20-20 Blog

Scripture Focus:

Isaiah 41:13
I, your God,
have a firm grip on you and I’m not letting go.
I’m telling you, ‘Don’t panic.
I’m right here to help you.’

Isaiah 42:15–16
But I’ll take the hand of those who don’t know the way,
who can’t see where they’re going.
I’ll be a personal guide to them,
directing them through unknown country.
I’ll be right there to show them what roads to take,
make sure they don’t fall into the ditch.
These are the things I’ll be doing for them—
sticking with them, not leaving them for a minute.”

Observation:

God is there for me when I need him. He will see me through tough times, and help me figure out what I’m doing when I’m in uncharted territory.

Application:

Trust God today to lead me, to show me what to do, to empower me, to bring support and help from unexpected sources.

Prayer:

Father God, thank you for walking with me today. I trust you to be my personal guide to help me through this day.

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Scripture Focus & Observation:

Here’s what I learned today:

Attitude

• God wants me to be grateful.
Isaiah 29: 24 In holy worship they’ll honor the Holy One of Jacob
   and stand in holy awe of the God of Israel.
Those who got off-track will get back on-track,
   and complainers and whiners learn gratitude.”

Help In Time Of Need

• God really wants to help me and hates it when I turn to everyone and everything else first.
Isaiah 31:1
Doom to those who go off to Egypt thinking that horses can help them,
Impressed by military mathematics,
   awed by sheer numbers of chariots and riders—
And to The Holy of Israel, not even a glance,
   not so much as a prayer to God.

• God wants me to depend on him, not on my own ability.
Isaiah 30:15
“Your salvation requires you to turn back to me
   and stop your silly efforts to save yourselves.
Your strength will come from settling down
   in complete dependence on me—
The very thing you’ve been unwilling to do.

• It may take awhile for God to come through—he wants me to wait for his timing.
Isaiah 30:18
But God’s not finished. He’s waiting around to be gracious to you.
   He’s gathering strength to show mercy to you.
God takes the time to do everything right—everything.
   Those who wait around for him are the lucky ones.

My Livelihood

• God wants to bless my work.
Isaiah 30:23–24
God will provide rain for the seeds you sow. The grain that grows will be abundant. Your cattle will range far and wide. Oblivious to war and earthquake, the oxen and donkeys you use for hauling and plowing will be fed well near running brooks that flow freely from mountains and hills.

• God wants me to ask him for wisdom when I need help.
James 1:5–7
 If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought.

True Worship, True Religion

• God wants me to worship from the heart and mean it—not just play act.
Isaiah 29:13–14
“These people make a big show of saying the right thing,
   but their hearts aren’t in it.
Because they act like they’re worshiping me
   but don’t mean it,
I’m going to step in and shock them awake,
   astonish them, stand them on their ears.

• God wants me to care for the poor and disadvantaged.
James 1:27
Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.

Prayer:

Father God, help me to “get it” and “do it.”

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Scripture Focus:

Isaiah 25:1 God, you are my God. I celebrate you. I praise you.

Isaiah 26: People with their minds set on you,
you keep completely whole,
Steady on their feet,
because they keep at it and don’t quit.
Depend on God and keep at it
because in the Lord God you have a sure thing.
Those who lived high and mighty
he knocked off their high horse.

26:11 You hold your hand up high, God,
   but they don’t see it.
Open their eyes to what you do,
   to see your zealous love for your people.

Hebrews 13:16 Make sure you don’t take things for granted and go slack in working for the common good; share what you have with others. God takes particular pleasure in acts of worship—a different kind of “sacrifice”—that take place in kitchen and workplace and on the streets.

Hebrews 13: 19—21
May God, who puts all things together,
      makes all things whole,
   Who made a lasting mark through the sacrifice of Jesus,
      the sacrifice of blood that sealed the eternal covenant,
   Who led Jesus, our Great Shepherd,
      up and alive from the dead,
   Now put you together, provide you
      with everything you need to please him,
   Make us into what gives him most pleasure,
      by means of the sacrifice of Jesus, the Messiah.
   All glory to Jesus forever and always!
      Oh, yes, yes, yes.

Observation:

There were so many great reminders in the Bible reading today. I don’t know how to choose the “best” one to comment on, so I’ll let them stand for themselves.

Application:

Claim your God—celebrate and praise him each day.
He is zealous with love for me!
He takes particular pleasure in acts of worship that are tangible.
He will put me together and make me whole through the sacrifice of Jesus.

Prayer:

Father God, what a wonderful, glorious God you are!

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Scripture Focus:

Hebrews 12:28-29 Do you see what we’ve got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander. He’s actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won’t quit until it’s all cleansed. God himself is Fire!

Observation:

Reminds me of the passage that says our works should be of things that last, gold and silver, not wood, hay, and stubble, for all of that will burn. God is the Fire!

