Slices
Prepare
God is the maker of all things! Try to get outside or at least look out of the window. What can you see around you to delight in and praise him for today?
Bible passage
Jerusalem to be inhabited
24 ‘This is what the Lord says –
your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb:
I am the Lord,
the Maker of all things,
who stretches out the heavens,
who spreads out the earth by myself,
25 who foils the signs of false prophets
and makes fools of diviners,
who overthrows the learning of the wise
and turns it into nonsense,
26 who carries out the words of his servants
and fulfils the predictions of his messengers,
who says of Jerusalem, “It shall be inhabited,”
of the towns of Judah, “They shall be rebuilt,”
and of their ruins, “I will restore them,”
27 who says to the watery deep, “Be dry,
and I will dry up your streams,”
28 who says of Cyrus, “He is my shepherd
and will accomplish all that I please;
he will say of Jerusalem, ‘Let it be rebuilt,’
and of the temple, ‘Let its foundations be laid.’”
Explore
God is the Lord, the maker of all things (v 24). He is the Lord over false prophets and people who claim to do magic (v 25). He is the Lord over those who appear to be wise and learned (v 25). He uses worldly rulers to achieve his purposes, as with Cyrus, which is a matter of historical record (v 28). He is the Lord of his people’s history, using servants, prophets and messengers to fulfil his purposes for his people (vs 26,27).
This Ascension Day, we remember Jesus returning to the Father in heaven, leaving his disciples with a blessing (Luke 24:50). On Ascension Day, our hearts look backwards to Jesus’ life, and forwards to his Spirit’s work in the church and his coming again. We have faith in what is not seen and we wait expectantly for his words to be fulfilled – rather like God’s people in Isaiah’s day!
Do you sometimes struggle to have faith that what God has promised will come to pass? The apostle Paul talks about how God is wiser than human wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:25). We can trust in God!
Respond
Pray for faith in Jesus and praise him for all he has done and will do. You might like to listen to the song ‘King of Kings’ (2019, Hillsong Worship)
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: 2 Kings 4,5; 2 Corinthians 3
Pray for Scripture Union
Praise God for giving Nic a heart for the vulnerable, the opportunities to serve them and the gifts with which to reveal Jesus to them ‘in grace and truth’. (This week's prayers relate to this story in Connecting You)
