The gospel moves with slow and timid pace
when the saints are not at their prayers
early and late and long.
– E. M. Bounds
Author: Brian
Follower of Jesus, Husband, Dad, Grandpa, and Pastor
Sermon Songs: Isaiah 41
Behold our God rules over all
He cares and helps us lest we fall
Be not dismayed and do not fear
For our God knows the future year
Fear not, our God will be with you
In your weakness, he’ll strengthen you
Our God will help and uphold you
For he has called and chosen you
– From a sermon on Isaiah 41
(To the tune of the “Doxology”)
Behold Our God In 2015
Perhaps our greatest need as we begin a new year is to behold our God – to be reminded of who he is. Isaiah 41 gives us just the glimpse we need:
Our God Rules Over All (v1-7) – God raised up Cyrus to end the Babylonian empire and usher in the Persian empire so the people of Israel could return to their land. Indeed he rules over each generation that comes along – he is the first and the last. And our God will rule over this year. God has a plan for 2015, and he will fulfill his plan. He has a purpose for your life this year.
Our God Cares About Us and Helps Us (v8-20) – God has chosen his people to be his servants, and he will be with us in 2015. He will strengthen us in our weakness. He will help us in our trials. He will uphold us in our need.
Our God Knows The Future (v21-29) – The gods of the nations cannot tell the future – they are nothing, a delusion, empty wind. But our God predicted the coming of Cyrus about 200 years before he came onto the scene. Our God knows the future. He knows what will happen in 2015. Nothing this year will take him by surprise.
Our God rules over the coming year. He knows what the coming year will bring. He cares about us and will help us this year. So let us set our gaze upon him, and trust him with the 2015.
Passion Points
Here are two FREE devotionals you might find useful for the coming year:
Morning and Evening – Charles Spurgeon (audio)
TableTalk – January only (e-book)
And then here are a couple of good posts for your weekend reading:
Ten Practical Ways to Control Spending and Wisely Manage God’s Money – Randy Alcorn
Three Reasons to Attend Corporate Worship – Matthew Westerholm (DG)
Hope you have a great Lord’s Day in corporate worship with your local church!
New Years Collection
Here are some good posts to consider as we enter the new year:
How To Make A New Year’s Resolution That Sticks – Tim Challies
10 Questions To Ask at the Start of a New Year – Donald Whitney
3 Reminders as You Enter the New Year 2015 – Brian Najapfour
A Holy and Happy 2015 To You – David Murray
Planning for the New Year – (My collection of new year links from last year)
Declaring The Glory
Near my home
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
– Psalm 19:1
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature,
have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,
in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
– Romans 1:20
Bible Reading Plans
The new year is a great time to commit to start reading through the Bible. There are many plans out there, and Tim Challies gives us a good list of options.
The one I tend to use can be found in the menu bar above. It gives you one chapter from the New Testament for 5 days each week, and one Psalm and 2-3 chapter from the Old Testament for 6 days each week. That gives you one day each week to catch up or review what you learned during the week.
Another approach is to focus on a specific book of the Bible for an extended time by reading it over and over again until you really know the book. Joe Carter explains this approach here.
Whatever you do, I hope that the coming year will be a year of growth for you in knowing and living out the Word of our Lord!
Christmas Collection
Here are some good posts for Christmas:
Christmas Is the Greatest Mystery – David Mathis (DG)
No Low Too Low – Tim Challies
10 Ways We Can Remember To Be Christians This Christmas – Kevin DeYoung
The Story of Pain and Hope Behind “I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day” – Justin Taylor
Of The Father’s Love Begotten – Kevin DeYoung
I hope you have a merry Christmas celebrating the birth of our Savior!
Sermon Songs: Isaiah 40:27-31
Behold our God, mighty and great
His power He’ll give to you
Look to the Lord, upon Him wait
Your strength He will renew
Behold our God, Himself He gives
He dies my sins to pay
He gives new power that I might live
For my Savior today
– From a sermon on Isaiah 40:27-31
(To the tune of “Amazing Grace”)
The God of the Weak
Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the LORD,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?
– Isaiah 40:27
Have you ever felt like that? Thought that? Said that?
My way is hidden from God. He doesn’t know what is going on? He doesn’t see?
Or worse – my right is disregarded. He doesn’t care.
Ever felt abandoned by God?
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted.
– Isaiah 40:30
Ever been faint? Weary? Exhausted?
Physically exhausted by sickness or disease or injury or just old age?
Mentally exhausted with all the things you are trying to keep track of?
Emotionally exhausted by grief or fear or anxiety – distressed, discouraged, depressed?
Or spiritually exhausted by temptations?
God has a word for us who are weak, weary, in need of strength, in need of God.
He calls us to behold our God (v28).
He is the everlasting God. He is the Creator God.
He is the never-tiring God. He is the all-wise God.
He is a great God, and this great God is the God of the weak.
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
– Isaiah 40:29
He gives power to the weak so that we might renew our strength,
and mount up with wings as eagles, and run and not be weary.
God gives us strength to do what is otherwise humanly impossible,
to overcome giants in our lives by his power,
to press on and endure great hardships in a supernatural way.
Our great God is the God of the weak who stoops down to help us,
to give us a power beyond ourselves.
And this power comes as we wait upon the Lord (v31).
We wait for the Lord with patience, trust, and expectation
that he will give his power to help us in our weakness.
We wait upon the Lord for strength in our sickness, disease, injury, or old age.
We wait upon the Lord for strength when we are overwhelmed.
We wait upon the Lord for strength in our grief, fears, anxieties, and discouragement.
We wait upon the Lord for strength in our temptations.
They who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.
Our great God is the God of the weak who gives power to those who wait upon him.
Will you wait upon the Lord today?
Brian J. Mikul 