Application:

How am I living? What will last for eternity?

Prayer:

Help me know the difference between wood and gold in my life.

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Scripture Focus:

Isaiah 8:11–13 “Don’t be like this people,
always afraid somebody is plotting against them.
Don’t fear what they fear.
Don’t take on their worries.
If you’re going to worry,
worry about The Holy. Fear God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
The Holy can be either a Hiding Place
or a Boulder blocking your way.

Observation:

People have a propensity to worry, but Isaiah lets us know that we’re worrying about the wrong thing. He says we should worry about what God thinks because God can either be a Hiding Place for us or a Boulder blocking our way.

Application:

Is it possible to live life without worrying? Could I simply trust God like a little child and live with a constant attitude of thanksgiving rather than worry? I would like that. If I could really do that. Then, I believe, God would be my Hiding Place and not a Boulder blocking my way.

Prayer:

Father God, trust starts today, not tomorrow. Thank you for this day and all it will bring. You are my Hiding Place!

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Scripture Focus:

Titus 2:12 We’re being shown how to turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life, and how to take on a God-filled, God-honoring life.

Observation:

God wants us to live as though he exists, a God focused, God-honoring life. The opposite of that is a self-indulgent life, one that focuses on me and totally ignores God.

Application:

It’s fairly easy to go through a day with hardly a thought of God, making choices that are self indulgent and don’t take into account God’s presence or commands. I must choose to live a God filled, God-honoring life. It doesn’t come naturally.

Prayer:

God, I invite you to be the focus of my day today. I choose to walk with you today and honor you.

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Scripture Focus:

Proverbs 16: 3 Put God in charge of your work,
then what you’ve planned will take place.

Proverbs 16: 9 We plan the way we want to live,
but only God makes us able to live it.

Observation:

God is available to be the boss of my work and of my life. If I let him be in charge, then what I plan will take place. God is the one who enables my plans to succeed.

Application:

I can feel like everything depends on me in my business and forget that God is willing to take charge and make sure my business plans will succeed. Why is it so easy to forget that God is the boss and begin to take on all the responsibility and stress of being the boss myself?! He’s much better at the job, so let Him do it!

Prayer:

Father God, you’re the boss. Please show me what I need to do today—and give me the grace and will to do it!

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Scripture Focus:

Proverbs 10:22 God’s blessing makes life rich;
nothing we do can improve on God.

Proverbs 11: 28 A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump;
a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree.

Proverbs 12:2 A good person basks in the delight of God

Observation:

There were so many good Proverbs that it was hard to pick one! I love the emphasis on focusing on God rather than things.

Application:

Life is short. Eternity is long. Does it make sense to focus so hard on the things of this world that are temporary and give God the leftovers of my life?

Prayer:

Father God, I want my life to be a tree of life, not a stump. Only you are the source of a flourishing life.

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Scripture Focus:

Romans 4:18 When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn’t do but on what God said he would do.
Vs 19 Abraham didn’t focus on his own impotence and say, “It’s hopeless.

Observation:

Abraham encountered a hopeless time where it looked like things would NOT work out. So what did he do? Even though he had no power to do anything, he still believed that God would do what he said he would do.

Application:

Don’t focus on the hopelessness of my situation. Focus on the power of God to act on my behalf.

Prayer:

Father God, I’m looking to you today to perform great and mighty things in my life and through me, as I trust you to do it.

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Scripture Focus:

Romans 3:25–26; 27–28 God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin. Having faith in him sets us in the clear. God decided on this course of action in full view of the public—to set the world in the clear with himself through the sacrifice of Jesus, finally taking care of the sins he had so patiently endured. This is not only clear, but it’s now—this is current history! God sets things right. He also makes it possible for us to live in his rightness.

What we’ve learned is this: God does not respond to what we do; we respond to what God does. We’ve finally figured it out. Our lives get in step with God and all others by letting him set the pace, not by proudly or anxiously trying to run the parade.

Observation:

Jesus’ sacrifice—his death on the cross—clears us of blame before God. That’s good news! But it doesn’t stop there. “He also makes it possible for us to live in his rightness.” We do this by letting God lead us rather than deciding ourselves what God would like. When we follow God’s leading, we’ll be in harmony with God AND with other people.

Application:

This sounds like a Utopian world! A place where I am totally in step with God and with others, in harmonious communion with God and others. That is a place I long to be. Jesus makes that possible, but how do I walk in that every day?

Perhaps I should start by thanking God first thing in the morning for letting me into his inner circle, his family, his community. Then I could acknowledge God’s leadership and ask him what he’s up to today and how I can become a part of his great work for this very day!

Prayer:

Father God, I’m listening to your Spirit, wanting to follow your leading at any given moment, whether in small or great things.

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