Today's Devotions

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Showcase: Assorted Treats

  • More than the Flavor of the Moment +

    If God is not first in your thoughts and efforts in the morning, he will be in the last place Read More
  • Transformation +

    Do we really want to be transformed by God? In the passage (below) from Isaiah, not only a person is Read More
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barren1Do we really want to be transformed by God? In the passage (below) from Isaiah, not only a person is transformed but an entire nation, a makeover of both the spiritual and ecological elements. God’s transformation not only lays low evil doers and cynics, it is God’s heart recognizing those who were willing to turn toward Him. The biblical transformation Isaiah prophecies is rooted in a rejuvenation for those people who have turned—willingly—their faces to see Him, and submit to Him alone.  He takes the things and people that are “wasted”, “deaf”, “blind”, the “castoffs”, “the down and outs”, and returns them into reflections of His glory.

15-16 Doom to you! You pretend to have the inside track.
You shut God out and work behind the scenes,
Plotting the future as if you knew everything,
acting mysterious, never showing your hand.
You have everything backward!
You treat the potter as a lump of clay.
Does a book say to its author, 
"He didn't write a word of me"?
Does a meal say to the woman who cooked it,
"She had nothing to do with this"?

17-21 And then before you know it,
and without you having anything to do with it,
Wasted Lebanon will be transformed into lush gardens,
and Mount Carmel reforested.
At that time the deaf will hear 
word-for-word what's been written.
After a lifetime in the dark,
the blind will see.
The castoffs of society will be laughing and dancing in God,
the down-and-outs shouting praise to The Holy of Israel.

For there'll be no more gangs on the street.
Cynical scoffers will be an extinct species.
Those who never missed a chance to hurt or demean 
will never be heard of again:
Gone the people who corrupted the courts,
gone the people who cheated the poor,
gone the people who victimized the innocent.
Isaiah 29:16-18 (The Message)

So the question remains, do we recognize our need to be transformed, or do we think we are not in need of the Almighty’s recreating?

Reflections to Consider

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Publications

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Music

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Audio & Video

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Favorites

  • Praise Adonai by Paul Baloche +

    Who is like Him The Lion and the Lamb Seated on the throne Mountains bow down Every ocean roars To the Lord of hosts  Read More
  • An Interview with Paul Washer by Tim Challies +

    You probably know Paul Washer as the man who preached the infamous "Shocking Youth Message," a sermon that has tallied Read More
  • Glorious by Paul Baloche +

    Look inside the mysterySee the empty crossSee the risen SaviorVictorious and strong Read More
  • Paul's Prayers +

    How do we pray? What should we pray for? Yes, there is the Lord's prayer--Jesus teaching his disciples, and us, Read More
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Hidden Blessings

  • The Patience and Compassion of God's Love +

    We have an amazing God. Read More
  • The Fear of the Lord +

    Why is fear of the Lord so important as a follower of Jesus? Read More
  • Praying to the Trinity: Our Heavenly Father +

    The following is a modified version of a prayer by John Stott, an Anglican theologian from the 20th century. Read More
  • Praying to the Trinity: Jesus +

    The following is a modified version of a prayer by John Stott, Read More
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