is to a people who are in exile,
having been invaded and conquered by Babylon,
a weakened and damaged, a sleeping and apathetic people..
Now, in a call to them to rise, He speaks a new future for them,
to rise up out of their crushed and lowly position of servitude and oppression.
The Lord also calls us His people to arise today.
If we are to rise up, the implication is that we have been low,
lying down, overcome, overwhelmed, and beaten down.)
and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
(Today, He says the light of His glory has entered our situation,
that we are no longer living in the shadows of darkness and bondage.
The Hebrew of this phrase hearkens to the rising of the sun,
so as surely as the sun itself rises at the dawn,
the magnificent glory of the Lord rises to spread His light over us
and to dispel the darkness of the night of our lives.)
See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you and His glory appears over you.
(Though we still live today in perilous times, often even in oppressive times,
even though darkness still prevails in many arenas,
the Lord declares to you and me today that He Himself has risen
to show Himself, to reveal Himself, to introduce and establish His glory
in all the situations in our lives and in all the challenges we face.)
Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn."
(Even as we are drawn to awaken to the light of the rising sun,
so also will others be drawn to the work of the Lord, to His glory,
to the new day in Christ which is available to all who look to Him.
As we allow Jesus to live through us today, others will be drawn to Hm.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,
Blessings!

Sally
513 254 3874

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Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 59:21
"As for Me, this is My covenant with them," says the Lord.
(Though we have been willful, disobedient, and rebellious,
God Himself has declared we are His people, and, as amazing as it is,
He has chosen to establish a relationship with us,
a relationship based in covenant that binds Himself, the King, to us, His people,
and that avows specific responsibilities and privileges.)
"My Spirit, Who is on you, will not depart from you,
and My Words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips,
on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—
from this time on and forever," says the Lord.
(Here is a new covenant from God with His people,
that He is giving us His very Spirit, the very Spirit of God to be with us.
God's solemn transaction with us is that He chooses us,
that He has given us His Spirit to be with us always,
and that He will never leave us or forsake us.
He declares He will give us the Word of Truth,
the Spirit of Truth that will make God's truths alive in us,
causing them to be foundational for us and manifest in our lives.
As for our part, we will walk in His ways and in His truths,
and, as we do that, He will cause our descendants
and those around us to come to Him, as well.

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,
Blessings!

Sally
513 254 3874

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Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 59:20
"The Redeemer will come to Zion,
to those in Jacob who repent of their sins," declares the LORD.
(What a promise to us today!
Not only has the Lord given Himself to us as Man to be our substitute sacrifice,
but He still gives Himself to us through His Holy Spirit to be present with us now.
Coming out of Zion, He now comes to Zion, to His people.
Our God, our hope, our deliverer, our victory, our strength, our provision,
comes to us as Redeemer, as LORD, as the Great I AM,
as the eternal, incomprehensible, omnipotent, omniscient God.
Completely "Other," He makes Himself available to us,
to save us, to give us life in Him, to provide for us.
He chooses us before we ever even seek Him.
He pursues us while we are still in sin.
He redeems us out of His love though there is nothing lovely about us.
The only response we can make to such a Presence,
to such an arrival, indeed, our one required response,
is to turn to Him in repentance to receive Him
as the Lord and Savior that He is.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,
Blessings!

Sally
513 254 3874

[category word for today]

