Jesus put before his disciples the foundational principle of spiritual receptivity to the word of God. All of discipleship is dependent on hearing and accepting the word, and the word bearing fruit in our lives. Our responsiveness to the word depends on the condition of...
Discipleship is the term we use to speak of our lives as followers of Jesus Christ. The Gospel of Mark is a manual for discipleship. The first chapter of Mark reveals Jesus as the Son of God who brought the kingdom of God to us....
The final chapter of Isaiah once again gives us a vision of the greatness of God. The stunning reality is that this great God takes notice and shows grace to the humble and contrite person who trembles at his word. We hear a final exhortation...
God stands before us in Jesus Christ and says, “Here I am.” Now we must respond to him. In this chapter, we see two responses to God from two kinds of people that lead to two different outcomes. The rebellious turn from him and go...
As we approach the end of Isaiah, it is as if an intercessor looks back on all that has been prophesied previously and offers up a loud cry to God, “Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down!” This is a prayer for...
Isaiah 61 prophesies the coming of an Anointed One who will preach good news. As history unfolds, we see this One is Jesus Christ. We also see that Jesus accomplished what he proclaimed. He ushered in the age of grace with its open door to...
Isaiah 60 gives us a vision of the future for God’s people. It is a future of glory as he shines upon us and dwells with us. Isaiah tells us to hold that vision firm in our minds because it provides the strength we need...
Isaiah 59 begins with sin, continues with sorrow, and ends in salvation. The message is that God graciously intervenes to save sinners and renew his people. This is a timeless message and broad in its relevance. Still today, the individual person needs to be saved,...
In this passage of Isaiah, the Lord sends a message for his people who are back in their homeland and free to worship him. He calls them to keep their worship pure by keeping their hearts humble and close to him. This is a message...
This prophecy gives us reasons to rejoice and to respond to the work of the Servant who reconciles us to God. We hear his grace that reverses the results of sin and that calls us to come to him for all that satisfies our soul....
