Friday

19-July

Isaiah 1; Job 31; Ephesians 1

Isaiah 1: What does the Lord’s soul hate?  What does the Lord desire and what will be the resulting blessing?

Ephesians 1: Ephesians 1: What have we ‘obtained’ in Christ? What were we sealed with when we heard the gospel and believed in Him?

Journal Prompt:  Isaiah 1 reminds us that bringing our offerings and prayers to the Lord is useless if it is nothing more than an outward display.  If our hearts are impure and if we harbor bitterness and unforgiveness, the Lord will not even listen to our prayers.  With this in mind, what must you do today before even thinking about praying to the Lord?

Answers:

Isaiah 1:  The Lord hates the sacrifices and burnt offerings that are brought by hypocrites (v. 11-15.  The Lord desires:  “Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.” (v. 16-17).  The result will be is complete forgiveness, our sins will be ‘as white as snow’!

Ephesians 1: We have obtained adoption, redemption through Christ’s blood, forgiveness of sin, His lavish grace, the knowledge of the mystery of His will, an inheritance.

When we believed in Jesus, we were “sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it.”