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 59:19
From the west, people will fear the Name of the Lord,
and from the rising of the sun, they will revere His glory.
(No matter where men reside, all will see the Hand of God
intervening on behalf of His people.
His intervention will be clear and obvious,
so evident that no one can deny that it is God Himself
Who has provided victory for His people.
Even though it may seem as if the enemy has won,
even though it may seem as if unjust people get ahead,
even though it may seem we have not been vindicated,
the Lord promises His people that He will fight for them.
He declares that even those who have not submitted to His calling
will bow to His authority and glory.
Not one of us will be able to withstand
the force and the power of the Lord's revealed presence.
He will prevail. He wins. He overcomes.
No matter how difficult the situation seems,
we can be assured that the Lord will triumph.)
For He will come like a pent-up flood
that the breath of the Lord drives along.
(When the Lord chooses to make Himself known,
when He chooses to hold His people's enemies to account,
He is not subtle or delicate. He roars in with the force of a flood.
Not only does He breathe the breath of life into us,
but He also breathes out judgment as well.
He protects His people with the power of His Spirit and His Word.
God is always at work. Much of His work goes unnoticed by us.
We are either oblivious or ignorant of the work God is about.
Other times, He blatantly shouts His work from the heavens
to make sure everyone knows of it.
When He chooses to make Himself known as our Deliverer, for example,
His presence will flood the world with the wonder
of His miraculous work on our behalf.
All we have to do is look to the grand provision
of His salvation work through His Son Jesus to know that all the world
will see and know of God's intervention in the affairs of men.
Another reading of the Hebrew translates these two lines this way:
"When enemies come in like a flood,
the Spirit of the Lord will put them to flight."
Even when the enemies' attacks seem overwhelming,
when they seem to have won the day, they have no power, no standing,
in the presence of the Lord Who wages war for us.
When the Lord makes His appearance,
the enemy is beaten and put to flight in complete retreat.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,
Blessings!

Sally

513 254 3874

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Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 59:18
According to what they have done, so will He repay
wrath to His enemies and retribution to His foes;
He will repay the islands their due.
(When God's people were attacked by their enemies,
when the people of God actually attacked their own,
the Lord declared that He would protect those
who were obedient to Him and who walked in His ways.
He doesn't stop there.
The Lord promises His people that He will vindicate them
by also bringing judgment to the enemies of His faithful ones,
both the Babylonians who have conquered His people
and taken them into exile, and also even to the far-away nations
that have oppressed them.
Our actions matter, and the Lord reminds us here in this declaration
that we, too, will be held accountable for our actions.
He will cause those who are against us to reap what they have sown
and to receive the just punishment for their acts against His anointed ones.
He wants to make sure we know that He will allow the people
who sow wickedness to reap what they sow.
He will exact justice over them.
While it may often appear that the wicked
escape their just due and even prosper,
the Lord's judgment will overtake them,
and He will hold them accountable in His just and righteous judgment.
When we feel the world is winning,
when we feel those who are unjust have the upper hand
and are even rewarded by the world's standards,
when we despair that we have lost out
to the power of those who lack integrity and honor,
today, we can know that, in truth, the Lord will do what He says He will do,
that He will justify us by exacting vengeance on those who are against us
and by repaying and restoring what we have lost.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,
Blessings!

Sally
513 254 3874

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Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 59:17
He put on righteousness as His breastplate,
and the helmet of salvation on His head;
(When God saw the few good people who were devoted to Him,
when He saw that no one among the Israelites came to their aid,
but, instead, ridiculed and mocked them for their trust in their God,
He arose as a mighty Warrior, arming Himself for battle on their behalf.
Today, when we are alone, when we are under attack,
when the situations we face pit us against the world and its followers,
the Lord God Himself still rises up armed for battle
for our benefit to defend and protect us.)
He put on the garments of vengeance
and wrapped Himself in zeal as in a cloak.
(To fight on behalf of those who need Him,
the Lord clothes Himself with His unfaltering determination
to vindicate His Own Name as well as us His people.
He refuses to allow His people to be conquered
because of the love He has for His people
and for the sake of His Own reputation.
He wraps Himself in His offensive armor of zeal for His Name and His people.
He never half-heartedly fights for us.
When He takes up battle for us, He does so
with the zealous glory and might of God Almighty,
the One in Whom we can be assured we will see victory,
the One we know is on our side and Who already has won the day for us.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,
Blessings!

