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The Upper Room International Editions: Changing Hearts and Lives
Not long after the first issue of The Upper Room daily devotional rolled off the press Read More
Dan R. Dick | Read Isaiah 12:1-2
My third-grade Sunday school teacher was a dedicated but scary woman named Miss Hack. She spent most of her time putting the fear of God—instead of the love of God—into her students. For most of my childhood and adolescence, I suspected that God was carefully watching me, just waiting for...
God of loving grace, thank you for new life and the light that fills our lives. Amen.
This week we read two passages from the prophet Isaiah. In the first, God promises a total restoration, a new heaven and a new earth— a theme repeated in Revelation 21. The new Jerusalem will be filled with joy and prosperity. Isaiah 12 offers thanksgiving to God for the gift of salvation. The praise of God will be proclaimed among many nations. In the epistle, Paul chastises a lazy faction among the Thessalonians. This passage has been misapplied as teaching against providing assistance to the poor, but Paul’s target is not the poor; it is those who can provide for themselves but fail to do so because they say they are too focused on waiting for Jesus. In Luke, Jesus foretells future turmoil for Jerusalem at the hands of the Romans.
Read Isaiah 65:17-25. How can you play a part in Isaiah’s vision for God’s people? When do you have to accept that only God can usher in this vision? How do you know the difference between these two situations?
Read Isaiah 12. How can your words be life-changing for others?
Read 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13. Who has mentored you in the faith? How has their guidance helped you grow?
Read Luke 21:5-19. How do you speak the truth of Jesus to those who say the end is near?
Respond by posting a prayer.