Sally
513 254 3874

[category word for today]

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 59:15b-16
The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice.
He saw that there was no one,
He was appalled that there was no one to intervene;
(The Lord saw the very small few of His people who,
in the midst of the evil of their fellowman,
were trying to be honorable and to act with integrity.
As He looked on these few, He also looked for people around them
who would stand up for them, who would call for justice for them,
who would intervene on their behalf.
And, amazingly, He found no one among all His people
who would stand in the gap for those few who were good.
He saw His people as ravenous, devouring the few good among them.)
so His Own Arm achieved salvation for him,
and His Own righteousness sustained him.
(While we may think what transpires around us goes unnoticed by the Lord,
we can be assured that He sees exactly what we are and what we do
and exactly what others are and what others are doing.
He will not allow those who seek to follow after His ways
to be destroyed by the evil of others.
Here He declares that since no man
will come to the defense of good people in the midst of an evil culture
He Himself will rise up and take action on their behalf.
He gives us the same promise today.
Even though we may feel alone and unable to find help from others,
He will, by the strength of His Own complete and full salvation,
by the power of His Own holy and pure righteousness,
redeem us from impossible circumstances and lead us into victory
and deliver us out of what seems to be certain defeat.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,
Blessings!

Sally
513 254 3874

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Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 59:14-15a
So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance;
(God has repeatedly told His people of His displeasure toward them
and His repugnance at their rebelliousness and sin.
Finally, in exile in Babylon, they have heard and are confessing their deep sin.
They now admit to the deep-seated corruption in their courts
and their lack of impartiality, their injustice toward people who seek justice,
their indulgence in bribery and deceit and dishonesty.
They have sunk so far into the depths of evil toward each other
that they cannot make any claim to either justice or righteousness.
Both have fled from their interactions with each other and with God.)
truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter.
Truth is nowhere to be found,
(Where once men could receive justice at the city gate
where ancient courts were held and just decisions were handed out,
now no truth even lives there in the decisions made by the city's fathers.
Truth and honesty do not even exist in the city any longer.
Today, in many ways, we, too, have become a people
who abuse others through injustice and dishonesty,
where words lost their traditional meaning and take on new definitions,
where truth and honesty become situational
and dependent on the current shift of the winds.)
and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.
(The evil among God's people had reached such a pitch
that anyone who tried to do good, who tried to be honorable and just,
was a prey to the predominant culture of sin.
That person was mocked and ridiculed and ostracized.
In our world today, while we may pride ourselves
on having reached come imagined, higher level of advanced culture,
we, too, see how good becomes something considered evil
and truth becomes something considered lie.
Only through our confession to the Lord of our sinful ways,
only through interceding against the direction to which we are so prone to head,
only through repentance and receiving His forgiveness
can we turn from the wickedness of our ways and turn to the Lord's ways.
And we can still rely on the Lord's promise today that if we confess our sins,
He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,
Blessings!

Sally
513 254 3874


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Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 59:12b-13
Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities:
rebellion and treachery against the Lord, turning our backs on our God,
inciting revolt and oppression, uttering lies our hearts have conceived.
(In their desperation that the Lord had not answered their calls for deliverance
from their plight as exiles in Babylon, God's people finally began to look inward
and admitted what the Lord had told them was true,
that they were far from God, that they were living a lie as to their devotion to Him.
As we look inward and remember who we are without the Lord's forgiveness,
as we look at our filthy rags of what we call righteousness
we see the true state of our hopeless condition,
a state of sin and separation from God, the worst possible state of mankind.
In that condition, it is impossible to please Him, to do enough to make up for
or to bridge the impassable chasm that separates us from Holy God.
Although we humans tend to put sin into categories,
judging some sins as far worse than others, the Lord looks on all sin as sin,
and that sin, regardless of our human perspective about it,
causes separation from Him.
His holiness, His righteousness, His complete and magnificent goodness
cannot abide in the presence of sin. Period.
We can only remove ourselves from the DNA of our sin nature
by looking to the Lord, repenting, receiving His forgiveness,
and allowing His Own righteousness,
the righteousness that He offers to us,
to become our own and to cover us as we live life in Him.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,
Blessings!

Sally
513 254 3874

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